Thursday, June 10, 2010

Stephen Strasburg- Tap the Brakes on Greatness

I know that I am the only one probably in the world saying what I am about to say but I think that we all need to start tapping the brakes on the whole Stephen Strasburg is the greatest pitcher in the Major Leagues right now.

One reason we all need to tap the brakes is that in just one start in the Major Leagues the man did have an impressive debut with 7 innings pitched and 14 strike outs, but really? This line was put up against a dismal, sorry excuse for a MLB team in the Pittsburgh Pirates who have been known as one of the laughing stocks of MLB. Just look at the line-up that the Pirates put out there. They don't have one person on that team that would even deserve to play in a Minor League All Star Game. Lets see when he pitches against the likes of St. Louis Cardinals with Albert Pujols or of the Yankees with A-Rod and Big Tex and see if we are saying the same thing about him then.

I know what its like to hear about the next great pitcher coming up into the Majors. As a big fan of the Chicago Cubs I went through two of these "great" hopes. Kerry Wood when he was coming up within the Cubs organization was tabbed as the next Roger Clemens and how he was going to set all of these strikeout records. Look at his career now since all of the hype. He had one huge game where he strikes out 20 people like Clemens did, then proceeds to have several elbow and shoulder surgeries, then he is relegated to a third tier closer who can't even stay healthy anymore. Then you have the case of Mark Prior. Big hype coming out of USC with the same strikeout ability that Wood was bringing. Prior even took almost the same route that Strasburg did where he pitched in the minors for one year then came up. Look where he is now. One great year with 16 wins and now he is trying to rehab from several injuries and trying to find some kind of control to even muster a tryout with another team.

Now I know that injuries did play a big part in the failure of these two players but in Stephen Strasburg's case, he is a hard throwing pitcher like these two were and that will take a huge toll on him in the Majors, and all it is going to take is one freak injury and he is going to be right with these two pitchers being mediocre. So when you are talking about Strasburg being the greatest, tap the brakes and wait for a few years before you make such a stupid bold statement like "He's the greatest pitcher in MLB right now."

Email me your thoughts on Strasburg at:
Eric@BigBadSportsDaddy.com

Chicago Blackhawks- Newest Dynasty in Sports

As I am writing this, it has been a whole hour and a half since the Blackhawks have raised Lord Stanley's Cup. Now that they have done that, I will get to bask in the glory of picking them to win it all. But also now I have to think about next season just like all of the other experts. And after some heavy consideration (all of about 2 seconds) I am ready to label the Chicago Blackhawks as the NEWEST DYNASTY IN SPORTS!!!

I know that free agency hasn't begun yet and there will also be alot of trades that will occur during the hockey off-season, but just looking at what is going to be there for the Blackhawks when training camp starts, I am not making that big of a leap to announce this to the world. I mean just look at the two biggest pieces that they have grown Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews. These two forwards are the best in the game right now. Of course Kane scored the game winner for the cup and had himself a nice playoffs with 28 points (10 Goals-18 Assists). He was one point behind his teammate Toews, who had 29 points (7 Goals-22 Assists).

Now you would think that after those two guys the talent really drops off, but it doesn't. Just looking at the rest of there players, they have Dustin "Big Buff" Byfuglien who was a beast for the Hawks near the crease. Just in game 5 and game 6 of the finals, Dustin had 3 Goals and 2 Assists and really was starting to pick his game up against one of the premier defenseman in Chris "Chrissy" Pronger. Then you have a man in Duncan "Teeth" Keith who will take shot after shot, lose 7 teeth, and return to make an impact for the team. Thats what I call toughness right there. They also have the defensive tandem of Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell that really kept Antti Niemi from having to work so hard that he was tired by the end of the series. Then you have a rising star in net in Antti Neimi who during the season had a 2.25 GAA and a .931 Save Percentage.

When you put all of this together next year and for years to come, and the fact that they could go out and sign some premier talent free agent or trade for another star and not lose much in the talent department. You would have to say that we are looking at possibly the start of the greatest dynasty in not only the NHL but possibly in sports.

Send me an email and tell me what you think:
Eric@BigBadSportsDaddy.com