Thank You Ghana

Last night I was driving to the video store to rent season 1 of Californication (which by the way is an amazing show I wish I had seen before yesterday) when all of a sudden I had to slam on the brakes. There was traffic. A line of about 12-15 cars was slowly making its way through a stop sign that rarely sees more than 2 cars stopped at any given time. People were honking and when I finally got to the stop sign I realized what was happening.

On the side of the road there was 1 black guy dancing and smiling wearing a red, yellow and green hat with a black star on it and had a massive flag draped across his back with the same pattern. Everyone was stopping to roll down their windows and honk at this guy and congratulate him. And when I saw who he was you better believe I slowed down and congratulated him as well.

He was a Ghana fan.

You could chalk this up to Canadians being friendly or you could see the bigger picture. People were stopping to congratulate this man but while they may have been saying "Congratulations!" what they really meant was 'Thank you for beating the USA and making all their bandwagon fans shut the f*ck up!' At least thats what I meant.

When the final whistle blew on Fridays game and it became official that Ghana had knocked the USA out of the 2010 Fifa World Cup I was overcome with joy. No longer would I have to read pompous sports writers like Peter King and Joe Posnanski whine and complain about how the USA was being 'robbed' and how their 1-0 win over Algeria was 'an amazing achievement.'

The USA has no place in soccer and every last one of their "fans" is a bandwagon idiot whose fleeting obsession with the game will come and go like the latest shitty ABC comedy. People keep talking about how the USA's magic run at the World Cup is over. What tournament were they watching? 2 draws, 1 loss and only 1 win counts as a magical run?

Ghana did everyone a favor. Now I can go to Sports Illustrated and ESPN and and not have to see some puff piece about how Landon Donovan is the best athlete in American sports. PTI and Around the Horn will no longer be 30 minute fellatio sessions of the US soccer team by uninformed douchers who can't pronounce names, don't know rules and never watched a single game of soccer until 2 weeks ago.

So thank you Ghana. Thank you for putting an end to the "magical run" of the USA. You done good.

Random YouTube Video

Chris Leben Steps Up

"Got a chest full of heart, no Tin Man" - Lil Wayne

While this line definitely wasn't written about Chris Leben it certainly applies. After beating Aaron Simpson via TKO on June 19th at the Ultimate Fighter Finale Leben has agreed to replace the injured Wanderlei Silva and fight Yoshihiro Akiyama aka "Sexyama" at UFC 116 on July 3rd.

This is almost unprecedented in MMA. Unless a fighter is competing on the Ultimate Fighter they usually have at least 2 to 3 months off between fights. Hell some fighters only once or twice in a year. This is what makes Leben so different. He sees he has an opportunity to fight a top contender and is jumping all over the chance to make a run at a title possibly.

I've had more than a couple buddies of mine say things like, "man I hate Chris Leben but dude has serious balls taking a fight like this right away." And it's true. Taking a fight on short notice isn't as easy as it sounds. Game plans need to be formulated to ensure the best chance at victory and also a fighter needs to be physically and mentally prepared which takes more than 14 days.

But showing heart like this is nothing new for Leben.

Chris Leben first made his mark in MMA when he was on the inaugural season of The Ultimate Fighter. He was the kind of guy you either loved or hated as he had a shaved head, which he died all sorts of stupid colors, and a bad attitude. He wasn't a very personable guy and he was clearly an emotional wreck. During one episode he broke his knuckle punching in the front door to the house where all the fighters stay. No more than 2 days later he was in the cage going 2 rounds with Josh Koscheck.

While that takes some serious heart it is not the most impressive thing Leben has ever done. To me the most impressive accomplishment in Leben's career is his lost to Anderson Silva. I know that sounds crazy but just watch the fight. Leben takes about 10-12 punches square on the jaw, punches and knees to the body and even a head kick for good measure before finally being dropped by a vicious knee.

Leben took those shots and kept coming forward. Meanwhile James Irvin took 1 punch and was done. Forrest Griffin took about 4 punches before he finally literally begged for mercy. Rich Franklin took a lot of punishment but always seemed as if he was dead on his feet. So far the only person to stand with Silva, albeit for a short period of time, and move forward has been Chris Leben. That's gotta be worth something right?

The dude has heart. He isn't the most talented, or smartest, guy in the UFC but he may be the toughest. Is he going to be Sexyama? More than likely no but by stepping up when called upon he will have earned the respect of Dana White, his peers and most importantly the fans.

Unfortunately the same cannot be said of his opponent. When Sexyama learned that Leben would be replacing Silva he almost backed out.

In an interview with a Korean MMA blog site Sexyama had this to say, "I am not pleased with the change. There are just 10 days left until the contest for me to determine [Leben’s] threats and the time is insufficient to establish a tailored gameplan. Leben is also not as high-profile as [Wanderlei] Silva and that does not help me.

"If there is to be a replacement, I was hoping for a big name. I spent one year preparing hard for this fight and this news has come as a big disappointment. My motivation has waned. I do not know yet what will happen. ... In the worst case, I will not take part in the [UFC 116] event. We are working hard to resolve this issue."

While his concerns about Leben's status within the division are well founded the rest of his argument is not. As I said before Leben is a brawler and nothing else. His gameplan is to get into the Octagon and try and knock you out. Off his back he is less than average and his speed is also a weakness as will be his cardio. If Sexyama truly believes he is a contender for the title he should be able to handle Leben with little difficulty.

I'm excited for this fight and I am sure it will be exciting as Chris Leben is rarely involved in a boring fight and will be coming out with a lot to prove. Maybe he will beat Sexyama by using his massive nuts to knock him out. Who knows?

Random YouTube Video

Say Queensbridge

Thanks to a 89-67 shit kicking the Los Angeles Lakers forced a Game 7 in the 2010 NBA Finals. Coming off back to back losses in Boston many people, including Michael Wilbon, John Barry, and even Magic Johnson, had the Celtics taking Game 6 and the series. Midway through the 1st quarter it seemed like that prediction was on its way to become true.

Then Kendrick Perkins fell awkwardly on his knee.

When that happened the refs may as well have called the game and handed the championship trophy to the Lakers because I can tell you 100% that this series is over.

Perkins may not have been the biggest threat on the stat sheet (averaging just 7 points and 7 rebounds per game) but he was a physical presence on defense and an emotional leader. His ability to pound Pau Gasol down low was allowing the Celtics to win the battle on the glass which so far has proven to be the key to this series (in every game the team that grab the most rebounds won the game).

Jeff Van Gundy said it best tonight when he stated, "With Perkins out Rasheed Wallace now becomes the most important player in Game 7." Every Celtics fan just let out a collective "we're f*cked!"

Just how bad is Rasheed Wallace? Forget that he averaged 9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game and don't even dwell on his uncanny ability to shoot 28% from beyond the arc, instead focus on the fact that he is a washed up loose cannon that can't play defense and after 82 regular season games and 17 playoff games is just now getting into "playing shape."

How bad has Wallace been this year? Ask longtime diehard Celtics fan Bill Simmons of ESPN. In an April article (which can be found here) he wrote, "Sheed has an apathy problem. His doughy, nonchalant shadow looms over every game." He went on to write, "heed doesn't rebound as much as debound. "Lazy" isn't a strong enough word. He always seems to be standing in the wrong spot. He constantly forgets to box out. His hops are long gone, so balls routinely bounce over his head to opposing players. When matched against a hustler like Anderson Varejao, it's like watching a golden retriever fight off a Rottweiler."

Imagine what Gasol is gonna do to him on Thursday night.

But hold on Celtics fans it gets worse. Rajon Rondo, you know the supposed best player on your team, is currently having his worst series of the playoffs. He is scoring only 14.2 points per game, getting only 7.4 assists per game (down from 8 against Orlando and 11 against Cleveland) and is shooting a pathetic 26 percent from the free throw line. Forget the Hack-a-Shaq how about the Hack-a-Rondo.

The reason for Rondo's dip in success is easy to identify, the defense of Kobe Bryant. People seem to forget that Kobe Bryant was on the All NBA 1st Defensive Team. He is a tireless worker and rises to the occassion when he is matched up against another great player. In the first 3 series of the playoffs Rondo was guarded by Carlos Arroyo, Mo Williams and Jameer Nelson aka the Turnstile Trio.

Unlike those 3 dusters Bryant has opted to play off Rondo and force him to make jump shots (the biggest weakness in his game). This not only makes Rondo less effective as a scorer but also allows Bryant to help his teammates better as he can move to double teams quicker since he doesn't have to worry as much about Rondo shooting.

So without Perkins, the teams best defender, and with Rondo playing mediocre it seems the Celtics are screwed for Game 7. Add in the fact that Phil Jackson has never lost a playoff series after winning Game 1 and the fact that Ron Artest hasn't had a meltdown and is doing a decent job on Paul Pierce and there are only 2 words left to say: Say Queensbridge.

Random YouTube Video

Making a Statement

The last pitch of Stephen Strasburg's major league baseball debut was one of the nastiest pitches I have seen in a long time. A rising 95mph fastball that nearly made Andy LaRoche come out of his shoes and nearly made the applause at RFK Stadium register on the Richter Scale. Needless to say everyone was impressed.

"It's never easy to hit 97 to 100 [mph]," said LaRoche to ESPN after the game, "especially when he's got a curveball like that. It's the combination of the two. You can say, 'All right, here comes 100 right down the middle,' or 'Here comes the curveball,' and it's still tough to hit."

Coming into this year the hype seemed too good to be true. A pitcher who many believed would be the next great arm in baseball and could throw 100mph with movement. There were some experts who said that when he got into the big leagues Strasburg would not only be the best pitcher on the Nationals but maybe the best in all of baseball. All of a sudden those people don't look like such morons.

Tonight Strasburg went 7 innings giving up 2 earned runs, walking no one and striking out 14 (including striking out the side to end the 7th). He was just 1 strikeout away from tying the record for most strikeouts in a debut which was set by J.R. Richard back in 1971. By the way he did all of this throwing only 94 pitches.

Strasburg was successful for a number of reasons:

- He faced the pathetic Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates are one of, if not the very worst, offensive teams in all of baseball. They rank 30th in batting average, 29th in runs, 28th in Slugging, and 29th in OBP. No one on the team has more than 8 home runs. In fact the Pirates are so terrible Garrett Jones is their best hitter. Coming in they had lost 7 of their last 10 and were on a 3 game losing streak. Basically Strasburg couldn't have asked for a better team to make his debut against.

- Rookie pitchers often do well in their debuts because hitters are facing them for the first time. This means that hitters don't get a chance to watch film on the pitcher or scout them to see how/what they throw and when. Remember when Jesse Litsch made his debut for the Jays in 2007. He went 8.2 innings and gave up only 1 run. Since then he has become a gone 19-19 and has a career ERA of 3.83. Now I'm not saying Strasburg is a fluke but having faced these hitters for the first time he definitely had the advantage.

- He threw strikes. This may seem like a simple concept, throw strikes to get guys out, but just watch most MLB pitchers throw and you will see how rare it actually is. Dice K has made a career out of throwing balls and making guys swing, or a better example is K Rod. Has he ever thrown a strike? Tonight 69.2% of Strasburg's pitches were strikes. Of the 21 batters he faced 16 of them saw 1st pitch strikes. That is a recipe for success in the majors and Strasburg clearly knows that.

Clearly Stephen Strasburg is the real deal. The guy was dominating and made professional hitters look foolish. "I've been catching a lot of guys," said likely Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez to ESPN after the game "but this kid is unbelievable." Pudge wasn't the only one handing out the superlatives however as Adam Dunn also got in on the action, "He pitched probably the best game I've ever seen pitched."

As for the kid himself, ""The only thing I really remember is the first pitch -- ball inside -- everything else is just such a blur," Strasburg said again to ESPN. "At one point I lost track of how many innings I threw. I was like, 'You know what? I'm just going to go out there and have fun.' It's amazing. It's kind of like when you get married and everything, you kind of go into it wanting to remember everything -- and once it's done, you can't remember a single thing."

I am sure the tape of this game will be around forever and will be a part of baseball lore forever and when he finally has a chance to sit down and relax Stephen Strasburg will be able to see just how great he really was and see that all the hype about his ability was for real.

Random YouTube Video

Kill the Umps!

Unless you have been living under a rock (or you do nothing but play Starcraft 2 all day, yes Josh I am referring to you) you have heard about the blown call by umpire Jim Joyce that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga on Wednesday night.

With 2 out in the 9th inning Galarraga educed a ground ball from Cleveland Indians shortstop Jason Donald that should have ended the game. The ball was fielded by Miguel Carbera who then tossed it over to Galarraga for what should have been the 27th out and one of the biggest outs in baseball history as it would have completed the 21st perfect game in MLB history. Unfortunately for Galarraga, Tigers fans, baseball fans, and people who enjoy sports Jim Joyce blew the call and declared Donald to be safe.

If you haven't seen it here is the video and also an apology from Joyce:

Now people have been really harsh on Joyce, although Galarraga was a great sport and showed no hard feelings after the game even going as far as to shake Joyce's hand, and have started asking for replay to be instituted on all close plays in baseball. I on the other hand feel that this incident speaks to a larger issue: umpires as a whole.

Get rid of them. They are entirely useless and serve only to make baseball a more controversial sport than it needs to be.

Consider this, every umpire that gets behind the plate has a different strike zone. That means that every time a pitcher take the mound the strike zone is different. For Joyce he may have a high strike zone where as another ump like Joe West will have a lower strike zone. The fact that the strike zone is constantly in flux is ridiculous. A strike should be a strike no matter who is behind the plate.

Have you ever watched an at bat in a major league baseball game? Sometimes a pitcher will throw a pitch for a strike then throw the exact same pitch right away and it will be a ball. How is this not a problem? The outcome of a game shouldn't hinge on the judgement call of a single man behind the plate.

If umpires were replaced by computers or by a committee of umpires watching the game via monitors how would they hurt the sport? Yes it would take away from the "nostalgic" mentality that baseball is gripping too but ultimately it would allow for the right calls to be made and in the end thats all sports fan want, accountability and accuracy.

How hard would it be for baseball to institute some sort of computerized strike zone that can effectively tell whether a pitch was in the designated strike zone. Oh wait they already have that on every network that airs baseball games. Just use the "K Cam" in the actual game to judge balls and strikes. How hard would that be? The technology already exists just use it.

This technology could be further improved to work on plays at the plate as well as home runs and close calls at all the bases. There is no way this wouldn't work. Maybe you don't get rid of umpires entirely I mean you would need someone down on the field to relay the correct information but just make them less involved in the outcome of the game.

Obviously there are some old timers out there who want to keep the game "pure" just like it was when they grew up. Bill Paschke of the LA Times is one of these people. He wrote in a recent column that, "It's the imperfections, including blown calls by umpires, that make the sports so special." Gotta disagree on that one.

How do blown calls and incorrect outcomes make sports so special? Granted they do add to the unpredictability of sports and give people topics for conversation but they definitely don't help sports as a whole in any other way. Plashcke is just one of the many sportswriters that are stuck in their ways and feel that changing sports will do more harm than good. Clearly they haven't been watching the NFL lately and haven't seen how much the league has benefited from the addition of instant replay.

I don't understand why these people have such an aversion to baseball games being called correctly.

In the end baseball is one of the sports that tries to steep itself in tradition. I mean it was only last year that they finally allowed video review of home runs and took a legitimate step into the 21st century. Bud Selig and company seem determined to keep the game the way it is and will stand behind the umpires through thick and thin but if more games and accomplishments continue to be tarnished due to blown calls they may have no choice but to finally make some changes.

Random YouTube Video

Adieu to Hedo

Remember when the General Manager of the Toronto Raptors Brian Colangelo gave Hedo Turkoglu a five-year $53 million contract? Remember when at the press conference he said, "The guy sitting next to me is a guy I've been coveting for many, many years. I tried to sign him years ago. It didn't work out. I said to myself I wouldn't make that mistake a second time."

Oh what a difference a year makes.

Last week in an interview with a Turkish television station Turkoglu made it clear that he did not want to come back to the team next season. He said that he was unhappy about his role within the team and felt betrayed by the organization on a number of occasions. Basically he wants to be traded and has zero interest in playing for the Raptors next year.

Say it ain't so. Hedo leaving? Now who will chuck up multiple airballs in the 4th quarter when they are clearly well defended and the team is down? Who will play turnstile defense allowing guys to get to the basket at will? Who will be in embarrassing Pizza Pizza commercials? Who will try their best to break my television when their ugly face is shown? Who will be so out of shape he makes Charles Barkley look like Lance Armstrong?

Please Hedo don't leave.

How ever will we replace your 11 points per game? Or your 37% 3-point field goal percentage? And let's not forget your 4 assists and 4 rebounds per game? Wherever will we find a player who can average those kind of stats playing 30 minutes per game? Does such a player even exist?

OK I will stop with the mocking questions. Hedo has been a bust since the minute he signed that ludicrous deal a year ago. $9 million a season for a non-athletic poor defender that put up decent numbers only because he was surrounded by a uber-talented Orlando Magic team (Howard, Nelson, and Lewis) are you kidding me? This was a stupid idea from Day 1 and it never matured into anything other than that.

When Turkoglu first signed with the Raptors the team allowed him to skip part of training camp and rest up from his playoff run with the Magic and the World Championships where he competed for Turkey. That right there was problem #1. What that did was give Turkoglu a sense of entitlement as the team made exceptions for him.

You should never put one player on your team above the others because basketball is a team sport. I don't care if its Hedo, LeBron or Kobe you can't set a precedent where one player receives special treatment like that. How did the Raptors not see that they were getting a lazy player when he immediately asked for time off upon signing a $53 million deal?

Problem #2 is that Hedo sucks. Countless times I watched as the game would be close in the dying seconds of the 4th quarter and Hedu would get the ball and throw up a brick. The Raptors tried to force him into this role of "4th quarter closer" but it never worked. Why you ask? Because Hedo Turkoglu is a bad basketball player.

Since his early years with the Sacramento Kings Turkoglu has always been on good teams. He has never had to be the star and was never relied upon. Then he comes to Toronto and the media makes him out to be this elite player who will make the Raptors a contender in the Eastern Conference. Do these people even watch basketball? He never plays defense and he can't run the floor. Going into the season the Raptors preached athleticism and defense. Yeah Turkoglu seems like a perfect fit there.

Sidenote: How was him leaving Orlando for Toronto not a massive warning sign. The guy leaves a team that came so close to winning an NBA Championship over a couple million dollars? He doesn't want to win he wants to get paid. That should have been a huuuuuge red flag.

The part about this whole story that pisses me off the most is the timing and the way it was released. The whole thing just wreaks of Vince Carter. Turkoglu is coming off arguably the worst year of his career and is signed to a big long term deal. By publicly stating that he doesn't want to be a Raptor he has let every GM in the NBA know that he has to get traded. This means Colangelo will be hard pressed to get even a semblance of fair market value. I mean is there even a market for ugly power forwards who can't run and refuse to play defense?

So what happened is Hedo took a shit on his trade value and then asks to be traded. Colangelo will be lucky if he can get a bench player back in a deal.

I for one can't wait for Hedo to pack up his crap and leave town. His ugly face and awful play are no longer welcome within the borders of the GTA. May he go off and fade into obscurity like so many before him who overvalued themselves.

Random YouTube Video (A True Classic - Laaaiiid What Up?)