Hello ladies and gents, and welcome to this week's Sexy Action Sports Saturday with your old pal, IHM.

  This week's big story that will somehow continue to keep the Lakers and Kobe Bryant in the spotlight even though neither has been relevant in over a month; how about Phil Jackson's new book? In the book, he makes a comparison between Kobe and Michael Jordan, and in making the comparison basically says that he'd take Jordan over Kobe (who the fuck wouldn't?) and that Jordan was a better leader. That is the short version of it. Really, he didn't say anything that hasn't already been said a million times when people actually do compare Jordan and Bryant. Honestly, I don't think it's even a close call... Jordan was a leader on all 6 championship teams he played for... Kobe... not so much. Kobe was Scottie Pippen for the first few he won with Shaq at his side, until later on in his career when he won one on his own (without Shaq anyhow). While Kobe was a major factor in winning those championships, Jordan was the man on every title team he played for.

  Jackson also said that Jordan was a better, more focused defender than Bryant was. Again, just speaking the truth. Jordan would shut the guy across from him down, and back before the league was as watered down as it is today. Not something you can exactly blame on Kobe, but it's just the facts... Jordan has always been a better defensive player than Kobe Bryant, and every bit as good of an offensive player as well.

  So, to recap, Jordan was the superior defender, leader, and at the very least just as good on the offensive end of the floor. Now, what the hell were we arguing about again?

  The real question becomes this: how do we not look at Phil Jackson and name him as the most overrated coach in the history of sports? Yes, he won 11 championships as a head coach in the NBA. 6 with the Bulls, 5 with the Lakers. 6 of them came with Michael Jordan, arguably the greatest player in NBA history, on his team. In an 8-year span, the only time Jackson did not win a championship were the two years MJ was failing to hit the curve ball in Birmingham, Alabama. So MJ moves on after the second three-peat, and Phil moves on as well. Next stop, LA. Shaquille O'Neal is the best big man in the game, Kobe Bryant gives him a damn good wing player to compliment Shaq. Once again, two great basketball players, leads to four more championship rings to Phil. A few years later, Kobe runs Shaq out of town after they lose the NBA Finals to the Pistons in '04. Phil gets a big man to pair with Kobe (Gasol), the Lakers pick up one more ring.

  The question is this; is Phil Jackson the greatest coach in NBA history... or is he simply the beneficiary of having coached three of the greatest players in modern NBA history in MJ, Kobe, and Shaq? If his "triangle offense" were so effective, where are all the copycats? We all know that the world of sports is filled with copycats... if something new starts to work, other teams will follow suit quickly. Just look at all the NFL teams getting out of the 3-4 now as quickly as they jumped into it. I haven't seen one example of teams trying to copy what Phil Jackson has done in his career... with the exception of the Miami Heat... who have copied one aspect of Phil Jackson's success story... collecting the most superstars allowed under the cap and trying to win it all that way.

  My answer is yes, Phil Jackson is an overrated, egotistical, bag of ass. With all the "zen master" horse shit and book deals since his career ended, it's no wonder the guy has an inflated ego. Especially since there hasn't been a single NBA offseason go by where the guy hasn't been contacted by somebody to either "consult" or just to come back to coach. Notice, though, the last two jobs this guy took, there were superstars in place already. So, if your team is talking about bringing in Phil Jackson this offseason, yet you have nothing to offer him in the way of being a championship-ready... just ignore the rumors. If the players aren't there, he won't be there, either. Now if the Heat were to call on the other hand... I'm sure he'd break a hip tripping over a yoga mat trying to answer that call!

  The next question I have this week is, what the hell is up with Justin Verlander? Over his last two starts, last Saturday against Cleveland and Thursday against Texas, he has not been himself. In both starts, he walked a run in with the bases loaded... he did it twice in the start Thursday night against Texas. Before these last two starts, he had an ERA of under 2. With these two starts added, he's now up over 3 for the year. The question is, is this just an aberration, or is this a sign that something is actually wrong with the Tigers' ace? Unfortunately, if you ask me, this is one of those wait and see type of issues. Based on his track record, Verlander has never spent any extended amount of time hurt... so if it is an injury it's just a matter of waiting it out. If this is something mechanical, the pitching coach should be fired immediately... and then drug outside somewhere and shot!

  My final question of the week... are you as tired as I am of seeing celebrities/athletes going to the prom with freaking high school kids? I mean look, it's cute when a kid has a disability and just wants to meet that person. But now you have perfectly fine, normal kids just trying to get on TV and asking famous people to the prom with them. Case in point, Dwayne Wade of the Heat just went to the prom with some 17-year old girl in Florida somewhere... nothing wrong with the girl... apparently she just wanted to get on TV. Earlier in the year, some nerdy fuck from NY somewhere asked Kate Upton to go to prom with him. I say these little pricks should be stuck getting a date to the prom the same way we all had to... go awkwardly up to some girl in your school and mumble the question, risking embarrassment and humiliation in front of all of your peers. If you aren't strong enough to pull that off, God help you when you little fucks get into the real world!

On this fine Saturday, it is time to take a quick look at who is playing great and who is playing like...well, poorly.  For those playing poorly, my man Clint is going to take you out.  Before we get to the current S-list players, let's look at the A-list, and I start by cross - referencing a post I put up on Tuesday on King Lundqvist in the NHL Section.

On Monday last week, the Rangers put the Capitals out of their usual April / May misery with a 5-0 blitz in Game 7.  There never would have been a Game 7 if Lundqvist did not carry the Rangers there with a brilliant shutout in Game 6.  His understated demeanor and his cool style on the ice perhaps is less flashy than some of the other great goalies that might come to mind, but Henrik is one of the best...ever, and definitely in with the Good!

As a brief side not, I went to see the new Star Trek movie today and found it thoroughly entertaining.  As one who enjoyed the original series and the Kirk-based movies (a little less for the modern cast), this re-launch of the movie series with young stars is very, very well done.  If you like Star Trek at all, and really even if you don't (Mrs. Tzu even liked it), I suggest taking it in.  Good!

Now on to my MLB Good,Bad & Ugly (GBU for short) analysis...

The Yankees & Red Sox are  1 - 2 in the AL East again.  I had prematurely encouraged Yankee haters to do a spring dance on an early Yankee grave, but to their credit they quickly righted the ship and are now 10 games over .500.  The Red Sox looked awful last year and it was possible cause for long term concern, yet here they sit, 1 game behind the Yankees at 25-17.  The real surprise, and one of my true candidates for really good is Buck Showalter, is the Orioles.  It would have been very easy to write off their season in 2012 as a fluke, but here they are just a couple of games back.  Hooray for the O's!  The Yankees, Red Sox & O's....Good!

Also Good in the American League...the INDIANS, yes the Cleveland Indians, are in first place in the AL Central.  With a renewed pitching staff that is coming together and solid team hitting, the Indians are finally showing the promise that fans have been expecting for the last couple of years as preseason trendy picks to surprise...well, surprise!   The Tigers are right there as expected as are the Texas Rangers.  The Rangers have already put 6.5 games between themselves and the A's...Good!

In the National League, the St Louis Cardinals are scary good.  They are playing .659 ball at 27-14, best in the Majors.  They have a +51 run differential 40 games into the season - yikes that is good.  Also Good in the National League we have the Braves, Reds, Giants, & Nationals along with a surprising Arizona team.  The NL is going to be fun to watch as the season unfolds.  Look for the Wild Card to go down to the wire.

On the player front, Miguel Cabrera has validated his Triple Crown effort with another run at the title.  He is already leading in batting average and RBI...can HR's be far behind?  How about Chris Davis for the O's?  Hitting .317 with 11 HR and 39 RBI.  In the Future is Now category, Bryce Harper has 11 HR to go with a .299 BA and a .617 SLG for an OPS of 1.011.  And who the hell is Paul Goldschmidt?!  Where did he come from?  (Note to Team Q - nice draft pick in Round 7)  If you don't know, take a look at the stats table - his OPS is 1.077 (12 HR, .338 AVG).

Yu Darvish & Jordan Zimmerman have 7 wins, Felix Hernandez, Clayton Kershaw and Shelby Miller have microscopic ERA and Mariano is back leading the AL in saves.  Good for Mariano, who seems like a really good guy to me, especially for a Yankee - and the dude can pitch.

For the Bad, we have a few good candidates...

Let's start with the LA Angels ("LA" is bad, Anaheim is good), This glamour team is 15-27 with pitching that has been sub-par and star hitting that has been well below expectations.  Albert Pujols...remember him?...hitting .242.  Josh Hamilton?  barely above the Mendoza line at .210.  Wunderkind Trout, the best of the group at .282 but still below expectations.  (As a side note, the ESPN fantasy geniuses still have Trout as a top 10 pick with the updated rankings.  This is why I generally don't worry too much about what they see when putting together a draft plan).  For the bucks invested, BAD.

The other LA team, the Dodgers, is slightly better off, but not much.  At least they have Adrian Gonzalez who is mashing at .338, but they are still in last place.  The only reason the Angels aren't in last is because of the Ugly Astros.   As for the Dodgers, it may be time to be blue.  A team ERA of 3.89 doesn't sound bad, but in the NL, that is 15th.  Only 21 quality starts out of 40 games and just allowing too many baserunners.  Considering the strength of their division, they are going to be looking up in the standings all year.

Also Bad, are the Mets...come 'on Give me a Break!  (channeling my Warner Wolfe)...in a city where they are beloved, here is ownership that has run a team into the ground.  They can't hit - a team batting average of .229!  A team ERA of 4.5 - if it wasn't for David Wright, who would you think is on this team?  Not just Bad, also SAD.

And then there is the Ugly....

The Astros need no introduction.  Who made the call to move to the American League West?  I hope that they got some decent comp, because it is going to be a long haul for Astros fans.  This team was in the World Series just 7 years ago.  Now they have 11 wins through 42 games.  No hitting, especiall no pitching (team ERA of 5.76!) and NO HOPE.  Things are definitely UGLY in Houston.

Also Ugly, but of a slightly different ilk is the Toronto Blue Jays....here's a team that everyone and their brother picked as the AL East Champs and there they sit at the bottom of the heap.  Dickey? Ugly.  Buehrle?  Ugly!  Dickey is their team leader in ERA with 4.83!  Buehrle - who I loved as a White Sox - has an ERA of 6.33.  Their closer, Casey Janssen is the only one getting it done.  For all the bucks and all the hype, definitely UGLY!!

And on that happy note, I think I will call it a night.  Have a great Saturday!

Saturday, shortly after 6:00PM, Orb will try to take the second step towards the Triple Crown...Will another horse stop his quest for horse racing immortality?

I think so...

Here are the post positions and odds on the field, along with their jockey and trainer...

Former NHL'er, Eddie Olczyk is quite the Horse Racing fan, and apparently he predicted and nailed the Trifecta for the Derby...So today he made his prediction for Saturday...4-1-6...Yep, he's taking (4) Departing to beat (1) Orb, with (6) Oxbow coming in 3rd...

A lot of people like (2) Goldencents...My boss included...And he knows his horses...He thinks if the track is dry, Goldencents can go wire to wire....

If Orb wins, I won't be shocked, but I'll go with Departing...I'll also be throwing a couple bucks down on (9) Itsmyluckyday...Why not? It's called gambling for a reason!

Good luck!

The Beeze.

Just a day dreamin’ the other day...

Wonderin’ what it would be like for the rest of my life...

Don’t think I could take it...

So I decided to reduce it to the next five years...

Then I had to make the big decision...

Who do I pick???

And who can I stand to live without...

Amongst my many favorite teams...

Clippers, Lakers, Chargers, Kings, Aztec football...

Once I pick I can’t go back...

For five looooooong year...

You are cordially invited to join me...

And select only one team...

Just one team you can watch and follow for the next five years...

And you have no access to the other ones...

No access whatsoever...

Read the paper, it ain’t in there...

Watch TV...

Just a snowy picture...

Same for that radio station...

It ain’t there either...

Who do you love the most???

Who can’t you live without...

And the others just don’t exist...

For five years...

You won’t even know when they’re playing...

Or not playing...

So...

Imagine the off-season...

The loooooooong off-season...

If you pick a basketball team

You can’t watch the other sports...

Not just your team...

But the entire sport...

Well...

Maybe we could let you watch the other sports...

Or maybe not...

But not your team in that sport...

Is your absolute favorite team in your absolute favorite sport???

Tough choice???

Will it be based on how well that team is playing at the time???

Or will you pick a crummy team in your favorite sport???

I must say...

This is a tough one for me...

Baseball is my favorite sport...

That’s my generation...

But there’s nothing like going to a hockey game...

Or sitting in the stands with my season tickets...

Watching SDSU...

My college football alma mater...

If I don’t pick a college basketball team...

I miss March Madness...

Do I mind missing the Super Bowl???

Or the World Series???

The Stanley Cup...

Could I bear not getting to watch???

The dreaded Pro Bowl???

And...

As with any challenge like this...

There must be an *asterisk...

A disclaimer...

*Your actual mileage may vary...

*Member FDIC...

*If it lasts for more than four hours, call a doctor...

Okay...

One more thing...

Soccer doesn’t count...

You can’t pick a soccer team...

Because most soccer fans are one-sporters...

The wouldn’t miss the other sports any ways...

And that’s not fair to the rest of us...

Does that hurt you soccer fans???

Then fall down and fake an injury...

So...

Who’s your pick???

Are you going for quantity???

162 baseball games???

Or quality???

A four month college football season...

As for me...

I will pass on the Clippers and the Chargers...

I will miss the Clips...

But I can definitely live without the Bolts...

Especially after being Norved to death the last few years...

It’s between the Angels and the Kings...

And if I don’t take the Halos...

What do I do during the summer months???

Hmmm...

I could go to a minor league park???

Does that count???

I’ll count it...

I’m the boss here...

I’ll pass on the Angels...

So the only one left is...

GO! KINGS! GO!

dvt

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In sports, numbers are always important...So much of sports is wrapped up in stats...And stats are our best way to judge the greats...But the numbers still don't make things clear...There is always debate about who was the greatest...People will say Babe Ruth was the greatest Homerun  hitter, even though he doesn't hold the record for the most HR's...Some would say Bonds...But others would argue, 'He never had to face Walter Johnson...Or Bob Gibson...

So, for the next however many Q-o-t-D's we're going to throw these types of debates out there...Is it just stats...Is the era they played in a consideration...How do you base your opinion on the greats...So, since I already touched on it...

Who do you think is the Greatest Homerun Hitter of all time?  

And why?