My Baseball predictions.

With the 2007 baseball season kicking off tomorrow night, I have decided to do the same as my boii Davey and post my baseball predictions. Last season, well before I started this blog, I picked my Atlanta Braves to win the World Series over the New York Yankees. And well that worked out about as well as Norbit did at making me laugh. Obviously seeing how Norbit sucked donkey balls, my picks didn’t quite work out. The Braves streak of 14 straight Division Championships snapped as they went 79-83 and finished third in the East thanks to a horrid bullpen. The New York Yankees on the other hand finished 97-65 and won the AL East but were knocked out of the playoffs by the Detroit Tigers. Well, here you go, my predictions.

NL East:

1.Atlanta Braves
2.New York Mets
3.Philadelphia Phillies
4.Florida Marlins
5.Washington Nationals

Yes, yes, I am a homer and I love every bit of it. Last year, the biggest reason why we didn’t at least win the wild card is because of our abysmal bullpen. We didn’t have a “real” closer until the All-Star break when we traded for Wickamania(aka Bob Wickman) and even then guys like Ken Ray, Jorge Sosa and Tyler”Kali”Yates to name a few, still found ways to fuck up our season. This year John Schuerholz number one goal going into the offseason was to fix this bullpen. And he went beyond the call of duty so to speak. First he traded often injured and overall mediocre starter, Horacio Ramirez to the Seattle Mariners in exchange for Rafael Soriano, who is one of the best young pitchers in the game(when he’s not getting hit in the head by Vlad) with a fastball that can reach upwards of 98 mph. The Mets have the highest powered offense in the National League yet again this year but their starting rotation is in shambles with the loss of Pedro Martinez due to injury. The Phillies, much like the Mets, have a great offense with the reining MVP(should have went to Pujols), Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins and Chase Utley but their problem isn’t the starting staff, it’s more so the bullpen. And if I learned anything from last season it is if you don’t have a solid pen, you won’t win anything.

NL Central:

1.Milwaukee Brewers
2.St.Louis Cardinals
3.Chicago Cubs
4.Houston Astros
5.Cincinnati Reds
6.Pittsburgh Pirates

Wow, talk about a tough division to predict. There isn’t a great team in this whole division but there are plenty of good teams and teams that have all the potential to be serious contender this year and years to come. I think the Brewers are the latter, they have instilled a plethora of young talent such as Rickie Weeks, Prince Fielder, J.J. Hardy, Corey Hart and Bill Hall. And now they have a respectable starting rotation and bullpen. Look out for this team, they can be something special. I have the defending World Series Champions missing the playoffs this year for many reason. Primarily their pitching. They lost a lot this offseason, guys like Jeff Suppan, an d Jason Marquis and they replaced them with two relievers that have slim to no starting experience in Adam Wainwright and Brandon Looper. Wainwright was a starter converted into a reliever and then a closer so he should be just fine, but Looper is a career closer/set-up guy and I don’t know how well he will take to going 6+ innings instead of 1 to 2 innings like he’s done his entire career. The Chicago Cubs are tired of losing so they decided to break the bank in hopes of returning to playoffs. It’s a shame that with the millions upon millions that they spent this offseason all they have to show for it is Mark DeRosa(career utility guy), Ted Lilly(never has had an ERA under 4.05 and more than two games over .500 as a starter) and the aforementioned Jason Marquis(who is more of an average spot starter than a #3 starter which he will be this year.)

NL West:

1.San Diego Padres
2.Arizona Diamondbacks (Wild Card)
3.Los Angeles Dodgers
4.Colorado Rockies
5.San Francisco Giants

The San Diego Padres have the best rotation in the National League this year. With returning starters, Jake Peavy, Chris Young, Clay Hensley and David Wells and then the signing of Greg Maddux only bolsters that staff. The outfield, primarily left field is a bit of a question mark, I don’t know if Terrmel Sledge can handle the job, but we will have to wait and see. They have Adrian Gonzalez at first, who had a terrific season, newly signed second baseman, Marcus Giles and his twin brother, Brian Giles along with rookie of the year candidate, Kevin Kouzmanoff at third, the Padres are a good pick to have the best record this season. I have the Arizona Diamondbacks as the team that will represent the wild card this season partly because of their starting rotation, which is great with stars like the returning Cy Young, Brandon Webb, Livan Hernandez and Randy Johnson. They also have a great team filled with young guys like Chris Young and Carlos Quentin in the outfield and Chad Tracy and Conor Jackson at the corner infield and rising star Stephen Drew at shortstop. I feel they may be a year away from being a deep playoff type team. The Los Angeles Dodgers could be a team that will finish anywhere from first to maybe even last. With the injury of Rafael Furcal, it could go a long way to setting this team back.

Awards:

Cy Young: John Smoltz, Atlanta Braves

Smoltz had this honor snatched from him last year because the bullpen cost him 6 wins but with a solid bullpen he should win it this year. I also wouldn’t be surprised if Carlos Zambrano of the Cubs or Jake Peavy of the Padres snuck in and won it.

MVP: Albert Pujols, St.Louis Cardinals

He should have been awarded the NL MVP the past few years but has been edged out by the likes of Barry Bonds and Ryan Howard but I think he’ll get it this year. But watch out for my guy, Andruw Jones, he’s in a contract year this season and you can count on him having 40+ HR and 120+ RBI’s.

Best Reliever: Trevor Hoffman, San Diego Padres

After having the second best season of his historic career last season, I look for him to have about the same season this year. Also, you can never count out Billy Wagner, the guy is amazing and if the starting staff can hold the lead for him, he’ll shut it down 40+ times this year.

Rookie of the Year: Kevin Kouzmanoff, San Diego Padres

They traded highley touted second baseman, Josh Barfield to get him and he’ll show everyone why this season. He’ll probably hit 25+ homeruns even though he plays in Petco. If I had to take a runner up this year it’ll probably be Chris Young of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Manager of the Year: Bobby Cox, Atlanta Braves

He announced that after next year he might call it a career and this year he has the best bullpen that he’s has ever had in his illustrious career and with the Braves looking at the 2nd best record in the NL(in my opinion), he may get it. The only other guy that comes to mind would be Bud Black of the Padres.

AL East:

1.Boston Red Sox
2.New York Yankees
3.Toronto Blue Jays
4.Tampa Bay Devil Rays
5.Baltimore Orioles

I actually like what the Red Sox have done this offseason with winning the bidding war to get prized Japanese pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka, the signing of J.D. Drew and the fact that they decided to keep Jonathan Papelbon as the closer. Add in Curt Schilling, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, the Red Sox are looking like they will avenge their third place finish from last season. They New York Yankees are a pretty popular pick to win the East too, due to their powerful offense and the fact that they are the Yankees. But this season the Yankees starting staff is bad, even though they signed former Yankee, Andy Pettitte. Their current rotation consist of Carl Pavano(he’s also the opening day starter, why? I have no idea), Pettitte, Mike Mussina, Japanese pitcher, Kei Igawa and they had Jeff Karstens but he has just been placed on the 15-Day DL. So, they have the offense and defense to win a championship, but the pitching doesn’t appear to be there. Also, the Toronto Blue Jays are always going to be around and could spoil things for the the top dogs so to speak.

AL Central:

1.Detroit Tigers
2.Cleveland Indians (Wild Card)
3.Chicago White Sox
4.Minnesota Twins
5.Kansas City Royals

The American League Central is by far the best division in baseball, four of the five teams could easily win the division but I see the Tigers winning it due to their pitching. They have a great starting staff and a very good bullpen. They did lose starter, Kenny Rogers for the first three months of the season due to a blood clot in his shoulder, but they have super prospect, Andrew Miller that can step up and fill his spot in the rotation so I don’t think that will hurt them that much. Plus they filled a big move when they got Gary Sheffield from the Yankees, Sheffield will the Tiger’s designated hitter and should supply some much needed power from the right side of the plate. The Cleveland Indians were a strong pick to go to the World Series last season but fell apart due to a horrible bullpen and no closer after they traded Wickman. But all that is fixed now, they signed Joe Borowski to close and their young guys like Fausto Carmona and Fernando Cabrera are developing quickly and should be great. To go along with that they have a very solid starting rotation with C.C. Sabathia, Cliff Lee, Jake Westbrook and rising star, Jeremy Sowers. And to add even more they have MVP candidates in Grady Sizemore and Travis Hafner, so the Indians are stacked. Why didn’t I pick them again?

AL West:

1.Oakland Athletics
2.Los Angeles Angels
3.Texas Rangers
4.Seattle Mariners

Originally I had the Angels winning the division for the lone fact that the Athletics didn’t re-sign Barry Zito and Bobby Crosby just can’t stay healthy. But since looking at their staff which has Cy Young candidates like Rich Harden and Dan Haren and then Joe Blanton, Esteban Loaiza and Joe Kennedy, I have decided to go with the A’s. The A’s closer, Huston Street should be near the top in saves and along with Justin Duchscherer and Kiko Calero Oakland’s bullpen looks to be strong. The only thing that will stop the A’s from winning this year is their offense, well more so their power. But then again, I don’t think Billy Beane gives a rat’s ass about power numbers, he’s all about on base percentage and stuff like that. But only Nick Swisher appears to be able to hit 25+ homeruns because Eric Chavez seems like he’s not really the player he used to be and Mike Piazza is nearing retirement, but then again he did hit 22 last year as a catcher and this year he will be strictly the DH, so there is a chance. I like the Angels for a number of reason, they have great veterans like Vladimir Guerrero, John Lackey, Garret Anderson and Scot Shields plus they have great young guys like Howie Kendrick, Brandon Wood, Jered Weaver and Ervin Santana. They have good offense, good pitching(both starting and relieving) and they have a great farm system the only thing they need is another power bat added in the middle of their line-up. As much as it pains me to say, that “power bat” may be Andruw Jones. Jones is in the final year of his contract and the Atlanta Braves will likely not re-sign him so they will probably trade him for some young pitching. If I had to put my money on it, I would say the trade would be something similar to this.

LAA: CF Andruw Jones
ATL: P Nick Adenhart, P Ervin Santana and maybe someone like OF Terry Evans.

This is just in my opinion of course, Nick Adenhart is a great prospect, easily the Angels second overall and their top pitching prospect and Santana is a young starter that has potential to be very good. Evans is listed as the Angels 10th best prospect and first among outfielders.

Awards:

Cy Young: Johan Santana, Minnesota Twins

It seems like Santana wins the award just about every year, and he deserves it. He’s the most dominating pitcher in baseball right now and I don’t think he’s gonna stop embarrassing hitters with his fastball and change up anytime soon. Another player to look out for would be Rich Harden from Oakland. If he is able to stay healthy he’s as good as anyone in the AL.

MVP: Travis Hafner, Cleveland Indians

At first I had Vladimir Guerrero but since I changed my mind about them winning the West, i’ll change my mind about the MVP. A lot of people are picking Grady Sizemore, but I feel his teammate, Hafner, puts up more “MVP like” numbers, such as homeruns and RBI’s. Plus he had what, five grand slams last year? So yeah, I think it’s a pretty solid pick.

Best Reliever: Jonathan Papelbon, Boston Red Sox

I’m glad the Red Sox decided to keep him as the closer, and this decision should prove it was a good one. He had an ERA of 0.92 and 35 saves last year and I see him putting up similar season this year, but maybe more saves. Don’t look past Mariano Rivera, the greatest closer of all-time is still throwing that devastating cutter and if his starting staff can pitch well he can still save 45+.

Rookie of the Year: Delmon Young, Tampa Bay Devil Rays

The kid can rake it, plain and simple. He’ll hit 25+ HR’s and should have around 80 RBI’s. He’s a great pick and with him, the Devil Rays have one of the best, young outfields in all of baseball and it will only get better when Elijah Dukes comes up in a couple of years. I don’t really know if Daisuke Matsuzaka is considered a rookie, but if he is then he may very well win it, I see him winning 13-15 games this season and have a sub 3.30 ERA.

Manager of the Year: Eric Wedge, Cleveland Indians

If my predictions work out, then he will have lead a very, very young team from a 4th place finish all the way to a second place and a playoff birth in just one year. With that said, he’d definitely deserve every bit of this honor if this sequence of events plays out. Billy Beane would be my second choice to win.

NL Playoffs:

1st round-

The Atlanta Braves over the Arizona Diamondbacks

The San Diego Padres over the Milwaukee Brewers

2nd round-

The Atlanta Braves over the San Diego Padres

AL Playoffs:

1st round-

(4) Cleveland Indians over the (1) Boston Red Sox

(2)Detroit Tigers over the (3)Oakland Athletics

2nd round-

(4) Cleveland Indians over the (2) Detroit Tigers

World Series:

Atlanta Braves over the Cleveland Indians

Denver Broncos (9-7)

2006 season: 9-7
Head Coach: Mike Shanahan
Offensive Coordinator: Rick Dennison
Defensive Coordinator: Bob Slowik
Pro-Bowl: Champ Bailey(CB), Al Wilson(ILB) and John Lynch(S)

Offense

The Denver Broncos offense was average yet again this season ranking 21st overall and averaging 19.9 points per game. The Broncos running game was great much like it has been for the last decade, ranking 8th overall and gaining 134.5 per game. Now the passing game on the other hand was in the bottom third in the league, the Broncos averaged just 174.9 passing yards per game. Part of that was the quarterback switch a little over midway through the season. Denver hasn’t been satisfied with veteran Jake Plummer for a few years now and after throwing for 1,994 yards, 11 touchdowns and 13 interceptions they finally pulled the plug and handed the job over to rookie quarterback Jay Cutler. In the five games Cutler started last season he threw for 1,001 yards, 9 touchdowns and 5 touchdowns. And his quarterback rating was 88.5 oppose to the 68.8 Plummer put up. Mike Shanahan proved yet again that they can put any runningback in their system and have him rush for 1,000 yards. Tatum Bell rushed for 1,025 yards and 2 touchdowns. His backup, Mike Bell, rushed for 677 and an impressive 8 rushing touchdowns. One of the biggest problems on the Broncos offense was the depth at wide receiver, or lack there of. Besides Javon Walker there wasn’t much left. Rod Smith is great but his career is winding down so he’s just not the player he used to be. They have Brandon Marshall who has a lot of talent and the Broncos love him, they feel he can be very good soon. Walker caught 69 balls for 1,084 yards and 8 touchdowns. Like I said Smith is in the decline and it’s proven by his numbers, just 52 receptions, 512 yards and 3 touchdowns. It really seemed like rookie tight end, Tony Scheffler, didn’t start playing well till Cutler took over. Scheffler quickly became Cutler’s number one target and he caught 18 balls for 286 yards and 4 touchdowns. The Denver Broncos had to deal with major tragedies on both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. On offense, runningback Damien Nash suddenly collapsed at a benefit for his brother during the offseason and he sadly died. He was just 24 years old.

Defense

The Denver Broncos defense at the beginning of the season was one of the best we’ve seen in sometime. The way they completely dominated teams including the Ravens and Patriots to name a couple was amazing. They gave up just 44 points in the first 6 games including 7 or less in 5 of the 6 games(St.Louis scored 18 points in the first game of the season, all field goals). They did falter towards the end of the season, but they were still able to rank 14th overall. Against the run they ranked 12th, they gave up 113.3 yards and against the pass they ranked 21st allowing 212.9 per game. Now it should be mentioned about 190 of those passing yards were deliberately thrown to the opposite side of the field of Champ Bailey. The biggest reason why the Broncos missed out of the playoffs was a combination of injuries and inconsistency on both offense and defense. Al Wilson led the team in tackles last season with 101. He also added 1 sack and 4 passes defended. The Broncos are in a hurry to get rid of the star linebacker whether by trade or releasing. According to league sources a deal was in place to ship him to the Giants but it fell through. There are a lot of teams in the sweepstakes for him and he is likely to command at least a 3rd round draft choice. Champ Bailey came in second in voting in the defensive player of the year and he had one of the best seasons of his career getting career highs in tackles and interceptions. Bailey had 85 tackles, 10 interceptions, 1 touchdown, 11 passes defended and recovered 1 fumble. Despite playing in only 13 games, rookie defensive end, Elvis Dumervil led the team in sacks with 8.5. He had 17 tackles and 3 fumble recoveries. Like I had mentioned earlier the Broncos took a significant hit on their defense as a result to another tragedy. While in a car with teammate Javon Walker, Darrent Williams was shot and killed. Williams was a rising star in the NFL and having the best season of his career when he was murdered. He had 86 tackles, 4 interceptions, 3 fumble recoveries and 5 passes defended.

Special Teams

The Broncos special teams were decent overall. Their place kicking was very good. Long time Bronco, Jason Elam had the best season of his career hitting an outstanding 93.1% of his field goals including 27-29. Paul Ernster wasn’t good in his first season as Denver’s starting punter. He had an average of 41.7 per punt, 7 touchbacks and 23 punts inside the the 20 yard line. He ranked 29th out of a total of 32 punters. Denver’s return game wasn’t much better, they couldn’t settle on a kick return and had 2 different players gain over 400 yards. Brian Clark had 512 yards and Quincy Morgan had 423 yards. Slain corner back, Darrent Williams served as the team’s punt returner and gained 206 yards and an average of 8.2 per return.

Draft Notes

The Denver Broncos hold the 21st overall selection in this year’s draft and it looks like they will use that pick to fill their need for an impact pass rusher. Their biggest need is adding depth at a number of positions. Such as defensive end, defensive tackle, corner back, wide receiver, runningback and linebacker. After trading for corner back, Dre’ Bly, they filled a big whole after the tragic death of Darrent Williams but they still might look to add some youth in the later rounds. With the apparent trade of Al Wilson it might leave a gaping hole on their defense that must be filled. Even though the Broncos do have a good nucleus of solid defensive ends they don’t really have an impact pass rusher, Dumervil may be that guy but he has yet to prove he can be an every down type player. And depth at defensive tackle and wide receiver is non-existent right now.

Positions that must be filled during this year’s draft.

1. Wide Receiver
2. Defensive End
3. Safety
4. Defensive Tackle
5. Corner Back

WR:

Although the Denver Broncos will likely use their first round pick on a defensive end, I really feel their number one need is at wide receiver. They have Javon Walker who is great but besides him their is nothing in terms of depth. Rod Smith is getting older and his production was in a steady decline this season and Brandon Marshall has talent but he has yet to prove that he can be a starter in the NFL. But with that said, the Broncos will probably wait till the third round to fill this need. There is a lot of great talent this year at WR so the production from the 1st to the 3rd isn’t that drastic. Look for Jason Hill out of Washington State, Paul Williams out of Fresno State and Jacoby Jones out of Lane College to still be available. All three guys are rising quickly up draft boards and all three are NFL ready players with great speed and hands.

DE:

The Broncos have good depth at defensive end, they have a lot of “good” players but they don’t have a “great” defensive end. And by great I mean someone that can play every down and an impact pass rusher. In a lot of Mock Drafts the Broncos choice is Charles Johnson out of Georgia. He had a great junior season last year and is very similar to pro-bowl Charles Grant. he is a bit undersized but is a very good all-around defensive end that is effective against both the run and pass. But higher prospects such as Jarvis Moss out of Florida and Victor Abiamiri out of Notre Dame could easily slip into that number 21st pick.

S:

They don’t really have someone that can succeed along side Pro-Bowler, John Lynch. Domonique Foxworth could be that guy but he is more of a corner back than a safety so the Broncos will probably look at getting one this year. Now who they choose depends on how big of a need they feel this is. The could take one in any round from the 2nd to the 7th. The could look at getting someone like Aaron Rouse out of Virginia Tech in the the 3rd round or even Michael Johnson out of Arizona in say the 4th or 5th round. Another guy to look at is Josh Gattis out of Wake Forrest, he is a 4 year starter that had his best year last year and he has the potential to be very good.

DT:

The Broncos don’t have any depth at defensive tackle. Gerard Warren is a good starter but besides him there is no one. The obvious round to address this need would be in the 2nd or 3rd. Someone that has his stock rising is Brandon Mebane out of California, although he doesn’t have the great potential to be an impact starter he is a solid athlete with good quickness and agility, he also a sure tackler with a lot of starting experience. If the Broncos are looking for someone with tremendous upside then look no further than Antonio Johnson out of Mississippi State. He only has 2 years under his belt of top tier opponents but he has the potential to be a steal this year.

CB:

The trade for Dre’ Bly helps soften the blow at least on the field of the loss of Darrent Williams but they still could use some youth at corner and someone that could take over return duties. A couple of guys to look at are Eric Wright out of UNLV in the 2nd round, Josh Wilson out of Maryland in the third round or A.J. Davis out of NC State in the 4th to 6th round.

The Denver Broncos have a very good team and if they play up to their potential they could be an 11 to 12 win type of team. They have a lot of holes to fill and if they can have a good draft then look out for the Broncos in 2007.

R.I.P. Damien Nash and Darrent Williams

I love a good hockey Brawl!!!

This video is a few months old, but this may be the greatest hockey fight of all time! It’s between a pee-wee hockey team, both sporting New York Islander’s jerseys and straight throwing bows. Anyway, this is great, I mean the one kid(Chris Simon Jr?)took out like three kids and then capped it off by running away at the end. And of course, kinda like a white women in a horror movie, he fell down. Seriously I have never seen penguins fight, but if I do, this is exactly how I would imagine things would go down. Now Canada can’t say i’ve never done anything for them, now that I have posted something on hockey. Enjoy.

Pee Wee Hockey Brawl – Click Here for more great videos and pictures!

Frank Gore is getting paid, signs a 4-year extension.

The San Francisco 49ers and runningback, Frank Gore, have agreed to a 4-year extension. In total the deal is a 5-year $28 million(he had 1 year left on his original contract). This deal comes after Frank Gore’s outstanding season where he rushed for 1,650 yards and 1 touchdown. He also caught 61 balls for 485 yards and 1 touchdown. The former Miami Hurricane standout has proven to be one of the biggest steals in the draft after being selected in the 3rd round in 2003 because of a blown out knee. And after being the backup last season to Kevan Barlow, he was rewarded with the starting job this season and promptly led the NFC in rushing yards.

From ESPN.com,

ESPN.com has learned that the 49ers reached agreement with Gore on a four-year contract extension through 2011, with the deal averaging just shy of $7 million in terms of so-called “new money.”

Gore will receive an initial signing bonus of $6.5 million and total guarantees of nearly $14 million. The contract will pay Gore $13.862 million in its first two seasons and $18.212 million in the first three years. Because Gore had one season remaining on his original rookie contract, the four-year extension creates a five-year deal, and the total value over the course of the five seasons is $28.012 million.

Base salaries are $450,000 (for 2007), $2.5 million (2008), $2.5 million (2009), $2.85 million (2010) and $2.9 million (2011). The contract includes a $4.165 million option bonus and roster bonuses of $1.75 million (2009), $1.85 million (2010) and $2 million (2011). Gore’s full base salary of $2.5 million in 2009 is guaranteed.

I’m surprised he was able to wait this long.

If you haven’t heard, the Cincinnati Bengal’s wide receiver, Chris Henry, has run into more legal trouble after being cited for three traffic charges. The three charges were driving with a suspended license, making an illegal U-Turn and finally driving without a seatbelt.

This is what, his 4th arrest in the last 14 months and he still has charges pending for who knows what. If this latest charge sticks, then Henry will certainly be looking at some jail time, about 88 days in a Kentucky prison. Henry was convicted of a giving alcohol to minors a couple of months ago and was sentenced to 90 days in prison but only served 2 days and the rest of his sentence he was put on probation. It’s true that these latest “crimes” aren’t that serious, but his record almost makes Sidney Lowe Jr. look innocent.

Bengals spokesman Jack Brennan released a statement Tuesday from the team that said, “While the incident involved a minor traffic matter, the club is frustrated that the issue arose at all. … Chris’s overall future with our team can be determined only after this and other pending matters are resolved by the NFL.”

I love Henry’s playing ability, the kid has amazing talent and with him the Bengal’s have one of the best receiving corps in the NFL. Standing at 6′4″, Henry is the Bengal’s number one threat in the redzone and not having a decent tight end means we desperately need Henry to get his shit together. Like I said, I love him on the field but he’s a idiot that thinks he has to be hard and shit off the field, and no matter what anyone tells him, whether it be his own coach, the Commissioner of the NFL or a judge, Henry is going to do what he wants to do. So if he doesn’t do something soon, go ahead, cut him or suspend him for the year and let him go out and get himself put back into prison or worse, killed.

Takeo Spikes traded to Philadelphia

Takeo spikes has been quietly requesting a change of scenior and on Monday night he was granted his wish. The Buffalo Bills and the Philadelphia Eagles have agreed to a trade that would send Bills linebacker, Takeo Spikes and quarterback, Kelly Holcomb to the the Eagles in exchange for defensive tackle, Darwin Walker and a 2008 draft pick(believed to be a late round selection).

“This is something that has been brewing,” Bills general manager Marv Levy told The Associated Press. “Takeo is a good person, but we wanted to strengthen our defensive tackle. They’ve been looking for a linebacker and I think they wanted an experienced backup quarterback.”

This is a great deal all around, the Bills had a glaring need at defensive tackle and the Eagles desperately needed a playmaking linebacker and the addition of a solid backup quarterback doesn’t hurt either. Spikes is expected to replace Dhani Jones as a starter at strong side linebacker.

Braves send IF Tony Pena to Kansas City

Late Friday, the Atlanta Braves and the Kansas City Royals completed a deal that would send Braves’ infielder, Tony Pena Jr. in exchange for for the Royal’s pitcher, Erik Cordier. Pena is an excellent defender that over the past few weeks has showed some pop in his bat. He will likely battle the Royal’s current shortstop, Angel Berroa for the starting role. Erick Cordier is a hard throwing starter that can top 98 MPH, but has missed a lot of time due to injuries. He missed all of the 2005 season and then needed to have Tommy John surgery in 2006, but when he returns(Probably in 2008, to be safe) he has the potential to be a very good starter.

“With this deal, we acquire a real power arm,” Braves general manager John Schuerholz said. “He’s a pitcher who — before his Tommy John surgery — was ranked near the top of [the Royals'] prospect list.”

From the Braves Journal:

Erik Cordier is a bit more than a miscellaneous live arm; he was the Royals’ second-round pick in 2004 out of a Green Bay high school. However, he’s had a number of injuries, arm and otherwise, which have limited him to 21 career starts. He missed all of 2005 and needed Tommy John surgery during 2006. He won’t be able to throw for awhile. However, when he could throw he allegedly hit 98 on the radar gun, and next season he’ll be all of 22 years old.

Breaking News: The Houston Texans have released David Carr.

According to ESPN’s, Michael Smith is reporting that the Houston Texans have released quarterback, David Carr. This makes no sense to me, obviously they were going to get rid of him one way or another, but David Carr still had some value, they could have traded him for at least a late round draft pick, 5th or later to a team like Miami, Oakland or Cleveland.

Now I expect Miami to end the talks with acquiring veteran quarterback, Trent Green from the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for a 2007 7th round pick and just sign Carr. The Dolphins are still $10M under the salary cap but you have to anticipate at least $5M going to sign draft picks, so about $5M, and that is more than enough to sign Carr.

Since being the #1 overall pick in 2002, David Carr hasn’t been the player he was projected to be. Now say what you want to about him, I think he still can be a solid starter in the NFL if he can find a team with a decent offensive line. He has been able to put up decent enough numbers in Houston despite being put on his ass hundreds of times throughout his career in Houston. Houston’s offensive line has been horrible and I feel that played a big part on why Carr has been a failure in NFL thus far. Let him move onto Miami where their offensive line is better than Houston’s and lets see what he can do. Last season, David Carr threw for 2,767 yards, 11 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and 2 rushing touchdowns.

Cowboys sign safety Ken Hamlin.

As I was watching my Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-4, I noticed that the ticker at the bottom of the screen showed that the Dallas Cowboys have signed safety Ken Hamlin. If I can verify this, then it’s a great move for the Cowboys who were in need of another safety that could play along side of Roy Williams. This also would mean the Cowboys could set their focus on improving other positions instead of safety during the draft such as cornerback and wide receiver. Oh well, so long Michael Griffin, hello Ken Hamlin.

Last season Ken Hamlin overcame a serious head injury and returned to form, making 96 tackles and 3 interceptions. He is fantastic against the run and is a big hitter and should be a star for the Cowboys. (Pun intended)

Update: NFL network’s, Adam Schefter is now reporting the Hamlin deal.

“The Dallas Cowboys have reached agreement with free-agent safety Ken Hamlin on a one-year, $2.5 million deal. Hamlin also had visited the Saints, but he spent the past few days trying to finalize the deal with the Cowboys. Now Hamlin and Roy Williams will form one of the most formidable safety tandems in the league.”

This is a great deal. Not only did they get a great, young player the Cowboys got a great, young CHEAP player. $2.5 million is nothing in today’s market and a duo of Hamlin and Williams is going to be pretty scary in Big D.

2007 NCAA Tournament (The Sweet Sixteen)

Finally, a full night of entertaining basketball, both college and pro. The tip-off of the Sweet Sixteen was last night and all four of the games were gripping including 3 of the 4 coming down to the final moments.

(5) Tennessee- 84
(1) Ohio State- 85

Ron Lewis came up HUGE yet again and helped spark a historic 20-point comeback to knock off the 5th seeded Tennessee Volunteers, 85-84. At halftime the Vols were up by 17 and were seemingly cruising to a trip to the Elite 8, because not only did they have the hot shooting, Chris Lofton on their side they also had history with them. The biggest comeback in a NCAA Tournament game at the half that ended in Regulation was the 17 points erased by UNLV. And not only that, the Buckeye’s leading scorer, Greg Oden, was on the bench most of the second half due to foul trouble.

“In this tournament, the two most important words are `survive’ and `advance,’ and we’ve been very, very fortunate the last couple of games to do those things,” said Buckeyes coach Thad Matta.

With the absence of Greg Oden(played in just 18 minutes) for majority of the game, the Buckeyes looked to their terrific guards to win the game for them and they delivered. Ron Lewis had 18 of his 25 points in the second half and Mike Conely Jr. scored 9 of his 17 points from the free throw line including the game winner with 6.5 seconds left. Conley did miss his final free throw however and it was rebounded by the Vol’s, Ramar Smith, who ran the court and put of a last second shot to only be swatted into the crowd by Oden as the buzzer went off.

“We played about as well in the first half, I think, as we can play,” Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. “We’re terribly disappointed. We’ve proven we can beat some of the best teams in the country. We’ve also proven we can come close to beating some of the best teams in the country.”

But with excellent guard play and a timely Oden block, the Buckeyes completed this amazing comeback and have advanced to the Elite 8 to face the Memphis Tigers.

(3) Texas A&M- 64
(2) Memphis- 65

I think it’s pretty safe to say although Memphis was the higher seed, they were not favored to win Thursday night. With their leading scorer, Chris Douglas-Roberts, spraining his left ankle in the round before and whether or not he’d be able to play still up in the air and then you take into fact that the Aggie’s were basically playing a home game(the game was played in San Antonio), I, for one, surely expected A&M to win. But Douglas-Roberts did play and he played well, scoring 15 points and playing 37 minutes, which led the team. Memphis has been known as a team that has a very deep bench and their bench shined Thursday, outscoring Texas A&M’s, 26-14 and Jeremy Hunt outscored not only the bench of A&M’s by himself, he also was the game’s leading scorer with 19 off the bench.

The last person Memphis coach, John Calipari, would’ve wanted at the free throw line with the game on the line was Antonio Anderson. Anderson had missed two open lay-ups and had missed three consecutive free throws.

“I wanted to choke him at halftime,” Memphis coach John Calipari said.

But alas, Anderson was the one that would be taking the two free throws, down by 1, with 3.1 remaining in the game, it was Anderson who had just 3 points at that point in the game and was just 1-6 from both the field and the line.

“When I got to the line I could see we were tired and deep down so was the other team. I just wanted to get the game over with,” said Anderson, who finished with five points. “I missed free throws earlier, but I had the confidence I could knock them down.”

And knock them down he did, Antonio Anderson was so clutch and he sank both of the free throws to give his Tiger’s the lead. On the final play of the game, you would expect Acie Law, who had been give the nickname “Captain Clutch” for his flare for late game heroics, to get the last shot, but no. The last shot was taken by defensive specialist, Dominique Kirk, and his shot from just inside the half court line was short. Kirk, who was coming off of his best two games of the year, finished with just 4 points in his 28 minutes of play and he for mentioned Acie Law, struggled scoring just 13 points in his final college game.

(3) Pittsburgh- 55
(2) UCLA- 64

This game was just what most thought it would be, a grind-it-out defensive game. The second seeded UCLA Bruins were able to out last the pesky fifth seeded Pittsburgh Panthers in route to a 64-55 win. Both Ben Howland’s Bruins and Jamie Dixon’s Panthers played extraordinary defense, and the team’s defenses barely allowed an open shot the entire game.

“It starts with our coach,” point guard Darren Collison said. “He emphasizes defense all year long and we showed it pays to be physical.”

The Bruins never trailed this game despite the less than mediocre shooting from the field. The Bruins shot .429(18-42) from the field and .385(5-13) from beyond the arc. I know, not good at all, but the Panthers were worse, they shot just .364(20-55) from the field and .438(7-16). With all the shots not falling, the Bruins had to find another way to score and they found it in the form of the free throw line. The Bruins were absolutely amazing from the stripe, shooting .885(23-26) as a team. That has to be one of the best shooting performances from a team with that much riding on the game and the lack of offense.

“We did a great job to knock down free throws, and it’s a good thing we did because we weren’t scoring a lot,” forward Josh Shipp said. “I think we’re just getting down to business and focusing on free throws.”

Although Aaron Affalo’s shooting troubles continued as he went 3-11 from the field, he was still able to score a game high, 17 points thanks to 10-10 shooting from the line. Affalo has to fight his way out of this shooting slump, eventually. Right? While Affalo is slumping, Darren Collison is doing the exact opposite. He’s averaging about 13.5 ppg during the NCAA Tournament but even more impressive is his shooting percentage, which is around 63%. The Bruins will certainly need Collison to continue his good play and they desperately need their best player, Affalo, to step up if they hope to win against Kansas, who also advanced to the Elite Eight.

(4) Southern Illinois- 58
(1) Kansas- 61

The first seeded Kansas Jayhawks, were almost taken to the breaking point by the fourth seeded Southern Illinois Salukis defense. The defense of the Salukis’ is by far the best and it was almost enough to take down the immensely athletic Jayhawk team. Kansas’ Brandon Rush scored 12 points on 6-6 shooting along with Darrell Arthur and Russell Robinson scoring 9 apiece , helped Kansas and coach, Bill Self avoid yet another embarrassing exit from the NCAA Tournament.

Kansas has many NBA caliber players on their roster and I highly doubt that they have had to work as hard as they did Thursday night to get points. Every shot was contested, and down low, despite being smaller, the Salukis’ were tough on the Jayhawk’s big men, Julian Wright(scored just 7 points, averages 12.1) and Sasha Kaun(scored only 2 points, averages 6).

“It shows that we can win whatever the circumstances are,” said Kansas guard Mario Chalmers, who scored just nine points. “Everyone knows we like an uptempo game in the 80s, but we can take our time and slow it down with the best of them, too.”

Southern Illinois’ guard, Jamaal Tatum, kept the Salukis in the game scoring 19 points, 3 assists and 2 steals in his final college game. Tatum did not shoot well from three point range, shooting just 1-8. And he missed a 3-pointer that would have tied the game with 8 seconds left.

“The shot I took is a shot I’ve practiced numerous times in the gym at night (and) in between classes,” Tatum said. “It felt good. I don’t know what to say.”

Overall a very exciting night of college basketball and should be much of the same tonight. Here’s the match-ups in the final night of the Sweet Sixteen.

(5) Butler
(1) Florida

(6) Vanderbilt
(2) Georgetown

(7) UNLV
(3) Oregon

(5) USC
(1) North Carolina