La-La-LaDanian & The Jets

Charlie Klein

Say Dungy and Mangini, have you seen them yet? But they're so spaced out, La-La-LaDanian and the Jets. So goes my awful re-phrase of Elton John's masterpiece "Bennie & the Jets."

The New York Jets announced yesterday the signing of LaDanian Tomlinson to a two year, $5.1 million contract to bring the future Hall of Famer to that concrete jungle where dreams are made of.

 LT will hope that he can get his career back on track behind the Pro Bowl left side of the Jets offensive line (Sirs D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Alan Faneca, and Nick Mangold respectively) and the Jets expect Tomlinson to help in the tutelage of their young core of Shonn Greene and Leon Washington.

This move puzzles me for a few reasons. Beat writer for JetsInsider.com Dan Troisi told me that Thomas Jones was cut for salary reasons (Jones was due $3 million in 2010) and yet Tomlinson will cost the Jets $2.5 million in 2010. Other reports on the story have commented on there being a bit of dissatisfaction within the team in allowing a proven 30+ running back to leave and signing a back that appears to have lost a step or five.

Rex Ryan & Co. must be hoping that playing ball in the city of New York (actually New Jersey, but who cares) will make LT feel brand new, that the big lights will inspire him, the way Alicia Keys sings in "New York State of Mind."

But for now, allow me to leave you with Elton John.

You know, I read it in a magazine. La-La-LaDanian and the Jets.

2010 MLB Season Preview: Milwaukee Brewers

Charlie Klein

Key Additions:

Randy Wolf (SP)
Doug Davis (SP)
LaTroy Hawkins (RP)
Gregg Zaun (C)
George Kottaras (C)
Carlos Gomez (OF)

Key Departures:

J.J. Hardy (SS)
Jesus Colome (RP)
Jorge Julio (RP)
Braden Looper (SP)
Jason Kendall (C)
Felipe Lopez (2B)

There is just something about this Milwaukee Brewers team that leaves me hesitant to pick them to finish any higher than third in the Central this season. I don't really know why, but my gut tells me to run away from this team, and fast.

The NL Central is always incredibly difficult to predict because year after year there never seems to be one team that is clearly better than the rest. And 2010 is no exception. The Brewers could very well win this division and prove me utterly wrong. Ryan Braun is one of my favorite players (having owned him the past two seasons in fantasy baseball) and his bat alone can carry a team on a stretch run. Couple his bat with Prince Fielder's, and one has one of the best 3-4 combinations in the game.

What pushes me away from this team is the unproven young talent throughout the rest of the order. Carlos Gomez has been a flop since leaving the Mets as a part of the Johan Santana trade, and was the odd man out in Minnesota with the emergence of Denard Span. Gomez will start in center for the Brew Crew and will be asked to merely field well and steal bases. The other player that has much to prove in 2010 is Rickie Weeks. I've been told by an innumerable amount of people that this guy is going to be a star in the league. And yet every year Weeks spends more time on the disabled list than in the field. Weeks has never had a season of 500+ at bats, and in his last full season in 2008 only hit .234 with minimal power numbers.

The two young players about whom I am most excited are Alcides Escobar and Casey McGehee. Escobar has drawn comparisons with Florida Marlins star Hanley Ramirez and in 125 at bats last season hit for a respectable .304 average. He is also a wizard at shortstop and could prove a revelation for the Brewers this season. McGehee came in last season and in 116 at bats hit 16 homeruns, 66 RBIs, and hit for a .301 average. Originally in the Cubs system, I am willing to bet some northsiders wish they would have held onto this kid.

The rotation is where I find most of the issues for the Brewers this season. Their ace, Yovani Gallardo, is one of the best young pitchers in the game, but after him the talent pool gets much more shallow. The Brewers shelled out way too much cash to sign Randy Wolf as a free agent, especially for a player who has had issues with staying healthy in the past. Their rotation just does not compare with St. Louis' or Chicago's, and that is why I am slating them into the three spot in the NL Central this season.

Projected Staring Nine:

1. Alcides Escobar (SS)
2. Carlos Gomez (CF)
3. Prince Fielder (1B)
4. Ryan Braun (LF)
5. Corey Hart (RF)
6. Casey McGehee (3B)
7. Rickie Weeks (2B)
8. Gregg Zaun (C)
9. Yovani Gallardo (P)

Projected Starting Rotation:

1. Yovani Gallardo
2. Randy Wolf
3. Doug Davis
4. Jeff Suppan
5. Manny Parra

Best Reliever: Todd Coffey

Closer: Trevor Hoffman

Predicted Finish: Third in the NL Central.

ESPN's 30 for 30 Series: "Winning Time"

Charlie Klein


Last night while searching for something entertaining to watch following the excitement of the NCAA Tournament bracket announcement, I decided to finally tune in for one of ESPN's 30 for 30's. Like any loyal ESPN watcher, I had seen promos for the 30 for 30 series and said to myself "Wow those would be cool to watch sometime." And boy did "Winning Time" not let me down.

"Winning Time" is the story of one of the most clutch basketball players of all-time going up against the biggest sports city in the world. The film chronicles the 1994 NBA Eastern Conference Finals and the 1995 Eastern Conference Semifinals between the Indiana Pacers and the New York Knicks, and specifically how Reggie Miller became Public Enemy No. 1 in New York City in the '90s.

Director Dan Klores does an excellent job of incorporating every storyline involved with those two epic series between two bitter rivals. One of my favorite sequences is the interplay between Spike Lee and Reggie Miller. As shown below:

For someone who was not a big basketball fan until a year ago, it was fantastic to learn more about the game's history. I knew of Jordan, Miller, Starks, Ewing, etc., but I just could not get into the game (might have something to do with spending my formative years in Kansas City, a city without an NBA franchise). "Winning Time" did an excellent job in drawing in the non-basketball fan, the person who did not have a "I remember where I was when Reggie scored 8 points in 8.9 seconds" memory. 

"Winning Time" re-airs Mar 15 12am ET ESPN 2, Mar 16 12am ET ESPN 2, Mar 18 10:30pm ET ESPN Classic.

The Champ Is Here

Charlie Klein

Manny Pacquiao defeated Joshua Clottey on a unanimous points win in front of over 50,000 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas. It was the largest crowd for a boxing match in the United States in 17 years.

Pacquiao was able to defeat Clottey by simply blitzing him with combination after combination as Clottey refused to take any risks that might have led to him getting knocked out. Clottey is the first fighter that Pacquiao has not knocked out in his last five fights (notable KO's: Diaz, Hatton, Cotto, De La Hoya).

The one inescapable thing from last nights fight is just how much of an impressive athlete Manny Pacquiao really is. His four hour work outs with trainer Freddy Roach have become legendary within the sport. And the stamina created from those work outs clearly lifted Pacquiao over the top in this particular fight. Round after round Pacquiao would throw almost three times as many punches as Clottey.

The kicker came at the end when Roach was asked by HBO's Max Kellerman about a possible Pacquiao Mayweather. Roach said, on Mayweather, "We'll crush him."

I hope that we all get to see that, but for now, we all have to wait and see who win the Mayweather Mosley bout May 1st before we'll know if Pacquiao will fight Mayweather.

Top Three Rushing Defensemen in the NHL

Charlie Klein

Today whilst watching the Washington Capitals defeat the Chicago Blackhawks in dramatic fashion 4-3 in overtime, Mike Milbury gave his top three rushing defensemen in the league. And as usual Milbury snubbed the Capitals.

How on earth can you not put Mike Green near the top in terms of offensive defensmen!?! Green leads all defensemen in the NHL with 17 goals and 52 assists for the team with the best record in the league.

So here's my top three. Hate it or love it, Milbury, but I didn't bring my eurotrash game on this piece.

1. Mike Green - Washington Capitals

2. Dan Boyle - San Jose Sharks 

3. Drew Doughty - Los Angeles Kings 

The Death of the Brady Quinn Dream in Cleveland

Charlie Klein

What a sad indictment of the Cleveland Browns organization, that all they could get for their 22nd overall selection in the 2007 NFL Draft is a fullback with less than 400 yards in career rushing and two late draft picks that are not even in this year's draft.

Today the Browns dealt the overrated Notre Dame grad to the Denver Broncos for Peyton Hillis, a sixth round pick in 2011, and a conditional pick in 2012. After signing Jake Delhomme, the Browns were ready and willing for all offers for Quinn, and settled for the Broncos.

The Mike Holmgren era in Cleveland is on in full flow, as the Browns have dismissed their two quarterbacks from last season and have added Delhomme and Seneca Wallace from Seattle. The Delhomme signing puzzled me for a few reasons. First, the sheer amount of money the Browns are throwing at Delhomme. The former Panthers QB will make 19.7 million dollars in 2010 (7 million from the Browns, 12.7 million from th Panthers). Second, Delhomme is not much better at keeping control of the football than Derek Anderson was during his time at the helm of the Browns offense.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Quinn wanted out of Cleveland as badly as the Browns wanted to trade him.

One thing is very clear, it is out with the old, and in with the new in Cleveland.

2010 MLB Season Preview: Atlanta Braves

Charlie Klein

Key Additions:

Billy Wagner (RP)
Takashi Saito (RP)
Troy Glaus (3B)
Eric Hinske (OF)
Nate McLouth (OF)
Melky Cabrera (OF)

Key Departures:

Rafael Soriano (RP)
Mike Gonzalez (RP)
Ryan Church (OF)
Adam LaRoche (1B)
Jeff Francoeur (OF)
Javier Vazquez (SP)
Garrett Anderson (OF)

I have tempered expectations for the 2010 Atlanta Braves. There is not much on this roster that catches the eye. Looking at the players that have left the Braves in the offseason, including ace Javier Vazquez, Braves GM Frank Wren dropped the ball by not adding the right players to compensate for the departed.

The Braves do have a few young players that will be exciting to watch this season. Rookie phenom Tommy Hanson enters his first full season in the big leagues off the back of an 11-4 season with a 2.89 ERA with 116 strikeouts in 127.2 innings pitched. It's hard to imagine that that stat line is of a rookie, but believe it folks. It is why the Braves refused to trade Hanson and why Bobby Cox has to feel that Hanson has the ability to fill in for the absence of Vazquez.

Jason Heyward, the other young starlet in the Braves organization, has been wowing scouts and pundits alike in Spring Training. Heyward in one batting practice session dented a Coca Cola truck and broke the sunroof of Assistant GM Bruce Manno. Somehow I do not think Manno will be that angry at Heyward.

Heyward's swing and the sound his bat makes when it connects with the ball has been compared to that of Hank Aaron. "His line drive is like the old Hank Aaron sound,” Cox said. “I don’t want to put him in that class, but it’s the same sound. The same ring off the bat." Heyward is listed as the top prospect in MLB by ESPN, Baseball America, and MLB.com. 


All of that aside, I remain unconvinced by the back end of the Braves rotation. If Tim Hudson can put together a 200 inning season, this team's fortunes could change drastically. But I doubt that he can, and Chipper Jones is another year older and a year more injury prone. Speaking of injury prone, the Braves signed Troy Glaus in the offseason. 


I'm sorry Bobby, but your last season in charge is not going to go well.

Projected Starting Nine:

1. Melky Cabrera (LF)
2. Martin Prado (2B)
3. Chipper Jones (3B)
4. Troy Glaus (1B)
5. Nate McLouth (CF)
6. Brian McCann (C)
7. Yunel Escobar (SS)
8. Matt Diaz (RF)
9. Jair Jurrjens (P)

Projected Staring Rotation:

1. Jair Jurrjens
2. Derek Lowe
3. Tommy Hanson
4. Tim Hudson
5. Kenshin Kawakami

Predicted Finish: Fourth in the NL East.

Daily Fail: Jeremiah Masoli Coppin' Laptops, FO FREE!

Charlie Klein

I am all in favour of a nice free laptop. And I am all for sticking one to the fraternity to score one for the common man. But Jeremiah Masoli broke bro code and the law, appearing yesterday in court to plead guilty to second degree burglary for stealing two laptops and a guitar from a fraternity in late January.

Masoli, a criminal justice major at the University of Oregon, will be quack-quacking his to one year of probation and a year-long suspension from last season's Pac-10 champions.

One part of being a sports analyst requires oneself to try and get into someone else's mind and be able to explain why they did what they did. But what Masoli did is inexplicable. A star quarterback who would have been in the running for the Heisman Trophy, who goes to the school where Nike gives away prototype training gear the way my fifth grade teacher gave away gummy bears, decides that to make a few extra bucks he'll jack some frat brother's laptop and guitar.

When college athletes mess up their lives by doing ridiculous things like this, it makes one wonder how can a person with everything that we never had or will have do something so unbelievably stupid to give it all away?

Is that unforgivable?