Super Terrible Predictions

We are finally here. Best defense against the best offense. Peyton Manning improbably comeback to cement his legacy as best QB of all time. A chance to see the TV cameras zoom in every time Richard Sherman farts.  My gut tells me Seattle's defense is too good to lose, but I think offense wins in the 21st century.

I think two weeks is too much time for Peyton Manning to prepare. After losing the last time he got here against Who Dat, I cannot see him losing again. Seattle's defense will stifle and seemingly frustrate Peyton, but I do not think it can hold up for 60 minutes.

Denver's defense gets no love.  If their defense can stifle Marshawn Lynch, Russell Wilson is an average quarterback. Expect Wilson to take a few deep shots against Denver's vulnerable secondary.  Wilson is at his best when plays breakdown. Just ask San Francisco.




Till that point in the game Seattle could not move the ball on San Francisco's defense. It was the shot in the ass Seattle needed.

I expect the first half to be low scoring with both defenses pumped up. I expect the second half to be a back and forth with the Broncos coming out on top. Broncos 27 Seahawks 24.

P.S. A large reason I want Denver to win is because Seattle fans are intolerable. I have watched games with Seattle fans and Denver fans in the past month. The Seahawks fans reacted as if they were going to miss the playoffs when they lost to the Cardinals in week 16. They accused me of being a curse. The Bronco fans were cordial and very happy in their win against the Patriots. Enough for one of them to get butt ass naked for hours in celebration. He was not worried about the 6 girls in the room and the breezy temperature. His Broncos were going to the Super Bowl. I can respect that. The only reason I would get naked for my team (Patriots) is if the QB loaned out his wife. Unfortunately,  Tom is not the best with sharing.

Media Day Nauseam

Super Bowl players are required to spend 3 hours in front of the media. For all the media days in my lifetime, I cannot remember a single response until this year. Seattle's running back Marshawn Lynch has been fined $50,000 for not speaking to the media during the season. Marshawn stood sheepishly in the corner without a podium. He spoke for 6 1/2 minutes before leaving the area. He was informed he had to be "present" for an hour and quickly reappeared. NFL analyst Deion Sanders cornered Marshawn as if he was the shy, cute girl in the schoolyard. Marshawn gave a brief interview with the most memorable response I can remember. "I'm about that action, boss."

Tip of the cap to Marshawn Lynch. A throwback in the 21st century whose only desire is to produce on the field. No need to follow Lynch on twitter just watch him on Sunday. Maybe he will give you a taste of the rainbow.

Milwaukee Middling in Mediocrity

The Milwaukee Brewers have waited all offseason to disappoint their fan base. They have watched the Yankees spend over 400 million dollars, the Mariners sign Cano,  and the Rangers sign Choo. They lost their franchise player, Ryan Braun the majority of last season for lying about taking PEDs.

To make their fans forget about how they finished 4th in their division, they signed 30 year old Matt Garza to a 4yr/52mill deal. Oh sweet, Matt Garza. A guy with a 67-67 career record with 3.84 ERA. He has 30 wins in the past 3 seasons. 

It is easy to criticize the Brewers for trying to put fans in the seats for next season, but deep down what do you want them to do. The Brewers fall into the middle MLB franchises who attempt to spend money to keep fans interested. At least the Royals and the As attempt to build their team from the ground up. They do not attempt to "band-aid sign" known players. Garza is not worth that much money, but Milwaukee knows they cannot draw a Cano or a Choo even if they had the money.

The Brewers might win 87 games, but they will not be a playoff team. The options are limited in Milwaukee, but at least the beer options are not.

Grow Up Bill

In case you missed it on Sunday, here is the play the Patriots Coach Bill Belichick is complaining about. The play is for Demaryius Thomas to run a slant with a "pick" set by crossing wide receiver Wes Welker. These plays happen in every NFL game. Belichick is but hurt because it took out New England's best cornerback and changed the complexion of the game. The game was  3-0 at the time. I get Belichick's reaction but to say...

“It is a deliberate play by the receiver to take out Aqib,” Belichick said.  “No attempt to get open.  And I’ll let the league handle the discipline on that play. It’s not for me to decide, but it’s one of the worst plays I’ve seen.  And that’s all I’m going to say about that.”

This reaction stems from more than a single play. It began this past offseason when Welker turned down a 2yr/10mil from the Patriots to sign with the Broncos for 2yr/12mil. Belichick thought he could duplicate Welker's production. He nearly did with Edelman, but he stilled missed Welker's first explosive step.

It is asinine to think the Broncos would send a receiver with two concussions in the past 3 months, to intentionally hurt another player.  Grow up Bill, you lost to a better team.

Google quit playing Cyborg

Last week, Google Glasses made headlines because a woman in California got out of a speeding ticket because a police officer pulled her over without a radar gun reading and was suspicious of the Google Glasses she was wearing. She won because the police officer did not follow protocol.  The police officer stated he was going 80mph in the right lane when he was passed by the woman going 85mph looking like a cyborg. Technical legality, I will give you.

This week a man in Columbus, Ohio was pulled out of a movie for wearing the Glasses because of the thought of them being able to record and pirate the the movie. After questioning and reviewing the device, it was clear he was not recording.

My question is why are you driving with them on and why are you wearing them in a movie? There is no need for that. (A) You look like a Grade-A asshole (B) You are not auditioning for the next Star Trek movie.

Google has release 10,000 of these throughout the U.S. to test. It is suppose to be released to the public sometime later this year. Without the general public not knowing what these do, how do you expect the general populous to react? Walking into a movie, your only distraction should be your popcorn and your cup of cola.

I hope this product fails miserably. I saw someone with these on while out to eat on a Wednesday night.  I did not know the person, but I was quick to judge them as someone I did not want to talk to. We are fearful of the unknown and douchebaggery. Clean it up Google.

There are the Yankees of Old

The Yankees have retreated to their roots with an over the top offseason signing. Early Wednesday morning, the Yankees signed Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka  for 7years/155 million dollars. The Yankees will pay an additional 20 million to the Rakuten Golden Eagles, Tanaka's previous team to buy out his remaining contract.

What does this mean for the Yankees? They get a pitcher who at 25, is coming off a season in which he went 24-0 with 1.27 ERA in the Japanese League. Everything points to signs that he may be just as good as the Rangers Yu Darvish. Tanaka has the option to opt out of the deal after the 4th year.

Is he really worth 22mil/year? Time will tell. He got a huge contract because the Yankees needed a stud pitcher and needed one three years ago. Darvish only signed a 6yr/56mil deal in 2012 (Although the Rangers paid 50 million to buy out his previous contract) and that seems to be a below market deal thus far. Tanaka's price went up because of Darvish' success and the Yankees' needs.

Tanaka's numbers compared to Darvish's numbers in Japan are strikingly similar. From the same age of 18-24, they both posted sub 2.40 ERA, recorded 90 plus wins, and at a winning percentage north of 70%.

Japanese Leagues Pitching

 TANAKA'S STATISTICS

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2007	18	Rakuten	JPPL	Fgn		11	7	.611	3.82	28	28		4	1	0	186.1	183	83	79	17	68	2	196	7	1	10	800	1.347	8.8	0.8	3.3	9.5	2.88
2008	19	Rakuten	JPPL	Fgn		9	7	.563	3.49	25	24		5	2	1	172.2	171	71	67	9	54	3	159	2	0	6	726	1.303	8.9	0.5	2.8	8.3	2.94
2009	20	Rakuten	JPPL	Fgn		15	6	.714	2.33	25	24		6	3	1	189.2	170	51	49	13	43	0	171	7	0	3	771	1.123	8.1	0.6	2.0	8.1	3.98
2010	21	Rakuten	JPPL	Fgn		11	6	.647	2.50	20	20	0	8	1	0	155.0	159	47	43	9	32	1	119	5	0	1	643	1.232	9.2	0.5	1.9	6.9	3.72
2011	22	Rakuten	JPPL	Fgn		19	5	.792	1.27	27	27	0	14	6	0	226.1	171	35	32	8	27	0	241	5	0	7	866	0.875	6.8	0.3	1.1	9.6	8.93
2012	23	Rakuten	JPPL	Fgn		10	4	.714	1.87	22	22	0	8	3	0	173.0	160	45	36	4	19	0	169	2	0	4	696	1.035	8.3	0.2	1.0	8.8	8.89
2013	24	Rakuten	JPPL	Fgn		24	0	1.000	1.27	28	27	1	8	2	1	212.0	168	35	30	6	32	0	183	3	0	9	822	0.943	7.1	0.3	1.4	7.8	5.72
7 Seasons						99	35	.739	2.30	175	172	1	53	18	3	1315.0	1182	367	336	66	275	6	1238	31	1	40	5324	1.108	8.1	0.5	1.9	8.5	4.50

Japanese Leagues Pitching

 DARVISH'S STATISTICS

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	Lev	Aff	W	L	W-L%	ERA	G	GS	GF	CG	SHO	SV	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	BK	WP	BF	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2005	18	Nippon Ham	JPPL	Fgn		5	5	.500	3.53	14	14	0	2	1	0	94.1	97	37	37	7	48	1	52	3	0	2	410	1.537	9.3	0.7	4.6	5.0	1.08
2006	19	Nippon Ham	JPPL	Fgn		12	5	.706	2.89	25	24	0	3	2	0	149.2	128	55	48	12	64	0	115	6	1	5	627	1.283	7.7	0.7	3.8	6.9	1.80
2007	20	Nippon Ham	JPPL	Fgn		15	5	.750	1.82	26	26		12	3	0	207.2	123	48	42	9	49	1	210	13	0	4	790	0.828	5.3	0.4	2.1	9.1	4.29
2008	21	Nippon Ham	JPPL	Fgn		16	4	.800	1.88	25	24		10	2	0	200.2	136	44	42	11	44	0	208	9	1	4	764	0.897	6.1	0.5	2.0	9.3	4.73
2009	22	Nippon Ham	JPPL	Fgn		15	5	.750	1.73	23	23		8	2	0	182.0	118	36	35	9	45	0	167	6	0	5	701	0.896	5.8	0.4	2.2	8.3	3.71
2010	23	Nippon Ham	JPPL	Fgn		12	8	.600	1.78	26	25	0	10	2	0	202.0	158	48	40	5	47	0	222	7	0	6	805	1.015	7.0	0.2	2.1	9.9	4.72
2011	24	Nippon Ham	JPPL	Fgn		18	6	.750	1.44	28	28	0	10	6	0	232.0	156	42	37	5	36	0	276	6	1	10	885	0.828	6.1	0.2	1.4	10.7	7.67
7 Seasons						93	38	.710	1.99	167	164	0	55	18	0	1268.1	916	310	281	58	333	2	1250	50	3	36	4982	0.985	6.5	0.4	2.4	8.9	3.75

The Yankees hope that resident Japanese veteran pitcher, Hiroki Kuroda will help ease Tanaka into the MLB. Tanaka will not have much of a grace period to figure out the transition. The Yankees need him to be a great #2 pitcher. Yankee fans are not known for their patience and with a 22 million dollar salary, I cannot blame them.

Here is the Yankees projected lineup/statistics as of Mid-January. I do not see too many changes or surprises out of the farm system.

Lineup	Player	POS	Team	AB	R	HR	RBI	SB	AVG	OBP	SLG	OPS	FVal
1	Jacoby Ellsbury	OF	NYY	567	84	13	59	38	0.282	0.338	0.427	0.765	$22
2	Derek Jeter	SS	NYY	378	54	6	38	6	0.286	0.345	0.381	0.726	$-6
3	Carlos Beltran	OF	NYY	472	70	20	76	4	0.280	0.342	0.470	0.813	$12
4	Mark Teixeira	1B	NYY	439	66	24	73	3	0.244	0.339	0.462	0.801	$6
5	Brian McCann	Catcher	NYY	485	62	23	76	2	0.258	0.338	0.441	0.779	$12
6	Alfonso Soriano	DH	NYY	443	56	22	69	9	0.246	0.298	0.454	0.752	$2
7	Kelly Johnson	3B	NYY	370	47	13	46	8	0.230	0.308	0.386	0.695	$-10
8	Brian Roberts	2B	NYY	249	30	6	28	4	0.253	0.319	0.382	0.700	$-23
9	Brett Gardner	OF	NYY	517	71	8	56	27	0.265	0.345	0.391	0.736	$6

Possible Starters

Starter	Player	POS	Team	IP	W	L	ERA	WHIP	K	BB	FVal
1	CC Sabathia	SP	NYY	196	12	9	3.81	1.28	168	56	$7
2	Masahiro Tanaka	SP	NYY	200	13	10	3.56	1.16	157	40	$14
3	Hiroki Kuroda	SP	NYY	186	12	9	3.77	1.22	139	44	$7
4	Ivan Nova	SP	NYY	192	11	10	3.94	1.34	154	63	$2
5	David Phelps	SP	NYY	146	8	8	4.25	1.38	129	58	$-3
6	Michael Pineda	SP	NYY	87	6	4	4.14	1.29	77	31	$-3
7	Adam Warren	SP	NYY	107	6	6	4.46	1.50	79	43	$-9

Closers/Setup

Player	POS	Team	IP	W	L	Saves	ERA	WHIP	K	BB	FVal
David Robertson	RP	NYY	62	4	3	28	2.76	1.15	73	21	$9
Shawn Kelley	RP	NYY	62	3	3	3	3.63	1.31	70	25	$-3
Matt Thornton	RP	NYY	60	3	3	1	3.45	1.33	53	19	$-4

The starting lineup looks balanced with medium power and two speedsters at each end. Brian McCann, 29 is the only starter under 30.  To be fair, McCann's knees resemble more of a retired NFL linebacker than a 17mil/year catcher. The lineup is tied together loosely with show strings. Utility Bench Player, Brendan Ryan will give them a great defensive boost when Jeter needs to sit.

The Yankees have a better team than last year, but their division only got better. Tampa Bay's young  pitching staff will have another year under their belt and expect them to deal former Cy Young pitcher David Price if the right offer comes across their desk. The defending champion Red Sox still come back with most of their key parts and will get a full season for emerging phenom, Xander Bogaerts. Jackie Bradley Jr. will have his chance to be an everyday center fielder. The Yankees did all they could do this offseason. Will it be enough? We will have to wait and see because I would be lying if I told you last spring I saw the Red Sox winning the championship. Oh, his best pitch you ask? Splitter that falls off faster than Justin Bieber's pants.