STUD: AJ Burnett.  Simply brilliant when the Yankees needed him to be nothing less.  Over 7 innings, Burnett struck out 9 while allowing only 4 hits and 1 [...]]]> Who better than us to pass judgment on athletes?  You rely on us for it, and we aim to please.  Here’s your first edition of TJR Studs & Duds.

STUD: AJ Burnett.  Simply brilliant when the Yankees needed him to be nothing less.  Over 7 innings, Burnett struck out 9 while allowing only 4 hits and 1 walk.  He made the big pitch every time it was needed.  Maybe most impressive, however, he threw first pitch strikes to 22 of the 26 hitters he faced.  That’s 85%, well over the league average of 59%.

DUD: 1st base umpire Brian Gorman and crew chief Jerry Davis.  Gorman blew 2 calls in the late innings that could have altered the outcome of the game.  In the bottom of the 7th inning, Ryan Howard trapped a Johnny Damon line drive that Gorman incorrectly ruled was caught in the air.  The resulting double play ended the Yankees inning when they should had the bases loaded with 1 out in a 3-1 game. Maybe even worse, after the game Davis, said that the replay confirmed that the call on the field was correct when it CLEARLY did not.  Somebody check that guy for cataracts.

The 2nd call happened with 1 out in the very next inning.  With runners on 1st and 2nd with 1 out, Chase Utley hit into what was called a 4-6-3 double play.  But, again, replay CLEARLY showed that Utley was safe at first.  So 10 minutes after blowing a huge call, Gorman blew another one.

DUD: Major League Baseball.  There have been too many plays similar to the ones above throughout these playoffs, and all could easily have been corrected with the use of instant replay.  It’s time to make a change.

STUD: Carmelo Anthony. Anthony came up huge scoring 41 in a big game (if you can call the 2nd game of the year big) against division rival Portland on Thursday night.  Melo led the Nuggets 4th quarter rally pouring in 19 of his 41 as Denver won in Portland 97-94.

DUDS: Alex Rodriguez and Ryan Howard. The two sluggers entered the World Series on fire, combining for 7 homers and 26 RBI this postseason.  In the first 2 games, Rodriguez is 0-for-8 with 6 strikeouts while Howard is just 2-for-9 with 6 strikeouts and 1 RBI.

STUD: Pedro Martinez. Pitched 6 innings of 8 strikeout ball before giving up 2 hits in the 7th.  When the lights were brightest, Pedro showed up again.  Oh, and we just looked at the numbers and Pedro’s record as a Red Sox was 117 wins to 37 losses.  That’s just absurd.

Dud: Any media outlet that continues to mention the old guy in purple’s return to Green Bay.  Really.  Could there possibly be anything that we haven’t heard?  Is there any way we could find some dead ancestors to interview?  Soooo tired of hearing about the old guy in purple.  So he’s comfortable in Wranglers. Great. Who really cares?

Stud: Jimmy Johnson. There’s 4 races left in The Chase.  Doesn’t matter.  The dude is gonna win his 4th straight championship.  That’s a record.  Not even The Intimidator did that.  Now that’s impressive.

STUD: Saints and Colts.  They haven’t always made it look easy, but both teams are 10-0.  The Colts streak is particularly impressive as they’ve managed to win despite not playing [...]]]> Who better than us to pass judgment on athletes? You rely on us for it, and we aim to please. Here’s another edition of Studs & Duds.

STUD: Saints and Colts.  They haven’t always made it look easy, but both teams are 10-0.  The Colts streak is particularly impressive as they’ve managed to win despite not playing really well for a stretch of games.

DUD: Joe Flacco. The Ravens’ 2nd year QB threw an inexcusable interception inside the 20 with less than 3 minutes left and down 2 points.  A field goal was good enough to win; he did the one thing he couldn’t afford to do.

DUD: Mark Sanchez.  A few weeks after a 5 interception game, Sanchez threw 4 Sunday against the Patriots.  One was returned for 6.  He’s regressed as the season has gone on, and the rookie growing pains are costing the Jets games.

STUD: Syracuse hoops.  2 dominating performances in Madison Square Garden last week.  Beat #12 Cal and #4 North Carolina by a combined 38 points.

DUD: New Jersey Nets.  At 0-13, they’re just 4 games away from tying the worst start in NBA history, and they’re headed on a 4-game road trip to the West Coast.  They’re so bad, the team ran a “10 is Enough” promotion after they’re 10th loss.  Ouch.

STUD: Jimmy Johnson.  We don’t know much about NASCAR, but we do know that winning 4 straight championships is probably really good.  The dude is dominant.

DUD: Charlie Weis.  7 games into his first year, the school prez and AD gave him a 5 year contract extension through 2015.  5 years later, he’s got a worse record than both Bob Davie and Tyrone Willingham had in their tenures.  And with Jim Harbaugh having so much success at Stanford, Notre Dame can’t pull the whole “we have trouble recruiting because we have such high academic standards” card.

STUD: The old guy in purple. 213 yards on 22-of-25 passing with 4 TD and 0 INT on Sunday.  That brings his season totals to 21 TD and just 3 INT (or 1 fewer than Mark Sanchez’s total this week).

DUD: The Denver Broncos.  The NFL’s best story through 6 weeks has looked awful losing its last 4 games.

STUD: Tom Brady.  Looking like Brady circa 2007.

Sell: Chemistry as the main factor for the Yankees return to the top.  It [...]]]> Buy: The Yankees.  Baseball’s two best teams met in the World Series for the first time in a long time, and the best team won.  We continue to be astounded by the brilliance of Mariano Rivera.  It’s well beyond words at this point.

Sell: Chemistry as the main factor for the Yankees return to the top.  It played a big role, sure, but they got big pitching performances when they needed them throughout the postseason.  The importance of AJ Burnett’s lights-out performance in Game 2 against the Phillies can’t be understated.

Buy: Regardless of what happens from now until their contracts run out, the signings of CC, AJ and Tex should always be considered a success.  We don’t buy into the Steinbrenner Doctrine’s win or failure policy.  Their signings led to a championship.  That’s enough for us to consider them successful.

Buy: Joe Girardi.  Driving home just hours after managing the Yankees to a world championship, Girardi stopped to help a car crash victim. Pretty cool story.

Sell: World Series MVP Hideki Matsui playing in the majors next year. He can’t play the field anymore, and he’ll get more money from teams in Japan. What better way to head back to Tokyo than with a shiny new ring and an MVP trophy.

Sell: The Yankees signing free agent OF Matt Holliday. He’s 29, a 3-time All-Star, and plays hard every day.  But the Yankees still have a lot of years left on big contracts. A-Rod (8). Tex (7). Sabathia (6). Burnett (4). And an extension for Jeter after next season.  They’ll want flexibility.  So bet on them signing a vet (maybe Damon) for a year while grooming top prospect Austin Jackson.  And if that doesn’t work, they’ll make a splash in free agency a year or 2 from now.

It’s no surprise though.  The big fish need to be signed in order to establish the market for all the others.

Dempster’s 4 year, $52M deal should be a little disconcerting for everyone. $13M a [...]]]> Unless you’re a huge Ryan Dempster or Jeremy Affeldt fan, this year’s free agency period has started out quite slowly.

It’s no surprise though.  The big fish need to be signed in order to establish the market for all the others.

Dempster’s 4 year, $52M deal should be a little disconcerting for everyone. $13M a year for a guy who had 6 starts in the 4 years prior to this season? Who’s ONLY good season  as a starter before ‘08 came in 2000 with the Florida Marlins? Sign me up.

This contract has all the makings of an albatross for a Cubs franchise that is already stuck with Alfonso Soriano’s horrible deal.

Anyway, here’s my thoughts on the big boys:

CC SABATHIA - If someone offered you $140M, how long do you think it would take you to say “Yes”?  I was already nervous about offering a 300lb pitcher with 1,600+ innings on his arm a 6-year deal, but now it’s clear that Carsten Charles doesn’t want to pitch in New York.

And if that’s the case, I’m not so sure I’d want him.  Okay, I’d still want him because I think there’s a great chance he’ll be very very good, but I’d still be uneasy.

AJ BURNETT - If anyone wants to offer this 32 year-old guy a five year deal, more power to you.  That’s insanity for a guy that has started 30 games in a season 3 times in 8 years – with the last 2 times coming in contract years.

DEREK LOWE - He’ll wait until the other 2 guys sign and make a lot of money.  I still think he’d be a great fit for a National League team.

His last year in the AL East wasn’t pretty, but you can bet that if the Yankees lose out on Sabathia (and I think they will), they’ll offer Lowe too much money for him to pass up.

MARK TEIXEIRA - At the end of the season I was almost certain he’d re-sign with the Angels.  But his agent is Scott Boras, who loves to drag things along slowly, and the Angels have said they’re not going to wait around forever.  Right now, I think he could end up anywhere.

FRANCISCO RODRIGUEZ - If people thought the Mets would jump at the chance to over pay K-Rod, think again. The market for closers isn’t a good one this year.  There are a lot on the market and not a lot of teams that need them.

And with his stuff in decline, I’d be shocked if anyone offered him more than 3 years.

Disappointing weekend for fans expecting to watch some good games as the scores show.

Seattle (+9.5) at DALLAS: The Cowboys are the better team no matter how you analyze the numbers, but big home favorites [...]]]> Better late than never right?  So we took a bunch of weeks off, but after such a good run last year we figured we deserved it.  Here’s a few picks we like for this week.

Seattle (+9.5) at DALLAS: The Cowboys are the better team no matter how you analyze the numbers, but big home favorites are just 60-142-3 against the spread (ATS).  The Seahawks defense gets a little healthier and keeps it close in Jerry World.

St. Louis (+4) at DETROIT: Both of these teams are baaad, and history shows that when two bad teams play it’s best to take the road team (especially in a non-division game 68-36-2 ATS), which in this case is the Rams.

CHICAGO (-13) vs. Cleveland: All the math points to the Browns covering, including a 76-21 ATS record for road underdog bounce-back situations like this one. But the bottom line is this: we just don’t believe in the Browns.  So give the points in this one.

INDIANAPOLIS (-11.5) vs. San Francisco: The Niners offense is a big question mark with Alex Smith at the helm.  He was good in 1 half against the Texans, but that’s not enough evidence to assume it will continue.  The Niners defense has been average to this point while the Colts defense has played really well.  We’ll take Peyton Manning and give the points.

Green Bay (-3.5) vs. Minnesota: The first matchup in Minnesota should have gone Green Bay’s way, but the Vikings pulled out the win at home.  The Green Bay defense is much better than people realize, and we’ll take Aaron Rodgers throwing to Greg Jennings and Donald Driver over the Vikings secondary all day.

Miami (+3.5) at NY Jets: Miami won the first matchup at home.  This one is sure to be close given that it’s an inter-division game and with the Jets missing DT Kris Jenkins, the bet here is that the Dolphins continue to run over the Jets.  Take the points.

Those  are the games we like this week.  And as we always say, bet with your head and not over it.

Just one year removed from his last season in the league, Walker’s money is gone.  And worse, he’s been arrested on felony charges of writing bad checks to Las Vegas casinos totaling more than $1 million. [...]]]> $110 million.  That’s what Antoine Walker earned in his 12 year NBA career.  And yet, it seems that wasn’t enough.

Just one year removed from his last season in the league, Walker’s money is gone.  And worse, he’s been arrested on felony charges of writing bad checks to Las Vegas casinos totaling more than $1 million.  On top of that, Walker owes JP Morgan and Wachovia each $1.5 million.

It’s just astounding.  How long have we been reading about professional athletes and celebrities blowing through cash and ending up broke? It’s like the holiday classic “The Christmas Carol”.  The story never changes.  The only thing that changes is the actor playing the lead role.

Congratulations Mr. Walker.  You’re this year’s leading man…and TJR’s Biggest Loser.

Without further ado, here are your numbers.

2: World Series Championships in Phillies history

2: Number of times the Yankees have [...]]]> We’re back with a World Series edition of Fun with Numbers.  No game focuses more on numbers than baseball so we had plenty of stuff to work with here.  Almost too much.  Our heads are still spinning.

Without further ado, here are your numbers.

2: World Series Championships in Phillies history

2: Number of times the Yankees have won 4 straight World Series Championships (’36-’39 and ‘49-’53 when they won 5 straight)

31: World Series games played by the Phillies in the franchise’s 116-year history

32: World Series games played by Derek Jeter

10,167: Losses in Phillies franchise history, making Philly the only team in American sports history to surpass the 10,000 loss plateau

16.7: Consecutive 0-win, 162-loss seasons the Yankees would need to reach 10,000 losses

1: Number of times Cy Young winners have faced off in Game 1 of the World Series before CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee tonight (In 1995, Greg Maddux of the Braves faced the Indians Orel Hersheiser)

0: Teams that have started pitchers in World Series Games 1 and 2 who weren’t on their Opening Day roster (Lee and Martinez are scheduled to pitch games 1 & 2)

5 2/3: World Series innings pitched by Phillies Closer Brad Lidge

9: World Series games saved by Mariano Rivera, the most all-time

1.89: Cliff Lee’s ERA in his last 3 starts (2-1) versus the Yankees, including a 10-2 win on Opening Day this year

0.74: Lee’s ERA in 3 starts this postseason (2-0 with 1 no-decision)

8: Consecutive postseason games with an RBI by Ryan Howard and Alex Rodriguez, an all-time record shared with Lou Gehrig

1976: Year the last National League team repeated as World Champs (Cincy’s Big Red Machine in ‘75-’76)

Here’s a look at some other numbers you should know.

2009 Postseason Numbers

• Alex Rodriguez: .438 AVG, .548 OBP, 5 HR, 12 RBI
• Ryan Howard: .355 AVG, .462 OBP, 2 HR, 14 RBI

Yankees World Series Numbers

• Derek Jeter: 32 G, .302 AVG, .375 OBP, 27 R, 3 HR, 8 RBI
• Johnny Damon: 4 G, .286 AVG, .286 OBP, 4 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
• Jorge Posada: 23 G, .208 AVG, .337 OBP, 6 R, 2 HR, 6 RBI
• Mariano Rivera: 20 G, 31 IP, 4 ER, 1.16 ERA, 9 SV, 29 K, 6 BB

Phillies World Series Numbers

• Jimmy Rollins: 5 G, .267 AVG, .261 OBP, 4 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI
• Chase Utley: 5 G, .167 AVG, .375 OBP, 5 R, 2 HR, 4 RBI
• Ryan Howard: 5 G, .286 AVG, .375 OBP, 3 R, 3 HR, 6 RBI
• Brad Lidge: 5 G, 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 3.18 ERA, 2 SV, 9 K, 0 BB

In a decision undoubtedly influenced by pity, the Big East Conference did the ‘Cuse a solid by granting guard Eric Devendorf an extra year of athletic eligibility after he missed the team’s final 25 games last season with a torn ACL.

The NCAA rule states that any [...]]]> Maybe sucking horrendously at football isn’t so bad after all.

In a decision undoubtedly influenced by pity, the Big East Conference did the ‘Cuse a solid by granting guard Eric Devendorf an extra year of athletic eligibility after he missed the team’s final 25 games last season with a torn ACL.

The NCAA rule states that any player who competes in +20% of his team’s games will not be able to red-shirt that season for any reason – medical or otherwise.  But each player’s situation is still judged on a case-by-case basis.

Devendorf played in 10 games last season (28.5%) averaging 17 points a game.  The Big East’s decision ensured that the Orange’s main source of street cred with urban youth will continue to pound his chest and swear on national television for the next 2 seasons.

Orange classmate Andy Rautins sat out the entire 07-08 season with the same injury, and the two guards will be considered seniors academically, while maintaining 2 years of athletic eligibility.

Hallelujah.