April 22 - Steph Survives on Survivor

While Survivor is not really a traditional sport, I think it is competitive and entertaining, much more so then the NBA, so I will give it some coverage over the final five weeks of the season. And let me tell you, there was a huge development on the show last night as Stephanie dodged a bullet and now finds herself among the final seven contestants. In case you don’t follow the show, Stephanie is the lone remaining member of the nine-person Ulong tribe and her head was on the chopping block last night. The case for her ousting is really quite easy – she is one tough chick who has what it takes to win physical challenges. As such, most view her as a threat and the tribe was ready to boot her last night. But at the last minute, she was saved when the 73 pound Janu resigned her commission and dropped out of the game. This is a huge turn of the events since the alliance that really pushed for Stephanie to leave, now finds itself outnumbered, or so it seems. It will be interesting to see next week what Stephanie can do with her reprieve. If she can somehow persuade, Tom, Ian and Katy to join her, Greg and his crew are toast. This may be tough, but if it happens, Stephanie is basically a lock for the final four and the bet here is if she makes it that far, she will take it to the house.

Notes from the National League: Am I dreaming or did the Dodgers actually lose last night. I guess you can’t win every night, especially when Scott Erickson is on the mound. Padre pitcher Adam Eaton just completely shut down the Dodgers and especially the bottom half of the order. Ryan Klesko showed some life for the Padres last night which is long overdue since the middle of that lineup has really struggled so far. The Giants used eight pitchers in their thirteen inning win last night over the Diamondbacks, and got five scoreless innings from their questionable bullpen. This team is just trying to buy time until Bonds returns but that day no longer seems too imminent. The Brewers actually got to Brad Lidge last night, and of all people, it was Brady Clark who did the damage. Willy Taveras has been a godsend for the Astros, but the bet here is Willy will not keep it up. Pedro was dominant once again last night, getting through seven with only 88 pitches, 64 of which were strikes. You spot that guy a lead, and its lights out as the Fish found out last night. Al Leiter reverted back towards the mean last night, walking five in three innings. You cannot expect that guy to beat a team five days after he last faced them. Chris Carpenter completely dominated the Cubs last night on the first night of the post-Nomar era. The Cubs responded to Nomar’s injury by sliding Corey Patterson down the three slot. That is a better fit for Patterson then leading off, but he should really be further down in the order. When the Cubs say Nomar will be out from two to three – do they mean months or years? GM Jim Hendry better get on the phone because Nefi Perez isn’t going to cut it for too long as the Cubs everyday shortstop. It took 56 at bats, but Jim Thome finally jacked on out of the park last night. Why in the world did the Yankees let Jon Lieber go? He is 4-0 down in Philly after beating Colorado last night. He may not strike a ton of guys out, but he almost always gives his team a chance to win. What does John Smoltz have to do to pick up a win? Last night, he gave up one run in seven innings, but that putrid Braves offense let him down once again. Although Pittsburgh finally won last night, Teke Redman had a night to forget – 0-5 with seven runners left on base. Including Redman, the Pirates have three everyday players hitting below .200. This club isn’t exactly reminiscent of the old lumber and lightening crews in Pittsburgh as evidenced by the fact that they are last in the league in extra base hits.

Observations on the American League: The pitching duel between Mark Buehrle and Jason Bonderman never really materialized yesterday, but Buehrle was able to eek out a win by going seven pretty strong innings. The sox are on fire right now but what do they do when Frank Thomas is ready to return? Does that mean Carl Everett goes back to the outfield? The Red Sox are getting terrific starting pitching as they blanked Baltimore for the second straight time last night. Matt Clement was super, getting ahead of hitters and putting them a way with that nasty slider. It took a few weeks, but perhaps Jason Varitek now has him under control. David Ortiz and Edgar Renteria are shivering right now but this weekend they get to feast on some Tampa pitching. There is no better way to cure a slump. Mike Mussina got his first win last night but it was far from impressive. He needed 99 pitches to get through five and a third and he left the game in the sixth with runners on second and third. Moose looks to me like an American League version of Al Leiter and that doesn’t cut it for a guy who will make $19 million this year. More bad news for the Yankees – Ruben Sierra arm problem looks pretty serious and there is no telling how long he will be out. If that bicep is torn, he is gone for the year, leaving the Yanks with almost no bench whatsoever. The Twins bullpen finally gave up a meaningful run last night, although the team was able to overcome the mistake and beat the Tigers in ten. I don’t think the Twins read Moneyball because if they had, they wouldn’t have just 18 walks in their first 16 games. How long can you continue to win with a team OBP of just .279? Alfonso Soriano is cold right now and it makes me wonder if Texas missed their opportunity to trade their moody leadoff man. What about Soriano to the Cubs – after all, he did come up as a shortstop, albeit one who was not very good in the field. The Cleveland bullpen was at it again last night, blowing a ninth inning lead. If I were Billy Bean, I would lock Rich Harden up right now because his price tag is only going to rise. This guy isn’t going to be good – he’s already there.

North Carolina basketball fans got the news they were dreading this afternoon when it was announced that Sean May, Marvin Williams and Raymond Felton would all be leaving school early to join the NBA. In addition to these loses, UNC will also lose Rashard McCants, Jackie Manuel, Melvin Scott and Jawad Williams off this year’s national championship. This represents the entire core of this years team, as only two reserves with any experience will be coming back in 2006. I, for one, am surprised that Marvin Williams decided to leave early. Williams is clearly not ready to play in the NBA, yet he was told by Coach Roy Williams and others that he will most likely be a top-5 pick and I guess he found that persuasive. If I had to guess, I would say that Williams and Felton made a collective decision since neither wanted to be stuck back in Chapel Hill without the other. So what does North Carolina have coming back? In a nutshell, the answer is nothing. David Noel returns and he has shown some ability to play out on the wing and Quentin Thomas will be coming back to take Felton’s place at point guard. But it should be noted that he started exactly one game last year and UNC lost that contest to Santa Clara. That is not exactly the kind of resume you want from the leader of your team. While things now look pretty bleak at UNC, there is some help along the way in the form of four recruits, all considered to be amongst the top fifty in the country Tyler Hansbrough from Missouri is considered a top-10 talent, while 6’3 Bobby Frasor, 6’5 Danny Green and 6’5 Marcus Ginyard all have impressive scholastic credentials. Nonetheless, next year’s team will be incredibly inexperience, small and shallow. It is a good thing Roy Williams won this year because next year, things could be real ugly down in Chapel Hill. The only saving grace for UNC is the ACC will lose a bunch of top players to graduation and the NBA so the league may not be quite as strong as it was this year. But that alone will not be enough for this crew. And that is why I say that if Williams can somehow mold next year’s team into an NCAA qualifier, it will be his best coaching achievement to date. Even better then this year’s national championship.