Owner: The Neutral Site URL:http://theneutralsite.blogspot.com Join Date: Sat, 09 Jun 2007 15:50:01 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: Your new home for ramblings about sports. MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL, NCAA Football and Basketball for the most part. The occasional story on NASCAR, Mixed Martial Arts, Golf, along with other things we find interesting. Site statistics:Click here
NFL Quick Hits 2007-06-09 14:45:00 Two big stories have been unfolding in the NFL during the last week or so. The first, Mike Vick and his connection with illegal dogfighting, and the second, Daunte Culpepper's idea that he is still a good quarterback and his beef with the Dolphins.
The Rabid Falcon - Mike Vick has denied that he has any role in illegal dogfighting. He could be the only one thinking that. ESPN recently had an Read more:Quick
The Best Rivalry in Sports 2007-06-08 21:12:00 What is the best rivalry in sports right now? Well, its not between a first place team and a fourth place team 10.5 games back. And with the current state of the Lakers, Celtics, and Knicks organizations, its safe to say it won't be found in the NBA. Auburn-Alabama? Texas-Oklahoma? No, the only people that really care about those games are fans in the area. Duke-North Carolina maybe, but Read more:Rivalry
, Sports
NBA Finals Tonight 2007-06-07 16:42:00 Zach will be providing a more in-depth look at this series, but I thought I'd provide a few quick thoughts first:
I think the Spurs play an exciting brand of basketball: good basketball. They've been criticized for being boring, or not having star power, but give me the Spurs over the Miami Heat anyday. The Cavaliers meanwhile are going to need LeBron to have a few more games like he did in Read more:NBA
, Tonight
Lebron James vs. San Antonio Spurs 2007-06-07 16:32:00 As the NBA finals approach us later this evening I think back to when I made my predictions for the NBA playoffs. I did have the Cavs winning the East. I envisioned the Cavs cruising into the Eastern Conference Finals and they would be going up against a beaten up and worn down Bulls team or Pistons squad. I had Phoenix coming out of the West beating the Spurs
. I do believe that the Suns were Read more:Lebron
, James
, Antonio
, San Antonio
, San Antonio Spurs
Greatest Games I've Ever Seen - #5 2007-06-07 00:16:00 Zach's post on great hockey moments got me thinking. And I came up with my top-5 list for the month of June: The 5 greatest games I've ever seen. Lets lay out the criteria. First, it must be a game I've seen. And I'm talking all the way through; start to finish. Don't worry, the list is still debatable, just assume that I've seen everything. Second, we're talking about the ACTUAL GAME. Not Read more:Greatest
, Games
Congrats to the Ducks! 2007-06-06 22:15:00 Congrats to the Anaheim Ducks
on winning the 2007 Stanley Cup.
I have discussed this with Scott before but my favorite hockey memory is when Ray Bourque won Lord Stanley after YEARS in the NHL. It took him 22 years of playing in the NHL, he left Boston to go to Colorado with the sole goal of winning Stanley. They went to the finals in his first year with the Avs but lost, then he finally won it.
Durant's "Weak" Workout 2007-06-06 19:22:00 The NBA held its pre-draft camp and the Seattle Times got their hands on the results from the camp. You can find the article along with the results listed HERE.
The big story is that Texas Freshman Kevin Durant was ranked 78th out of 80. The predicted number two pick in the NBA draft, after Ohio State's Greg Oden would be drafted by Portland, had that BAD of a workout???
The Seattle Sonics Read more:Workout
This Should Scare the NFL 2007-06-06 18:18:00 Stumbled upon THIS story on ESPN.com from Len Pasquarelli.
Randy Moss looks like he is liking New England
If Randy Moss plays like he cares again, lets just hand New England the title. This team is scary good. Read more:Scare
Cut Billy Some Slack 2007-06-05 19:15:00 Come on people! Well by people I might just mean Orlando Magic fans but anyways...
Cut Billy
Donovan some slack here folks. This man was torn between staying at the University of Florida or moving on to the NBA and becoming the Orlando Magic. He went back and forth reportedly every hour on which direction he should go. He called friends and family. He spent time alone in his church to see if he
King James 2007-06-05 17:20:00 Well it looks like the NBA got just what it wanted (or needed), King James
in the finals. If not for James, what would we be talking about in the obligatory dead period leading up to the start of an otherwise lackluster matchup (more on that later this week).
And of course we all know what the big story is: LeBron James takes his team to the NBA Finals in the 4th year of his career, 3 years
Ottawa Senators Starting Line Ups 2007-06-04 21:35:00 I am not a big NHL fan by far but I love the playoffs in any sport. The NHL Playoffs could be the most exciting of all in my mind. I will discuss this later.
I am also a big fan of the starting lineups a team can put together. That could be because of myself growing up a fan of the Chicago Bulls. Their starting lineup music is a classic.
I had on the pregame of Game 4 of the NHL playoffs. I Read more:Ottawa
Earnhardt Jr to Hendrick 2007-06-12 13:37:00 It looks as if Dale Earnhardt
Jr. has found a home for next season. Earnhardt Jr. recently announced that he was leaving Dale Earnhardt Inc. at the end of this season. ESPN.com is reporting that Junior will head to Hendrick Motorsports and drive the #5 Chevy.People suspected that Junior was going to be heading to Joe Gibbs Racing, Richard Childress Racing or Hendrick Motorsports. An official announcement will be made tomorrow at a press conference.I first suspected that Junior would start his own team, while Hendrick would provide the powerplants. Hendrick already has past champions Jeff Gordon and Jimmy Johnson already under contract. Joining those two his year is Casey Mears in the #25 and Kyle Busch who currently drives the #5. NASCAR is implementing a new rule next year where teams can only have four drivers on a team. It was a general thought that Busch would resign a contract, thus leaving Junior without a place to drive. Well it looks as if a contract could not be settled on.The
A Repsonse to Scott 2007-06-11 21:28:00 Scott and I had a discussion following our posts on Daunte Culpepper. I still firmly believe that Culpepper will never become a full time starter in the NFL again. I could see him starting here and there but he will never hold claim to the number one spot on a depth chart.Scott brought up six teams: Cleveland, Detroit, Houston, Kansas City, NY Giants, and Oakland. I have a solid reason for each and every one of these teams.The big reason that covers all six teams is the fact that Culpepper is going to want "starting QB money." He will be demanding a strong paycheck. These teams are already paying someone "starting QB money." Now, are some of those players worthy of that money....eh probably not (Kitna for example).Lets take a look at Cleveland...The Browns have their "franchise project" in Brady Quinn. They will invest a lot of time and money into Quinn. Having a standard QB can really make a franchise turn from a losing franchise into a winning franchise. It is the core of an offense. Read more:Scott
Why Zach Parcell is Crazy - An Analysis 2007-06-09 18:22:00 First, of all, NFL Quick Hits? Are we just blatantly stealing ideas from ESPN now? And I am SO tired of hearing about Michael Vick. Can we all please stop pretending we're shocked that Ron Mexico is involved in all this? As slow as Federal investigations tend to go, don't be surprised if the Commish takes it upon himself to suspend Vick preemptively. That being said, it's time to let this subject go. Here we are in the middle of the NBA Finals, the French Open, and interleague play, and we're talking about Mike Vick being a criminal.Moving on to Daunte Culpepper... I have to say Zach, you are insane. Just because a guy gets injured and misses some time doesn't mean he's a scrub that shouldn't be in the league. Thats just a stupid thing to think. It may seem like an eternity, but we are only TWO SEASONS REMOVED from Culpepper throwing for 4700 yards with 39 TDs and a rating over 110. You don't just LOSE that. Even when he was playing injured last season, he wasn't terrible. He Read more:Crazy
, Analysis
Steroids in Mixed Martial Arts 2007-06-15 23:18:00 Last week's K-1 Hero's Dynamite USA show may go down as the biggest joke in the history of the sport. It all started with the 38 second embarrassment of Johnnie Morton at the hands of Bernard Ackah. And then the test results started coming in. Most prominently of course, Morton himself tested positive. That was followed with the news that heavyweight fighter Tim Persey tested positive for methamphetamine. Then Thursday it all got worse when it was announced that Royce Gracie tested positive for Nandrolone Metabolite.Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) the significance of this test will be lost on the casual MMA fan. Royce Gracie is the man who started the phenomenon. The man who won the UFC 1 tournament. The man, who along with Ken Shamrock, elevated mixed-martial arts to the point where a Senator from Arizona would even care about it. One of the inaugural members of the UFC Hall of Fame. The man who introduced American to the Gracie system, to B Read more:Steroids
, Mixed
, Martial
San Antonio Spurs - Not a Dynasty 2007-06-14 22:56:00 First of all, I would like to thank the San AntonioSpurs
for ending that joke of the series in the quickest possible fashion. Now they have won 4 championships in the last 9 years, and you know what that means. Its time to throw around the most popular and most overused term in sports: dynasty. Earlier this month I wrote an article about how the media is in a constant rush to crown the next Jordan. Likewise, in every sport, they are in a rush to crown the modern-day dynasty. And in most cases, as is the case with the Spurs, this crowning is premature.4 NBA championships is a lot, no one can deny that. But when they are spread out over 9 years, its a little watered down. How can a team be a dynasty that has never sucessfully defended its championship, never won even two in a row? And how quickly people forget that in that span of 9 years the Lakers won three championships in a row. How can the Spurs be considered a dynasty when they weren't even the best team in their conference durin Read more:San Antonio
, San Antonio Spurs
That Time of Year Again 2007-06-13 21:50:00 There are two days in the year where there are no major American professional sports played. Those are the days before and after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. For the most part, I can survive those days. The day before has the home-run derby, and if I recall, the day after now has the ESPY's. Basically, it's not the sports purgatory that is coming up on Thursday. 16 days per year, the sports world seems to stop.If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm talking about the U.S. Open, and all of the other major events in golf. For the next 4 days, ESPN will essentially pack up its bags and become The Golf Channel. Pardon the Interruption is cancelled so we can watch Joe Daly and Jason Dufner take their swings on the front 9. Then the first half hour of SportsCenter will feature Scott Van Pelt chatting it up with Andy North. And it gets even better on the weekends. Maybe we'll see Jeremy Schaap's Outside the Lines reports on Jim Furyk's love-life. The truth is, despite Read more:Again
Morton Took Steroids...Seriously? 2007-06-13 21:33:00 Johnnie Morton
, former NFL Wide Reciever recently fought in his first, and now what could be his last Mixed Martial Arts fight. Morton was knocked out in 38 SECONDS!!! 38!!! Included below is the video of the actual fight, Morton is the one in the black shorts. It is well worth your time to watch, and really, it does not even take that long.Morton was taken out of the ring on a stretcher. He was knocked out that bad. The California State Athletic Commission mandates drug tests before and after a fight. Morton took the one before the fight, but refused to take the post fight test. Due to this, the CSAC withheld the $100,000 purse that Morton was supposed to earn due to him not taking the drug test.First, he was just paid $100,000 for 38 seconds of work. Do you know what that is per hour? Thats nearly $9.5 million an hour. Thats sick enough.Second, Sherdog.com is reporting that Morton tested POSITIVE for testosterone imbalance in the first drug test. The man was knocked out in 38 second Read more:Steroids
, Seriously
Didn't See That One Coming... 2007-06-12 22:26:00 Although with this White Sox team, who can really be surprised anymore? In case you haven't heard yet, some White Sox players were eating at Capital Grille in Philadelphia after Monday night's 3-0 loss to the Phillies. Apparently a couple of the players became swearing loudly, and it disturbed Patti Labelle. Go ahead, read that sentence again if you have to. Apparently then Labelle's manager asked the table to shut up, and Jim Thome came over and aplogized.Then, in adherring to the high ethical standard that sports radio is generally held to, 950-AM in Philadelphia reported, apparently blindly, that the Sox players were making racist remarks. This rumor was quickly quelched by Labelle's manager. Long story short, Sox brass is now planning on issuing an official apology to Labelle.And there you have, the most ridiculous story I have ever heard. I can guarantee you that on any given night across the country, many baseball players are in restaurants swearing loudly. The thing
Daunte Culpepper - Some Final Thoughts 2007-06-12 21:34:00 Let's get one thing straight, this whole Daunte Culpepper
debate started when Zach said to Culpepper, "you aren't good anymore." I still find this to be an absolutely outrageous statement. How anyone can possibly say that, when Culpepper hasn't been healthy in 2 years, is beyond me. It's simply irresponsible to go around throwing statements around that are essentially based on nothing. No one here is arguing that Culpepper is going to return to the dominance he enjoyed three seasons ago. Yes, he will be playing as a fraction of his former self. But when the original whole is as good as it was in 2004, thats still a pretty damned good quarterback.It is absolutely ridiculous, especially in this day and age, to give up on a player SOLELY because of injuries. And at 30 years old, you can't even use age as a factor. The teams I listed were simply teams that have a quarterback that IS NOT AS GOOD AS DAUNTE CULPEPPER. It has nothing to do with money (which the conversation wasnt Read more:Final
NASCAR: Get in...Will it Work? 2007-06-17 10:12:00 The first commercial I saw on this Father's Day filled with great racing was one from NASCAR
. It showed multiple cars pulling up and a driver walking out of it. All the drivers, one by one, then stood and removed their helmets. They had a driver of each race, a female, young, and old. Then it said "NASCAR: Get In". I take it as their attempt to try and add some diversity to NASCAR. This afternoon in Michigan there will be 42 white males along with 1, Carlos Montoya, from Spain. That is not diversity as all. There has been attempts of minorities and women to break into NASCAR but the attempt has been short lived. I was glad to see that NASCAR at least understands this and they are making an attempt to make a change. NASCAR does need to tap into some different audiences. Now, NASCAR does have a driver development program, yet we have not seen much come out of it. We are just a couple of years removed from NASCAR worrying about not having 43 cars to fill the field. It costs quite a bit t
Formula 1 Needs American Support 2007-06-16 23:40:00 I have been a fan of Formula
1 racing for a couple years now. F1's strongest audience is European. Each time the teams trek to a new venue, the fans come out by the thousand to watch their favorite driver or favorite team race. Last weekend F1 took their show overseas for to Montreal for the Canadian Gran Prix. Young, up and coming Lewis Hamilton took control of the show and won for the first time. He has been very consistent for such a young driver. This is half of what F1 needs if it wants to succeed in the coming years.After Michael Schumacher dominated for years, F1 has gone through a shake-up. Drivers changed teams, teams left, teams joined and new names have been mentioned at each and every Gran Prix. Hamilton is the exact young face that F1 needs. It can be compared to Dale Earnhardt Jr. to NASCAR or Danica Patrick to the IndyCar Series. It is a storyline that the average fan can understand. As Hamilton grabbed his second straight poll at the United States Gran Prix in Indianap Read more:Needs
, American
, Support
The Best Fans in Baseball 2007-06-16 16:46:00 One day after fans interfered with balls in play (twice), the Wrigley Field faithful were at it again on Saturday. During the on-field scuffle between Derek Lee and Padres pitcher Chris Young (who combine for 13 feet 3 inches) Cubs fans reacted with a Wrigley Field tradition: throwing garbage onto the field. Don't like a call? Throw some garbage on the field. Mad your star got brushed back? Throw some garbage on the field. Drunk? Throw some garbage on the field.It's "traditions" like this that make Cubs fans the worst fans in baseball. When Lou Piniella threw his temper tantrum the other week, Cubs fans reacted as any devout fans would, by throwing trash onto the field. After the grounds crew spent about 10 minutes clearing the field, they started to run off. And as they did, a few Cubs fans thought it would be fun to try to pelt the grounds crew with their drinks. Wow. It was one of the most disgusting things I had ever seen.And of course, it all comes from the Wrigley F
By Popular Demand 2007-06-16 15:29:00 I've had a request to give my thoughts on today's UFC in Northern Ireland. Truth be told, I was hoping to avoid the subject. As much as I've enjoyed the UFC's recent mainstream successes, I have to say that today's event is an EMBARASSMENT. It is nothing short of highway robbery for the UFC to sell this product for 40 dollars. In short, the card from Belfast is headlined by the following events:Rich Franklin vs. Yushin OkamiForrest Griffin vs. Hector RamirezTyson Griffin vs. Clay GuidaJason MacDonald vs. Rory SingerEd Herman vs. Scott SmithIn short, this is a card that makes more sense on SpikeTV, for free. Rich Franklin is nothing more than an over-rated FORMER champion. Its ridiculous that the UFC would rely on him to sell Pay-Per-Views at this point. The main event, to its credit, is a legitimate #1 contender's match for Anderson Silva's Middleweight Title. But out of the other 8 fighers listed, SEVEN are coming off a loss. And we're supposed to spend 40 dollars on that. No
Slow News Week 2007-06-20 16:09:00 You may have noticed that there hasn't been an update here since Monday. The reason is, frankly, that nothing has been happening that even deserves an educated opinion. Of course, that hasn't stopped ESPN from giving us their's. So here's a rundown of the DRASTICALLY over-covered stories this weekTiger WoodsDid Angel Cabrera win the US Open, or did Tiger Woods lose it? I hate to say I told you so, but I did. I knew that if Tiger didn't win, we'd have at least two days of analysis over his performance. Did he choke? Is he not what he used to be? Shut up and give Angel Cabrera some credit. Tiger lost by ONE STROKE. He's still an okay golfer. The only bigger non-story in golf this week was the analysis of Angel Cabrera's nicotine addiction.Jason GiambiJason Giambi is going to cooperate with the Mitchell Investigation. Let me be the first to say that this will accomplish NOTHING. The ongoing debate is whether or not Giambi should name names (he says he won't). The th
No. Oh No. Dear God No. 2007-06-28 20:15:00 This was my reaction to the 9th pick in tonight's NBA draft. I, of course, am a die-hard Bulls fan. And if you haven't heard who they took with that #9 pick, it was Joakim Noah. The fear that the Bulls might draft Noah has been with me for over a year now, since last year's draft. I dodged a bullet then, when Noah decided to return to college. But this year, I was not so lucky.I have been absolutely shocked as to how one man can pull the wool over so many people's eyes for so long. Let me say this outright: Joakim Noah is a bad basketball player, and is destined to fail in the NBA. Experts and GMs have been fawning over him for years, but I have yet to hear one LEGITIMATE reason why he is so good. Here is what you DO hear about him: He's a winner, he hates to lose, he's aggressive, he's passionate, he plays with energy, he's used to the big stage. Here's what you DON'T hear: he's a good shooter, he can rebound, he's a good passer, he's strong, he's a good defen Read more:Dear God
UFC 73 Preview 2007-07-05 16:34:00 With UFC 72 finally behind us, I am really looking forward to this Saturday. UFC 73: Stacked (Live from Arco Arena in Sacramento) is one of the best cards in recent UFC memory. If you only get one UFC Pay-Per-View event this year, make it UFC 74 in August, that ones gonna be nuts. But if you can chip for more than one, get 73. Any of the top 4 matches could be the main event here. I'll take you through the main card, and let you know how I think each match is gonna play out.Kenny Florian vs. Alvin RobinsonOn an otherwise stacked card, this one sticks out like a sore thumb. Kenny Florian is the golden boy, the runner up from The Ultimate Fighter Season 1. This is the second straight fight aimed at building Florian back up after his lightweight title bout loss to Sean Sherk in October. However, from what I know of Alvin Robinson (which admittedly, is very little) this will be a war. Robinson is a big, strong guy for a lightweight (much like Sean Sherk) whereas Florianis relativ Read more:Preview
Great American Hero 2007-07-05 11:33:00 Yesterday was the 4th of July, and I somehow managed to pull myself out of bed before 11:00. This is no small feat for me, and I was duly rewarded. Yes, this meant I had the opportunity to watch the Nathan's Famous Hot-Dog Eating Contest from Coney Island live on ESPN. As you know by now, I'm a bit of a sports purist, but, lacking anything better to do, I figured I'd give it a shot. Here are some thoughts I had:First, I find the event very disgusting, which is weird, because I don't disgust easily. And I don't get disgusted by the general site of people jamming their faces full of hot dogs. Honestly, I don't. What does it for me is the buns. As any competitive eating fan will tell you, the eaters soak the buns in water prior to consumption so they take up less room in the stomach. The problem is that this gooey bun-water amalgam, without fail, winds up all over the competitors' faces. No thank you. Add to that the site of Kobayashi's "reversal" (in competitive eating Read more:Great
, American
Let The Wild Card Race Begin 2007-07-10 20:40:00 With the Major League Baseball All-Star Break upon us, it only means one thing...time to start watching the NL and AL wild card races. It has become tradition to take up half a page in your local newspaper's sports section and a solid half hour on each sports highlight show to which team is "making their move" in the wild card races. Even if there is 70 games left, sports fans everywhere need "experts" to analyze every team that is still in it.This drives me nuts! Fans of baseball should realize that a team that is 15 games back in their division race or in the wild card can still pull it off. Yes, Yankee fans, there is still hope. It is not uncommon to find the wild card "leaders" different each week for the next month. Teams will become red hot and win 13 of their next 15 games. Others will lose just as much. You could go from a 3 game lead in the wild card to a 2 game lead in your division in a week. Other teams will not even be talked about for a month and they will go on a winnin Read more:Wild Card
Sad Day 2007-07-19 16:29:00 Let me begin by saying that I refuse to dedicate a whole post to Michael Vick. He is he biggest piece of garbage in professional sports, with all due respect to Pac-Man Jones. I'm not gonna talk about the guy again until he's in jail or does everyone a favor and quits football.Now that Ive got that out of the way, let me get to the real reason today is a sad day. About a month ago, I wrote an article about the growing problem of steroids in mixed martial arts. In essence, I said that all of the positive mainstream progress that MMA is making could easily be negated by some sort of steroid epidemic. Well, today the California State Athletic Commission released the drug test results from UFC 73: Stacked. Hermes Franca, who challenged for the 155-pound title tested positive, as did the man that defeated him, UFC Lightweight Champion Sean Sherk. You can read the whole story on Sherdog.com. Sherk plans to appeal the test, but as both his A and B tests came back positive, I don't
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