Trials, tribulations, a whole lot of grief and angst
In the aftermath of another not so overwhelming MLB postseason , with the Kansas City Royals winning their second World Series in the franchise’s history , things are suddenly taking on a new shape in the world of baseball. With the Winter Meetings just over a month away , several players have declared free agency , with perhaps the biggest surprise of being Zack Greinke of the Los Angeles Dodgers .
Slideshow.
Greinke had an exceptional year for the team , but the Dodgers’ postseason foray ended up being nothing more than a glimpse of recent past seasons.
There was nothing about this Don Mattingly managed team which suggested the NL West champions were in with a serious chance of winning the NL Pennant and being the National League’s representative in the World Series. Now it will be, back to the drawing board for front office representatives GM Farhan Zahidi and Head of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman, as they seek to rebuild the roster through likely free agent acquisitions and their farm system .
Don Mattingly is no longer a part of the managerial staff , having agreed to mutually part at the end this postseason. While there was considerable success under Mattingly, the Dodgers’ non appearance in the Fall Classic only added to the ball-club’s ongoing woes. There can be no excuses made for the abysmal failure witnessed over the past six seasons by this organization and their having spent over $1 billion in players’ salaries during the time-frame in question.
Zack Greinke’s decision to opt out of the final year of his contract to become a free agent , will now add to the plethora of pitchers now on the market this off-season. Teams in need of very good starting pitching will be required to pay top-dollar for a number of these prized assets.
There are times within world of baseball where one has to take a step back , d simply observe the frailties within the game and among the players . New York Yankees’ starting pitcher CC Sabathia with his admittance , that he has a sobriety issue as an alcoholic, makes you wonder why an athlete would seek to ruin their career for the sake of a momentary high. Sabathia for his part , made this disclosure while on morning television , explaining in the aftermath of the Yankees’ wild-card loss to the Houston Astros , he checked himself into a drug and alcohol dependency program. Given the recent woes of Josh Hamilton of the Texas Ranger, this issue I truly believe, just happens to be more widespread within the game, than teams and front office executives would care to admit ! As for the MLB hierarchy, given the ongoing lack of a really in-depth testing program for users of banned substances , this is just another glaring headlight the game of baseball can really do without.
There have been no formal comments coming from the New York Yankees’ front office concerning CC Sabathia’s current situation and while the player is due to become Yankees’ free agent this upcoming season, it remains to be seen whether or not he is likely to be re-signed by the franchise. Bud Selig and now his successor MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred have been twirling their fingers and thumbs not seeking to work in conjunction with the MLBPA (union) on a wide variety of issues within the game. The relationship between these two entities, has become adversarial , rather than one of bipartisanship when dealing the problems within the game of baseball.
It seems hard to believe that in 2008, the Detroit Lions were win-less during a regular season , with sixteen consecutive losses on their record. The team’s statistics during the year remains among the worst in NFL history. Rod Marinelli coached the Lions at the time and along with the coaching staff and it was clear they were completely out of their depth. This season bearing a record of 1-7 and it would appear the Lions are on track to have another morbid year in the NFL. Detroit Lions’ quarterback Matt Stafford is having a season he would rather forget , while the talents of wide receiver Calvin Johnson are being wasted on a team which has showed absolutely no signs of winning a game at all this season.
Detroit’s only win of the season so far , came during their week six victory over the equally abysmal Chicago Bears as the two NFC North divisional rivals met in that particular contest. With a bye-week during week nine the Detroit Lions can rest their weary bones while preparing for their week ten contest against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wisconsin on the 15th November , 2015.
Matt Stafford’s record (2-7) against the Packers has not been a favorable one , with his last victory against this divisional rival coming in week three of the 2014 regular season. The Lions’ issues this season have come in various guises, with the defense and offense being mediocre at best.
The disarray within the Lions’ organization, particularly within the front office has led to the firing of GM Martin Mayhew and Team President Tom Lewand , but the coaching staff of head coach Jim Caldwell have been kept for now , but I expect if there are likely to be changes should the Detroit Lions fail to turn their season around before the end of their schedule. Mayhew’s firing has led to added responsibilities and a first within the NFL , as Allison Maki becomes the first woman in NFL history to hold the position of general manager for an NFL franchise. It will be a joint role , to be shared between Maki and Sheldon White as interim general manager .
Likely to be also clear, will be the impending future of quarterback Matt Stafford , a first round draft pick from the 2009 NFL Draft. Stafford , who is not due to become a free agent until 2018. Stafford’s three-year $53 million contract , with $41 million guaranteed , expires in 2017 and should the Lions seek to trade the player , they would still be liable for the remainder of his guaranteed money. Matt Stafford is not one of the better quarterbacks in the NFL in spite of the fact he has amassed a great deal of yards during his playing career. He has not proven himself to be a leader , vocal or otherwise as a player with the Detroit Lions. This I believe is what is sadly missing from this Lions’ roster , beyond the ongoing incompetency of the coaching staff !
William ‘Bill’ Clay Ford as one of the team owners of the Detroit Lions has sat idly by as the franchise has gone through a quick succession of head coaches over the last eight years . The off-season I believe will bring a great deal more upheaval within the Lions’ organization , far more than anyone might have thought possible.
It would be fair to suggest the NFC is having something of a down year, with some notable teams within the conference still struggling at the mid- point of the season. Of late, fans of the San Francisco 49ers (2-6) are decrying the fact how quickly the team has fallen off the face of the map after the successes of 2012 and 2013 . There is no denying successive postseason appearances had the Forty Niners’ fans wanting more, but a great deal of complacency set in among the play and coaching staff of former head coach Jim Harbaugh.
This season the plight of the Niners has become worse , with head coach Jim Tomsula considering the improbable with the benching of Colin Kaepernick , perhaps the best offensive weapon on the entire roster. For their part, team CEO Jed York and GM Trent Baalke have offered little or no explanation behind the team’s fall from grace. The warning signs were certainly there last season , ending with sheer embarrassment for the NFC West based Forty Niners. Off the field issues with Ray McDonald and Aldon Smith , clearly showed the franchise to be lacking in moral fiber , while it would appear everyone seemed willing to give Jim Harbaugh a pass, as things continually spiraled out of control. Harbaugh was just as much to blame for San Francisco’s woes , as Trent Baalke and Jed York. Colin Kaepernick for his part, in spite of his postseason heroics still had his stuck firmly in the clouds, beyond having signed his ludicrous contract .
Heading into their week nine contest against the Atlanta Falcons (6-2) the San Francisco 49ers will be looking to right their ship , which is still struggling to stay afloat. If Colin Kaepernick is benched in favor of his backup Blaine Gabbert, it is hard to envisage how Gabbert would be viewed as a better option than Kapernick in this contest . While I don’t believe Jim Tomsula will be fired from his position, I do think the head coach will be in the unenviable of situation of being cast as the ” real villain” of this current situation, when everyone from the front office on down has played an equal part in the franchise’s woes seen this season.
There remains a great deal of idiocy among many of the so-called sports’ fans who genuinely believe they have some insight on sports in general and in particular the NFL. Recently on a visit to sports’ site , the contributor suggested with his declining play , Denver Broncos’ (7-0) quarterback Peyton Manning was no longer capable of playing at a high level or leading a team to a postseason berth. Now given Manning’s play since joining the Broncos as a free agent in March of 2012. In the three years since the Broncos’ ascent to the top of the AFC West which has gone unchallenged by their divisional foes and again in 2015 , the team is back to its very best , starting their season with a seven-game unbeaten streak. So much for this idiocy of Manning not being able to play at a consistently high level. In their week eight game against the then unbeaten Green Bay Packers beat their NFC opponents with the utmost ease destroying the Aaron Rodgers’ led Packers defeating them 29-10 .
The defeat for Green Bay derailed their chances of an unbeaten season, while the Denver Broncos , New England Patriots (7-0) and Cincinnati Bengals (8-0) seek AFC supremacy within their conference , with the three teams still unbeaten entering into the week nine NFL schedule .
With the NBA season still in its infancy , with the majority of teams having only played six games, there is only one franchise that remains unbeaten. Defending NBA champions the Golden State Warriors (6-0) are leaving no one with any doubt, , why they won the title last season. With few changes to their core roster of last season , the Warriors have simply began from where they left off at the end of the regular and postseason. The fact they have won their first six consecutive games of this season, should not come as a surprise to anyone, even to those who still believe last season’s beaten finalists the Cleveland Cavaliers were the better team .
Reigning League MVP , Steph Curry has lit up the scoreboard in each of the Warriors’ victories and this season he already has a season-high 50-point game for the year. LeBron James may well be the best all-round player in the game, but Curry isn’t that far behind, with the shadow also of Kevin Durant also to be considered as part of the equation.
Golden State in their last game , subdued the Denver Nuggets on their way to a 119-114 victory and quite obviously the best record in the Western Conference. Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr and his coaching staff will now prepare the team for their next game where their opponent will be the Sacramento Kings in a contest to be played at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, California on Saturday, 7th November ,2015.
With both New York based NBA franchises struggling at this point of the season and in all honesty, it does not come as a surprise to me at all ! The Brooklyn Nets (0-6) and the New York Knicks (2-4) have mediocre records and are struggling within their divisions as well as within the Eastern Conference. For head coaches Lionel Hollins of the Nets and Derek Fisher of the Knicks , this might be the last opportunities provided to them in their respective positions , because I feel , if both should fail this season , then there would be no alternative than their firings by Billy King of the Nets , Steve Mills and Phil Jackson of the Knicks. It is certainly not difficult to understand how bad both the Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks have been , when you consider the underwhelming talent on their respective rosters. The Brooklyn Nets were on the wrong side of another loss on Saturday night , coming at the hands of the Milwaukee Bucks , another in a long line of mediocre performances by the Nets this season.
If the intent of Phil Jackson was bring about change since he assumed control as Head of Basketball Operations for the New York Knicks. Then the change witnessed by the fans and Knicks’ fans in particular, has been a complete embarrassment for the franchise and the NBA in general . Derek Fisher and this Knicks’ coaching staff remain deep, in over their heads and Phil Jackson’s apparent acumen as a front office executive is and will remain overrated , in spite of his idiots still coming to his support , suggesting he still remains a basketball genius. As a coach yes, but in his current role , he has become an absolute joke.
Billy Donovan is now the head coach of the Oklahoma City Thunder (3-3) and the expectations are once again high for this team. The loss of Kevin Durant for a large chunk of last season led to the Thunder missing the NBA Playoffs by the slimmest of margins . This season Durant and Russell Westbrook will seek redemption and lay claim , they are the equal of the Golden State Warriors and among the best within their conference. A Sunday afternoon home game for the Oklahoma City Thunder against the Phoenix Suns should prove to be an interesting contest for both of these Western Conference based franchises.
Picture gallery. Click on an individual frame to view an image in a newly reformatted size along with an accompanying narrative.
As the sports’ world meanders through the usual glutton of stories, it appears the salacious and the mundane tends to get the front page notice while the events on the field will at times take a backseat to it all.
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Tophatal … 2015/11/07
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NBA schedule 7th November and 8th November
This month in NBA history
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Tophatal's Blog 
For the moment , no news is good news in the world of baseball until you see the number of players now opting for free agency .
It’s now two consecutive losses for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (6-2) as they fall to the Carolina Panthers (8-0) in a thoroughly exciting and entertaining game .
Is there a chance the New England Patriots can put up forty-points or more as they play the Washington Redskins in their game today ? Tom Brady and the Patriots pull off the 27-10 victory to now push their record to 8-0 .
Beware of mother-##cking @ssholes , who believe the New York Knicks can play at a high level within the NBA . On their best day the players on the Knicks’ roster could not pull their co#ks out of their shorts to take a piss and still hit the designated target.
Tophatal ………………… 2015/11/08 6:57 pm
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Week nine results in the NFL and the divisional , conference and league standings.
In the NBA again we have several teams struggling to find their way around the league . Sunday’s results and it would appear the Philadelphia 76 ers , New Orleans Pelicans and Brooklyn Nets all win-less are proving that the league is nowhere as good as first thought.
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So how little these idiots know , when they claim Dan Campbell has turned things around for the Miami Dolphins (3-5) as they get pounded 33-17 in another embarrassing loss , falling to divisional rivals the Buffalo Bills .
Dan Campbell , interim head coach of the Dolphins is seen here with the team’s quarterback Ryan Tannehill (17) .
Miami are on a two-game losing streak , with Ryan Tannehill proving he’s nothing more than mediocre in his role as the Dolphins’ quarterback while both the defense and offense simply meanders along with their startlingly poor play. It seems highly unlikely Campbell will retain his position next season as Miami’s head coach. Unrealistic also , are the ambitions of the Miami Dolphins making the NFL postseason .
Another unbeaten team bites the dust as Peyton Manning falls to his protege’ and fellow quarterback Andrew Luck with the Denver Broncos’ road loss to the Indianapolis Colts , losing 27-24.
Things have got worse for the Dallas Cowboys as they slump to defeat against divisional rivals the Philadelphia Eagles losing 33-27 in overtime .
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Miami Dolphins news
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The NBA is struggling to find some semblance of consistency and it shows with the play of the players .
Can we also check the idiocy at the door, concerning who the best player in the NBA is at present ? Basing it on a career , since his entry into the league it would have to be LeBron James but at present the reigning League MVP , Steph Curry is playing at a higher level than his peers.
Kevin Durant and his teammates are off to an inauspicious start to their season with head coach Billy Donovan seeing the Thunder bearing a 4-3 record as of the 8th November .
NBA news
Sunday’s results
Monday’s schedule
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As if Jameis Winston needed to prove to anyone else what a complete @ss he is now making of himself as a quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Sunday’s loss suffered by the Buccaneers indicates the player’s decision-making and utter stupidity will once again show why this organization will continue to be incompetent with its drafting of quarterbacks , especially in recent years.
The New York Giants’ road victory over the Buccaneers was as as concise and emphatic as it could be .
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Tophatal ….
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While the Denver Broncos appear to be running away with the AFC West in spite of Sunday’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts , the rest of the division appears to be in dire straits and the unlikelihood any of the occupants will gain a berth in the postseason . The Oakland Raiders fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in a hard-fought game .
NFL standings (divisional)
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Week nine of the NFL schedule culminated with the Monday Night Game . Participants were the Chicago Bears on the road to face the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium , in San Diego , California .
In spite one of his best seasons in recent years Philip Rivers and the Chargers have not been able to make a solid inroad into the lead of the Denver Broncos in the AFC West. Denver remains the only team within the division with an above . 500 record .
Philip Rivers of the San Diego Chargers .
At the end of this season there is a possibility Philip Rivers and the Chargers could part ways, because clearly the team and front office have fallen and are still falling short of his and the fans’ expectations .
NFL standings
NFL standings (conference)
NFL Playoff projections
Week nine results
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Tophatal ………… 2015/11/09 5:52 am
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It has been six years since the New York Yankees won the World Series , though having made the postseason in 2015 , the team fell at the first obstacle losing in the wildcard round to the Houston Astros. The idiocy of the claims made by CC Sabathia not withstanding, this was a mediocre display by the team in the postseason.
Joe Girardi , his managerial staff and GM Brian Cashman now deliberate whether or not they will pare down the team’s payroll , which players to keep among their free agents and which players among the free agency market best suits their needs for 2016. The Yankees’ farm system is far from being desirable in spite of the sentiments and thoughts on it all.
Pitching and offense have been the real issues as well as a lack of solid defense have been one of the many problems for the New York Yankees this past season .
For the idiots who suggest Alex Rodriguez should be the Comeback Player of The Year , would these be the same f#cking @ssholes who would also prescribe pedophile priests and rapists can make a successful return to society and their crimes be forgiven ? .
” Joe this is far too big a specimen bottle for me to pi#s into .” Alex Rodriguez and Joe Girardi (right) .
Rodriguez may have had a spectacular season for the Yankees , but there should be no way in hell the player should be given a pass for past sins or from the fact his act of contrition is meant to be sincere. Nothing Alex Rodriguez has done , has been meant to be sincere , as it has always been premeditated and coldly thought through .
New York Yankees news
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Players eligible for the 2016 Baseball Hall of Fame class will be filled with some very well-known names and ones who have been on the list of nominees several times over the last eight years at least .
Ken Griffey Jr will be among the list of eligible players and were it not for his injuries suffered , there are several records the player would have surpassed during his career.
Ken Griffey Jr .
Baseball Hall of Fame
Tophatal …………….
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So as the NBA meanders along , it is becoming abundantly the clear this league is in dire need of help . Granted , reigning NBA champions the Golden State Warriors are off to a great start in the defense of their title . Granted, the challenge to the Warriors from within the East are seen as coming from likely challengers the Cleveland Cavaliers and Chicago Bulls .
Once again the Atlanta Hawks look like a force to be reckoned with , but my own belief , remains the Hawks are just a good regular season team but abysmal in the postseason. Atlanta has not made a prominent run during the NBA Playoffs in several seasons and even in their current guise I certainly do not believe this team is capable of anything more than a first round appearance before falling apart in the conference semi-finals of the Eastern Conference.
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NBA results 9th November
NBA schedule 10th November
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There are some real moronic a#sholes within the blogging world offering up idiotic synopsis . Having someone offer up this idiocy eight games into the season concerning the Warriors’ Klay Thompson is just idiotic. Thompson remains a prodigious talent who is among the best players on the roster of Golden State and will likely be major contributor to the team over the course of this season , as he was in 2014-15 .
Klay Thompson , right, is seen here with his father Mychal Thompson
Next up for the Golden State Warriors will be a game against the Memphis Grizzlies .
Golden State Warriors news
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The two protagonists in this year’s World Series will lose a number of players to free agency, with neither the Kansas City Royals or New York Mets seeking to pay top-dollar for the services of the players in question.
With no real hard salary cap in baseball other than the league’s idiocy of a luxury tax and soft cap of approximately $200 million as a plateau for baseball’s thirty teams. It will be interesting to see which of the franchises will look to come close to the more than $300 million spent by the Los Angeles Dodgers last season in salary commitments and payroll.
There will be some tough bargaining sessions being held for a number of the marquee free agents especially among the starting pitchers available .
MLB news
MLB free agents
Team payrolls in 2015
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Last night’s games in the NBA and their bearing on the divisions , conferences and league overall. The Cleveland Cavaliers got by the Utah Jazz , with a four-point margin , winning 118-114 . LeBron James and the Cavaliers have the best record in the Eastern Conference behind the impressive start of the Atlanta Hawks, who I believe make for a good regular season team but one who simply implodes during the postseason .
Other games of significance saw the Dallas Mavericks (3-4) lose to the New Orleans Pelicans (1-6) in a game where the Mavericks were pitiful throughout the contest.
It seems troublesome already , with the internal conflicts now said to be taking place within the Sacramento Kings’ organization , with Kings’ center DeMarcus Cousins appears to be at odds with the coaching staff as well as the front office . Cousins is single-handedly on his way to disrupting the franchise and bringing about a great deal more turmoil than this organization would want. One win through their first eight games for the Kings and it has head coach George Karl possibly contemplating the trading away of the disgruntled DeMarcus Cousins .
DeMarcus Cousins and George Karl (right)
Sacramento was on the wrong side of a twenty-two point home loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night. Within their division and conference the Sacramento Kings are simply one almighty mess.
Next up for the Sacramento Kings will be a home game to be played against the Detroit Pistons (5-2) on Wednesday evening at the Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento , California ,.
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The Thursday Night Game in the NFL should offer up something special for the fans when the Buffalo Bills (4-4) are the guests of the New York Jets (5-3) in a game to be played at Met Life Stadium , East Rutherford, New Jersey on Thursday evening . This contest should have serious ramifications for the divisional ambitions of both teams as well conference implications and the postseason picture for a wildcard berth within the AFC .
Todd Bowles as the head coach will be facing his predecessor Rex Ryan as he coaches the Bills for the first time in his return to Met Life Stadium.
NFL news
Thursday Night Game
Week ten schedule
NFL standings (division)
NFL week ten team injuries
Tophatal ……………..
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As if to further emphasize what’s wrong in the world of professional sports and this time issue raises its ugly head in the world of baseball. We have an incident so abhorrent that the front office of the Colorado Rockies seems to be at a loss how to deal with All Star short-stop Jose Reyes after the player was charged with domestic abuse and the assaulting of his wife.
Jose Reyes of the Colorado Rockies
The Rockies have sought not yet to reprimand the player , while the MLB hierarchy under the leadership of Rob Manfred apparently , will wait with the intent of receiving a report from the local law enforcement agency as well as any records in the possession of the Colorado Rockies.
If this is baseball’s way of being proactive in light of the stupidity shown by the NFL led by Roger Goodell , then one well can understand why both leagues will continue to be the butt of hilarity and their lack of understanding when it comes to dealing with so many social issues.
Baseball continues to wax on lyrically about its history and this damn notion that because of its steps to integrate the game , it was at the forefront of social change. The only thing baseball has been ever at the forefront of . has been its continued stupidity lack of leadership on parts among the owners , players , union and executive leadership.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred
MLB (Baseball) is ripe to self-implode because it simply cannot get its house in order and the media covering the sport would rather walk around in complete blindness, rather than being critical of the leadership within the game . Lame ass anecdotes by idiots such as Frank Deford cannot hide the glaring fact , baseball has its head permanently shoved up its own ass, while a number of their anal retentive fans would rather keep their mouths shut on the issue , because they lack the intelligence to say something worthwhile.
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Colorado Rockies news
Tophatal …………. 2015/11/12 03:20 am
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Wednesday night’s results within the NBA . Teams’ form over the last six games and game in particular has been emblematic of the issues seen in the league this season.
The New York Knicks(4-5) in spite of what is seen as an impressive start to their season remain a team really in need direction and leadership.
Carmelo Anthony and his teammates fell to the Charlotte Bobcats in a closely-fought game with the Hornet eking out a two-point 95-93 victory .
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Week ten of the NFL season has opened with the Thursday Night Game featuring a match-up between Buffalo Bills and the New York Jets . For the visiting Bills this was a great road win as well as something of a divisional boost to their season’s aspirations of quite possibly gaining a wildcard berth in the postseason.
The Jets’ offense and defense was simply not in sync throughout the game as evidenced in the team’s statistics against the Bills.
NFL news
NFL week ten team injuries
NFL results week ten
NFL standings (division)
Tophatal ………… 2015/11/13 01:13:23 am
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Don Mattingly might well be the new manager of the Miami Marlins . but it would appear a maelstrom is now brewing , as the organization is set to begin negotiations with their NL Rookie of the Year starting pitcher Jose Fernandez. If the Marlins are intent on keeping Fernandez, then a sizable deal has to placed on the table to hold the player’s attention as well as his agent’s attention.
Signs are the two sides are at an impasse as to what each believes is Jose Fernandez’s worth to the franchise.
Jose Fernandez is in an arbitration process as a rookie based on his experience . Fernandez’s agent is none other Scott Boras , who is non too-pleased to be left out of the initial bargaining process , which is about to take place.
Marlins’ Head of Baseball Operations Michael Hill is taking an extremely big risk in leaving Boras out of these negotiations, as it could well drive a wedge between the Marlins and the agent , should they then have to negotiate with Scott Boras down the line as to the acquisition of any prospective free agent who is a client of the agent, as the ball-club might seek to acquire during the off-season.
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Tophatal ……..
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Thursday night’s NBA results and how teams’ fared in those contests.
The Miami Heat (6-3) got by the Utah Jazz (4-4) on their way to a narrow one-point victory 92-91 .
Chris Bosh led all-scorers in the contest as the Heat came away with the victory.
Elsewhere. around the league , Golden State (10-0) swept aside the Minnesota Timberwolves as Sam Mitchell’s players simply had no answer for the Warriors as this game was blown wide open before the end of the second quarter .
It will be interesting to see how Mitchell and his coaching staff prepare the team in the lead-up to their next contest which will be a road game against the Indiana Pacers. In the third of the three games played on Thursday night the Los Angeles Clippers fell to the Phoenix Suns in a contest the visiting team were heavily favored to win.
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Thursday night NBA results
NBA schedule (Friday)
NBA Player stats season leaders
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Tophatal ………
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No need now to try and figure out which way the Atlanta Braves intend to go, as the front office is now spiraling completely out of control . In a deal which sends Andrelton Simmons to the Los Angeles Angeles Angels in exchange for Erick Aybar , it is becoming abundantly clear the Braves’ general manager John Copolella has lost it altogether. It is bad enough to see Fredi Gonzalez being given a three-year contract extension without witnessing a disastrous two seasons of abject failure on the part of Gonzalez , the managerial staff and the team .
Andrelton Simmons of the Braves who has since been traded to the Los Angeles Angels.
Erick Aybar of the Angels .
In an exchange of second basemen / short-stops , the Braves got Aybar who over the last few seasons has not been very productive and gave up a player who showed promise at this stage of his career.
Braves’ general manager , John Copolella , left and team President John Scheurholz.
Heading into the off-season, the Braves will have to deal with their players set for arbitration , impending free agents as well as seeking to pare down the team’s payroll for the upcoming season , while seeking to obtain productive free agents agents and assessing players within the farm system .
Atlanta Braves news
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Tophatal ….
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So which team is likely to inflict the first loss to be suffered by the Golden State Warriors (10-0) this season ? On the road and at home the Warriors led by Steph Curry and Klay Thompson have been unstoppable in just about every facet of the game over the course of the schedule to date .
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Tophatal ……..
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All of the bitching and whining by Dallas Mavericks’ fans , because power forward DeAndre Jordan dismissed their overtures in joining the franchise .
Jordan is not and never will be a leader on a team , and his role with the Los Angeles Clippers was and will always remain a secondary one behind his teammates , Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. Obviously, Mavericks GM Donnie Nelson and team owner Mark Cuban did not possess the insight to realize that very fact , rather than the idiocy of thinking paying the power forward a fact contract was enough to lure the player to join Dallas.
This season the Dallas Mavericks have proven to be a team on the decline , with their long-term future without future Hall of Fame player Dirk Nowitzki looking decidedly shaky to say the very least.
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It’ll be interesting to see what kind of contract Colin Kaepernick’s agent can get him on the open market.
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SportsChump
Which teams in the NFL have impressed you the most this season ? Granted, with the Carolina Panthers , Cincinnati Bengals and New England Patriots , all three teams remaining among the unbeaten , it is by no means a guarantee these teams will be actually be among those likely to be considered firm favorites for the Superbowl .
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I don’t know if they’ll make the Bowl, Al, but those three have certainly impressed. I like what Carolina’s done, all without Benjamin. We kinda knew the Bengals would be good, just weren’t sure how they’d fare in the post-season and still aren’t. And it’s just amazing what the Patriots continue to do year after year.
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SportsChump /Chris Humpherys
The latter part of the NFL schedule should prove to be a real test for both the Carolina Panthers and Cincinnati Bengals . Both of their quarterbacks , Andy Dalton and Cam Newton are having very good years . As they go then so do their respective teams over the remainder of the season.
In the case of the New England Patriots it has always been about consistency and they have become the NFL’s equivalent of the San Antonio Spurs and what the NBA franchise has been able to<a href=http://stats.nba.com/team/#!/1610612 achieve under the guidance of Gregg Popovich and Tim Duncan leading the way .
Tophatal ……
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Chris Humpherys(SportsChump)
If the San Francisco 49ers are already feeling disgruntled with what they believe is the lack of effort being shown by Colin Kaepernick , then the front office led by CEO Jed York and GM Trent Baalke have only themselves to blame, It was simply idiotic to offer him (Kaepernick) the contract they did, based on his postseason performances and what they thought was potential.
Niners’ head coach Jim Tomsula, in the background.
Kaepernick is no Joe Montana much anywhere near close to being the talent which Steve Young turned out to be. We’re now seeing that quarterback Joe Flacco cannot even recapture the form which led the Baltimore Ravens to the second of their Superbowl victories.
Colin Kaepernick
This season the Forty Niners are a poorly coached team under Jim Tomsula , even worse the players have been an abysmal failure , but yet , their anal retentive fans are only prepared to lay the blame at the feet of Trent Baalke and Jed York, rather than admitting the fact the team simply isn’t good enough and they are no real leaders on the entire roster , much less admit the fact they sorely miss Jim Harbaugh in spite of his tendencies of running something of a loose ship no accountability and complete lack of discipline on and off the field of play. A great deal of the Niners’ problems stem from the mid to latter part of last season when everything simply span completely out of control.
From my own perspective , I believe the Niners made some rash decisions with regard to the personnel changes , in particular the acquisition of running back Reggie Bush who has simply proven he was never that good to begin with , while playing in the NFL . As we now know, even at the collegiate level in spite of the acclaim , he was a fraud from the get-go but the press and anal retentive Trojans’ fans championed his feats as if he were a superhero.
Trojans’ Athletics Director Pat Haden.
Is it any wonder now the USC Trojans’ program has fallen on hard times with Pat Haden as their Athletics Director ? Yet, low and behold, idiots were championing Haden as not only a man of integrity ,but someone , who also knew something about what it takes to bring some semblance to the collegiate game. Idiocy of the current format in place to determine a national champion for FBS. I guess we’re seeing now Pat Haden was no better than his predecessor Mike Garrett , while he Pete Carroll and Tim Floyd were fucking over the football and basketball programs into the ground with their deceit and lies .
From here-on in, I doubt the San Francisco 49ers will be in with a chance of winning the NFC West much less gaining a wildcard berth within the NFC for the postseason. The team has not been playing well enough for anyone to believe them capable of achieving such a feat. Kapernick’s play this season has been monstrous and overall when measured against the rest of the division , conference and NFL , it is becoming blatantly obvious he is as overrated as Matt Ryan and Jay Cutler , including the fact all three are overpaid in terms of their contracts and respective salaries .
San Francisco 49ers news
Tophatal ……… 2015/11/14 05:40 am
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So here we are week ten of the NFL season and teams are literally stumbling over themselves while others are pretty much thinking ahead to the 2016 NFL Draft and the players likely to be declaring their eligibility , while we will also get to see a plethora of free agents hit the market looking to make their way to new deals .
Of this weekend’s games ones which are of significance will see the New York Giants in a contest facing the New England Patriots at Met-Life Stadium, in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Andy Dalton and the Cincinnati Bengals (8-0) will seek to push their record to 9=0 when they face the Houston Texans .
Tophatal …….
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Mario Chalmers was traded away by the Miami Heat as they look to get some solid offensive assistance . In return the Heat were able to acquire Beno Udrih from the Memphis Grizzlies. Over their last six games the Heat have managed to post a 4-2 record in the NBA while remaining in the thick of things within their division and the East Conference .
Coming off a narrow one-point victory over the Utah Jazz winning the game 92-91 for a solid home performance . Next up for the Heat will be game against the Minnesota Timberwolves , where Kevin Garnett will be looking to lead this team in the aftermath of the tragic death of former head coach Flip Saunders .
NBA news
NBA results 13th November
NBA schedule 14th November
NBA schedule 15th November
NBA standings
Tophatal ………
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The NBA season has yet to hit its stride, but already we can see the struggles between the Eastern and Western Conference and how each has fared against the other .
Tophatal …………..
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The early years of the Orlando Magic was a meaningful time for the franchise , when Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway were blossoming into very good players . A lone NBA Finals’ appearance dashed their hopes and then things fell apart. Since that lone appearance in the NBA Finals the Magic have not been able to regain the dominance shown or the excel on any level with the development of talent internally or the acquisition of players through free agency.
Victor Oladipo of the Orlando Magic
🙂
Shaquille O’Neal (left) and Penny Hardaway .
Orlando Magic owner , billionaire, Rich DeVos has simply become a belligerent sexist and rather ridiculous aging octogenarian, with somewhat racist leaning though guarded when expressing those tendencies with veiled ramblings.
Orlando Magic team owner Rich DeVos
DeVos’ behavior is no less venal than that of former :Los Angeles Clippers’ owner Donald Sterling who was forced to relinquish control of the franchise by the NBA hierarchy , but not before their poor handling of the situation and knowing of Silver’s prior acts and behavior , which once again indicates both David Stern , his successor Commissioner Adam Silver are and will remain damn hypocrites.
Victor Oladipo , the best player on the Magic’s roster will be missing from the team’s lineup for the next five or six games due to injury and it will be interesting to see how Orlando fares without the player in the lineup . The coaching staff of the Magic led by Scott Skiles in his first stint with the franchise, will be looking to have the team playing on a consistently high level with the ambition of not only a high divisional placing , but also the possibility of another appearance in the NBA Playoffs, something last achieved in 2009 in the Magic’s series loss (4-1) to the Los Angeles Lakers .
Scott Skiles head coach of the Orlando Magic .
The Orlando Magic over the course of the season have been pathetic on all fronts with their last win coming in a game played against the Utah Jazz on their way to a 102-93 victory over their Western Conference opponents .
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In all the idiocy one tends to find within the blogging hemisphere , perhaps none could be more stupid than the synopsis concerning the trade of Andrelton Simmons from the Atlanta Braves to the Los Angeles Angels . Simmons the second baseman / shortstop .
Those questioning the effectiveness of Simmons given the lack of productivity shown by the Angels this season and the fact this team has Albert Pujols and Mike Trout on the roster begs the question , what type idiot is offering up advice concerning the trade ? . Over the course of the season with Mike Sciocsia and this team found inexplicable ways of losing games as well as the NL West and failing to obtain a wildcard berth for the MLB postseason . than the
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So here is what we know of the NFL season as we enter week ten of the schedule. At this point last season teams were falling far off their goals .
Early afternoon games should tell us a great deal how the teams will fare. The Tennessee Titans (2-6) are in need of a win and will be looking to make that a reality when they face the unbeaten Carolina Panthers (8-0) led by quarterback and perhaps the leading candidate for this season’s League MVP Cam Newton.
How bad are the New Orleans Saints at present , after they fell in another embarrassing loss , suffered at the hands of the equally fallible and mediocre NFC East based Washington Redskins . The Saints suffered their worst defeat of the season, going down 47-10 to the Redskins in an NFC game.
Drew Brees certainly had one of his worst performances of his career with this loss.
NFL news
NFL team injuries
NFL results week ten
Tophatal …
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As if to further emphasize what we already know , you cannot expect the Oakland Raiders to provide you with any degree of hope or optimism when inconsistency and ineptitude happens to be always within their midst after their 30-14 home loss to the Minnesota Vikings .
Derek Carr was being given a great deal of praise this season as being a very good quarterback , but in reality . Carr is simply not much better than many of his predecessors over the past eight seasons and considering how quarterbacks during the time-frame in question , one can understand how dire the situation has been for the Raiders.
With the victory by the Vikings, they now sit atop of the NFC North after the Green Bay Packers’ surprising loss at home to the Detroit Lions in a divisional rivalry game.
Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos seem instant they would rather make things difficult for themselves this season , with their continued inconsistency after today’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs . The defeat at the hands of the Chiefs also provided fans with a possible first , as Manning’s younger sibling , Eli Manning and the New York Giants also suffered a loss , falling at the hands of the New England Patriot in a narrow one-point defeat 27-26 .
NFL standings (division)
NFL standings (conference)
NFL standings (overall)
Tophatal ….
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Sunday’s results in the NBA and how the teams have fared over their last five games at home and on the road .
NBA news
NBA results 15th November
NBA standings (divisional)
NBA standings
NBA team stats
NBA stats (players)
Rookie stats
Tophatal ….
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Even with Anthony Davis leading the New Orleans Pelicans and the fact the power forward was so impressive for the team last season . In 2015 , the Pelicans have simply been floundering when trying to do anything right at home or on the road .
The New Orleans Pelicans’ struggles this season appear to be no different than that of their NFL counterparts the New Orleans Saints, for whom their schedule is now in complete disarray along with any hopes that Drew Brees and his teammates have likely seen their season now come to an abrupt end after the Saints’ thirty-point plus loss to the Washington Redskins on Sunday afternoon .
For the New Orleans Pelicans having posted a 1-8 record through their first nine games of the season and it is hard to envisage how this team can now win forty-give to fifty games to even guarantee themselves a playoff berth for the NBA Playoffs of the 2015 season.
NBA
New Orleans Pelicans news
New Orleans Saints news
Tophatal ………….
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Someone needs to remind the Miami Heat , if they want to be seen as legitimate contenders for the NBA title this season , then there has to be more consistency shown by the team rather than their performances being so sporadic .
The Miami Heat are a very good team at home but on the road they are still treading water .
Miami Heat news
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So Major League Baseball has begun to give out their regular season awards for 2015. Many of the awardees should come as no surprise to the fans with Jake Arrietta winning the NL Cy Young and Dallas Keuchel winning the AL Cy Young Award . The awards the ALMVP and NLMVP is likely to be a close run race between the top candidates within the AL and NL .
With the Winter Meeting set to take place , it will be left to the general managers , owners and baseball agents to work out deals which will see a slew of moves as free agents join their new teams or simply re-sign with their old ones.
MLB news
MLB Awards
Tophatal ………….
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Well, it’s week fifteen of the NFL and things will now take on a whole new meaning as the teams play for their very survival within their divisions and conference.
NFL news
Tophatal ……….
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Well, it’s week fifteen of the NFL and things will now take on a whole new meaning as the teams play for their very survival within their divisions and conference.
Of the games scheduled Saturday afternoon will provide the fans with the chance to see the Dallas Cowboys play hosts to the New York Jets in an intra-conference matchup. The game itself will see several players missing from the starting lineups of both teams.
Jason Garrett might well be in his last season as head coach with the Cowboys, which has seen this team simply under- achieve over the course of their entire schedule . The season might go down as one of the worst in recent Dallas Cowboys’ history.
In an all NFC matchup the New York Giants will be seeking to inflict the first loss of the season on the unbeaten Carolina Panthers, as the NFC South based franchise looks to have the best season in Panthers’ history.
NFL news
Tophatal ……….
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