Greatest Tennis Match Ever!

Granted that is just our opinion. To show you how much our opinion means, the only other thing that we have ever watched that is remotely close to a tennis match is John McEnroe in Mr. Deeds. That still doesn’t change the fact that this match was riveting, exciting, dramatic, and any other word you can think of that means entertaining. Our new favorite tennis player, Rafael Nadal, became the king of grass and clay, becoming the first person since 1980 to win The French Open and Wimbledon consecutively. How did he do it you ask? With heart, perseverance, and determination.

The Spaniard, that refuses to wear sleeves, led the match two love before being halted in the third set due to rain. The Brits have yet to invent a roof for their stadium. The delay was just what Federer needed as he broke Nadal’s chance for a championship to take the third set, and did the same in the fourth. There they were, the king of clay, and the king of all tennis, knotted after 4 sets. The final set gave the fans any and everything they could have asked for. It was a back and forth thrilling set as Nadal refused to be broken. For the final set, the two traded games. Each refusing to be broken. Nadal led 40-0 with the two tied 5-5 and 6-6. Federer refused to be broken as he nailed aces and took each set. Not to be out-done, Nadal dazzled with his athleticism, broke Federer with the set 7-7, and Federer was done. Nadal, possibly running entirely on emotion, grunted and groaned his way to his first Wimbledon championship. Nadal celebrated with family and Spanish royalty, and was as gracious in victory as Federer was in defeat. Apart from some awkward hand pounds, hugs, and interviewing from John McEnroe, the match and the coverage was flawless. It is nice to see a network that knows they are not the story, the athletes are. This match was a raw confrontation of two men giving it all they had, and ended as the greatest match that we had ever scene, and arguably the greatest tennis match ever played. In all, it has been a pretty good summer for Spain.

Hot Chicks and Clicks- No Asterisks Edition

Boob Tube Time: Back to back with the IB

ABC Stooge: Now that the writer’s have finished striking we can go for some orignal programming, right?

ABC Executive: That is okay, we will make more reality tv. How about a gameshow where contestants run through large obstacle courses and we hire annoying announcers to make fun of them.

ABC Stooge: You mean like that show MXC on Spike TV?

ABC Executive: No. Not like that. We will use American. While were at it, lets send American’s on a Japanese gameshow. It will be a hilarious culture clash.

ABC Stooge: Great idea boss.

ABC Executive: Who needs writers? This stuff is easy.

(ABC 8:00-9:00)-Wipeout-Seriously. This has been done before.

(ABC 9:00-10:00)-I Survived a Japanese Gameshow-Simpson’s did it.

(ESPN 8:00-9:00)-ESPY Nomination Special-ESPN is so hip, JT is hosting the show.

(WNBC 8:00-10:00)-Olympic Trials-Some may not care, but this sh*t is interesting.

The Show: Writing headlines is tough

Work is sort of busy, but we just can’t get into it right now. We had car problems, but that let us rent a Mustang, so we felt cool for a little. Then we remembered that we started a blog. Sure no one visits, and no one is reading it, but that doesn’t mean that we can’t post about baseball, and link to some other websites that we like. For now we are going to recap some baseball action. You want a recap? I got your recap right here…

Rays 5, Boston 4; Gabe “Don’t Call Me” Gross and B.J. “What’s” Upton (Sorry that was too easy) each homered for the team that everyone thinks will need Cialis by the end of the season. For now the are 1 1/2 games up on those sorry Sox.

KC 6, Bmore 5; Miguel Olivo doesn’t need no stinkin’ maple bat. He homered to tie the game in the top of the 9th. KC gathered one more in the 11th and went home happy.

Rangers 2, Yanks 1; Arod went yard, and the team wasn’t down or up by 10 runs. Take that haters. Unfortunately, the remainder of the team wasn’t clutch, except for maybe Mike Mussina who used ice cream to power his way to 8 Ks. The comeback kid Josh Hamilton notched an RBI in his team’s victory.

Tigers 5, Twinkies 4; Joel Zumaya got a save. Not sure if that is going to be a recurring theme, or if he was just celebrating the release of “Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.”

Sox 9, Indians 7; According to ESPN “Swisher cracks grand slam, solo shot to lift White Sox to 5th win in row“

A’s 6, TLAAofA 1; The LLAALALALAAofA have scored 2 runs in 4 games. Greg Smith pitched a complete game for the A’s. Typically that isn’t all that noteworthy, but CGs hardly happen, and Greg Smith is on my fantasy team, SUCKA! Sure this site updates less than we do, but we feel for them. As hardly read blogs, we need to stick together. Stick with it FSCB.

Blue Jays 2, M’s 0; The Blue Jays haven’t been scored upon in 18 consecutive innings. Maybe there is something to this whole steroids gone scoring down thing.

NL Time

Mets 1, Cards 7; Sure if you want news about the Cardinals go here, but thanks to our Jerry Manuel story, we found a link for Mets info here. Sometimes blog names are really clever. We tip our cap to that one. The Met’s lost last night, and Maine sucked.

Pirates 3, Reds 4; Griffey hit a walk-off bomb. Good for him. We know we are in the minority, but we don’t really like Ken Griffey Jr. Speaking of people that don’t like other people, Dan Shanoff sounds off.

Nats 5, Fish 6; 5 homers were hit in this game, including a walk-off by Josh Willingham to swat those pesky (g)Nats. See what I did there? It was a little play on words. The Nationals are like bugs, and…oh hell, you get it.

Astros 4, Dodgers 1; Roy “The Enigma” Oswalt pitched a gem last night but left after 6 with an injury and 9 Ks. Since both of these teams suck, I can’t think of a better place to drop this debate.

Dbags 6, Brewbags 3; The Dbacks are struggling, Eric Byrnes is crumbling, and where is Max Scherzer? At least they got a win out of this one.

Cubs 9, Giants 2; The Cubs are the best team in the NL, but struggle a bit on the road. San Francisco is a friendly place, so they decided to help a good team get better by pitching Barry Zito. Mark “My name isn’t Derek” DeRosa belted 2 homers. We launched the recap with the Cubbies, and we end with them. Check it ooooooouuuuutttt!

Et tu Brute? (A Jerry Manuel Story)

Pardon us while we use the metaphor of Willie Randolph and Julius Caesar, but these words may never ring more true than they do in the wake of the Willie Randolph firing. For all intents and metaphoric purposes Willie is the Manager, and thus the Emperor. One could not be considered a closer alley to a manager/emperor than his bench coach/spineless leech. Brutus was held in high regard by Julius Caesar and the city of Rome. Manuel was at least considered a teammate by Willie, and clearly Met management has a vote of confidence in the man. I suppose when it comes down to the actual stabbing in the back, one cannot help but point to Omar Minaya, who is cowardace personified, but that doesn’t mean that Manuel’s hands are clean, several dagger thrusts came from the one time bench coach. Messages were sent with more tact in the Godfather, than the manliness displayed by the beheading offered by the Mets and Omar in Anaheim. An in depth look at these transgressions is needed in order to truly understand the back stabbing that was performed by Jerry Manuel, and the Mets organization.

In order to understand the depth of this conspiracy, lets delve into Manuel’s actions, or lack their of. When Manuel was called to the forefront of Met upper management, he very quickly offered his keys to success, which include resting certain players, shuffling the lineup, and of course simplifying. Manuel is a man that is a little full of himself, clearly evident in this article where he feels that he is the Gandhi of baseball.

The article explains how Manuel is often heard, and typically makes his opinion’s known. Where was this fantastic insight over the waning months of Willie’s Met career? Manuel was noted by other coaches as not implementing key baseball strategies to key Met personnel. The only talking he would was to tell players of critical comments made by Willie, in closed door meetings with management, as part of player evaluation. Willie’s straight forward demeanor made him unpopular with several players including stars like Beltran and bums like Delgado. Manuel wasn’t only complaining to players, but also to management. The incessant whining from the supposed heir to the thrown is well documented through encounters with knife wielding VP of player development Tony Bernazard. Manuel’s other nugget of insight, over Willie’s last few days, was to give rest to some of the best players (Wright and Reyes). Granted they may be tired, but Willie’s job depended on their performance. Apparently, in the end that didn’t matter as Willie won 5 of his last 7. Met management blamed the New York media, team dissention, and a general feel of uncertainty among the players as reasons for Willie’s firing. This sounds like a group of men that are grasping for any excuse to fire the leader of an underachieving team. Some of the Metropolitans maybe be quick with the feet, but not quick on the wit, and dizzying comments from management surely didn’t help the situation. The Mets played a daily version of who’s line is it anyway?

Highly touted pitching coach Rick Peterson, the not so lucky version of Mark Antony, is also a listed casualty of the midnight massacre. Clearly, Billy Wagner blowing 3 straight save chances is Peterson’s fault. Wagner feels that a simplistic pitching approach offered by Dan Warthen is the answer. Who cares about stats or scouting reports? Those things are overrated anyway.

Here at Awesomo, we can only hope that the Mets suffer a similar fate to those famous Romans that stood on the steps of the Senate. People are often punished for their dastardly acts. Currently, the Mets sit at 1 game under .500, and they are headed by a coward, a snake, and an idiot. After all of this dissention, we can only muster one thought…Bring back Bobby V!

PING! I hope the BCS was watching

The Fresno State “Don’t Call Me Cinderrella” Bulldogs became the national champions of college baseball at the College World Series (that sentance is a bit of an oxymoron). Steve Detwiler was a one man wrecking crew, with “one thumb” (he actually has two thumbs, but ESPN insists he has only one). The RF drove in all 6 of his teams runs, and recorded the final out, but Detwiler reminded interviewers that the victory was a team effort. It was a beaten down Bulldog team at that. They had injuries to their best pitchers, injuries to their best players, a low RPI, a low batting average, and a high ERA. ESPN announced that the team scored an average of 6+ runs a game which was good enough for 102nd in the nation (possibly the most unlikely championship ever). It turns out, that is just how Bulldogs like it, unless you are from Georgia. (For the entire game recap, check out this live blog)

With all of that lined up, Fresno shouldn’t have won. They shouldn’t have even been there. As a matter of fact, if this was the BCS, they wouldn’t have had the chance. They most likely, wouldn’t have even gotten a BCS game. If there was ever a case against the BCS, it is the way that baseball runs their championship (and basketball for that matter). All the little guys are asking for is a chance. They might not win often, but every now and then, they just might shock you. Not too many people in the world cared about Fresno St. before this championship (hell, not too many people cared about the city of Fresno), but for one week people cared. For one week they weren’t the little guy. They don’t want to be known as Cinderella, and they won’t. From now on, they will be known as champions.

PING! Pick your Bulldog

If a college baseball tournament is played, but it is televised on ESPN Classic, does it make a sound? Much of the world has become disenfranchised with the WWL, the 4 letter word, the propaganda machine that is ESPN. Myself included in this group. I have pretty much come to terms with ESPN and their endless rants, lack of accountability, and recyclying of the same story…(T.O.?) Really, those things don’t bother me anymore, but their latest programming decision has me baffled. Why was one of the final games of the College World Series buried on ESPN Classic? One might think that perhaps there was a major sporting event that was taking place. Something like Eurocup, or maybe even olympic gymnastic qualifying, but that was not the case. The College Baseball World Series wasn’t even good enough for ESPN2 because of re-runs of the 2007 World Series of Poker. That is right, something that took place a year ago, has already been seen, and is seriously waning thanks to the constant barrage of coverage from the WWL, is what bumped one of the most improbable runs in college baseball history. How college baseball continues to be constantly put on the backburner of the sports pyramid is beyond me, but programming decisions like those made at ESPN certainly don’t help. For those of you not lucky enough to be in Omaha, or catch the game on channel 140 (cablevision customers only), we have a recap of the weekends college action right here for you.

UGA 10, Stanford 8 (Game 1); And game 1 was all the Bulldogs needed. The Cardinal came into the game needing to take 2 from the undefeated Bulldogs, and didn’t even get one. Stanford decided that they liked to play down multiple runs. Facing deficits of 5 or more throughout most of the game. The Cardinal continued to play, and even brought the game to 2 in the 9th, on a homer by Ben Clowe, but that wasn’t enough, and the Bulldogs advanced.

UNC 4, Fresno State 3 (Game 1); On the brink of elimination, the Tar Heels led off the 8th with a double. The obvious baseball decision here is to bunt. Chad Flack attempted to do just that. Having been the clean-up hitter for most of the season, he wasn’t very good at sacrificing. As our coach always said, “the bigger the game, the bigger the bunting game.” Turns out this adage wasn’t entirely true. After Flack’s failed bunt attempt, he launched this towering homer into the stands for the go ahead run. Big Mo was on the side of the Tar Heels, and so was their ace, who would pitch game 2.

Fresno 6, UNC 1 (Elimination Game); The team that many had picked to win the whole enchilada had rallied from the losers bracket, and was facing a team that appeared to lack any real definition. Some idiots even predicted Fresno to be 2 and done. UNC also had their “ace” on the mound. A man that was 22-2 in his college career. One of his two losses came earlier in the week to Fresno State. When the cards are all in line, that is when the house seems to come crumbling down (thank you medal bats). The Tar Heels looked to be off to a good start, as they led off the game with a double, but Cinderella kept on her slipper and got out of the jam. The Bulldogs went on to strike first, and wouldn’t stop striking. They scored in 4 consecutive innings, including 2 crooked numbers. Now this years Cinderella has a ticket to the ball.

Prediction: Lucky for the fans, we can catch tonight’s action on ESPN2 at 7, and the great programmers at the 4 letter have given us the privilege of watching the kiddies on ESPN on Tuesday and Wednesday. Our prediction for tonight, pain! That is at least for Fresno State 3B, Tommy Mendonca, who has two dislocated and two bruised fingers in his throwing hand, and a laundry list of other players with injuries from a broken hamate to a chipped tooth. They have all played with the injuries thusfar, and there is no reason for one to think that will hold them back. In a pure match-up, the FS Bulldogs are a weaker in pretty much every facet, but they have been that way for the entire postseason. We are going to pick the FS Bulldogs because they “want it more,” which isn’t a real attribute. Oh well, who needs reasoning?

Boob tube time: Weekend edition

Alright, so it’s 4:30 on a Friday. We are physically at work, but couldn’t be further away from even thinking about work. People at work are asking if they can help me with anything, and all I think about is that hell no, you can’t help me write on my blog. Then I realize they are talking about work, and I sheepishly utter “no thanks.” There is a possibility that we will go to the movies tonight, and we can’t really think of anything worth seeing (Full Disclosure-we might see “Get Smart” hence the pic), but we will find something. For others, you might be at home, and in front of your giant plasma tv. If this is the case, here are some things for you to check out this weekend:

(My 9 7:00-10:00) Reds at Yankees-The Yankees are playing well, Volquez is pitching for the Reds, and JP Riccardi’s favorite player is suiting up.

(CBS 8:00-9:00) “Ghost Whisperer”-At least Jennifer Love Hewitt is on it.

(ESPN 7:00-10:00) College World Series-They were relegated to ESPN2 for World Series of Poker reruns, but tonight the college kids get the primetime spotlight.

(CSPAN 8:00-11:00) Tonight from Washington-We wanted to link to Court TV, but we don’t know what channel it is. CSPAN is practically the same thing. The only reason we wanted to put a “legal” related station is because we wanted to link to this story. We find it funny that Duke admits how horrible their football team is.

PING! A day late and a dollar short

Yea we are late with this (2 days late in fact), but who cares. People only cruise this sight looking for chicks in the clicks, and that takes a lot of effort. We don’t have any of that for you right now. All we have for you is baseball highlights. If you want that stuff, go here.

Miami 3, Stanford 8; A day late and a dollar short was the slogan for the Miami Hurricanes after this one. The ‘Canes managed to go all season and lose 8 games. They lost 8 times in a conference that was easily the most dominating in the country. The ‘Canes have also managed to lose 3 times in their last 6 tries. That is not good, especially in tournament play. I suppose it was a tough draw for the #1 national seed, but they managed to lose to every team in their bracket at some point this season. Miami led for a whole 2 and a half innings, then it was over. In all, it wasn’t a good night for Miami players. Their best player was 1 K short of the golden sombrero, their pitching was lackluster at best all tournament, and their whole team lacked in Jeterness Bradyness Eli Manningness(?). Not to overshadow the win for the giant tree hugging team, but the number 1 seed blew this tournament. Their toughest opponent should have been a struggling FSU team, but it turns out it was themselves. Miami went 2-15 and 8 strikeouts with RiSP, and have been eliminated from the college world series in 3 games for each of the past 4 trips. Oh well, better luck next year. At least your mascot can dance.

PING! Buster Posey’s Last Stand

Too busy watching your little brother get an X-rays last night? Sorry they was a bit of inside information. Regardless, here is what you missed on the collegiate diamond…

Miami 7, FSU 5; Miami won the game, and in an elimination game, that is all that counts. This game won’t do much in the way to build confidence. Just look at what closer Carlos Gutierrez had to say at the press game conference. Well actually, he didn’t attend questioning. Perhaps he wasn’t happy with his performance, yet again. So far he has faced 16 hitters, allowed 7 hits, 7 runs, 5 earned (granted it was his own error), and 2 walks. One night after blowing the game, Gutierrez made this one interesting in the 9th as the Seminoles rallied for 3 runs. Buster Posey, the Dick Howser Trophy winner, and Golden Spikes finalist, stood at the plate in the form of the go ahead run. Perhaps Gutierrez did the right thing. He walked Posey to load the bases, then got Jack Rye to ground out, ending the game. FSU is out, and somewhere Jenn Sterger weeps. Miami lives another day to face the loser of the Georgia/Stanford game. Speaking of the Georgia/Stanford game…

Georgia 4, Stanford 3; The Cardinal battered the ball around in the 3rd, including a home run from Jason “The Astro” Castro, to back Georgia into a corner. As Miami learned last night, and Stanford tonight, nobody backs baby Georgia into a corner. Stanford decided not to score anymore in the game, and Georgia decided to score 4 more times, including 2 in the 7th. After a controversial foul call, Georgia continued to rally. Matt Cerione drove in the eventual game winner with a bases loaded single. The bullpen pitched 6 shutout innings, and the Bulldogs await the winner of the Miami/Cardinal match-up.