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"I'm Baaack"
By The Sports Kid
08/18/05
It's been almost a year now, since the last update. I've gotten pretty lazy, and I apologize to those of you who have checked the site on a daily basis, in hope of an update of these fine articles. I'll quit stalling, and start the thing.
Ahh, where to start, where to start? The unique season the Padres are having? The horrible ending of the Chargers football season? Nate Kaeding? The whole steroids scandal and Palmeiro, "I have never done steroids," testimony to the U.S.? There are so many topics that I never got to cover throughout this past year. So get ready, this' article will pretty much cover the past year in sports.
I'll start with the Padres, oh the Padres. Well, they've been interesting this year. Playing under .500, and still in first place, that's the N.L. West for you. I've had plenty opportunities to watch the Padres this season live. Not that it's been the greatest baseball I've seen, haha. They had a decent first half, which was somewhat exciting (back then, somebody actually wanted to win the N.L. West). We've lost the mojo this half...but you know, it is the Padres so it is not entirely a surprise. On to another Padres note, I was not satisfied with what we did in the trade deadline. We got rid of Nevin, which was kind of nice, but we hardly got anything in return except a big contract in Chan Ho Park's. All the deals we made didn't help us much.
Nate Kaeding. "The kick...wide right!" Enough said.
Onto a happier note, Lance Armstrong won his 7th straight Tour De France. Definitely probably one of the most impressive feats in sports history. Utmost respect for the guy.
Now onto the pesky, topic of steroids. The juice is destroying the game of baseball, putting asterisks in records that are being made today. The juice has been the worst bug that baseball has ever endured, questioning anybody that shows slight success in the league. And finally the league begins to heal and leave the topic behind, but it comes raging back. The one guy you expect to be true to his word, tests positive. Not only does he test positive, he lied to the country. He actually conducted a crime. Now because positive test, it raises the question if you can trust anybody in this league anymore. Here's the thing, if Palmeiro, with Hall of Fame credentials, risks his inductment into the hall by taking steroids in probably one of his last years, how could you possibly trust anybody else. I mean if the guy who has the most to lose does it, why wouldn't the guy who less to lose do it? Palmeiro's positive test just boggles the mind, nobody is trustworthy.
Now to the Chargers. Expectations are unusually high this year, after last year's performance. They better make playoffs or they'll probably get kicked out of San Diego. The Bolts have to sign Gates. The Bolts are threatening the tight end, that if does not sign by Saturday afternoon; he will have to serve a 3 game suspension. Gates deserves the money. He's one of the top 3 TE in my mind, with Gonzalez and Heap. Gates was a big reason we even made the playoffs. Because of him, we got a passing game going and didn't pressure LT to do all the work; even then we all know he probably can take the whole load himself (if you can recall the 100 receptions he had a couple seasons ago, keep in mind he's a RUNNINGBACK). Signing Gates is crucial, to the Bolts and if they're forced to suspend him, it'll be a big blow to the offense.
Now to the Fantasy segment to the article. I only made one team this year for baseball and football. My baseball team started out really well until the injury bug hit me. For most of the first half I was in second place, trailing the team with Derek Lee and Brian Roberts. Since the beginning of the second half though, I've dropped in-between 5th and 6th in a 10-man league. I currently have FOUR guys on the DL, Carlos Guillen, J.D. Drew, Adam Eaton, and Oliver Perez. It was bound to happen, I only had like one guy hurt last year. My current starting offensive line-up includes Jason Varitek as catcher; Carlos Delgado at First Base; Jose Reyes at Second Base (big free agent pick-up); Francisco Lopez at Shortstop (Guillen is hurt, has been most of the year--just my luck); Ichiro Suzuki, Jim Edmonds, and Kevin Mench are in my outfield (Mench is there for Drew, decent backup to have on your team); and Nick Johnson and utility (career year for him so far). My pitching staff includes Pedro Martinez, Jake Peavy, Mark Mulder, Joe Nathan, Jose Mesa, Chris Reitsma, Kyle Farnsworth, Jeremy Bonderman, and Brandon Webb. The team is not great but it should hold its own.
My football team is ok, considering I missed the first half of the draft. Keep in mind this league includes defensive players as well. Here's my team: Marc Bulger, Ben Roethlisberger, Marvin Harrison, Darrell Jackson, Muhsin Muhammad, Charles Rogers, LaDainian Tomlinson, Clinton Portis, Jeremy Shockey, Ryan Longwell (yes the Longwell, that showed up Kaeding with a 53-yarder, when Kaeding misses 3 in the 40s...), Atlanta Defense, Nate Clements, Terrell Suggs, Patrick Surtain, Zack Thomas, Sean Taylor, Lavar Arrington, Chris Gamble, and Willie McGinest. My QB's stink and well as the WR's 'cept Harrison. Decent RBs, not a big fan of Shockey, and I like my defensive guys.
Now to my football predictions.
AFC WEST-Kansas City Chiefs
AFC SOUTH-Indianapolis Colts
AFC NORTH-Baltimore Ravens
AFC EAST-New England Patriots
NFC WEST-St. Louis Rams
NFC SOUTH-Atlanta Falcons
NFC NORTH-Green Bay Packers
NFC EAST-New York Giants (it's a long shot, very long shot)
AFC WILD CARDS-San Diego Chargers, Jacksonville Jaguars
NFC WILD CARDS-Philadelphia Eagles, Arizona Cardinals
Well, I hope you enjoyed all of this information and opinion that was bottled up inside, I'll try to update this more often, until next time.