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photo courtesy of azcardinals.comFinally the first day of the draft and went. After all the waiting and anticipation the Arizona Cardinals drafted Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie with the 16th pick and Calais Campbell with the 50th.
I know a lot of Cardinal fans were hoping Arizona would pick Rashard Mendenhall when he fell to them. I wouldn’t have been upset at all if they decided to go with the stud running back, but I really like Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie. I’ve been saying the Cardinals will pick DRC for the last 4 months and I’ve felt he’s a freak talent that you can’t pass up. This improves the Cardinals secondary dramatically right away. I’m very pleased with this pick as you can tell, I know some of you might not be too happy because Mendenhall was there, but I really feel Cromartie is going to be the real deal.
Arizona’s second round pick was DE Calais Campbell from Miami. I love this pick. The speculation was Arizona would take a running back at this spot, but DE was a need and Calais Campbell was the best player available. Most scouts and analyst including myself thought Campbell would be drafted in the first round. So I definitely see this pick as a steal. Campbell is a massive 6 foot 8 and 295 pounds, most of which is muscle. He has good quickness and leverage for a guy his size, so nobody should worry too much about that.
Things went better than I thought they’d go. I’m very encouraged and excited to see what happens tomorrow for Day two. Here’s a couple guys you should pay attention to for tomorrow…
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(Donald Miralle/Getty Images)
The Diamondbacks lost a heartbreaker to the Padres today 8-7, when Tad Iguchi homered off Yusmeiro Petit in the bottom of the 13th at PETCO Park in San Diego.
The Diamondbacks’ big stick was wielded by starting pitcher Micah Owings, who went 2-3 with his first RBI of the season and 2 runs scored. He’s now batting .389. But he twisted an ankle on the base paths in the top of the 6th and had to leave the game. Considering he’d given up 5 earned runs through 5 (4 in the second inning), that might not have been so bad. But I remember last year, Micah hurt himself running out a triple. Does he need baserunning lessons or something? I love his hitting–he’s now at .389– but I don’t want to see him get hurt running the bases.
The blown save belonged to Brandon Medders, who pitched the next two innings and gave up two runs. It was empty the bullpen time for both teams as the D’Backs also used Qualls, Slaten and Petit (and had Pena warmed up in the late innings in case there was a save situation), while the Padres started with Germano and followed up with Thatcher and Meredith, each of whom blew a save, the Bell, Hoffman and Rusch.
It’s Webb vs. Peavy tomorrow and both Bob Melvin and Bud Black are hoping their aces will pitch as such and spare their bullpens.
Micah Owings wasn’t the only D’Backs casualty of the day. Justin Upton suffered leg cramps and had to leave in the 7th. He was replaced by Jeff Salazar, who got a single in his two AB’s.
Eric Byrnes was back in the lineup after two days’ rest and he had a good day. He went 2-5, including his 10th double of the year, a BB, and a HBP (in his left leg just above the kneecap–OWWW! as if he doesn’t have enough leg problems these days). He scored two runs and ended the day batting .293. It would have been 3-5 but for a very good play by Padres left fielder Paul McAnulty to rob him of extra bases in the 9th. Orlando Hudson singled immediately afterward, so McAnulty’s catch was a game-saver for the Padres.
The Diamondbacks’ radio announcers observed Byrnesie eating a banana late in the game and remarked about his getting potassium that way and how the team could not afford any more cramps, having lost Justin Upton to then earlier in the day. Perhaps this gives a hint as to the “complicated” leg injuries Byrnesie will not name, but that seem to be more than your run-of-the-mill pull or strain.
Byrnesblogger1
(Rate this post) Loading ...So many things happening, so little time to write about them… sighhh.
Okay let us just bounce randomly through some of the ’stuff’.
World Cup -
Z, Vrbie and Hanzal will be playing for the Czechs. Kapi for the Finns. Looks like Telly has accepted the net job for Sweden. Bally and Mules will be donning the red,white and blue for the US and Jovo and Doan for Canada (KT will also be at the Canadian’s camp, no word on if he actually makes the squad yet). Speaking of Captain Clutch…
Captain Coyote -
Shane Doan. All around good guy and a leader where ever he goes, has been chosen … again to play for Canada in the World Cup (no surprise there eh?) Our intrepid Captain helped helm the last Canadian team to an undefeated gold medal so why wouldn’t they want him back.
Shane has been busy garnering other accolades from the hockey world, he’s also a finalist for the Masterson trophy. (The Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy is an annual award under the trusteeship of the Professional Hockey Writers’ Association and is given to the National Hockey League player who best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship, and dedication to hockey.) I don’t have to tell you folks about the qualities that make Shane such a good candidate for this award, we see it everyday. Interesting enough, the other candidates include Chris Chelios and JR.
Chellie I can understand, the guy personifies perseverance (hell, he’s 46 and has 1,616 games under his belt!) in a sport that counts hits as a stat, the body takes a LOT of wear and tear and to still be playing (and playing well) at 46 is a testimony to Chelios’ drive, determination and dedication.
JR on the other hand… well, you all know I have no love for the man. Irritating, arrogant and all around pain in my nether regions (tell us how you really feel Onyx). Yeah he was on the edge of extintion (by his own hand… or would that be his mouth?) and yeah he is doin well with SJ. But he’s fighting a battle that he brought on himself. Some of his past comments and actions do NOT display much less exemplify what the Masterson trophy is all about.
Doan: http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=358894&page=NewsPage&service=page
JR: http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=359186&page=NewsPage&service=page
Chellie: http://www.nhl.com/nhl/app?articleid=359682&page=NewsPage&service=page
Rampage Ruminations -
The boys are barely holding their own. They are 2 - 3 in their series against the Toronto Marlies. They’ve got more firepower than ever before but seem to have a wee bit of a consistency issue.
Game 1 was a squeaker as the Marlies edged our boys out 4 -3. In game 2, our Rampage got the franchise’s first ever playoff win with a 6 - 3 decisive victory, mainly powered by the duo of Porter and Kolarick. Game 3, Phoenix’s very own David Spina led the way in a 3 -2 victory to put the Rampage ahead in the series. The Marlies refused to die graciously and fought back in game 4 with a reversal and held onto a 3-2 win to tie up the series. Game 5 seemed to be a first goalie to blink loses kinda game. The Marlies scuttled away with a 2 -1 win.
Tordjy and Monty have been sharing the net. Neither one has stepped up and ”owned’ the series yet. Both are playing well though.
So our boys return to Toronto (its win or die time) to try to force a game seven in this series.
Game recaps and some nice video - http://sarampage.com/news/team/index.html?datearchive=2008-04-1
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(AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin) Tony Parker scored a career-high 41 points and added 12 assists leading the Spurs past the Suns 115-99 and a 3-0 lead in the first round playoffs series.
But it’s much more then that. The Spurs completely dominated the Suns, never trailed in the game and were by far the best basketball team on the court. It was not even close. Phoenix trailed 33-19 after one and 61-47 at the half.
Suns are now on the verge of being swept and a first round playoffs exit.
No team in the history of the NBA has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit. Unless the Suns pull a dramatic Red Sox-like come back, their season could be over very, very soon.
“We didn’t play well, and I’ll take the blame for that, but you’ve got to give them a lot of credit. They played great.” Said D’Antoni after the game, possibly the best game of the year according to Coach Popovich.
Manu Ginobili scored 20 off the bench and Tim Duncan added 23 points and 10 rebounds for a Spurs team that shot 56.1 percent from the field.
Spurs are shooting 49 percent from the field in the playoffs (SA shot 45 percent during the regular season). The Suns are doing the opposite, 48 percent in the playoffs 50 percent during the year.
The Suns couldn’t keep the Spurs pick-and-roll in check all night long as the play led to easy open shots for Manu and Parker or easier shots for Duncan and Thomas.
Suns have on average attempted more then 21 three-point shots a game during the season. They had only 9 per game in the Playoffs, including 6 in game 3.
It’s not about making shots, it’s the fact the Suns are unable to even take those shots.
Steve Nash (7 points, 9 assists, only 3 baskets in the game) the second-best 3-point shooter in the League did not attempt a single 3-pointer in the game.
Stoudemire led the Suns with 28 useless points and 11 boards while Shaq, once again victim of the Hack-a-Shaq tactic, had 19 points and 6 rebound while shooting 9-for-17 from the free-throw line.
Barbosa scored 20 points starting in place of injured Grant Hill, who played almost 20 minutes off the bench.
One simple Google search will confirm there a couple of Fire Mike D’Antoni web sites waiting for an update.
Phoenix now has its first 3-game losing streak of the year, and it couldn’t have come at a worse time.
Game 4 is set for Sunday (12:30) in Phoenix.
It’s the first of four match points for the Spurs and the Suns are only one inevitable loss away from a long, long summer.
Yours truly, (clueless) Steve Fan
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(AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)
That’s a dumb title, I know. Since when is a win ever bad?
Edgar Gonzalez got his first win of the season Thursday night against the Dodgers 6-4. Juan Cruz wanted a chance to make up for giving up runs the night before. He got the chance and made the best of it. EdGon was helped offensively by a two-run homer by Jeff Salazar, who filled in for Eric Byrnes. How many times has it been now that when Bob Melvin shakes up the line up for one reason or another, that the sub delivers? That’s why they call him “The Mad Scientist.”
Randy Johnson got his first win of the season tonight as the D’Backs beat the Padres 5-1. He was treated to a 5-run third inning, capped by a three-run homer by Mark Reynolds. Earl Weaver would have been proud.
All of our starters now have at least 1 W.
Byrnesie sat again, but BoMel is planning on restoring him to the lineup tomorrow.
Here is the latest on his condition by Steve Gilbert.
It’s Owings (5-0) vs. Germano (0-2) tomorrow.
Byrnesblogger1
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(Rate this post) Loading ...In a new deal for AZSH, we have teamed up with BrightSideoftheSun.com to give you live blogs of each and every Suns game.
You can participate here or on BSOTS. Either way, enjoy the game and go Suns!
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photo courtesy of azcardinals.comSo here is my final mock draft. Even though it’s just too hard to tell whats going to happen, I should still do much better than Mark. I’ve said for months that I think the Cardinals will take Dominque Rodgers-Cromartie but I’m starting to think it actually could be Jonathan Stewart. So now I’m all screwed up, but since I’ve guessed DRC for months, I might as well stick with him. But Arizona taking Stewart would not surprise me. I’ll have all my answers in less than 24 hours so I’m not going to stress too much on this. But I take pride in being very accurate with my mock drafts every year. So will see how close I get.
Note: Hours before the draft, Mark has changed his mock draft. Not fair, so I’m going to say that Matt Ryan gets picked by the Falcons and Glenn Dorsey by the Chiefs. I guess that would mean the Jets would get Vernon Gholston.
1) Miami Dolphins- Jake Long, OT-Michigan
2) St. Louis Rams- Chris Long, DE-Virginia
3) Atlanta Falcons- Glenn Dorsey, DT-LSU
4) Oakland Raiders- Darren McFadden, RB-Arkansas
5) Kansas City Chiefs- Vernon Gholston, DE-Ohio State (possible trade spot)
6) New York Jets- Matt Ryan, QB-Boston College
7) New England Patriots- Keith Rivers, LB- USC (Look for trade with Saints to get Ellis)
8. Baltimore Ravens- Ryan Clady, OT-Boise State
9) Cincinnati Bengals- Sedrick Ellis, DT-USC
10) New Orleans Saints-Leodis McKelvin, CB-Troy
11) Buffalo Bills-Devin Thomas, WR- Michigan State
12) Denver Broncos- Chris Williams, OT-Vanderbilt
13) Carolina Panthers- Derrick Harvey, DE-Florida
14) Chicago Bears- Branden Albert, G-Virginia
15) Detroit Lions- Rashard Mendenhall, RB-Illinois
16) Arizona Cardinals- Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB-Tenn St.
17) Kansas City Chiefs–Jeff Otah, T-Pittsburgh
18) Houston Texans- Jonathan Stewart, RB-Oregon
19) Philadelphia Eagles- Mike Jenkins, CB-South- Florida
20) Tampa Bay Buccaneers- Aqib Talib, CB-Kansas
21) Washington Redskins-Limas Sweed, WR-Texas
22) Dallas Cowboys- Felix Jones, RB-Arkansas
23) Pittsburgh Steelers- Phillip Merling, DE-Clemson
24) Tennessee Titans- Kentwan Balmer, DT-North Carolina
25) Seattle Seahawks- Dustin Keller, TE- Purdue
26) Jacksonville Jaguars- Calais Campbell, DE-Miami
27) San Diego Chargers- Gosder Cherilus, OT- Boston College
28) Dallas Cowboys- Malcolm Kelly, WR- Oklahoma
29) San Francisco 49ers (from Indy)- James Hardy, WR- Indiana
30) Green Bay Packers- Brandon Flowers, CB- Virginia Tech
31) New England Patriots-Forfeited
32) New York Giants- Tyrell Johnson, S- Arkansas St.
Arizona’s second round I’m going to guess Jamaal Charles from Texas.
Third Round I’m hoping Mark’s second round pick actually slips to the third and they take Cliff Avril, DE from Purdue.
Fourth Round I’ll have them taking Tony Hills, OT from Texas.
Fifth Round- Lavelle Hawkins, WR from University of California
Sixth Round- Joe Jon Finley, TE, Oklahoma
Seventh Round- Tommy Blake- DE, TCU
Alright, those are my picks and all the speculation is gone. I’ll give some of my insight tomorrow after day one of the draft.
(Rate this post) Loading ...Ever want to beat up Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili or Tony Parker?
Well we here at AZSH have now given all of Planet Orange the chance to take down these cheaters. Hey..we gotta be able to enjoy this matchup somehow…
Tim Duncan
Manu Ginobili
Tony Parker
Don’t ask us how we have so much time on our hands…we just do…
(2 votes, avg: 3.5 out of 5) Loading ...I’m a James Brown fan. Not the NFL studio host for CBS, of course. I’m talking about the Godfather of Soul, the man, the myth, the legend. Even at his worst, he’s still the best.
I often wish after a long, hard day at work I’d come home and my wife would put a sequined coat on my shoulders. Wouldn’t that be cool? Work your tail off and right when exhaustion sets in you’re adorned with a coat that would make Kramer in his Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat blush.
In getting funky on the way to work today and listening to The Payback and my favorite line, “I don’t know karate, but I know ca-razy,” it hit me that maybe Coach D’Antoni is channeling the Hardest Working Man in Show Business. How else to explain his stubborn refusal to acknowledge the Spurs as the better team? Or his insistence yesterday that the Suns are “going to bust ‘em” in Game 3 here in Phoenix?
I’m all for confidence but in this case it seems a bit misguided. Sure, the Suns have played mostly well in two games but they’re being left for mostly dead in the series. Does Coach D know something we don’t?
Maybe he’ll actually go to Black Jesus or Nash if it comes down to the last shot. Or not give the ball to Boris a dozen times in a row to exploit a mismatch in the crunch time. Or better yet, trap the pick and roll or go underneath to show a different look. He could also pull out all the stops and sick DJ Strawberry after Manu to give Raja a break from getting torched.
Is he that ca-razy? We’ll have to wait and see. He’ll need to be if the Suns want to get the ultimate Payback and rally from a 2-0 deficit over the team that has been tormenting them for what seems like forever.
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Yogi-D posted this reply about a video we posted calling the Spurs Cheaters. After reading it we felt it was worth a reply.
Good God you guys are so bitter. You act like the Suns never complian to a ref, never flop, and never commit a foul. Your just the most asinine, banal, and foolish lot of fans in the history of sport. You guy wine and snivel so much that you have to make commercials insulting our team. With everything that has happened in the PHX vs SA rivalry, we let it go once the game ends. Sure we fly our teams colors on our cars, houses, and places of work. Sure we talk about every upcoming game and opponent, and get worked up, but when the game ends it’s over. You guys are still crying about last year. The wort part is this, guess what, The Spurs don’t officiate the game. When you guys come to grips with that you will stop blaming other teams for cheating. You also need to stop blaming other teams for your teams short-comings. It’s pretty weak that you always have an excuse for why you lost other than “we lost”. It’s always, the refs made bad calls, or they were flopping, or they wer lucky, or we had a bad quarter, or we had it one, but their dirty. Just face it, you were beat. If the Suns manage to pull this series out and win against the Spurs, I will applaud them, because being down 2-0 they will have beat the odds. Being a fan of the sport (not just the Spurs) I would be impressed if they could pull of the comeback. I Think my team will hand you guys your A$$es as this series continues, but if I’m wrong, congratulations in advance.
BTW…stop being such poor sports, it makes you guys look petty. Your fan reputation is known internationally (I know this from time being stationed over-seas).
First off, calm down Booboo, Yogi or whatever your name is. It was a funny video and just because Suns fans have some creativity don’t get jealous. At least we don’t drop cars on the mascots of our opponents (real creative). We are however going to give you some points for using the word banal. Glad to see that your local Borders in San Antonio carries thesauruses.
You do make good points however. The Suns are guilty of whining and so are the fans but I think it was a learned behavior from playing the Spurs 20 + times in the last 4 seasons. If you don’t think Tim Duncan, Womanu Flopnobli and Eva Parker don’t whine you don’t watch your team all that closely.
It is time for the Suns to put up or shut up in this series and 2-0 is a big hole but like Michael Jordan said a playoff series hasn’t started till the home team loses. As Suns fans we have game 5 circled for that. Feel free to defend your team and we commend you for coming to an opposing teams site to voice your opinion but we hope to see you back here if and when the Spurs lose to Shaq and the Suns.
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(AP Photo/Matt York)
Readers, if you want to back up what I say here, or otherwise just wish Byrnesie well, add a comment and I will send this letter on to him.
Hey, Byrnesie!
When I didn’t see your name in the line up last night, I went to the Diamondbacks website to find out why, and I found Steve Gilbert’s article.
Now the every-other-day playing schedule in spring training makes sense, and now I know that what I saw during the last game in San Francisco was not just dehydration. And why you didn’t come out to practice that third day.
The article said, “According to Byrnes, he’s been told the only way to fully get his legs 100 percent he would need to sit out for a couple of weeks and he has no plans to do that.
“It’s not a big deal,” he said. “I could play. It’s important for me to be on the field. It’s nothing serious enough to pull myself out. It definitely means a little more time working with [head athletic trainer] Ken [Crenshaw], but I’m going to do everything in my power to be ready to play every day.”
If, in fact, you can be 100% by taking two weeks off now, you should do it. It is early in the season and the Diamondbacks have gotten off to a good start. It is better to take the time now to get completely well than to hurt yourself more seriously and HAVE to pull yourself out, perhaps for longer than 2 weeks, during a more critical time in the season.
You may think it’s manly to play through pain, but discretion is the better part of valor. Hamstrings are delicate creatures, and to have them in good shape is essential to a base-stealing outfielder.
You are quoted in the article as saying, “I know I haven’t had my legs under me, It’s without a doubt affecting my speed, but I can still get to balls. If I can play at this level, it’s good enough.”
GOOD ENOUGH? When did that phrase enter your vocabulary? Where is the Eric Byrnes who told me last September that he could get better still?
If you sit out, some fools may say that you’ve gone soft now that you’ve signed your contract extension, but since when have you ever cared what fools have to say?
I know that you’ve never been on the DL, which is amazing the way you throw yourself around out there. And I think I know at least part of what’s on your mind here: Injuries have played an important part in your career. People started to notice who you were and what you could do when Jermaine Dye broke his leg in 2003. The Diamondbacks’ front office knew in June 2006 that they did not want to pick up Gonzo’s option for 2007 and they were planning to evaluate Scott Hairston as his replacement. If he had played well for a decent stretch rather than gotten seriously hurt in his first game, you might have been history rather than hero in 2007. Then in early August of ‘06 Jeff DaVanon split a tendon and you no longer had to split time with him.
But now the shoe is on the other foot. And part of you is afraid that with the younger players available, you might have a hard time getting back in when you are fully healed. Salazar can play. Romero would probably be brought up again if you went on the DL and he can play. You are looking at your teammate Chad Tracy and you are wondering what happens to him when he is ready to come back; both Jackson and Reynolds are doing well.
And you don’t want to end up facing that situation.
But that’s exactly the situation you may end up in if your legs get worse.
You have played so fearlessly for so long that no one can question your toughness, Byrnesie, or your love for the game, or your desire to help your team. But, as you told me last week, it’s a long season. So what helps the team in the long run? An Eric Byrnes who takes 2 weeks off now and gets back to 100% for the rest of the season, or an Eric Byrnes who is less than his best and is risking his ability to perform in September and October? An Eric Byrnes who costs his team a certain game or two because he can’t steal a base or get to a ball at a critical time will be no help to the team if the race tightens.
You know you are going to lose the time anyway. Bob Melvin has decided that he’s going to give you periodic days off. But a day off here and there will not get you better. Take the two weeks off now, get better, and maybe there will be less need for time off later in the year.
Last time you were on Live Video you talked about nutrition and challenged all of us to get into better shape. Nutrition is not the whole story. I challenge you to think longer term than tomorrow or two weeks from tomorrow, and get into shape by resting. Listen to your body before it really has to scream bloody murder.
ByrnesBlogger1
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(Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)Yet another riveting edition of “In the Zona” talking Arizona sports. This week Matt and Troy talk Suns basketball and hash out whether the Suns have what it takes to take own the mighty Spurs.
They talk a little Diamondbacks, Wildcats, and Cardinals to top off the rest of the line up. The likes of Albert Einstein even make an appearance…
3 and Out:
1) Can the Suns come back from this huge 0-2 deficit?
2) What has been the problem so far for the Suns in the first two game?
3) What do they need to do to win this series?
This or That?
Would you rather have This: Russ Pennell or That: Kevin Oneill
Would you rather have This: The Sixty Million Dollar Man or That: Steve Nash
Would you rather have This: Manu Ginobili or That: Tony Parker
Would you rather have This: Edgar Gonzalez or That: Max Scherzer
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