Yeah, this week we're going to start off talking about the ponies...Saturday was the Preakness Stakes...And just like the Kentucky Derby, it was an exciting finish...Just like in the Derby, Bodemeister jumped out to an early lead, and set the pace...But this time, he held back a bit, and slowed it down some from the blistering pace he ran in Kentucky...Clearly, jockey Mike Smith wanted to save a some horse for late in the race, knowing that I'll Have Another was lurking closely behind...

And then it happened...As they headed down the home stretch, I'll Have Another's jockey, Mario Gutierrez let his horse loose...But at the same time Bodemeister started surging as well...Both horses left the rest of the field in the dust...For a few seconds, it looked like Bodemeister was going to hold off I'll Have Another...But in the last 100 yards, Gutierrez had a little more left in his horse, and I'll Have Another won by a neck...


Just a great race...And now Horse Racing has a chance at seeing a Triple Crown Winning horse...But will it happen?

The next race, in Belmont, is also the longest of the three...Will I'll Have Another, have another late race surge in him? Will Bodemeister be setting the pace again? Well kids, you're going to hear it, or read it here first...If Dullahan runs at Belmont, (he didn't run at the Preakness) he'll be your winner...He's a big-time closer...(He was surging late in the Derby as well, and finished a very close 3rd.) He'll also be coming off of 5 weeks of rest after running in the Derby...He should have more in him then Bodemeister and I'll Have Another...Yes, we'd love to see a Triple Crown winner, but I'm telling you, Dullahan is going to win it...

-Now, a couple weeks ago I went off about the local radio hacks blasting Clevelanders for not filling the stadium for Indians games...Then Saturday, Indians closer Chris Perez decided to blast the fans for not turning out...After reading this I felt the need to get on Twitter and let Perez know what I thought...That overrated, overpriced twat..."@ChrisPerez54 You want to rip the fans...Fuck you and die...Pay my kids tuition, and maybe I'll show up to watch you put guys on base cunt!"

Seriously, if Perez wants to pay my kids tuition, pay to keep the roof over my family's heads, and keep food on the table, and keep my Direct TV on, then maybe I'll buy some Indians tickets...Otherwise, fuck off...I don't buy Browns, or Cavaliers tickets either...That shit is just too fucking expensive...It's not in the Budget...

And fuck off again...Guy was pissed because he got booed after losing a game...Grow the fuck up...Half-assed pitchers get booed, especially when they can't handle coming into a tie game, and blow it...Stop putting runners on base, and you won't get shit from the fans...Actually, after your dumb mouth cut loose, you're going to get shit from the fans...

Chris Perez can suck my ass!

-This past week Cleveland's first casino opened up...The city is buzzing about it...Shit one of the cooks at the Steak House has been there few times already...And on opening night he lost $3000...Yep, the economy is shit, and people are blowing money trying to hit it big...Hey, if that's your plan, bet on Dullahan! I don't plan on going there anytime soon...That's also not in the budget, Chris Perez and Tony Zarrella, the Cleveland Sports reporter who blasted people for going to the Casino, and not Indians games...

-This weekend we had fun with the kids...We hit a street fair Saturday...Sunday the Little Beeze and I went to see "The Avengers"...He was pumped to see it...He's a Thor fan, but loved The Hulk smashing Loki...And he became a big fan of Iron Man's smart ass style...(not a surprise)...And of course, it was great to see Scarlett again!

Miss Molly is doing great, and she inspired THIS...

That's it for now...Have a week...

Later, The Beeze.

Hello Gabbers, this was supposed to be the happy blog but since the last time I posted I had to turn the page on my laptop which crapped out on me Sunday evening making it a real bitch to do anything for a day. Needless to say I found myself another one, and am here in full force ready to speak out on my favorite sports and sports team the Tigers....

I am not going to rip the Pirates for their performance Friday night, I am going to commend them for getting a hit against him. It is a common occurrence anymore to see him flirt with a no-hitter. Hell I would not be surprised if he does not get another one before the season is over, Verlander is that DAMN GOOD!!!!

My thoughts about the start of interleague play is this, what dope was Bud on when he decided that the Tiger's natural rivals was going to be the Pirates? Aren't the Cubs, Reds, Brewers and Cardinals a little better fit as natural rivals, or did he forget all benefit games the Tigers-Reds did during the 70s-80s to benefit youth baseball in those areas? What a joke, and I will leave it at that.............

Since I lost my laptop, I also lost a lot of other memories, pictures and other things so I am going to start a "Made in Michigan" band theme for a while until I build my pictures back up again 

I was thinking about the first 40 games of the baseball season, and realized that my fantasy team is starting to compete a little bit with everyone else, but still lacks something. Anyone interested in a trade? I know the Beeze won't be making a trade anytime soon, after Werth got hurt the day I accepted it but I will throw it out to him anyway. Worley went on the DL so I guess we are even. Both are guys are lame, what a shame I was actually liking the pitcher until he got hurt.

I was also wondering what excuses will be made when the Heat lose this series to the Pacers? They cannot blame Lebron for once, he has actually played up to his capabilities during this series. Will they blame it on losing Bosh? All teams lose players to injury at some point of the season, and their bench is plenty deep enough to cover for his absence.

I hate to admit this to everyone, but I have absolutely lost contact with the NHL. I would love to say I am keeping up with the playoffs, but with the Wings early exit it has been rather difficult to keep involved with the sport. Maybe it is time to find another team to hop on the bandwagon with for the rest of the playoffs and follow, I want to believe this may be the Ranger's year but something tells me they may run into a buzz saw in LA, and call me crazy but they may hang another banner in the Staple Center, and it won't be because of the Lakers or Clippers.

I heard Rod Allen say during one of the broadcasts, that the worst thing that could have happened to Ryan Raburn was the release of Brandon Inge. Because all of the focus has shifted on his lack of hitting this spring, but wait there is still hope for him because he is Leyland's boy, and they just do not want to give the job to Danny Worth for whatever reason.........

It's off to another fun day off with my kids, I normally work on Sunday's because it gives me a couple of great days off during the week. It ought to be full of excitement with a ton of homework to do, but I will survive.. I am looking for some great sports related research projects for my blogs, if you have any suggestions I will listen to them. My son Noah is nearing his kindergarten graduation, and I am absolutely excited for him as he will have mastered something for the first time......

There were some mighty good vibrations going around Wrigley Field yesterday, and I would go so far as to call them great vibrations.  The dominating pitcher Kerry Wood announced his retirement, and the Chicago Cubs awarded his wonderful career by giving him one last relief appearance and a chance to strike out the last batter that he faced in the major leagues.  Just like a great Hollywood script Kerry delivered on his chance and struck out the only batter he faced Dayan Viciedo of the Chicago White Sox and then promptly walked off the field to a roaring standing ovation.  The most poignant ending for Kerry was still to occur however, as his five year old son ran on to the field and Kerry gave him a big hug and tipped his hat to the fans.  I bet there was not a dry eye in the old ballpark.  Here (grab a hankie) is video of this magical scene.

Flash back to 1998 where young rookie Kerry wood was facing the hard-hitting Houston Astros at Wrigley and about to pitch his first complete game in the Major Leagues.  All the Cubs games were on cable television on superstation WGN, and I decided to take in the game because the baseball gurus were saying that the young Wood had great stuff and I was curious to see him.  What I was about to witness was perhaps the most dominating pitching performance in baseball history. Kerry proceeded to mow down 20 Astros that day while walking no one and giving up only one hit, an infield dribbler.  Watch it for yourself; the Astros had no chance that day.  Kerry was simply unhittable.

The Los Angeles Kings are dominating the Phoenix Coyotes thus far in the NHL’s Western Conference Finals, and are up 3-0 in the best of seven series.  I have been watching, and so far it has been total domination by the young, strong, and fast Kings.  I cannot say that I am totally disappointed by the Coyotes however.  Perhaps they have played well enough that a buyer with deep pockets will come forth, rescue them, and keep them in Phoenix.  I am happy and proud of the Kings play for my cyber friend (I have met him in person a couple of times) Ark_Razor who has had season tickets to the Kings games for 30 years and has even taken fellow blogger Doug Van Tyle to a few of the games.  If the Kings should win, I definitely will cheer them on in the Stanley Cup Finals. Wouldn’t it be nice if a Western Conference team won the Cup this year?

I grew up watching baseball in the late 1950’s and 1960’s.  I admit that I am proud that I got to see great players such as Mickey Mantle, Ted Williams, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, and Stan Musial play (to name but a few).  I saw Mickey win the Triple Crown in 1957 and ditto for Frank Robinson in 1966 and Carl Yastrzemski in 1967.  Damned if another 45 years have passed and we have not had another Triple Crown Winner.  Josh Hamilton is giving it a mighty fine run this year, and it would be great for all us fans to finally see it happen again.  We are rooting for you Josh!

  Well folks, it’s that time again. Time for another edition of Sexy Action Sports Saturday with your old pal, IHM.

  Channeling my inner Johnny Monkey for this post!  

  To start things out tonight, how about a little man-love for Justin Verlander? Damn he was filthy last night. Granted, it WAS the Pirates’ offense, who haven’t been hitting much better than the Tigers this season so far, but he still came two outs (and one range-limited short stop) away from throwing his third career no-hitter. Some asshole named Harrison blooped one past Peralta (one that 75% of Major League short stops would get to) for the Bucos first and only hit of the night. Still, at the end of the night, complete game  shut-out, one-hit, two walks, 12 K’s for Verlander, who improved to 5-1 on the season, lowered his ERA to 2.14, and yet again stopped a Tigers’ losing skid.

  But aside from Friday night’s electric performance, this team is a fucking wreck. The team I said before the season started should “have the division wrapped up by August” stands at 19-20… still just three games behind Cleveland for the AL Central lead, but only because they play in what is possibly the weakest overall division in baseball. Hell, if they’re in the AL East or West, they’re at least five games back.  There are some signs of the Tigers turning things around, though. Andy Dirks has been a bright spot in the lineup, hitting .360 since he got a spot in the lineup early this month, but 0-22 stretches for both Miggy and Prince have limited what this team has been able to do offensively. The bullpen is a fucking mess… and Scherzer and Porcello have been erratic at best this year. From the looks of it, this team needs to make a move or two before I can consider them any kind of threat to do anything in the postseason… either getting somebody for the pen, another starter, or even a second baseman that can hit his weight at some point before the deadline.

  If nothing else, I can always respect Jim Leyland’s honesty. He understands why people are critical of a 19-20 team with a 100+ million dollar payroll, "When you have the expectations that we have, and you perform the way we have up to this point, you expect severe criticism, and if you don't, you're not very smart," Leyland said. If it were legal to smoke in ANY fucking building in this state… he would have most likely said it with a Marlboro hanging out of his mouth. I really have to say, though, if this team doesn’t turn things around, I have a hard time justifying keeping Leyland and Dombrowski at the helm of this team. I know Illitch is loyal… sometimes to a fault… but when you shell out that kind of money for a winner, you have to expect results.

  Happy trails to former Cub/Indian/one other team I can’t think of pitcher Kerry Wood, who in an odd situation announced his retirement today but made himself available to pitch in this weekend’s interleague cross-town matchup with the White Sox. Wood, who tied a MLB record with 20 strikeouts in one game during his rookie season, has struggled with injuries at every turn throughout his career… and never quite delivered on all the promise he showed. Still, he got into this afternoon’s game, pitching 1/3 of an inning, and notching one last strikeout. Wood retires as one of only three pitchers in Big League history to average 10+ strikeouts per nine innings pitched (minimum 1,000 innings).

   I have to be honest… the more I hear about this playoff for college football, the more it makes me want to fucking puke. As it stands, it’s the same fucking story as it is right now, only with two more of the big boys getting a shot at the championship, and still with the major conferences calling all the shots. Yeah, now the Big 12 and SEC are getting together to pit their champions against one-another for a New Year’s Day bowl… But if the Big 12 or SEC champions were selected for the four-team playoff (which is more of an inevitability than a possibility), two different teams from the respective conferences would be given the bowl game instead. Meanwhile, the Big Ten continues its’ love-affair with the Rose Bowl, refusing an on-campus home playoff game over the ability to play the Pac-12 champs in Pasadena.

   Honestly, I am getting to the point where any respect I once had for the Big Ten is gone. The way this system is set up currently, this is a golden opportunity to gain some sort of advantage over an opponent from ANY other conference, aside from possibly the Big East (but what are the odds a Big East school actually gets a playoff spot?), if you earn a chance to host a playoff game? Any Pac-12 team you face has an essential home-field advantage in Pasadena. Hell, even SEC and Big 12 schools have a shorter trip. Why are you shooting yourself in the foot, robbing your universities of revenue from ticket sales, local businesses revenue from people coming in to watch another home game, and more importantly, taking a much-needed advantage away from your schools, who, quite frankly, haven’t won anything that MATTERED since 2003? So you can keep a spot in a bowl game that means next to NOTHING now with a playoff in place to determine a true national champion? Look, I’m all for tradition in most cases… but this is a situation where you need to buck tradition a bit and take any kind of advantage the NCAA is going to afford you.

  Let’s face it, the Big Ten is really screwing its self over here… and only so it can continue its’ century-old love affair with the Rose Bowl. The longer you wait, the deeper you get buried by the SEC and Big 12 in the championship picture, and the lower you sink in terms of how relevant your conference really is in college football. I mean, what kind of advantage is it for a school like Ohio State, Michigan, or Wisconson to host a January playoff game against a Big 12/Pac 12/SEC school? Play your style of ball in your backyard, on your terms, and you might actually have a legit shot at WINNING a bowl game against somebody that matters. Let’s face it, Big Ten Commissioner Jim Delaney isn’t doing any of his schools any favors here. As for your “history and tradition”, every year, people forget more and more of that… and eventually, if you don’t wake the fuck up, you’re going to be nothing more than an irrelevant memory. Every school you are supposedly here serving is going to suffer because of it.

   Well, the NBA has done it… they’ve sucked me back in a bit. As of right now, the OKC Thunder are up 2-0 on the Lakers out West, and the Pacers are shocking the Miami Heat with a 2-1 series advantage with game four in Indiana Saturday night. As much as I’ve grown to despise this league and everything it is becoming… there is nothing I love more than to watch LeDouche, his little pal D-Wade (who is quickly becoming just as big a douche as King Douche himself), and Kobe all on the brink of being wiped out in the second round of the playoffs. How’s that MVP award going for ya, LeBron… too bad you won’t have a Larry O’Brien trophy to add to your trophycase this summer.

   That’s all I’ve got for this week, folks. Thanks as always for reading and for any comments you leave on the way out. And be sure to stop by next week for my in-depth WNBA preview… I’ve already given the heads-up to Sully, Frag, Beeze and Felber to get this place ready for all the extra traffic. Yeah… always end it on a strong joke.

Nearly one quarter into the season...

And it’s over...

In spite of all of his past successes...

He is an abject failure...

Don’t know what happened...

He must have lost it in the offseason...

He must have forgotten everything he knew about hitting...

It’s over...

Good-bye...

Good riddance...

You’ve lost it, Bucko...

I don’t care what Mike Scioscia says...

You are done...

You are toast...

100% your fault...

We blame you...

And only you...

You crushed our high hopes for you this year...

You blew it...

Make no excuses...

Take the blame...

Be a man...

Face the music...

Don’t let the door hit you on the way out...

Mister...

Mister...

Mister...

Mister Mickey Hatcher...

Now that you are gone...

Albert is free...

Free from your stinking advice...

Free from the jinx...

He was doing just fine...

Just fine...

Until he met you...

Now that you’re gone...

Albert can return to his superstar status...

No more P.U.jols...

How could you do this to our hero, Mickey???

You and your Mickey Mouse advice...

Albert listened to you...

But he should have done the opposite...

It would have brought much success...

And now that Jerry DiPoto has kicked you to the curb...

Albert is back...

Two home runs in two days...

No thanks to you, Mickey...

Good thing he was able to recover...

Recover from your lousy coaching...

We should be 40-0...

Even though we’ve only played 39 games...

Thanks for leaving, Mickey...

Come again when you can’t stay so long...

Don't let the door hit you on the tushie on the way out...

Onward and forward...

Another World Series title is right around the corner...

Now that YOU are gone...

Ya big ninny...

dvt

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