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For a guy who knows absolutely nothing about college basketball, picking the five past winners of the tournament has got to be worth something. Next year, I’m going to Vegas.

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If you have Comcast of DirectTV, you have until April 6th to watch as much baseball as humanely possible. For Comcast, the channels are up around 770-790 and you should be able to catch at the very least two more Mariners games before the free trial is over.

Of course, you could also just watch the massive marathon of Battlestar Galactica being shown on SciFi right now. Hell yeah!

Watching Brett Favre hold his press conference and talk about his retirement an hour ago wasn’t any easier than I thought it would be. Man, this sucks.

To be honest, I’m not too shocked he retired. You knew it was coming sometime soon and ever since at least two or three years ago, I’ve been trying to prepare myself for it. I really thought it was going to come last season, especially after everybody was congratulating him after his last game and he started crying and everything. I thought there was no way he’d be coming back after that. At the same time, I thought there was no way he’d not be coming back after the season the Packers just had. Go figure.

I’m just glad I got to see him play live and in person. Even though the second time kinda sucked.

Last year I wanted him to come back simply so he could prove how good he still was. I won’t lie and say I saw this past season coming, as I’m sure nobody thought Green bay would go 13-3 this year. But after the way they finished up the prior season, I honestly felt 9-7 was doable and 10-6 wasn’t that farfetched. And in the NFC, that’s easily playoff material. So having him back this past season was great. Having the Packers play the way they did was awesome. That damn Seattle playoff game was absolutely icing on the cake. Many people will say they’ll remember his poor performance against NY as his final game, but I’ll choose to cherry pick and remember that Seattle game in the snow.

He’s right though, there’s no guarantee Green Bay will be the cream of the crop again next year. The NFL is finicky like that. To be able to go out on your own and at the top of your game, no less, is something that has to be appealing to him. Nobody liked seeing Michael Jordan sucking it up in a Washington Wizards uniform. So I can understand and respect his decision to bow out now. As a fan, though, I can’t help but wish he’s lace up for another few years though

If you hate Green Bay, I can understand how all the constant media attention of Favre could be nauseating. Just thinking about them taking the same approach to a Derek Jeter or Tony Romo makes my stomach curl. But seeing as how I bleed Packer yellow (which can’t be healthy, I might want to see a doctor about that…), I’ve been loving every second of it. One thing that’s been bothering me, though, is listening to people try and rank him on the “all time” list of best QBs. To start with, that’s an almost impossible task, especially when comparing QBs from different generations. But even so, there’s a few things to keep in mind.

• As much as I love Donald Driver, Favre never had a Jerry Rice type receiver. Just look at the past receivers of his who have come out of the woodworks to talk about Favre in the past few days. Antonio Freeman? Don Beebe? Robert Brooks? Dorsey Levens? We’re not talking about perennial Pro Bowlers here and the few times they were in the Hawaii, Favre happened to be having a brilliant season. Coincidence? I think not. John Elway had Terrell Davis, Steve Young had Rice, Troy Aikman had Michael Irving and Emmitt Smith. Only Dan Marino had to work with less than Brett. Favre was one of the few QBs who could work his magic with or without great players on his offense and that should speak volumes.
• People like to point out that he holds the record for most INT’s, but when you’ve played as long as Favre and made as many attempts as he has, you’re going to throw some picks. Yes, as a fan, sometimes he’d drive you crazy with bad throws, but that was part of the Favre Package and you knew that coming into the game. Not once did the fanbase turn against him and start bemoaning that he needed to step aside (something the NY Giants fans could learn about…) and if all those interceptions were so bad, wouldn’t you think they’d be the first group of people to point out that he threw so many of them? Nolan Ryan is considered one of the best pitchers in baseball of all time, but people forget he holds the record for most walks.
• I don’t know how many other QBs in the 90s had to battle drug or alcohol addictions, but Favre not only battled and beat them both, but he had to do so while in the public spotlight. Just sayin’…

I think what I’ll miss most about Favre is simply watching him play. I dare you to name another athlete in ANY sport that plays with as much love for the game as Favre did. Watching him made me feel as if I was back in Spartanburg running BA passes with Chong or trying to score the winning touchdown by running through the rosebushes in our neighbor’s yard. He made watching football fun, almost to the point where you forgot about what a win or lose might do to the team’s record. All you cared about was seeing what other crazy ass play he could pull from nowhere and no matter how many times he made you scream out “NOOOOOOO!” in agony, he almost always single handedly redeemed himself with a miracle play here or a methodical drive there.

Brett Favre’s retirement isn’t tragic or sad or heartbreaking. It’s not something to dwell on or become depressed over. The man isn’t dead, he’s simply not going to throw a football for a living anymore. But damn if I can’t help but feel a small sense of loss over the simple fact that I’ll never get to see #4 running around a piece of grass with his helmet in one hand, his other arm stretched upright with one finger in the air, and a giant ass smile on his face.

Like I said two days ago, I miss the bastard already.

This video was played during the opening credits to a MNF game this past season, but I missed it back then since I was in Australia.

This is one of those times where excess words only get in the way. So I’ll shut up and just watch that video again.

        

All I gotta say is I hope Favre dominates retirement as much as he did the NFL for the past 16 years. Thanks for every single memory, Brett. Rock on and enjoy yourself, mate, because you’ve earned it.

Whenever I’m doing my daily morning routine, I like to have a little background noise to keep me occupied and conscious of the time. I’ve tried flipping on CNN or Good Morning America, but surprisingly I’m a bit anti-news until I get at least a pound of coffee into my system. So I stick with ESPN 2 and simply watch Mike & Mike for all my sports news and commentary, which isn’t too shabby when you consider the last time I watched an episode of Sports Center circa 2002.

But yesterday I just couldn’t stomach it anymore. The turning point came when all three of the talking heads on screen unanimously agreed that Roger Clemens wouldn’t and shouldn’t ever be allowed into the Baseball Hall of Fame now.

Wait a minute…what?!

First off, I have no love for Clemens other than my general respect for his skills. He’s never pitched an inning for my beloved Mariners and on the contrary, I can think of at least four games off the top of my head where he either knocked them out of the playoffs or utterly destroyed them in a regular game. So in baseball terms, he’s like Albert Pujols - I like to watch him play if I catch him on ESPN, but if he’s up against the M’s, he can go screw himself. Whereas Ichiro could strangle a pack of puppies on national television and I’d still think of him as nothing short of the second coming of Jesus.

So that said, how in the hell can you say he doesn’t deserve to be in the Hall of Fame now? Because of some accuasations, no matter how true they may be?! If that’s the law of the land now, then perfect, because I’d like to go ahead and say that Derek Jeter is taking steroids and has been ever since he was 5. There, now his career and reputation should be forever tarnished and ruined. Awesome.

I watched Clemens on CSPAN yesterday and yes, he appeared nervous, shifty, and pretty much gave off the general aura that he was lying / covering up. So what?! I don’t get it. So the man cheated. We’ve established the facts that A) steroids were part of baseball for many years. Not just amongst the superstars, but all the way down to the scrubs of the league. and B) MLB knew about it and turned a blind eye. So why is it that we can cherry-pick a few big names and simply destroy their reputations?

Why are we punishing these guys now for what they did in the past? It’s akin to punishing me right now for buying beer on a Sunday four years ago back in South Carolina. Technically it was against the law, but everybody else was doing it and the cops basically gave me a high five as I walked out of the store with my brew. So why should I be punished for that now? It makes no sense.

I guess this boils down to one thing: players using steroids. And you know what? I don’t give a shit.

Two of my favorite baseball seasons to date were the 2000 and 2001 years, where the Seattle Mariners were led by three main players. Ichiro Suzuki, who is probably the epitome of somebody who would never touch steroids, Edgar Martinez, one of the purest hitters of my generation, and Bret Boone, who at that point in his career was a walking syringe. Ok, I know Ichiro didn’t join Seattle until the 2001 season, but I’m trying to make a point here. What point? That baseball fans don’t give a shit about players who use steroids as long as they’re on they’re favorite team! If Seattle wins the World Series and then it’s later revealed that the only reason they were able to pull it off was because they drank the blood of unicorns, don’t expect the upper Northwest to throw up their collective arms in protest. I wouldn’t be asking how soon we could add an asterisk to the record books, but instead where I could buy some more damned unicorns at.

Some might argue that because of all the recent hullabaloo, we have stricter and tougher anti-steroid policies in place now. Fantastic! But, like most other laws, it’s a rule that shouldn’t be retroactive. What these players did was look for an advantage in a competitive environment, find it, and then have it sanctioned through the complacency of MLB bigwigs.

Others argue this entire debate should be about larger things than just the players involved, like how kids look up and emulate their heroes and how if we don’t punish them for what they did, we might be saying to the youth of today that taking steroids is okay. First off, if a kid starts taking steroids and dies because so, I don’t think the first finger we point should be at Sammy Sosa. Where the hell were his parents? Why is Sammy “raising” the kid?! What about the kid’s coach, who has daily interactions with the child and would see first hand that something is up? Why is it that we always go straight for the most recognizable and famous figure whenever a travesty is committed, even if that person only played a small role in the whole ordeal?

But what about the integrity of the game? What these players did in the 1990s and early 2000s was shatter records that had withstood the test of time and been set by players who had been competing fairly. Well to that argument, all I have to do is point to one of my favorite books, Ball Four. Players have been trying to cheat since the start of baseball! The author of one of my favorite sites on the net, USSMariner, even wrote a freaking book called The Cheater’s Guide To Baseball! What damn integrity are we trying to save here? Is it the same integrity as marriage we always hear about when gays enter the conversation? I’m starting to think it is, Jesus…

Baseball players cheated and got away with it. There’s no way to tell who cheated and who didn’t. There’s not even any accurate way to tell if somebody cheated even though we’re pretty, kinda, really, super sure that they did.

So why are we wasting our time with this again?

A-to-the-men. I still love to think back at all the conversations I had almost a year ago where people laughed at me for saying Favre shouldn’t retire. “He’s washed up!” or “He sucks now!” is all I heard for seven months. Now? Ok, so that Dallas game wasn’t pretty, but were choosing to ignore that here in the Goob household.

Ask people around Green Bay for their favorite Favre memory, and you’ll get countless anecdotes but rarely any hesitation. So many elite athletes captivate with their otherworldly physical gifts, but the common theme among the Favre highlights is the human element.

Mike McCarthy: “In ‘99, when I was quarterbacks coach, three of the first four games were comebacks in the final couple of minutes. The one that stands out was against Tampa Bay. There’s about a minute left, and we call this play where if the rush comes, Brett’s supposed to check down to the back. Of course, Tampa comes with everything they’ve got, but Brett just stands in there and throws a strike to Antonio Freeman for the winning touchdown, just as John Lynch and half the defense hits him in the jaw. On the sideline Brett’s a little woozy; he’s on oxygen; and I go up to him and say, ‘What happened to the check down?’ He says, ‘Dammit, I forgot all about that. But, hey, I made the throw.’ That’s Brett Favre in a nutshell — he’ll take the beating, but he’ll always make the throw

Brett Favre: Greatest Quarterback ever or Greatestest Quarterback ever? That’s a question for history to decide. Plus, I take it from the photo above that Favre moonlights as a super hero as well. Which means that not only is he awesome, but he has the best disguise ever. Clark Kent ain’t got nothing on Favre.

I want to get something off my chest. The baseball playoff structure is so horribly wrong, it’s bordering on ruining the game. To suddenly go from a 162 game season to a few 5 and 7-game playoff series is stretching it, but acceptable. However, when there are off days in between the games during the series, it makes it much easier for a weaker team to beat a stronger team in a fluke series. In fact, the weaker teams are actually rewarded for having a roster built with with 25% star players and 75% mediocre players. Meanwhile, the team with 100% above average players are more or less penalized.

Take for instance the 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks. Granted, the World Series that year was probably one of the most memorable rounds in the past few decades, but look at how Arizona won. They had two absolute ace pitchers in Randy Johnson and Curt Schilling, yet after those two they had nothing. Their starting rotation was awesome-awesome-crap-crap-crap. The New York Yankees were a much better and more evenly built team that year, yet thanks to the way MLB allows teams to get so much rest during the playoffs, Arizona was able to ride the hell out of their two aces and go for all or nothing. There’s no way Johnson or Schilling pitches 2 1/2 games each in a eight day span during the regular season, but in the playoffs? Sure, why the hell not.

And we’ve got more and more teams building their rosters in such a fashion to where they hope to squeak into the playoffs, because they know once they’re in, it’s all a crap shoot and they have just a good a chance as anybody. We’re moving from an era of teams building their roster to incorporate balance all around the field to an era where teams are overspending on high-priced star free agents in the hopes that they won’t start to suck any time soon. Because if they do, it’ll make the fact the rest of the roster is filled out with scrub players and kids who should still be in AAA glaringly obvious.

MLB needs to stop giving teams so much rest during the playoffs and keep the games going at a smooth, quick pace. Give all teams one days rest after the season and then play the first round of the playoffs in five straight days. One days rest after that and then have the next seven days contain the entire next round. Teams will be rewarded with extra rest if they manage to win a series in less than five or seven games and this would help keep the World Series from going into November. The NFL doesn’t give their teams extra rest during the playoffs, so why should MLB?

They’ve just played 162 games in a marathon run, so why the hell are we suddenly asking them to sprint for the finish line? It makes no sense.

You know what? I need to preface this post with a quick fact. I’m a huge Green Bay Packers fan. Love them. Live and die with them. And yet, I’ll readily admit that the NFC is beyond weak when compared to the AFC. Move Dallas or Green Bay to the AFC and I question if they would make the playoffs. That’s how much stronger the AFC is. And yet, I don’t care, because the Packers are in the NFC and that’s all that matters to me

So with that said, I want you all to know just how horribly bad the National League is. They are. Seriously. Match up any NL team with their American League counterpart and see who you’d take. From top to bottom, you’d end up taking most of the AL teams! Even the basement dwellers in the AL are better, as Tampa Bay would easily beat Pittsburgh in a seven game series, as would Kansas City beat San Fran. Looking at the middle of the pack, we’ve got Toronto versus Los Angeles. Are you kidding me? Wow. Even the two “best” teams, at Boston versus Arizona, wouldn’t be a competition.

And the NL Central needs to have their automatic playoff spot revoked until they field a team that can finish at least ten games over .500. Just looking at the standings, there are at least seven teams in the AL that would have beat the Cubs for that division and I’d bet on them against Chicago in any series. Seattle was a very average baseball team this year, yet they still finished better than any of their NL Central peers. So you might be asking how the NL has managed to win three of the past six World Series then, including the juggernaut that was the St. Louis Cardinals last year. Well, that’s for a post tomorrow morning.

But I digress…the Cubs “earned” it and so here we are. Eight teams, one month, let’s see how this plays out.

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Now this match up makes my life hard, for if these two teams were playing either of the other two NL playoff teams, I’d have them both win and meet in the NLCS. But that’s not how the cards fell and as such, we have my two favorite playoff teams squaring off in the first round. You’ve probably heard about the Colorado Rockies by now and how they won 14 of their last 15 games to get into the playoffs. Talk about getting hot at the right time. Their offense is rock freaking solid, led by MVP candidate Matt Holliday. In fact, the Rockies have very few weaknesses when it comes to their offense as they can all hit from top to bottom. Their pitching, however, is….Christ. Half of their pitching staff wouldn’t even be on most other major league ball clubs, but thanks to injuries, they’re now part of a playoff team.

The Philadelphia Phillies, on the other hand, easily have the best offense in the NL right now. Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Aaron Rowand, and Pat Burrell are absolute beasts. Their pitching staff is probably the second worst of any playoff team right now, which is the only reason this is going to be a fairly even series. Cole Hamels is a stud, however, and some might remember Jaime Moyer from his days in Seattle. Yep, my favorite pitcher alive is still playing baseball folks and he’s still effective as ever - as long as he isn’t pitching in Denver.

Both teams have semi-effective bullpens, so the later the game goes, the better it gets for whichever team is currently leading. But much as I love Colorado’s story and rooting for the underdog of all underdogs, I think Philadelphia will pull this off in five as Hamels is needed to win two games. I will say this, though - if Colorado manages to win, they’ll win it all. But, like I said, I just don’t see them outslugging the Phillies.

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Talk about a match up between two “eh, whatever” teams. First off, what Arizona was able to accomplish this year was nothing short of astounding. Winning while rebuilding with young kids is something you’ll rarely see. That said, if you look at their roster and think to yourself “who the hell are these guys?” - well, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Beyond Eric Byrnes, you most likely will have never heard of many of their young players, but don’t let that fool you. These boys can play. Led by their ace Brandon Webb, their starting pitching is a bit suspect after him, but luckily for Arizona they’ve got a solid bullpen.

On the flip side, we’ve got Chicago, which I honestly don’t think is all that great. They’ve got the best starting pitching of the four NL teams, led by Carlos Zambrano, so that’s a plus. They also have a pretty solid bullpen, though unfortunately, their closer is about as effective as my iPod at finishing off a baseball game. Chicago’s offense is a bit overrated, since Derrek Lee, Jacque Jones, and Cliff Floyd aren’t what they used to be thanks in part to either old age or nagging injuries. Still, they do have Alfonso Soriano and Aramis Ramirez, both of which have been quite effective as of late.

If Chicago can keep Byrnes and Chris Young contained, Zambrano doesn’t implode, and they make sure to pick up at least one of the games where Lilly or Hill start, I think they should win this. Arizona just needs too many things to go their way in order to pull this off, so I’ll call Cubs in five.

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The Cubs just don’t have the offense to stay in this, which is odd for me to say because I absolutely believe that pitching wins postseason baseball. Yes, the Cubs have better pitching, but I think this is the series where Zambrano might collapse, giving Philadelphia a victory in both games he pitches in. And remember, I think Philly will need Hammels to pitch twice in the Division Series, so that means he’ll be going up against either Lilly or Hill. And while they’ve both been effective this year, Hammels is by far one of the best young pitchers in baseball, right up there with Felix Hernandez. Moyer will win twice to redeem his performance in the DS, Hammels picks up at least one victory, Chase Utley and Ryan Howard make themselves household names across the nation, and the Phillies win in six.

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Oh boy. Much has already been said about the New York Yankees’ offense battleship. Yes, they can hit the ball. Take your pick, from Alex Rodriguez to Hideki Matsui to Jorge Posada to Bobby Abreu to… you get the point. Scoring runs won’t be their problem. Their pitching, however, well… They’ve got Chien-Ming Wang and Andy Pettitte, two very good starters. And they’ve got Roger Clemens waiting in the wings, who we all know and hate. The thing about this team is that their pitching is either wretched or brilliant. After Wang and Pettitte, every pitcher on their roster seems to randomly guess each day if they want to be lights out or lob softballs over the plate. Of course, they do have Mariano Rivera as their closer, by far the best closer in playoff history. But he’s been hittable as of late and while still great, he’s not the dominant force he once was.

And like I will post about tomorrow with teams being built for the playoffs, Cleveland is such a team. Their two top starters in C.C. Sabathia and Fausto Carmona are beasts and they can easily ride them to victory. Their #3 starter in Jake Westbrook isn’t too shabby either and will be an effective starter come Game 3. Their offense is pretty solid, despite the down year had by their main slugger Travis Hafner. Grady Sizemore is their leadoff hitter and one of the true 5-tool players in the game today. He can hit for average, power, steal a base, plays stellar defense, and has a rocket of an arm. Victor Martinez and Ryan Garko anchor the middle of the lineup and both are good hitters for average with some pop in their bats. Their bullpen has a mix of situational-relievers and high powered arms, so if there’s one main weakness on this team, it’s getting mismatched against a certain Yankees hitter and having to pay dearly for it.

I see New York picking up the first game with Cleveland taking the second. Clemens will get hammered in his start back in New York and then Sabathia will outduel Wang in a Game 1 rematch, giving Cleveland the win in four games.

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Boston is known for their high-powered offense and pitching. Led by David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez, their offense most certainly is formidable. But they aren’t the only two big bats, as Mike Lowell and Kevin Youkilis quietly put together very solid seasons. In fact, from top to bottom, this isn’t a bad hitting team at all and any pitcher who starts to throw junk to the bottom of the lineup will quickly learn to regret it. Their pitching staff is led by the Big Three: Josh Beckett, Curt Schilling, and Dice-K, all of whom have been dominant at times. Beckett is in the running for the Cy Young, Schilling has been great since coming off the DL, and Dice-K has shown flashes of brilliance this season. Their bullpen is rock solid as well, from Timlin to Okajima to Papelbon. And their defense was ranked second in the AL, so they don’t stand much of a chance of beating themselves.

On the other side of the field, we have the Angels, led offensively by Vlad Guerrero, Orlando Cabrera, and Chone Figgins. The bottom of their line-up is a bit rough to watch at times, but their young players at the bottom of the lineup do have some gap power. In fact, much of the lineup is good at stringing together a few doubles in a row, which can quickly add a few runs on the board. Their pitching isn’t quite on par with Boston’s, but it’s no chop liver. Led by the amazingly underrated John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar, they also have Jered Weaver in the #3 spot. Their bullpen isn’t what it used to be, but their closer Francisco Rodriguez is just as good as Papelbon and they have a few quality arms to bridge the gap from their starters to K-Rod.

The obvious pick here is Boston. They are slightly better in every category, from pitching to hitting to bullpens to defense. But notice I said “slightly.” There isn’t one category that they absolutely dominate in, other than maybe defense. Lackey is beatable in Fenway, where Game 1 happens to be played and Boston should win with Schilling on the mound in Game 2, but I could see Anaheim stealing the third game in which Dice-K pitches and then picking up Game 4 with Lackey back on the mound in Anaheim. That’d set up a Game 5 in Boston and I think Escobar could pull it off, giving the Angels a surprise victory in five.

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Wow, I didn’t expect this. Had Boston played Cleveland and New York player Anaheim, I probably would have a Red Sox-Yankees matchup here. But seeing as how I have an Angels-Indians series here, that just goes to show how certain teams match up well against others. Since I see Cleveland winning in four games and Anaheim going five games, I think Cleveland will be much better off in terms of getting their pitching in order. Carmona will be able to pitch and win Game 1 for Cleveland before Lackey comes back to help win Game 2 for Anaheim. Escobar and Vlad power together to win Game 3, but Cleveland bounces back and picks up Games 4 & 5. The Angels tie things up in Game 6, but Cleveland seals the deal and wins in seven.

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No way I thought either of these teams made the World Series back in March. I said it earlier and frankly I have no idea how this will shakedown, but I stand by my earlier prediction. Jamie Moyer finally get a ring and retires, Indian fans rejoice that their team is still young and will be competing for many years to come, the city of Philadelphia finally catches a break with one of their sports teams, and Philly pull of the huge victory and win in six games.

What makes this even more interesting is how despite being from the NL, I see the Phillies winning. The Indians will simply be too beat up to pull this thing off, thanks to their much stiffer competition and the Phillies healthy dose of luck. Such is the crazy world of baseball.

Hey there. What’s up? Cool, cool. Me? Oh, I’m doing fine. Life’s well, I just ate some cookies, and OH MY CHRIST DID YOU JUST SEE THAT BASEBALL GAME?! Thirteen freaking innings and the Rockies had to score three runs to win it!

Matt Holliday clinched the Batting Title, RBI Title, MVP, and sent his team to the playoffs. All in one at bat.

Like I said yesterday, I think the Phillies are gonna win it all. But dear Lord, only a fool would gamble against Colorado at this point.