[SPOOKY]

SPOOKY'S FAB FIVE FOR MONDAY, JUNE 8TH

Happy Monday everyone.

1. Quick Hits

The Lakers beat Orlando again last night 101-96 in overtime to lead the NBA Finals 2 games to 0. Game 3 is tomorrow night in Orlando.

Roger Federer wins the French Open for the first time, his 14th major title tying Pete Sampras' record. (Sampras never won the French.)

Tiger Woods birdies the last two holes with tremendous approach shots to win The Memorial by one stroke. The U.S. Open is in two weeks at Bethpage.

2. Nothing but the Truth

How refreshing. The trainer for Mine That Bird didn't like the way his jockey ran the race in the Belmont. Carlos Beltran says the Mets should feel embarrassed losing to Pittsburgh. Adam LaRoche of the Pirates calls Beltran classless. Mariano Rivera publicly questions his manager for having Rivera issue an intentional walk.
Suddenly, sports is hit by a spate of honesty. Keep it coming boys.

3. Shuffle Off

If I told you some of the most exciting nights of basketball in front of packed houses were played in Buffalo, you'd laugh. But I remember hearing about many of the games played at "The Aud" that were scintillating. The joint was jumpin'. Havlicek, Cowens and the rest of the Celtics against Ernie DiGregorio, Bob McAdoo and the Buffalo Braves (who no long exist). Randy Smith played on that Buffalo team. He died over the weekend at the age of 60. His passing recalls some long forgotten nights and the good fans of Buffalo who got ripped off by lousy ownership.

4. Meet and Greet

Wow, the mighty Yankees have gotten the message. You sorta have to be nice to your fans as you sit on your throne in the castle. The other night Joe Girardi, Brian Cashman and reliever Brian Bruney greeted fans before the game. And they didn't even make the riff raff kiss their rings. Oh wait, they haven't won any in years.

5. Lotsa Support

The story that just won't die. A former volleyball star is urging Romanian teenager Simona Halep not to undergo breast reduction surgery to help her tennis. According to the British tabloid The Sun, Alena Schurkova told Simona ""Don't do it. You can be a champion with big boobs."
Words to live by.

Today's Birthdays: Tennis stars Lindsay Davenport. 33. Kim Clijsters. 26.

Bonus Birthdays: A couple of musical peas in a pod. Nancy "These Boots Are Made for Walking" Sinatra. 69. Rapper Kanye West. 32.

Today in Sports: Mickey Mantle Day at Yankee Stadium. The Mick's # 7 is retired. 1969.

Bonus Event: Tommy Lasorda is sent down by the Brooklyn Dodgers to make room for some pitcher by the name of Sandy Koufax. 1955.

:weeed:

[SPOOKY]

Here is some more trivial shit.

Six-pack for Monday


-- Dan Haren left his last two starts with 5-1 leads after 7th inning but didn't win either game, as Arizona's bullpen is a disaster area.

-- Oakland's Vin Mazzaro starts his big league career with 13.2 innings of scoreless ball, beating White Sox, Orioles. A's won last six games.
:fvehgh:

-- Matsuzaka's struggles continue; he gave up 10 hits in 5.2 innings vs Texas, losing 6-3 to the Rangers. :sgun:

-- This kid Wells has really helped the Cubs; he allowed two runs in 6.2 IP as Wee Bears won in 14 innings at Cincinnati.

-- The great Roy Halladay threw a 97-pitch complete game, beating the Royals 4-0. Allowed seven baserunners, struck out six.

-- Only three of thirty starting pitchers finished eight innings Sunday; Halladay went nine, Jimenez (Colorado), Davies (Royals) went eight.


Dgtlt

[SPOOKY]

Monday's Top 10 to go along with the Fab Five: Random thoughts after a boring Sunday.


10) My Sunday was totally uneventful. Did absolutely nothing but shoot some baskets, watch tv and went to a college counselor and plan our road trip in July to vist a few more colleges. Good day, but nothing special.

9. A’s win again – Oakland picked up only two hits, but it helps when you get a bases-loaded walk as Vin Mazzaro pitched into the 8th inning and Jason Giambi drew a bases-loaded walk in the 1st and the A's beat the Orioles 3-0 for their season-high sixth straight win. Oakland's starters have won six straight as well, for the first time since winning eight straight June 8-16, 2006. How about Baltimore being 0-9 in road series finales which is not all that surprising since they are 5-21 most recently on the road.

8) Part of my night was listening to the NBA game on the radio, with Hubie Brown/Jack Ramsay doing analysis-- everyone who broadcasts basketball, and I mean everyone, should listen to a tape of their broadcast. They talked about the game, making short points that made the listener feel like they were courtside. Fun to listen to.

7) Dr Jack sounded like he was really pulling for JJ Redick, but from the pain in his voice after a couple turnovers, it is obvious Redick is hurting the Magic bigtime. Dwight Howard didn't touch the ball on Magic's last eight possessions, which is the responsibility of the Orlando guards.

6) If you watch a lot of college hoop on TV, Redick would be the most recognizable Orlando player-- other guys on Magic played at St Joe's, Nebraska, Western Kentucky, Charleston, Fresno State, Texas Tech and Delta State. Five Orlando players never played college basketball.

5) One last Ramsay thing-- he coached two of the most interesting clubs of the 70's-- we all know he coached Bill Walton's Trailblazers to a 1977 NBA title, but he also coached the Buffalo Braves before that-- McAdoo Ernie D and the late Randy Smith, who passed away last week as I mentioned on the Fav Five. Braves were an exciting team before they got sold, moved to San Diego, where the sorry legend of the Clippers was born.

4) Eldrick Woods won his 67th PGA tournament Sunday-- funny thing is that the tournaments without Woods get terrible ratings, but they're always more interesting, because they're only tourneys with suspense as to who will win. He is already the greatest golfer ever.

3) Tennessee football coach Lane Kiffin is either the dumbest guy in the whole country, or he just doesn't care- he let ESPN's cameras film one of his meetings with a recruit, which is an NCAA violation, Kiffin's fifth minor violation since becoming Vols' coach. He hasn't coached one game yet, and he's already committed five NCAA violations. With rebuilding the order of the day in Knoxville, 2009 could be a long year for Kiffin, but he does have a knack for getting his face on television.

2) So far, teams in the College World Series are two from ACC (Virginia, North Carolina), two from SEC (Arkansas, LSU), Fullerton, Arizona St and Southern Miss. Texas-TCU winner is the eighth team.

1) The kid on Texas who threw 13 innings of relief and 169 pitches in the 25-inning game again Boston College last week? He faced one batter in Longhorns' split against TCU this weekend- Game 3 is Monday nite. The kid says his arm is fine. I just hope he gets drafted this week.

[SPOOKY]

Six-pack for Tuesday


-- Texas beat TCU 5-2, making it to their 33rd College World Series, so we get to see the kid who tossed 13 innings against Boston College.

-- Josh Outman has a great pitcher's name, better than Grant Balfour, Bob Walk or Homer Bailey, thats for sure. Lefty hitters are 7 for 56 this season against Outman this year, which is very impressive.

-- Outman was acquired by A's along with 2B Adrian Cardenas for Joe Blanton; Cardenas is hitting .388 in AA after struggling in a AAA trial.

-- In last two days, National League had games of 14-18-15 innings.

-- David Duval, Tom Lehman qualified for the US Open; David Love did not, and neither did John Daly.

-- MLB amateur draft is on MLB Network tonight at 6; first 3 rounds will be televised. This is first time this event has been on TV.

[SPOOKY]

Tuesday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but........


13) How can anyone vote for Manny Ramirez for the All-Star Game in a season where he isn't playing in fifty consecutive games? He is fifth in the NL standings, which shows you how stupid it is that the fans get to vote for starters in a game whose outcome actually has meaning, which is another ridiculous thing that we'll save for another day.

12) Nice security at the French Open; no wonder we had to bail their butts out in WWII. Federer should have decked the freakin' guy.

11) Detroit's Armando Galarraga is 0-6, 6.37 in seven nighttime starts; he is 3-0, 3.50 in six daytime starts. Go figure.

10) I got a flier in the mail from the NFL Shop Monday-- looks weird to see a Matt Cassel number 7 Chiefs' jersey. Here's guy who didn't play in college, did pretty well in his only year playing for Patriots but didn't get in the playoffs, and is now THE MAN in Kansas City. We'll see.

9) There is a story in Miami paper this week that says when he was the coach of the Redskins, Joe Gibbs used to have his family tape its dinner conversations and send them over to his office, so he could keep up on their activities. Thats the life of a football coach. Not much home life.

8) Texas Rangers re-upped manager Ron Washington for next year, good news for everyone. Washington is one of my favorites after he was great as a third base coach/infield coach with the A's, who should have hired him instead of Bob Geren, who always looks confused in the dugout.

7) Pirate pitcher Ross Ohlendorf had a former major leaguer as a college baseball coach at Princeton (Scott Bradley) and a former major leaguer as a pitching coach in high school (Lee Tunnell). Pretty lucky kid.

6) If Blue Jays try to trade Roy Halladay, former used car dealer Bud Selig should block the deal, seeing as he is also baseball commissioner.

5) Adding to the weirdness of Arizona's 9-6 win in 18 innings over San Diego Sunday: 1) after tying game with five runs in bottom of 9th inning, Padres never got another hit, in nine more innings, against a bullpen that has been horrendous all season 2) Padres had to use SS Wilson to pitch the 18th inning after they ran out of pitchers- he took the loss.

4) Sean West allowed only three baserunners in eight innings as Florida beat the Giants, 4-0. It was the first major league win for young West.

3) Pirates, Braves played late into the night in Atlanta Monday, before Braves scored an an infield hit in the 15th to win 7-6. Very close call at the plate decided the game; umpire Knight seemed to make correct call.

2) Jose Contreras came back from his exile to minor leagues and blanked Detroit for eight innings, beating Tigers 6-1, giving Pale Hose a split in a Monday twinbill with Detroit, who still lead the AL Central. Contreras allowed only two base runners in his eight innings on the mound.

1) Have to laugh at some frontrunning jackasses in New York who called a radio talkshow Monday to suggest Mariano Rivera should be replaced as closer of the Bronx Bombers. This guy is one of the greatest closers of alltime, he is still damn good, but because he lost to the Rays Saturday, these idiots think Joba Chamberlain could do better. Wow. Send Rivera to Oakland-- we'd be glad to have him.

[SPOOKY]

Here is a Spooky Brett Favre Rant.


I'm getting sick of this shit which I'm sure all of you are, too. I turn on SportsCenter on Sunday at 6 after a day of Tiger dominating, Tony Stewart (whose nickname is "Smoke", which I had never heard before, I thought it was WIDE LOAD) wins a race, the NBA Finals are that night, and plenty of baseball going on. What does ESPN open with? Brett Favre had surgery on his arm and MIGHT come back to the NFL! Come on, I don't have the stomach to deal with this bullshit anymore. This isn't that big of a story anyway. Just tell me the fucking truth and don't beat around the bush. Knock it the fuck off already. Quit dicking me/us around.

Do you want to know what you can get me for my Father's Day present other than another Bookmaker player using Bonus Code Spooky? I don't ask for much. I just want this:



I would wear this shirt every damn day of my life. I'm sick of the mindless and dickless drama. If he plays, great, he's going to be terrible. If he doesn't, great too, he can cultivate some weirdo crop that makes Wrangler Jeans. I'm just tired of being jerked around. Whether it be in real life or in my one escape from the daily shit cycle (sports), can someone please be honest and make a fucking decision already. Fuck You, Brett Favre. Best shirt ever. This is my Tuesday rant.

[manong36]

lol. your rant just made my day, but better if you have thoughts on nba g3,spooky.
thanks again and gl

[SPOOKY]

I wanna be like Manong!!

In answer to your question the other day. There is a forum challenge at another site and about 20 forums are competing against each other. Team SFP is where I hang my hat during the day. Ryan can share with you if he wants to post other forum names here.

Good Luck!

Looking for the Red Wings to finish it off tonight.

Big night with everything going on.

Not really recommending playing all these tonight but posting em anyway for shits and giggles. Obviously a few are more solid than the others. But since its all monopoly money does it really matter. :rofl: Yeah right.

MLB

CINCINNATI REDS -121

PITTSBURGH PIRATES/ATLANTA BRAVES OVER 8 RUNS -115

OAKLAND A'S/MINNESOTA TWINS OVER 8 RUNS -105

OAKLAND A'S -110

KANSAS CITY ROYALS +195

Now with the NBA Finals tonight, I am doing an about face from Sunday since I have liked the Lakers from the beginning and just jumped off the first 2 games not wanting to lay the points.
Tonight it should be another close game and would not be suprised to see the Lakers win it going away. And then Orlando may take Game 4 and Lakers will then finish it off.
Orlando had their shot last game and blew it.
Also think it should reach the double century mark in scoring as well tonight.

In the NHL, Series wager pending on Red Wings!!

Good Luck.

:fvehgh:

:lluck:

[SPOOKY]

Six-pack for Wednesday


-- Good rule change in college hoop; no more drawing charges under the basket-- that costs Duke 4-6 points a game right there.

-- Oakland A's are averaging 4,700 fans a game less than any other AL team, but Florida/Pittsburgh are both drawing less in the NL.

-- Johan Santana allowed four HRs in a game for just the second time in his career (2007 at Toronto) Tuesday night.

-- U of Denver signed Princeton's lacrosse coach, and will be playing him a cool $250,000/year. Quarter million for a lacrosse coach? Wow.

-- Bud Selig missed his calling; he would have been just a tremendous undertaker. "We're so sorry for your loss, Mrs Smith. The Washington Nationals are now on the clock."

-- USC hoop coach Tim Floyd quit Tuesday; where do the Trojans go from here? They've got a great arena, but they'll always be second in LA behind UCLA, and they might be going on probation. Tough job for whomever they choose to replace Floyd.

:weeed:

[SPOOKY]

Wednesday's List of 13: Some of the baseball drafts great steals


Thanks to an interesting article by David Sabino at CNN, we came up with a list of some of the great steals of the baseball amateur draft

13) Rays-- James Shields, 16th round, 2000. With all the high picks they have had, who knew their ace would be a 16th-round pick?

12) Nationals-- Jason Bay, 22nd round, 2000. Montreal Expos struck gold taking a Canadian kid, but its worked out better for the Red Sox.

11) Rangers-- Ian Kinsler, 17th round, 2003. What a big steal.

10) Pirates-- Nate McLouth, 25th round, 2003. Drafting isn't the issue; their big problem is re-signing veterans and actually trying to win games.

9) Rockies-- Brad Hawpe, 11th round, 2000. Colorado built core of its World Series team by drafting guys from the major college programs.

8) A's-- Rich Harden, 17th round, 2000. Oakland also drafted Jonathon Papelbon once upon a time, but never signed him. Billy Beane likes to accumulate draft picks after his free agent stars fly the coop.

7) Angels-- Mike Napoli, 16th round, 2000. Halos once drafted Aaron Hill, but couldn't sign him. Four of their five Opening Day starting Ps were Angel draftees. Mr Moreno has baseball's best organization.

6) Padres-- Jake Peavy, 15th round, 1999. Recent drafts haven't been at all good, but not only is Peavy great, he won't let the Padres trade him.

5) Brewers-- Manny Parra, 42nd round, 2001. He hasn't quite panned out yet, but how often do you find a prospect like this in 42nd round?

4) Red Sox-- Kevin Youkilis, 8th round, 2001. Boston has also traded Hanley Ramirez, Freddy Sanchez, but their farm system is really loaded.

3) Phillies-- Ryan Howard, 5th round, 2001. Utley-Hamels-Howard are all homegrown, which has to make their world title a little sweeter.

2) Twins-- Jason Kubel, 12th round, 2000. Justin Morneau was picked 89th in the draft. Joe Mauer turned down a chance to be Florida State's QB. Minnesota contends because they scout very well.

1) Cardinals-- Albert Pujols, 13th round, 1999. Ten years ago, 401 guys were drafted ahead of Pujols, making him the Tom Brady of baseball.