The Greatest Moments in Dublin Hurricanes history

Actually not that long to the Irish baseball season...

The Greatest Moment in Dublin Hurricanes history

1. Divito goes yard
2. 18-3
3. Andy Martin's game winning knock
4. Gordon Ireland's 2002 Triple Crown season
5. 'I ja-kneew dey were going to do dat!'
6. TK gets strangled
7. Vegas Valkys goes yard - Croydon 2005
8. Andy Martin's sensational, silver slugger 2004 season
9. The legend of Spencer Grace
10. Gordon Ireland's final at bat as a Hurricane


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Sporting dream analysis

I have a lot of dreams about sports. Invariably it’s about throwing something, but it is too heavy and doesn’t go very far, or, it turns into some unusual object, for example, traffic cones. What’s it all about? Dream analysis websites are a dime a dozen, some are better than others, but there are literally thousands out there. Personally I am not a fan of horoscopes and what not, but when it comes to dreams, I will make a little allowance for some less than scientific meandering thinking. Here are a few sports dreams that people might have, linked to the people that might be having them!

Dream: You dream that several large and fast men dressed in black and gold are constantly sprinting at you and attacking you, often after you have already thrown the white flag.
Analysis: You are Peyton Manning. Or maybe Brett Favre.

Dream: You have this recurring dream where you are playing that game on a kitchen table where you are trying to flick a coin through two salt shakers posing as goal posts. You miss constantly.
Analysis: You are Norv Turner.

Dream: There is a queue of hot busty Caucasian blondes and you are handing each a large cheque
Analysis: You are Tiger Woods

Dream: You have this dream where you are in a court room and no one believes you but you just pay them all off and everything is okay in the end, in fact, all of America ends up loving and deifying you again!
Analysis: You are Kobe Bryant

Dream: You have this crazy dream where the City is being attacked by Godzilla and you arrive in a cape to save the day, all you have to do is catch a football packed with explosives, hold it while a kicker kicks it at Godzilla, exploding him. You fumble the ball, Godzilla destroys the city.
Analysis: You are Tony Romo


Dream: There’s this dream you have where you are in South Africa attending some kind of major event but the entire time you are there there’s a football glued to the palm of your hand, making social interaction clumsy and awkward
Analysis: You are, yes, Thierry Henry


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NFL advances Saints to Superbowl.

First things first, I was rooting for the Saints all the way, both emotionally and financially, a little pre-season wager on them at 14-1 sealed that particular deal. However, having watched last nights game, it's pretty clear the NFL was only going to allow one team to advance to the Superbowl, and it wasn't the Vikings.

If I am a Vikings fan, I am absolutely furious today.

Where to start? The numerous late and illegal hits on Brett Farve? The complete joke of a phantom interference call late in the game? The reception that wasn't, where the ball hit the turf but the review officials laughably let the catch stand?

When it is all said and done, when the bets have been settled and when the partying starts, no one wants to hear 'hey, there were some issues with that win' - but the fact of the matter is the NFL should be forced to answer some serious questions on last night's game, in officiating terms.

Again, I repeat, I had no interest in the Vikings winning, I was actively rooting for the Saints. However, you can only call it how you see it, and that game was, frankly, a joke.

The completely phantom pass interference call where the Saints receiver wasn't touched, and the ball wasn't even catchable, sustained a vital drive. The play where the ball clearly hit the turf but the 'catch' was upheld by review is more serious perhaps as several people had to 'pass' that incident, when they must have seen the ball clearly hit the ground.

Was this game 'clean' at all, is the question.

Most worryingly at all, in an age where the NFL has gone out of its way, correctly so in my opinion, to protect the QB, the referees in this game basically let the Saints do whatever they wanted to Farve. Watching the highlights after the game I counted at least five seriously dubious hits on Farve, well after the ball has left his hand.

Throw the flag, right? Wrong. Disgusting low hit, no flag.

Worst of all was a late hit where one Saint went high and the other went low, illegally, below the knees.

How do those officials not make any of those calls?

Farve took an absolute pounding, an illegal on too. My respect for the man has quadrupled over night, he took his beating and still almost pulled out a dramatic win on the road.

This tough guy can come back as often as he wants as far as I am concerned.

Having said that, it looks clear to me that the NFL was never actually going to allow the Vikings to win that game, no matter how tough Farve and his crew played.

Doubt me? Watch the highlights.

That game has a distinct pungent smell of a dubious nature.


Go Saints?

Whatever. Doesn't feel right after that joke.


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The Boston Irish 'ESPN Streak for the cash' group

Any of you Chug Monkeys play ESPN's game, ESPN Steak for the cash?

We at Boston Irish became addicts over the last few months. The concept is so simple. The ESPN streak buster supreme sets about a dozen games a day from a wide variety of sports, and you basically have to pick a team and hope it wins or covers whatever the streak offers. Once the game you pick is completed, you can go ahead and pick another.

We at Boston Irish are currently riding a reasonably decent 7 game winning streak.


We created a group you can join in, the game is set up so that stats are refreshed monthly, so it doesn't matter when you join.

• Group: The Boston Irish Streak
• Password: bostonirish

It's free to play and, bonus, you can win monthly prizes of $100,000 for the longest streak and $2,500 for the most wins in a month.

Probably looks 'vanilla' at first glance, but let me assure you, this game becomes completely addictive. You end up thinking to yourself frequently 'I wonder if I completed my streak pick today'. You also end up watching some pretty obscure US College games, either on TV or online, with perhaps a decent winning streak on the line.

Another nice little feature - if you have an iTouch or an iPhone you can download a free 'ESPN the streak' app, and play the game sitting on the sofa without a laptop or PC in sight.

Once you get fully engrossed in the game, there are so many enjoyable aspects to it. Once thing that is absolutely fascinating is the number of times you will have 95% of players or higher picking a 'certainty' and, that same certainty losing, or not covering, or whatever the Streak Buster team sets. There are thousands upon thousands playing every night so if you see 99.1% picking whoever against whatever that represents thousands of people, but you still have to think to yourself, 'Is this really as nailed on as it looks?' The Streak Buster, whoever he or she is, appears to be very good at picking 'banana peel' games.

The game is also beautifully laid out and chock-full of statistics and lists of your previous months picks.

It also has a really interesting section on your pick breakdown in a sport-by-sport representation. What does this tell us? Well, apparently, if the below is anything to go by, I know my stuff when it comes to Soccer however, NBA, not so much!



At first glance you might think, 'meh, whatever' - however if you like sports, and if you like the concept of building a streak of winning picks, then this is a superb little enjoyable waste of time. Give it a try, you might end up wondering if Penn State are going to beat Indiana by single or double digits on a Thursday night. Best part? If you are wrong, it won't cost you a dime!

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Irish Baseball: Coach Development Clinic Dublin

Coach Development Clinic Dublin 22nd to 24th January 2010

International Sports Group will be running a series of clinics over the weekend of 23rd January. The clinics will be run by Tom O'Connell the Vice President of International Sports Group, Charlie Greene who is presently a coach for the Milwaukee Brewers and Rick Steen MLBI Envoy and the former coach of the Irish National Baseball Team. We are very pleased to have such experienced Baseball professionals work with our own domestic coaches.
This is great opportunity for all Coaches, Managers and players to upskill and learn from those who have been there and done it.

The Clinics will take place at Larkin Community College, Champions Avenue Cathal Brugha Street Dublin 1. The clinic times are as follows:

• Friday 19.30-2100
• Saturday 10.00 -16.30
• Sunday 10.00-16.30

In order to register for the clinic please contact Will Beglane



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U-G-L-Y! I dub thee: Jets

Okay okay okay hang on a second here. Let's get a grip and gain some perspective on this whole Jets thing that's going on at the moment. We are seeing one to many 'The Jets are in the AFC Championships because they...'

A: Believed in themselves
B: Are awesome
C: have a wonderful, colourful head coach
D: Have an awesome Quarterback

Well wait here now just one second.

There are a couple of factors that led to a horribly one dimensional team like the Jets making the playoffs, we will get to those in a second, but first of all, what on earth is the deal here, how are people falling for this lot?

They have no discernible likable qualities at all. They are brash, arrogant, their coach is an idiot of village idiot proportions. They have talked more trash than any team in the NFL, yes even more than Dallas. Their offence consists of running the ball 50 times right up the middle with 5 play action passes thrown in for good measure. Several of their players called their early season meeting with New England their '(our) Superbowl'.

The second Jets 'Superbowl' didn't go quite to plan..

They are a pack of loud mouth, trash talking clowns who have found a backdoor into the AFC Championship.

Thankfully we won't have to put up with them for too long, the Colts will dismantle them on the weekend and Rex Ryan can go back to doing what he does best, which is crying over a stack of Cheeseburgers as he waits for his stack of pancakes to be ready. Extra maple syrup, please.

How did we get to this ugly situation? Ugly? yes, U-G-L-Y. Watching the Jets play is akin to watching a multi car pile up on the highway.

Let's go over the Jets last four games. They played the Colts in week 16, the Colts had a lead and then pulled their starters with a half to go, the Jets came back and snuck past them for the win. Week 17? The Bengals did the same, resting starters and not showing up at all. Thanks to other teams losing and everything falling into place, the Jets snuck into the Wild Card seedings. Their first round opponent? The completely anemic Bengals, who once again rolled over and died dutifully.

Second round, the Jets found the perfect situation again, an oddly nervous Chargers team that hasn't been able to stop the run all season and had no interest in doing so Sunday evening.

Now for the Colts, the first real road-block in the Jets way to their second Superbowl this season.

So confident, am I, that the Colts are going to whip the Jets, that if the Rex Ryan 11 actually do win, I will go into the City and buy one of those gaudy, horrific, tasteless 'Urban' Yankees hooded sweatshirts and wear it for one entire week. Those of you who are regular readers know how much personal pain and stress this would cause. Many of you would find this hilarious, and will probably be now rooting for the Jets with added zeal.

Well, game on, my friends, game on!


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Early AFC and NFC Championship predictions

AFC Championship NY Jets @ Indianapolis
‘There’s this guy I know’ – how often does a conversation about gambling start like that? There is actually this guy I know, Brian, off my football team, that has a few hard earned bucks on the Jets at a whopping 50-1 to win the Superbowl. I can see his point, anything can happen now at this stage, however I will still be stunned if he collects. Nice bet though. The key to this game looks simple enough, if the Colts can keep Peyton Manning off the floor they should beat the Jets easily enough. Phillip Rivers looked like he was ready to rip the Jets to shreds with long passing plays until the Jets dialed up numerous exotic looking blitzes and the Chargers offensive line basically crumbled. If the Colts can buy Manning time in the pocket, he will simply pick the jets to pieces. It is one thing to come back from 0-7 down against the Chargers, quite another for the anemic Jets offence to come back from a couple of scores in Indianapolis.

Just imagine the Chargers kicker, with his head swimming in an enormous over sized helmet, hadn’t missed two kicks, do you really think the Jets could have come back from 13-0 down? Me neither.

Did you see how crazy they went when they eventually scored? That’s because it doesn’t happen often! Before we all start putting Mark Sanchez in the Hall of Fame, just remember he has thrown six interceptions in ONE single game this year, and that the entire Jets game plan is set up so he doesn’t have to throw more than 15 times.

Prediction: Indianapolis destroys the Jets 34-13

NFC Championship Vikings @ Saints
You know what, there really does look like there might be something wrong with Adrian Peterson!

Personally I thought he had been over looked in the build up to the showdown with the wildly over hyped Cowboys. As it turned out, he was hardly a factor at all and in fact Chester Taylor, the Vikings back up running back, ran with more effect. Nevertheless, the powerful and motivated Vikings ‘D’ absolutely de-pantsed the awful Cowboys, and once again millions of pundits crowned Tony Romo too soon.

The way he fell apart in front of that Vikings pass rush was nothing but comical. All week long we were told over and over that Romo belongs in the elite. Well, just yet another little bit of evidence to the contrary.

Did you notice how often Dallas celebrated individual achievements last night? Defenders making a tackle they are paid to make, hopping up and breaking into some pre-rehearsed dance routine, receivers talking trash to the Vikings defenders after every single catch.

Dallas are a pack of loud-mouth, showboating clowns who got exactly what was coming to them, and it is amazing that anyone thought they were going to to into the Vikings home domain against that ‘D’ and come out with anything but an absolute shellacking.

Thing is, now the Vikings have to take on the role of Dallas, and try and come out of New Orleans with a win against their swarming ‘D’ and vociferous crowd. Then there is Drew Brees and his veritable Arsenal of weapons at his disposable. How many decent running backs can new Orleans throw at a team? Five? Seven? They seem to have an endless supply of them, all with their own traits and abilities.

Bush was superb against Arizona, but so were Colston and Shockey.

On the other hand, New Orleans can keep an eye on Peterson and Taylor, while keying in on Rice in the backfield. The Vikings just do not have the firepower that the Saints possess. That’s not a knock on them at all, hardly anyone does!

Prediction: Just too many weapons for Drew Brees to use. Vikings hang in there gallantly but can’t keep up in the fourth quarter. New Orleans wins 34-26.



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Weekend slice of tasty pie: Barcelona to anihilate Sevilla

Barcelona v Sevilla
(Saturday, 9pm, Sky Sports 3)

• Tasty pie slices: 0-0 so far
• Slice of tasty pie: Barcelona ht/ft (about 5/4 with most)
  
• Why is this pie so tasty?: Because...

...well, without Freddy Adu, that's straight forward enough. Consider if you will the following. Sevilla may have basically snuck past Barcelona 'B' in the Spanish Cup, but in doing so they perhaps awoke a sleeping Giant. Sevilla have had a horrific few weeks in La Liga, dropping three in a row, and the last time these two met in the league? How about a 4-0 demolition job by Barce?

Look for Barcelona to jump out to an early lead in front of a vociferous home crowd, and seal the deal with a couple either side of half time.




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Thoughts on Mark McGwire

Finally, Mark McGwire comes clean, and suddenly he appears human again. His confession has unleashed a forceful deluge of questions and comments from the baseball peanut gallery. So much to talk about and so little time, assuming this story lasts about, oh, a week or so.

First up, isn't it absolutely amazing that Jose Canseco is coming out of this smelling of roses? Remember, it was Canseco who claimed years ago that he actually injected McGwire in the ass-cheek with a steroid, something which most of the pundits scoffed at and rejected out of hand. Hey, it turns out Canseco was telling the truth all along, who knew? The voice of truth and reason, Jose Canseco!!

Secondly, a worrying potential fallout from this could be a massive increase in google searches containing variations on the phrase 'What steroids did Mark McGwire use and how do I get my sweaty little palms on them?'

McGwire - happier times!

Let’s face it, there are plenty of young, greedy, money hungry idiots out there who will see McGwire's confession as nothing more than solid evidence that steroids work. Big Mac's transformation was shocking. Already a pretty decent slugger, he broke out in 1995 with 39 home runs in 317 at-bats, a mind boggling rate of one homer for every 8.1 at-bats. The following year he launched 52 homers in 423 at-bats, a rate of 1 every 7.1 at-bats. That was the start of a four-year run in which he hit 245 home runs in 1,993 at-bats, an average of 1 every 8.1 at-bats. Stunning statistics.

Do you really think everybody is going to be able to ignore the temptation to try what McGwire did in an effort to sneak in the backdoor? The only answer? Increased steroid testing in Minor League Baseball. Hopefully somebody in the association is thinking along these lines. Otherwise, the danger is that a wave of young players will try the McGwire 'method' and make it through the lower stages, Single-A, Double-A all the way up to the Majors, where thanks to more stringent testing measures they will have to give up the 'roids and subsequently become mere mortals.

The knock on effect? Billions of dollars wasted on high draft picks that look absolutely incredible, until they reach the Majors and someone sticks a pin in their balloon in the form of superior steroid testing measures.

Just be prepared for the stream of effectively useless, million dollar draft picks in 5-6 years time unless Major League Baseball comes out strong on this one.


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Reverse the Karma. Reverse it, now!

If you are reading this on Facebook, click here to read the fully formatted, extra sexafied version (videos/pics etc on this post won't show on facebook).

Okay, okay okay.

As New England sports fans we have to take action, and take it now. No procrastinating, do it, and do it now. These are dark times. Dark, painful times. The gut-wrenching ALCS against Tampa in '08. The flaccid exit against the Angels last year. Brady's knee. The Patriots stomach-punch loss in the Superbowl. The inexplicable loss to a violently mediocre Baltimore team last night.

Something, my dear Watson, is up.

In times like this it is easy to lash out and lay the blame on other people, or unusual circumstances, or whatever. That's lazy thinking, you have to take a look at yourself and see what you can do to reverse the situation. In this case, it is blatantly obvious. The Sports Karma Gods are not angry at the Patriots or the Red Sox. They are not angry at Johnny Lester, Randy Moss or Vinnie Wilfork.

They are angry at me and you, the average, Joe-Punter, man on the street New England Sports fans. And they are punishing us.

Why?

Top of my head answer, a few years of arrogance, a few years of complacency and self righteousness, plus we are all guilty of making fun of lesser opponents, you know, since the Patriots and Red Sox started kicking ass and taking names.

We have been wallowing in our success and we are all to blame for the Sports Karma Gods exacting a painful and prolonged toll on the New England sports fan base worldwide.

It is time to act. We need to reverse this trend. The sooner we act the sooner we can go back to enjoying The Patriots and Sox enjoying some success. To this end, New England Sports fans need to wake up tomorrow determined to address the imbalance of Karma in our sporting lives. Below is a list of suggestions toward that goal.

Reverse the Karma!


Commiserate with a Phillies fan.
This act alone could push us all over the top and back to Karmic balance of some sorts. The most negative fan base in the entire universe, the Phillies fans are currently coming to terms with their own failures, in the most recent World Series. Helping them deal with their angst and pain is the kind of act that can only help New England Sports Nation gobble up the Karma points.

Avoid the teachings of one young Daniel Shaughnessy.
On no account should you read anything written by Dan Shaughnessy. Ever. The man is pure poison. You know they say some people are 'glass half empty'? Shaughnessy empties the glass, stamps on it, picks up the pieces and throws them off a fifty foot building. If you are ever on the fence about suicide, just lock yourself in a room with a cyanide tablet and 500 pages of Shaughnessy and, well, let's just say the job will get done. Shaughnessy is one of the few New Englanders that actually enjoyed yesterdays game.

Be nice to someone from New York.
Oh God this one could hurt, but, just think of the return to Karmic balance and that should get you through this act. Befriend a random New Yorker. At first they will maintain a certain wary distance, but just drop in a few lines like 'I always liked Derek Jeter' and 'hey, the Knicks are really starting to show a few signs of life!' and they will be eating our of your palm in minutes.

Make jokes with the Schadenfreude people.
There are a certain element of idiots out there who, rather than just enjoy watching NFL games, go out of their way to adopt teams where they celebrate when they lose. Generally these are sad little people with no lives who get off on other peoples disappointment more so than anything positive going on in their lives. It is remarkably easy to turn the tables on these fart-knockers. When they make fun of the Sox or Patriots, make jokes with them! This completely handcuffs them and they are left with a blank look of frustration and little else.

Root for a few underdogs.
This never hurts. Adopt an underdog in every tournament you watch in the next few months. if you are strong enough mentally, adopt the Jets as a Superbowl team. Yes, I know, terrifically hard to do, I doubt I have the mental fortitude to root for Rex 'Where the fuck is my cheeseburger' Ryan, but there may be some brave souls out there up to the task.

Do not boo at the home team. Ever.
Just, don't do it.

Finally, the most confusing thing I will say to you all day. Take some enjoyment from the bad times. Find something to think about from the recent losses. I either heard this as a quote from Buddha or out of a fortune cookie, can't remember which, but the basic theory is; ''Hardships are necessary for you to be patient and to gain strength''. The Red Sox are the best example here. That 2004 ALCS and subsequent World Series win felt good, real good. It did so for a reason, namely the years of barren, trophy less ineptitude that went before the final act. Without those years of abject baseball misery, the '04 Series win simply would not have tasted so bloody good.

If all else fails, open up a good Christmas Claret (Thanks, Dad), put on some beautiful music and remember the Patriots are absolutely stacked with high draft picks and have a pretty decent team already, and the Red Sox are jam packed with superstar young talent and set to overtake the ageing, free-agent heavy Yankees any season soon. Plus, Johnny P is angry. Like, real angry. Good times not too far ahead.



The start is a bit jaunty, however from the 3:00 minute mark on it takes off, I would love to know what a Classical music guru thought of this section. Would this stand up at all? Maybe not, but hey, I like it.




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The Rex Ryan effect.

Where does that fat slob Rex Ryan, the New York jets coach, get off making sweeping, erroneous and baseless statements like the below?

"We're dangerous. You have to be able to run the football this time of year, and you have to be able to play defense, and we can do that better than any team in the league''

He should be fined three weeks worth of cheeseburgers for saying that.

Someone get me a Cheeseburge!

Better than any team in the league?

Was that the case when they were blown out 31-14 in New England? How about when the awful Jaguars beat them 24-22? Best defence in the league? Is that why the Dolphins beat them 30-25, or 31-27? Goodness, the self appointed 'best defence' in the NFL got swept by the ordinary Dolphins squad, really? The other losses, to New Orleans, Buffalo and Atlanta, bring the pathetic Jets loss total to 7. The best defence in the league goes 9-7? Really?

Somewhere the '85 Bears are spitting on the ground derisively.

Rex Ryan and his Jets are a grander collection of chumps than you will find anywhere else in the NFL.

They snuck, crept, squeaked in the very most back door to the NFL playoffs because the Colts and Bengals rested their starters in the last two weeks of the season. Barring that the insufferable Jets would be sitting at home watching.

Best defence in the league? Seriously Res Ryan, do everyone a favour and stick a Bacon Double Cheeseburger in your mouth.

We know you want to.

U.S. and Japan in talks over Global World Series: Next logical step - World Baseball Club Championship!!

File this under potentially sensational.

A Japanese media entity is reporting that the Champions of Japan and the Champions of the USA could meet in a special annual ‘Global World Series’ – but why have it just Japan and USA? Why not open the field to all clubs in organized baseball leagues? For regular readers of Boston Irish this brings slightly closer to life the dream of a ‘Champions League’ of Club Baseball, as we suggested a long time ago.

How would the World Baseball Club Championship work? Easy!

In England they have a great competition that runs during the normal football season called the FA Cup (FA stands for Football Association). When I say football, by the by, I mean the football that 98% of the Worlds population understands as football. Not the football that the St Louis Rams attempt to play on Sundays, failing miserably at.

Disclaimer: I love the NFL, my IQ drops about twenty seven points every Sunday at around 5:54 pm during NFL season just from the over excitement of the abundance of games about to happen. I am just saying, most of the world calls football, well, football, and NFL is 'American Football'. Most United States based readers just don't understand this, in the same was as they think Manchester United is a unifying political movement in the UK.

Anyway, back to the wonderful English ritual that is the FA Cup. Every season the FA Cup brings some of the most dramatic, enjoyable and romantic games of the season. 'Romantic? How so?' I hear you say.

Glad you asked.

In the FA Cup, any club side in England can enter. Yes, you heard that right. Any club side in England can enter, be it a semi professional Sunday league side that gets crowds of seventy people and nine dogs or Manchester United PLC (where business comes first), the pride of the Far East (everyone who actually lives in Manchester supports Manchester City).

The competition starts early in the season with knockout rounds played out all over England for a chance to enter the third round, which is actually roughly the seventy fifth round when all is said and done. Tiny Clubs kick the living crap out of each other for a chance to play against the big boys. Then it happens. With the arrival of the third round, normally late in the winter, the big clubs are entered in the draw.

This leads to those magical moments when the fans of 'Little tiny town in England FC' find out they have just been drawn against Liverpool in the third round of the FA Cup. Every now and then, the FA Cup then makes a mockery of money, power and history as invariably one of the little guys knocks one of the big guys out.

Most recently, in fact just last week, Leeds United, two whole leagues below their opponents, sensationally knocked Manchester United, the team, not the political party, out of the FA Cup in the third round. It was the first time United had bowed out of the tournament that early since the 1980s.

In 2003 little tiny Shrewsbury Town then of Division Three actually knocked Everton of the Premiere League out, something they will celebrate in Shrewsbury until, well, the end of time probably.

It's not only the start of the tournament that lends itself to upset results. In 1973 Sunderland, then a Division Two side, somehow made it all the way to the FA Cup Final (how they snuck past Arsenal in the semi final no one will ever know) only to face one of the great powerhouse teams of the time and actual FA Cup holders, Leeds United. Amazingly, Sunderland took the lead and held on to win 1-0 thanks to one of the greatest displays of goalkeeping in modern football history. Some people think the incredible double save Jim Montgomery pulled off to deny Peter Lorimer may have been the best save ever.

Here's the thing. Let's face it, The World Baseball Championship is going to take some time to grab the attention of the United States. The rest of the World love it, but the US media at best semi ignore it (come on admit it, they did) and at worst didn't watch one inning.

The WBC is scheduled to be held every four years, so how about holding this every other year?

The World Baseball Club Championship

Just imagine it. Every single Baseball Club in the World is allowed enter. In the early stages the little clubs battle it out for the right to face the big boys later on, when they are unleashed into the knockout tournament.

I would imagine the big guns would come in around round twenty four, which is when the US media would suddenly perk up. Round twenty four, or, 'The final 128' as it would become lovingly known would see the addition of all the Major League Clubs plus the top clubs in the Nippon Professional Baseball league along with the biggest clubs in South America, the Caribbean and yes, Cuba (What round did Cuba get knocked out in during the WBC, someone remind me, was it before or after the USA?).

Just imagine the drama during the draw held live as a glossy red carpet event. The Major League teams, the Nippon Professional Baseball league teams and all the other Clubs in the same drum like container waiting to be drawn. Imagine the gasp of air as the organisers took a ball out, cracked it open and read the little slip of paper inside..

'The New York Yankees...will play...(crack - another ball opened, another slip of paper read)..the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters''

That's not even a great example. Imagine this scenario. The organisers take a ball out of the drum crack it open and read the little slip of paper inside..

'Neptunus of Rotterdam...will play...(crack - another ball opened, another slip of paper read).. The Kansas City Royals''

First of all, imagine the panic in the Royals front office. Picture the Royals representative at the draw, his face drawn of all blood, diving down to his laptop and googling (when is this actually becoming a verb?) frantically ''Neptunus of Rotterdam'' and the subsequent phone call to his or her boss..

''Hey, Mr Moore, hi, yes, having a great time, hey so we drew Neptunus of Rotterdam. What, no, I am not kidding. I don't know Mr Moore, I think it's in Belgium, maybe''

The rules are you are the home team if you are drawn first so imagine the absolute glee of the officials from Neptunus of Rotterdam as they realise they will be hosting a Major League Club in their comparatively tiny stadium for the right to go to the last 64 best teams in Club Baseball - in the World. Imagine also the panic in the Royals front office as they consider life after the potential of being knocked out in Holland.

The funny thing is, it could actually be possible. You scoff at baseball in Europe? The Netherlands boasts the most successful national baseball team in Europe, winning the European Baseball Championship nineteen times and frequently representing the continent in international competitions (World Baseball Classic, the Olympics and the Baseball World Cup). There is a domestic professional baseball league whose best team is indeed Neptunus of Rotterdam, and they regularly contends for the European club championship, including five consecutive titles from 2000-2004.

On top of all that, if you happen to be in the States and happen to be thinking 'Oh come on, no Club outside the Majors could beat a MLB Club'. That's the thinking that got the United States knocked out of the World Baseball Classic before the playoff/knockout rounds.

That's the thing. That's the beauty of the FA Cup and of the imaginary 'World Baseball Club Championship'. Anything and I mean anything can happen. Imagine if you will the starter for Neptunus of Rotterdam simply pitching the game of his life. The drama in the stadium and on 'ESPN Europe' as the last Royals batter approaches the plate would be fantastic.

The later rounds would take on an even more sensational life of their own. Naturally most of the smaller Clubs would be weeded out slowly but surely, leaving one or two to live the dream. The very late rounds could throw up some sensational baseball.

Picture this for a stunning final eight..
• The New York Yankees v Neptunus of Rotterdam
• Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters v The Detroit Tigers
• Isla de la Juventud Toronjeros (Cuba) v The Boston Red Sox
• The New York Mets v Industriales of Havana

Naturally the Yankees would see off Neptunus and the Dutch Clubs magical ride would come to an end but not before they got to play in Yankee Stadium. Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters would throw everything at the Tigers and the home field advantage would see them through in a dramatic upset. The drama would only be getting started. After weeks of political rubbish the Red Sox would finally be allowed play Isla de la Juventud Toronjeros in Cuba creating one of the greatest games in baseball history, as the Sox, a little worn down by travelling and being asked 'What's it like to travel to Cuba?' go behind early. Imagine the entire Baseball World watching as David Ortiz stepped up to the plate with a runner on and down by a run in the ninth inning. Surely the subsequent home run would be the real 'Shot heard around the World'.

Finally the great shock of the round as the regal like Industriales of Havana swagger into Shea Stadium and stun the New York Mets with solid, error free team play. That very night, as the last out is made, the draw for the semi final would be held. Millions world wide would tune in and gasp in shock and awe as the draw unfolded before them as such;

• Industriales of Havana v The New York Yankees
• The Boston Red Sox v Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters

Frankly, that semi final sells itself. No further description needed. The World Cup of football is one of the most magical events in sports. It brings together not only nationalities and cultures, but also mankind's great passion for sports. Just imagine baseball taking a page out of the FA Cup's book and inventing a tournament that would not only capture the imagination of the entire globe but also bring it that little tiny bit closer together.

Now, what's the number for my local patent office?

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Beltred in the face

You know what, I like it! I like the Red Sox free agent signing of Adrian Beltre. Why? Because every time you read about his last four or five years on the Major League diamond, whoever is writing about him uses words like 'Gold Glove caliber defence', 'a magician with the leather' and my personal favourite, 'an absolute rock at third base'.


Clearly the Red Sox are going in an interesting and imaginative direction for the 2010 season.

Some teams throw the gross national debt of Ghana at free agents with no plan other than 'let's just grab the most expensive guys we can get'. Others try to stack their lineup with as many big boppers as possible. For years the Angels went for guys with high average and speed.

In 2010 the Boston Red Sox are going to be built on leather.

This could be one of the better defensive teams of the last decade. The outfield of Cameron, Ellsbury and Drew is nothing short of superb. Cameron and Ellsbury are going to be a highlight reel waiting to happen on a nightly basis. Drew has a fantastic arm and plays the tricky right field at Fenway as well as anyone. The infield? Only Beltre, Scuttaro, Pedroia and Youkilis. That's Gold Glove, highly rated in '09, Gold Glove and Gold Glove.

When you add that to the fact that Boston will be sending the Beckett, Lackey, Lester, Matsuzaka and Bucholz to the mound in rotation, and Boston could be looking at a very low number in the 'runs conceded' column in '10.

Personally, I love it, but that's because I like nothing more than a well played 1-0 pitching duel. Not everyones cup of tea, for sure, however I think that's baseball at its purest, its finest. Nine guys trying to stop the other team scoring. Give me that any day over a 4 hour, 14-9 slugfest.

The 2010 Boston Red Sox are going to be a baseball purists dream, or a thrill seekers nightmare. Just depends what way you look at it.

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So random, oh so random..

..and so the Jets are in the NFL playoffs. After they called their week three meeting with the Patriots this season their Superbowl, what would the asinine Jets call the actual Superbowl if they fluked their way into it, their second Superbowl? Their awesome bowl, maybe?

Bye bye Jason Bay. Don't let the door hit you on your $66 million dollar ass on the way out. Give me a break, how can anyone colour this as anything other than greed? Bay's agent basically had to beg the awful, turgid Mets to up their offer by $6 million to make it up to Jason, after he slammed the door on the $60 million offer the Red Sox made. Word on the street is Bay was desperate to play for Boston but his agent completely screwed the pooch. Now Bay is left with playing for fourth place in the NL East for the next few seasons. The Mets are a complete and utter mess and will be until the inevitable front office shake up. Have fun playing for a .500 ball club the rest of your career, Jason.

Who would have thought you could sum up the probably end to the Patriots season in just six simple words; 'Wes Welker: Out with a knee'.

Texas Tech are fun to watch. That spread offence is nasty. How on earth are Boise state +7 tonight, are TCU that good, really?

Now playing for the Boston Bruins, Satan. No, seriously. Apparently we have had the chap figured out wrong all along, also; ''He (Satan) is a good person and we’ll see how it goes.'' Who knew!





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He is so money '09 - part three of five

Everyone has them. Well, every male 18-79 has them. Those athletes that have won them a considerable amount of money, and thus become the object of same male 18-79’s affection. Forever, often. They can change sporting franchise, they can change country, they can change their name, doesn’t matter, the besotted male is going to always have a place for them in their heart. You know the guys we’re talking about here. You know the situation too. You had a stack of cash on a team, but the opposition is battering the goodness gracious out of your team and it is looking grim. Suddenly out of nowhere, your guy steps in, and quite literally single handedly saves the day.

Of course it isn’t always disaster recovery.

Sometimes it is just out and out domination. Maybe your guy dropped 48 on someone in the NBA. Maybe they scored twice in the World Cup Final. Maybe they struck out 17 in Yankees Stadium. Add it all up and the answer is always the same, you benefited financially from said performance, and like an elephant, you will never forget.

Let’s meet my guys.

He is so money - part three of five
Pedro Martinez

Pedro is so many things to so many Red Sox fans. World Series champion, Cy Young winner, a wonderful pitcher with a real 'free spirit' mentality that was always entertaining. On top of all that, he won me a stack of green from 1999-2004.

Two particular occasions jump to mind.

Baseball betting was relatively new to Irish/UK bookmakers in '99. Betting in running was an almost entirely new concept. Bear in mind, the Internet, as we know it, was about five years old at that stage. Everything was brand new.

I was in Boston for the summer of '99 and before heading home to Ireland I wanted to catch Pedro pitch one more time. I travelled to New York to catch him at Yankee stadium September 12th, a Friday night. Pedro looked sharp in the bullpen. His changeup was taking those odd little twists and turns that mystified batters, his fastball had a good snap to it. It looked like one of those nights where anything was possible.In the second inning Chilli Davies hit a home run, a solo shot, and the New York crowd acted as if it had just won the World Series. Why so? They knew one run in this game, against that pitcher, was huge.

Pedro seemed to take real umbrage at the home-run, and settled into a sensational groove. I checked the price on the game in running on my phone, Boston were now 4-1 to win (you simply would not get those odds today as bookies have tightened up operations, now you would be lucky to get even money in a situation like that).

I assume the thinking was, the game was in New York, the Yankees had taken the lead, Boston were going to fold. The bookies hadn't taken into account the Pedro factor. I dumped my account on the 4-1 and hoped for a comeback. Meanwhile, Pedro went loco. On that night in Yankee stadium Martinez struck out an incredible seventeen Yankee batters, absolutely abusing them. They weren't mere strikeouts, they were assault and battery cases, ever single one of them. The Yankee batters, many of whom will go to the hall of fame, were swinging and missing like ten year old kids facing a major league pitcher.

Boston scratched a few runs and the night, the game, the bet, was mine.

As I left Yankee stadium back towards my hotel, I felt like the king of Manhattan, the city felt like it was mine that evening in question.

There were countless other bets that Pedro delivered on for me down the years, a fifteen K night in Seattle, one in Atlanta, he has even come up big a few times for me in his time with the Mets. However, no one start/event could match the 2004 ALCS and World Series outings Pedro turned in. With Boston 3-0, 3-1 and 3-2 down I kept topping up my Red Sox ALCS bets, the poor bookie didn't know what had hit them by the time Boston finished the greatest comeback in baseball history. Pedro was a huge part of that, delivering in a majestic start in the ALCS, and of course again in the World Series.

One thing always stuck in my mind. With Boston 3-0 down in the ALCS I did manage to get a few euros on them at 50-1 with one bookmaker, Boston to win the World Series. For a few hours Paddy Power were offering a sensational 200-1 on the same bet. Like many, they thought Boston had a snowball's chance in hell. Interestingly that came down to 100-1 before game four so somebody had to have hit it. I had no money in my Paddy Power account at the time so I couldn't avail of the bargain of the century, I can only hope somebody did.

200-1. What a price. And Pedro delivered.

He is so money.

• Part one of five - Ronaldo
• Part two of five - Vince Young
• Part three of five - Pedro Martinez
  

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Racing Post - Not totally awesome when it comes to picking US sports results

Right, well, you know the way you can walk into a shop in the USA and buy a gun but you can't walk into a shop and place a bet, right? Well, in Ireland it’s the other way round. You can not walk into a shop and buy a weapon; however, you can walk into a shop and place a bet, not a problem.

In the town I work in, there are four such shops (to put that in perspective, that’s about 40% of the shops on the main street). Betting/gambling is kind of a big deal in Ireland, and indeed England.

To feed the hunger of those who partake in this, well, hobby, there is a broadsheet newspaper called the ‘Racing Post’ printed daily on these shores. It’s the Irish/English equivalent of ‘Guns and Ammo’, at least in the realms of the slant of this piece anyway.

The Post is an always entertaining read for the sporting enthusiast. Those who follow horse racing absolutely swear by it, in fact one would imagine it was essential to all horse-gamblers on these shores, with its in depth reporting and statistics.

The area that it might be a little bit hit-and-or-miss would be in general sports gambling, as opposed to the horsies. The Post often seems unable to make up its mind. Take for example a Carling Cup clash between Sunderland and Blackburn. In the Tuesday’s Post the pundits had Sunderland as a good price to see off recently-poor Blackburn. Wednesday? Naturally the headline reads; ‘Blackburn can return victorious’. Okay so, not much in the line of ‘direction’ there. The post is generally good though for pure statistics, and as a basic form guide, particularly for soccer betting.

However (surely you knew deep down inside there was a whopper of a ‘however’ coming?!) when it comes to US sports in particular, the Post is a little ‘off’ in general. Actually, in lay mans terms, the Racing Post completely sucks when it comes to predicting US sporting results. It blows. It is wildly erroneous. Yes, wildly.

A particularly productive day in the office @ the Racing Post, US Sports department

Someone should start keep statistics on their American Football predictions, for example. Their weekly tips are absolutely horrible. One week, one of their finest suggestions was that the Giants @ Philadelphia would be a 'low scoring dog fight' - of course this finished up at almost 70 total points. Their weekly NFl write up is actually pretty amusing it is that bad. Sometimes you end up wondering if the people that write them are actually watching the games.

It doesn't stop at Football. For two years running they have picked the Chicago White Sox as the World Series champion. Clearly this is some Monkey who saw the 2005 World Series and has been enamoured with Chicago's ageing, big-bopper lineup ever since. Racing Post, it's time to let go of the Chicago White Sox!

Basketball? Oh they can screw that up too! During the NBA finals against the Celtics they suggested punters lump-in on the Lakers, hop on Kobe and watch the cash roll in. That worked out pretty well for them. Twice this season already they have suggested punters take on the Celtics.

Let's just say neither pick worked out very well.

Possible Racing Post future US Sports picks:

• Superbowl 2010: Tampa Bay - Big winning streak, plus they beat New Orleans, who are pretty good, no?
  
• NBA 2010: The Seattle Supersonics!
• NHL 2010: The LA Thundersticks (Saw it on a t-shirt somewhere)
• NCAA Football 2009/2010: Harvard, really good school
• World Series 2010: The New York Yankees - Babe Ruth too good to ignore

How is it so hard, in this day and age, to get someone on board who actually knows something about US Sports, as opposed to churning out endless, stat happy, thought-light, losing picks?


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