2011 MLB Preview (NL)

Hello again friends! Now without further adu here is the conclusion of my 2 part MLB Preview as I give you my thoughts on the National League! Enjoy! National League East (Philadelphia Atlanta NY Mets Florida Washington) OK this division in all honesty is the easiest 1 to predict! Why? Because the Phillies are more dangerous than ever this year and I'm not talking about their powerful offense led by Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Raul Ibanez, and Shane Victorino no! I'm talking about their scary good pitching staff led by 2010 NL Cy Young winner Roy Halladay, offseason acquisition Cliff Lee from the AL Champion Texas Rangers, late season pickup last year Roy Oswalt from the Houston Astros, 2008 postseason pitching hero Cole Hamels, and Joe Blanton! Now that is an Atlanta Braves of the mid to late 90's pitching staff my goodness! Now as great as the Phils are they do have a shaky bullpen mainly because on again off again closer Brad Lidge is on the DL to start the year and will be out 3-6 weeks and they did let slugging stud Jayson Werth go to the lowly Washington Nationals! But despite those couple of concerns I still expect the Phillies to win this division going away! Also I expect the Atlanta Braves to return to the postseason again this year as the NL Wildcard winner under new manager Fredi Gonzalez who's taking over for the now retired Bobby Cox who in my mind will go down as 1 of the all time greatest managers in baseball history! Led by offseason pickup Dan Uggla from the rival Marlins, young phenom Jason Heyward, wily veteran Chipper Jones, All-star game hero Brian McCann and a slew of others along with a fairly decent pitching staff led by Derek Lowe, Tim Hudson, and Tommy Hanson, and a good but not great bullpen led by closer Billy Wagner! The Mets will be better this year but not much better despite finally getting Carlos Beltran off the DL and if he stays healthy along with fellow slugger David Wright and sparkplug Jose Reyes along with a pretty good pitching staff led by Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, and RA Dickey and a bullpen led by embattled closer Francisco "K-Rod" Rodriguez the Mets could be a darkhorse in this division so watch out for the Amazins to make a little noise this year! The Marlins took a big hit by letting their star slugger Dan Uggla get away and because of that I expect the Marlins to not be any good this year and despite the offseason acquisition of Jayson Werth from the rival Phillies and the possible return of phenom pitcher Stephen Strasburg I expect the Nationals to be the vintage Nationals and finish at the bottom of the barrel again! National League Central (Cincinnati St. Louis Chi Cubs Milwaukee Houston Pittsburgh) In a year full of surprises last year the Cincinnati Reds came out of nowhere to win the NL Central for the 1st time since 1995! Led by NL MVP Joey Votto along with Brandon Phillips, Jay Bruce, Johnny Gomes, Drew Stubbs, and Scott Rolen just to name a few on offense along with a solid pitching staff led by Bronson Arroyo and Johnny Cueto along with a solid bullpen led by closer Francisco Cordero I actually like the Reds to repeat as NL Central champs again this year! Originally I was going to go with the St. Louis Cardinals to win this division but with their #2 starter Adam Wainwright out for the next year and a half due to Tommy John surgery I think that will cost the Cards in the long run! But despite that they still have arguably the best player in the game today in Albert Pujols along with Matt Holliday and Ryan Ludwick on offense and they also have their #1 starter Chris Carpenter and a good young pitcher by the name of Jaime Garcia and a decent closer in Ryan Franklin! The Cards will finish with a winning record but they will come up just a little short in this division! Despite the acquisitions of Carlos Pena and Matt Garza from the Tampa Bay Rays and having 2 outstanding sluggers in Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez and a solid pitching staff led by Carlos Zambrano and Ryan Dempster and an ok bullpen led by Carlos Marmol I'm afraid it'll be wait until next year yet again for the snakebitten Cubs this year! Despite the offseason acquisition of former Royals ace and 09 AL Cy Young winner Zack Grienke and a potent offense led by Prince Fielder and Ryan Braun just to name a couple and an ok pitching staff led by Yovani Gallardo and Randy Wolf the Brew crew have a very shaky bullpen after the retirement of quite possibly the greatest closer of all time in Trevor Hoffman and it's that shaky bullpen that will be the Brewers downfall this year! Now despite a fairly decent offense of their own led by Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence along with sparkplug Michael Bourn the Astros have no pitching starting and bullpen and because of that look for the Stros to struggle again this year! As for the Double A Pirates well it'll be yet another losing season for them which will make it I believe 19 and counting! UGH!!! National League West (San Francisco LA Dodgers Colorado San Diego Arizona) For the 1st time since they were the New York Giants back in 1954 the Giants franchise celebrated a World Series title! Led by a scary good pitching staff that includes 2 time NL Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Barry Zito, Jonathan Sanchez, and future phenom Madison Bumgarner along with an excellent bullpen led by their outstanding closer Brian Wilson and a potent offense led by Pablo Sandoval, Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe, NLCS MVP Cody Ross and sparkplugs Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez the Giants should repeat as NL West Champs again this year and I expect them to give the Phillies fits just like they did last year if they should meet in the postseason! New Dodger manager and former Yankee legend Don Mattingly will still have a good offense led by Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Casey Blake, and James Loney, a solid pitching staff led by Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda, and Chad Billingsley and an ok bullpen led by closer Jonathan Broxton! However I still think the Dodgers will be on the outside looking in as far as the postseason is concerned! As usual the Rockies will have their dangerous offense led by Carlos Gonzalez, Troy Tulowitzki, and Todd Helton but their downfall will be their pitching as 1 Cy Young calibur pitcher in Ubaldo Jimenez and a very shaky bullpen led by closer Huston Street will not lead to anything special for the Rocks again this year I'm afraid! If not for a monumental chokejob the Padres would've won this division last year! But with the loss of All-star slugger Adrian Gonzalez to Boston the Padres are now without that big bat in their lineup! Although they do have some good young pitchers in their rotation led by Clayton Richard and Mat Latos along with veteran pitcher Jon Garland and another very good closer in Heath Bell the Padres will struggle mightily this year mainly on offense! As for the D-Backs well they are the opposite of the Padres because they have some great young hitters in their lineup led by Mark Reynolds, Justin Upton, and Adam LaRoche! But the D-Backs down fall will be their pitching mainly because they don't even have 1 quality starter and that's how bad the D-Backs will be this year I'm afraid! Overall I expect the Philadelphia Phillies to represent the NL in the World Series this year despite the best efforts of the San Francisco Giants, Cincinnati Reds, and their division rival Atlanta Braves who will be joining the Phils in the postseason oh by the way! Well friends that concludes my 2 part MLB Preview! Hope you all enjoy this upcoming MLB Season and I will be back tomorrow night with my Final 4 predictions so until then you know the routine everybody. Thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!!

2011 MLB Preview (AL)

Hello friends! With opening day right around the corner I have decided to do a 2 part season preview starting with the American League! Just like I did on my tone blog last year I will rank each team in each division in the order that I think they will finish and then give a breif explanation as to why I say this team will win said division! Hope you all enjoy! American League East (Boston NY Yankees Tampa Bay Toronto Baltimore) Although I am a diehard Yankee fan I am actually picking the Sox to win this division! Why? Well I'll tell you! Their 2 HUGE offseason acquisitions Adrian Gonzalez from the Padres and Carl Crawford from the rival Rays, their scary good pitching staff led by Jon Lester, Josh Beckett, John Lackey, and Daisuke Matsuzaka among others, their very good bullpen, and last but not least their controversial but very good closer Jonathan Paplebon! Now don't get me wrong I still think the Yanks are going to be in the mix with their loaded offense and their fairly decent pitching staff and bullpen but my main concern is the retirement of Andy Pettitte because without him the Yanks only have 3 quality starters. (CC Sabathia, Phil Hughes, and AJ Burnett) However despite all their pitching issues I still think that the Yanks loaded lineup will be just enough to get the Yanks into the postseason but as a Wildcard team at best. Despite the fact that the Tampa Bay Rays acquired Manny Ramirez and Johnny Damon this offseason they did trade away their big bat Carlos Pena and quality starter Matt Garza to the Chicago Cubs! But despite that they still have big bats Evan Longoria and BJ Upton but with the loss of Pena and Garza I think the Rays will finish with a winning record however it won't be enough for the Rays to make the postseason sorry to say. As for the Jays well I think they'll be flirting with the postseason just like they did last year but with Boston, New York, and Tampa Bay being just too good I think that the Toronto Blue Jays will be on the outside looking in I'm afraid. As for the Baltimore Orioles well the only bright spots they have are manager Buck Showalter who led the O's to a winning record after he replaced fired manager Sam Perlozzo last year, newly acquired big bat in Vladimir Guerrero who led the Texas Rangers to their 1st ever AL Pennant and trip to the World Series, and Jake Fox who hit 10 Home Runs this Spring! However the O's will still be the O's as I see them finishing as the bottomfeeders in this division yet again. Sorry! American League Central (Minnesota Chi White Sox Detroit Cleveland Kansas City) In the AL Central I like the Minnesota Twins to win this division yet again because of their big bats Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, and Jim Thome just to name a few! Their solid pitching staff led by Carl Pavano, Francisco Liriano, Nick Blackburn, and Scott Baker and their equally loaded bullpen! The White Sox will most certainly be in the playoff race up to the very end! With the addition of star slugger Adam Dunn and fellow big bat Paul Konerko and a solid pitching staff of their own led by Jake Peavy the White Sox will most certainly give the Twinkies a fight in the AL Central! As for Detroit well despite the loss of Johnny Damon to the Tampa Bay Rays they still have embattled slugger Miguel Cabrera along with fellow slugging star Magglio Ordonez as well as a solid pitching staff led by Justin Verlander who I expect to be in the AL Cy Young race this year he's that good and Jeremy Bonderman and an ok bullpen at best. But with Minnesota and Chicago being just too good in my book I think that the Tigers will be on the outside looking in! With some very good young talent such as Carlos Santana (no not the greatest guitar player in the history of music) and wily veteran Grady Sizemore the Indians should actually be good enough to avoid the basement as I fully expect the Royals to finish in the basement after letting the only good player they even have on their team get away and that 1 good player was 2009 AL Cy Young winner Zack Grienke who was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers! Stupid move Royals! Stupid move! Enough said! American League West (Texas LA Angels Oakland Seattle) Last October the Texas Rangers shocked the baseball world by winning the American League pennant for the 1st time in the illustrious history! Now despite letting Vladimir Guerrero get away to the bottomfeeder Orioles they still have their MVP Josh Hamilton, Nelson Cruz, Michael Young, and their new slugging star Adrian Beltre who the Rangers picked up from the Boston Red Sox this offseason! Couple that with a very good pitching staff led by CJ Wilson, Colby Lewis, and Tommy Hunter along with a very good bullpen and 1 of the best young closers in the game today in Neftali Feliz I expect the Rangers to pick up right where they left off from their World Series run of last year and I would not be surprised 1 bit if they make it back to the Fall Classic again this year because they really are that good and on opening day they face the new look Boston Red Sox in what could be a potential playoff preview! The LA Angels took a major step back last year but with a solid offense led by big offseason acquisition Vernon Wells from Toronto and Howie Kendrick just to name a few along with a decent pitching staff led by Jered Weaver and a good but not great bullpen led by closer Brian Fuentes the Angels should be in the mix but I think that Texas is just too good so the Angels are out! The Oakland A's picked up Hideki Matsui from the Angels but even his big bat won't be enough to put the A's over the top in the West and as for the Seattle Mariners well they may have Ichiro and 2010 AL Cy Young Winner King Felix Hernandez but as great as those 2 are I expect the Mariners to have another down year at best I'm afraid! Overall I like the Boston Red Sox to come out of the American League this year but watch out for the New York Yankees, Minnesota Twins, and Texas Rangers as I think that those 4 teams will be the playoff teams this year and any 1 of those 4 are capable of winning the pennant this year! But I think that Boston has the best team right now and they are my early pick to represent the AL in this year's World Series! All I know is that I am looking forward to seeing how it all plays out in the very competitive, very fun, and very entertaining American League this year! Stay tuned for part 2 of my MLB Preview as I look at the National League!

TNA Victory Road 2011 Predictions

Hello friends! Without further adu here are my predictions for tomorrow night's TNA Victory Road PPV (formally Destination X)

4-Way Ultimate X Match for the TNA X-Division Championship: Kazarian vs. Jeremy Buck vs. Max Buck, vs. Robbie E

As per any TNA PPV I fully expect this to kick off the PPV because you really want to get the crowd hot and this is just the match to do so! Who wins? Well I'll tell you Generation Me is a tag team so they're out. Robbie E is a former champion and is certainly capable of winning the title again but in the end I have to go with the man who has the most experience in this match and that is Kazarian! Should be a fun and exciting opener as always!

Winner: Kazarian

Bully Ray vs. Tommy Dreamer

Needless to say I am honestly not looking forward to this match at all because in all honesty I have just about have had enough of this pointless and unnecessary angle! But since I have to pick a winner here I am going to go with Bully Ray to win this match to most likely setup the possible and hopeful blowoff for this godawful feud in the cage in someway shape or form at next month's Lockdown PPV!

Winner: Bully Ray

TNA Women's Knockout Tag Team Championship Match: Angelina Love and Winter vs. Sarita and Rosita

Lately the Knockout matches in TNA have been almost just as bad and botchridden as the diva matches in the WWE are. Anyways I expect this to be your typical ho-hum Knockout match with Sarita and Rosita capturing the belts because I expect Velvet Sky to get involved in someway and go after Winter which will lead to the title change.

Winners: Sarita and Rosita

First Blood Match: Hernandez vs. Matt Morgan

In all honesty I'm 50/50 for this match because it could be good but then again it could be a trainwreck waiting to happen. So who wins? Well I expect Hernandez to win this match because I have a feeling this feud is going to continue with the blowoff possibly coming in the cage at next month's Lockdown PPV!

Winner: Hernandez

TNA World Tag Team Championship Match: Beer Money Inc. vs Ink Inc.

This match has the potential to be a show stealer because we all know that Beer Money can work and Shannon Moore can bring it as well but my only concern is Jesse Neal but we shall see. So who wins? Wow this is actually tough to call because I have a feeling that Ink Inc. will someday win the belts and who knows maybe that someday is now! But in the end I am going to go with the more experienced team to barely retain in what could be a possible sleeper match!

Winners: Beer Money Inc.

Matt Hardy vs. AJ Styles

Should be a fairly decent match if booked right. Lately Matt Hardy has been getting the better of AJ mainly because of Ric Flair and while I expect Flair to get involved in this match I am going with the Phenomenal 1 to win this 1 and then from there I expect these 2 to be involved in the Lethal Lockdown Match at next month's Lockdown PPV and oh by the way you heard it here first when I say that it will be Team Jarrett vs. Team Angle in the Lethal Lockdown Match at Lockdown you watch!

Winner: AJ Styles

#1 Contenders Match: Mr. Anderson vs. Rob Van Dam

Now this 1 is tough to call! On the 1 hand you have Anderson who just held the belt recently against RVD who's been waiting to get a chance to regain the belt he never lost last summer when he got mauled by Abyss! So who wins? Wow this is tough but if I have to pick a winner which I do then I will go with Anderson barely because to be honest we've already seen RVD and Sting fight for the belt last year and we haven't seen Anderson and Sting matchup and in all honesty I consider that the big money World Title Match to headline the Lockdown PPV next month!

Winner: Mr. Anderson

TNA World Heavyweight Championship Match: Sting vs. Jeff Hardy

Without question this match is the easiest 1 to call! Why? Because Sting just won the belt not even 2 weeks ago and Jeff Hardy still has his legal drama hanging over him! But I will say that this will most certainly go longer than the match they had 9 days ago on Impact and so with that I expect the Stinger to retain in what should be a great match which will lead him to the big money showdown with Anderson while I expect Hardy to be a part of Team Jarrett in the Lethal Lockdown Match next month!

Winner: Sting

Overall I am not really looking forward to this PPV because to be quite honest this card is really like a bad episode of Impact waiting to happen but as they say anything can happen on any given night so we shall see!

Well friends that's all for now but I will be back on Wednesday night with my predictions for the 2011 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament as tomorrow is Selection Sunday so have those brackets ready my friends! So with that you know the routine everybody thumbs up talk to ya later! YEAH!!!