Great American Sports Blog

After talking with Korengel this past week we have decided to end the Great American Sports Blog. There are a lot of different reasons but we’ve talked about, gave it a few days to be sure. It has passed and we are sure we’re done. I hope it doesn’t come as a surprise (we haven’t had a post in three weeks or more). Thanks for taking the time to listen to our thoughts and opinions over the past year-and-a-half or so… It’s been fun.

Libra, thank you for hosting us, it was a lot of fun. We appreciate it. We’ll continue to regularly check in on the other blogs in the Kylelibra Blog Network.

God Bless America

Yep, there’s room for another one up there. The nation’s No. 1 point guard and No. 2 recruit overall, is headed to the University of Kentucky. He has been called the nation’s single most unguardable recruit and will be a force in the world of college basketball.

Wall committed late last night and reports are saying he picked UK over Miami, Florida, and Duke. The primary reason for his committment is Coach Calipari. “It was a great job he did the last two years with his guards,” Wall told Scout.com. “I think my relationship with Coach Cal pushed them over. The other coaches did a great job but that relationship got them over.”

Kentucky now has the #1 recruiting class in all of the land, and will have a lot of pressure to perform… like always. I think Calipari has revived Kentucky basketball fans and has finally given them something to look forward to. The run-and-gun/40-minutes of Hell style that worked with Pitino has been Calipari’s trump card as well. I know fans will expect a lot but so far, so good with Coach Cal.

[Article @ scouts.com]

Filly, Rachel Alexandra, is going to run in the Preakness. But the story within the story is she is also the favorite to win it!

I realize she won the priemer race in the filly world, the Kentucky Oaks, by more than 20 lengths. She is without question this years best filly… but let me take a hard stance on this. She does not belong as the favorite in the Preakness! I might go as far as saying she doesn’t belong in the Preakness at all.

This is like throwing Candace Parker into the NBA. Sure she can dunk at the women’s NCAA and WNBA level, but what happens when Dwight “Power” Howard is standing there when she tries to go up? Yes, she can shoot well and is a versatile player, but what happens when Kobe or LeBron are guarding her on the perimeter? It’s a joke to think she would be able to compete in men’s NCAA at the D-1 level, much less the NBA.

Here is Annika Sorenstam holding the LPGA trophy. Sorenstam’s domination of the LPAG from 2001-2005 was undeniable. She was money leader, low scorer and Player of the Year every year. During her peak in 2003 at the Colonial, Sorenstam became the first woman since Babe Didrikson Zaharias to play on the PGA Tour. Sorenstam shot 71-75 and missed the cut. She did not try again.

How about last year’s glory story for the filly Eight Belles. in 2008 she won by 15 lengths at Fair Grounds in January, then took the Martha Washington Stakes by 13-1/2 lengths, the Honeybee Stakes by 1-1/4 lengths, and then Fantasy Stakes at Oaklawn Park by 3/4 of a length. Then Eight Belles was entered into the Kentucky Derby to race with the big boys. She ran and ran well. Hell, she finished second to Big Brown in the Kentucky Derby… oh wait, I’m getting a vision… here it is…. I Remember. Too soon? No. We are looking at horse racing and this is what I think about when a filly is favored in the Preakness.

All I’m trying to do is get a point across before this all blows up and becomes a media uproar. There is evidence that Rachel Alexandra will fail, so watch your wagers closely. I know who I’m betting on and it’s not Rachel Alexandra!

This espn.com story explains how she got to the Preakness and is interesting if you are wanting to know the reason she is running.

There is a new Nike commercial out featuring Kobe and Lebron as puppets.  Lebron is his usual annoying self and acts like a 5 year old playing in the chalk tray of his kindergarten classroom.

These puppets could not be more spot on; Kobe is all business and Lebron is annoying and immature.  The only wrong with the commercial is that the playoffs have been going on for about a month and it’s just now airing.  Weird.

I never thought I’d see the day that I advertised women’s underwear on the Great American Sports Blog, but the day is here. I want to introduce TeeBows. The website (teebows.com) carries 3 different styles of official TeeBow undergarments.  I have included one in the post. Check out the website for the other styles. These babys are going for $6.00 + Shipping. I think thats reasonable and if I was a diehard Gators fan, I’d want my girl to sport these on game day.

(Click on image to zoom)

That’s right, I said it! You all know the story by now, Manny Ramirez is suspended 50 games for using performance enhancing drugs.The positive test result found human chorionic gonadotropin, which is just like the “brand drug” Clomid, in his system. This is a drug that has been on the banned list for years. My understanding is the drug is a female fertility drug. The main need to take the drug when a woman has an inability to ovulate. The next leading issue for gaining a prescription is polycystic ovarian syndrome. I’m 99.9% sure Tranny Manny wasn’t suffering from these medical conditions.

To take the point further “The FDA has not approved the use of Clomid in men, nor has it been found to be especially effective.” (sharedjourney.com) This drug is know in the world of body building to raise the level of testosterone in the body and is used to counterbalance the natural effects of coming off of a cycle of anabolic steroids.

The question is, how will Manny handle the situation? Will he follow the path of Bonds and Clemens, or will he be completely open and honest and earn back respect like Pettitte did? Manny is good for the game of baseball. He needs to be on the field, but he needs to reconcile the problems he has just given his team and the league.

[Article @ espn.com]

Bus Cook, Brett Favre’s agent, told reporters that Farve is retired and doesn’t know of any phone conversation between Favre and Vikings’ head coach, Brad Childress. He went on to say that he spoke to Favre and he the knew of no plans for Favre to address the Vikings situation publicly, as suggested in the Yahoo! report.

To finish the interview Cook added, “Like anyone else, he could always change his mind in the future about retiring but I haven’t heard anything from him that that’s the case.”

Brett, come on… cut it out! You were injured at the end of last season, you haven’t been on an offseason training program, and the Vikings are a run-oriented team (and should be). Its a long season and no good can come out of this. Sure, the adrinaline will keep you going for the first four games, but then what? You’ll get revenge against the Packers? No. You won’t be happy with what happens and just like last season, you’ll prove you should have stayed retired the first time you did it.When September rolls around we would rather see you fishing in Hattiesburg, Mississippi than in the NFL.

You know how minor league baseball games always have stupid promotions and giveaways just to get people out to the ballpark?  Well, this one might have been the dumbest but ended as the greatest.

Were those twins?  After all that, they tied.

After overcoming 50-1 odds at Churchill Downs, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird may not run in the Preakness Stakes. The Preakness is on May 16th and is the second leg of the Triple Crown.

“The plan was that if he showed something here, to skip the Preakness and go to the Belmont, like his dad,” co-owner Mark Allen said. Mine That Bird is a son of Birdstone, who won the Belmont Stakes in 2004. Allen also added,”We’ll let the horse tell us. We’ll run some blood work on him, make sure it’s where it should be.”

With that said I believe Mine That Bird will be in the field for the Preakness. This is a one time shot at being one of the best horses in history. You can’t walk away from that.

**UPDATE** Mine That Bird will run in the Preakness. “The horse came back and he’s bouncing — feels good, doing good,” trainer Bennie Woolley Jr said. “This Triple Crown thing is good for racing. If you don’t have the Kentucky Derby winner, there’s no Triple Crown.” [espn.com article]

Derby Recap

After morning favorite I Want Revenge was scratched due to a hot spot/swelling on his left front ankle, jockey Calvin Borel rode long-shot Mine That Bird to victory at the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby. The horse came from the back of the field to claim a 6-3/4 length margin of victory. Pioneer of the Nile finished second, and Musket Man was a very close third.

NTRAU

CHURCHILL DOWNS Saturday May 02, 2009 – Race 11 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands – Grade: 1 Purse: $2,000,000 Distance/Restrictions: 1 1/4M, Dirt, 3 Year Olds, STAKES Winning Time: 2:02.66 Pgm Horse Win Place Show 8 Mine That Bird 103.20 54.00 25.80 16 Pioneerof the Nile 8.40 6.40 2 Musket Man 12.00

Just as I get ready to post this I see Korengel appologizing for all of the videos. You know what… These are to good to ignore. So here’s another one via Matt Vasgersian on the MLB Network.

Followed up by this apology the next night…