The Braves are the Team to Beat.. If you can.

The Atlanta Braves are better than the World Series Giants… Don't think so? Allow me to explain.

The Giants are a great young baseball team.  That is not even something that people can argue, it is fact.  The team has Barry Zito as their fifth starter… Just that alone shows how dominant their pitching staff actually is.  But I still believe the Braves are a better team.  Sure their pitching staff may not be as good, but I think their playoff presence is greater than that of the young Giants.

Lets start with the outfield.  Jason Hayward in right field has already made a name for himself, and in his second year of playing he made it to the playoffs with the Braves.  Center field is BJ Upton.  Is the most experienced in the outfield.  He has been to the playoffs three times already and won the World Series.  And Justin Upton has appeared in the playoffs three times.

The Giants have made it to the playoffs and a couple of times already as a young team, and won the World Series twice, , but I still think there is a lack of experience in this team that the Braves still have.  Even without their leader Chipper Jones.

These two teams are the top favored of many analysts to win the National League, and I believe this will be a very exciting year for both teams.  They don't face off until mid May, but the Braves are the team to beat this year in the National League.

I thought 30 was baseball's prime age, until I met the Yard Dogs

The Algonquin Yard Dogs Men's Senior League Baseball team have a lot of experience when it comes to playing the game of baseball.  Some may say a little past their prime.  But as a team constructed of players 50 and older, maybe they're just trying to set a new age as the the prime.

Jim Nelson, one of the Yard Dogs plasters, says that the league is still very competitive and some of the players played in semi pro ball when they were younger.

Jim Curry, another member of the team, explains that the competitiveness of the league varies for team to team. He goes on to say that most of the players are just hoping to come out on sunday and have a good time and not get hurt.

Though they are a little older as a team, and some of the skills they had when they were younger diminished, they have found ways of working around the slowing of skills and are still able to get the win.

"I have put on 50 pounds since I was younger, I can't throw as hard, but I can still field and hit pretty good", said Nleson when asked about what the difference between playing now and when he was younger was.

This team for people should not only be about winning, but for those who love the game, a league to look forward to when you approach this age.

"This team started several years ago as a 30 and older team and some of the players have come up through the leagues together, I think we still have three original members, but now we are in a 50 and older league", said nelson.

Though it is nice to get the Sunday afternoons are nice when the Yard Dogs get the W, they said the reason they still play is for the love of the game. 

The MSLBA league has age groups starting as young as 18 and older and the oldest league right now being the 50 and older, but as the Yard Dogs mature a little more, we will see if they are able to change that and show that age is just a number.

Chad Hillebrand Next NHL Star?

There is no question that Chad Hillebrand has the talent to become one of the next big NHL stars. The crazy thing is...he is only 14 years old. Astonishing most people his talent was sought out at age seven, and his coaches say his best skill is his skating. He is actually considered being in the top five percent of skating from his class in the country. What makes him special is simply his dominance of the game from a young age. His first team he played with was the Skokie Flyers, when he dominated by scoring 112 goals in one season, and also having two games where he scored 8 goals. That's dominance you just don't see often in younger leagues. I believe a person is either born to play or their not. One thing I will say about Chad is that he was born to play the sport of hockey. From his phenomenal skating, to his great puck handling, great leadership, and exceptional ability to score goals...he has it all folks. The only thing he needs to work on is building up his size, and naturally over time he will. Remember, he is only 14.  he has a lot of time to grow. The bottom line is Chad Hillebrand has everything it takes to become the next NHL star. Be on the look out for this young-talented player in 5 or 6 years.

The Problems Continue

If it isn't one problem for the Chicago Cubs… it is another.  At the beginning of the season the Cubs starting pitching was fantastic.  It still isn't doing horrible, but they are cooling off greatly. Samardjia may only have one win, his numbers show he could have at least two more.  So why is he 1-3? Because the Cubs hitting is the worst in all of baseball…. next to the Brewers at this point.

After the Cubs started to figure out some of the hitting issues, which it appeared they did in the first game of the Brewers series, they started to not hit when it counts.  They left five runners in scoring position.  The only time they scored in the game was off of lead off homeruns.  The only reason this is an issue in the 4-5 loss is because they led off every inning of the game after the second with a person reaching base.  Hopefully this can get ironed out.

Now in the second game I already knew I was going to have a hard time watching because of the obvious frustration I have been having with the club.  But I did it, and only to my dismay.  Now the Cubs are first in errors in the whole league.  They had three errors in just this game alone. 

Game three was just as much of a blunder as the first two.  Errors occurred everywhere and rumors started flying on social media that Castro and Rizzo may be sent down to the minors.

There is no reason to be upset with a series sweep.  That happens a couple times a year for every team.  What Cubs fans should be flustered about is the means in which they lost.  They had horrendous series and nothing seemed to go the way they wanted.

 Maybe this is a good thing?  The Cubs should go out of their way to make errors to maintain the only first place position that they hold… And the Sox fans wonder why Wrigley needed to be built next to a bunch of bars.

I have said it before and I will say it again.  It is time to jump on the band wagon of another team.

In the world of Baseball!

Week four is under way with a full slot of scheduled games for this Tuesday, April 23, 2013 and what a great three weeks it has been so far! We saw an extra inning battle with the Cubs last night in Cincinnati that went 13-innings and the lead seemed to change every inning the game kept going. In the final inning we saw both teams use up the bullpens, the Reds snuck out the 5-4 victory late last night over the Cubs. The White Sox also lost a close one against the Indians last night that Chris Perez notched only his 3rd save of this early season. After three full weeks of ball who would have expected the AL East to look the way it does with a very unique Yankees team, a retooled Red Sox and a huge off season in Toronto where the Blue Jays acquired Melky Cabrera, RA Dickey and half of the Miami Marlins from last year. It's shaping out to be what looks like a very tight race amongst all the leagues so far this year. What else could we baseball fans ask for heading into the summer!

Positivity On The Southside

This month alone, both CNN and the New York Times published stories about the Southside’s soaring murder rates. The violence gets so much attention that people forget about the great things that are happening in the city but residents are looking to change that. Organizations like the Southside YMCA’s Youth Basketball Association (YBA) are in place to help bring neighborhoods back from the chokehold of violence.

For almost 40 years, the Youth Basketball Association has worked hard to provide kids with a safe environment where they can learn the importance of teamwork and respect through the game of basketball.  Clarence Cox, the association’s founding father, says, “Positive programs like this don’t get enough funding.”

This leaves a lot of responsibility on the parents of the children. Snacks, uniforms, and are just a few things that would normally be taken care of through a budget. Instead, some YBA parents have to come out of pocket for these things. But, they do it willingly.

“It’s all for him,” said Brian Foster, pointing at his 8-year-old son.

Foster’s son has been playing for the Pee-Wee league all year and he says he’s seen “great changes” in his son’s attitude and academic life.  YBA teaches the young athletes three key principles.

1.     Honesty

2.     Responsibility

3.     Respect

The hallways of the gym are adorned with inspirational quotes and of course their three principles. The gym where the kids play just feels like a positive place. When you walk in you know something great happens there. This is exactly what coaches want for the kids.

“We really nurture our kids. They need something positive to do and they need to do something that they love. That’s what I’m here for. I’ve been coaching for almost twenty years now and I love it!” said Angela Menson, a head coach.

So why isn’t this receiving any coverage? The kids love it, the parents love it and they get large turnouts at their games. The children are even given scholarships to college upon completion of the program. So why don’t people know about this?

“It’s just a shame that no one cares enough to broadcast these kids’ hard work,” said Mya Davis.

Davis is a long time supporter of the YBA. Although she has no children of her own, she just likes to be apart of something positive in her community.

Looks like the big bad Southside is not so bad after all. Good things still happen everyday.

Cubs Manager Dale Sveum Threatens to Demote Castro, Rizzo

It's no surprise that the Cubs are in a rebuilding process. 

The Cubs, and mostly its fans, have a lot to deal with considering they have a new team with new players, a new coach, new management, new owners, and even some new and overdue renovations to Wrigley.

But the one thing that the fans, the organization, and the coach shouldn't have to worry about are the players performing and to be blunt, know how to play the very sport that they're getting paid to play. 

Unfortunately for the Cubs, an error by shortstop Starlin Castro cost the Cubs the game to the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday. 

The error and loss frustrated Sveum, with good reason, and threatened to send two of its starters, Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo, to the minors to relearn the fundamentals. 

"If people keep playing like that, you have to find options," said Sveum. "Give people playing time at Triple A to figure this stuff out"(Chicago Tribune). 

Sveum sending the two to the minors isn't likely...BUT he did want to make clear that, " You have to perform. You can't keep not performing." 

He believes that, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter if you're a starter or not, performance is necessary in this game. 

"I don't think anything is invincible if you're not performing," he says. "That's still the main ingredient that has to happen to win baseball games. Say what you want about everything, but everything has to be clicking and you have to perform"(Chicago Tribune). 

Well, here's hoping that not only the two stars perform, but the Cubs as well, because last place with a 5-13 record is pretty lonely. 

Tiger Woods Former Caddy Calls DQ.

The former "caddy boy" for Tiger Woods, Steve Williams, spoke to a television show in his native home, New Zealand, and offered up some pretty juicy gossip.

Williams claims that Woods should have been disqualified from the Masters tournament last week at Augusta National.

"From what I can gather, he took an illegal drop, signed a scorecard and left the course," Williams told the television station. "Under most circumstances that would result in disqualification... If the rules of golf are upheld, I believe he should have been disqualified."

Williams has caddied for 13 out of 14 majors won by Woods, but for this Masters, he was working for Adam Scott, the first place winner.

Williams admits that he is unsure about what exactly happened, but that he believes Woods should have been DQ'd.

Whether this is true or not, one thing is for certain. Williams still can't get over being fired by Woods back in 2011. 

First Williams infamously called Woods a "black a-hole", and now he is drawing even more attention to himself.

Poor Woods just can't catch a publicity break.

Noah Struggling to Recover

The Chicago Bulls are trying to keep it together, while Joakim Noah is trying to get better.
They play their second game against the Brooklyn Nets tonight, who they lost to over the weekend.
Noah played a total of about 13 minutes of the last game. Noah's play time has to be restricted due to a lingering foot condition.
Noah is battling plantar fasciitis in his right foot, a problem affecting the tissues in the sole of feet. He has been receiving consistent treatment so that he can play in more games..
Noah says he's doing everything he can to recover, including a lot of ice, stretching, and even acupuncture.
Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau won't disclose any information about restrictions but it seems Noah's play time will have to be restricted again tonight.
At any rate, he seems to be healing faster than Derrick Rose. A date for Rose's return is still undetermined. We wish a speedy recovery to both of the star Bulls players.

The NBA Playoffs, where drama happens!

            The NBA Playoffs are finally here!

            The First-round matchups should give the NBA fans some good if not great games. The Game Ones are over and so far it’s been an “ehh” outside of the Nuggets-Warriors game, which ended on an Andre Miller layup.

These Playoffs just don’t feel the same and maybe because the Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant is sitting at home tweeting instead of playing because of a torn Achilles tendon, or maybe it’s because Chicago Bulls point guard Derrick Rose warns up before the games and doesn’t play.

                        The teams with the better records and home court won in game one. It’s only game one and first to four wins, but there just doesn’t seem to be an upset looming.

            The Golden State Warriors and the Denver Nuggets is expected to be the most “exciting” series because each team scores a ton of points. The problem with that series is that now Warriors power forward David Lee is out for the season with a torn Hip Flexor. The Nuggets have too much offense for the Warriors.

            The Los Angeles Clippers against the Memphis Grizzlies will be “grind it out” type series. The two teams faced each other last year and the Clippers won in 7 in Memphis. The Grizzlies don’t have enough offense having traded away forward Rudy Gay. Chris Paul is amazing in how he leads his Clippers teams and The Grizzlies aren’t stopping him or the dunking machine Blake Griffin.

The Chicago Bulls against the Brooklyn Nets is one of those classic series, which can go either way. The Bulls are without Rose and Joakim Noah, Taj Gibson, Richard Hamilton are all injured so don’t expect much from the Bulls unless Luol Deng and Carlos Boozer have an amazing series. Deron Williams and Brook Lopez are too much for the Bulls and their injured squad.

            The most “publicized” series is the Los Angeles Lakers against the San Antonio Spurs. The Lakers don’t have Kobe Bryant and he means everything to them, but they still have Steve Nash, Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard. Gasol and Howard are great low-post players but when the coach is Mike D’antoni and he wants to run pick-n-rolls with Nash, then you won’t be able to win a series. Nash is too old and injured to be the focal point of the offense. Howard and Gasol need to make their presence known in the paint. The Spurs are a smart veteran team and Gregg Popovich is the best coach in the game. Shame that Bryant isn’t playing because it would have been great to see Tim Duncan and Bryant go at it in the playoffs, perhaps, for one last time.

            I expect the Miami Heat to take care of the Milwaukee Bucks in five games if not less. The Oklahoma City Thunder should be able to handle the Houston Rockets in five games as well. The Indiana Pacers should beat the Atlanta Hawks in their first-round matchup. The New York Knicks shouldn’t have too big of a problem sending the old Boston Celtics fishin’.

            The Series’ may look unappealing so far but in the Playoffs one play, one shot can change the course of a series. NBA produces drama every year in the Playoffs, lets see what’s in store this year.