The Derby

The one hundred and thirty-fifth Kentucky derby is coming up here pretty soon. Tom McCarthy is seventy-five years old and has been training horse his entire life. He said it’s a dream of every horse trainer to raise the perfect horse that will be the winner. Always asking yourself for the three year process is this is going to the horse. McCarthy used to be a principal and biology teacher back in the day. Now he is going to leading his one and only horse that he has in his stable. His name his General Quarters! If General Quarters wins the race McCarthy will be the oldest man in history to raise and lead his own horse to a victory. The chances aren’t looking very good with the odds provided by the experts, but he will also claim the least likely win.


The Race is held annually on the first Saturday in May, in Louisville Kentucky. It is held for three year old full bred horses and is also know as the “most exciting two minutes in sports.” Doctor Ayers, I found it! The race is one and a quarter miles long. Those little guys that ride the horses remind me of little army guys that you would find on a birthday cake. I guess the call them jockeys, better be politically correct I don’t want one of them coming after me. The most interesting thing I have heard about horses lately though is that Jello is made from horses’ hooves.

My weekend of ESPN

What does wisdom teeth have to do with sports? Well first off I couldn’t play baseball this weekend because I had to get them out. Second I got my fair share of watching ESPN this weekend and third I couldn’t go swimming and my cousin Jeffery Kimbro’s this weekend… I had to sit and watch!

Well if you turned to ESPN at any point this weekend, you would have noticed that nothing has really been on besides the NFL Draft. This is probably one of the most exciting times of the year for footballs fans around the nation. It’s real neat to see which players are going to playing where next year. If you’re like me and are watching the draft and seeing who is getting who, then you are wondering how much money that player is going to sign for and how much he is going to be making in his future. The Detroit lions are getting a lot of good picks from what I have seen. Don’t feel like going to look up the names, but they are getting a good quarterback Stafford, which they need badly. Also they picked up a pretty good wide receiver, cant remember his name but he should be good. They got a decent offensive lineman too. The Jets picked up Iowa native Shonn Greene and another corner back from Iowa went right after him. There was an offensive line man that went like one seventeen from Iowa, I think. Cubs need to step up their game after this weekend…they played terrible Thursday through Saturday.

Wisdom teeth...

Well Friday at one o’ clock in the afternoon I found myself sitting in the waiting room at the oral surgeon’s office. Dr. Morio is his name, most may know his younger brothers Mike and 06’ graduate and Will who graduated last year. Will and I played baseball together last year, that’s how I know him. When they took me back to the room where I was getting my wisdom teeth pulled and opened the door and told me walk in. There was a single chair right in the middle of the floor and then it was basically just empty from there…. A few cupboards and something behind the chair and a window, but that’s about it. Basically something that you would see from a horror movie, only if the lights were off and thunder storming out, would have been perfect!

I was far from scared about the experience of getting my wisdom teeth pulled; I was more worried about what I was going to be able to eat more then anything. Since it was my first time being put under I didn’t know what to expect. You could tell when you were dowsing off and then you fell into this deep sleep. About forty-five minutes later I woke up and then went to target where I about ran over four different people because I made them move for me. The whole pain thing is completely overrated, it doesn’t hurt at all. I could eat just about anything I wanted, just took a while to chew it up. I just wish I didn’t have to ice/heat my cheeks anymore and wish the swelling would go down. Besides that getting your wisdom teeth pulled is way over exaggerated.

E:60 part II

On the next part of the show it was about Michael Vick and his sentencing for the dog fighting crime he committed. If you didn’t know Michael Vick was arrested for the fighting dog which is illegal in the United States. It said that Vick had over one hundred dogs that he was planning to fight. He had them in the backyard of his house in individual cages inside special built dog houses. The dogs that were rescued from Mr. Vick’s home were set up for adoption. They all had to go through a bunch of training classes that they passed and then were put up for sale. The training was aimed at how the dogs acted around meeting new people, little kids, and other dogs. Most of them passed pretty easy, surprisingly and are now really good family pets. A few of them were considered to dangerous to be adopted and will live the rest of their lives at these training shelters. Others are going to have to go through more intense training before released and others were considered injured or disabled.

There was a few other stories on the show, one was about an ex cowboy player that has been put in prison for the next seven and a half years. Don’t have his name. He was on his way home from the strip club and was following a car home, when he swerved left hitting three people, killing two. Then continued home, stating the he didn’t realize he hit some people that night, if you look at his car it was obvious he noticed what happened. He turned him self in two days later which no test could prove if he was drinking or not.

E:60

I went over to my friends yesterday and on our ride home from school at about noon thirty, he was telling me about this show that he saw on EPSN. I am pretty sure that I have seen it before but never really paid attention to the name. The show is called E: sixty, and yesterday I realized the high interest level that was involved. It’s an interviews usually about pro athletes and their off the field life. I recall watching the show a while back but really wasn’t paying attention to what it was called or anything. It didn’t involve pro athletes but also has stories about people or kids going through problems and how it affects their sports life. Like kids that have been paralyzed have to play in wheelchairs or physical disabilities that people are born with.

Yesterday they were talking about Alexander the great or Alexander Ovechkin, who they say is the best player in the NHL. The twenty-four year old Russian is an impressive player from what I have seen from the video I watched. Since Ovechkin is the best player in the best player in the NHL, not going to lie he is pretty damn good. Off the ice Alexander the great had a fetish for really fast cars and he wants to buy as many of them as he can as fast as possible. He normally goes one hundred and eighty miles per hour when he drives and in Russian he said he goes over two hundred. Ovechkin was given the key to the city of Washington D.C from the mayor. This erased any speed limit requirements in downtown Washington D.C.

Hockey

In other sports, I completely forgot about the NHL playoffs which also started this month. I have absolutely no clue how those are going, me and friends just realized the other day that they have began. Flyers played the Penguins today and cut the series to a one game lead. The penguins were looking for a three to nothing lead in the seven game series. The man Sidney Crosby didn’t score any goals in this game but didn’t have two assists in their loss. The Flyers beat the penguins six to three and got their first win of the series. Topic of discussions is between the mighty ducks and the sharks. Who will win the series between the two? The Ducks won game one and had one to zero lead in the series. I would like to see the Ducks win, seems like it has been forever since they have been any good.

I went to the Roughrider game last night; it was probably the best hockey game that I have seen in awhile. Even though the riders lost it was a very good game. We were up three to one in the first period then found ourselves down five to three during the second period. I can’t remember that well but then we tied it back up five to five at the end of the second period. Then were down five to six and tied it back up. Then with fifteen seconds left Indiana made a goal and put a end to the riders season.

NBA playoffs

Next topic of discussion is the NBA playoffs, which got started yesterday. For Some reason I didn’t think that they started until this Monday on the twentieth but I was actually yesterday when they began. The Los Angeles Lakes blew right by the Jazz earlier today at about three of clock this after noon. They scored sixty-three first half points on the Jazz. Kobe Bryant had twenty-four of the Lakers points, Trevor Ariza had twenty-one points and Pau Gasol added another twenty. After leading by twenty-two at half there was no way to stop that number one seed Lakers. This is only the first round, which makes the Jazz a number eight seed, but they weren’t looking to hot this afternoon. I mean the Lakers are obviously a much better team and probably won’t have any trouble winning this series. The won one hundred and thirteen to one hundred giving them an early lead and one step closer to the NBA Finals.

In other playoff games, seventy sixers beat the magic today, which is surprising to most of us or well maybe just me but I don’t know. They tied it up late in the game ninety right to ninety eight and then hit a game winning shot. Iguodala hit a twenty two foot jumper with two point two seconds left. He had twenty points in the game, eight rebounds and eight assist on the night. Philadelphia trailed by as much as eighteen points in the upset first round win over the Orlando Magic. This is only game on and look for the Magic to win the series.

Legion + Cubs/Cards

I’m not going to lie I should of started doing these blog post about four hours ago. Today I had baseball in Dyersville and didn’t make it past the couch once I arrived at home a little after six. We had to play Dubuque legion and lost both games, which isn’t normal but it was way to cold. Our spring league season is going pretty good, we have won six, lost four and tied one. Next weekend we are suppose to play in Ottumwa but I will not make because I to get my wisdom teeth pulled. Sucks, because their coach can’t make it through an inning without needing a cigarette and that’s pretty funny to watch.

In other baseball news that Cubs played that Cardinals in a four game series this weekend in Chicago. Only the most intense series of the year when the two have to play each other especially when you’re a cub fan. After lost on Thursday to the cardinals seven to four at Wrigley field, the cubs won two in row. Friday night they won eight to seven after Alfonso Soriano hit a two run homer in the eighth to give them the lead. This was to be the winning run for cubs. Last night Ramirez hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eleventh inning. He was zero for five on the day and came up and hit a walk-off give the series lead to the cubs. The game for today got postponed due to rain in Chicago and is under conversation when this will made-up.

MVP?

The NBA playoffs are coming up here very soon, April twentieth; I believe is the first night? The question is who is going to be the MVP this season? I was sitting at the breakfast table when I listening to some friends argue over this topic just the other day. The three players our there that were part of the discussions were, Kobe Bryant, Lebron James and Dwayne wade. Kobe Bryant who is arguably the best player in the NBA and is averaging twenty-seven point one points per game. In my opinion Kobe is the best player in the NBA, but then comes up the name of Lebron James. Lebron is no doubt going to be a name that sticks around for the next few years. Don’t get me wrong the man can sky, or in other words jump. The thing is Kobe is a much better outside shooter and can also throw it down. The last player that comes up is Dwayne Wade, averaging twenty-nine point nine points per game. Only problem with this is he is playing for a losing team with the Miami heat. In my opinion Kobe should win the MVP because I just think he is an over all better player then Lebron. Also Kobe lost his center Bynum and still led the Lakers to an early clinch of the Western Conference. The battle is between Kobe and Lebron; I don’t think Wade stands a chance.

The other question is who will win the NBA title? My pick : The Cleveland Cavaliers.

Michael Jordan

North Carolina native Michael Jordan might be the most competitive person of all time. Michael was inducted into the hall of fame this week and he said this isn’t such a good thing…He says that it marks the end of his career and “I don’t like that.” He wishes that this was happening about twenty years down the road and hoped that this day would never come. This just goes to show that Michael Jordan is one of the most competitive athletes in the world. Except this is only the littlest thing to prove this is true.

Michael Jordan is said to be to most competitive human being in the entire world by critics. Winning six national championships with the Chicago Bulls just isn’t enough the greatest legacy. Some say that Michael would try to get inside your chest to rip out your heart and stomp on it as part of his mental game. “This is not fun for me” –Michael Jordan stated once being inducted into the hall of fame. “What else is there to do,” after being inducted in to the hall of fame. Off the court Michael was always competing, most of the time it was with cards. Michael Jordan loves to gamble just to keep that edge of his competitiveness. Coach Roy Williams from North Carolina who just one another national championship said that one time he beat Michael in three straight games of pool, which led to Michael not speaking to him for twenty- four hours. Jordan has a love for golf and you have to be very competitive to be able to play that sport. Also had to play baseball just keep his competitive level. Always had to be the first one dressed, first in the shower, first out of the locker room. Jordan went into the business world and ownership of the Washington wizards, but he cant he make down to the court to watch a game, without getting upset and flustered.

Adenhart

The Chicago Cubs had their debut to the two-thousand nine season on Monday. They beat the Astros four to two, and Zambrano pitched a pretty good game through six innings. Tuesday night the cubs lost three to two through ten innings. Lilly got his first win last night as the Cubs beat the Astros in Huston eleven to six. Not that bad of start winning two out of three games and starting the season two and one.
How about them Yanks…Starting the season none for two. Supposedly they’re assumed to win the World Series, doesn’t look like a good start, even though it is still early. The Yankees all-star Sabathia gave up six runs in their opening game against Baltimore. Baltimore beat them ten to six the first game on Monday and then beat them again last night. That’s pretty embarrassing especially because the orioles are not good.

In other news….

Los Angeles Anaheim Angeles rookie pitcher, Nick Adenhart was killed in a car crash this morning. It happened just after getting done pitching in a game Wednesday night. The hit and run minivan drive ran a red light and struck two cars. Leaving two people dead at the scene and putting two injured in the hospital including Adenhart. After undergoing surgery, Adenhart passed away during the process. The other injured person is in a critical injured condition. The feeing hit and run artist was caught about a mile down the road, a short time later. He will be charged with a felony of Hit and Run.

NCAA basketball Finals

The National Championship will be play tomorrow night in Detroit between North Carolina and Michigan State. Michigan State defeated UConn Saturday evening in the Midwest verses East Final Four game. The defeated the Huskies eighty-two to seventy- three. North Carolina defeated number three seed Villanova from the west in their final four match-up late last night. The Tar-Heels defeated Villanova eighty-three to sixty-nine.

It will be North Carolina in the backyard of the Michigan State tomorrow night at the Ford Field Arena. The two teams met back on December third earlier this season. North Carolina handed it to Michigan State with a ninety-eight to sixty-three victory over the Spartans. They scored fifty-three first half points, compared to Michigan State’s thirty-nine. I have a feeling we will see the same turn out with UNC on top but it should be a much better game this time.

The women’s national championship will be on Tuesday between UConn and Louisville. Louisville knocked off Oklahoma a number one seed for the tournament sixty-one to fifty-nine. UConn remains undefeated after beating Stanford eighty-three to sixty-four. Connecticut led by thirty-one at one point during the game tonight. UConn will play Louisville on the seventh. This will be the third time that they will play each other this year, UConn coming out on top both times. They played for the Big East title a few weeks ago UConn won seventy-five to thirty-six. I think that the out come will be the same as the past two games but hopefully it’s a little bit closer then thirty-nine. Third time is a charm!

Lebron and the Cavs

Lebron James scored thirty-eight points in the Cavaliers victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Eighteen of his points came in the first quarter, and also had six assists on the day. Cleveland has not lost three games in a row all season and they weren’t about to let it happen earlier today. The suffered a twenty-nine point lost earlier in the week in Orlando. The Cavaliers have been one of the teams to beat this year, just ending a thirteen win streak to the Wizards. It marked the longest win streak in the franchise history as the Cavaliers. They’re also one win away from tying the record for most wins against the western conference as an eastern conference organization.

The Cleveland Cavaliers have been almost perfect playing on their home court this season, with a thirty-seven and one record. Today the game was play in the Quicken Loans Arena, home to the Cavaliers and the victory was their thirty seventh this year. With and overall record with sixty two and fifteen in the two thousand eight, and two thousand nine season, the Cavaliers have the best record in the NBA. They sit at just a little over eight hundred winning percent out of a thousand with only five games remaining in the regular season. Even though they have a better record, in my opinion the Los Angeles Lakers are still my pick with already having claims on the Western Conference. Lebron is a beast but Kobe is still the man.

Opening Day...

Its seems that the season just ended, and it happens to be starting right back up again. On Sunday April fifth the beginning of the two thousand nine Major League Baseball season. The Chicago Cubs play on Monday the sixty, they play the Huston Astros. Figured everyone would want to know that. Zambrano will be the starter for the Cubs and as we all know he will be on the top of his game or completely worthless. Usually what happens is that his emotions control his performance during the game. If he is on his game then he almost unstoppable but if not then it won’t be good. His bullheaded attitude will get to him and the cubs will be behind before then even start. Oswalt will be the starter for Huston. HE IS A JOKE!

I was reading a magazine the other day that rated each team on a point system based of there chances of winning the World Series. The New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs were top teams from the National League to win their division, and odds of winning the World Series. In the American Leagues, the Yankees and Angels were among the top to win their division. Boston Red Sox and Yankees had the high ratings winning the World Series, but the only problem is they’re in the same division. If this magazine was based of depth charts, the Yankees must be up there to win it every year. We all know how that goes, they’ll end up choking. Since it was the first time I have read the magazine and just glimpsed at the points I don’t how the determine the points.