Sharks fight the Wings

VS.

Sharks finally made it past the first round after having to play the seventh game. Win they move on, lose their season is over. This year might finally be the year that they go all the way. With many good players on the team, they have a lot of leadership and drive to get to the end. A lot of the same players have been with the team in the past couple years and they realize what it is going to take to get there. They have lost it many times in the past few years even while being a number 1 or 2 seed. This year is looking better now than ever because the number 1 seed in the Eastern conference lost to the number 8 seed. That means that hypothetically the best team in the other conference is out, letting a easier team from the conference into the championship game.

But there has been one stumbling block for the Sharks in the past years; both in the regular season and playoffs. It is almost king of the weakness, their Achilles heel. This would be the Red Wings. The Red Wings are probably the most known hockey team even if you dont follow along too much. They are known for the success and historically famous players. Now the Sharks are faced against them again. The wall to climb over to get to the Western conference game. I really dont know why the Sharks have so much trouble with the Red Wings. They are just another team, but they just seem to have the Sharks number.

They have already played one game in the series and the Sharks managed to close it out with a victory. It was a lot closer than you might have expected though. In the first 2 minutes the Sharks went out and scored 3 goals. You might be thinking well how come it was so close. Well after that the Red wings really buckled down and didnt allow another goal to pass until much later in the game. Meanwhile on the Red Wings offense they began to slowly make a come back. I dont know if it was ever tied at three all, but the Sharks mustard together one more goal, so they won 4 to 3. This is a good example of what i was talking about though. The Sharks had complete control in the first period, but for some reason or another almost lost it in the end. Now on sunday they play game 2 of the best of 7 series. The Sharks would be smart to win it because they may just need it, and they dont want to give the Red Wings a chance at winning this because if they do the result may not look so pretty for the Sharks.

Mavericks get Spurred

The Mavericks just got booted out of the NBA playoffs in the first round by their division rivals, Spurs. The Spurs won the series of best of 7; 4 to 2. For some reason I am not really sure why the Mavs lost. They did lose a lot of the close games when the margin was less then 5. Also they got into some foul trouble during some games. Finally I think that the Mavs lost the series because when they were on they were on and when they were off they were off. The two games they did win they won by a reasonable amount of points. Then once they got into the close games they were not able to ever quite get ahead and win it. They managed to win a lot of the close games in the regular season, but this couldnt be accomplished during the playoffs.

One thing that I believe kind of hurts the Mavs is that they did lose to they division rival. It would suck to lose to the team you really dont like very much. It is like that kid that you really cant stand and he does better that you at something you thought you were better at. This is kind of what happened here to the Mavs. They were the number 2 seed in the Western division and they lost in the first round to the 7 seed. It is not like it is bad to lose, but when you are kind of are expected to win and you really think you have a pretty good chance at winning, it does suck to lose then. Also i heard that Dirk, the Mavs best player, is open to free agency. He said that he is keeping an open mind and not trying the decide on anything until there might be some offers. It would kind of stink if Dirk left Dallas. I really dont know if I would still be a Mavs fan. He is pretty much he reason for me getting interested in the Mavs. Now if the 7 foot German leaves who has such an awesome fade away shot leaves, my fanship may leave too. I do not know were Dirk would go, or which team would offer what kind of offer. I dont if Dallas would pay the most to keep him in Dallas. I am not exactly sure how old Dirk is, but he probablt still has at least five more good years in him. He is kind of a special kind of player. Because he is 7 feet tall he can grab rebounds and play down around the rim. Not only can he do this, like most people his size do, but he can also shoot a pretty good jump shot and even hit fromt he three point line. This type of player is pretty rare. So all in all the Mavs may have seen some of their best chances leave them as they got spurred on their way out. Here is a video of some of the best shots by Dirk from 2007 to 2009.

Mavs Teeter- toter

The Mavericks seem to be on their heels lately in the last two games in the NBA Playoffs. They lost last night to the San Antonio Spurs 94 to 90. A close game, but they still lost. One thing that the Dallas team is slightly upset with is the officiating. Like other sports this is often a common excuse if the losing team loses in a close game. It happens in basketball, football, baseball, etc. Sometimes this really is the case, and sometimes in a really close game the officiating really does need to be right on and less about opinion. For an example which still lingers in some Vikings fans head were the last couple calls in the overtime loss to the Saints in the NFC Championship game. The pass interference call moved the ball down the field which would eventually put the Saints in position to kick the game winning field goal. Now I am not saying that the result would have been different if the call would have been correct be not making the call, but it very well could have. Well here in this example the Mavs are saying that they are getting called for way too much. One player, which was making the complaints had more fouls than points and rebounds combined in Game 3. While Tim Duncan of the Spurs had twice as much playing time and only two fouls. The player wasnt even just talking about him, but also other team mates which were getting unfair calls on them. Sometimes the complaints are semi legitimate and others just out there to complain, but in this case I would have to side with the Mavs. Make it up in Game 4.

NFL Draft

Well another draft has come and gone. The were some surprises and some very expected picks. I preferable want to talk some on the Vikings draft choices, but mention some of the other interesting draft picks from my point of view.

Lets first get all the extra information out of the way about the oddities and expected. The Rams went like they were believed to and picked Sam Bradford. I guess I am okay with this, but I guess I am not that big of a Sam Bradford fan. Who is to say he is not going to get hurt when getting sacked by someone like Suh who went second to the Lions. I am happy for Suh, and am a huge Suh fan, but scared out of my mind that he went to a conference rival and the Vikings have a 40 year old quarterback. To put it into perspective I ran across this video which would have to be very worrisome to whoever this happens to.
The biggest hit on Farve, equals Vikings without a veteran quarterback. Anyhow we will have to wait and see how the season turns out. Definably the biggest draft pick was... you probably already got it...Tim Tebow. He was the first draft by the Denver Broncos. I would like to ask what they have in mind. The already have Orton and Quinn, so why do they need a Tebow who was one of the quarterbacks to go last. In fact Colt McCoy didn't drafted until the third round. The fact that Jimmy and Colt went down as far as they did was quite surprising. There were a couple other minor surprises, but none bigger then these.

I think I like most of the draft picks by the Vikings. They traded some in their spots and it appeared to work out well for them. Their first draft pick was Chris Cook, CB from Virginia. He will hopefully help a semi struggling secondary in my opinion, which was one of the Vikings weaker parts of the the team. Then a little bit of a surprise was that the Vikings picked Toby Gerhart, RB from Stanford. Yeah you have probably heard this name before. He got second in the Heisman in the closest voting yet. I was kind of asking why they went out and got a running back when they already had Peterson, but what I realized soon after was that Chester Taylor left, therefore they needed some type of replacement. Then they went out and got some big guys for both the offensive and defensive line. Then they continued to go and get some linebackers and a tight end. Another semi strange thing was they drafted a quarterback in the 6th round. They have a few QBs already, unless they hope to really train and raise up a new quarterback, I really dont see the need for one right now. Anyways I think overall the Vikings did pretty well with they drafts picks and only the future will tell if they pay off or end up hurting them in the long run of things.

Sharks Biting the Avalanche

Now I know that the NHL isn't really that popular in the USA, but I really dont see why. There is plenty of cool things that happen in hockey, and it is semi fun to watch. Only during the Olympics does some of the public seem to watch. I mean one of the greatest upsets in the history of sports came in hockey. In the Olympics of 1980 the USA defeated the Soviet Union. This was the miracle on ice. Now that was suppose to boost the popularity, and it did for a year of so, but even now hockey does not seem to be very popular.

Even if you dont pay attention to hockey, I have tried some to stick to a team. It kind of all happened on accident. I got a gift from my relatives that live out in California, close to San Jose. They knew that I liked sports, so they figured that they would get me a sports t shirt of some kind. Well as it turns out the only kind the store really had that looked alright was a San Jose Sharks shirt. Now when I got the present I was kind of surprised because up til then I did not really pay any attention to hockey like most Americans. I had not even heard of the San Jose Sharks. That is actually kind of a lie, though. I had a friend when I was little that was a hockey fan, and they liked the Red Wings, pretty much the only hockey team any one knows, but any way my friend had some hockey cards. I looked at them one time for the heck of it, and saw that towards the back there were a bunch of Shark players. She said that she didnt really like them and they werent that good, but she had a bunch of them so she put them in the back of her collection. It seems kind of strange that those would be the only cards I would remember her having, and a few years later getting a t shirt of that one hockey team.

Well once I got the shirt I figured that if I wore a shirt of a hockey team I should at least know something about them. I looked them up and found out some information about them. As it turns out they had gotten quite a bit better since the last time I had heard anything about them. In fact they were one of the better teams in the league. I thought this was kind of cool then, so I decided that I would become a fan of the San Jose Sharks. I also thought their logo looked pretty cool.

So that kind of brings me where I am today. The Sharks in the playoffs again this year and are one of the best teams again this year. The past couple of years the Sharks have had very good regular season, but have had a curse once it comes to the playoffs. Again this year they are kind of in the same place. They just the fifth game of the best of seven match. They are playing the Colorado Avalanche. The series is at 3-2 right now, and they play on Sunday. They need the win this up coming game so they move on and make it to the Championship Game and finally win it all. So I wish the Sharks good luck in their post season playoffs and that they dont make a stupid early exit.

Crazy Day in Baseball

Just in case you may not have heard yesterday was a crazy day in baseball. Not only was there a no hitter there was also a game that last just shy of 7 hours, 6 hours and 53 minutes to be more exact.

The no hitter came from the Rockies pitcher, Ubaldo Jimenez, which is the first in the Rockies club history. He pitched a good game obviously, but he also got a little help from the defense. There was one grab in the outfield in the seventh inning that could have very well been a hit, but the center fielder of the Rockies made a great effort to run over and dive out and make the grab at the ball. This kind of achievement doesnt happen really much each year in baseball, maybe just a couple of times, out of thousands of games.

Another thing that doesnt happen every often is a baseball game that almost lasts seven hours. If I would have been watching this game live I would have been bored out of my mind. Mostly because it was so long, but also because neither team scored until the 19th inning. But then once one scored a run the other decided they should score too. So the New York Mets and the St. Louis Cardinals finally went to 20 innings. By now the Cardinals had had their second baseman pitch and their shortstop. The Mets finally scored again in the top of the 20th, and the Cardinals were not able to quite match that. It made for a crazy game in the end though. This game was all good pitching though from the start as could be inferred from the score of the game even after 20 innings. These two events made for quite the day in the life of baseball. A no hitter and a 20 inning game with a final score of 2-1. Well I must say that I tried to find a decent video that would allow embedding, but I could find one so here is just a link to get to decent video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gXygRC1KfI

Twins Finding Success

The Twins are coming out strong so far this year. They have played a few more than ten games and already have a winning record. I believe their early success has to do with a variety of good things that they need to keep up doing.

First off their batting have been pretty good. When they have needed a run they have been for the most part able to create one. As a whole their lineup has been able to run of the pitch count on the starting pitcher. This is important because when they are at bat they are able to get many views and a variety of pitches and may be able to sort through them and find one they like. Also this wears down on the pitcher and makes him work harder. This could create walks or just catch him off guard on a pitch that ends up going over the fence. They have been able to get on base so there is always a possibility of putting on added pressure to the defense of the other team to watch this runner, because their team overall still has pretty good speed. As everyone probably knows the middle of the lineup is the Twins power house. With the trio of Mauer, Morneau, and Cuddyer. These three probably lead the Twins in their offensive and are probably a moral boost in the dug out.

Second of all the Twins pitching has so far been able to hold up. No one pitcher on the their team is really a star. They dont have a Hallaway, or a Santana, but just a group of your kind of everyday pitchers. I think this is good though because then they can feed off of each other and not solely depend on one person to do all the work. Also they have been pitching pretty close to any other pitcher that they have faced. Sure they will lose and sometimes lose bad, or just have an off day, but they have so far at least kept the Twins in the games. The pitchers I believe know that they have a pretty good lineup behind them and if they do allow a run or two that it shouldnt be the end of the game. I think I may have mentioned something about the Twins having their closing pitcher out for the season. So far though the guy to replace him has done very well. I believe that he is six for six in saves so far. Even with a little of their early success I am still mostly worried about the Twins pitching, as long as they can keep it close in games.

Thirdly I think the new ball park has at least sparked a little excitement in the players and fans. It is always nice to play for a full stadium of people rather than a half full stadium. The fans seem to have responded well to the new stadium as well as the players. The Metrodome held lots of special memories in the Twins history, but now a home just for them, that doesnt have to be shared. I think that the players kind of feel like they have to play for their new stadium, in a way of telling the public thanks and earning the key to their new home.

I am really excited to see were the Twins go through out the season and who make it to the playoffs in the end. It would be really neat to see the the very first playoff game played at Target Field. So good luck and I will be talking about the Twins most likely later in a week.

Opening Day at Target Field

Well it has now been about a week since the Twins opened in their new ball park, but it seems to be pretty nice and welcoming to the Twins. They opened in their park with a game against the the Boston Red Sox. The new ball park seemed to be pretty whole in attendance and pretty popular. The club acknowledged many popular figures and former ball players or the Twins in a nice opening ceremony. In many sense the players really liked it and enjoyed the day too. It is always nice to win in your new stadium on opening day too. The Twins beat the Red Sox 5-2. The first home run, hit by Jason Kubel, was also hit on opening day. From now on it will be a beginning of firsts. The first run scored, the first hit, the first double, triple. etc. This is just a link to a brief video from a local news cast that was able to get some of the players reactions to the opening game day feeling and the new ball park. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBUddwSi1nY. The name of the new ball park is Target Field. I found this to be kind of strange, just because I mean its Target for pete sakes. I didnt even know that companies like Target would do that kind of thing. It would kind of be like Wal Mart naming themselves on a stadium. I at least could have seen that one coming before Target since Wal Mart is such a power house in todays society. Even from the name the stadium looks really nice and I really kind of want to go there. Just from watching videos it appears that the big Minnesota logo thing lights up of something ever time a Twins player hits a home run. I hope the Twins continue to win, even if it is only like five games or so into the season. Slightly off topic but still sort of related is that the people of Minnesota should be happy about their new stadium. It probably did come out of their pockets some but it appears to be pretty nice. Now I honestly hope the the Vikings are able to get a new stadium. They have been asking for one for a while and are probably the most popular team Minnesota has yet they are so far the last to get one. The Twins and yes even the Golden Gophers got one before the Vikings did, which I found kind of strange. One problem now that I heard is that there isnt really much room and the good tax paying people of Minnesota just paid for a new stadium. Even still i would like to see an impressive Vikings football stadium go up.

Woods Returns, Phils Steals the Show

Woods came back for the first time to play golf in a while. Just in time for the Masters. Woods was an icon to most Americans, until the scandal that was leaked and made public and changed his public view forever. Well anyways even if you still dont like Woods, or you were rooting for him because you still have a soft part in your heart, he got most the publicity until the end. Woods played well and still showed why he is still the worlds number one player even though not having played in a really long time. It was Phil Mickelson though who ended up stealing the show. He won his third Master Championship, which is quite impressive. So welcome back Tiger and congratulations Phil.

Start to a New Season

Now some may be thinking that this blog would be about the time of year when the transition of winter turns to spring. You are some what correct, but it is also more over the start of something new when this new season begins. That would be the start of the baseball season.

Now I am a Twins fan. I was very happy that the Twins were able to keep Joe Mauer in their lineup. He is probably one of the best catchers the game has ever seen. Also Morneau helps just a little bit. This year the Twins are going to have to focus on winning games by their offense and their field defense. The weakest thing in my opinion is their pitching. Ever since Santana left to the Mets the Twins pitching has been hurting a little. What really urts the Twins this year is the information about Joe Nathan. He is having surgery on his throwing elbow. Nathan has been one of the best in closing game for the past few years. It will be difficult to replace him, at such an important position. The Twins starting pitching is just kind of average. Unless a pitcher or two finds some new stuff in their pitch the Twins are going to have to rely pretty heavily on their batting. This isnt that bad of a situation though. The Twins lineup looks pretty good. Especially with one of the best three to four man combinations in the game. Their speed on defense is really good. Their outfield has great range and they improved upon their infield during the off season. I am really pretty excited for the season. The Twins may have a few problems, but with the division they are in, the other teams look to be in similar situations. Only time will tell on how their season will end up, hopefully going deep into the playoffs.