2011 NFL Mock Draft and a Walk off win. What could be better?

First off, if you are here to see the mock draft, please go to Sports Tears In Our Beers. This is a site that myself and Mr. Duke are running. He did a great job of predicting the draft and I think you will really enjoy it.

Danny boy, oh Danny boy! You were the hero last night my friend. Well, maybe it was the bullpen, but you will get the glory for your walk off base hit. It came in the bottom of the 10^th when you had 2 strikes on you. I know you are cocky, but man, did you have to do it with 2 strikes? Either way, it was great and the team really needed it. They got a win over the 2^nd team in my weekly power rankings, with one more to go today.

Just a heads up, I will be posting more on STOB now. So, if you like what you were reading here and if you like what Mr. Duke brings to the table, please start going to that site. There will be a ton of post, some combined, some solo and also weekly podcast. The podcast will be up on either Friday night or Saturday morning. So, please read and listen, you just might find out it’s a good time.

Jim Thome Crushes 590 almost 590 ft.

Well, the Twins did it again. They lost. I know I wasn't pressing the panic button earlier, but I think it might be time to start. The focus early and often was on pitching, but it has shifted to hitting for me. I mean, we have been in a number of one run games already this year and it kills me. I admit, I'm a huge Twins Homer, so I was pimping this team all winter. But, it's even getting hard for me to find the bright spots in this line-up. I was expecting us to just bash the ball all over the field and that just hasn't been the case. We have only hit 3 home runs, which yes, is our win total. Does that make you sick? I know it makes me want to puke. The will have to turn things around here pretty dang soon before the media goes on attack.


Last year, they could have been horrible, but still sold out every game due to the brand new Target Field. But this year, you can already hear the boo birds. There is just no reason that we should have lost 2 out of 3 to the A's. I believe I have them winning their division, but I also have/had the Twins winning it all. So, I guess all we can do is wait and see at this moment. But, if they don't start hitting, this is going to be one long summer. I'm still trying to keep the faith, because I think this team has everything we need to win it. So, lets just sit back, drink some beers and keep our fingers crossed.

Also, if you are like me and like to listen to people talk about sports, you should check out the podcast posted on STOB. The crew put up the first podcast and it's gold Jerry, gold!



The "Hot Chick of the Day"

Tsuyoshi Nishioka's Big Break

The Twins are hoping that Yoshi can somehow come across a mushroom and get his strength back up. Tsuyoshi Nishioka broke his leg attempting to turn a double play while Nick Swisher was trying to break it up. I know we all hate the Yankees, but this play was as clean as could be. The early predictions are that he will be out anywhere from 4-8 weeks. This is a big blow, but I guess its better it happened now and not later in the year.

The Twins will call up Luke Hughes to take Yoshi’s place. This might not be a bad thing. See, the offense now is stagnant and Luke Hughes led the team in homeruns (6) during spring training. The speed game is out the window, but I’ll take homeruns over speed at this time. I do feel bad for Yoshi because he had his family flying in to MN for Opening Day today, but hey, if he was homesick, he will at least have them here to visit.

I think this injury isn’t a bad thing for Yoshi. This will give him a little more time to just get more comfortable with being in the States. He can just relax, focus on his rehab and I’m sure his teammates will be there to comfort him through the whole thing. It was obvious he was nervous out there to start the year; maybe he will come back and be the player we thought we were getting. So, get better Yoshi and come back even better.

The Twins ended up losing the game 4-3. Yep, another 1 run game against the Yankees. I would give a recap of the game, but we have all seen this movie before. Bad pitching, no clutch hitting and just a fear of the big bad Yankees. The Twins are now sitting at 2-4 (one game called due to rain), I predicted a 5-2 start, but that didn’t happen obviously. We are now back at Target Field where we played really well last year. But, if you are looking for the long ball to make a come back, remember, the Twins didn’t hit very many out of the park. Still, I see a sweep in the cards. I don’t know why, I just do. It’s time to turn the switch on.

S.T.O.B is starting the Podcast Tonight.

That's right, we are launching the podcasting part of the blog. So, make sure to check out SPORTSTEARSINOURBEERS later tonight or tommorrow.



The "Hot Girl of The Day"

Twins Big Win! Oh, and 2011-2012 NCAA Early Pre-Season Rankings.

Well, it’s about time. The Twins pulled out a thrilling come from behind victory last night. They won 5-4 in 10 innings against the “Evil Empire” that is the Yankees. It didn’t come easy though. The Yankees again crushed some homeruns on the softball field they call “The New Yankee Stadium”. That place is a joke. Either that; or our pitching is a joke. Heck, maybe both are worth laughing at.

The Twins were down 4-0 going into the 8^th inning and facing Soriano. The same Soriano that made us look silly the night before. Not tonight my friends, we weren’t going to lye down for anyone. Well, except for C.C. Sabathia who threw 7 shutout innings, while retiring the final 17 batters he faced. But, Soriano couldn’t hold the lead. He walked 3 in the eighth, the last of which brought in Mauers first RBI of the year. That was it for Soriano; it was now Robertson’s turn. He came into face the ninja turtle himself, Delmon Young. It wasn’t DiGiorno, because Delmon delivered a bloop 3 run double down the right field line to tie the game and bring it into extras.

In the extra inning, Denard Span drew a lead-off walk and Tsuyoshi Nishioka lined a single to right that got Denard to 3^rd. Mauer than brought in the winning run with a single of his own. It was the winning run because Joe Nathan came in and did what we are so used to seeing him do, close a game.

This was a huge win for a lot of reasons. One, we are just flat out not good against the Yankees. It was nice to see our boys not give up. I know they play hard every game, but sometimes you can just tell they seem defeated. They came back and won a game they needed to have. They couldn’t afford to start the season 1-4 and still have 2 more games against the Bronx Bombers. Hopefully this win is a springboard for the rest of the season. I mean, if anyone has played mind games with us, it’s the Yankees. Now that we see we can beat them in this fashion, we should be able to beat anyone.

S.T.O.B’s (insanely super early with assumptions made about who will be on each team) 2011-2012 Top 10 –

Well, as a lot of you might know, Mr. Duke and I have started a blog together. There has been a great following so far, but I just figured I would put our last post from that blog, onto this one. I’m doing this in hopes that you will check out all 3 blogs. I mean, what else are you going to do during your lunch break? Check it out, hope you like what you see. Thanks.

Ben’s Picks –

So my prediction was wrong.  UConn is the champ, in one of the uglier games you will ever see.  I don’t think it was ugly because either team was bad, just because both teams were obviously a bit nervous and bad shooting can be contagious…very, very contagious.  So instantly, since I am neither a fan of UConn nor Butler, I wonder…who are the contenders to win it all next year?

1. North Carolina –

It seems 50/50 that Barnes will come back.  If I had to guess I’d say he does come back along with Zeller and Henson.  Add a great recruiting class and UNC will start the year at #1.

2. Ohio State –

Jared Sullinger, Aaron Craft, William Buford and Deshaun Thomas will be coming back it looks like.  Add to that a top 5 recruiting class to make up for the departures of Deibler and Lighty and the Buckeyes aren’t going anywhere.

3. Duke -

Duke comes in 3^rd with the assumption that Kyrie Irving is gone.  If he returns and Duke also lands top 5 SF recruit DeAndre Daniels, Duke could definitely be in contention with UNC for the top spot preseason.  Without either, Duke will still be top 5 and I’ll say 3^rd with a top high school player Austin Rivers, Michael Gbinije, Marshall Plumlee and Quinn Cook.  Returning impact players, outside of the on the fence Irving, Seth Curry, Andre Dawkins, Miles/Mason Plumlee, Tyler Thornton and Josh Hairston.

4. Texas

Tristan Thompson, Jordan Hamilton and Cory Joseph will be back.  If Rick Barnes can get out of their way they’ll be very tough…until March.

5. Kentucky

Teflon John (Calipari) has yet again locked up (legally or illegally) another great recruiting class.  The top class in fact.  If Knight and Jones make their expected exodus to the NBA it will be another year of great freshman getting Kentucky into the tourney only to come up short of finishing the job again.

The other 5:

6. Syracuse

7. Memphis

8. Louisville

9. Michigan

10. Cincinnati

Final Four predictions in New Orleans 2011-2012 – Duke, Louisville, UNC and Michigan

Champion 2011-2012 – UNC

Kenny’s Picks –

Well, unlike Ben, my prediction was right. Uconn is the champ and Butler is left crying at mid-court once again. Don’t get me wrong, I, like Ben am not a huge fan of either team, I just like being right. So, that is why you should bet on this being the pre-season top 10 for 2011-2012 Men’s College Basketball season.

1. Ohio State-

They were the team that held done the #1 spot for the longest last year. They aren’t really losing anyone except for Lighty and Deibler. They are bringing in the #4 recruiting class and will be in the water downed big 10.

2. Duke-

I hate to put Duke here, but they will be good. I don’t see Kyrie leaving (sorry T-pups fans), and they are bringing in the #3 recruiting class. This team could go undefeated the whole year. I know Mr. Duke is shocked reading this from a known Gopher fan, MNsportssidefx.

3. North Carolina-

Barnes, Zeller, Henson and the #6 recruiting class. That is really all that needs to be said here.

4. Kentucky-

I think they lose a lot, but they will also gain a lot with the #1 recruiting class. I have heard rumors of Coach Cal thinking about going back to the NBA. If that happens, they drop.

5. Michigan-

This team is the Phoenix Suns of college basketball. Every single kid that hits the floor will shoot a 3. They love to run and gun. They grew a lot this year and the off-season will only bring them closer.

The other 5:

6. Purdue

7. Louisville

8. Butler

9. Syracuse

10. Kansas

For the gopher fans wondering why I didn’t go “homer” and put them in the top 10, I am putting them 22^nd.

Final Four Predictions in New Orleans 2011-2012- Duke, Ohio State, Florida, Minnesota.

Champion 2011-2012 = Duke (Yuck)

The "Hot Girl of The Day"

The Yankees Win! Theeeeeeeee Yankees Win! Oh, and Kemba Walker goes to the NBA as a champion and might stay at The Hotel Minneapolis sometime.

Well, another game against the Yankees, another game the Twins lose. I’m still not pressing the panic button, but man, the Twins are now 6-31 at Yankee Stadium in the regular season under Ron Gardenhire. That is just a mind blowing statistic. I mean, you would think, by luck, the Twins would have a better record than that. It’s not like the Twins teams Gardy has had have been garbage every year. I know, it’s only the first game against them this year and it’s only the 4^th game of the 2011 season, but it is still frustrating. Heck, maybe I am pressing the panic button. Oh by the way, Mauer, you there?

There were some good things that I saw last night, so it wasn’t all bad. Yoshi went 2-4 and also look a lot more comfortable in the field than he did against the Blue Jays. Justin went 2-4, he did have an error that could have been an ending double play, but, the 2-4 is better than the 1-10 last series. Scott Baker pitched a strong 6 innings, if you take away the first 2. The bullpen didn’t give up any runs in the 7^th, 8^th or 9^th inning. So, things seem to maybe be on the up and up.

Tonight is going to be a tough match-up for us. The Yankees are throwing out C.C. Sabathia and the Twins are throwing out Brian Duensing. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge Duensing fan, the kid went 10-3 last year in 13 starts and had an ERA of 2.62. There was a stretch when he might have been the best pitcher we had. So, I’m actually going to go out on a limb and say the Twins pull out a 6-2 victory. I mean, the bats have to come to life at some point right?

Kemba Walks to the NBA a champ.

Well, my score prediction was wrong, (87-74), but my pick was right. Uconn defeated Butler in a pretty ugly championship game last night, 53-41. Kemba Walker led all scorers with 16, on an ugly 5-19 shooting night. But, Butler didn’t do themselves any favors by shooting a tournament worst 18% from the field. The horrible shooting in the game made it hard to watch, but since the Twins were losing and WWE sucked, I stuck with it. The pace of the game was nice and fast like I thought it would be, but both teams seemed so tight and tired, that shots just weren’t falling. I feel bad for Butler and the schools fans, two years in a row; that has to be tough. On the other hand, I have a lot of respect for what Uconn did in tournaments this year. They went undefeated in everyone they played in (Maui Invitational, Big East Tournament and of course The Big Dance). So, congrats Uconn, but don’t think about repeating, because the Gophers are coming!!!

Hotel Review: The Hotel Minneapolis.

Those of you that know me, know I love to travel and stay in hotels. Heck, even when I go downtown for a night of drinking, I like to get a room on either Priceline.com or Hotwire.com. They always have great deals on rooms.

This weekend, I stayed at “The Hotel Minneapolis”. I found this room on Hotwire.com for about 50% off. I had never stayed at this hotel, or even heard of it for that matter. But, I have to tell you, I’m glad I now know of it. This hotel compares very well to the very nice, but overpriced “Graves 601”. When you walk into this hotel, the lobby is brand new. There are dark reds and browns everywhere and the furniture and light fixtures are all very modern. As my buddy Mark said, “This is nicer than any place we will ever live”. He may be right. The check-in took no more than 2 minutes. I handed them my card and ID, they gave me my room keys and off I was to the 7^th floor. When I walked in, the room was huge. The ceilings seemed to never end, the bathroom was a mile long, and the beds, the beds were amazingly comfortable. I’m glad I got to the room before the drinking started, because I was able to take a nice long nap and enjoy the 47 inch HDTV that the Twins were playing on.

So, overall, I give this hotel an A. The reason it didn’t get an A+, is because parking at the hotel was $29 for valet. Don’t worry; I didn’t pay $29 to park. I parked across the street for $20 less.

"The Hot Girl of The Day"

Twins are leaving Toronto with the blues, while the Jays are flying high.

Well, opening weekend for the Twins didn’t go as well as most of us thought it would. As predicted in an earlier post, I said it would be nice to have the Twins coming home with a 5-2 record. Well, it is looking like they have a better chance of coming home with a 2-5 record. The Twins got knocked around pretty good this weekend. We know the Jays like to hit homeruns, so that wasn’t a surprise. No, the surprise was that we didn’t do any damage at all. Sure, Valencia and Span each had a homerun….yeah, I know, they aren’t really the power on our team. But, the rest of the line-up didn’t show much pop at all. Since the Jays don’t really have the best pitching, I was sure that we would knock them around a little bit. I was wrong. You would expect a team that has the M&M boys, Cuddy, Delmon and Thome, to knock some balls out of the park. Just wasn’t the case this weekend.

Going, Going, Gone. It almost felt like Brad Radke was back on the team this weekend. It seemed like almost every picture we threw out there, gave up a tape measure shot. With all the talk about how we have so much talent, we have to move a starter into the bullpen, I expected a better showing. I didn’t think Blackburn would be the one to get us a win, but he was. Don’t get me wrong, I know it’s only the first 3 games out of 162, but when you play in as many “play-in” games as this team has over the past couple of years, you want to win every game you can. So, I’m not pressing the panic button by any means, just hope the nerves are gone and we go into New York and at least take 3 out 4. Wishful thinking, I know, but it can be done.

The Final Four has come down to the Final Two.

Well, it’s been a long year, but the Men’s College Basketball season wraps up tonight. Coming back for the second year in a row, you have the Butler Bulldogs facing the hottest team in the game, Uconn. Uconn came into the tournament winning 5 games in a row to win the Big East tourney. If you throw in the Maui Invitational, they are undefeated. Butler came into the tourney as an 8^th seed, but has been playing a lot better than that. They have grinded out games and have just found ways to win. They were in this same spot last year and almost beat Duke on a last second, half-court heave that almost brought Mr. Duke to his knees. This is going to be a great game, showcasing two very good teams, with two different playing styles.

Prediction: The picture kind of gives it away. Speed outduels Muscle. Uconn wins 87-74.

The "Hot Girl of The Day"

So, looks like Matt won’t be Painting the town red at Mizzou.

If you are a B1G Ten basketball fan, you are aware of what has been going on at Purdue this past week. Matt Painter took a meeting and at one point, was rumored to have signed on the dotted line with Mizzou. This was pretty bitter sweet for me. Reason being, on one hand, it would be good to have Purdue maybe take a step back and make room for the Gophers. On the other hand, I want the B1G Ten to be as strong as possible and Matt Painter helps out with that.

I do have to give Painter some props here. Yes, the reason he was going to leave was due to money, but it was money that he wanted his other coaches to get. Mizzou was going to pay Painter a nice 7 year-14 million dollar contract. Painter was making 1.3 million last year (not chump change by any means) which was the 8^th highest salary in the B1G Ten. So, I could see why he would have left, but he didn’t.

It looks like Purdue realized there was a real chance they were about to lose one of the best coaches in the B1G Ten, if not the country. So, they did what they should have, an gave him an 8 year contract. The dollar amount of said contract hasn’t be disclosed as of yet, but it must have been enough to make Painter happy. Overall, this is a good move and just means Purdue is here to stay for awhile….Ugh.

You down with D.E.A.C? Yeah you know me!

            Well, the first game is in the books. Things looked to be starting off on the wrong foot when 3 out of the 6 guys playing last night, weren’t sure if they were going to make it on time. Luckily, with about 2 minutes to spare, our 5^th and 6^th men showed up. I know I said 3, but the 3^rd guy showed up for shoot around, so it worked out. This was the first game in a league that is playing its first annual 5 on 5 men’s league. The rules are pretty simple. You play two 20 min halves, you do scoring by 1’s and 2’s instead of 2’s and 3’s, which is no big deal, because we only keep score by how many points the other team is up. The 20 min halves, however, is a different story. There is no clock running, the lady keeps time on her I-Phone and comes in and tells us when to start and than comes back when there are 5 mins left in the half. This got really confusing towards the end of the game. We were up by 2 with (under 5 mins because that is the last time we heard anything) so Jordan went in for a lay-up, missed, the other team came down hit a 2 and the lady said, “GAME”. Well, we were tied and now had to play overtime. We ended up winning by 3 in OT, but it never should have gotten there. Oh well, it’s the first week and I’m sure some things will be tweaked.

            How did everyone play? For the most part, I think everyone played pretty well and knew their role on the team. We only had 6 of our 8 guys as noted above, but we still managed to run and gun. Our starting line-up was:

Jordan

Joe

Kenny

Ben

Jake

Jordan is a very fast paced player. Every rebound that we got on the other end, he was looking to push. This is a pretty good style for us though because Ben, Joe and I all like to run out to the wing and pop an open 3 in transition. If we miss, no worries, we have Jake down there to get the rebounds. Or 6^th man was Derrick. He was nice 6^th man to have because he, like Jordan, likes to push the pace at the PG spot and gets to the rack pretty easily. He is always a sneaky defender, he likes to lie in the weeds than sneak up and poke the ball away. I think it will be interesting to see how the other 2 guys gel in. Overall, I give our team the following grades:

3 point shooting: B

Rebounding: C-

Screen Setting: B+

Passing to the open man: B+

Defense: B

Transition layups: B+

Overall, I think we played a B game and still won. So, hopefully that is just a sign of things to come.

“Hot Girl of the Day”