Bobby Valentine = Boston Red Sox New Manager

I am pretty horrified with how the Red Sox performed this past year.  Francona had gotten even softer, and nobody took him seriously.  I think that with Valentine, the Red Sox will be much improved.  I don't even care if we keep Big Papi, fuck that guy. Fuck Papelbon too.  We have a ton of talent and I am extremely excited for 2012 baseball season.

god damn, this "Rappin Duke" video is hilarious too

NBA Season/Chris Herren Unguarded

This NBA lockout is one of the most infuriating things I have experienced as a sports fan.  The NFL lockout was childs play, those guys were just trying to divvy up the boatloads of money they are making.  The NBA is not as profitable, I understand that, so they need to make a change.  Players need to understand that agents are telling them one thing, but for the overall health and viability of the league, as well as their fans that they are going to have to take a miniscule paycut.  Small market owners can't afford the huge contracts you people are demanding!  I am not going to rant about this anymore until the season has commenced, but you all know I am a huge NBA/Celtics fan and coming off an amazing post-season the NBA has dropped the ball big time. 

ESPN ran a documentary recently called Unguarded.  It is based on Fall River, MA native Chris Herren, who was a sensation in high school, played at BC in college, and eventually made it to the pros.  However, he was heavily addicted to painkillers, heroin, and other drugs, he was a complete addict.  I remember this guy when he was on the court for that terrible Celtics team, but then he was cut and I never heard from him again.  Bill Simmons spoke with Chris on the BS Report, and it really is a good listen.  Just because someone is rich, doesn't mean they can't fall prey to opiate addiction, I know a lot of people in my life who have been affected by this, and I can totally relate to Chris.  Worth checking out.

My Fantasy Football League Draft

 

Last night was our league's fantasy football draft.  Yes, I know it was a bit last minute, but we wanted to make sure the league would be serious.  We are only doing a $20 buy-in, but it should be enought to keep things serious, and we can bump it up to $50 next year if things go well.  I was happy to get the 2nd pick, but I knew that would mean I would be in for long periods without being able to draft anyone, no bother. 

The league commissioner, managed to get first pick, and took Peterson, so I decided to go with Jamaal Charles, although I considered Ray Rice and Mike Vick (who ended up going 5th).  The only surprise of the first round was Aaron Rodgers went 3rd overall, but that was by @GoGreenMorimoto who is known for making unorthodox picks.  Corey's team was able to draft Andre Johnson 9th and Lasean McCoy 12th, which is pretty strong. 

I was able to grab Drew Brees in 19th, although I wouldn't have been upset with Philip Rivers who went 20th. @ComedyDogg foiled me by taking Larry Fitzgerald at 21, but it was alright, because I took Greg Jennings 23rd.  @MrRodgersBelt took Matt Ryan with the 26th pick, which I thought was extremely bizzare, since I had considered Matty Ice for a 12th round backup QB pick.  I wanted Matt Forte as my 2nd RB, but @Draze45 snatched him at 25th, so I settled for LaGarette Blount (we ended up making a trade, later)  Obviously, this was a speculative pick, but Draze was planning on picking him up in the next round anyways.  I took Mike Williams 42nd, which may have been a mistake, looking back on it. 

Since I wasn't in love with Williams, I decided to take Mario Manningham 59th, who I will probably use as my WR/RB flex guy, and could possibly be my second string receiver (I am expecting to have a big year, even as a 2nd option)  Then I took Shonn Greene 62nd, which I believe will be good value.  Matt Carle made a fairly speculative pick on Mark Ingram 68th, which is a bit aggressive/hopeful, but could pan out quite well. 

I took Fred Jackson 79th, which I still regret, but its more of a bet against CJ Spiller, who I underrate dramatically.  TE Zach Miller was taken 80th, so I decided to grab my TE, Jimmy Graham at this point, which turned out to be a good move, since I had him ranked 7th TE overall, and @Draze45 was planning to take him next (included in the trade)  I definitely think Jimmy will have a big year.

I was somewhat upset that Julio Jones was picked up 86th, since I planned to take him with my next pick.  Instead I took Joseph Addai, who will probably be relied on heavily, especially with Peyton Manning's season in question.  I know my next 3 picks would be seen as somewhat speculative, and probably have no problem making it through, so I grabbed Eli Manning, who is a solid backup QB, and with 2 great weapons (Nicks & Manningham) will throw for plenty of yards/TDs this year.  (People had already started drafting Kickers/Defenses at this point, LOL)

I was happy the I could grab Greg Olsen, who may be my starting TE, after the trade with Draze with pick 119.  I took Michael Crabtree and Danny Amendola, who could both have breakout style years, or be busts, I am fine with that.  With my final 2 picks I was plenty happy to get the Bears D/S/T and Oakland's Sebastien Janikowski, they will both do fine and I wouldn't want to waste earlier picks to get someone marginally better.  @ComedyDogg made a clown pick and took Mark Sanchez with the last pick, and he already had 2 QB's, but was just doing it for the laughs, since we were all ragging on him for taking Sanchez in the 6th round in his other draft.

Now, for the trade I mentioned.  I have Jamaal Charles as my 1st running back but I had my eye on Forte as a backup, since he gets a decent amount of catching yards in addition to his running, and I don't have a ton of faith in Cutler throwing the ball.  However, @Draze45 picked him up before I could get him, so I settled for Blount, who is unproven, but could definitely break out this year.  I was also pretty happy with my Jimmy Graham TE pick, but he's not a sure thing.  I was presented with a bogus trade offer that included Ochocinco, but responded back with a real offer, since I knew he was interested in Blount.  I offered Blount and Graham for Forte and Marcedes Lewis.  Many would rank Lewis above Graham and everyone considers Forte is more solid than Blounte, so I think I made a good play.  I have a good backup with Greg Olsen, who will be getting a lot of passes from rookie Cam Newton in Carolina, so I felt it was worth it so I could get Forte, and really fill out my starting lineup.  I also got the best player in the trade, so that's always a good feeling.

Bill Simmons rolls out Grantland.com

Bill Simmons has launched his new website today Grantland.com named after Grantland Rice, a writer known for his elegant prose. For those who aren't familiar with Simmons, he is arguably the most popular personality in the ESPN stable, at least in my neck of the woods. Simmons was born in raised in New England, went to college at Holy Cross, and is one of the most vocal Boston sports fans of all time. His columns, podcasts, and twitter are account are among the most read throughout the internet. His writing style is often crude and he is not known for conciseness, but he is really funny and he hits on a lot of topics that I am interested in. I think he overdoes the popular culture aspect, but I can't really blame him, as that is his passion, especially living in Los Angeles.

Grantland is supposed to be an outlet for more creative, unfettered sports and pop culture writing. It has been advertised as free from the corporate overlords, which means everything will be a little more raw. This will not be Sportscenter, and if you have read anything by Simmons, you know there will be mentions of betting on sports, Simmon's friends, and certainly never less than 1000 words per article. I am actually currently reading his book on basketball, which I do recommend if you are as big of a basketball fan as I am. I look forward to following this site, and its promise of podcasts in addition to the B.S. Report is very appealing for me, as I listen to podcasts regularly during the day job and working out.

In other matters, Bruins are going to need to continue the offensive effort of Game 3 tonight. I am looking forward to Tyler Seguin being effective, in replacement of the injured Nathan Horton.

Book Review: The Odds by Chad Millman

The Odds is a look at the world of sports betting. ESPN columnist, Chad Millman spent the winter of 1999-2000 in Vegas doing investigative journalism into this culture. This book is a result of the time he spent there. Millman captures the positive and negative aspects of sports betting, and presents his findings impartially.

The book is written as a profile of three different players in the Vegas world, and what they represent. The main character is Alan Boston, a professional sports handicapper, known as a wiseguy. Alan is an eccentric Ivy League grad, who has a very unique view of the world. I admire Alan a lot, he is a great stud player (Full Tilt Red Pro) and a world-class college basketball handicapper. I actually heard him interviewed several times on the 2p2 Pokercast, one of my favorite podcasts, and he is one of their best all-time guests. Next, up is the bookmakers Joe Lupo and Bob Scucci of the Stardust casino. They are regarded throughout the industry as some of the best handicappers in the business. Finally Rodney Bosnich, a 23 year old kid, who believes he has a knack for betting sports, and decides to move to Vegas to bet full-time. The book captures the lows and highs for each of these characters based on the professions they have chosen.

The book covers the Superbowl, the biggest single day of sports betting, through March Madness, the end of the college basketball season. Throughout these various events, we see the different aspects each of the players is affects and is affected by. Additionally a number of issues that affect the sports betting industry are touched upon, the legality of sports betting, fixing of games, the offshore, Caribbean sportsbooks, betting emotionally, the high roller lifestyle, the affect sports betting has on relationships based on it's solitary nature, are all covered extensively.

In conclusion, the book is a little dated, however most of the issues are still relevant right now. As I have gotten into sports betting, although for much more nominal figures than anyone in the book, this interests me a lot. I highly recommend picking up a copy on Amazon.