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Magic Johnson tried to save face the other night by addressing the Laker roster and the media to clear up a very loud NBA Trade Deadline riddled with rumors and leaks. Doug Gottlieb explains that while Lakers looked bad publicly, the media looks just as bad because they were also duped.
Doug said the following:
The Pelicans were pissed because they know they're losing Anthony Davis. And their reaction to being offered several different trade options from the Lakers over the past several months was to not only make it public but to completely inflate it to try and poison the well.
Doug said to Conclude
Part of the problem with social media and media in general is they just took the story and ran with it, and that's what they believed to be the asking price for Anthony Davis which is not in any way accurate.
Listen below as Jason Smith and Doug Gottlieb (filling in for Dan Patrick) discuss how the media was "taken for a ride" by the New Orleans pelicans.


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Sunday morning rolls around again, and I get the early wakeup call from my father. "Get up, Brandee. Get ready for church." My first
thought is to go right back to sleep, because I don't want to go. It's
not a case of Sunday-morning laziness; I'd just rather not be there,
and according to a study conducted earlier this year by the Pew
Research Center, two-thirds of young Americans between the ages of 18
and 29 agree with me.
Church isn't appealing to me, and it never has been. I have vivid memories of sitting in the last pew as a
child with crayons and a coloring book for some sort of entertainment.
Since I've retired the Crayolas and coloring books and started paying
closer attention to the sermons, I discovered that some of the messages
in church are irrelevant to people of my generation.
Some of my closest friends are gay, but the pastor is telling me that "God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve." AIDS is the leading cause of death for African-American women betwe..., but the pastor tells me that using condoms is a sin because it's a form
of birth control. I live in a world where women are the CEOs of
successful businesses and hold high positions in the government, but
within the walls of the church, female leadership is often absent. Only 10 percent of churches in the United States employ women as se....
These sexist, homophobic and conservative attitudes of the church are
what is causing young people to question their faith, causing Gen-Yers
to abandon the church in increasing numbers.
Many church principles simply don't reflect the views of young Americans. A recent study discovered that young people are more
accepting of homosexuality: 63 percent of young adults believe that homosexuality should be acc....
In most churches, discussing homosexuality is a taboo. "There's denial
about homosexuality in the church," said Boyce Watkins, Ph.D., founder
of the Your Black World Coalition. It's "even to the extreme where you have people who believe that if you pray enough, you will not be gay anymore," he adds.
We live in a society where open homosexuality is becoming common, but most in the church have yet to accept it. If God accepts us as we
are, then why do some homosexuals feel unwelcome in church? Skepticism
concerning church teachings about the Bible may be the reason 67 percent of young Christian adults say they don't read it.
"It's become more and more common on college campuses that people openly question who is God and how do we reconcile the question of
evil?" said Jamila Bey, an African-American freelance journalist and
atheist. After being a Roman Catholic for most of her life, Bey
recently decided to divorce her religion and declare herself to be an
Sometimes, stepping into church feels to me like going into a time warp, with all of the old-fashioned and conservative views being
enforced. In this day and age, gender roles have shifted, but sexism
continues to linger in many churches. When I go to church, I can't help
noticing that there is a lack of female leadership. Women are confined
to either being ushers or being in the choir.
"To some extent, sexism in the church is a reflection of sexism in our society, but I think it's even worse in church because the
environment is certainly a little more conservative," Watkins said. It
is this conservative environment that is causing young folks to stay
home. Only one-third of young adults say they attend worship services at ....
"Young people who are finding their voices are more apt to say, 'I
don't buy the church, it doesn't speak to me,' " said Bey, "and I think
the logical progression is that they are going to find community with
other free thinkers and non-believers."
So is there any hope for bringing Gen-Yers back to church? According to the Rev. J. Lee Hill, a youth minister at Riverside Church in New
York City, it won't be easy. In a recent interview with CNN,
Hill stated, "Church is difficult because young people today want to
engage actively; they just want to experience God." Young adults don't
want to worry about judgment or limitations when it comes to faith.
The Rev. Dino Woodward of Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem believes that convincing more young people that the church has
something to offer starts with parenting. "Parents are allowing them
[young adults] to discipline themselves. If parents are coming to
church, they have to bring their children to church and show them that
there is a better way of life through the Christian way of life."
But as we come into adulthood, we have to make decisions for ourselves. Maybe if the church focused more on helping youth build a
stronger connection with God, and less on imposing social and political
views, our generation would return to the pews.
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Well, time for a quick bit of housekeeping before my 2011 List gets underway. Below is my 2010 Top Prospect list for the archive and posterity sake. And, while I'm at it, I may as well take a quick spin through it with the benefit of hindsight.
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with my list this year. I don't see any glaring mistakes and my faith was rewarded on a few of these guys.
Aroldis was undeniably the top guy in the system and showed why in his limited MLB performance. An ungodly fastball and a video game slider. He just needs polish. Yonder finished strong to justify the ranking. There isn't much to separate the polished Leake and Wood, so I'm happy with where I had them pegged.
Neftali Soto's career seems to be sliding away after a strong start and Maloney is withering on the vine. If I missed the mark, it was probably on J.C. Sulbaran, whose feel for pitching simply hasn't caught up to his stuff. Wiley's 2010 season was a waste, but I still like what he brings to table. I suspect he'll do some nice things in the D-Back system. Whether he'll do enough to ever see the majors certainly remains to be seen. He has a long way to go, but he does a couple of nice things to generate value. Josh Ravin stumbled his way into a promotion, then surprisingly took his performance up a notch against tougher competition. He remains an intriguing enigma. Good stuff, clean mechanics, but simply can't find sufficient control. Time is running out.
As for Mesoraco, he obviously outperformed the ranking, but 16 was as high as I could justify ranking him based on his strong peripherals. Still, nice to see him make good.
As much as I like Fellhauer's swing, well-rounded game, and instincts, I wasn't sold on his upside and so far I'm comfortable with his ranking.
Anyway, here was the 2010 list:
0. Aroldis Chapman, lhp
1. Yonder Alonso, 1b
2. Todd Frazier, inf/of
3. Mike Leake, rhp
4. Travis Wood, lhp
5. Chris Heisey, of
6. Juan Francisco, 3b
7. Yorman Rodriguez, of
8. Zach Cozart, ss
9. Neftali Soto, inf
10. Matt Maloney, lhp
11. Billy Hamilton, ss
12. J.C. Sulbaran, rhp
13. Brad Boxberger, rhp
14. Chris Valaika, ss/2b
15. Matt Klinker, rhp
16. Devin Mesoraco, c
17. Danny Dorn, 1b/lf
18. Juan Silva, of
19. Donnie Joseph, lhp
20. Byron Wiley, of
21. Daniel Tuttle, rhp
22. Miguel Rojas, ss
23. Logan Ondrusek, rhp
24. Josh Fellhauer, of
25. Josh Ravin, rhp
xx. "Other Notables"
A running discussion on the Cincinnati Reds and everything else in the baseball universe.
Friday, December 3, 2010
2010 Top 25 Prospects and Review
Labels: 2010, Baseball, Reds, Top 15 Prospects
4 comments:
yea id say it was a pretty good list, no one is ever going to produce a perfect list. cant wait for the new one!ReplyDelete
Hey I tried to tell ya about Mes. ;o)~ReplyDelete
Thanks. I'm cranking away on the research as we speak, so I should have the first one up pretty soon.
Yeah, I remember you were high on Mesoraco. His peripherals were far too strong to count him out, but I'm not going to pretend I saw this type of breakout coming. His 2010 season was ridiculous and will be a huge boost to the Reds if he can maintain his new performance level.
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Fredy Montero continued his torrid streak, collecting a goal and an assist to Álvaro Fernández, as the Seattle Sounders extended their winning streak to four straight with a 2-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo on Sunday night at Qwest Field.
In the 64th minute, Montero collected Kasey Keller's punt, shielded Houston defender Eddie Robinson, and struck a right-footed shot inside the far post. Montero now has eight goals and nine assists on the year as Seattle continue to climb in the standings.
Montero's magic spoiled what had been a superb performance in goal from Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall. Pat Onstad's understudy finished the match with seven saves but was helpless on each of Seattle's goals.
Hall was the bright spot for Houston, which failed to muster much offense despite the presence of Brian Ching in the starting lineup. The Dynamo finished the match without a shot on goal.
Seattle monopolized the scoring chances but had a difficult time getting past Hall, who hails from nearby Gig Harbor, Wash. The first solid chance came off the boot of Montero in the 25th minute, but Hall pushed the shot away.
The Dynamo netminder came up big again in the second half, diving to his right to deny Osvaldo Alonso's shot from distance. Houston's best chance on the other end came when Joseph Ngwenya had a goal called back in the 57th minute for offside.
After Montero put the Sounders up 1-0 in the 64th, the Dynamo started to push forward in search of a tying goal. The gamble failed to pay off, and Fernández opened his account for Seattle in the waning minutes. Despite a poor first touch, the Uruguayan was able to collect a nicely weighted pass from Montero and finish a breakaway against Hall.
With the win, Seattle has now gained 13 of a possible 15 points in its last five league games and keep pace with FC Dallas and Colorado in the Western Conference. The Sounders face another West opponent in Chivas USA next weekend.
For Houston, which hasnt won an MLS match since May 22, the task doesn't get any easier – the Dynamo face a road game against a New England Revolution team which hasn't lost in its past seven matches.
Houston Dynamo (5-9-5) vs. Seattle Sounders (8-8-4)
August 08, 2010 -- Qwest Field, Seattle WA
Scoring Summary:
SEA -- Fredy Montero 8 (Kasey Keller 1) 64
SEA -- Alvaro Fernandez 1 (Fredy Montero 9, Nate Jaqua 1) 88
Houston Dynamo -- Tally Hall, Eddie Robinson, Bobby Boswell, Andrew Hainault, Mike Chabala, Corey Ashe (Brian Mullan 58), Danny Cruz (Dominic Oduro 76), Richard Mulrooney, Brad Davis (Geoff Cameron 58), Joseph Ngwenya, Brian Ching.
Substitutes Not Used: Francisco Navas Cobo, Anthony Obodai, Cam Weaver, Tyler Deric.
Seattle Sounders -- Kasey Keller, James Riley, Patrick Ianni, Jeff Parke, Leo Gonzalez, Sanna Nyassi (Mike Seamon 85), Osvaldo Alonso, Nathan Sturgis, Steve Zakuani (Alvaro Fernandez 69), Fredy Montero, Blaise Nkufo (Nate Jaqua 87).
Substitutes Not Used: Roger Levesque, Tyrone Marshall, Zach Scott, Terry Boss.
Misconduct Summary:
SEA -- Sanna Nyassi (caution; Reckless Tackle) 28
SEA -- James Riley (caution; Reckless Tackle) 32
SEA -- Blaise Nkufo (caution; Reckless Tackle) 50
HOU -- Mike Chabala (caution; Tactical Foul) 59
HOU -- Brian Mullan (caution; Reckless Tackle) 59
SEA -- Nathan Sturgis (caution; Tactical Foul) 70
Referee: Michael Kennedy
Referee's Assistants: Chris Strickland; Jeff Hosking
4th official: Alejandro Mariscal
Attendance: 36,111
Weather: Partly Cloudy-and-67-degrees
All statistics contained in this boxscore are unofficial


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So, I Don't Have a Fireplace Anymore
Well, I guess technically I do, but it's a propane thing we leave on the back patio for those evenings we want to keep our feet warm while we look at the stars.
My real wood burning fireplace was left when I gave my house of 23 years to my then wife and kids..
Let us just say that that house is where my friends Rob and Leslie shared life with us for years as we were all growing up to be "adults." Rob had his love that he worked so hard for, and I had mine. We ended up marrying both of our "projects" and having lovely children and reasonably happy lives. Probably far happier in retrospective, than they were while we were going through some of the trials, but isn't that the way of life. If anyone described childbirth accurately, nobody would ever have sex, but after its over, the memories are warm.
As far as Leslie is concerned, I'm surprised we stayed such good friends, as I called her Stephanie half the time. Through the magic of FaceBook, we got to know each other again pretty well the past couple of years.
I am writing by the grace of Harrys Hof Brau, by the beautiful fireplace that they have provided. Today it is apparently exclusively for my self centered solace. I am in shock.
I got the news today that one of my dearest and oldest friends, Leslie, has passed on. She was not in the best of health, but the circumstances have left us all numb. She was walking up a staircase, fell backwards and never recovered from her coma. She was in her 40's with a loving husband and two wonderful kids. I was the "best man" at their wedding. It is a pretty stark wakeup call, but if nothing else it helps put things in perspective. It is skillful to consider these things when we are caught up in our own "shit."
I sit in frustration for my current wife, as she desperately struggles to understand why my daughters, their aunts and uncles, etc. cannot get along long enough to have a holiday meal together. This is the kind of shit that would have occupied my thoughts for the majority of the day.
I also sit in humble appreciation, by the fireplace at Harry's, that we have houses to invite people to, that we have reasonable health, and that we have good friends. Especially when we lose one so suddenly and tragically, it makes all of the dribble regarding where we spend Thanksgiving seem incredibly inconsequential.
Be nice to people, hug everybody you see. We have no idea when our number will be called, and if they went by merit I'd be long gone so count every day as another opportunity to make things right. You might not ever get there, like I might not ever get there with ex in-laws or my girls, but one thing is for sure. If you don't try, you sure as hell won't ever do it.
God be with you Les. You will be missed by more than you can count. God be with those you left behind, because your absence will be felt more than you ever could have known. I'll miss your FB updates. Love you 'sis.
Her last post on FB http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElrHsX3ysIk&feature=share


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It's that time of year again.
Time to clean up my PC and move everything I absolutely need to my external hard-drive, which sadly, only fits 120 GB of information.
Yes, I am well aware that this as a lot of space, but I have over three thousand high resolution photos and over six thousand mp3 files. That's not going into all my research and PowerPoint presentations covering the span of around five years.
And since I have only 120 GB, I have to be very choosy.
Thus begin the questions.
Do I need the entire Lil' Wayne album that I once reviewed for the college newspaper and absolutely hated? Do I still need the files I used while researching Portugal's position on the Digital Divide from when I was a delegate at MUN in 2007? How many times should I watch the episodes of Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy and Glee? Does the software for The Sims 1 (I kid you not) still work on my laptop?
The most likely answers would be No, No, None, No.
Which means that I should just hit delete and throw all of those away into the virtual trash.
But the notion of disposing of things takes me back to a launching event I attended less than a week ago at the UNESCO palace. To sum things up, the launching event was for an awareness campaign entitled Think Before You Throw that's part of this solid waste management plan done in collaboration with several ministries in Lebanon. I was there because of my major and it was an assignment to assess whether this project would succeed or not (Note: It won't).
Basically, it's all about encouraging local communities to sort their household solid wastes at the source of generation instead of at the facilities, in order to save upon costs, energy, and space in the landfills. After all, there's so much that could be done with recyclable material. Here's one example that could have a very positive impact on our lives and on the environment in general.
Now you may be wondering why I'm likening the dumping of solid wastes to the deletion of several electronic files. You're right, there's nothing crystal-clear common between the two. After all, mass-deleting e-files will not have the same effect on the environment as disposing a kilogram of trash every day. But it's about the logic. If we assume that throwing things away is no longer a problem because it's so similar to just clicking delete, our problems are only going to get grander and unsolvable.
Reality is still a far place from the E-world and we must remember that.


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This screenshot isn't new but it is revealing. Kurt Warner last played in the NFL in the 2009-2010 season. Of the 24 players on Madden NFL 13's "Canton Greats" roster of throwback stars, he was the last to retire. And here we see his return to the league touted in the game's new "Connected Careers" mode.
This is interesting for a couple of reasons. "Connected Careers" will allow you to play as any active coach or player. Playing as a coach means you control an entire team, like the old Franchise mode; playing as a player allows you to play as a single player, like Superstar. Everyone works in the same universe, with some limitations. For this, there are also some Hall of Fame coaches and players that are available for use in Connected Careers. But the assumption is that they will only show up in your league if you (or if another human in an online-enabled league) chooses to play as them.
Here we seem to be seeing the introduction of a Canton Great back into the league by the CPU, which is very intriguing. Back in April, as "Connected Careers" was being unveiled, EA Sports' Josh Looman touted the possibility of players coming out of retirement to rejoin the league, a nearly annual storyline that has been painfully familiar to football fans thanks to Brett Favre. I asked directly, if jokingly, if EA Sports had the rights to use Favre's likeness in Madden 13 and was told no.
Is Kurt Warner the only player who will come out of retirement to rejoin the league? Literally speaking, that's doubtful. As a Connected Careers dynasty advances into its hypothetical future, you might see active players like Tom Brady retire in 2015 but maybe come back in 2016. But for 2012, I wouldn't bet on seeing, say, LaDanian Tomlinson reconsidering last month's decision to call it a career and return, because once he left the league, he was no longer covered by the NFL Players Association group license that allows the use of players' likenesses throughout the game. Warner and EA Sports had to cut a special deal.
All of this means to me that if Madden 13 has the rights to one player who is fully retired, yet is in reasonable shape to return to the league, and releases a screenshot of a situation describing exactly that, it's practically a mortal lock everyone will be seeing Kurt Warner return to duty in the first year of their "Connected Careers" universe. Derrick Brooks, also on the Canton Greats roster, retired a year before Warner, which means we may be seeing him return to action, too. The second question then is, how would the player be rated? Warner's Canton Greats rating is based on 2001, one of his greatest seasons ever. There's no way he's in the same shape a dozen years later.
I asked Madden's ratings czar, Donny Moore, if Connected Careers would allow for the CPU-controlled unretirement of someone like Jerry Rice (who last played in 2005), and didn't hear back. Let's assume that's a no, because six of the Canton Greats players are dead, and you just can't have them in a league unless you know the person who brought them back. In sports video games, reality-shattering choices should never be made by the game itself, they should be made by a human player. When you unlock all-time greats for use in NCAA Football or NBA 2K, they come to the league under human control, for instance.
But if a game has two players who could, conceivably, return to duty in real life (Brooks would, admittedly, be an enormous longshot at a position like linebacker), and the game is trying to make a splash with a story-generation engine and even a virtual Twitter feed, why wouldn't their unretirement be coded into the game?