Big Weekend

So I go away for a couple of days and a whole bunch of stuff happens that I don't know about.

* One of the main issues of the weekend was the "no-hitter that wasn't." Jered Weaver of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (we'll call them the LA Angels) tossed six innings of no-hit ball against the Los Angeles Dodgers while reliever Jose Arredondo added two more no-hit innings.

The Angels lost 1-0. Two errors cost them.

The issue here is whether the Angels should get credited with a no-hitter in the record books. They didn't get credited with the no-no because it was no completed in a full 9 innings, they only pitched 8. And since the Angels were the visiting team, Arredondo or whoever the Angels might have sent out there didn't get a chance to pitch.

I am on the fence with this one. I want to call it a no-hitter, but because they only pitched eight innings is why I can't. There has been a couple situations of where this has happened, Silver King in 1890 (way, way back), Andy Hawkins in 1990, and most recently Matt Young in 1992.

Either way, it is still a pretty rare occasion, but still a big L in the win-loss column.

* Floyd Landis, aka, I'm-a-fricking-dumb-cyclist-who-thinks-it's-cool-to-cheat-during-the -biggest-bike-race-ever-and-ruin-the-reputation-of-my-sport, lost his 2006 Tour de France crown and will (again) venture into our minds as an irrelevant athlete (I can't even call him an athlete anymore.) Here's part of the story:

A three-person panel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld a previous panel's decision, ruling his positive doping test during the Tour two years ago was, indeed, valid. Landis also must pay $100,000 toward the legal fees of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

"I am saddened by today's decision," Landis said in a statement. "I am looking into my legal options and deciding on the best way to proceed."

He has 30 days to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court.

In its 58-page decision, the panel at sports' highest court said the lab that analyzed Landis' positive test results used some "less than ideal laboratory practices, but not lies, fraud, forgery or cover-ups," the way the Landis camp had alleged.

In the end, the panel saved its harshest criticism for Landis, who it said essentially tried to muddle the evidence and embarrass the French lab, and continued on that course even after the evidence was shown not to exist.

"Appelant's experts crossed the line, acting for the most part as advocates for the Appelant's cause, and not as scientists objectively assisting the Panel in the search for truth," the decision read.

The decision comes just six days before the start of the 2008 Tour. Landis won the 2006 edition after a stunning comeback in Stage 17, a rally that appears now to be fueled by synthetic testosterone.

Good. Guess that's what cheating gets ya. While I totally agree of Floyd losing his Tour title, I also hate to see this happen to the sport of cycling. I like watching the Tour for the most part and it should be interesting seeing who wins this years event.

* Spain won the UEFA EURO 2008 championship, defeating Germany. Xavi was named the best player, and boy, do the Spanish know how to party. I mean, only one person DIED and 52 arrests were made in the post game celebration.

(Edit: I can't find video, I guess you'll just have to imagine it.)

* They are tearing down Tiger Stadium today. I'm not going to get all teary about it, but it certainly is a sad day in Detroit as the stadium on the Corner is a big part of the history of Detroit sports.

Seats from the old ballpark were available to the public and I was fortunate to grab some (well, my dad was). They're sitting in my basement right now. Here's the Detroit News article on it (LINK).

That's all for now. Tomorrow (or maybe later tonight) I'll post my All-Star ballot and some other stuff so stay tuned.

Couple of things

The plane from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport takes off at 5, and I have to be out of here in half an hour, so I'm using my time to make this post.

* Three big league managers were fired this week: Willie Randolph (New York Mets), John McLaren (Seattle Mariners), and most recently, John Gibbons (Toronto Blue Jays). For each of those skippers, er, former skippers, playoff aspirations were within reach. Didn't happen. Each of these were understandable because to put it bluntly they did not do their job.



I do have a problem (as many people do) with the Randolph firing. The way they did it was classless and gutless. I'm sure by now you know what happened and I don't need to reiterate it, but it bugs me how Omar Minaya did it in that fashion. Jerry Manuel is the interim manager. I do not think that the Mets will make the playoffs this season, the Phillies offense will carry them to the division title and the other teams in the National League (Cardinals, Brewers, even the Marlins) will have a better chance to compete for the Wild Card position. Unless Manuel can restore order in that clubhouse, I don't see it happening.

John McLaren's team has been the most disappointing for me (next to the Tigers). As of now they own the worst record in the big leagues (26-47) and had some big expectations at the beginning of the season. I picked them to win the American League West. Now the Erik Bedard trade looks like the Orioles got the better of it and the pitching staff is one of the worst in the league, sporting a 4.65 ERA. Jim Riggleman takes over for the Mariners. Honestly, I have no idea who that is so I know nothing about this replacement. Good luck.

Cito Gaston takes over for the Blue Jays. He led the Blue Jays to two World Series wins back in 1992 and 1993, so this has potential. The Jays are 10 1/2 behind the AL East leading Red Sox. The Tampa Bay Rays are ahead of them. As with the Mets and Mariners, this team had big expectations for this year and so far have failed to live up to them, digging deeper and deeper with every game. The pitching staff is phenomenal, it's the offense that needs work. They are 10th in the AL with a .257 batting average, next to last in home runs, and last in slugging. The only thing I can get of is beg and plead Bud Selig to get them out of the East, but I don't see that happening.

* The NHL Entry Draft was last night in Ottawa, and Tampa Bay bolstered their offense by taking forward Steven Stamkos with the number one overall pick out of Sarnia. Stamkos will play alongside former number one pick Vincent Lecavalier, forming a 1-2 punch that should be deadly for years to come. Here's how the Top 10 rounded out:

1. Tampa Bay -- Steven Stamkos, c, Sarnia (OHL)
2. Los Angeles -- Drew Doughty, d, Guelph (OHL)
3. Atlanta -- Zach Bogosian, d, Peterborough (OHL)
4. St. Louis -- Alex Pietrangelo, d, Niagara (OHL)
5. Toronto (from NY Islanders) -- Luke Schenn, D, Kelowna (WHL)
6. Columbus -- Nikita Filatov, lw, CSKA 2 (Russia)
7. Nashville (from NY Islanders via Toronto) -- Colin Wilson, c, Boston University (Hockey East)
8. Phoenix -- Mikkel Boedker, lw, Kitchener (OHL)
9. NY Islanders (from Nashville via Florida) -- Josh Bailey, c, Windsor (OHL)
10. Vancouver -- Cody Hodgson, c, Brampton (OHL)

Obviously I like the Stamkos pick, but some other picks I liked were Toronto's pick of Luke Schenn and Boedker of Phoenix. My Red Wings took Thomas McCollum, a goalie, with the 30th pick. Looks like our goalie of the future is this guy, or Jimmy Howard.

There were many trades too. Ollie Jokinen went to Phoenix for two defensemen, which further makes me love what Phoenix did yesterday. The Flames made some moves, trading away center Alex Tanguay to the Montreal Canadiens, then basically filled Tanguay's spot by picking up Michael Cammalleri from the Kings in a three-team trade.

* Curt Schilling's career may be over. He announced that he is having season ending surgery that might force him to hang up the cleats. Should have listened to the doc, eh? Anywho, like most people, I will remember the bloody sock and his amazing playoff performances, and I think he deserves a shrine in Cooperstown.

* The EURO 2008 tournament has been a great one. Turkey has had some excellent come from behind victories and will face Germany in the semifinals. The other semifinal match will be determined today, as Holland takes on Russia and Spain will play Italy.

I think Turkey's run ends as Germany will take them down off a Ballack goal (he's been on a tear). The Dutch will defeat Russia today and Italy will take down Spain. That will set up a rematch of the "Group of Death" game and I think the Netherlands momentum will carry them to the title game to play Germany.

I can't pick against the Dutch right now, so I am going to say the Netherlands will win it all after a 3-2 win.

EDIT: As soon as I get home tonight, I learn the Dutch lose. I was wrong. Screw it.