Everybody has a hard time sometime...

Just look no further than the Dodgers. If you need any evidence of their piss-poor performances so far, then look no further than the NL West standings. Dead last. In a weak NL West. 5 games below .500. Just what the hell is going on? All I know is that when our bats are on, our arms off. Unfortunately for all of us their arms have been off all season and this means our bats have to be on all the time which is asking way too much. The middle of our rotation, a strength last year, has become a glaring weakness as they struggle to hold leads and limit runs. We need them to turn it around QUICK because I can't stand the fact that the Padres are in first right now.

There's no need to explain this. The picture says it all.

Lake Show
So the Lakers waltzed into Oklahoma City tonight and beat the Thunder 95-94. Heck YES. I thought that the Lakers would win, but they did it in dramatic fashion as Pau Gasol had a put-back with .5 seconds left. Awesome. It's about time that the Lakers put two good games together. I know that they have some kind of Jekyll and Hyde persona, but this is the playoffs. It's time to buck up and win. I hope that these type of performances continue on our run towards another title. Even Luke Walton (Luke!) stepped up tonight with good hustle and some clutch shots.

People say Luke is in the NBA because of his dad, but I like to think that NBA execs said "We need more curly haired guys in the league!" A 'super-secret curly hair deal' if you will.

Quick Hits
- The Jazz defeated the Nuggets tonight 112-104. I love it. Two of the Lakers biggest threats in the West (in my humble opinion) have been eliminated from the playoffs on consecutive nights - the Spurs over the Mavericks and now the Jazz over the Nuggets. The stars are aligning for a 3rd consecutive trip to the championship. Of course, the Lakers aren't probably thinking this way as they look towards their next game (Sunday against the Jazz in Round 2). However, I firmly believe it is my job as a fan to look ahead and speculate. Much like a future-seeing wizard person. Like Nostradamus.

Put a Lakers jersey on him and you've got me. Also, shave his beard and paint him about 20 years younger.

- I'm a pretty big fan of bashing Notre Dame whenever I get the chance. Maybe it was the fact that I grew up as a fan of USC or maybe the fact that I could never get over how stupid that Irish mascot looked. However, it has recently come to my attention that Notre Dame has had enough of people making fun of them that they decided to show everyone what true school spirit looked like. In an attempt that would the 80's blush, this is Notre Dame at it's finest (read: worst). I'll let the video do the bashing for me.

They need to fire the guy who came up with this. How embarrassing.

- I can't stand Bono. You know, the lead singer for that overrated band, U2. I try not to listen to him whenever I have the chance, but he's somehow weaseled his way into becoming the spokesperson for the World Cup. UGH. Every World Cup commercial has him doing the narration. Take something you love and combine it with something you hate. Yeah, that's what it's like for me. Hopefully we'll be spared from interviews with Bono by the time that the World Cup starts. Hopefully.

Song
Today's title comes from the song "Everybody Gets the Blues" by the Kenny Wayne Shepard Band.

Momma always said I'd be the 'Chosen One'...

Jose Mourinho, manager of Inter Milan, has a fondness for calling himself the "special one" or "chosen one" and now I finally believe him. In what can only be described as a defensive masterpiece, Inter lost to Barcelona 1-0 yesterday, but won on aggregate 3-2. What makes the 1-0 scoreline even more impressive is the fact that Inter only played with 10 men after Thiago Motta was red-carded in the 24th minute. A questionable red-card at best with a lot of theatrics by Sergio Busquets (he should of won an Emmy for his performance!).

Inter will now face the German side Bayern Munich in the Champions League final on May 22nd with both teams having knocked out the two favorites (Munich over Man U and Inter over Barca). However, this is by no means a watered down showdown as Bayern and Inter are two of the most storied clubs in Europe with Inter having been crowned champions of Europe 3 times and Bayern 4 times in their histories. The match also pits Bayern coach Louis van Gaal (pronounced 'Haul') against his student Mourinho. The offense of Bayern against the classic Italian defense of Inter. My early prediction? Bayern wins. Why? Because Bayern is my second team to Chelsea. Gotta love any team that Franz "Der Kaiser" Beckenbauer took to prominence.

Oh, and I challenge you to find a more polarizing coach in futbol today. This is the type of sniping that Mourinho is known for - it has brought him many enemies in Europe.

Jose Mourinho - showing you what douchebaggery looks like. Look long and hard.

Quick Hits
- Lebron James hurt his elbow against the Bulls in the decisive Game 5. Wah wah, cry me a river dickface.

Fast forward to the 1:00 minute mark.

- ESPN's Big XII blog has a good writeup on Baylor's secondary going into this upcoming football season. Outside of the offensive and defensive lines, I believe this is the most important area for us - especially playing in the wide-open Big XII. In recent years, the depth of our secondary has been less than adequate and we have been torched by opposing quarterbacks. I fully expect newcomers Ahmad Dixon and Prince Kent to make an instant impact this fall (Kent has already been taking first-team reps in the Spring) as they are both strong, physical, and fast players. Last year, our young corners made good strides in competing at a high level so that was a positive.

- The Nuggets beat the Jazz last night to stave off elimination. C'mon Jazz, as much as I hate you, I would hate it more if you didn't eliminate the Nuggets! Any team that has Chris Anderson on it deserves to be eliminated.

Seriously, look at that guy. Even Dahntay Jones can't look at him.

Song
Today's title comes from the song 'Woke up this morning' by Alabama 3. You may recognize it from the intro of The Sopranos. If not, click this link.

Better believe it...

The Baylor Athletic department recently came out with a highlight video of the men's basketball season. Man, what a great year. Just a quick recap: We were picked to finish 10th in the league in the preseason but finished 2nd and made a trip to the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. A year that gave us many memories and special moments which mesh beautifully in this video.

I won't lie to you - I shed a tear after watching this.

Quick Hits
- The Lakers destroyed the Thunder tonight 111-87 in Game 5 of the playoffs. So far, home court has been pretty darn important as each team has won their games at home. The Lake show will hope to buck this trend on Friday when they go back to Oklahoma City on Friday for Game 6, but I doubt that the Thunder (especially Kevin Durant) will be so accommodating. Expect a tough one.

- In a dominating and somewhat boring match, Bayern Munich beat Olympique Lyon 3-0 (nil for you non-soccer fans) in the 2nd leg of their semifinal clash in the Champions League. Olic scored the hat trick for Bayern who utterly outclassed Lyon in the latter parts of the first half and for the whole of the second half. Overall, Bayern won 4-0 on aggregate.
For those of you not familiar with how soccer tournaments work, teams usually play two games - the total score is known as the "aggregate". In this case, Bayern won 1-0 in the first game and 3-0 in the second meaning they won 4-0 overall. This is obviously not the system in the World Cup which uses a one game elimination in their playoffs. The Champions League can best be described as the World Cup of European club soccer. Each European country has the opportunity to enter their best club (sometimes 2 or 3 or 4) into the continent-wide tournament. Not only are bragging rights for the country on the line, but also the title for "best club in Europe". Can you imagine being named the best at a sport that a continent is crazy about? Yeah, wrap your head around that for a second.

- In the second semifinal played tomorrow, Barcelona will have to overcome a 3-1 aggregate score over red-hot Inter Milan in order to have a chance to repeat as European champions. I expect a high-flying match where the first 30 minutes will see Inter desperately defending an all-out attack by Barca. Even though 3-1 is a huge lead in soccer, Barca has the players and track record to score quickly and often. Tomorrow's match should be an exciting one.

- In not so surprising news, the Oakland Raiders are reportedly about to release draft bust Jamarcus Russell. A quarterback with a strong arm, big body, and not so great work ethic, Russell will still be paid at least 3 million this year making it a total of 39 million since 2007. I wish I got paid that much to be lousy at my job.

Maybe if he spent as much time on the practice field as he did in the jewelry store he'd actually win some games. Maybe.

The End
Today's title comes from the song of the same name by Lil Boosie. You better believe we had a damn good season in Baylor basketball (oh, the women's team made it to the Final Four also). Expect more of the same next year... I hope.

One bourbon, one scotch, one beer...

is exactly what each player on Croatian basketball team, Cibona, needs right now. After thinking they just won the NBL Championship (equivalent to the NBA Championship?), they lose it in dramatic fashion. By "dramatic" I really mean "stupid" and by "lose it" I really mean "give it away". If there was ever a case when the tired overused term "play to the buzzer" would've helped then this game was it. Congratulations Cibona, you have just become the de facto team in every coaches timeout speech. I can hear it now... "don't be stupid and give the game away like Cibona did!".

My favorite part is right after Cibona loses. What is the opposing coach doing? Flicking them off?

Thoughts
- In case you didn't hear or were away from t.v. this past weekend the NFL held it's annual draft. An event where dreams come true for both players and fans and where expectations are literally seen shooting through the roof of Radio City Music Hall. Anyway, two Baylor players were selected in the draft. All-American center JD Walton was selected in the third round by the Denver Broncos wide receiver David Gettis was selected in the sixth round by the Carolina Panthers. This makes it the second draft in a row where a Baylor offensive lineman was selected with Jason Smith going #2 overall to the St. Louis Rams last year.
Walton will be expected to compete for a starting position in Denver with many believing that he'll start when the season starts. On the other hand, I don't really know what to expect from Gettis. A prototypical receiver at 6'4" and 215 pounds, Gettis has blazing speed with the ability to run a sub-4.4 40yd dash. His pass catching abilities are still somewhat suspect as is his route-running. I hope he continues to improve and can make his spot on the Panthers a permanent one. Good luck guys!

- If you know a little about me, you know that my favorite soccer (futbol for you snobs) team is Chelsea FC who are located in London and compete in the Barclay's Premiere League. I have argued for a couple years now that this the best league in the world - surpassing the German Bundesliga, Italian Serie A, and Spanish La Liga. The collection of players is unrivaled and the competition is fierce. My argument is only bolstered by this recent article on Fernando Torres (one of the greatest strikers in the world). A little over-dramatic? Maybe, but an interesting thought nonetheless.

- In keeping with the soccer thoughts I must say I am amazed at the amount of sordid lives that professional athletes lead. From Tiger's disgusting display of adultery to three members of the French National Team being in boiling hot water in an underage prostitution sting. It doesn't help when the prostitute claims that "I love them all". Needless to say, these players World Cup hopes may soon be dashed.

I love bacon but you don't see me whoring myself out for it.

Song
Today's title comes from a George Thorogood song of the same name.

Ain't no grave...

As Johnny Cash once said, "there ain't no grave can hold my body down..." and in this case, "there ain't no grave can hold my blog down". I have to explain myself. After upgrading to Windows 7 a few months ago (how glorious it's been!) I lost all my favorite web links meaning that I lost this website! Thanks to a random post by Jackie on Facebook, I found my blog. BTW, Jackie just received an internship this summer with a Texas Supreme Court judge. Congrats!

... said Texas Supreme Court Justice, Judge Dredd.

Thoughts
Anyway, football season has been over for what feels like years. College basketball ended a month ago. What does that leave me with in regards to Baylor athletics? Baseball, softball, tennis, and golf. This blog was never intended to cover anything outside of football, basketball, and whatever the hell I feel like so I'll gloss over these sports.

Baseball
Wow, another season of high hopes and another season full of disappointment. Ever since we made the College World Series in 2005, we have regressed as a program to the point of mediocrity. To go from Elite to mediocre in a span of 5 years is disturbing, to say the least. And to do that with a #1 recruiting class is flat-out ridiculous. I really don't know what we need, but whatever it is, we need it fast.

Softball
Much like baseball this was a season of high hopes that has deteriorated into disappointment, but at least the softballers have a legit excuse - their star pitcher Whitney Canion fell to a season-ending injury near the beginning of the year. At least this gives freshman pitcher Courtney Repka some much needed experience, but it doesn't do much for the win-loss column. There's always next year.

Tennis
Our men's team hasn't been as dominant in recent years losing the Big XII regular season title for only the 2nd or 3rd time in this decade. Hopefully they win the tournament title and have a good run in the NCAA's. Our women's team on the other hand has just won their 6th straight Big XII regular season title and are looking like favorites to win a program-first national title. Good luck, ladies!

Golf
Our men's and women's teams are average. A far cry from the top-25 status of both teams just a couple years ago. Oh, well.

Anna Kournikova - What mediocrity in tennis looks like. Good thing none of our lady bears look like that! Wait...

Last Thoughts
I think this was a pretty decent "welcome back to blogging" post so I'm gonna leave it at this. Oh, like I said before - the title comes from a Johnny Cash song of the same name. Good song.