California love, Jr. in Chi-town

Manny for Favre? I think not

Manny oh Manny.

He’s off to California, more specifically Los Angeles. I didn’t think the Red Sox would actually deal him, but lo and behold, a trade happened. The full details here, but basically Jason Bay of the Pittsburgh Pirates comes to Beantown, Manny goes to the Dodgers, and the Pirates got some young developing players. In my opinion, the Sox should have kept Manny, as big a nuisance as he was (I mean that in the best way of course). They traded for about 75 cents on the dollar. Jason Bay is solid, but he’s no Manny, but I guess the Red Sox organization didn’t want to have to deal with him. I don’t blame them. For me it’s funny, but when a player says things like “The Red Sox don’t deserve a player like me” it may be time to call it a day.

Cashmoney in the bank

The mythical pudge...

Brian Cashman is back at it again.

The Yankees General Manager has swung a deal to bring Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez to the Yanks. Pudge’s credentials? How does 14-time All-Star and 13-time gold glover sound? Not to mention a .295 batting average this year. And Cashmoney did it while unloading Kyle Farnsworth, the source of numerous rants by Yanks fans. Although it’s a bit ironic, the year that Farnsworth actually becomes dependable, he gets traded. What the Yankees got in this

I’m Lovin’ Angels Instead

Mark Teixiera is an Angel. The trade happened earlier today, and the quiet Angels have finally made some noise by acquiring the former Atlanta Braves’ slugger. With a non-existent offense, but great pitching, the Angels quietly streaked to the best record in baseball, but a lot of people, including myself doubted whether they could go deep in the post-season with the anemic offense of theirs. With this addition, I’d put them at the top of my list of teams headed to the World Series. Without giving up much, the Angels nabbed Teixeira and bolstered their lineup greatly. Now, the catch to the deal is that Teixeira is eligible for free agency next year, so this may be a “rent-a-player” kind of like what the Brewers are doing with C.C. Sabathia. My take on it? Milk the cow baby! The only thing that was going to prevent the Angels from going deep in the playoffs was their offense and they made a trade to plug the hole. Win, and win now.

Been a while…

So, I’m back.

Well, I never really left, but this week has been a bit up and down. I attended a funeral, almost passed out in the heat, watched the Mets take sole possession of first place, started to walk again (on crutches of course), hit the gym again, saw possibly one of the greatest movies ever (no exaggeration) and obtained the nickname “gimp” from a former boxer, so I wasn’t going to argue.

The New York Metropolitans currently reside in first place. Yes, I was one of the people who relentlessly ranted against the firing of Willie Randolph, but I can’t say I don’t like the reign of Jerry Manuel. Maybe his quirky style best fits the likes of jokers like Jose Reyes and Oliver Perez. Mike Pelfrey is finally pitching like the guy we knew he could be, and the offense is coming around. It’s all good in Flushing, but can they make a World Series run with the current roster? I don’t think so. Starting pitching surprisingly has been all right, but the bullpen is really inconsistent.

Ballin’ 4 Darfur

I’m going to be helping out with a basketball tournament, Ballin’ 4 Darfur. I think it’s a great idea, a great cause, and a great way to raise money for the victims of the genocide in Darfur. It’s happening in Westbury, NY on Saturday, July 26. It’s a 4 on 4 tournament with a maximum of 2 subs, making the max per team 6 players.

So how do you register? Simple. Email me. I have a website in the works, but for the people that have been bugging me about it, I have a temporary solution. Email me at SportsBrotha@gmail.com with your team name, and a list of players on your team. The subject of the email should be

A game for the ages

The worst part about being hurt is that everyone turns into a doctor. Especially if you have women in the house. Recently, I’ve had an influx of family come over, which I don’t have a problem with, but what I do have a problem with, is when the women gang up on you. And they come in waves. I’ve had the same message told to me in 4 different ways far too many times these past days. Back to everyone being a doctor. The doc said that I can start to put a little weight on my left leg, so now the women of the house are calling for me to start walking everywhere with crutches. It’s like they only heard the part where the doc said he can walk, but didn’t listen to any of the cautious advice he gave. Great, so I can be Kerry Wood without the fastball.

Anyway, last night’s All-Star game at Yankee Stadium was amazing. Even before the first pitch, when they had the Hall of Famers on the field with the current All-Stars, I knew this was going to be a special night.

Midseason Awards

Order! Order! Order in the Court!

Order has been restored my friends. The Tampa Bay Rays are not in first place at the All-Star break, as predicted by yours truly. Reaching the All-Star break allows us to pause, take a second to recognize our first half top performers.

AL MVP
Josh Hamilton

He’s had a great first half, and it almost seems illogical that he’s played more games this year in the first half than he did all of last year. Racking up 21 homers, 95 RBI, .310 batting average, and throw in 7 stolen bases, and you got a solid performer. Not only that, the Texas Rangers, who signed him in the off season are actually respectable. They are over .500, and not to far off from a playoff spot. And what a story he’s had. Battling through recreational drug problems, taking time off from baseball, and coming back with a bang. I love it.

Honorable Snubs: Ian Kinsler, Alex Rodriguez

Wheelin’ and Dealin’

The dust has settled. People have moved, teams have moved, and deals have happened quicker than a New York minute. It happened in baseball, basketball, and even football.

It looks like the NL Central is the place to be. Both the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago Cubs added big arms to their pitching staffs. This ain’t a scene, it’s an arms race. C.C. Sabathia and Rich Harden going respectively to the Brewers and the Cubs. Both are rent-a-players, and for two teams trying to make it this year, why not? The Brewers just added a pitcher who gives them a legitimate 1-2 punch, and the Cubs, who are already in first place can only gain by taking on Harden. Yes, Harden has a history with injury problems, but for a first place team, having him on the staff can do more help than harm.

NBA Draft Recap: Abridged Edition

I had to do it. I really tried to not write about the NBA draft, but I couldn’t stop myself. Yes, the draft happened some time back, and the free agency wheel-of-fortune hasn’t stopped spinning, but I had to do this, so here we go.

I would have preferred for Chicago to take Michael Beasley with the #1 pick, because that’s what made sense for them. Now they have a stacked roster of guards, and we’ll see what happens. Of course Derrick Rose has been compared to Chris Paul and is being hailed as “the next CP3,” so they think they made the right move, but I think I’ll wait for him to develop before making all these boisterous claims. I’m not totally sold on Rose, but hey, that’s just me.

I’m a big fan of Michael Beasley. I think he’s going to be Rookie of the year and put up at least 14 points and grab 7 rebounds a game playing alongside Dwayne Wade and Shawn Marion. He can definitely score, the question is, can he play a lick of defense?

Minnesota made the right move by taking O.J. Mayo, but I don’t know if I would have necessarily traded him to Memphis for Kevin Love and company. Memphis Grizzlies fans, I pity you. Yet again, your General Manager Chris Wallace has made a boneheaded decision

Even Superman has his Kryptonite

Classic. Epic. Legendary.

Yesterday I witnessed the greatest tennis match of my life. Rafael Nadal beat Roger Federer. I was shocked when it actually happened, because when I watched Federer take a 6-5 lead in the 3rd set, I said to my dad, there’s no way Federer is losing this. And for the longest time, it seemed that way, but ultimately Nadal pulled through.

It felt strange, almost wrong, to see Federer holding the 2nd place silver dish while Nadal chewed on his gold trophy. Was this really happening? Did Rafa really just beat Roger Federer on grass?

I was extremely impressed by Nadal this weekend though. In previous years, when Nadal lost the 3rd set, or even squandered away 2 Championship points in the 4th set, he would have been wounded so much that Federer’s mental edge would have caused Nadal to lose. This time around, no matter how back-breaking Federer’s serves were, no matter how much Federer fought back, and won the mental battle in the 3rd and 4th sets, Nadal was not going to let this match slip from him. He