Sports Agenda For Thursday (5/5/11)
Big Story:
It was relatively quiet for our local teams last night. The Marlins were the only team in action and they pulled out a 8-7 victory in St. Louis thanks to a Mike Stanton homer.
But, there's lots of sports news from the NBA playoffs, the BcS, and even the NFL. So let's dive in head first!
Marlins: (@Cardinals, 1:45 p.m. Fox Sports Florida)
The Marlins are hotter than a bullet going through bin Laden's skull. They've won four of five since May 1 and are looking to take the series from the Cardinals today in St. Louis. Mike Stanton's homer in the ninth helped propel the Fish to the victory. Stanton has 5 homers on the year and has bumped his batting average up to .253 for the season. Not great, but decent for a guy who missed most of training camp.
Gaby Sanchez continued to smack the ball around to keep his average at .324 for the season.
But, Hanley Ramirez is just plain struggling at the plate. He's hitting .198 for the season, south of the Mendoza line. He's continue to bat third in the lineup, but he's just not carrying the load in the lineup and might do better if he's bumped down in the lineup for a week or so.
Pitcher Javier Vazquez continued his season-long struggle giving up 6 runs on 8 hits while striking out 2. His ERA this season is 6.39 and he's looking like a guy who may be moved to the bullpen or flat out released because he's not pitching well at all.
Nice to see Leo Nunez come in and get the save, his 11th on the season.
The Marlins toss up ace Josh Johnson today against the Cardinals. If you want to know how good Johnson has pitched this year…his ERA is 0.88 in 6 starts in 2011.
NBA:
Well, the Heat are off for the All-Star Break…I kid, but it's ridiculous for the series to be off for four days. Seriously, someone needs to smack some sense into David Stern.
A few things from around the league…
First, someone please stick a fork in Michael Wilbon. Seriously. His latest man-love column for Derrick Rose said his game last night proved why he is the MVP. So let me get this straight, shooting approximately 30 percent from the field, 13 percent from 3-point land, and 66 percent from the free throw line is MVP caliber? Really? Seriously?
Heck, Wilbon could score 25 points if he was given 27 shots and 6 free throws.
I think Wilbon needs to take a cold shower because he is more in love with Derrick Rose than any man I've ever seen.
MVP…please…look at what LeBron and Wade did in Game 1 and Game 2 and then come talk to me!
And then there's the Lakers…
Yipes, they got manhandled by the Dallas Mavericks in the first 2 games of the series. Kobe shot just under 50 percent (which by Wilbon's standards means he's the greatest player of all time), but what's fascinating is to watch Gasol and Bynum get completely left out of the offense.
Yes, we know Kobe will get his shots. But, the team only works if Pau and Bynum get in a rhythm early and often. Instead, last night the Lakers jacked up 20 three point shots and made 2 of them.
Wait, 2 out of 20…2?!?!
Yup, they were ten percent from three-point land and an incredible 55 percent from the free throw line.
That's just flat pathetic.
No Heat news today, which is good news. Celtics will play Shaq in Game 3, but I think the Heat should just roll some doughnuts down the floor and watch Shaq pop a hamstring trying to eat them. I kid, I kid cause Shaq could squash me.
NFL:
Well, the lockout will remain in place through June. Hooray for the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals…ya jerks.
That means there is no NFL news until the case is heard and decided, which could be late June or early July at the earliest.
If you remember 1987's scab football…yeah, these guys without training camp and minicamps….it's going to look like preseason football until about Week 5-6 of the regular season….assuming of course there is a regular season.
The NFL has the upper hand right now and the players know it. They've played right into the hands of the league who knew the Court of Appeals would be more business friendly. The players pushed a little too far and now they are more than likely going to pay for it, literally.
The players best move is to get a deal done ASAP before the league has the ability to really drop the hammer.
Oh yeah, Ryan Mallett's dad told the Boston Herald he plans on getting payback against the Dolphins for not drafting him.
If by payback he means getting the best seat on the bench, I guess he'll succeed, because barring a catastrophic injury to Tom Brady, he won't go near a field in a regular season game anytime soon.
College Football:
Oh yeah, the BCS is being targeted by the Justice Department. It's not a full-fledged probe yet, but the Department of Justice is inquiring about the BCS' actions.
FINALLY!!!!
