What to do about Valverde & other thoughts

Every Astro fan left and right is screaming about Jose Valverde and why he should not be the closer. Everybody is angry about the 2 blown saves and he hasn't pitched well in other games. The problem is we are not even out of the 1st month of the season. Closers go through struggles. Mariano Rivera has struggled for long stretches before. Cecil Cooper has to keep him in there for now to see if he can figure it out. Doug Brocail is not the answer. Maybe down the line we'll see Felipe Paulino get a shot a closing after his return from his injury. Hopefully that won't be necessary and Valverde will be pitching like he did last year. Despite what some say, he has the stuff to be a closer. Let's just hope he can figure it.

On the bright side, the starting pitching has been amazing. I was a big supporter of signing Shawn Chacon and putting Chris Sampson in the rotation and both have not disappointed. Wandy is looking like an ace (at least at home) and Backe has looked great as the #2. If Roy can get back to being himself, what was a perceived weakness could be a strength.

Also I'm curious how things will change once Ty Wigginton & Kaz Matsui come off the DL. I like Loretta at 2nd base and batting 2nd. I'm not sure if I want his bat out of the lineup. Maybe there will be a platoon at 2nd. Ty Wigginton picked the wrong time to get hurt because Geoff Blum may have stolen his job. He has played much better defense than Ty and is producing at the plate.

Saints 2008 Schedule

Date
Opponent
Time
Sept. 7
TAMPA
Noon
Sept. 14
@ Washington
Noon
Sept. 21
@ Denver
3 p.m.
Sept. 28
SAN FRANCISCO
Noon
Oct. 6 (Mon.)
MINNESOTA
7:30
Oct. 12
OAKLAND
Noon
Oct. 19
@Carolina
Noon
Oct. 26
SAN DIEGO (London)
Noon
Nov. 2
Off
Nov. 9
@Atlanta
Noon
Nov. 16
@ Kansas City
Noon
Nov. 24 (Mon.)
GREEN BAY
7:30
Nov. 30
@Tampa
Noon
Dec. 7
ATLANTA
Noon
Dec. 11 (Thurs.)
@Chicago
7:15
Dec. 21
@Detroit
Noon
Dec. 28
CAROLINA
Noon

Good to see the Saints get 2 MNF games but it is still wrong to take away a home from New Orleans. I wouldn't have mind if it was a road game to San Diego they moved to London but it's a home game. Bad job by the NFL. Hopefully the Saints have the same results as last year's winner of the London game (aka the NY Giants).

Stacy Dash- King Magazine

Here's the link enough said:
http://www.hiphopdx.com/blogs/RANTRAVE/2008/04/10/the-stacey-dash-appreciation-post.html

Pence's Slump

I think part of this slump he is in is caused by his approach at the plate. He's getting behind in counts because he's trying to give Bourn a chance to steal which is the right move but not meant for him. In the 6 hole, he'll have free way to swing away on first pitch fastballs and won't be as vulnerable to get down 2 strikes and having to hold off from swing at the slider on the outside of the plate. Let Loretta bat 2nd until Matsui comes back and move Wigginton/Blum to 7th.

Baseball is here

It's time for the season to start. This could be a pitcher's duel with Roy Oswalt and Jake Peavy on the mound tonight on ESPN2 at 9:00 central. I really think the Astros can win the division this year but they will obviously need to be carried by their offense. Here's some predictions:

Astros' MVP: Roy Oswalt
Most Improved: Michael Bourn
Sleeper to have a big year: Mark Loretta

NCAA Tournament

March Madness starts Thursday so here my picks. My big upsets are Davidson making it to the sweet 16 and San Diego knocking off UConn. As for the Final Four I see North Carolina and UCLA being the only #1 seeds to make it. I have Texas making it in the South region and Wisconsin in the Midwest. For the national championship, I pick Carolina to beat UCLA. Let the madness begin.

First single from Atmosphere's new album

http://www.zshare.net/audio/862191207aea23/

It's called Shoulda Known and it is dope as expected. Looking forward to the new album.

Ed Wade knows what he's doing

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3281512

A lot of people (including me) were upset the Astros lost Troy Patton in the Tejada deal. With this news, looks like Ed Wade knew something we all didn't.

Could we finally see Fedor vs. Couture?

http://www.sherdog.com/news/articles.asp?n_id=11698

With the news that Fedor is once again a free agent, the Couture fight seems to be a possibilty again if the UFC will just cooperate and sign Fedor. I'm sure with that signing, Randy Couture would come back to UFC at least for that one fight.

Astros Fever

Well it's baseball time again now that we are into spring training. The questions around the Astros are the rotation, who fills out the bullpen and who gets the last position player spot.

Right now I see the lineup looking like this:
CF- Michael Bourn
2B- Kaz Matsui
SS- Miguel Tejada
1B- Lance Berkman
LF- Carlos Lee
CF- Hunter Pence
3B- Ty Wigginton
C- J.R. Towles

Mark Loretta, Geoff Blum, Brad Ausmus & Darin Erstad are set on the bench. That leaves one spot. Humberto Quintero, Jose Cruz Jr., Reggie Abercrombie, Yordanny Ramirez, David Newhan, Victor Diaz, Lance Nierko and Tomas Perez are all fighting for the spot. I see Jose Cruz Jr. ending up as the winner of the battle though.

Pitching is another story. Here's my guess at the rotaion:
1. Roy Oswalt
2. Brandon Backe
3. Wandy Rodriguez
4. Woody Williams
5. Shawn Chacon

That puts Chris Sampson in the bullpen. Jose Valverde is set as the closer and Doug Brocail, Oscar Villareal & Dave Borkowski have the spots locked up. That leaves a need for a lefty and one more reliever. I see Mark McLemore winning the battle of the southpaws and Felipe Paulino's talent forcing the Astros to bring him to the bigs.

The Birdman is Back! Good or Bad?

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3277994

Well Chris Anderson is back with the Hornets after a 2 year drug suspension. I'm not sure how this move will work out. He was a big fan favorite in New Orleans before and maybe everyone will dying to see the "Birdman" and his high energy play. He could be a boost to the backup center position where both Hilton Armstrong and Melvin Ely have been inconsistent. We'll find out in time.

Join the Rapworlds community

http://www.rapworlds.com/

Great place to talk hip-hop with heads all around the world. I post under the name Wu-Tang4Life there.

Gangsta Rap Made Me Do It (Remix)

http://www.zshare.net/audio/8572095edcad0e/

Dope remix from 3 legends: Ice Cube, Nas & Scarface. Shout out to the 2dopeboyz for this link.

Upcoming Releases

Well here's what to look forward to in the next 2 months

Del tha Funkee Homosapien- 11th Hour (March 11th)
Snoop Dogg- Ego Trippin (March 11th)
Guilty Simpson- Ode to the Ghetto (March 25th)
EMC (Masta Ace, Punchline, Wordsworth & Strick)- The Show (March 25th)
AZ- Undeniable (April 1st)
Prodigy of Mobb Deep- H.N.I.C. Part 2 (April 8th)
Gnarls Barkley- The Odd Couple (April 8th)
Atmosphere- When Life Gives You Lemons, You Paint That Shit Gold (April 22nd)
Lyrics Born- Everything at Once (April 22nd)
C.R.A.C. (Blu & Ta'Raach)- The Piece Talks (April 22nd)
Kidz in the Hall- The In Crowd (April 29th)

I'm expecting the EMC album to be solid from what I've heard. That along w/ Atmosphere and Kidz in the Hall look to be best of these upcoming albums.

The First Post

Here we go. This is just outlet for me to talk about my 3 big interests: Sports, Hip-Hop and Comedy. Here's the basics. I'm a huge fan of LSU sports (mainly football, baseball & men's basketball). The pro teams I follow are the New Orleans Saints, New Orleans Hornets and Houston Astros. Hip-Hop is the only music I listen to. I can't stand much of what is played on the radio these days. I like wide variety of hip hop though. Just to give you an idea here's some artists in my iPod: Wu Tang Clan, Little Brother, Dilated Peoples, Nas, Big L, Showbiz & AG, Talib Kweli, Geto Boys, UGK, Pete Rock, Gang Starr, Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Murs, Atmosphere, Joe Budden, Brother Ali & Boot Camp Clik to name a few. For Comedy, I'm all over the place. Dave Chappelle has always been a favorite stand up comedian and South Park my favorite comedy show. That's it for the first post. Geaux Tigers.