by Nick Brower | Apr 5, 2018 | SPORTS
Mark down the day. For the first time, Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Gary Sanchez hit homers in the same game. Expect a few more of these kind of days this season. And as a matter of fact, they were all two-run BOMBS. The three home runs added up to almost 1,300 feet of flight. Ronald Torreyes added an RBI single to make it a 7-2 win over the Rays and also made an outstanding catch in shallow right field from second base in his first action of the season. Severino was dominant again, only allowing 5 hits while striking out 7 in 7 1/3 innings. Warren and Chapman came out of the pen to put the game to bed. The offense has been great so far but yesterday showed the true potential. The big three in the middle have the ability to just take over games. Judge has been great in the two spot with an OPS of .920. He’s taking his walks and getting on base without sacrificing his power. Stanton and Sanchez aren’t quite locked in yet but we know the power is going to come. They are both better hitters then they get credit for, expect those averages to go up significantly. I think yesterday will get them rolling. And with Didi Gregorious in mid-season form already too, opposing pitchers won’t be getting much sleep before their starts.
by Nick Brower | Apr 5, 2018 | SPORTS
Boston lost an important game last night in Toronto. The 96-78 loss puts them 3 games behind the Raptors for the one seed, making finishing first almost impossible. That wasn’t the biggest loss of the night though. Word has now surfaced that Kyrie Irving won’t see the court again until next season as he’ll need another surgery on his left knee. Irving is said to be having two screws in his knee taken out, and the recovery is scheduled to take 4-5 months. The Celtics are expected to make an official statement soon. This is the final nail in the coffin for the Celtic’s season. We knew it was going to be tough going from the start when Gordon Hayward went down opening night. The outstanding play of Brown and Tatum gave the Celtics new hope, but without Kyrie this team cannot make it out of the East. The rookies have been amazing, but it won’t be enough to beat either Toronto or Cleveland in a seven game series. Not to mention that backup point guard Marcus Smart isn’t expected to be ready for the start of the playoffs either as he recovers from a thumb injury. While this postseason will still be important in the development of their young talent, the Celtics front office better start looking towards the offseason. We know that Hayward and Irving will be the healthy centerpieces, but what will this roster look like around them? Do they try to leverage some of that young talent to get another All-Star veteran? Or do they try to add in free agency and keep the main pieces in tact? I would try my hardest to keep both Brown and Tatum. They are going to be All-Stars in the very near future and both play the game with great energy on both sides of the ball. The Celtics should turn their focus on upgrading the front court. Al Horford has been great while reinventing his game and stretching out to the three point line, but Boston would really benefit from a legit post threat and rim protector to help all their guard talent. Sorry Boston fans, but you’ll have to wait another year for a championship run.
by Nick Brower | Apr 3, 2018 | SPORTS
News broke late this afternoon that the Rams and Patriots have agreed to a deal revolving around WR Brandin Cooks. Los Angles will receive Cooks and a forth round pick while New England will be receiving the 23rd overall pick in this years draft and a sixth-rounder. Los Angles is continuing a busy offseason and gets a great piece here in Cooks. The Rams recently loss Sammy Watkins to free agency and Cooks will come as an upgrade as a deep threat for Goff. The Rams are clearly in win-now mode and couldn’t care less about a late-first round pick. This means that they are out of the possible OBJ market but I like this move better. Cooks is a great player and doesn’t come with the headache Beckham Jr. brings with him. As for the Patriots, this quiets the rumors of trading Gronkowski. There is no way they ship out Brady’s top two threats in one year, especially with Tom entering his 40s. They are also in great draft position as well and now have two-first rounders and two-second rounders this year. They could leverage that package to move up the board, or could sit on them all. The Patriots and Belichick have always found great value in the draft so it wouldn’t surprise me if they end up keeping all four selections. I think this is a win-win as both sides got what they wanted. It just keeps getting better and better to be a Rams fan.
by Nick Brower | Apr 3, 2018 | SPORTS
Villanova turned in another great performance last night as cruised past Michigan 79-62 to win the Men’s National Title last night. I’m personally crushed, as I had Michigan winning it all in my original bracket. That makes it two titles in the past three years and cements Villanova in college basketball’s history. They have undoubtedly been the best program in recent history. In the past five years they have won two national championships, four Big East titles, 165 wins and were a top two seed in the tournament all five seasons. They were above and beyond the best team throughout March and became one of four teams since 1985 to win all of its tournament games by double-digits. The Wildcats stayed true to their game and shot every team out of the gym like they had done all season long. The team set an NCAA record for 3-pointers made this year. They always have at least four shooters on the court and most of the time all five players are comfortable behind the arc. Jay Wright proved that he is one of the best coaches in the country. People are already calling for him to make the jump to NBA but I just don’t see it. Why would he leave Nova after building the program to where it is now? He’s in great position to continue this success for years to come with a culture that has kept many veterans with few one-and-dones. Plus, these days coaches at big programs are making just as much, if not more, as some coaches in the NBA. He’d be stupid to leave, regardless of his talent as a coach.
Donte Divincenzo was the hero of Nova, turning in 31 points off the bench. He would take home the Most Outstanding Player award. While he had the night of his life on the court, it didn’t end there. He had a spike in social media traffic and many people found some derogatory tweets on his account. Divincenzo has accepted that the account was his and it has not been actively used since he came to Villanova. The tweets mainly came from the time he spent in high school and contained several uses of the N-word and homosexual slurs. Villanova first told reporters that the account was hacked but they retract that statement after they found out they weren’t new tweets (dumbasses). Divincenzo has told reporters he doesn’t remember using those slurs in any tweets. It’s a shame that this will be what he is remembered for instead of his great performance, but there is no place for slurs like those in the world and he should hold himself to a higher standard.
by Nick Brower | Apr 3, 2018 | SPORTS
After the first weekend of baseball we have now seen Shohei Ohtani as a pitcher and as the DH for the Angels. He did not disappoint at either position. He singled in his very first at-bat and went on to go 1-5, but his swing looks promising. He made solid contact three times, putting the ball in play at 95, 102, and 104 mph. He has a smooth lefty swing that is quick and compact and is sure to deliver results as he gets more Major League at bats. He looks even more promising as a pitcher. Ohtani made his first start on Sunday and looked dominant. He struck out six over six innings with a fastball sitting around 98 and devastating breaking stuff. He only gave up three hits, one being a home run, and one walk and received the win. Sooner than later, the Angels will be faced with a big question. Do they continue to play him both ways? Can his body handle the grind of pitching and DH’ing? And if not, is he more valuable on the mound or at the plate? The early returns would say he is more valuable on the mound. He has the potential to be dominant in a time in baseball where starting pitching is at a low. Sure, there are some amazing aces, but there isn’t a lot of above average starters in the game right now while there are a lot of great hitters from the left side. In a perfect world Ohtani will continue to do both and excel, but this isn’t a perfect world. One thing is for sure, the Angels will be on the hot seat all year long with how they handle the situation.
