Cardinals General Manager John Mozeliak has done a good job standing pat, holding his ground and not making a move simply out of desperation.
A lot of hype has been given to National League Central rivals Chicago and Milwaukee for acquiring starting pitchers Rich Harden and CC Sabathia, respectively.
The national media then proclaimed the Cardinals turn to make a major splash.
Would A.J. Burnett be coming to town? If not, how about at least Oliver Perez?
A great game turned in to complete havoc last night in the Los Angeles Sparks - Detroit Shock game. LA eventually won the game 84-81 but the final 5 seconds of the game is what everyone will come to remember.
With 4.6 seconds left on the game clock, things got a little hairy. This all starts moments after LA's Candace Parker and Detroit's Cheryl Ford were seperated after a hard foul by Ford in midst of Parker/Ford going up for a simple rebound.
During the next possession, Parker was then "hip-checked" to the floor by Detroit's Plenette Pierson and Parker falls to the ground. This is all followed up by Pierson, the obvious villian in this ordeal, then intentionally running Parker over. The melee starts.
Benches are cleared and Parker throws a punch at Pierson before being tackled by Detroit's Deanna Nolan. Players and coaches from both teams joined in, and Detroit's Assistant Coach Rick Mahorn actually shoved Lisa Leslie to the court at one point.
Mahorn was also involved in the 2004 Pistons-Pacers brawl while working as a Detroit broadcaster, going into the crowd to try to pull Ron Artest away from fans. He was also known as a "bad-boy" why back when in his years with Detroit.
After the game, Detroit Head Coach and other Detroit personel tried explaining that Mahorn is more of a peacemaker and would never do something like shove an opposing player. Well I think it is obvious that peacemaker is the wrong word here, as Mahorn was clearly un-professional and at some points idiotic. If he wants to shove players to the ground in hope to regain control of the situation, he should of done it to one of his players. Not the class act of the league.
Shortly after Rick Mahorn shoves Leslie to the ground, teamate of Leslie's, DeLisha Milton-Jones runs to Leslies aid and pushes and actually delivered a decent punch to Rick Mahorn.
All in all, Milton-Jones, Parker, Pierson, and Detroit assistant Rick Mahorn were ejected from the game. Nolan and Shannon Bobbitt received technicals. WNBA officials have reported that it will be likely that Parker (unfortuately) and Pierson will receive heavy suspensions relating to the inncident.
As you can tell this was a very difficult game to official. There were some bad calls down the stretch and, apparently, the game was very physical throughout as refferees clearly did a terrible job at getting any kind of control over the situation.
It was a very unfortunate situation that could of been avoided. Cheryl Ford actually tore her ACL while trying to break up the fight.
I, myself, cannot remember any kind of brawl in the WNBA in a very long time. Even more so, I cannot remember a male coach intentionally shoving a female player to the ground like Rick Mahorn did. I dont care if he is more of a "peacemaker", the bottom line is that he DID push Lish Leslie to the ground. Shame on you Rick Mahorn, I would like to see you try to push a male NBA player to the ground and see what happens. Now that I think of it, I am SURE Lisa Leslie would kick your pathetic ****.
Love me or hate me, that is sports through the eyes of Jay. I am out.
- Jay
Hey it's Jay and in case you did not know, I am posting MLB Power Rankings (1-30) every Saturday here, on FanNation. And what do you know? It is Saturday, 12:00 PM in the great city of St. Louis. Here are this weeks power rankings!
1. Chicago Cubs
After getting Rich Harden, the Brewers responded with CC. If D!ck Harden stays healthy, the Cubs have the best rotation in the NL, if not the whole league.
2. Los Angeles Angles of Anaheim
The A's traded Rich Harden which means that instead of worrying about him they have to "worry" about Sean Gallagher. Vlad is on a tear and their pitching is best in AL.
3. Boston Red Sox
With the all-star break now behind us and tonight marking the first real day back, let's look at what might be coming with the second-half of the season. I think I speak for everyone when I say that the first-half was one to remember. It seems like every day you saw something different and hopefully the second-half follows in the first's footsteps.
Let's start where I think all the teams will finish at the end of the season.
NL East-
The Oakland Atheletics traded away there second starting pitcher last night, sending Joe Blanton to the Philadelphia Phillies in exchange for, what do you know, 3 minor leaguers. I could of told you that one was coming. Beaneball is going on once again in Oak-town.
A's General Manager Billy Beane sent Blanton packing only a week after letting Rich Harden go (traded to Cubs). He must be unaware that his team is (going into Friday) 51-44, still in the playoff race, only 4.5 games out of the wildcard with a better record than the New York Yankees, Detroit, Atlanta, etc.
So Beane, with team still in it, has sent two of his top three starting pitchers packing and, in return, the best player he has got out of both trades in Sean Gallagher. The players he received in the Blanton trade consisted of: Josh Outman, Adrian Cardenas, and Matt Spencer. Josh Outman being the only one that is player higher than Single-A ball (Double-A).
The 27-year-old Blanton, won 14 games last season, was 5-12 with a 4.90 ERA in 20 starts for the Atheletics this year. This has easily been his worst year as a big-leaguer after being the opening-day starter against the Boston Red Sox in Tokyo.
Last year, Beane dealt Oakland ace Dan Haren to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Only three years after trading Tim Hudson and Mark Mulder to the Braves and Cardinals in a 3-day span in 2004.
Beane said last offseason that they are now focusing on building the A's farm system from the "bottom up" starting this season. These trades confirm that they arent messing around. Beane has, since the Blanton and Harden trades, said that he isnt writing off 2008 saying that there is still time to have a good year. Well trading your top two starting pitchers does not help staying in the wildcard race.
On the other hand, maybe the A's know something that everyone else does not know. Oakland traded Mark Mulder in 2004 to the Cardinals and, since then, Mulder has made only 50 starts for St. Louis and has a ERA just a notch below 6.00 for the Redbirds. With Joe Blanton having a bad year, and we all know Harden's injury problem, maybe they know something is wrong with either one or both of them. I mean, they did with Mulder and that is why they traded him. Sure, Danny and Tim Hudson are still throwing great, but who knows?
Looking at both ends of the trade and both teams situation, I strongly disagree with the Atheletics decisions. It does not make sense to me to trade both of your top starters when you are very much still in the playoff hunt. I am a Cardinals fan, born and raised in STL and if John Mozeliak went out and traded Carpenter or Lohse.. I would be p!ssed. Not to mention trading both of them.
Love me or hate me, that's sports through the eyes of Jay. I am out.
- Jay
© 2008 STATS LLC
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