Young to Twins, Cordero to close for Cincy

Delmon Young was moved by the Devil (sic) Rays for Garza from the Twins. This likely will not be the biggest move of the offseason for the Twins as they seek to move Nathan and Santanna prior to the start of 2008 as well. If I were a Twins fan, I would have to be pretty frustrated. The Twinkies have turned into the 2000's version of the '90's expos... only actually making the playoffs. Producing talent in the organization that a fan gets to fall in love with, only to watch it sold off for more young talent is frustrating. I'm not sure what the best method is to address these profit seeking firesales... but they are not good for the game.

In other news, my beloved Commies (i.e. Reds) in the NL Central have went and got themselves a real deal closer through free agent Francisco Cordero. If my math is correct they are paying $11.5 million per year for Cordero, which equates to between $287-$500K per save (if he gets 23-40). I know that is just going rate, but it seems a bit high for me... Especially given the fact that the Reds can't anticipate being in that many important close games next year, can they?

In shameful news, La Russa was found guilty of a DWI/OWI/DUI offense stemming from an incident last spring. This isn't a proud badge to wear for such an articulate and kind man.


Fantasy Football Update:
I pulled off a 123-122.5 victory this past weekend. This was mostly do to Kolby Smith blowing up for 150 yards this past weekend, and thus has earned a starting spot on the Badger Hunds for this weekend's matchup versus the California Kats. Both teams come in with an 8-4 record and are tied for the divisional lead with two games remaining. The trouble for me will likely come from the Brady factor, but hopefully my newly acquired P. Manning will produce to a competitive level with Tommy boy. My defense matches up well, but the Kats also feature Ray Lewis who has been blowing up the tackles the past few weeks. With only two games left, this is the divisional championship -- Unless I win - splitting the season series, and then lose the last week when the Kats win. In that case the tiebreaker would go to the team with the most points scored, which at the moment the Badger Hunds are -60 behind the Kats. Have a good fantasy weekend.

Can a fourth stringer pull off a hundred yard day?

In possibly my biggest risk of the season, I'm starting Kolby Smith of the KC Chiefs this week in fantasy football. This was necessary after I lost Jacobs of the Giants last week. Manning, who I traded for two weeks ago, has now successfully put up a goose egg followed by an 18 point performance. Not what I needed. I am also gambling with starting Hackett from Seattle.

I am currently second in my division and only one game behind the division leader (who is stuck 60 points going into this afternoon - but who has Brady)so today is a huge game. I am playing the third place team in my division who is only 1.5 games back of me. I lead 28.5 to 20 going into this afternoon.



Hope you have a wonderful fantasy Sunday.

The Axe is ours...

The 'Sconsin Badgers took home Paul Bunyon's axe for the third straight year by beating the Golden Golphers this afternoon. Zach Brown looked marvelous.. but of course I could probably pick up a hundred yards against that D. It looks like we should be headed to the Outback bowl, but with Michigan in the mix - we may get shoved down to the Alamo Bowl or Champs Sports Bowl. The Champ Sports Bowl? this is just silly.

I have to applaud Ron Zook and his Fighting Illini for being the coach and team of the Big Ten this year.

Now it's on to the basketball season, were I will once again struggle with rooting against my native and alma mater Hoosiers... Should be fun to watch.

Big Ten Football

Well, it looks like my streak of predicting a loss for the home team continues to assure victory. (the 38-22 TOP was huge for the Badgers). go bucky! In other news, the Illini keep showing that the spread offense is a great equalizer as they got the Buckeyes. The Hoosiers loss devasted me, since I was predicting an 8-4 season.

Did anyone see the Navy game? That must have been one of the most ridiculous games in history to watch.

Badgers vs. Wolverines...

It appears that the honeymoon period for Mr. Bielema is coming to a close as the Badgers head into a home game against Michigan this weekend. The likelihood of victory is significantly lowered with stud running back P.J. Hill out with a leg injury. The good news for the Badgers is that, being a home game, Lance Smith, the back-up running back who can’t travel, will be available. The youngster Zach Brown will also get a chance to show himself. The Badgers will need to be successful moving the football on offense to keep the time of possession as close to in their favor as possible. This will mean that the Tyler Donovan led offense cannot afford the turnovers and three and outs of recent weeks. If Michigan keeps the ball in their hands for more than 36-40 minutes, the Badger defense will eventually breakdown and give up some big plays. The problem here for the Badgers is that Michigan is very capable of holding onto the football for long stretches via pounding it down the field with Mike Hart. Wisconsin’s hopes are with the offense taking care of the ball and making a big play or three and the defense holding the line and creating a turnover or two. This does not look good for the Badgers in Madison on Senior Day. Michigan 28 – Wisconsin 17.

Job Cuts in Poker?

The NY Times Business section today has a piece on job cuts in the poker industry. I have often wondered if this type of technology, which effectively eliminates dealers, would become the new big thing. I doubt it will catch on incrediably quickly because the old timers will keep an outcry against it for sometime, but the idea of getting 46 hands per hour will undoubtably be alluring for a number of gamblers as well as owners. We shall see, but in many ways this is the logical progression of increased productivity, online gaming, and techological advances. I hope this doesn't take effect anytime soon, because I have friends in the industry. I also just love playing with real chips and cards. I mean, how am I going to justify losing without a dealer to blame, or how can I throw my cards down in disgust when I have no cards?

Stop.... HAMMER TIME!

One of my favorite poker stories... (it's not a bad beat... or at least for me)

Setting: Treasure Island Poker Room
Game: 9 handed Two-Four Limit Hold’em
My Stack: $80?
My Position: middle -- 4th preflop action

Under the Gun (UTG) folds, UTG+1 calls, Old Lady Villian makes it 4, Donkey makes it 6, fold, fold, button calls, small folds, big blind calls. 5 to the flop with $31 pre drop in the pot.

Flop comes Qd 5h 9s. big blind checks, UTG+1 checks, OL Villian bets 2, Donkey makes it 4, button calls, big blind folds, UTG+1 folds, OL Villian calls. 3 to the turn with $43 pre drop.

Turn comes 3h. OLV bets 4, Donkey makes it 8, button folds, OLV calls. 2 to the river $59 pre drop (after drop -- Boofer would it be $55 or $56?)

River comes 8s. OLV checks, Donkey bets 4, Pot is now $59-$63 with $4 to call – OLV lays down saying she had a good queen. Donkey calls over friend to show him that he has successfully bluffed a huge pot in 2/4 with THE HAMMER – 2/7 offsuit... I love poker.