Who To Choose?

The Chicago Bears, winners of the 2006 NFC Championship Game, have a very big decision to make. The choice of who will start for them at the QB position in the upcoming football season. The two candidates? Rex Grossman and Kyle Orton.

The battle for the Starting QB position is very close at this point. It is so close, Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith decided to flip a coin to see who would be the first string QB during training camp. Because Grossman won the coin toss, I believe he will be given a unfair advantage because he will get more time to show what he's got, which is nothing.

I really, really think that Orton deserves to start this season over Grossman because I believe he is just a better player. Orton has so much potential, which we all saw when he lead the Bears to Superbowl XLI when Grossman was sidelined for the entire season due to a injury. Also, Orton makes much fewer mistakes on the field then Grossman does.

Now, Grossman I believe, even though he won the coin toss to be the first string QB in training camp, has his back up against the wall because it seems the whole organization is growing tired of Rex. He is way to inconsistent on the field and throws way to many interceptions. So at this point into training camp, I think that the starting QB position for the upcoming NFL season is going to be Orton's job to lose.

Just a quick note guys, I will be on vacation for about a week starting tomorow, so don't expect any new blog posts (from me) until I get back. Thanks.

Brawl gets...out of hand

Normally baseball brawls are OK with me, but this one kind of crossed the line. From the Dayton Daily News:

Before the first inning was finished Thursday, July 24, at Fifth Third Field, three batters were hit by pitches.

The victims included:

• Dayton shortstop Zack Cozart, who left when hit in the head.

• Peoria's second baseman, who suffered a broken leg.

• A fan, who was hit by a ball thrown by Peoria starter Julio Castillo.

No information was available about the condition of the fan or Cozart.

The big question is should, Castillo, who threw the ball into the stands, be jailed. I saw an interesting comment on the Dayton Daily News page that said if I was having a baseball game and I threw punches, the police would come and I would probably be jailed. So that pretty much sums up my opinion. But everyone can agree that this is a brawl for the ages.



(Video from The Big Lead)

Meet Bitchy the Hawk

I really don't know why I'm posting this, probably because there's been no posts today, but I saw something interesting during the MLS All-Star Game broadcast that I wanted to share.

But, that's Rob Stone (I did my own picture work!) holding "Bitchy the Hawk." I think that's how Toronto FC spells it.

Apparently he, or is it a she...?, keeps the seagulls away.

Rob was absolutely scared to death, his right hand was sweating and he wouldn't even look at the thing, it was great. He says it's one of the dumbest things he's ever done. No. 1: Hosting Around the Horn.

Anyway, besides that, this All-Star Game actually has been pretty good. The MLS won once again in a game no one in England, or as a matter of fact the World, will care about in the end.

Here are your goal scorers:

WHU -- Dean Ashton 1 (Carlton Cole 1) 26

MLS -- Christian Gomez 1 (Cuauhtemoc Blanco 1, David Beckham 1) 27

MLS -- Cuauhtemoc Blanco 1 (Juan Toja ) 43

WHU -- Dean Ashton 2 (Luis Boa Morte ) 67

MLS -- Dwayne De Rosario 1 (penalty kick) 69

MLS vs. West Ham United [MLS Match Tracker]
MLS All-Star Game [FYI Sports Fans - Forum]

EDIT: The good people over at Awful Announcing probably corrected me on the spelling of "Bitchy."

Liriano Controversy

Francisco Liriano has gone 9-0 in his past 10 starts in the minors, so why hasn't he been called up to the Twins yet? Liriano and his agent Greg Genske, think that it's because the Twins are trying to hold him back. I believe that it's truly because they do not have a spot for him up on the pro ballclub. Livan Hernandez is 10-6, and the Twins young starters like Kevin Slowey and Scott Baker who are doing great, so why call Liriano up?

Well, if they do call him up, and he keeps pitching the way he is pitching in the minors, then that would make the Twins unstoppable, and they would almost definitely win the AL Central and could breeze through the playoffs.

If they don't call him up, then he will sit in the minors and eventually demand to be traded and he will go to another team and be dominant there, which could hurt the Twins.

Or, he could be called up and suck, and be sent down to the minors again, where he goes on another hot stretch, just to be called up and suck again.

The Twins better make a decision on what they are going to do soon, before Liriano gets restless.

So how have these trades worked out?

Edgar Renteria to Tigers in exchange for Jair Jurrjens and Gorkys Hernandez

When David Dombrowski first did this trade, Tigers fans thought it was a very good one, looking past the prospects we gave up. We needed a shortstop after Jim Leyland decided to move Carlos Guillen to first (he now plays third), and Renteria was one of the top players available. So far, he hasn't lived up to his $9 million contract.

Renteria has been god-awful, hitting .255 with 5 home runs and 33 RBIs. He can't hit on the road to save his life (.213). He can't hit in the clutch (.111), and kills many rallies.

While I do think Renteria is better than future starting SS, Michael Holliman, he needs to get his act together and get into form. The Tigers can't afford any small mistakes from here on out.

In Atlanta, Jair Jurrjens has posted more wins than any other Tiger except Armando Gallaraga, and looks like he has a very bright future. Hernandez is an flexible option out in the outfield and has good speed on the basepaths.

Grade: C

Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis to Tigers for six prospects

Where to start with this one... Willis isn't even playing in Detroit anymore, he's down in Lakeland reconfiguring his mechanics and such. He has been a disaster and done nothing to help the Tigers rotation out. His $29 million dollar contract is a joke, he never was worth it, and I don't think he'll ever pitch at a superstar level again.

As of late, Cabrera has been great hitting the ball, and has gotten better at first base. His .289 average is low by his standards, but he's hitting .346 in his last seven games with 11 RBIs. He is a stud and will continue to be one of the best players in baseball.

That's it for my "mini-breakdown." I would have posted more but I got some stuff to do.

Grade: B

42 posts in we finally decide to introduce ourselves...

I guess you could call this a biography, because that's what I'm calling it on the sidebar thing. I'll let everyone else take it away...

The Profit-Z

First things first, my name is Zak. I was born and raised in Pennsylvania and although it is incredibly boring, it is home. I recently graduated from high school and will be attending college in the fall. In my free time I try to hang out with my friends as much as possible, watch some t.v. here and there and get in some pickup football/basketball games. I have played sports all my life at all types of levels and feel there is no freedom like that when I am sprinting down a football field or the side of a basketball court. Sports just seem to make everything better and they are fun to boot. I am quick to judge people but give them a chance to redeem themselves. Like it or not, I am quite conceded and honestly do not find that to be a negative trait. We were all created differently so I guess that is just one of my great qualities that I was blessed with. Oh yeah, I am the coolest guy on this blog and the other guys know it so feel free to tell them if you wish ahah.

Redsoxfan45

Hey guys, my name's Nick, and I'm a 14 year old who lives in Western Pennsylvania, and I love sports. I guess you could say I eat, drink, and sleep sports. I was born in New England, so I am a huge Boston sports fan (aha yes, I'm very lucky). Your also going to find that I am a huge fan of the Chicago Blackhawks. I've been playing the greatest sport in the world, Hockey, since I was about 5 years old, and I recently made my high school's freshman hockey team. I also used to play baseball up until this year. My favorite thing in the world to do is watch Red Sox baseball. I have not missed a single game this season and do not plan on missing any. Besides that, my hobbies are playing a pickup football with my friends, listening to music, and chillin with the ladies. I'm a pretty easy guy to talk to, so go ahead and hit me up sometime, unless of course your a New York Giants fan aha.

Chris Daniel (decides to write it in 3rd person)

Chris Daniel is a 14 year old sports fan who lives in Howell, MI. He live with his family in a house.

Nick Barnowski

That's me. I am 14-years old and also live in Howell, by Chris. I try not to be cocky with some of the stuff I've done, so if I come off like that I try not to (so I'm the opposite of Zak). I've played the great sport of hockey since age 4. I'll be a first-year midget in the fall and in the 11 seasons I have played, I've won a total of about 25 games (so I've won 5% of my games). I complain about it to my friends all the time, but there's nothing I can do about it. I also played a little bit of baseball, I was a left handed pitcher, but quit about 4 years ago. I ran a blog back in '06/'07, on AOL Journals, which led me to great things like an appearance on Channel 7 News in Detroit, and some stuff about me in the Ann Arbor News and Detroit Free Press. Now I run FYI Sports Fans and this site, and it's good to be back writing again. I plan on going to college and majoring in some sort of journalism, and I want to work at a big time news company either covering hockey or sports in general. Some things I like to do are hockey, hang with girls, etc. This is just something I do spare time.

Jim Larranaga Interview

Today I interviewed George Mason head basketball coach Jim Larranaga by phone. Here you can see my amateur, 14-year-old interview skills but I think I did a decent job for a regular high school student interviewing a big time college coach. I should have cut out the first part when he answered the phone, but oh well. (By the way, if your wondering, I called him earlier and he was watching game tape so that's how he knew it was me.) Click the little play button to hear it.

boomp3.com

I'll probably post the interview in text form tomorrow after I go through it all, but I want to thank Mr. Larranaga for participating in this.

Let me know what you think.

Interview with Jim Larranaga [FYI Sports Fans - Forum]