#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Helloooooo sports fans! The sports world has been all over the place this week from yet another huge comeback by the U.S women's soccer team while on the brink of elimination, to the Tebow turmoil in New York. Not to be overshadowed by other drama, seven All Star starting pitchers started yesterday including CY Young favorite and hopeful Jered Weaver who threw a complete game shutout with seven strikeouts against the Athletics. Also, Justin Verlander, the reigning AL CY Young and MVP award winner pitched eight shut-out innings against the Yankees and struck out fourteen batters along the way making a great lineup look foolish. These are the stories that I will be covering today, but first I must acknowledge a tragic story from the NFL.

Garrett Reid, the oldest son of Philadelphia Eagles head coach Andy Reid, passed away on Sunday. Reid's son has had a history of serious drug abuse issues and what people have called “run-ins” with the law. Naturally, the masses are assuming that this is a drug related death and they are probably correct. Regardless of the cause, the death of Garrett Reid is a tragedy to the Reid family and I wanted to take a paragraph here to acknowledge him and his loved ones.

On to more uplifting news, the USA Women's soccer team has done it again! The US was matched up against Canada yesterday in a semi-final battle for a trip to the gold medal game. Our girls have never missed a trip to the gold medal game, and they sure as hell weren't going to start now. The Canadians played a great game, and in many ways it is warranted to say that they outplayed the Americans. Canada was leading 3-2, until the referee called a foul against Canada that I have never seen called before on any level in my life. The call was that Canada's goalkeeper held onto the ball for longer than six seconds which is technically against the rules. Although, this foul is never called and especially not during such an important game. Abby Wombach proceeded to drill home the following penalty kick to tie the game at 3-3 with just ten short minutes left in the game. Regular time ended 3-3, and in extra time the American's won the game with a great header from young star Alex Morgan. It is fair to say, that in this instance the US completely lucked out, but sometimes (all the time?) it is better to be lucky than good, and now they will meet Japan in the gold medal game.

Does anyone think that the Jets would have been better off signing Brett Favre rather than trading for Tim Tebow? Me either, but I can't believe how close it is. I just don't get it, the Jets were already stuck with a mediocre quarterback in Mark Sanchez, so it was my assumption they would load the team with talent around him to make him look better than he is like they have done in the past. Instead, they decide to trade for an even more mediocre QB in Tebow! I suppose the plan is for Tebow to go in and work his comeback magic whenever the Jets are losing, or to give opposing defense a different look with Tebow in a wildcat formation. The only issue is, last time I checked it took Tebow a whole four quarters of constantly chucking the ball up in the air and scattering around the field to score just seven or ten points. The reason Tebow had a chance to win was because his defense was the best in the NFL for most of the games he played in. They want an unbelievable amount of low scoring games and that is almost always a sign of great defense. I mean hell guys, why do you think Denver traded him? He was too good? My point is simple, Tebow is not a talented quarterback and there is no way that his lucky streak can continue.

Thanks for reading again guys! Just as a side note, I went up to Lake Arrowhead with my buddy and fished all day yesterday. Great fishing! Caught a couple crappie, easily 7 or 8 small mouth bass and there were a few trout sightings but nothing on the hook. Hit that place early morning around 5:30 and you will be swimming in trout and bass which both eat regular bait worms. Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay about anything!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Happy MLB Trade Deadline day everyone! July 31 is the annual mark for all non-waiver trades between major league baseball teams. After that day, trades may still be completed, but it is much more difficult for them to process because a player must “clear waivers” before they are traded. Clearing waivers is a rather complicated process, but in essence it gives teams the ability to strategically block a team with a better record from making a trade. This means that there is almost no way for a big name player to switch teams after today.

This part of the season is always incredibly exciting because it is the time when a team, more specifically a general manager, can make trades and attempt to strategically improve your ball club. Some teams are interested in getting younger and building for the future, while other teams are focused on getting players that can make a difference for them right now. There is a common misconception among fans that the manager is the person who makes the trades for the team, but they are wrong. It is actually the general manager who works in tandem with the owner (and his/her money) to make the trades happen.

We have seen many compelling trades from some serious contenders this season. The most shocking, but not really when you think about it, was Ichiro Suzuki being trades from the Mariners to the Yankees. He was tired of losing and anybody could understand that, but sometimes the business of baseball can be very hard on the fans. On the flip side, sometimes the business can make the game unbearably exciting when your club trades for a big name pitcher that you have always coveted on another team. This happened in the form of the biggest trade so far this season when the stacked Angels traded for Zack Greinke from the Brew Crew of Milwaukee. Greinke is a 28 year old ace who has the ability to compete for a CY Young award annually; in fact he won that award in 2009. The Angels are clearly a team that is in a “win-now” mind set, and because of that their GM Jerry Dipoto has gone out and got the best pitcher on the trade market. This sets the table for a great finish to the division race as we approach the playoffs.

Other big arms such as Cliff Lee, Matt Garza and James Shields are all rumored to be available so keep an eye out on ESPN.com or mlbtraderumors.com for the latest news. Most of these trades happen very last minute.

Here is a message for all the fantasy baseball players out there. Don't forget that the trade deadline for fantasy is on August 10. Some players that I am currently trying to trade for in my league are Uggla, Cuddyer and Longoria. I consider all of these players great value picks and you can probably find a way not to give up too much in any acquisition. Longoria is obviously a 2^nd round quality pick, but he has been hurt all season. This gives many owners a reason to trade him, because you just never know how a player is going to play off an injury. I consider this an opportunity! You will never be able to trade for Longo when he is healthy, so strike while the iron is hot. Tweet me if you make any awesome trades!

Thanks for reading again guys! Tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay. Have a good week!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Hello everyone! I hope you are all surviving the impending zombie apocalypse and stocking up your bomb shelters effectively. (Is it too late for a zombie man reference? What about bath salts?) REMEMBER! You survive three weeks without food, only three days without water. In the mean time, let me take you away from the bullshit for a few minutes and lets talk sports.

There has been a lot of drama across the sports world lately. Not a ton of action on the field neccesarily, but super star drama queens like Dwight Howard, center for the Magic, have taken the diva image of athletes to a whole new level.

 Just last year, Dwight Howard had an option in his contract to either stay with the Magic for one more year or forego his final year and enter free agency to presumably go to a much more serious contender than the Magic. Dwight has had a lot of public issues with his team about how they are not competing for a championship, and he has also gone as far as to request a trade to a contender.

For whatever his reasons may be, amongst years of Howard complaining and requesting trades, he decided to stay with Orlando for one more year. Now, in the most recent twist in the story, Howard came out and complained once again about his team with some reports going as far as saying he claimed he was "blackmailed" into agreeing to take his one year option. I don't doubt he said this, but I also don't think he knows what he is saying. I especially don't think he realizes the legal reprocussions of accusing an NBA team of blackmailing you. Anyways, that's not the point. I suppose the point is, it's just one more dramatic event you can add to Dwight's long list.

I guess I forgot, Dwight also bitched and moaned his way to getting his coach Steve Van Gundy fired last year.

We all know how frustrating it is to see an athlete complain so much while theyre making millions every month, but lets take a step back for a moment. Yes, Howard is immature, but he is also 26 and had a city's worth of pressure put on his shoulders at the age of 19. He was drafted into the NBA straight out of high school and never really got the normal chance to mature that most people get. I am not saying that he is doing anything correctly or the right way (other than playing basketball), but I am saying that I can understand how a person could end up like that after enough pressure was put on him. Here is a story I cannot understand...

One of the greatest managers of all time and a no doubt hall of famer, Tony LaRussa, has recently proven that 67 year old men can often times act just as immature as 26 year old super star centers. Even though LaRussa retired last year after he managed the Cardinals to a World Series Championship, he still has the right to manage the NL All-Star team because of last years WS win. The NL manager has the right to choose 9 All-Stars to represent their league, and after the dust settled and LaRussa made his decisions some people started to notice something; he didn't choose any of the Reds who seemed to deserve it.

The most glaring "snub" in my opinion was Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto who is currently fourth in his league in ERA and is tied for sixth with nine wins. Considering 13 pitchers made the NL roster, none is this seems to add up. Until...you remember all of the drama that occured between LaRussa's Cardinals and their division rival Cincinatti Reds. It truly is a scene words can't really explain, so that's why there is YouTube...!

That was....AWESOME! My favorite part is the old umpire sitting back adjusting his hat while the brawl was occuring. Can't say that I blame him.

The instigator of that fight was Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, who couldn't shut up about how much he hated the Cardinals the day before that brawl happened. Phillips, was the second worst snub by LaRussa this year. So it seems fair to deduce that LaRussa is clearly not choosing these players based on merit, but rather he is doing this to fulfill some grudge from a year ago. I get it, baseball players never forget, but if you retire you aren't allowed to directly affect the game like this anymore. Cueto and Phillips are hard working athletes who deserve to be All-Stars, but because a retired old man can't get over a baseball grudge they are stuck at home missing something that truly is an honor for these players.

There are two ways to look at it, yes it's unfortunate that Vueto and Phillips got screwed, but this also opens doors for a lot more controversy and good baseball from these two teams. I just hope that they can keep it all on the field this time.

Thanks for reading again guys! You all rock and I'll talk to you next week!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!

#NerdsUnite: Play on playa! (Breaking down the world of sports so you don't have to!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Derek - I met him when I was professor for a day at CSF. Really rad dude, and he wants to come on board to help explain to us nerdy folk the wild world of sports. Smart dude, and knows his shizzy shiznat. I only have one more thing left to say ... HIT IT DEREK!!! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's @DerekJ_AllDay

Hey folks! Sorry everyone, this will probably come up a day late. I mixed up my routine now that school is out and lost track of the days. I'm already in summer mode! Anyways, nothing much has been going on in the sports world that I would like to discuss other than a couple points. So today's post is going to be a wrap-up of this week in sports, and then just a short blurb on the newest game I got, Diablo 3. I know I'm not the game writer, it will only be a paragraph or so. For the Heavens!

Well, it's been a dark couple months in southern California. Where should I begin...the Angels sign the biggest player since Barry Bonds, and in the first 2 months of his contract he is hitting .212 with 3 HR and 18 RBIs while being paid 24 million dollars (on average per year over course of  10 year contract) this year. The Angels are 18-25 and dead last in their division to start the season after much conversation about them being World Series favorites during the off-season. To be fair, other notable players such as Howie Kendrick, Erick Aybar and Dan Haren aren't exactly pulling their weight either, but we aren't paying them 240 million dollars for the next ten years. In short, good fans such as myself are trying to be patient, but with Texas holding a 26-17 record and 8 games up on us, we can see the time ticking away.

Next disappointment? The Lakers. Ok let’s take a step back, how much of a disappointment can they be? The biggest reason I ask that is the organization knew they were close but did not have enough to win a championship this year, so in the off-season they pulled the trigger and completed a trade with the Hornets for Chris Paul. Paul is young and plays point guard, a position LA desperately needed to fill. Well, it was complete for everyone besides NBA commissioner David Stern. As I have written before in other posts, Stern vetoed the trade for no significant reason and then allowed a less favorable trade (for the Hornets) to pass so that Paul would land on the LA Clippers and much drama would be created between the LA-LA rivalry. Well Stern, now you fucked up!

(watch it, hilarious and you’ll get the reference. Be warned, a lot of cursing.)

In the end, the Clippers and the Lakers both ended up being middle of the road teams who didn't go far in the playoffs. Both unremarkable, and both in a state of flux now that the season has ended. Neither knowing how they are going to become competitors over the next couple of months. Stern is more overpaid than Pujols.

It was a dark night...a cold night....I was beaten down by the Angels and thrown into the Lakers of doom. A light was shining, but distant. Twas faint and sure to die, but the light kept burning and never went out. Then I heard with a harsh cold shout, we are the Kings of LA and fans should have no doubt! For we slay the Blues with a 4 game sweep, and now a 4^th win is what we seek. Against Phoenix who has one win against us, but fans stay determined and nothing will prevent us. From defeating our foes and reaching up, to play for our dreams and win the Stanley Cup!

Any poets or writers out there? Send me some poems on twitter @DerekJ_AllDay about anything that has to do with #TNTML subjects and the best ones (if any, ha) will be in my next post! Random, but it seemed like a fun idea. I went first, your turn!

If you were wondering, all of that was just random inspiration from the Kings. I love hockey although for some reason I don't watch it enough, and I am just happy that a So Cal team is actually playing well and for a championship. They are one win away from going to play for the Stanley Cup and they are also leading their current series 3 games to 1.

Don't get me wrong, I am still a Ducks fan for life.

Finally, Diablo 3. What an awesome game! I beat it on Normal difficulty with my barbarian and now I am almost done with Nightmare with the same character. The story is epic and probably better than D2, and all the classes and multiplayer systems are perfect. The “re-play value” of this game is the best of any game out there and you could be playing this as your favorite game for a long long time. It's perfectly simplistic and also very challenging with a lot of enemies and great combat. If you like computer games you should check out game play videos on Youtube and what not, you won't regret it. If any of you have the game already and want to play with me, tweet me @DerekJ_AllDay and we'll trade D3 info.

Thanks again guys, see you on Twitter!

#nerdsunite

Click here to follow Derek on Twitter!