Atlanta Braves's Atlanta Braves friend's fan blogs

Being a baller, I tend to play basketball a lot. The other day I was balling, and some other ballers challenged me and my baller bros to a game of full-court. FULL COURT. I suck at full court.

I can't dribble, so full-court makes me look like an even shitter dribbler. One of my favorite dribbling techniques is to get a rebound, then take a few steps and crouch down, protecting the ball. I'll try to pass it to a teammate, then it'll get stolen. That's how I work.

One of the things I've noticed about street-balling is that there are two kinds of defense: physical and voice. "Physical D" is obvious: that's you actually playing defense. "Voice D" is when you're too tired to get to the basket, so you scream something random at your man when he's trying to score.

Continue reading "Street Ballin'"

You may be wondering how Joba Chamberlain came off the All-Star Break with 2 consecutive victories: 1 against the Tigers and 1 against the A's. Before the break, it just seemed to be no-decision after no-decision. He holds the Major League Record for most No-D's in a season.

Reports say that Joba went home to Oklahoma during the All-Star Break. He didn't even think about baseball. He just spent quality time with his family. He only had a couple of throwing sessions and that's it! Nothing complicated. No pressure. No nothing. Just basic throwing. No Joba rules to worry about.

As a family man with 2 kids, I can relate with how Chamberlain can come back and have success on the mound his first 2 starts back . Joba was grinding it out in the first half. He was working hard with coaches trying to figure things out. This is a lot like a student grinding it out with his schoolwork; grinding it out with his schoolwork, getting pressure from his teachers to do better, getting pressure to keep their GPA up, but oh, when the semester is over, they go home, hang out with family and friend, and just breathe. When the new semester starts, they're fresh minded and ready to go.

Continue reading "How Joba Got His Groove Back"

Moses spent 40 years in the desert before shepherding Israel through the desert enroute to the Promised Land. Michael Jackson grew up in a musical family and became the King of Pop over a span of 50 years. Don Zimmer tops them both. We're talking 61 years in the game and he's still going. Homeboy loves baseball. He was Joe Torre's bench coach when he managed the Yankees to 4 World Series championships. He had left Yankee management over a dispute with the boss George Steinbrenner after the 2003 season. Check out this interview with Kimberly Jones from the YES Network.

Continue reading "Much love for Don Zimmer at Yankee Stadium"

He’s got 4 World Series rings: 1 with the Mets and 3 with the Yankees. His career was tainted with drug abuse. He’s Darryl Strawberry. He was a special guest on the show “Centerstage” with Michael Kaye on the Yes Network. He was a class act. Whatever questions Michael Kaye had about the negative things that happened in his life, he took full responsibility for it: drugs and tax evasion. You name it! Whatever he did wrong he took full responsibility for it, unlike Roger Clemens, who’s given denial after denial that he did steroids.

Darryl is an overcomer, then and now! He mentioned how he grew up in South Central L.A: in the hood. His dad used to abuse him and his brothers. Straw said his dad used to…uh you’re gonna have to watch the show. Don’t want to spoil it for you. Eventually, his mom had enough and divorced his dad. Throughout the show, he mentions that because he didn’t have a father figure in his life, he had to figure out things on his own. Straw even admitted to believing what his dad used to tell him: “You’re good for nothing and you’ll never amount anything.” His father was wrong. His upbringing in just one of the things that he overcame.

Continue reading "Straw Humble on Yes Network's "Centerstage""

Try not to think about what might have been, cause that was then. And we have taken different roads. Those are lyrics from the song What Might Have Been, by the country band Little Texas. Please excuse me, as I have listened to this piece of music several times since I heard news of the Atlanta Braves trade of Jeff Francoeur.

Several weeks ago, I actually wrote an article claiming that it was time for the Braves and Francoeur to go their seperate ways, in hope that each party could find true happiness and success apart. That was my head talking. The part of me that wants what is best for the Atlanta Braves and their playoff chances. I never thought about the bond that had been formed between Frenchy and the Atlanta area.

Francoeur had lofty expectations placed upon his shoulders when he debuted for his hometown team in the summer of 2005. That season was supposed to be the year that the Atlanta Braves string of division titles came to an end. It was a transition year of sorts, with Atlanta integrating several rookies into prominent roles with their club. However, with instant contributions from the likes of Brian McCann, Kelly Johnson, Ryan Langerhans, Wilson Betemit, Pete Orr, Kyle Davies, and Francoeur, the team took the National League East crown for the 14th consecutive year. The group of youngsters were labeled the

Continue reading "What Might Have Been"

Wrestling fans, in the past you've seen snakes from Jake "The Snake" Roberts, parrots from Koko B. Ware, bulldogs from Davey Boy Smith and the Dynamite Kid. Victoria is back in wrestling as "Tara" in TNA and she's striking fear in the hearts of the TNA Knockouts. Check it out (if you're afraid of spiders, don't click play):

I love it! When Tara was in the WWE, she was such a dominant force. She didn't need a gimmick. She just pretty much dominated through every match with her strength and intensity, leading her to hold the WWE Women's Championship numerous times. Her finishing move the Widow's Peak is one of the most feared finishers in women's wrestling. Just check out how this move gained her her first TNA Knockout title:

Continue reading "TNA's Tara (formerly WWE's Victoria) bringing arachnophobia to the opposition"

A NY Daily News reporter has penned Cody Ransom as A-Rod's understudy. This player is no stranger to injuries. I checked out his bio on MLB.com. He survived a car crash that killed 2 of his teammates while in college. He is a family man with a 5 year old daughter. He been spending the last 7 seasons going up and down from the Majors to the Minors with the San Francisco Giants, Houston Astros, and New York Yankees. Just what exactly is an understudy? Random House dictionary defines it as "a performer who learns the role of another in order to serve as a replacement if necessary." Scary, isn't it? To be the understudy to a player with a tainted history. Some might say, "Uh-oh! A-Rod's gonna teach him how to use steroids." Others might say, "Uh-oh, he's hanging o

Continue reading "Yankees backup infielder Cody Ransom: A-Rod's Understudy?"

10) They were spotted in Kobe's escalade at an 'N and Out drive-through. And yes, they both got "animal style."

9) When on road trips in Denver, Kobe's got Artest covered for booty calls.

8) Kobe's beer preference is bottles - meaning, he'll never pour anything in a plastic cup.

7) Kobe & LeBron's Nike "puppet campaign" is being replaced by "Kobe and Ron," a new puppet ad-series. However, Nike's yielding to "Crank Yankers" for the directing of this one.

6) Like Kobe, Artest is practically another Dobermamba on defense. Only difference is, Artest may bite.

5) As a peace offering, Artest bought fellow teammate and candy-lover, Lamar Odom, a year's supply of Cookies 'n Cream.

4) Finally, Kobe has a legit MC to battle Shaq with.

Continue reading "Top 10 Reasons Kobe and Artest will work out"

Steve McNair's untimely death has struck the hearts of Tennessean's and football fans all over.

Toughness. It's a quality that is not only wanted, but is of the utmost importance in the National Football League. Not many players had more of it than Steve McNair. He played with terrible knees, worn out legs, and even a ruptured sternum. Titans fans became spoiled being able to have a quarterback with such a high tolerance for pain. He was the Superman of the Tennessee Titans franchise.

Living in Tennessee for the past nine years, I have seen and read quite a bit about McNair, from his play on Sunday's to some off his off the field run ins with the law(mainly D.U.I's). I consider myself a fair-weather Titan fan, and for whatever reason, McNair was a very likeable figure in this state. Playing through injuries is always a great way to earn fans' respect, but there was something more to "Air McNair." Behind his facemask, there was a certain twinkle in his eye. He could often be found wearing a big smile and was always considered a consumate teammate during his tenure with the Titans. Even with the aforementioned D.U.I's, his reputation never took a hit in Nashville. Additionially, none of his problems with the law were ever related to violence, which makes the circumstances surrounding his death even more shocking.

Continue reading "A Fallen Titan"

It was a series where Alex Rodriguez got closer to Rafael Palmeiro on the all-time home run list. Mariano Rivera continued to pile up saves. Joba Chamberlain continued to pile up no decisions. The mark set by Andy Pettitte and Mo continued to increase. Ken Griffey Jr continued to approach Willie Mays in career HRs. Ichiro Suzuki continued to get hit after hit. Could he be on his way to a 9th consecutive 200+ hit season? Let's break this all down.

A-Rod's been getting a day's rest every week and will continue to do so until the All Star Break. It's been paying off for the Yankees with home runs in Games 1 and 2: 2 days, 2 homers. You go, Alex, rest up that big bad hip! A lot of people will say, "Oh, he's juicing up again." Others will say, "Oh, he's been hanging out with Kate Hudson." I say leave him alone. He's a grown boy. Unfortunately, baseball's steroid policy has become like rules in pro wrestling. It's legal as long as the ref doesn't see it. I guess in baseball terms, it would be that they can take whatever they want as long as they don't test negative. As long as he continues to test negative and keeps hitting home runs, I'm a happy camper.

Continue reading "Mariners-Yankees: A Series of Milestones Approached & Standards Set"