California Sports Fan Blog

As the NFL season reaches it’s mid-point we can look at the teams from the great state of California and analyze what they’ve done so far and speculate how the rest of their seasons will shape up. Odds are that the the 49ers are going to be the team of California.

49ers
One of the most promising and favored teams to win it all, going by the NFL Spread, at the start of the 2012 season, the San Francisco 49ers have one best overall defensive units in the with a strong front composed of pro bowl defensive lineman and ageless wonder Justin Smith. Along with Smith two All-Pro middle linebackers in NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis. The offense is led by once thought to be bust quarter back Alex Smith now flourishing under the tutelage of head coach and ex NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, and workhorse running back Frank Gore. The second half of the season looks to be favorable as the 49ers take on mostly NFC West rivals, en route to what will likely be a trip for the second year in a row to the playoffs.

Chargers
Moving over the to the AFC West the 4-4 San Diego Chargers have a shaky grasp on 2nd place. After a Monday night debacle which saw the Chargers blow a 24 point lead against division rival Denver I n which quarterback Phillip Rivers threw 5 interceptions, coupled with a lowly loss to the Browns 7-6 where they were unable to get into the end zone. These losses put head coach Norv Turner on the hot seat which was cooled for the time being as they whooped the Kansas City Chiefs 31-13. If Rivers can keep the turnovers to a minimum and the defense continues to play stout and force turnovers there is reason why the Chargers shouldn’t be able to challenge the favored Broncos to win the AFC West and make some noise in the playoffs.

Raiders
The Oakland Raiders also of the AFC West have been coming on strong as of late after getting off to a 1-3 start they have been able to win two of their last four losing to only the currently and only undefeated team, Atlanta Falcons by a field goal. If it were not an outstanding effort by Tampa Bay rookie sensation Doug Martin racking up 251 rushing yards in what turned out to be an offensive shootout the Raiders would be in great shape. Not be over looked is the play of quarterback Carson Palmer who has been able to find talented receivers Denarius Moore and Darrius Heyward-Bey early and often to give the Raiders a feared passing attack which they will need in order to make up for the loss of their main rushing threat Darren McFadden. With favorable matchups in the second half of their season it is more than possible to see the Oakland Raiders clinch a Wild Card birth.

The 49ers are the best team in California. Arguably the Super Bowl favorite. Lakers are a close second.

The Giants made Matt Cain the highest paid right handed pitcher in Major League history with a 6-year deal worth 127.5 million dollars. Cain isn’t even the best pitcher on his own team. Tim Lincecum has won two Cy Young awards already and is only 27 years old. If Cain got 127.5 over 6 years how much will they have to give to Lincecum? Cain has been a solid number two for the Giants but asking him to be the best right handed pitcher in baseball for the next 6 years could be a disaster that is equivalent to Mike Hampton’s terrible contract or even fellow Giant pitcher Barry Zito. Cain has historically been healthy but one injury to his arm and the Giants have over paid for a number two pitcher. How can Cain be paid more than Felix Hernandez or Justin Verlander? The Giants might want to spend some money on their offense unless they want to battle the Padres for the worst team in the worst division.

The Chargers look to be in serious trouble this year in terms of missing the playoffs. The blame has to go on their star quarterback, Philip Rivers. In addition to key fumbles, Rivers has 15 interceptions this season, to just 13 touchdowns. To put it into perspective- last season, he had less interceptions while enjoying 30 touchdowns. With Carson Palmer looking good, it would be tough to see the Raiders not taking the division.

San Diego usually gets better as the season progresses, but that does not seem to be the case here. While Rivers is heavily to blame, the offensive line is not exactly doing him any favors. He has been sacked 25 times already, which was the same amount as the entire 2009 season. The Chargers have been at the top of the division for many years, and that is partially due to weak competition. But with the Raiders looking good (not great), and the Chargers looking not-so-great, Rivers may have a longer off-season than usual.

Next month, Brock Lesnar meets Alistair Overeem in what will be one of the biggest heavyweight collisions in UFC history. Many people are proclaiming that Overeem will easily win if it stays standing, and Lesnar will win if it goes to the ground. But here are ten reasons why Brock Lesnar will be victorious, regardless of where the fight goes.

1. Brock Lesnar won the eight-man, King of the Ring tournament in 2002; and two of the fights were even on the same night. In the eight-man Strikeforce Grand Prix, Overeem stopped after round one.

2. Did you know? Brock is a former NCAA Division I Champion.

3. Brock has defeated two Olympic Gold Medalists (Kurt Angle & Mark Henry).

4. In Overeem’s last fight against a Light Heavyweight, he lost to Shogun Rua. In Lesnar’s last fight against a Light Heavyweight, he beat Shannon Moore.

5. Brock has a record of 2-0-1 against The Undertaker.

6. MMAMath: Lesnar beat Mir, who beat Antonio Nogueira, who beat Sergei Kharitonov, who beat Alistair Overeem.

7. Amount of former (major) World Heavyweight Champions that Overeem has beaten: 0. Amount that Lesnar has beaten: 17 (Frank Mir, Randy Couture, Jeff Hardy, Booker T, Rob Van Dam, Ric Flair, Mark Henry, Hulk Hogan, The Rock, Randy Orton, John Cena, The Undertaker, Eddie Guerrero, Big Show, Kurt Angle, Chris Benoit, Rey Mysterio).

8. In 2003, Brock Lesnar won the Royal Rumble, which means he outlasted 29 other superstars on one night.

9. Brock has a hotter girl to get on top of.

10. Lesnar’s F5 has finished off more opponents than Overeem’s Uberknees.

The Los Angeles Dodgers season opening win over Tim Lincecum was marred by an ugly incident with the beating of a Giants fan in the parking lot. This incident seemed to be a bad omen and coupled with other distractions, hung over the team’s head the entire year. With a core of strong young players, the Dodgers were expecting to be a strong team competing for a division title. The divorce case of the owner Frank McCourt and underperformance of key players In light of these circumstances, a few players had some monster individual performances. Unfortunately the team was not able to build on the momentum generated by those individuals and the team struggled to an 82-79 record.

Clayton Kershaw and Matt Kemp seemingly had to carry the rest of the team on their backs from start to finish. Kershaw outdueled San Francisco ace Tim Lincecum 4 times over the course of the season and each was a tightly contested contest. Kershaw finished with the pitcher’s version of the Triple Crown (strikeouts, wins, and ERA). Matt Kemp was equally as dominant in the batter’s box. Kemp was simply awesome. He nearly finished with the Triple Crown, but finished third in batting average. The performance by the rest of the team ranged from wildly mediocore to hardly inspiring at all. While Kemp had 39 home runs, the second highest on the team was Rod Barajas with 16. Andre Either, the player supposed to be second fiddle to Kemp, hit only 11 home runs and was a shell of his former self. The same could be said for starter Chad Billingsley, the number 2 starter behind Kershaw. Billingsley had the worst season of his career. His strikeouts dropped for the 3^rd consecutive year and recorded the highest ERA and most hits allowed of his MLB tenure. Dee Gordon, son of former pitcher Flash Gordon, came up to play shortstop for spurts and was electrifying on the basepaths. His game is very raw right now, but he could be a great sparkplug at the top of the lineup in the near future. The bullpen was also very strong minus the efforts of injured Jonathon Broxton and Hong-Chih Kuo.

The key for the Dodgers to have a more successful season in 2012 is to upgrade the lineup. Andre Eithier and James Loney are solid pieces, but not hitting in the middle of the order. Rod Barajas is an abomination at catcher, and veterans like Casey Blake and Jamey Carroll fail to strike any fear into opposing pitchers. The starting rotation must also be improved upon. Hopefully a settlement to the McCourt divorce case will allow the owner to set forth a direction for the team.

Bright Spots: Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Bullpen, Hiroki Kuroda, Dee Gordon

Disappointments: Andre Ethier, Casey Blake, Rod Barajas, James Loney, Chad Billingsley, Jonathon Broxton

Winning the World Series in 2010 brought high hopes for the 2011 San Francisco Giants. The Giants returned almost everyone from their championship team and most thought they would be primed to return to the fall classic. A huge rash of injuries, including a season-ending ankle injury to budding star catcher Buster Posey in late May, were too much for the offensively-challenged Giants to overcome. Not even the mid-season acquisition of Carlos Beltran was enough as they became the first World Series Champion to miss the playoffs the following year since the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007. The pitching was fantastic for most of the season, but the offense was the exact opposite. Tim Lincecum finished with a record under .500 (13-14) despite almost dropping his ERA a full run from the year before (3.43 to 2.74). Journeyman Ryan Vogelsong filled in magnificently for the injured Barry Zito. Pitching in the majors for the first time in 5 years, Vogelsong went 13-7 with a 2.71 ERA and made the NL All Star team. The pitching staff set the tone for San Francisco as they finished second in the ML in runs allowed. After struggling mightily with his weight last year, slugger Pablo Sandoval showed up this season in fabulous shape. He carried that over into the regular season where he had a very strong campaign and also made the All Star team. Despite Sandoval’s efforts, San Francisco finished dead last in runs scored in the NL.

There is a lot of uncertainty moving forward for the Giants. They have huge question marks to answer at first base, shortstop, second base, centerfield, and one of the corner outfield positions. Aubrey Huff was absolutely dreadful, but has alternated great years with awful years throughout his career and is a good candidate to bounce back (not to mention he’s in the final year of his contract at $10 million). He will be competing with some youngster who got valuable playing time this year in Brandon Belt and Brett Pill. The Giants hope Freddy Sanchez can return strongly from his shoulder injury that forced him out of action for the season in June. It is unknown where the players for the remaining positions will come from, but free agency is a strong possibility.

All in all it was a disappointing season by the bay, but with a little better luck on the injury front, the season could have been a lot different. With their extremely talented pitching staff, a little help offensively could go a long way and a return to the postseason is very possible.

Bright Spots: Pablo Sandoval, Ryan Vogelsong, Madison Bumgarner, Sergio Romo, Nate Schierholtz

Disappointments: Aubrey Huff, Cody Ross, Miguel Tejada, Barry Zito, Brian Wilson

All Star closer Heath Bell of the San Diego Padres was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. Could the Giants be making a serious play for their division rival’s closer? Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo are currently on the disabled list with elbow injuries. Brian Sabean has never shied away from making a splash past the non-waiver deal (he acquired Cody Ross from the Marlins last August).

Despite these two facts it is unlikely that San Francisco pulls the trigger on this one. The price tag put on Bell by the Padres was quite high when they were shopping him at the Trade Deadline, the main reason he currently remains in San Diego. It was believed San Diego was looking to acquire at least 1, possibly 2, high end prospects in return for the closer. Even though Bell is a free agent at the end of the year and would yield a high draft pick if he departed via free agency, this is probably a price tag the Giants will not be willing to pay, especially considering how their last trade involving a top prospect has worked out thus far (Carlos Beltran and his balky wrist).

The claim on Bell was most likely to block Arizona GM Kevin Towers, the man in charge of bringing Bell to San Diego initially, from reuniting with his former closer. The Giants trail the Diamondbacks by 2 games in the West and can’t afford to allow Arizona to strengthen their bullpen any further. Who knows, maybe Sabean thinks Wilson’s injury is more serious than initially thought or maybe he is just desperate to stop the bleeding and will sell the farm for a chance to potentially repeat. We will know for sure in the next 48 hours.

Many hoped the return of the San Francisco Giants to AT&T Park from a recent road trip and some home cooking would be just what the doctor ordered. They found out Tuesday night that it would not all be smooth sailing by the bay.

First, the Giants received mixed news on the injury front. The good news is that Carlos Beltran was activated from the disabled list. The bad news is he is still not 100% healthy with his injury limiting his left-handed swing. Beltran said he does not know how the injury will affect him when batting from the left side, what will happen when he swings and misses, or reacts to a checked swing. Jonathon Sanchez (ankle) was placed on the DL to open up a roster spot for Beltran. Nate Schierholtz, one of the most pleasant surprises this season, was diagnosed with a fractured foot. The outfielder fouled a ball off his foot in Atlanta that forced him out of action for a day. He returned to action and played through the pain, but may have re-injured himself during a collision at the plate during Sunday’s win against Houston. An MRI revealed a crack on the top of his foot, but Schierholtz hopes that the injury will not force to miss an extended period of time.

Then there was the game itself; another loss for the Giants in heartbreaking fashion, this time against the San Diego Padres. Errors, missed calls, and a less than stellar effort from the bullpen combined to drop the Giants for the 17^th time in 24 games. With a runner on third and two outs, Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff collided attempting to catch a foul pop up causing Huff to drop the ball. Later in the at-bat, former Giant Jesus Guzman brought the runner home with a single into left to put the Friars up 1-0. In the following inning, the first base umpire ruled that Matt Cain missed the bag while covering on a grounder to first which was mishandled by Huff. The subsequent batter, Kyle Blanks, then sent a Cain offering over the left field wall to increase the San Diego lead to 3 runs. Cain ended up lasting 7 innings while allowing 5 runs (3 earned). Padres starter Mat Latos countered with 6 strong innings, no-hitting the Giants through the first 4, allowing 2 runs (1 earned).

Despite the misfortune, San Francisco still had a chance to come out on top in the contest. The score was 5-2 in the bottom of the 8^th. Brandon Belt reached on an infield single and scored on a Cody Ross double. Rookie catcher Hector Sanchez brought in another run with an RBI single, the first hit of his career. Orlando Cabrera then delivered the tying run with a base hit to left field to make it first and second with one out. Coming to the plate next was Carlos Beltran with a chance to deliver a huge hit in his first game back. Unfortunately Beltran popped up to shortstop Jason Bartlett and Miguel Tejada lined out to third to end the inning. Ramon Ramirez was ineffective in the ninth, allowing 2 runs to score with the final scoring being 7-5. The Giants showed fight in this contest, but ultimately it was not enough to win the game. With the loss they dropped to 2 games back in the NL West after Arizona came out on top over Washington 2-0.

In case you didn’t hear or forgot, there is only one Al Davis in the National Football League and he’s back up to his old tricks. No one person has ever been enamored like Al with physical specimens, and has never been afraid to pull the trigger on one. In the 1973 Draft, Al Davis selected punter Ray Guy out of the University of Southern Mississippi in the first round, the only punter to ever be selected in the first round. Two sport star Bo Jackson was another favorite of the Raiders owner and general manager. Unfortunately injuries derailed his career, but Jackson was a superstar during his short career. Guy’s booming punts  and Jackson’s electric runs made them great successes in the pros and one of the all-time greats, but not all of Davis’ pet projects turned out as pleasant.

There have been seemingly several busts for each gem that Davis has discovered. The signing of Randy Moss and Daunte Culpepper failed miserably as they failed to rekindle the chemistry they shared in Minnesota. Receiver Darius Heyward-Bey was snagged at number 7 overall despite the consensus top receiver, Michael Crabtree, remaining on the board. Heyward-Bey has only totaled 35 catches and 2 touchdowns in his career thus far. Strong-armed quarterback Jamarcus Russell was another huge bust for Oakland. Taken with the number one overall pick,  Russell held out extensively before signing an extremely lucrative contract. He then showed up at training camp vastly overweight and behind the learning curve. Russell never got his act together and was eventually released.

On Monday Al Davis continued his trend of drafting athletic players with the selection of troubled Ohio State quarterback Terrell Pryor in the third round of the NFL’s supplemental draft. It was questionable whether or not Pryor would even be eligible for the draft after he was facing a 5 game suspension at Ohio State for receiving improper benefits. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell also suspended Pryor for the first 5 games of the NFL season for whatever team decided to draft him, but a 4.36 40 yard dash time at a private work out was good enough for Mr. Davis to pull the trigger. Pryor, an excellent runner with questionable quarterback smarts and arm strength has the potential to switch to wide receiver or tight end at 6′6 and 230 pounds. The plan right now is to keep Pryor at quarterback, but as always with the Raiders, don’t rule out a position change down the road. Hate him or love him, Al Davis is as unique as they come and makes for some very interesting NFL conversation no matter what he’s doing.