Everything in life gives way to all powerful force of eventuality. It builds up right from the very beginning and only gives way to inevitability. The day gives way to the night. The seasons change.

And in baseball, veterans give way to rookies.

Sometimes it is tough to admit when a veteran needs to step aside, and often it takes an act on behalf of management that seems almost cold and unfeeling. But often times, those decisions need to be made by someone in order to do what is in the best interest of the club and the players involved, including the veteran in question.

Such was the case on Sunday when the Boston Red Sox chose to trade third baseman Kevin Youkilis to the Chicago White Sox for utility-man Brent Lillibridge and pitching prospect Zach Stewart.

The writing had been on the wall for weeks, as top prospect Will Middlebrooks had made it all but perfectly clear that he was the future at third base for the Red Sox. The slick fielding rookie is batting .326 with 9 home runs, 10 doubles, and 34 RBI in just 41 games with the Red Sox, after hitting .333 with 9 home runs and 27 RBI in 24 games at Triple-A to start the season. He has been the shot of energy that the Red Sox badly needed after an abysmal start to the season and has provided a stabilizing bat on the right side for a left-heavy line-up.

Of course, trading a player like Youkilis comes with its own difficulties. Youk was a fan favorite and a member of two World Series championship teams in 2004 and 2007. His gritty, working-man’s type of play helped build him from a player known for his ability to garner a base-on-balls to a legitimate threat in the Red Sox line-up. Chants of “Yoooouuuukkk” filled Fenway Park on a nightly basis and more often than not, they were rewarded with a key contribution from the three-time All-Star.

However, sentimentality is not a smart way to run a business and Boston had to draw the line somewhere. Youk was struggling when he was in the line-up, something that of its own right had been a difficulty in recent seasons, and the Red Sox were forced to juggle their line-up by moving lead-footed Adrian Gonzalez, a gold-glove first baseman, to right field just to accommodate all the bats in the line-up. Gonzalez’s play was suffering for it, Middlebrooks was losing important at bats, Youkilis was growing unhappy with a reduced role, and that says nothing of the increased issues of playing in National League parks and having to add David Ortiz into the rotation.

So eventuality gave way to inevitability.

The Red Sox made the tough decision of trading Youkilis for the best package they could get in return. But the trade was more about peace of mind than it was about pieces in return. Youkilis needed a fresh start, Middlebrooks needed the playing time, and everyone needed to move on. Boston is not a fun place to play when the media speculation is running rampant and it was increasingly apparent that the team and Youkilis wanted the speculation put behind them.

As a fan of the Red Sox, I can see the reasoning behind the move, and I can even voice my personal agreement with making it. Still, I cannot help but realize that another of the good guys got abruptly shown the door as well. The Red Sox handled the situation poorly; with Valentine dancing around with Youkilis through the media when things began to truly sour. Then the team chose to send out an email to fans to try and sell ticket to Youkilis’s return to Boston when the White Sox visit Fenway in a few weeks’ time, showing just where the line between sentimentality and business truly lies with a classless ownership group.

This is just another in a string of moves where the Henry/Lucchino/Werner group strung along a situation in order to build its production quality and in turn try and turn a profit from it. Youkilis deserved better than this. Wakefield and Varitek deserved better than to be strung along throughout Spring Training.

Strung out until eventuality eventually won out.

Welcome to the tantrums where Uncle B.O.B.’s neighbor got caught in what we call a traffic jam.  Amazing how we here can go from that bucolic scene of slowness and just 90 minutes down the road you’re dealing with cars hauling ass around a track that actually has right hand turns.

Rant #1 – MLB.   I gotta laugh at a startling stat in MLB this season.  There are teams that are in the bottom ten in team batting average, yet they are fighting for potential wild card position.  Right Baltimore, Cincinnati, Washington, Tampa, Pittsburgh, and Oakland?

Speaking of the A’s - Holy crap, just when I’m blowing off the A’s, these jerkys come back and sweep the hated LA Dodgers, not to mention that they are 4 GB in the wild card race?  Then on Saturday, they go from five down in the Bottom of the Ninth to score four runs, then load the bases again before the G-men finally put ‘em away, followed by a walk-off HR by the A’s.  Is there a chance for the A’s?

Sucks in Hot-lanta:  Brandon Beachy going in for Tommy John surgery.  Dude is a great pitcher.

Hey Big Papi, you wanna rip the media for your teams self-made MF-ing drama?  How ‘bout being a freaking leader and cleaning up your own house so that the media leeches have nothing to talk about?  But no, you want to go out and create some more of your own ignorant drama by saying Boston is a shithole.  Yeah, that’ll make you popular there.  Um, I might be wrong, but Boston is pretty proud of their town and their Red Sox and it’s probably not a good idea to be trashing them.

Youk to the freaking White Sox for chump change?  Uh, count me as one who believes that although he is slipping a little, I’m thinking Boston could have got a bit more for him.  Wonder if they put Big Papi out as trade bait now?

What the hell is going on in San Diego?  The Padres are have team .229 BA and a team ERA of over 4!  Fellas, if you’re hitting the Gaslamp post-game to knock a few back, STOP!  But then again, I’m reading that the team is on the verge of sale – I HOPE to the O’Malleys!

Rant #2 – Penn State Football.  If I had my way, one of three things would happen to this program. 

First, a 15 year Death Penalty – cutting off their football funds would kill the University. 

Secondly, if that’s not an option, 80% of all proceeds from anything PSU football related (tickets, parking, concessions, merchandising) over the next 15 years (the same amount of time Sandusky was doing his evil) should be put in a trust fund administered by a court.   The funds should go to the victims and their families as well as paying the medical health professionals, lawyers, and court costs.   

Thirdly, like I said elsewhere – all federal and state taxpayer support of PSU would be suspended for a period to be determined by an independent person or group of persons.

Rant #3 – NBA Finals.   Amazing to me how the Miami Heat can struggle to BARELY beat a group of old farts, yet run through OKC like crap through a goose.   Congrats to the Heat, and remember – the NBA season could have been worse, we could have been stuck with another Laker run! 

To those who are yappin’ about Miami being a dynasty, you might want to bear this in mind – if $tern is to be believed, everything changes after 2014 and there will be a whole lot of luxury tax added to teams who choose to stockpile talent.  Miami may have to make a choice after next season about who to keep.

Oh yeah, before I forget, Mark Cuban absolutely DESTROYED the Skipper (Skip Bayless).  Please forgive the 15 second advertisements up front, but it’s worth the wait…

Isn’t it about time ESPN whack this guy?

Rant #4 – College Football.  On the radio, I hear a few talking heads yapping about this new “playoff structure” in CFB.   Apparently, Notre Dame is screaming “What about us?” to which the talking heads response was “Well, what about Notre Dame?”  And they’re right – What has Notre Dame done since Lou Holtz left the sidelines other than got their asses handed to them in many a bowl game?  When is the last time they won a title - 1988, and before that 1977?  Why the hell are we holding them in such high regard and why are they getting such preferential treatment?  Army doesn't get it, Navy doesn't get it and they have just as rich a tradition.  So why?

Look,  I’m not trying to be a dick, but enough of the special treatment for one school – you can’t have your cake and eat it too.  You want to be an independent, fine.  You want to draw your own money from NBC, fine.  But you have to understand that those are your choices and with those choices come ramifications, one of which is no more carte blanche in the BCS format. 

Seriously Domers, enough of this elitist crap - GET OVER YOURSELVES!!!  Get past your superiority complex and get with the change by joining a conference or you will be left further behind while all you do is brag about the past.

Rant #5 – NFL.   The Miami Dolphins worst nightmare has come to pass – the Heat won the title, while the Panthers had an NHL playoff run while the Marlins opened up their beautiful new stadium and are building for the future with some serious potential.  So what are the Dolphins doing other than picking up a washed up Chad Johnson?  Miami has always been a football town, for it to remain that way you have to at least put something competitive on the field.  Stop worrying about celebrity owners, Hard Knocks, and all the other bullcrap because at the end of the day, the fans -- you know the folks who live and die with the team will judge it by wins and losses.

B-dub is more qualified to speak on this than I am, but Steve Smith saying Carolina doesn’t need Plaxico?  I wonder about that.  Took a look at the roster, and I’m not impressed.

Get your double take ready…I’m about to give a Dallas Cowboy props.  Yep, you read it right, props to Jay Ratliff for saying that the Dallas Cowboys need less talk and more work.  He said in part “I think the attitude for us this year needs to be we’re going to be quiet.  To put it bluntly, we’re going to shut up, not say a thing and do our jobs.”  (profootballtalk.com, 6/22)  But then again…

I want to rant on Jason Witten’s comments saying Tony Romo is an elite QB.  Of course he’s gonna say that because he gets the vast majority of the balls thrown.  Keep believing that Dallas, keep believing that.  Tony Romo reminds me of Danny White, a good QB who just for whatever reason can’t get over the hump. 

Rant #6 – Punk Kids.   Can we go back to where Dirty Harry handled shit?

You know, I’m absolutely raging about these punks who verbally assaulted that 68 year old woman on the school bus and reduced her to tears while videotaping it laughing.  I swear to the almighty above, if we as 13 year olds had done that back in the day, our parents would have blistered our ass with a damn leather strap, or a switch, or whatever they could get their hands on.

You know what, screw it – these parents should be exposed by name and publicly humiliated.  Perhaps then they’d learn what it’s like.  One parent who claims to be embarrassed by the actions of his little troll said that his kid has learned his lesson, but expulsion should not be part of the equation.  You know what?  Fuck you – send these little losers to a school where they can be bullied, and send them for one school year.  

Better yet, if you want an adult to ride the bus while kids are on it, then get somebody a little more intimidating by presence – somebody like D-Bo from the movie Fridays.  I'll bet those little shits wouldn’t say a damn word on the bus.

That being said, people who feel bad are kicking down at least a half-million to the woman?  I’d better not see a lawsuit out of this.

Bonus Rant.  We here in Sacramento have a new sports talk option to go away from the syndicated shit that the local stations are putting out - believe it or not it's online with Sean Salisbury and a local guy named Carmichael Dave.  They do a two hour national show from 10AM - 12 Noon Pacific Time and trust me, it's far better than Jim Rome or Dan Patrick.  It's a lot like You Gab cursing and all.  If you get the opportunity, check it out at www.thecdnetworks.com.  Salisbury started yesterday and he just hit it out of the park.  There's no corporate holding these guys back, and they are telling it like it is.  Check it out!!!

HOLY CRAP FOLKS, WE’RE ALMOST TO JULY ALREADY!!!

Hoodwood salutes Lebron on finally getting his first NBA title...the look of relief on his face says it all.

Greetings from the Hoodwood, where the residents are hoping that the victims of that perv are finally able to heal.  (more on him later)

NBA: Bron Bron finally gets his

As on Ohioan, in a way I understand the deep abiding loathing and in some circles hatred that some have for LeBron James. Cleveland feels like the woman in Waiting to Exhale that helped nurture their man for years only to have him publicly dis and dismiss her for a younger version.  The problem is that unlike the movie, Cleveland didn’t get its revenge. They didn’t burn the possesision and get the bulk of the material goods in the divorce like Angela Bassett did in the movie. Instead they have sit and watch their man celebrate an NBA title with their new “woman” The Cavs couldn’t or wouldn’t surround James with the talent to get him to an NBA championship so he went where he felt he had his best chance of getting one. As much as northeast Ohio despised him and watched in chagrin, James got the job done. He was the unanamious selection for Finals MVP, completing  a rare daily double of league regular season and Finals MVP. He played with an intensity that got deeper meaner and stronger as the playoffs wore on. His 28.6 ppg, 10.2 rpg and 7.4 apg were all team leaders for the finals and he seemed to play with a hunger that was sorely missing last year when the Mavs made James a non factor late in games.

Im already hearing the haters and discounters sneering, “It was only a 66 game season. He would have faded had they played a full schedule. “ Ummmm, sorry to break it to you but the Heat did play more than 82 games this year including the playoffs and given the grueling schedule that they had to play. I offer that the schedule that the Heat had to endure was tougher and made them steeled better for the playoff run. I was amused at listening to the braying of Skip Bayless, who has long been a vocal and sometimes overly harsh critic of James getting his head blasted by Stephen A Smith.

(Video Clip courtesy of ESPN First Take)

Give James his dap and due. He stepped his game up on the largest of stages and was something that he has been oft criticized for his lack of true leadership. I liked how he calmed Mario Chalmers down in the 4^th quarter of game 5 with the Heat pouring it on and Chalmers egging the crowd on. James was quick to put the kibosh on it, in effect saying the job wasn’t done. It was just about but James looked the leader and the team followed his lead.

Though it seemed that youth and inexperience finally caught up with the Thunder, weep little for this precocious bunch. You can bet that Brooks, Durant, Westbrook, Sefalosha and Harden will be a team to bank on playing deep into May and June for some years to come. This is a talented and young team that will grow together and with the aging Spurs and Lakers looking to be reshuffling. I find it hard not to see this team being the Western bully for a while.

CFB: Justice.

That’s all that really needs to preface this part of the musings, former Penn State assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was found guilty on 45 of the 48 charges brought against him and will spend the rest of his life on this earth in prison. Sandusky had the look of someone that didn’t believe that he had done anything wrong and was dumbstruck that he was found guilty. My feeling was  plain and simple, that many people saying the same thing cant corroborate the same story unless it was true.  Sandusky bullied and harassed those young men to get his sick kicks. He shamed and threatened them to keep them quiet and tried to portray himself as a paragon of virtue  as the late Joe Paterno’s right hand man for so long. Twitter and the various social media outlets were ablaze Friday night when the verdict came down and I opined the usual ignorant reply of don’t drop the soap. But the thing that annoys me is that Sandusky was on suicide watch. This man if he kills himself is only proving that he was a gutless fuck. A yellow coward that could be the predator and bully but cannot face the justice that has been handed to him for his disgusting crimes. I hope that useless fuck, gets run up in a few times by those hard core pipe hitters that Marcellus Wallace spoke of in Pulp Fiction. I will dive into a pool of sanitizer to get the icky feeling off of me as we move on.

LT: Salute to a great back

My pops is a big Charger fan, Both of my stepbrothers and I were born in San Diego. So there are some ties there and I have always respected the rugged running back LaDainian Tomlimson. Though he had a bust season when I drafted him in 2007, I wont hold it against him. Tomlinson called it a career after 11 stellar seasons. The first 9 in San Diego where all but one of his seasons he had over 1100 yards and 10 touchdowns, his 2006 season of 1815 Yards and 31 total TD’s made him a no brainer choice for MVP that year. LT’s silky speedy running style helped make the Chargers an AFC contender for the 2000s and a fan favorite. Ever the classy player on and off the field, Tomlinson was never a troublemaker and was cited often for his charitable work and was named the Walter Payton Man of the Year award winner in 2006. Tomlinson was used more as a 3^rd down back in New York and instead of trying to catch on with other teams to stretch his career, instead chose to announce his retirement after signing a ceremonial one contract with the Chargers so he could retire as a Charger. Start the counter to Canton his 13684 rushing and 18456 all purpose yards with 156 TDS make him a Hall Of Fame shoo-in

College Football: Playoffs???

To the likely chagrin of a certain fellow blog poster from a former blog that I once wrote for, College football looks like they will finally have a playoff system in place very soon. College football has tried and tried to avoid it. Those that advocated against it kept talking about tradition and that the regular season was the playoffs. I think that settling a championship on the field rather than with a computer or voting is the best way. Is the four team model the best way? Not in my opinion, I think it gives the big money conferences (read the SEC) more of a chance to monopolize the spots. But it’s a start, a way to develop. The major BCS bowls still get their shot and the pageantry will still be there. Though there will be some that snicker at the bowls now as consolation games for the also rans, I still think that they have their place and will be useful. Heres hoping that this is the beginning of December or January madness that will have championships decided on the field not in a ballot box or computer.

PHAT DAP HEAD SLAP

Phat Dap

To Title IX, the law that promoted gender equality in sports. For a father of two daughters, it heartens me to see that women are able to compete in sports just as men are. I can point to so many women as good sports role models for them in a variety of sports. The law  was created in 1972 and has done much to encourage not only education for women but their participation in sports. This law paved the way for coaches like Pat Summitt to be considered one of the greats and names like Lisa Leslie, Jennie Finch, Chris Evert to be household names. Dap to a law that has broken barriers and opened doors.

Head Slap

To the jerks that were throwing bottles and glasses at a New York City nightclub one of which hit Spurs G Tony Parker. Now you know Im no Spurs fan and have no love for Parker but I think it not very fresh that Parker was hit and had a shard of glass removed from his eye.The shard was reportedly 99 percent pentreated.  The injury could likely keep Parker from playing for the French National team in the Olympics. All over a fucking beef between two useless individuals Chris Brown and Drake that Parker was not involved in and was an innocent bystander.

Thats the view from the Hoodwood, until next post fellow sports fans!

Actor Charlie Sheen will be attending WWE’s 1,000th RAW Celebration on July 23rd and will serve as the “Celebrity Social Media Ambassador” for the three hour broadcast.

During RAW, Sheen will give his unique perspective in 140 characters or less about the action.

WWE.com wrote about Sheen’s role:

“During the three-hour milestone event July 23 at 8/7 CT on USA Network, the “winning” actor will entertain his 7.5 million Twitter followers and the WWE Universe all night long with his unique 140-character analysis of the action

 
I'm guessing that this isn't the type of "Horse Play" Jerry Sandusky was into...Well, I'm sure he'll be able to find some new friends to play with in the showers now...Yes, thankfully there is still some Justice in this country, as Friday night word came down, JERRY_SANDUSKY_IS_GUILTY...I think I said all I have to for now about that bastard, and hopefully more heads will roll...Wouldn't it be great to see Justice rear it's head a few more times!?!

-Now, If you read my first post on Friday, you saw that Cleveland didn't burn after LeBron and company won the NBA Title...But some people still had trouble with it, like this local Weather guy, Mark Johnson...




Poor bastard...Let's just stop caring so much...It's Basketball, and Basketball sucks!

-As for Baseball, it doesn't suck...But there is some news in Baseball that I think sucks...After 9 years and 2 World Series wins, the Boston Red Sox traded Kevin Youkilis to the Chicago White Sox...Now, some Red Sox fans may be happy their team is making a commitment to the kid Middlebrooks...Some may be upset, because Youk was such a big deal to that team over the last 9 years...Personally I think it will be good for both him, and the team...It was time...

The sad thing is that over the next week the Boston media will be getting shit leaked to them from "Un-named sources" and the classic 'trash the guy we just traded' campaign will begin...I hate when teams do that, and the Red Sox are great at it...

Then there is the fact that Youk would have been perfect for the Indians...He'd be great at first base for the Tribe instead of that slug Casey Kotchman...So when I saw the White Sox, a AL Central rival got him, I was pissed...Then I saw they only gave up a utility player, Brett Lillibridge, and a 25 year old right-handed reliever, Zach Stewart....Wow, now I'm really pissed...I'm sure the Indians could have offered better than that...But I'm not surprised...The Indians are often gun-shy, and cheap when it comes to wheeling and dealing...

-Honestly, when I stared to try and post this, I had nothing...Just a blank...After the Sandusky verdict came down, I pretty much checked out on keeping up with things for the weekend...So what did I do? Well shit, I'm a father of three, so it was all kids time this weekend...I'm not an asshole who is going to blast a child rapist, and turn around ignore my kids...

Saturday I took the kids to a park...We were there for a couple hours...The older two running around and climbing, and Molly rocking the swings and slides...Then we grabbed some McDonalds, and ate at another park...After eating, the kids got back to playing...


There's the boy doing his thing...

And Molly just loves her swings...


While she was swinging, I kept watching this pick-up Basketball game that was going on...They were playing 5 on 5...They weren't that great, but there were a few guys who thought they were...But one hack stood out above the rest...He was about 6-3, white, tats on one arm, black shirt, and red shorts...This fucker never passed...All he did was shoot...Shoot, and miss...He acted like he was the shit...Thought he was the best guy out there...And all he did was shoot and miss...He missed every shot...But these other ass-hats kept giving him the ball...It makes me wonder how bad they were...

So finally the kids and I are leaving...I slowly roll by the court...Stop...Roll down the window...And wait for him to miss again...I didn't wait long...Ass soon as he threw up his brick, I yelled, "Stop giving it to the guy in red shorts, all he does is miss." They all stopped and looked, and I finished my drive-by insult by yelling, "FUCKING HACK!"

The kids cracked up as I took off, my oldest spitting out water through her nose...I'm so happy my kids get my sense of humor...I can tell Little Beeze is just dying to call some one a fucking hack!

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

Later, The Beeze.