Baseball Foreign Policy

Ozzie Guillen

What was Ozzie Guillen thinking....? He wasn't like most most of what Ozzie says, its impulsive and could be said that something was lost in translation. I feel that there are two parts to this Ozzie Guillen-Fidel Castro story, however I feel that one part has nothing to do with the other and what the repercussions that followed have to do with everything in the first place.
If I understand correctly what Ozzie Guillen the manager of the Miami Marlins was saying was that you have to give a guy dibs who has been in power for this long with all these people trying to take him out, which was misconstrued as him saying that he loved Castro which would make Guillen a communist in an area of the country where there is a large  Cuban presence and the Miami Marlins are trying to get their image up in the south Florida region.
First of all what is a  baseball manager being interviewed by Time magazine on any political or foreign policy topic? I was not aware that Guillen had a background or a degree any of those topics. I agree with all the Cuban immigrants getting upset and peeved with Ozzie Guillen.
The other part of this political snafu was that Major League Baseball has suspended Ozzie for five games. Like I said before that Ozzie should have shut his mouth and not said anything and I do not agree with what he said at all, however I do not see how what he said is worthy of suspension. Major League Baseball should be worried about how to handle steroid testing and Ryan Braun’s 50 game suspension that will not be happening this season because of a loophole in the system. I don't see who a comment about foreign policy deserves a five game suspension, do you get one game for mouthing off at your neighbor? Sometimes the people that run the MLB just blow my mind.

Fear the (Playoff) Beard

Henerik Zetterberg

Ok boys its time to use the razor for one last shave before you pack it away until after Lord Stanley’s Cup has been hoisted. Thats right its time to grow out your playoff beard, the more you look like Grizzly Adams the better your team is doing. This is also where you can separate the boys from the men, literally. Men can grow full beards and end up looking like axe murderers (Henrik Zetterberg) and other look like that 14 year old neighbor who is trying to grow out his first mustache and just looks like a straight up creeper (cough cough Sydney Crosby). Which leads me to my predictions for the the first round of the NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, for hockey fans this is as close to heaven as one can get. So lets just get right to it.

Sydney Crosby

Eastern Conference

#1 New York Rangers vs. #8 Ottawa Senators

This matchup should be smooth sailing for the Rangers, the Senators had to fight their way in to snag that last playoff spot. As long as the Ranger do not look too far down the road past the Sens then they should be ok. Rangers in 5.

#2 Boston Bruins vs. #7 Washington Capitals
The Bruins are the defending Stanley Cup champions and did not really lose anyone from last years squad. Ok so Timmy Thomas is not had a year like last season but he is still one of the top 2 goalies in the Eastern Conference. The Capitals in the last couple of years had arguabley the best young firepower on any one roster but this season they have fizzled and are entering the playoffs with an unproven keeper do to injuries. Bruins in 5.

#3 Florida Panthers vs. #6 New Jersey Devils
Even though the Panthers are the three seed they are not better then the Devils. If we were seeding teams according to total points and ignoring division winners then the Panther would be the 6th seed. This Devils team fits the mold of the past where they play hard nosed D and dont really win in a high scoring fashion. The Panthers have adequate goaltending expect that it was almost by committee which usually does not work in the playoffs. I am taking New Jersey in 6.

#4 Pittsburgh Penguins vs. #5 Philadelphia Flyers
The Penguins were the hottest team in the league even before Crosby came back. Even after Crosby came back the Pens kept their top two line combinations together and have been on fire since. If the Penguins were playing any other team aside from the Flyers I would predict a straight sweep or at the very least a win in 5 games. However this series is between bitter interstate rivals and could end up going to 7 games. The Flyers started the season strong but have picked up some injuries as the season has progressed. Unfortunately this is a first round series that I think will end up being won by the Penguins in 6.

Western Conference

#1 Vancouver Canucks vs. #8 Los Angeles Kings
The Canucks are the defending Western Conference Champions, year in and year out they have scored goals, won games at a pace that has netted them the past two Presidents Trophies for having the best regular season record just haven't been able to go all the way. I don't really see them having any problem in disposing the Kings. This could be a sweep but I am going with the Canucks in 5.

#2 St.Louis Blues vs. #7 San Jose Sharks
The Blues have the top goaltending combination in the league. There is not a drop off from one to the next however you can not be switching goalies in the playoffs. Usually a team will start out with one and if they struggle then the make a move to the second one. In this case if they go with Halak first and then switch to Elliot it will be almost impossible to switch back to Halak. The Blues look good on the blue line but they do not have the offense to go all the way. They have some veterans that have lifted the Cup in Arnott and Langenbrunner. The Sharks on the flip side have some offense but the defensive depth is a bit lacking, the Sharks can pull off the upset if they can keep the series as short as possible. I am taking the Sharks in 5.

#3 Phoenix Coyotes vs. #6 Chicago Blackhawks
The Coyotes have won their first division title since they left Canada, but they will be meeting up with better Blackhawks team that is peaking at the right time. The Hawks are a young team that is also experienced with winning the Cup a couple years back. I am predicting a sweep. Blackhawks in 4.

#4 Nashville Predators vs. #5 Detroit Red Wings
All I can say about this series is that I wish this was a match up taking a place later in the playoffs. The Wings bring the same energy and veteran leadership year in and year out, but age is starting to catch up with them. The Predators would have had an easier time had they finished 6th or 7th. In the cage they have Pekke Rinne (one of the funnest names in sports) who has been lights out this year, I would give him the Vezina Trophy hands down. They have three solid defensemen in Weber, Gill and Suter but eventually the Wings will grind them down, look for the Predators to make a deep run next season. Red Wings in 7.


As of right now I am going with the Penguins to take the cup over the Blackhawks in 6

Protecting the Plate

Crash Davis

The baseball season isn't even a week old but for some reason I keep noticing the young catchers that are calling the games this season. Usually catchers are known for their experience and that give it your all attitude. Basically a better hitting version of Crash Davis from the movie Bull Durham. The reason I say better hitting is that Crash is in the minors and these catchers are not only in the majors but are starting and calling the games for some of the best pitchers to ever play the game.

Some of these guys are known for their hitting and will probably move to another position later on in their career, others are known for their maturity on and off the field other for their arm strength and general awareness behind the plate. There were players that were expected from the start to potentially become the next Johnny Bench like Matt Wieters was projected to be. Wieters slipped to the 5th overall pick to the Baltimore Orioles because the Pittsburgh Pirates did not want to pay the money that is agent would ask for. So far defensively he has proven to be the real deal with winning the American League Gold Glove last year however his bat is still slacking but I am sure that it will eventually come around.

Matt Wieters

With Jason Varitek retiring the Red Sox are looking towards Jarrod Saltalmachia to fill the shin pads and to make a name for himself and I don't mean by having the longest name in MLB history. “Salta” is on his third team in his short career, this is not because he lack talent. He just always happend to play for a team that had another good young catcher or a veteran and it was easy to trade him for talent for a playoff run. Expect Jarrod to take advantage of his first season as a full time starter.

The Toronto Blue Jays look to have J.P. Arencibia behind the plate. Last year was his first season as the number one guy behind the plate, he showed some power which he should build on this season as he hit a 3-run homerun on opening day. He did however lead the league with 12 passed balls last year.

Carlos Santana of the Cleveland Indians is like any other player from the Dominican Republic in that he was signed at the age of 15 or 16. Defensively he is adequate but with his bat he is like any other power hitter who is not patient at the plate. He hits his fair share of home runs but also gets his strikeouts.

Alex Avila had a huge breakout season last year with the Detroit Tigers, it was his first season as the starting catcher, he caught Justin Verlander’s no hitter, was an all star and won the American League Silver Slugger award. Expect him to be around for some years in Detroit.

Buster Posey

After having a very interesting and scary offseason Wilson Ramos expects to follow it up with an even better 2012 then a 2011. Ramos was kidnaped and held hostage in his native Venezuela during the offseason and will try to move past it. In 2011 he was chosen for for the all-rookie team after a great rookie year for the Washington Nationals.

To bookend this list of young catchers I have chosen Buster Posey. Posey just like Wieters was taken 5th overall when he was drafted by the San Francisco Giants. He was rookie of the year and has already won a world series, but what I like about Buster besides his first name is his tough as nails attitude and the only way to knock him out of a game is with a broken ankle. Posey is a great defensive catcher and has the luxury of calling the games for arguably the best pitching staff in the league, he isnt known for his power but has a life time average a shade under .300.

Hungarian Hockey: Its a real Paprika

It is that time of year that all hockey fans wait for, when everyone grows out their playoff beard and hope that their team is the first one to win 16 games. I think that the hockey playoffs is the most grueling playoff system in North American team sport. The players put everything on the line for an enormous silver chalice that is better known as Lord Stanley’s Cup. The Stanley Cup playoffs are not only a big deal in the U.S. and Canada but also in other hockey nations such as Russia, Sweden, Finland and the Czech Republic. For smaller nations the Olympics and the World Championships is almost on the same level since they only have a handful of players from their country in the League and they always have a chance of pulling off an upset and finishing on the podium at the two international events, Slovakia, Switzerland and Germany fall in the group. There is a group of countries where the Division I World Championships carry the most weight. This is Hungary, Slovenia, and Austria, these countries have never had a player play in the NHL or can count on one hand the number. For these countries winning the Div I championship means that they will qualify to play with the big dogs in 2013.

The 2012 Division I championships will be held in Slovenia and joining the host country will be Hungary, Austria, Great Britain, Japan and Ukraine, with the top two teams moving up. This tournament will run from April 15th through the 21st with Slovenia, Austria, Hungary and Ukraine having almost an equal chance of moving up, all four teams have played at the next level in recent years with Hungary playing in 2009. The interesting part about the Hungarian team is that they have only played at the top in 2009 after qualifying in 2008 in a thrilling fashion and just missing out last year in a hearbreaker. There has never been a Hungarian that has played in a game in the NHL. The closet they have ever been was Levente Szuper who was a goalie for the Calgary Flames sat on the bench for a couple of games since number one keeper Roman Turek was injured. There have been a total of four Hungarians drafted in the NHL, in 1990 the Minnesota North Stars picked Frank Kovács in the 4th round 71st overall. Kovács was actually born in Canada with Hungarian ancestors and would later gain Hungarian citizenship and play for the national team after playing a number of years in the minors. In 1999 the Edmonton Oilers picked Tamás Gröschl in the 9th round, supposedly the the Oiler scouts thought that Gröschl was Swedish since he was playing in Sweden at that time. When they found out he was Hungarian they decided to send him to the ECHL instead of the AHL. The following year Szuper was drafted in the 3rd round by the Flames. The latest but hopefully not the last was János Vas by the Dallas Stars in 2002, Vas like Szuper almost made it to the big show but could not get past the AHL.

Levente Szuper

There have been a number of Hungarian players who just like Szuper and Vas have played in some of the top leagues throughout Europe. If you take a look at the current squad you have Zoltán Hetényi a goalie who is in the Finnish SM League, defenseman and team captain Dr. Viktor Szélig who plays in France, and István Bartalis who is János Vas’ team mate in the Swedish Allsvenskan. Most of the players that play in Hungary play for Alba Volán which actually plays in the Austrian League, which has actually help Hungarian hockey develop in the past couple of year. I would just like to mention one of the youngest players in the squad János Hári, Hári played a season of junior hockey in the prestigious QMJHL in Canada and is now playing for MODO in Sweden under the watchful eyes of hockey legends Ulf Samuelsson, Peter Forsberg and Markus Naslund and has a chance of being taken in the upcoming NHL draft.

János Hári

It is interesting to see how Hungary has dealt with the turnover of talent that naturally happens on any team legends of the past such as Gábor Ócskay, Kristián Palkovics, Balázs Kangyal, Gergely Majoross, and Roger Holéczy have retired or moved on, but now there are young players coming up to join the veterans. Young guns such as Attila Orbán, Tamás Pozsgai, István Bartalis, János Hári and Bálint Magosi try to keep up with veterans such as András Horváth, Tamás Sille (who is 42!), Viktor Tokaji, Csaba Kovács, Balázs Ladányi, and Márton Vas.

I really believe that Hungary will qualify for the 2013 World Championships and will pull off a couple of upsets to stay in the top level for 2014, but before I get ahead of myself let us just enjoy this upcoming tournament and the first round of the NHL playoffs.

Domino Effect in the NFL

Now that Peyton Manning has signed with the Denver Broncos this will start a domino effect throughout the NFL quarterback community. The last time there was such a chain reaction was in 1998. In 1998 just like right now everything was because the Indianapolis Colts were going to draft a Quarterback with the first pick of the NFL draft.

In after a horrible 1997 season the Indianapolis Colts were going to start fresh by taking a quarterback with the top pick. Similar to this season the Colts were looking at two QBs who they thought they could rebuild their franchise around, however that is a story for another time. The Colts knowing that they were going to draft either Peyton Manning or Ryan Leaf started a series of moves by trading starting QB Jim Harbaugh to the Ravens which was followed by Vinny Testaverde going from the Ravens to the Jets, Neil O’Donnell from the Jets to the Bengals and filling their need for a starting QB since Boomer Esiason had retired.

Of these previously mentioned players Peyton Manning has pretty much turned in a Hall of Fame career and Vinny Testaverde had some fun moments with the Jets before he moved on. Harbaugh stay was forgettable and O’Donnell was pretty much Jeff Blake’s backup.

Peyton Manning

Let us now take a look at the current free agent merry-go-round, the Colts just like in 1998 are stuck between drafting Andrew Luck out of Stanford and Robert Griffin III from Baylor and just like in ‘98 the Colts have to move their starting QB except this time around they released Peyton Manning. Manning has signed with the Denver Broncos, the top QBs that the Broncos had on their roster at the end of the season are also gone Tim Tebow has been traded to the Jets, now we wait and see between Drew Stanton and Greg McElroy who will be sent packing. MarK Sanchez will probably be the starting QB, but will Tim Tebow even be a quarterback or will the Jets use him as a running back or an H-back. The other former first round pick that the Broncos had on their roster, Brady Quinn has signed with the Kansas City Chiefs. Kyle Orton has gone from the Chiefs to the Dallas Cowboys where he has a pretty good chance of bumping Tony Romo to the bench, with Jon Kitna retiring the chain has come to an end just like in 1998.

Mark Sanchez and Tim Tebow

There are of course still many more dominos to fall, we have yet to see all the teams that were in the Peyton Manning hunt fill their need. Matt Flynn has signed with the Seahawks after beeing the backup to Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, will the 49ers resign Alex Smith? or will he move to Miami where Chad Henne has left to go to Jacksonville however the Dolphins have brought in David Garrard. The Dolphins lost out on Manning and don't think they have a chance with Smith so they picked up Garrard thus forcing Henne to the Jaguars.

Loaned Out

In case you people who only pay attention to the Premier League, La Liga, Seria A and the Bundesliga arguably one of the top 10 football/soccer leagues just kicked of the other day. I am talking about the MLS (Major League Soccer) and don’t give me that crap about it being a horrible league, when was the last time you actually watched an MLS match?...I thought so. One aspect that is different from North American sports leagues and European leagues is how players switch teams. In North America players get traded from one team to another for other players, or when their contract runs out they are free to sign with any team they want. In Europe players are sold for millions of euros, and very seldom when a contract runs out they can sign with another team as in North America. In the NBA, NHL, or MLB when a player is not producing as they are expected or are young and just need more playing time they are usually sent down to the minor leagues to the parent clubs minor league affiliate. In Europe what they do is they loan players out to teams, sometimes to ones in their own league sometimes to teams in other leagues.

Landon Donovan

In the past couple of years players have been load out from the MLS to clubs in Europe from January till the start of the MLS season. In Europe the season runs from fall to spring were in the MLS the league runs from spring through the summer and into early fall. Because of this players can not be loaned to Europe at the start of the European season since the MLS season is on its last few weeks and in the playoff run. The next time the European transfer window is open is in January when it is also the MLS off season. Another problem with the MLS is that it very rarely sells players, they wait until someone’s contract runs out. Based off of this there is about a two month window when a player can go on a loan from the MLS to Europe.

David Beckham

In the past there have been only a handful of players that have been on load to a European club from the MLS. David Beckham went on load to A.C. Milan twice the second time ending in an achilles injury, Landon Donovan went on loan to Bayern Munich which had mixed reviews but his two stints with Everton were very successful. Robbie Keane was loaned to Aston Villa and Thierry Henry was back at his old club Arsenal. These two spells were very successful but how would players who are not superstars do in the Premier League or the Seria A? Will this become a new trend? Will clubs take a player on a two month loan as a trial period and then try to sign them at a later time if everything turns out fine?

I think that it is a great opportunity for players form the MLS to make a big splash but they still now that there is no pressure on them since no matter what happens after two months they will be back in the U.S.

Phd. in Bracketology

The Plumlee brothers and Seth Curry

It is that time of the year again when terms such as Cinderella team, sleeper pick, sweet sixteen and elite eight are thrown around. Almost every male between the ages of 12 and 65 believe that they have a masters in bracketology. If you are thinking how on earth does a children's story, a teenage girls most important birthday and some sort of a made up science connect with each other then let me explain. At the end of the college basketball season just like any other sports season you have a championship tournament. In the NCAA Div. 1 it is a field of 68 teams that play a single elimination tournament until there is a champion to be crowned. Just like any other science there are a number of terms that one most know before completely understanding what is bracketology.

Backetology-The science of picking the NCAA  basketball championship tournament correctly or to near perfection as possible.

The Big Dance- Slang term used for the tournament and the field of 68.

Cinderella Pick- A team that is picked to make it deep in the tournament, “Cinderella crashes the big dance”

Sweet Sixteen- The final 16 teams left in the tournament.

Dickey V

Elite Eight- The final 8 teams left in the tournament.

Final Four- The last 4 teams left, this is a pretty big step in a basketball program

Sleeper pick- a team that is picked to win a couple games but is not expected to make a run as deep as a Cinderella

Dickey V- The voice of this great science.

This madness is known as March Madness, of course you very rarely have all the number 1 seeds in the final 4 or all the 1 and 2 seeds making up the elite 8. 2008 was the last year that all number 1 seeds made it to the final 4. If we take a look at last season the number 11 seeded Virginia Commonwealth was the Cinderella that crashed the big dance making it to the final 4. Of course you can never forget about the thrilling finishes of what seems to be every game.

After all this you realize that it is almost pointless to analyze everyone and just go with the gut pick. So here are my picks.

South Region
Kentucky                      UConn                   UConn
UConn
Witchita State              Witchita State                                    Duke
Indiana
UNLV                           UNLV                      Duke
Baylor
Notre Dame               Duke
Duke

West Region
Michigan State         Memphis
Memphis                                                    Long Beach State
Long Beach State   Long Beach State
Louisville                                                                                         Murray State
Murray State           Murray State
Marquette                                                  Murray State
Virginia                    Virginia
Missouri

East Region
Syracuse               Syracuse
Kansas State                                            Syracuse
Harvard                 Wisconsin
Wisconsin                                                                                       Syracuse
Cincinnati              Cincinnati
Florida State                                             West Virginia    
West Virginia        West Virginia
Ohio State

Midwest Region
North Carolina     North Carolina
Creighton                                                  North Carolina
South Florida      South Florida
Michigan                                                                                         North Carolina
N.C. State           N.C. State
Georgetown                                              Kansas
St.Marys             Kansas
Kansas

Final Four
Duke over Murray State
Syracuse over North Carolina
Duke winning the championship over Syracuse

Yes I know there are a number of upsets that I picked, you just sometimes just have to go with the gut feeling, everyone knows that there will be upsets you just have to which one of them seems to out there that it just might actually be worth the pick. I am sure you noticed that I have #6 Murray State coming out of the West over #12 Long Beach State, I just don’t see Missouri making it and Long Beach has had one of the highest strength of schedules.
I have also decided to pick the NIT, CBI and the CIT.

NIT Final 4
Seton Hall over Arizona
Tennessee over Dayton
Seton Hall winning a title for the senior Herb Pope

CBI Final 4
Pitt over Butler
Oregon State over Washington in a PAC 12 match up
Pitt wins the title in an effort to end a forgettable season on a high note

CIT Final 4
Robert Morris over Manhattan
Drake over Kent State
Drake taking the title