Fantasy Football Pre-Rankings

Here are my top 12 players going into the season.

1. Chris Johnson(Ten)
2. Adrian Peterson(Min)
3. Maurice Jones-Drew(Jac)
4. Steven Jackson(STL)
5. Andre Johnson-(Hou)
6. Ray Rice(Bal)
7. Drew Brees (No)
8. Michael Turner(ATL)
9. Frank Gore(SF)
10. Rashard Mendenhall(PIT)
11. Aaron Rodgers(GNB)
12. Larry Fitzgerald(ARI)

My players for a breakout year:

Shonn Greene(NYJ) He will have the starting job in his second year, plus a veteran line and more experienced Mark Sanchez.

Rashard Mendenhall (PIT) I have him in my top 10 as i think he can become a premier back in the AFC.

Tony Romo(DAL) Add Dez Bryant to already Roy Williams and Miles Austin, plus Jason Witten, and Romo can easily throw for 3,000 yards.

Players I'm not high on-

Thomas Jones(KC) Jamaal Charles will eventually get most of the hand offs in KC.

Roy Williams(DAL) He might lose his spot to rookie Dez Bryant.

Tony Gonzalez(ATL) Starting to lose production in the red zone.

Lou Pinella Retires

Recent reports earlier this month stated Pinella was on the verge of retirement, and today that was proven. The 2008 Manager of the Year is finally stepping away from the game, as the Cubs will try to rebuild with a new roster and manager this off season. Sweet Lou gave it a good run with the Cubs, but could never reach the standards all Cubs fans have: World Series Title. Some people say his timing is bad with this announcement, but i agree with him saying, " I want to give the Cubs plenty of time to plan and find a replacement." The season is basically over for the Cubbies, and all they have left to play for is for a spot on the roster next year and for Lou's legacy.

Here are some names I'm hearing for next year:

Joe Girardi- Some people say he would be crazy to leave the Yanks, but if he can't get a new contract with New York, he would jump to Chicago in an instance.

Ryne Sandberg- Manager at AAA and would be a fan favorite and hometown hero.

Alan Trammel- Managed the Tigers a couple years back and has been on the bench with Lou all these years.

Bob Brenly- The rumors will continue if he will come out of the booth and coach again.

Greg Maddux- A wild card, and has been an assistant to Jim Hendry.

MLB Mid-Season Awards

Here are my mid-season awards for MLB:

MVP

NL- Prado(ATL) Having a career year and surprsing star leadoff man has

Braves in 1st place.

AL- Cabrera(DET) Putting up Triple Crown type numbers.

LVP

NL-Ramirez(CUBS) Hitting a lowly .217 and a horrific OPS at .275.

AL-Figgins(SEA) Signed a big contract in the offseason and hasn't even come close to the hype.

ROY

NL-Heyward(ATL) Came out of spring training with a ton of upside, and he has displayed plenty of it.

AL-Boesch(DET)- Came out of nowhere and now could be third rookie to lead league in hitting( Ichiro & Jackie Robinson)

Cy Young

NL-Jimenez(COL) First one to 15 wins and counting.( He knows his ERA can't reach zero, right?)

AL-Lester(BOS) Overcame early season struggles and around the top of league for strikeouts.

Miscellaneous

Best Web Gem-Buehrle(SOX) Hands down awesome

Best Injury-Morales(LAA) I wonder if he wishes he didn't hit that home run after all.

Worst Promo night at the ballpark-Florida Marlins- vuvuzelas night, just imagine.

Best first MLB at-bat-Nava(BOS) Try hitting a grand slam, first pitch, at Fenway. Anyone jealous?

MLB Second Half

Sorry folks, not a lot of service in northern Minnesota.

After the N.L. finally won the all star game, its time to exam all the division races and the trade deadline.

The surprising Division leaders in the N.L( Reds, Braves,& Padres) have shocked the baseball world. I think the Braves will hold on to their lead, but the Reds and Padres will fall to the Cardinals and Rockies, respectively. The Wild Card will then come down to the Reds and Padres, plus possibly the Dodgers if they can add another starting pitcher. The Phillies will have to much ground to make up when they get fully healthy.

In the A.L, my picks are the Yankees, Tigers, and Rangers, with the Rays fighting the Angels for the Wild Card. The White Sox can contend if they add a bat, but i think starting pitching is a problem for them now that Peavy is out. Red Sox have way to many injuries and won't make a major splash before the trade deadline.

My mid season World Series pick is the Yankees vs the Rockies.

18 Big Names that might be on the move:

Adam Dunn

Dan Haren

Roy Oswalt

Prince Fielder

Ted Lilly

Jake Westbrook

Ricky Nolasco

David Dejesus

Matt Capps

Joakim Soria

Pudge Rodriguez

Derek Lee

Lance Berkman

Josh Willingham

Corey Hart

Jason Werth

Ryan Theriot

Dan Uggla

We could see upwards of 2/3 of these names on the move, or as low as only 5. It all depends how much the buyers are willing to part with.

Home Run Derby

First off, i had more yawns(7) than Home runs by the first two batters(3).

• I'm glad Big Papi finally got his first HR derby championship under his belt on his fourth try.
• Good to see the young gun Hanely Ramirez show off his power skills. He is known more for his glove and average than his power, but definitely showed it off today.
• $573,000,000 was awarded to The Boys and Girls Club of America by State Farm. Way to hit those gold balls boys!
• I can not wait till Bryce Harper gets into this event. If he does anything close to what he did at Tropicana Field( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liS3kGvQ9Bk) they may have to cancel the All-Star game.
• It's good to see the players out of their tense mode and interacting with each other and the fans. But come tomorrow, its all business as Home Field advantage is on the line.

What upcoming star do you want to see in a derby?

World Cup Recap

Before the World Cup, i was hardly a Soccer fan. I could care less who did what in the Europe League or how qualifying went. Now, this past month i have really gotten into the sport. Here are some of the moments that really stood out to me over this past month.

1. The U.S. Run: They actually won the group stage and the game against Algeria was pure storybook.
2. Switzerland over Spain: No one in a million years expected this. Im pretty sure Spain forgot about this already.
3. French Team: What a joke, they make the Minnesota T'Wolves look like a true team.

Best Player: Forlan, Uruguay- 5 goals and made an average team reach the semis.

Biggest Surprise: No African team went deep into the tournament except Ghana.

Biggest Disappointment: the 2006 finalist teams( Italy/France) failed to make it to the knockout stage.

Best Game: Ghana vs Uruguay-EPIC

Most annoying- vuvuzelas

Best Celebration dance- South African team after scoring first goal of the tournament.

Bulls Future

Even though the Bulls struck out this year for the big free agents, they still moved in the right direction. They added a very solid post player in Boozer, who will go along well with Joakim Noah and help develop Taj Gibson. They went out and added shooters,( Korver, Redick) which they desperately needed. They should try to bring back Brad Miller for some veteran leadership and try add 1 more guard(Nate Robinson or Shannon Brown would be a good fit)

Moving forward, they have positioned themselves to be players once again in the 2011 free agency pool. They will have to sign Noah to an extension,( and possible Rose) but still should be able to offer a max contract. Carmelo Anthony has a good shot to be out on the market and he would be the perfect fit for the Bulls. If that doesn't work out, Rashard Lewis could be available from Orlando, but it would likely cost the Bulls at least Taj Gibson and a draft pick. The Bulls still have one more summer to get it right.