The Return Of Random Thoughts

Wait a minute... we're still over .500? High five!

You know what we haven’t done in a while? A random thoughts blog.

Just things I’ve thought about that maybe you have as well in the last few weeks of watching sports.

With so much going on as far as sports since March Madness I think it’s time to do some rehashing.

So without further ado… HERE WE GO!

Is Zach Greinke really worth it? I mean he is 7-3 but he’s got a 5.66 ERA.

Anybody else think Kenny Williams is lying about the Adam Dunn deal?

Josh Harrelson a year ago was buried on the bench at Kentucky with Enes Kanter coming in. A year later he was a key component in the Wildcats Final Four run and will get minutes off of the bench for the Knicks. Life.

Hopefully the Sedin Twins take boxing lessons this summer.

Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, please gain 20 pounds.

Even though she is six foot five how many of us would hit on Jan Vesely’s girlfriend?

Federer couldn’t beat Nadal, Nadal can’t beat Djokovic… So who’s he going to have a problem with?

Why is it that Joe Girardi is the only person who thinks Derek Jeter should lead off?

David Ortiz couldn’t hit anything for the last two years now all of a sudden he’s hitting .301 with 17 home runs and 49 RBI… hmmmm….

Lebron James dunking on a kid doesn’t help his image.

(honestly at this point LeBron could cure cancer and we’d still hate him. And yes I’m serious about that statement.)

Mario Chalmers is now my new least favorite athlete in the world.

Did any team in the NBA Draft really help itself?

Sabine Lisicki also plays tennis. We'll talk about that later.

Nicklas Lidstrom came back for his 20th season. Can we engrave his name on the Norris Trophy in 2012 already?

Lets face it, Dany Heatley will never be “the guy.”

Neither will Andy Murray.

Anybody else happy that Brian Cashman corrected Alex Rodriguez by saying that Robinson Cano is better that Jose Reyes?

Can I call Austin Rivers “Baby Doc?”

Did Jose Bautista really just score the most votes in All-Star voting history?

How awesome was it that Virginia won the lacrosse title?

(think about this for a second. In the last two years lacrosse’s two most controversial teams fought back from media hell to win a title. Last years Duke team won after three years of dealing with the ugly aftermath of a stripper rape allegation and this year Virginia won after one of it’s own murdered women’s lacrosse player Yeardley Love.

The image of the Cavs men’s team was brutally tarnished and the turmoil around both mens and women’s teams was enough make anyone not want to put on pads and a helmet and sprint out onto the field again. However, Virginia fought through it’s adversity and came out a winner. Their win over Maryland in the Memorial Day title game cast a fantastic light on the team an buried whatever demons were left from the 2011 season.

Very commendable indeed.)

Are the Pirates really a game and a half out of first place?

Who the hell is Mike Morse?

Brian Wilson needs to shave that beard… Now!

Is Jim Riggleman; a, a gangster, b, salty or c, out of his bleeping mind?

Iman Shumpert… And yes I’m still stuck on that pick.

How funny would it be if the Winnipeg Jets won the southeast division this year?

(Winnipeg is six hours north of Minneapolis.)

It’s July… NFL step on it.

(I’m serious. The New York Giants tick me off, Eli Manning makes bad throws, I’ll see 85 Coughlin faces and understand each of them… AND IF I MISS ONE FREAKING GAME I WILL HUNT ROGER GOODELL AND DEMAURICE SMITH DOWN!!!)

By the way, if the MLB locks out in November then there is a real possibility that Hockey may be the only game in town come 2012….

New theory behind the Flyers trades; maybe Paul Holmgren used Jeff Carter and Mike Richards just to get the Winter Classic in Philly and then dumped them afterwards… Nope, trade still makes no sense.

I know Brett Favre is retired, but I’m still uncertain.

Quick, 3 things about Luke Picknell. Ready and… GO!

Is Maryland football a better job than Connecticut football? Randy Edsall are you listening?

Seattle Sounders FC draws more fans than the Mariners…

Anybody else think Cam Newton will bomb?

I still have no caption for this.

No seriously are the Pirates really only a game and a half out of first place?

(why is this not a huge story? The Pirates haven’t had a winning season in almost 20 years. That’s back to the Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla days.

Ever since then they have traded every and I mean every good player that they’ve had and have been in a never ending rebuild mode. Now here there are with Andrew McCutcheon as a dark horse MVP candidate, an All-Star in Joel Hanrahan and the Brewers, Reds and Cards all looking back in disbelief.

If they make the playoffs they are the story if the year hands down.)

Sabine Lisicki… Mmmmmm.

Will Tiger Woods fade into oblivion?

Even though Roger Federer has “lost it” he’s still the third best tennis player in the world.

And lastly… Dirk, a $90,000 bottle of champagne and pictures with Birdman and Lil’ Wayne… In LeBron and D-Wade’s backyard.

Cough on that Miami.

Change The All-Star Format

C.C. Sabathia's 11 wins are staying home during the midsummer classic.

For years we’ve all said that the All-Star system is flawed. We’ve said that it needs fine tuning so that the right guys make the team instead of favorites or veterans that aren’t worthy of the honor.

Well for the first time in my life I actually agree with the critics, the All-Star system needs to be fixed and fixed now.

However, not in the way that you think.

You see the criticism from the powers that be are that the All-Star game is a popularity contest and that the fans make the wrong decisions sometimes… um, the All-Star Game is for the fans so of course it’s a popularity contest.

As fans we want to see a combination of the best players in the game as well as our favorites play in our game. Does Derek Jeter deserve to be an All-Star? Probably not from a numbers standpoint, but his image and mark on the game have made him a fan favorite so of course he should be there.

Is José Bautista the game’s best player? No, but the fans love him hence the reason why he was the number one vote getter.

Is Josh Hamilton an All-Star even though he missed half of the season? No, but fans remember the home run derby from years ago so of course they want to see him in the game and as often as possible.

It’s the fans game, let them vote for whoever they want to play the game and enjoy the action. Here’s my problem with the process of selecting the All-Stars; the league rule stating that there has to be an All-Star from each team (if that is a little league, everyone’s a happy camper rule then I don’t know what is), the fact that players and managers select the rest of the team outside of the starting 9, and the fact that they pick the pitchers, not the fans.

McCutchen was snubbed even though he has the Pirates thinking playoffs for the first time in years.

So let me get this straight, fans can pick every starter instead of the starting pitcher, or any pitcher for that matter and players pick the rest of the team based on their personal opinions (which is sometimes delegated by picking favorites themselves. Granted that’s what the fans do… BUT THEY’RE THE FANS!)? C’mon Son!

When I look at this All-Star team and the reserves and pitchers for each team It’s beyond silly.

Jose Valverde? A closer with a 3.09 ERA and 19 walks?

Howie Kendrick with 8 home runs and 26 RBI?

Matt Wieters at .261 with 7 home runs?

David Price at 8-6 with a 3.43 ERA?

Tim Lincecum at 6-6? Chipper Jones at .257?

So the players felt that Hunter Pence was a better option on last place Houston than Andrew McCutcheon who is leading a resurgence of baseball in Pittsburgh with the Pirates being only 3 games out of first at the beginning of Sunday.

So Michael Young, a powerless DH, was a better option than Jhonny Peralta who has belted more home runs has a higher slugging percentage and plays every day?

Ryan Vogelsong has had a better “Full Year” than Ian Kennedy (who by the way plays for Arizona, where the All-Star game is.)?

And the biggest one, Felix Hernandez at 8-7 with a 3.35 ERA, Price, Royals reliever Aaron Chow (who honestly has had a great year and relievers that aren’t closers need more pub in this game in my opinion) and C.J. Wilson all are having better years that AL wins leader C.C. Sabathia who is also 6^th in strikeouts, 3^rd in innings pitched and has been arguably the best pitcher in the AL in the last month not named Justin Verlander?

Yes, I am a Yankees fan so the Sabathia snub hurt more than any of the others. However, anyone… AND I MEAN ANYONE that has watched C.C. understands how important he is to the Yankees and knows his place among baseball’s elite pitchers.

He has only one start this year where he hasn’t gone into the seventh inning, one start with less than 100 pitches, a soon to be sub 3 ERA and a WHIP that borders the 1.1-1.2 range. In other words to the naked eye or on the stat sheet C.C. delivers.

He is one of baseball’s top 5 pitchers and the only pitcher in the league right now that has a chance to eclipse the 300 win plateau (if he doesn’t breakdown from his weight). Every time he goes on the mound he is a sure thing, and he’s not on the All-Star team?

Thanks to MLB's rule that every team gets an All-Star, Matt Wieters is one.

The worst is still this notion that every team needs an All-Star. The Twins are cool, but come on Michael Cuddyer over Paul Konerko? Wieters over Brennan Boesch? Heath Bell over Mike Morse? Those guys are having decent years (not Wieters, uh-uh, sorry) but there are other guys that are deserving of those spots due to their performance on the field not just because their team needs a star.

My advice is let the fans do all of the voting, pitchers included. Let them pick the starters, relievers and bench guys and if a player drops out due to injury or another reason then let the league pick the replacements.

And get rid of this stupid every team gets an All-Star rule (for that matter stop letting this game decide who gets home field advantage in the World Series, highly unnecessary.)

This is the fans game and whoever they want to see we should let them see. It’s worked for this long with the starters so why not go the extra mile and let them pick the whole damn team?

Because after today it’s clear the players or managers aren’t too good at it.