Tommy G's 2008 Baseball Predictions:
Here's a quick run down of my predictions...I'll start with the division my team sits in:
NL West (Best Division in MLB)
1. Rockies -
The Rockies will take the division title. They will prove to have the most complete team in the division. Pitching will be strong enough, and their hitting will lead the division, thus putting them over the top.
2. Dodgers- Wild Card
The Dodger Blue wins the battle for the Wild Card over the Padres, Cubs and Phillies. Joe Torre surprises the NL and sneaks the Dodgers into the playoffs.
3. Padres
The Padres hang tough until the end, but lack of hitting becomes their downfall. Kevin Kouzmanoff turns out to be a top notch player, but can't lead the Padres into the playoffs.
4. Diamondbacks
D-backs will continue to have strong pitching, but nothing else from last year follows. Eric Byrnes falls back down to Earth and becomes the journey man they had originally signed. And the team that won the division despite getting outscored by 20 runs in the season, cannot repeat the feat.
5. Giants
Exit the Barry Bonds era. Enter the rebuilding era. The Giants will have the worst offensive team in baseball, but they have plenty of good young pitching. This will make the team more respectable and possibly even give them a good run during the year. Spoiler role late in season.
NL Central
1. Brewers
The Brew Crew are getting picked by many to possibly win the division, and I believe they can. They're a good young team will some power (Prince & Braun), but pitching might be a little overrated.
2. Cubs
Sorry Cubbies, not this year. Make it 101.
3. Reds
The Reds will have their moments, but ultimately will just be the Reds.
4. Cardinals
The Red birds have fallen from grace. Once in the World Series and a popular pick to return, the Red birds find themselves older, more injured, and just not as good as they used to be. Very little pitching and an injured Puljos will brake the birds...and now the rebuilding process begins. LaRussa might not be back next year.
5. Astros
Houston is the new grave yard for players to come die to.
6. Pirates
They're the Pirates. Enough said.
NL East
1. Mets
Best team in baseball. This year they won't choke...at least until playoffs.
2. Phillies
Last years most overrated team. The Mets pulled off the biggest choke job in history and the Phillies backed their way in. Sweep in playoffs proved it. Hitting is good, but pitching is average.
3. Braves
Old = hurt = bad. Braves will spend year grooming new prospects.
4. Nationals
New ball park. Team sucks.
5. Marlins
Mortgaged team to Detroit to win their 3rd W.S. Title...but Tigers won't do it.
AL West
1. Mariners
Most improved team in baseball, and will win the AL West handily.
2. Angels
Injuries will plague their season and fall 15 plus games back of the Mariners.
3. Athletics
Outside of their traditional 13 game winning streak in July, the A's won't make much noise. They'll groom a lot of pitching prospects so they can get rid of them by trade deadline or next year.
4. Rangers
Bad team.
AL Central
1. Tigers
After plucking the Marlins roster for free, the Tiggers will dominate regular season and edge out the Indians for the division title.
2. Indians - Wild Card
The Indians and Tiggers will be last years version of D-Backs-Padres-Rockies, and the two will duke it out until the end.
3. White Sox
The team will rebound a little from last year's poor hitting performance, but the end of the Ozzie era will take place some time this season.
4. Twins
The twinkees will strive as a small market club, doing just the small things well enough to compete, but this year won't be the year they fight for the playoffs.
5. Royals
Not the worst team in baseball. Yeah!
AL East
1. Yankees
Return of the Evil Empire to the top.
2. Red Sox
What? No division title or wild card for the champs? Yep. I think I'm the only one in the world with balls big enough not to pick the Sox. Don't know why, but I don't think they'll get in.
3. Devil Rays
The D-Rays or Rays or Devil Rays or whatever the f*ck you want to call them, will be the most improved team in baseball. Spring training bitterness with Yankees started a mini rivalry between the two. Watch for them to knock off the Yanks and Sox a few times unexpectedly.
4. Blue Jays
Not enough to keep up in the division.
5. Orioles
Worst team in baseball.
Divisional Series
Dodgers over Brewers 3-0
Mets over Rockies 3-2
Mariners over Indians 3-2
Yankees over Tigers 3-1
Championship Series
Dodgers over Mets 4-2
Mariners over Yankees 4-1
World Series
Mariners over Dodgers 4-3
Saturday, March 29, 2008
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
Rockies (4) vs. Giants (2) at Tucson, Az
Arizona Trip Day 5
Monday, March 17, 2008
St. Patty's Day!
A little bit of green perhaps....no.
After numerous failed plans to do things today (like go to the Grand Canyon...snow...causing a 40 car crash and major highway construction), we decided to catch a Rox-Giants game in Tucson. Holy crap, driving down there from Phoenix sucks. Its like a 2 plus hour drive. No wonder ball players don’t want to get on the bus to travel back and forth. Two lanes going each direction, but a good stretch of it was under construction and speed limits down to 50...55 mph.
On the way out of town, we forgot to stop and get breakfast on the south side of Phoenix. Next city: the evil town of Casa Grande. My dad continued to drive by the exits for places like...I-Hop, and Denny's, I thought he knew where he was going, since he mentioned something about eating at the outlet mall or something. So I kept my mouth shut. Well I was wrong, and we came to the last exit out of town. So we were forced to the options on the last exit. Burger King or the Iron Skillet. Hmmm. So we stopped off at the Iron Skillet for breakfast. IRON SKILLET! Pow! It's the greasy spoon Johnson’s corner of Arizona. IRON SKILLET! Pow! We enter and see an "All you can eat breakfast buffet." Okay, lets try it. So we all order the buffet and go up there for our first helping. Load up on food…and then minutes later…then it shut down. Nice that the waiter told us that.
As I went up for seconds, all the prongs were gone and there were some pans of food left at the bar. A Hispanic lady was packing up the buffet and taking food away. There was one pot of scrambled eggs left with no utensils to scoop with. I asked if it was shutting down and she turned to the other Hispanic guy behind the buffet and spoke some Spanish gibberish. She gave me a spoon and continued to pack up the rest. I guess she didn't understand what I asked. I looked at the spoon and shrugged. I used the spoon to scoop some more eggs. I guess it’s over.
So we get down there a little late, normal exit was closed and we had to maneuver around town to find a new way to get to the park. Once there it didn’t get any better, Hi-Corbett Field sucks when it comes to parking. They have about a hundred spots for a stadium that fits 10,000 plus. Ended up parking a half mile away and walking in. Made us even later. Didn’t mind the walk though, by the time we left the game no traffic affected us.
We finally got to the ball game and it was in the top of the second with no score. The Rockies have their big guns in to play today, unlike Friday. Helton, Nix, Tulo, Atkins, Holliday, Willie T, Spillie, Iannetta and Cook pitching. I recognized virtually no one on the Giants. Randy Wynn and Bengie Molina were the only two. Every one else was like…Who? Guys like Rajai Davis, Nate Schierholtz, Eugnio Velez, Travis Denker, and Guillermo Rodriguez. Where’s Barry when we need him? Cook pitched pretty well giving up three hits and two runs in five innings? Maybe six.
Part 2 of picking on my step mom's favorite mascots. So she has a love for the Rockies mascot Dinger. Dinger's the purple dinosaur who resembles one of Barney's friends. I've been saying this since the day he was introduced. She denies it. Bottom line = Dinger is a dork. There is only one good mascot...Rocky. Although, Dinger has given me at least one good moment of entertainment.
Back in college, a couple friends of mine and I went to a Rockies home opener. We bet Shark some money to get a hug from Dinger. He reluctantly agreed on the bet. During one of the innings Dinger was going up and down the aisle next to us. Shark made his move. He went up to Dinger and asked for a hug. Dinger backed off and put his hands up. Kind of like, "get away from me you perverted man!" Shot Down! Unfortunately Dinger eventually agreed to give the pervert a hug. But it was worth it to see the Shark get shot down by Dinger.
Back at the game...my dad points out that Dinger's here. I turn and look. Oh crap he is. What the hell is a mascot doing at a spring training game? Of course Dinger's supporting the St. Patty's day theme by wearing a green Rockies shirt over his costume. Initially I was gonna keep my mouth shut and not say anything. BUT...the two ladies from Chicago sitting behind us made the comment, "Hey look at the mascot. The purple dinosaur. He looks like Barney. I wonder what his name is."
IT'S ON!
I looked at my step mom and she was upset. I just smiled. Of course I used that fuel the rest of the day to pick on Dinger.
All the runs for the Giants came in the third, single…stolen base…stolen base…single…stolen base…single. Iannetta struggled throwing people out, or maybe Cook sucks at holding the runner. Either way it was embarrassing. Rookie stud 2B, Jason Nix hit a solo shot in the bottom of the third and it remained 2-1 until the 7th.
Scott Posednik drove in one with a triple to tie it at 2-2 and the Rox loaded the bases with one out only for rookie catcher Edwin Bellorin to hit in a rally killer inning ending double play. The score was 2-2 going into the bottom of the 10th, the last inning before the dreaded tie. I was thinking…pretty sad that the SF JV squad made it a game against the Rox starters…anyways, Helton got a base hit and was pinch-runned for. The next pitch, future stud Ian Stewart launched a two run shot deep over the right center field wall, giving the Rox a 4-2 win. Just like the good 'ole days. Time to start a new 20 out of 21.
The Rox celebrated St. Patty’s day by painting a green shamrock on all the bases and selling green Rox hats at the stadium. The attendance was announced at just over 5,000 (hate to see parking when it really is packed). It was a cool day floating between 59-63 degrees in and out of shade, and off and on sprinkles. And a slight breeze.
The National League Champion Trophy was on display at Hi-Corbett. They kept it in behind home plate in the darkest part of the concourse. Unfortunately had no choice, but to use a flash. Lighting sucked.
On a plus note...I bought a world series hat, pin and T-shirt for $20! If you've ever been down to Hi-Corbett, you probably remember this, but if you haven't... One of the Air Force bases is a few
blocks from the park and through out the game they practice landing the planes. All types of military air craft fly low over the stadium as they land and take off at the base. There was a pack of 5 A-10's that flew over. You could see all the ball players look up and watch. It's got to be a great place to train. Just look up and watch the air show for free and play ball.
Monday, March 17, 2008
St. Patty's Day!
A little bit of green perhaps....no.
After numerous failed plans to do things today (like go to the Grand Canyon...snow...causing a 40 car crash and major highway construction), we decided to catch a Rox-Giants game in Tucson. Holy crap, driving down there from Phoenix sucks. Its like a 2 plus hour drive. No wonder ball players don’t want to get on the bus to travel back and forth. Two lanes going each direction, but a good stretch of it was under construction and speed limits down to 50...55 mph.
On the way out of town, we forgot to stop and get breakfast on the south side of Phoenix. Next city: the evil town of Casa Grande. My dad continued to drive by the exits for places like...I-Hop, and Denny's, I thought he knew where he was going, since he mentioned something about eating at the outlet mall or something. So I kept my mouth shut. Well I was wrong, and we came to the last exit out of town. So we were forced to the options on the last exit. Burger King or the Iron Skillet. Hmmm. So we stopped off at the Iron Skillet for breakfast. IRON SKILLET! Pow! It's the greasy spoon Johnson’s corner of Arizona. IRON SKILLET! Pow! We enter and see an "All you can eat breakfast buffet." Okay, lets try it. So we all order the buffet and go up there for our first helping. Load up on food…and then minutes later…then it shut down. Nice that the waiter told us that.
As I went up for seconds, all the prongs were gone and there were some pans of food left at the bar. A Hispanic lady was packing up the buffet and taking food away. There was one pot of scrambled eggs left with no utensils to scoop with. I asked if it was shutting down and she turned to the other Hispanic guy behind the buffet and spoke some Spanish gibberish. She gave me a spoon and continued to pack up the rest. I guess she didn't understand what I asked. I looked at the spoon and shrugged. I used the spoon to scoop some more eggs. I guess it’s over.
So we get down there a little late, normal exit was closed and we had to maneuver around town to find a new way to get to the park. Once there it didn’t get any better, Hi-Corbett Field sucks when it comes to parking. They have about a hundred spots for a stadium that fits 10,000 plus. Ended up parking a half mile away and walking in. Made us even later. Didn’t mind the walk though, by the time we left the game no traffic affected us.
We finally got to the ball game and it was in the top of the second with no score. The Rockies have their big guns in to play today, unlike Friday. Helton, Nix, Tulo, Atkins, Holliday, Willie T, Spillie, Iannetta and Cook pitching. I recognized virtually no one on the Giants. Randy Wynn and Bengie Molina were the only two. Every one else was like…Who? Guys like Rajai Davis, Nate Schierholtz, Eugnio Velez, Travis Denker, and Guillermo Rodriguez. Where’s Barry when we need him? Cook pitched pretty well giving up three hits and two runs in five innings? Maybe six.Dinger
Part 2 of picking on my step mom's favorite mascots. So she has a love for the Rockies mascot Dinger. Dinger's the purple dinosaur who resembles one of Barney's friends. I've been saying this since the day he was introduced. She denies it. Bottom line = Dinger is a dork. There is only one good mascot...Rocky. Although, Dinger has given me at least one good moment of entertainment.
Back in college, a couple friends of mine and I went to a Rockies home opener. We bet Shark some money to get a hug from Dinger. He reluctantly agreed on the bet. During one of the innings Dinger was going up and down the aisle next to us. Shark made his move. He went up to Dinger and asked for a hug. Dinger backed off and put his hands up. Kind of like, "get away from me you perverted man!" Shot Down! Unfortunately Dinger eventually agreed to give the pervert a hug. But it was worth it to see the Shark get shot down by Dinger.
Back at the game...my dad points out that Dinger's here. I turn and look. Oh crap he is. What the hell is a mascot doing at a spring training game? Of course Dinger's supporting the St. Patty's day theme by wearing a green Rockies shirt over his costume. Initially I was gonna keep my mouth shut and not say anything. BUT...the two ladies from Chicago sitting behind us made the comment, "Hey look at the mascot. The purple dinosaur. He looks like Barney. I wonder what his name is."
IT'S ON!
I looked at my step mom and she was upset. I just smiled. Of course I used that fuel the rest of the day to pick on Dinger.
All the runs for the Giants came in the third, single…stolen base…stolen base…single…stolen base…single. Iannetta struggled throwing people out, or maybe Cook sucks at holding the runner. Either way it was embarrassing. Rookie stud 2B, Jason Nix hit a solo shot in the bottom of the third and it remained 2-1 until the 7th.
Scott Posednik drove in one with a triple to tie it at 2-2 and the Rox loaded the bases with one out only for rookie catcher Edwin Bellorin to hit in a rally killer inning ending double play. The score was 2-2 going into the bottom of the 10th, the last inning before the dreaded tie. I was thinking…pretty sad that the SF JV squad made it a game against the Rox starters…anyways, Helton got a base hit and was pinch-runned for. The next pitch, future stud Ian Stewart launched a two run shot deep over the right center field wall, giving the Rox a 4-2 win. Just like the good 'ole days. Time to start a new 20 out of 21.Final Score:
Rox 4
Giants 2
Rox 4
Giants 2
The Rox celebrated St. Patty’s day by painting a green shamrock on all the bases and selling green Rox hats at the stadium. The attendance was announced at just over 5,000 (hate to see parking when it really is packed). It was a cool day floating between 59-63 degrees in and out of shade, and off and on sprinkles. And a slight breeze.The National League Champion Trophy was on display at Hi-Corbett. They kept it in behind home plate in the darkest part of the concourse. Unfortunately had no choice, but to use a flash. Lighting sucked.
On a plus note...I bought a world series hat, pin and T-shirt for $20! If you've ever been down to Hi-Corbett, you probably remember this, but if you haven't... One of the Air Force bases is a few
blocks from the park and through out the game they practice landing the planes. All types of military air craft fly low over the stadium as they land and take off at the base. There was a pack of 5 A-10's that flew over. You could see all the ball players look up and watch. It's got to be a great place to train. Just look up and watch the air show for free and play ball.
Sunday, March 16, 2008
Oilers (5) at Coyotes (2)
Arizona Trip Day 3
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Coyotes were honoring St. Patty's day at the rink so in honor of that...Wow...green!
The Coyotes play at Jobing.com Arena. Yes, Jobing.com. I've never heard of it, have you? Let's give it a hand. A hand for Job. It's submerged inside of an outside shopping mall and you could barely tell it's there from a few blocks away. Also it doesn't hurt that the University of Phoenix Stadium (another appropriate name) is right next door and it towers over everything. The thing is massive. I could see the place all the way across the valley.
So they are handing out free green Coyotes hats sponsored by Bud Light as we walk into the place. Pretty cool. Maybe if someone scores a hat trick I'll throw that on the ice. The stadium is state of the art and pretty nice. It's a "hockey only" arena and is built for it.The place holds around 17,000 - 18,000 and it was a sell out. The Coyotes were five points behind eight place in the playoff race. Unfortunately it was sold out due to many, many Oilers fans. I guess Canadians travel well. I'm wearing my dad's old time classic Colorado Rockies Hockey jersey at the stadium and I'm mentally keeping track of the comments I get for wearing it. Around 13 people knew what the hell I was wearing, the others looked on as they were hypnotized by the bright blue, yellow and red colors it radiated.
The Coyotes came out to practice in a green alternative jersey with a large white shamrock on the back with the number inside of it. Pretty cool. It would be better if they wore them in the game. Looking around the stadium felt like Christmas. With all the free green hats and the predominately red that the Coyotes normally support, it gave a holiday atmosphere. Also the air conditioning set to 5 degrees to keep the ice from melting gave it the holiday feel.
We had great seats to the game. It was on the Coyote defend twice end (2 periods of Coyote's goalie) right in between the top of the face off circle and blue line. We were in the first level, row X (seats go alphabetical upwards).
So in my endless journey of picking on mascots that my step mom likes, we come to Buster. The Coyotes have a mascot named Howler, who is a walking stuffed
cartoon coyote. The Diamondbacks have the same dude, but named D.Baxter. So last fall when I visited, I conveniently combined the two and named him Buster. Kind of a tribute to Arrested Development.
One of them smiles more...but it's deceiving! Two coyote mascots for two professional teams? It's the same dude...Buster. You can't fool me!
So Buster skates out on the ice during the introductions waving the Coyote Flag wearing his green jersey. I whisper underneath my breath, "It's Buster!" And some one hears it and gives me a look.
On to the game...Coyotes come out flat. I mean flat. Ales Hemsky's (Oiler) line dominates on the ice and he scores a 1st period goal. The Coyotes passing is poor, shots don't hit the net, and when they should shoot, they pass. The 'Yotes just got out-hustled.
1st Intermission: Sumo Ice Hockey
Remember those Sumo suits people used to wear. Those were awesome. Well someone dug them out of the closet and decided to have a Sumo Ice Hockey game between intermissions. My first thought is...They need to bring this back. This is the best cheap entertainment ever. The Avs used to do this and then they went to the boring mini-mite pee wee hockey games. Yeah, little kids on ice playing hockey while the P.A. system pumps out that dumb Charlie Brown music. Crap I say! Bring back the Sumos! Unfortunately the Sumo game was just as exciting as the hockey game. No one knew what they were doing. Nobody was going around checking dudes and laying them out. Buster had to step in and take some people down. Ended up sucking. What a shame.
2nd period, Shane Doan lit up the lamp for the 'Yotes to give the home crowd some life. Only to be smacked back down as the Oilers score two more goals to put the game away.
2nd Intermission:
The 'Yotes dance team steps out on the ice and performs a simple dance routine. They didn't lay down the carpet, they simply went out in shoes and performed. Impressive. I don't see the Eagles Chicks doing that in the future. Step mom wonder how they were able to not fall down. I told here it was a special shoe...ready for this...Slippers! Hah hah.
3rd Period: Oilers tack on another goal and lead 4-1. With 8 minutes left in the game, we said, "screw this" and left. 'Yotes ended up getting a late goal only to have the Oilers drop in an empty netter for the victory.
Random thoughts on the game:
- The 'Yotes use chicks in red skirts on ice skates to shovel away the excessive ice-snow build up around the boards. Pretty hot. All clubs need to adopt that.
- The 'Yotes dance team are available before the game to sign autographs. And during the game, each one stands at the top of the aisle and shakes their pom poms. When there is a break in the action, the run down to the glass and shake some more. Another thing all teams need to adopt.
- The 'Yotes need a fan base. This was the second game where the opposing team traveled well and "neutralized" home ice advantage.
- They're a good young team, but they need to bring a veteran leader aboard some how.
Overall Coyotes record falls to 0-2
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Coyotes were honoring St. Patty's day at the rink so in honor of that...Wow...green!
The Coyotes play at Jobing.com Arena. Yes, Jobing.com. I've never heard of it, have you? Let's give it a hand. A hand for Job. It's submerged inside of an outside shopping mall and you could barely tell it's there from a few blocks away. Also it doesn't hurt that the University of Phoenix Stadium (another appropriate name) is right next door and it towers over everything. The thing is massive. I could see the place all the way across the valley.
So they are handing out free green Coyotes hats sponsored by Bud Light as we walk into the place. Pretty cool. Maybe if someone scores a hat trick I'll throw that on the ice. The stadium is state of the art and pretty nice. It's a "hockey only" arena and is built for it.The place holds around 17,000 - 18,000 and it was a sell out. The Coyotes were five points behind eight place in the playoff race. Unfortunately it was sold out due to many, many Oilers fans. I guess Canadians travel well. I'm wearing my dad's old time classic Colorado Rockies Hockey jersey at the stadium and I'm mentally keeping track of the comments I get for wearing it. Around 13 people knew what the hell I was wearing, the others looked on as they were hypnotized by the bright blue, yellow and red colors it radiated.
The Coyotes came out to practice in a green alternative jersey with a large white shamrock on the back with the number inside of it. Pretty cool. It would be better if they wore them in the game. Looking around the stadium felt like Christmas. With all the free green hats and the predominately red that the Coyotes normally support, it gave a holiday atmosphere. Also the air conditioning set to 5 degrees to keep the ice from melting gave it the holiday feel.We had great seats to the game. It was on the Coyote defend twice end (2 periods of Coyote's goalie) right in between the top of the face off circle and blue line. We were in the first level, row X (seats go alphabetical upwards).
Buster
So in my endless journey of picking on mascots that my step mom likes, we come to Buster. The Coyotes have a mascot named Howler, who is a walking stuffed
cartoon coyote. The Diamondbacks have the same dude, but named D.Baxter. So last fall when I visited, I conveniently combined the two and named him Buster. Kind of a tribute to Arrested Development.One of them smiles more...but it's deceiving! Two coyote mascots for two professional teams? It's the same dude...Buster. You can't fool me!
So Buster skates out on the ice during the introductions waving the Coyote Flag wearing his green jersey. I whisper underneath my breath, "It's Buster!" And some one hears it and gives me a look.
On to the game...Coyotes come out flat. I mean flat. Ales Hemsky's (Oiler) line dominates on the ice and he scores a 1st period goal. The Coyotes passing is poor, shots don't hit the net, and when they should shoot, they pass. The 'Yotes just got out-hustled.
1st Intermission: Sumo Ice Hockey
Remember those Sumo suits people used to wear. Those were awesome. Well someone dug them out of the closet and decided to have a Sumo Ice Hockey game between intermissions. My first thought is...They need to bring this back. This is the best cheap entertainment ever. The Avs used to do this and then they went to the boring mini-mite pee wee hockey games. Yeah, little kids on ice playing hockey while the P.A. system pumps out that dumb Charlie Brown music. Crap I say! Bring back the Sumos! Unfortunately the Sumo game was just as exciting as the hockey game. No one knew what they were doing. Nobody was going around checking dudes and laying them out. Buster had to step in and take some people down. Ended up sucking. What a shame.
2nd period, Shane Doan lit up the lamp for the 'Yotes to give the home crowd some life. Only to be smacked back down as the Oilers score two more goals to put the game away.
2nd Intermission:
The 'Yotes dance team steps out on the ice and performs a simple dance routine. They didn't lay down the carpet, they simply went out in shoes and performed. Impressive. I don't see the Eagles Chicks doing that in the future. Step mom wonder how they were able to not fall down. I told here it was a special shoe...ready for this...Slippers! Hah hah.
3rd Period: Oilers tack on another goal and lead 4-1. With 8 minutes left in the game, we said, "screw this" and left. 'Yotes ended up getting a late goal only to have the Oilers drop in an empty netter for the victory.
Final Score:
Oilers 5
Coyotes 2
Oilers 5
Coyotes 2
Random thoughts on the game:
- The 'Yotes use chicks in red skirts on ice skates to shovel away the excessive ice-snow build up around the boards. Pretty hot. All clubs need to adopt that.
- The 'Yotes dance team are available before the game to sign autographs. And during the game, each one stands at the top of the aisle and shakes their pom poms. When there is a break in the action, the run down to the glass and shake some more. Another thing all teams need to adopt.
- The 'Yotes need a fan base. This was the second game where the opposing team traveled well and "neutralized" home ice advantage.
- They're a good young team, but they need to bring a veteran leader aboard some how.
Overall Coyotes record falls to 0-2
Saturday, March 15, 2008
Rockies (4) vs. Mariners (9) at Peoria, AZ
Arizona Trip Day 2
March 14, 2008:
Yesterday, I went to go see the Rockies JV squad get pounded by the Mariners starters along with my dad. It was a warm, bright, windy day in Peoria, AZ. The day didn't start off on the right foot as we waited forty-five minutes on the off ramp of the highway trying to get to the stadium. We were only like five blocks away, but the design and timing of the stop lights to get in the stadium sucked. We ended up cutting across a mall and parking in the Cheesefactory's parking lot. Saved $5! F-You Baseball!
So we head in line to get tickets and what ya know, it was a full house. Ended up getting grass seats in the outfield for $6. We were a little late as the game was starting as we entered the stadium. By the time we saw the field, Tulo was up to bat. We walked to grassy nole in right field and got some huge foot long hot dogs. They weren't the cheap skinny things you would normally see at a baseball game. They were huge. We sat down in the picnic area in right for the first inning eating lunch.
Rox lead 1-0 going into the bottom of the first. Franklin Morales took the mound for the Rox (at least physically) and threw batting practice to the Mariners. 4-1 Mariners after one, mostly singles. The Japanese wonder, Ichiro (BHA), got his second hit of the spring in the first inning. We continued to walk around the concourse peeking in at play. The stadium set-up was pretty nice, you could spend all day walking around the stadium and watch the game. The concourse went inside and outside of the main seating section, and as long as you weren't blocking everyone's view, you could lean up against the wall and watch the game anywhere around home plate (as long as there was room to lean).
Only 3 main Rockies played (Tulo, Atkins, Morales) while the others stayed in Tucson (playing 18 holes of golf). Everyone else was a minor bench player or minor leaguer last year. The team didn't travel with a lot of players. I peeked into the dugout and saw maybe a handful of players. The Rox didn't seem to bring their "A" game, or "B" or "C", as they committed 3 errors, and played like crap. Marcus Giles played second and let a roller go through his legs. He hit pretty well with a double and turned a triple into Little League Inside the Park Homerun. Ichiro went 3-4 with his first HR in 5 years of spring training. Morales gave up 9 runs in three innings and got knocked around. It seemed that he was tipping off his pitches as no Mariner was fooled by the off-speed pitches.
On a side note: in front of the stadium there was a Lundeen statue of a kid with a baseball glove. Loveland makin' it's way to 'Zona!
March 14, 2008:
Yesterday, I went to go see the Rockies JV squad get pounded by the Mariners starters along with my dad. It was a warm, bright, windy day in Peoria, AZ. The day didn't start off on the right foot as we waited forty-five minutes on the off ramp of the highway trying to get to the stadium. We were only like five blocks away, but the design and timing of the stop lights to get in the stadium sucked. We ended up cutting across a mall and parking in the Cheesefactory's parking lot. Saved $5! F-You Baseball!So we head in line to get tickets and what ya know, it was a full house. Ended up getting grass seats in the outfield for $6. We were a little late as the game was starting as we entered the stadium. By the time we saw the field, Tulo was up to bat. We walked to grassy nole in right field and got some huge foot long hot dogs. They weren't the cheap skinny things you would normally see at a baseball game. They were huge. We sat down in the picnic area in right for the first inning eating lunch.
Rox lead 1-0 going into the bottom of the first. Franklin Morales took the mound for the Rox (at least physically) and threw batting practice to the Mariners. 4-1 Mariners after one, mostly singles. The Japanese wonder, Ichiro (BHA), got his second hit of the spring in the first inning. We continued to walk around the concourse peeking in at play. The stadium set-up was pretty nice, you could spend all day walking around the stadium and watch the game. The concourse went inside and outside of the main seating section, and as long as you weren't blocking everyone's view, you could lean up against the wall and watch the game anywhere around home plate (as long as there was room to lean).
Only 3 main Rockies played (Tulo, Atkins, Morales) while the others stayed in Tucson (playing 18 holes of golf). Everyone else was a minor bench player or minor leaguer last year. The team didn't travel with a lot of players. I peeked into the dugout and saw maybe a handful of players. The Rox didn't seem to bring their "A" game, or "B" or "C", as they committed 3 errors, and played like crap. Marcus Giles played second and let a roller go through his legs. He hit pretty well with a double and turned a triple into Little League Inside the Park Homerun. Ichiro went 3-4 with his first HR in 5 years of spring training. Morales gave up 9 runs in three innings and got knocked around. It seemed that he was tipping off his pitches as no Mariner was fooled by the off-speed pitches.
Final Score:
Mariners 9
Rockies 4
Mariners 9
Rockies 4
On a side note: in front of the stadium there was a Lundeen statue of a kid with a baseball glove. Loveland makin' it's way to 'Zona!
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Nuggets (126) vs. Phoenix (113)
So I decided to kick off my sports blog by posting on my first Nuggets game since creating it. Going into the game, hopes of winning were slim. After all, Phoenix has beaten the Nuggets 10 out of the last 12 times. Why should this game be any different? Because...
That's why. Ever since they foolishly traded the much younger, talented Shawn Marion to Miami for the older, slower, bigger, injury-proned Shaq, the Suns have gone 4-4 going into the game. I considered them a title contender until the trade. It's like attaching an anchor to a Porsche. Shaq drags the high pace offense of Phoenix down. But since the "Diesel" has surfaced in the retirement community of Phoenix, the Suns have been:
1. Edge out in a close game 130-124 by their division rivals...the Lakers.
2. Got blown out by Detroit 116-86...AT HOME! Loss by 30 points at HOME!
3. Blow out loss at New Orleans Bumble Bees 120-103.
4. Another loss at HOME vs. Philly 119-114. At HOME! Against PHILLY!
To their credit, they did beat the ailing Mavericks, Celtics at home and beat Memphis and Portland on the road. Whoopeee.
Coming in to the game I knew there was a chance. The Nuggets over that same stretch have been on a roller coaster ride of their own going 3-4 with some terrible losses, and impressive wins. So which Jekyll and Hyde team would show up for the game?
Neither team plays defense, and they both to score a lot of points. The difference: Phoenix shoots 3 pointers well, while the Nuggets shoot poorly but like to dunk. 3 pts vs. 2 pts. Good shooting team vs. poor shooting team. Advantage: Suns
As I told my friend, The Shark, I expected each team to score no less than 120 or 130 points. Each. I kind of expected the Nuggets to lose by ten in a high scoring fest. And I was okay with that. I rather see a high scoring, fast pace game than the crap defensive fest I had to witness vs. San Antonio in the playoffs last year. "I rather face the Spurs." Screw you Book.
Onto the game...Shark and I arrived a little bit early and stand out in the blistering cold for about four minutes before they opened the doors. Can't wait to visit Phoenix next week. Hello 70-80 degrees. The doors open and they're giving something out again...Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony full sleeve arm bands. Perfect. Now I can hide my tattoos while I play outside on the court. Too bad there is a big "Qwest" on the back of them. Or when I drain a "3" I can taunt..."Dial it up! Bitch!" So after we receive our complementary gifts from Qwest, we bolt into the gift shop to look around.
Normally I'm pretty jazzed up for the "item of the game". Usually its something cool marked $5 or $10 off the normal price. What do we have tonight...Nuggets rubber bracelets for $3. WTF!!? A pack of three rubber bracelets in the Nuggets blue, gold, and white colors. Live Strong Armstrong bracelets. That sucks! Later on it hit me. Lance was livin' strong fighting cancer...so why not support Nene and his nut cancer? It makes sense to me now.
Anyways, after walking around the gift shop looking at merchandise, the Shark runs across a few foreign customers talking to themselves. To me it was gibberish. But to the Shark, who dedicated months on learning the German language in his free time, it was a chance to communicate. According to Shark, they were bitchin' about the outrageous prices of the merchandise in German. I swear through out the whole time we were in the shop he was stalking them...itching to start conversation with them. No. Bad Shark. Let it go, we're Americans. And yes, the prices are outrageous. We mosey on over to the kid's shop so I could attempt to coerce Shark into buying a mini hoop set for his kid's upcoming birthday. After minutes of deliberation, the mini hoop set remained on the shelf. Shark apparently doesn't love his kid enough to buy him a mini Nuggets hoop set. I'm disappointed.
After our shopping experience, we head on up to our seats in the nose-bleed section of the Pepsi Center. Actually our seats aren't too bad for the price. Maybe next year after they jack up the ticket prices another $5 a seat again, we can dish out the extra $9 bucks on top of that and move up four rows. We're really, really early to the game and I think we were the second ones in our section to arrive. The players haven't even taken the court yet for warm ups. So we sit in our seats pondering what team is going to show up tonight, and how they should fire George. Also, my favorite part...watch hot women enter the sections in their skimpy outfits. Hmmm...eye candy! Oh yeah, we watch in disgust on how many idiots can't read their ticket stub to figure out what seat they're supposed to be in. It's not that hard! Oh yeah, a lot of Phoenix fans showed up to the game.
The players enter the court and start their warm-ups and we wait patiently for the game to start. Super Mascot Rocky enters shortly before opposing team introductions with a life size photo of Shaq holding a cactus. Rocky has a pen ready for an autograph as Shaq Daddy is announced over the P.A. system and runs out onto the court past Rocky. No autograph. Boo! Hiss! For $21 million a year the least he could do is sign an autograph for a poor little kitty.
At 7:08 p.m., the Nuggets talented starting five of Iverson, Martin, Camby, Carter and Anthony are finally introduced over the P.A. system and Shark turns to me and says, "Why aren't they a second seed?" I don't know. You tell me.
Tip off. I think Shaq won the tip off. I couldn't tell because four or five people were standing up in the first row blocking my view. They were debating on whose seats it was. The people standing were obviously in the wrong seats. Come on' people, check the ticket stub! It's not that hard! A small cheer from the crowd starts up and the P.A. announcer says, "O'Neal with two." WTF!?
Shark asks, "Who scored?"
"Shaq, I think."
But we couldn't tell because those freakin' idiots in the first row are still standing up debating over the seats. Look at your F*ckin' ticket! Section: 380...it means you're seating in section 380. There's a huge sign at the top that reads..."380". Row 1...that's the row you're in. Look at the aisle when you walk in. It's marked what row. Seat 6...it's marked on the seat! Idiots! They finally leave, chuckling, "I guess we're in the wrong section." ...And I get to see Melo bricks a 15' jumper and Phoenix gets the rebound.
They sprint up the floor and Shaq gets fouled attempting a shot. The Diesel on the free throw line. Hits the first and misses the second. Oh yeah...Hack a Shaq at it's finest. 3-0 Suns. K-Mart bricks a 18' footer, followed by a Iverson brick. Amare rebound out to Nash...basket. 5-0 Suns. Here we go again. Carter misses a shot and Melo misses a tip in, gets his own rebound and puts in back up for two. 5-2 Suns. At least we broke the shut out. On a side note, the scoreboard at the stadium isn't working properly and we have no idea how many individual points the players are accumulating. At least the secondary scoreboard in the upper corners that keep track of the home team stats are working.
7:22 of the 1st quarter...Shaq Daddy is replaced. Apparently his lungs can only operate for five minutes in the Denver thin air. 8:06 in the first...Amare dunks the ball for a 12-6 lead followed by a lightening quick Melo dunk. Oh yeah, it's gonna be a high scoring affair.
1:05 left in the first, Camby dunks the ball and the Nuggets have their first lead of the game 32-31. A quick 20 second Phoenix time out and J.R. Smith enters the game. Holly Crap! J.R. in the game in the first quarter? What the hell? Is that George Karl on the sideline? Does he feel alright? I don't think J.R. has seen any first quarter action. I tell Shark, "He just in there for the final minute to give some rest to Anthony "Willie" Carter." Grant Hill buries a three and Phoenix goes on a little 5-0 run to end the quarter with the lead 36-32. Sixty eight combined first quarter points. Oh yeah. We're on pace for a 144-128 game. Now that's the NBA I love. Still the scoreboard isn't working.
Super Mascot Rocky enters the court between periods with a rack of balls. At the All-Star game in New Orleans, four NBA players had 60 seconds to make as many half court shots as they could. Rocky is gonna do the same. Except this time, he's going to do it backwards. How many will he sink? Shark - 1 Me - 2. I have faith in Rocky. Sixty seconds later...Rocky ties two other NBA sharp shooters with 1 make. Chris Paul made 4 at the festivities. Shark you suck.
Second quarter begins with Phoenix jumping out to a 40-33 lead. "That's why they're not the second seed." And then Phoenix went colder than the -3 degrees Celsius temperature outside. The Nuggets go on a 16-0 run over the next three minutes of play. And a 27-6 overall as they close in towards half time. 60-46 Nuggets. J.R. sparked the Nuggets over the stretch hitting several 3 pt shots. If you play him...he will come.
And then the Nuggets got lazy again. Another reason they're not a number two seed. With a minute left before half, the Nuggets have 68 points. I tell Shark, "They could get 70 by half. That would be awesome." But they don't and let Phoenix creep back into the game.
Half time score: 68-61 Nuggets
Shark and I go get our traditional half time ice cream and watch the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers perform a slam dunk extravaganza for the half time show. Shark's starting to drink the Nuggets kool-aid again. We're excited about the Nuggs and feeling good about the game. But in the back of our minds, we're both very weary about the second half.
Third quarter is sparked by many mini runs and Phoenix lingering around the 9 to 11 point deficit. And the scoreboard still doesn't work. There was one point in the game were Shaq never crossed half court. He got the rebound and kicked it out to Nash and hung back at the Nuggets free throw line for about twenty seconds. Yep. He's done. Melo took over the third quarter scoring 12 of his 30 points and left early on with the game high in points. Forty seconds to go in the third, Nuggets up 97-89, I comment to Shark, "They can hit the 100 mark by the end of three quarters." Ah, crap. What did I just say? I just jinxed them now. I said the same thing earlier by saying "they could hit 70 by half". I'm sorry...my bad. J.R. buries a three making it 100-89. Never mind. Iverson tacks on one more point by going one of two at the free throw line and after 3 quarters of play...Nuggets 101...Suns 89. Scoreboard still doesn't work.
The Nuggets lay off the gas pedal in the fourth quarter. But the Suns never step up their game, and the Nuggets easily coast to a 126-113 win. But it wasn't that close as the Suns who at one point were down by 19, got some "garbage" points to make it look respectable. Amare finally fouls out of the game with 1:07 left. Thank God. I swear he gets away with a lot of fouls. By my calculation he had like 10 fouls, but got away with some of them. The NBA must love him. The officiating sucked both ways through out the game. Refs missed even the easy calls that happened right in front of them. Especially out of bound calls. Iverson led everyone with 31 points, scoring 9 in the final quarter. J.R. came off the bench to score 20 points including 6-8 from downtown.
Overall I was impressed with the Nuggets, but I'm still cautious about them. Sure at times they can be world beaters and at other times they can be pathetic. The played some great perimeter defense at times. See what happens when you try. I think it disrupted the Suns game plan. They shot lights out from behind the arc (10-16), mainly because of J.R. They did run up and down the court and wore out the Suns (who played the night before), but did get lazy at times and settled into jump shots allowing the Suns to creep back in it at times. Only if they could play like this all the time. BTW, as Shark and I were listening to the post game comments on the way home, Karl must hate J.R. He called J.R.'s performance a "good-bad game". He criticized him on defensive assignments and didn't give him props for what he did. J.R. was the difference in the game. Besides look at the score. Defense was not really contagious amongst players all night.
As for Phoenix, I don't think the Suns are the same team since the acquisition of Shaq. It definitely was not in their best interest to trade for him. Sure Shaq had some numbers to look good (12 pts, 18 boards), but so did every one else. I was impressed on the passing skills of the Suns, it looked liked Nash had an off-night. They shot fairly well from downtown (10-21). Their main weakness is playing defense. I didn't see anything out of them on that side of the court. Melo was able to dominate the glass against them and get easy put-back baskets against them. One time there were three Suns and Melo underneath the hoop for the rebound. Melo got the ball and dunked rather easily.
Miscellaneous items:
Chicks at the game were hot.
8/10
Scoreboard not working sucked.
0/10
Blah night for the dance squad outfits.
6/10
Surprisingly quick game for being a ESPN game. I thought I would be there forever.
8/10
Item of the Game sucked.
1/10
Free Melo/AI arm bands.
7/10
Rocky entertainment scale:
7/10
Half-time show:
7/10
Crowd enthusiasm/atmosphere:
6/10
Outcome:
10/10
Super Stars:
8/10
Phoenix Suns Totals: 113
G.Hill: 13 pts
A.Stoudemire: 22 pts/ 6 reb.
Shaq: 12 pts/18 reb.
R.Bell: 11 pts
S.Nash: 12 pts/13 ast.
Diaw: 17 pts
Barabosa: 15 pts
Giricek: 11 pts
Denver Nugget Totals: 126
Iverson: 31 pts / 11 ast
Melo: 30 pts / 13 reb.
JR: 20 pts
K-Mart: 17 pts
Camby: 9 pts/ 8 reb./ 4 blk
Willie: 11 pts / 11 ast
Najera: 2 pts
Linus: 6 pts
My overall Nuggets Record improves to: 44-33 (Approx.)
Shaq.
That's why. Ever since they foolishly traded the much younger, talented Shawn Marion to Miami for the older, slower, bigger, injury-proned Shaq, the Suns have gone 4-4 going into the game. I considered them a title contender until the trade. It's like attaching an anchor to a Porsche. Shaq drags the high pace offense of Phoenix down. But since the "Diesel" has surfaced in the retirement community of Phoenix, the Suns have been:
1. Edge out in a close game 130-124 by their division rivals...the Lakers.
2. Got blown out by Detroit 116-86...AT HOME! Loss by 30 points at HOME!
3. Blow out loss at New Orleans Bumble Bees 120-103.
4. Another loss at HOME vs. Philly 119-114. At HOME! Against PHILLY!
To their credit, they did beat the ailing Mavericks, Celtics at home and beat Memphis and Portland on the road. Whoopeee.
Coming in to the game I knew there was a chance. The Nuggets over that same stretch have been on a roller coaster ride of their own going 3-4 with some terrible losses, and impressive wins. So which Jekyll and Hyde team would show up for the game?
Neither team plays defense, and they both to score a lot of points. The difference: Phoenix shoots 3 pointers well, while the Nuggets shoot poorly but like to dunk. 3 pts vs. 2 pts. Good shooting team vs. poor shooting team. Advantage: SunsAs I told my friend, The Shark, I expected each team to score no less than 120 or 130 points. Each. I kind of expected the Nuggets to lose by ten in a high scoring fest. And I was okay with that. I rather see a high scoring, fast pace game than the crap defensive fest I had to witness vs. San Antonio in the playoffs last year. "I rather face the Spurs." Screw you Book.
Onto the game...Shark and I arrived a little bit early and stand out in the blistering cold for about four minutes before they opened the doors. Can't wait to visit Phoenix next week. Hello 70-80 degrees. The doors open and they're giving something out again...Allen Iverson and Carmelo Anthony full sleeve arm bands. Perfect. Now I can hide my tattoos while I play outside on the court. Too bad there is a big "Qwest" on the back of them. Or when I drain a "3" I can taunt..."Dial it up! Bitch!" So after we receive our complementary gifts from Qwest, we bolt into the gift shop to look around.
Normally I'm pretty jazzed up for the "item of the game". Usually its something cool marked $5 or $10 off the normal price. What do we have tonight...Nuggets rubber bracelets for $3. WTF!!? A pack of three rubber bracelets in the Nuggets blue, gold, and white colors. Live Strong Armstrong bracelets. That sucks! Later on it hit me. Lance was livin' strong fighting cancer...so why not support Nene and his nut cancer? It makes sense to me now.
Anyways, after walking around the gift shop looking at merchandise, the Shark runs across a few foreign customers talking to themselves. To me it was gibberish. But to the Shark, who dedicated months on learning the German language in his free time, it was a chance to communicate. According to Shark, they were bitchin' about the outrageous prices of the merchandise in German. I swear through out the whole time we were in the shop he was stalking them...itching to start conversation with them. No. Bad Shark. Let it go, we're Americans. And yes, the prices are outrageous. We mosey on over to the kid's shop so I could attempt to coerce Shark into buying a mini hoop set for his kid's upcoming birthday. After minutes of deliberation, the mini hoop set remained on the shelf. Shark apparently doesn't love his kid enough to buy him a mini Nuggets hoop set. I'm disappointed.
After our shopping experience, we head on up to our seats in the nose-bleed section of the Pepsi Center. Actually our seats aren't too bad for the price. Maybe next year after they jack up the ticket prices another $5 a seat again, we can dish out the extra $9 bucks on top of that and move up four rows. We're really, really early to the game and I think we were the second ones in our section to arrive. The players haven't even taken the court yet for warm ups. So we sit in our seats pondering what team is going to show up tonight, and how they should fire George. Also, my favorite part...watch hot women enter the sections in their skimpy outfits. Hmmm...eye candy! Oh yeah, we watch in disgust on how many idiots can't read their ticket stub to figure out what seat they're supposed to be in. It's not that hard! Oh yeah, a lot of Phoenix fans showed up to the game.
The players enter the court and start their warm-ups and we wait patiently for the game to start. Super Mascot Rocky enters shortly before opposing team introductions with a life size photo of Shaq holding a cactus. Rocky has a pen ready for an autograph as Shaq Daddy is announced over the P.A. system and runs out onto the court past Rocky. No autograph. Boo! Hiss! For $21 million a year the least he could do is sign an autograph for a poor little kitty.
At 7:08 p.m., the Nuggets talented starting five of Iverson, Martin, Camby, Carter and Anthony are finally introduced over the P.A. system and Shark turns to me and says, "Why aren't they a second seed?" I don't know. You tell me.Tip off. I think Shaq won the tip off. I couldn't tell because four or five people were standing up in the first row blocking my view. They were debating on whose seats it was. The people standing were obviously in the wrong seats. Come on' people, check the ticket stub! It's not that hard! A small cheer from the crowd starts up and the P.A. announcer says, "O'Neal with two." WTF!?
Shark asks, "Who scored?"
"Shaq, I think."
But we couldn't tell because those freakin' idiots in the first row are still standing up debating over the seats. Look at your F*ckin' ticket! Section: 380...it means you're seating in section 380. There's a huge sign at the top that reads..."380". Row 1...that's the row you're in. Look at the aisle when you walk in. It's marked what row. Seat 6...it's marked on the seat! Idiots! They finally leave, chuckling, "I guess we're in the wrong section." ...And I get to see Melo bricks a 15' jumper and Phoenix gets the rebound.
They sprint up the floor and Shaq gets fouled attempting a shot. The Diesel on the free throw line. Hits the first and misses the second. Oh yeah...Hack a Shaq at it's finest. 3-0 Suns. K-Mart bricks a 18' footer, followed by a Iverson brick. Amare rebound out to Nash...basket. 5-0 Suns. Here we go again. Carter misses a shot and Melo misses a tip in, gets his own rebound and puts in back up for two. 5-2 Suns. At least we broke the shut out. On a side note, the scoreboard at the stadium isn't working properly and we have no idea how many individual points the players are accumulating. At least the secondary scoreboard in the upper corners that keep track of the home team stats are working.
7:22 of the 1st quarter...Shaq Daddy is replaced. Apparently his lungs can only operate for five minutes in the Denver thin air. 8:06 in the first...Amare dunks the ball for a 12-6 lead followed by a lightening quick Melo dunk. Oh yeah, it's gonna be a high scoring affair.
1:05 left in the first, Camby dunks the ball and the Nuggets have their first lead of the game 32-31. A quick 20 second Phoenix time out and J.R. Smith enters the game. Holly Crap! J.R. in the game in the first quarter? What the hell? Is that George Karl on the sideline? Does he feel alright? I don't think J.R. has seen any first quarter action. I tell Shark, "He just in there for the final minute to give some rest to Anthony "Willie" Carter." Grant Hill buries a three and Phoenix goes on a little 5-0 run to end the quarter with the lead 36-32. Sixty eight combined first quarter points. Oh yeah. We're on pace for a 144-128 game. Now that's the NBA I love. Still the scoreboard isn't working.
Super Mascot Rocky enters the court between periods with a rack of balls. At the All-Star game in New Orleans, four NBA players had 60 seconds to make as many half court shots as they could. Rocky is gonna do the same. Except this time, he's going to do it backwards. How many will he sink? Shark - 1 Me - 2. I have faith in Rocky. Sixty seconds later...Rocky ties two other NBA sharp shooters with 1 make. Chris Paul made 4 at the festivities. Shark you suck.
Second quarter begins with Phoenix jumping out to a 40-33 lead. "That's why they're not the second seed." And then Phoenix went colder than the -3 degrees Celsius temperature outside. The Nuggets go on a 16-0 run over the next three minutes of play. And a 27-6 overall as they close in towards half time. 60-46 Nuggets. J.R. sparked the Nuggets over the stretch hitting several 3 pt shots. If you play him...he will come.
And then the Nuggets got lazy again. Another reason they're not a number two seed. With a minute left before half, the Nuggets have 68 points. I tell Shark, "They could get 70 by half. That would be awesome." But they don't and let Phoenix creep back into the game.
Half time score: 68-61 Nuggets
Shark and I go get our traditional half time ice cream and watch the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers perform a slam dunk extravaganza for the half time show. Shark's starting to drink the Nuggets kool-aid again. We're excited about the Nuggs and feeling good about the game. But in the back of our minds, we're both very weary about the second half.
Third quarter is sparked by many mini runs and Phoenix lingering around the 9 to 11 point deficit. And the scoreboard still doesn't work. There was one point in the game were Shaq never crossed half court. He got the rebound and kicked it out to Nash and hung back at the Nuggets free throw line for about twenty seconds. Yep. He's done. Melo took over the third quarter scoring 12 of his 30 points and left early on with the game high in points. Forty seconds to go in the third, Nuggets up 97-89, I comment to Shark, "They can hit the 100 mark by the end of three quarters." Ah, crap. What did I just say? I just jinxed them now. I said the same thing earlier by saying "they could hit 70 by half". I'm sorry...my bad. J.R. buries a three making it 100-89. Never mind. Iverson tacks on one more point by going one of two at the free throw line and after 3 quarters of play...Nuggets 101...Suns 89. Scoreboard still doesn't work.
The Nuggets lay off the gas pedal in the fourth quarter. But the Suns never step up their game, and the Nuggets easily coast to a 126-113 win. But it wasn't that close as the Suns who at one point were down by 19, got some "garbage" points to make it look respectable. Amare finally fouls out of the game with 1:07 left. Thank God. I swear he gets away with a lot of fouls. By my calculation he had like 10 fouls, but got away with some of them. The NBA must love him. The officiating sucked both ways through out the game. Refs missed even the easy calls that happened right in front of them. Especially out of bound calls. Iverson led everyone with 31 points, scoring 9 in the final quarter. J.R. came off the bench to score 20 points including 6-8 from downtown.
Overall I was impressed with the Nuggets, but I'm still cautious about them. Sure at times they can be world beaters and at other times they can be pathetic. The played some great perimeter defense at times. See what happens when you try. I think it disrupted the Suns game plan. They shot lights out from behind the arc (10-16), mainly because of J.R. They did run up and down the court and wore out the Suns (who played the night before), but did get lazy at times and settled into jump shots allowing the Suns to creep back in it at times. Only if they could play like this all the time. BTW, as Shark and I were listening to the post game comments on the way home, Karl must hate J.R. He called J.R.'s performance a "good-bad game". He criticized him on defensive assignments and didn't give him props for what he did. J.R. was the difference in the game. Besides look at the score. Defense was not really contagious amongst players all night.
As for Phoenix, I don't think the Suns are the same team since the acquisition of Shaq. It definitely was not in their best interest to trade for him. Sure Shaq had some numbers to look good (12 pts, 18 boards), but so did every one else. I was impressed on the passing skills of the Suns, it looked liked Nash had an off-night. They shot fairly well from downtown (10-21). Their main weakness is playing defense. I didn't see anything out of them on that side of the court. Melo was able to dominate the glass against them and get easy put-back baskets against them. One time there were three Suns and Melo underneath the hoop for the rebound. Melo got the ball and dunked rather easily.
Miscellaneous items:
Chicks at the game were hot.
8/10
Scoreboard not working sucked.
0/10
Blah night for the dance squad outfits.
6/10
Surprisingly quick game for being a ESPN game. I thought I would be there forever.
8/10
Item of the Game sucked.
1/10
Free Melo/AI arm bands.
7/10
Rocky entertainment scale:
7/10
Half-time show:
7/10
Crowd enthusiasm/atmosphere:
6/10
Outcome:
10/10
Super Stars:
8/10
Phoenix Suns Totals: 113
G.Hill: 13 pts
A.Stoudemire: 22 pts/ 6 reb.
Shaq: 12 pts/18 reb.
R.Bell: 11 pts
S.Nash: 12 pts/13 ast.
Diaw: 17 pts
Barabosa: 15 pts
Giricek: 11 pts
Denver Nugget Totals: 126
Iverson: 31 pts / 11 ast
Melo: 30 pts / 13 reb.
JR: 20 pts
K-Mart: 17 pts
Camby: 9 pts/ 8 reb./ 4 blk
Willie: 11 pts / 11 ast
Najera: 2 pts
Linus: 6 pts
My overall Nuggets Record improves to: 44-33 (Approx.)
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