NFL Blog Post

I haven't posted in a while but I will be blogging more in the future. Just some NFL notes I want to talk about. First, it is not surprising to me that Vince Young is now 4-0 this year as the starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. I do not understand why everyone thinks he will not be a good starting quarterback. He has a strong, accurate arm and can also scramble away from pressure and make accurate throws on the run. I really like this kid because he is a winner. His record as a starter is 22-11 with the 20-17 win on Monday Night Football against the Houston Texans. He might not ever throw for the most touchdown passes or have the best quarterback rating, but the fact is that he is a winner. When the New York Jets had the 4th overall pick in the NFL Draft in 2006, I wanted them to try and draft Vince Young instead of D'Brickashaw Ferguson. With Vince Young as the starting quarterback, the Titans' backfield of Young and Chris Johnson is the most dynamic in the league. At 4-6, I think the Titans now have an outside shot at making the playoffs. They would have to go 10-0 or 9-1 to get into the playoffs. With mediocre teams such as the Ravens, Dolphins, Jaguars, and Broncos in front of them, Vince Young and the Titans have a good shot.

In other news, Kerry Rhodes might be getting benched in favor of Eric Smith, according to reports. I know Rhodes isn't having the best of years, but behind Darrelle Revis he is arguably their best defensive player. Also, he got signed to a contract extension a couple years ago. The Jets are not going to make the playoffs so I think they have to be patient and try and help him fix what is wrong.

My Power Rankings:

1) New Orleans Saints

2) Indianapolis Colts

3) Minnesota Vikings

4) New England Patriots

5) San Diego Chargers.

Tom Butto

Yankees are World Series Champions!

That is right the Yankees won in 6 games, just like I predicted. They did it with their big three in the pitching rotation, better known as CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Andy Pettitte. They did it with contributions from everyone in their lineup, including the MVP of the World Series, Hideki Matsui. Without Matsui, the Yankees might not have won game 6. He drove in six runs in the clinching game, and was 8 for 13 with 3 homers and 8 RBI for the series. And last but not least, they did it with Mariano Rivera. If Rivera was not the closer of the New York Yankees, they might not have won the series because of how shaky the bullpen had been. Other than Damaso Marte, everyone who was big for them in the regular season (Joba and Hughes) were not sharp in the World Series. Rivera had to pitch two innings for a save in two of the saves he racked up, and got five outs in game 6, even though it wasn't a save situation. This series showed that the Yankees were clearly the best team in baseball, and that the Phillies were the second best. The Yankees had a better lineup (if it were not for Utley, the Phillies would have got almost no run production), better pitchers, and simply were deeper. Congratulations to the 2009 New York Yankees, World Seres Champions!

World Series Game 3 Quick Prediction

With the Yankees losing game 1 to the brilliance of Cliff Lee, and the Phillies losing game 2 to the brilliance of A.J. Burnett, we head to game 3 tonight at 7:30. Andy Pettitte will take on Cole Hamels at Citizen's Bank Park. I see the Yankees winning this game 6-3 with Cole Hamels giving up 5 runs over 6 innings and Andy Pettitte giving up 3 runs over 7 innings. By the end of this game the Yankees will have a series lead of 2-1.

World Series Game 1

This is my preview to the World Series match up between the Yankees and the Phillies. This is an interesting series with many different story lines, a couple of which being the last two Cy Young award winners pitching against each other and Pedro pitching at Yankee Stadium. With that said, here is my thoughts about the series. Both offenses can explode at anytime and have power hitters from their lead off hitters to their nine hole hitters. I feel that the Yankees hitters will have the better series. Teixeira did not hit a home run in the ALCS, but that should change against a weaker Phillies pitching staff and because Tex is better than that. I believe Jeter will shine like he always does in the spotlight, and A-Rod will continue his historically good post season. Breaking down the pitching, I believe the Yankees have the better starters and relievers. With CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee matching up in Game 1, I give the edge to CC. Since the All Star break he has been unstoppable and on fire. He gave up 2 runs in 16 innings pitching in the ALCS, and I see that continuing. As for Cliff Lee, he struggled against the American League before he got traded to the Phillies, and I think he will struggle against the Yankees. The Yankees line up is just too good, they will break through for three or four runs against Lee. A.J. Burnett and Andy Pettitte are also better than Pedro Martinez, who is the biggest question mark, and Cole Hamels. The bullpen is also better because of one man, Mariano Rivera. Rivera's ERA in the World Series for his career is 1.16. With all that said, my prediction is the Yankees winning the World Series in 6 games.

Yankees May Go To 3 Man Rotation In ALCS

The Yankees may go with a 3 man rotation of CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte for their ALCS match up with the Angels. I like the idea of having CC start game 4 over Chad Gaudin. For one, the Yankees did not have him pitch on three days rest all year, when the Brewers last year had him pitch on three days rest for his last three consecutive starts. CC has shown he can pitch effectively and win games on three days rest, and I think Sabathia on 3 days rest is a better starter than Gaudin. The Yankees cut his innings from 253 last year to 230 this year. He is also pitching game 1 on Friday on eight days rest. This is an interesting and very important decision for Girardi that will be one of the determining factors for the outcome of this series.

Twins vs Yankees Game 2 Preview

CC Sabathia and the Yankees had a very nice win on Wednesday. CC gave up only 1 earned run through 6.2 innings pitched. He managed to put his career post season woes behind him and came up with the big game the Yankees needed. Even though this series is against the Twins, game 1 showed there is no doubt that the Yankees are the most complete team in this playoffs. They have the best lead off hitter in Jeter, they have the best line up from top to bottom, the most power (Tex, A-Rod, Matsui, Cano), the best ace in Sabathia, the best bullpen in Hughes, Joba, and Mo, and the best wild card in AJ Burnett. If he pitches to the standards he is capable of this post season, they will be the best 1-2 punch. He has dirty stuff and I think he will pitch a gem. He is pitching against Nick Blackburn, who is the best starter on the Twins staff. AJ needs to avoid the blow up and have a good first few innings. If that happens, which it should, the Yankees will win because you know that they will be hitting home runs. My prediction is the Yankees fly to the Metro dome with a 2-0 series lead, and confidence that they are firing on all cylinders.

Game 163: Tigers vs Twins Preview

I had a feeling it would happen, and now it has. The Twins fought the whole month of September and the last games in October and now see themselves in a tie with the Tigers with a chance to get to the playoffs with a 1 game, regular season, tie breaker at the Metrodome. The pitching match up for the game is Rick Porcello (14-9, 4.04 ERA) vs Scott Baker (15-9, 4.36 ERA) for the Twins. This pitching match up looks like a toss up. Even though Porcello is a 20 year old rookie, Baker does not have much experience in pressure situations either. Porcello has also had a better season.

This will be back to back 1 game playoffs for the Twins. They lost a 1-0 heart breaker to the White Sox last year. This year will be different. I think the Twins will win to get to the playoffs. My first reason is the Twins were down by 7 games a month ago and just have the momentum. Secondly, the Twins are not relying on just Joe Mauer. Orlando Cabrera is batting .275 with 75 RBI, Michael Cuddyer and Jason Kubel have launched 32 homers and 27 homers respectively, and Denard Span and Delmon Young have made solid contributions. With those factors in play I believe the Twins will win and move on to play the Yankees in the ALDS.

NFL Week 4 Picks

Starting my weekly picks for the NFL. Home team in caps:

BEARS (-10) over Lions

TEXANS (-8.5) over Raiders

JAGUARS (+3) over Titans

Ravens (-2) over PATRIOTS

BENGALS (-6) over BROWNS

Giants (-8.5) over CHIEFS

Buccaneers (+7.5) over REDSKINS

COLTS (-10) over Seahawks

Jets (+7) over SAINTS

Bills (-1) over DOLPHINS

49ERS (-9.5) over Rams

BRONCOS (+3) over Cowboys

Chargers (+6.5) over STEELERS

Packers (+3.5) over VIKINGS

Exciting Races in Baseball

Who said there wasn't going to be anything exciting about the last couple weeks of the MLB season? After the first game of the day night double header between the Twins and Tigers, the Twins are only 1 game back of the Tigers with 3 more games left in the series, including 1 tonight. I think the Tigers will hold the Twins off but I also think the Twins are a better match up for the Yankees. The Tigers would have Verlander and Jackson going twice each in a five game series. However, the Twins would be a much easier match up. The Twins do not have a bona fide ace or a second starter. I also think the Braves are going to catch the Rockies and win the Wild Card. Where the hell did the Braves come from? They have been in the back ground for the last couple weeks, but now they have made a push. They are 15-2 in their last 17 games, and have a NL best 3.51 team ERA. they also play the Marlins and Nationals to close out their season while the Rockies play the Brewers and Dodgers. Whatever the result, the end of the season will be crazy.

Busy Sports Weekend

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days. Had a busy sports weekend. Some big things happened. First, the Yankees swept the Red Sox at Yankee Stadium to clinch the AL East. That was huge. Big statement from the Yankees by beating Lester and Dice-K. They are looking strong heading into the playoffs and are my favorite to win the whole thing. The Giants and Jets also looked impressive beating the Buccaneers and Titans respectively. I have been truly impressed with Eli and Sanchez. They could not have scripted better starts to the season. Sanchez has led the Jets to a 3-0 start with a big game against the Saints up next.

Radio Show Update

A Bountiful Butto Sports Bonanza update: For the first interview of the semester we are going to try to get Justin Rutty. Another update will come tomorrow if we got him for the interview to talk about the upcoming season.

AJ Burnett Pitches Gem

In his last two starts, AJ Burnett has looked like the pitcher the Yankees signed this off season, and these starts couldn't have come at a better time. Over his last two starts he has pitched 12.2 innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out 17. This is exactly what the Yankees will need going into the playoffs. With the duo of Sabathia and Burnett, that's all the Yankees would have to use to get to the World Series. All they would need are average starts from Pettitte. The one thing i liked in this win today against the Angels was how Girardi managed Burnett. Once Burnett allowed two men to get on with two outs in the inning he took Burnett out of the game. Burnett has had the tendency to blow up in innings and give up four or five innings even if he has had a string of four or five solid innings before. The Yankees look like they had a small slip up against the Orioles and Mariners, but no team has a perfect season with no losing streaks or down points. This series win against the Angels was huge, and the following series against the Red Sox at home will really show me where the Yankees are at going into the playoffs. This could be a preview for an ALCS match up. I am more confident after this series that the Yankees have what it takes to get to and win the World Series.

Burress Begins Prison Sentence

Plaxico Burress, the man who caught the game winning touchdown for the Giants against the Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, was sentenced to two years in prison today (Tuesday) for violating the extremely tough New York gun laws. As you may remember Burress shot himself in the Latin Quarter nightclub in November of 2008. Even though Burress was dumb to begin with for carrying a loaded gun with him, I think the amount of time he will be spending in jail is ridiculous, kind of like the amount of time Michael Vick spent in jail. His attorney Benjamin Brafman summed up the whole situation up best today when he said, "He's sad about what he's done to his life, his career, and more importantly his family. He's a fundamentally good man who has used bad judgement and is going to pay a very, very severe penalty." Burress should not be going to jail for this long, and his career is most likely over. I feel bad for him and hope that he can make a come back when he is released.

New York Yankees Report:

This is the first Yankees report for the radio show blog. To put things nicely, the Yankees have not played their best baseball and look like they are trying, in poker terms to see and raise the Mets 2007 epic collapse by a couple of games. The 2007 Mets were the first team in MLB history to lose a division lead of at least 7 games with 17 games to go. The 2009 Yankees had a lead of 9 games with I think 17 games to go. Now the lead is 5 over the Boston Red Sox. Everything the Yankees have done to get the best record in the league has vanished over the last couple of weeks. They are 4-6 in their last 10. In that stretch of games they have lost a series to the Orioles and Mariners, which is just unacceptable. They haven't been scoring runs, other than the 13 run and 10 run outburst they had in their only wins against the Orioles and Mariners in the respective series. The pitching has been extremely shaky. Sabathia has been the only constant. Pettitte has had to miss a turn in rotation due to injury. Gaudin and Mitre are not the answers to the back of the rotation problems, and Joba has been in a huge decline since the Yankees have stopped giving him consistent innings. My answer: Joe Girardi needs to start pushing buttons fast. I don't think they will lose this 5 game lead with 11 to play because if they do he will definitely get fired. They also can't back into the playoffs and division title because I think his seat will start getting hot in New York. He needs to calm down the players and get them to remember just how good this team is. The biggest series of the season will be the 3 game set starting Friday when the Yankees end their road trip and host the Red Sox in Yankee Stadium. Sabathia, Chamberlin, and Burnett pitch against Lester, Dice-K, and Byrd. The Yankees must win 2 of 3. The big test will be Chamberlin. If he pitches well enough for a win, and i mean 6 innings of 2 run ball, the Yankees will have to decide if he will be their 4th starter or if he will be in the bull pen for the playoffs. I personally think he should be in the bull pen because games will then be cut to 6 innings if the starters give the Yankees a lead. If the Yankees win 2 of 3 they got the division wrapped up because their last 6 games of the season are 3 with the Royals and 3 with the Rays. To say the least it will be an interesting finish.

Thank You for listening!

Thank you for everyone who tuned in to listen to the show! I hope everyone enjoyed the show and the topics we discussed. I will post about any sports updates later today. Later this week I will post about any show updates such as interviews.