The Week that was - The Sunday Nine

So here we are, Superbowl Sunday and although most people won’t get to read this until after the big event, we’ll start this weeks Sunday Nine with my thoughts of the big game.

The Steelers are going to win it and win it close. They’ve gone through the #1, 2 and 3 seeds and are on an emotional high. The 3 4 defence is something the Seahawks haven’t seen yet and although I think both teams will move the ball well, I think the Steelers and their special teams and big plays will win them this game. The Seahawks have yet to beat a team with a winning record on the road and even though this game isn’t in Pittsburgh, it’ll be like a home game for the Steelers and I predict an enjoyable game but a lacklustre H/T show.

Well done to the NFL for electing Warren Moon to the Hall of Fame this weekend. I was worried that his five years out in Canada may of harmed his chances but he is undoubtedly a Hall of Famer and fully deserved to go into the Hall. The full allocation was used up this year as Troy Aikman, Harry Carson Rayfield Wright, Reggie White and John Madden will join Moon at the inductions over the weekend of Aug 5/6.

Fantasy Baseball opened this week on Yahoo which is where both Neil and myself play. I am already committed to two leagues, and am waiting to decide on my two others. One is a new keeper league which has already drafted and another one on the UK Baseball Fan site. For the record my already drafted team in a 16 deep keeper league (12 ML keepers, 4 mL) is as follows (in draft order)

Miguel Tejada – SS
David Wright – 3B
Justin Morneau – 1B
Victor Martinez – C
Hideki Matsui – OF
Jake Westbrook – SP
Cliff Lee – SP
Kevin Millwood – SP
John Lackey – SP
Carl Pavano – SP
Gustavo Chacin – SP
Bob Wickman – RP
Troy Percival – RP
Chien Ming-Wang – SP
Jarrod Washburn – SP
Trot Nixon – OF
Adam Kennedy – 2B
Gavin Floyd – SP
Hayden Penn – SP
Shannon Stewart – OF
Jose Lopez – SS/2B
Frank Thomas – Util
Aaron Rowand – OF
Tim Wakefield – SP

In the mL section of the draft I have the following:

Joel Guzman – SS – Dodgers
Jeff Niemann – SP – Devil Rays
Daisuke Matsuzaka – SP – Japanese League (Didn’t come over)
Scott Olsen – SP Marlins
Jong-Soo Shim – OF – Korean Free Agent (Has yet to come over)
Kenji Johjima – C – Japanese and has signed for the Mariners
J Brent Cox – RP – Yankees
Naoyuki Shimizu – SP – Japanese League and again wasn’t posted

I like the depth of my rotation and I have a fair bit of power but with little relief pitching to speak of or speed, this team certainly wasn’t the best I’ve ever drafted. I shall no doubt write about my fantasy teams throughout the season.

Away from fantasy world, some high school kid lobbed up 113 points in a basketball game, why? This kid should’ve been benched the moment the game was won as I am sure this type of event does not help either her school’s image, the opposition school’s youngsters and it won’t help her as she’ll now be singled out by opposition coaches.

Tiger is 2/2 in 2006 and 2/2 in playoffs as he beat The Big Easy out in Dubai at the first extra hole as the South African hit his approach shot into the water, another four inches and he clears the lake but it wasn’t to be and Tiger picks up yet another winners cheque. He may now be the perceived wrong side of 30 but this player has many wins left in him and anyone that thought anything different were deluding themselves.

I wrote last week about the Mintina Hingis story and how great it was and then this week she goes and reaches a final. To see someone retire from a sport and come back and be a success is by no means unheard of but in a solo sport it is very difficult and to of done it in such a short amount is quite simply breathtaking. Her rise to prominence in the sport yet again is a breath of fresh air in a sport which is one of the most competitive around.

For the UK fans, these are the games that are provisionally scheduled for live Sunday night broadcasting on Five:

April 2 Cleveland @ Chicago WS
April 9 St Louis @ Chicago Cubs
April 16 SF Giants @ LA Dodgers
April 23 Atlanta @ Washington
April 30 Texas @ Cleveland
May 7 S F Giants @ Philadelphia
May 14 Chicago WS @ Minnesota
May 21 N Y Yankees @ N Y Mets
May 28 Oakland @ Texas

So only one game involving either the Yanks or Sox in the opening two months, just delighted that I’m now of the mlb.tv and NASN age that’s all I’ll say but it is a good mix of teams I’ll give ESPN that.

The big move of the week baseball wise was Mike Piazza to the Padres, now whilst most think that this is not the best move for Piazza, his options seemed to of been dwindling pretty quickly. The right spot for Mike is clearly a DH in a hitter friendly park, not as a catcher in the second worst hitting field in the bigs but that’s the way it has worked out for the former Mets symbol. Where as the Big Hurt going to Oakland was a good fit for all parties, this move works for the Padres as they had no quality at Catcher and have got a former MVP pretty cheap but Piazza will not thrive in Petco and I doubt he’ll be hot property come fantasy draft time.

We’ll end up where we started. Less than two hours until the Superbowl starts, hope you all enjoy/enjoyed the game and that it wasn’t decided by a poor refereeing decision, something that has plagued the NFL throughout these playoffs.

More thoughts next week on the weeks events and as normal Neil and I will be providing Sox and Yanks news and views throughout the week, with Neil H blogging from Hawaii.