Dunlap out, now maybe we can progress.

Hey guys, I'm sure most of you have either gotten here through twitter/BR/facebook, so I'm assuming you've seen the article I posted on Bleacher Report about Dunlap's dismissal. If not, click here.

You don't have to get much farther than the title to see my feelings on the matter: I'm glad he's gone.

I don't feel like going over why he wasn't the man for the job in a blog post when I just wrote and linked a fairly in-depth analysis of all of his shortcomings, so this is going to be a short post.

He needed to go. He coached this NBA team like a college team, he failed in player development, he failed MKG completely, his rotations were miserable, and the players hated him.

A lot of outsiders looking in are crying foul, saying Dunlap wasn't given a fair shot. The  fact is, Dunlap had a full season to adjust his coaching scheme, but he remained cemented in his ways, and that is not good enough.

You have to be wiling to adjust. You have to be approachable for your developing players. You can't hold constant 4 hour practices the day before a game. You can't play  2-3 zone constantly and be exploited from three-point land worse than any other team in the NBA.

That last bit is especially frustrating, considering the fact that many of our players are extremely strong perimeter defenders limited to their zones.

I don't know where they're going to go, but ESPN's Chris Broussard tweeted that sources are saying the Bobcats' coaching opening is much more attractive than it was last year, and that they will generate much more interest than last year.

They're going to be around $20 million under salary cap, they're going to have at least a top-five, most likely a top-three pick in the NBA draft, and they have a very talented young core that tripled its win total without much help from their head coach.

Give that article I linked you to a quick read if you want to see all of Dunlap's shortcomings. This is the first significant move of the most pivotal offseason in franchise history, and it was a big one. I'm excited to see where they go.

I'm going to do my part by flooding Phil Jackson's twitter account begging him to come to Charlotte.

Please Phil, please... REUNITE WITH MICHAEL JORDAN!

Charlotte Hornets update quickie

Hey gang, small bit of news to report so far today. Keep in mind, there's a lot going on tonight between meetings and the final game of the season for the Cats (and the NOLA Hornets), the entire Grape line was released today, and there still very well may be some more news coming our way.

But this little nugget as reported by local news station WBTV is probably the most exciting bit of news we've gotten in quite a while... and it comes from the head honcho himself. Michael Jordan on the name change:

Watch the quick exchange via this link.

In case you're too lazy to watch the 50 second video (douche bags), Michael was surrounded by security, press, and fans walking in a parking lot when a reporter managed to get right in his face and asked how the Charlotte Hornets name sounded to him.

Jordan's response is almost comical. He clearly can't divulge any official information yet, but it was like he made a small slip-up and tried to cover it up after what sounded like a nervous chuckle.

"Ha... Ha uh... Still workin' on it... sounds good. Still workin' on it."

You really should watch the video. Without a prepared statement on the issue, Jordan's feelings and the organization's direction are much more clear. After months of having their asses firmly on the fence, it looks like Charlotte is finally starting to climb down.

Still working on it. Meaning they were already working on it before. Sounds good. Meaning he's at least perpetuating the thought that he's behind  the name change.

A cool little nugget of an update before tonight's 8 o'clock (EST) bout against the Cleveland Cavaliers. Should be a fun game to watch, as both teams are high lottery teams, but both seem to be on the rise in the very near future.

Give us one of those rings, MJ. And a name change. Now. At the same time.

Charlotte Hornets update

In line with what most believed, last night was a formality in terms of what was said by the organization and David Silver. A name change is possible, the NBA is fully backing it, they're just waiting on the Bobcats to file the proverbial (or literal, not really sure) paperwork.

One of the bigger comments of the night came from Silver, when he said rebranding would take a total of about 18 months.

But our friends at Bring Back the Buzz and We Beelieve (see previous post) pointed out the interesting fact that there is a good chance that, while it may take 18 months, we could already be well within that window of time.

Michael Jordan and the Charlotte organization can not come out and say plainly that they're taking back the Hornets name legally until the end of the season for the New Orleans Hornets, and they wouldn't do it before the end of the season of the Bobcats, if for no other reason than to keep selling as much Bobcats gear as they can before it becomes useless.

You can bet in 10 years, people won't be wearing "retro" Bobcats hats and shoes. It will die and turn to dust, so it's a fire sale. If Jordan came out and said publicly, "in 2013-14 we are going to be the Charlotte Hornets," there goes probably six figures worth of merchandise.

So, what this is right now is a chess match between management and the public. It's clear as day which way this game is going, but still, right now it's a matter of getting your pieces set into place to maximize strategical effectiveness.

Silver seemed very upbeat about the organization as a whole, mentioned nothing about an NBA takeover (see: New Orleans Hornets), and was completely on board and open about the name change.

It's not really news, but it's something.

It's also worth noting that Silver certainly met with CLT management prior to the "town hall" meeting, and they could easily have told him to clam up about the name because it's not going to happen. The fact that management seemed content to let Silver be open and honest, and even hopeful about a name change is a good sign.

There are a few more events lined up within the next couple of days to cap the Bobcats' season. A fan meeting before the game tomorrow (4/17), the final game of the season (also tomorrow), the release of Jordan's Grape line tomorrow, and a huge open house on thursday, April 18th.

We're likely going to have to buckle up and wait until the 18th to hear any news on the front, but it's only 2 days away. I can live.

Charlotte Hornets: Blogging as it happens.

Hey guys, I'm going to (try) to stay faithful to this post and to the great amount of news that is going to be happening within the next few days regarding the possible (at this point, likely) change of name from Bobcats back to the Hornets.

Just in case you've been living under a rock, this is a very, very real thing. I don't have the time to catch you up on all of the news, but I can link you to two major facebook sites (with twitters attached) where a lot of the news is being broadcast, and here they are.

We Beelieve

Bring Back the Buzz

I will also go ahead and link you to an article I wrote a couple of days ago, summarizing all the news at that time. Here you go. There's a lot of information stuffed in the three links I gave you, but check them all out.

For those of you lazy bums, I will very briefly summarize. The Charlotte Bobcats are hosting a "town hall" meeting tonight before their game before the New York Knicks. Present at the meeting will be NBA deputy (and soon to be outright) commissioner Adam Silver, and many bigwigs in Charlotte management.

This is coming days before the end to both the New Orleans Hornets (soon to be Pelicans) and Charlotte Bobcats season, both of which play their final games on April 17th.

Also on April 17th is an entire release of teal and purple Jordan Grape apparel. This includes shirts, shoes, socks, hats, shorts... really, everything. Also coming out will be a re-release of the teal and purple retro Jordan V Grape, one of the most iconic pairs of basketball shoes of all time.

Local news channels are reporting on the significance of all of this news, interviewing the founders of grassroots campaign. You can't open your eyes without seeing something about the Hornets coming back to Charlotte.

Do yourselves a favor and click on the links I provided to get even more news, and keep checking back here, as I will be giving as many live updates as I can regarding new turn of events. John Morgan, founder of We Beelieve, will be at the town hall meeting tonight, live tweeting and letting us know what's happening, so I'll try to keep up with him. You should too.

Here are some important twitter accounts to follow in the coming days.

@BringBackTheBuz
@We_Beelieve
@BoydCDerp

Follow, watch, come back and check all of the sources I've given you, and be excited. Things are going to busy in the next couple of days. I haven't been this excited in a long time.

Time to bring back the BUZZ!

Herp derp music

Facebook changed again. Because if there's one thing Facebook is good at, it's fixing things that aren't broken to begin with, while neglecting (or making worse) the aspects of the site that are, in fact, broken.

Nevertheless, with the newest update, For whatever reason, I got a look at a note I wrote like 4 years ago. You know, notes... those stupid things people tagged you in and you'd do funny little quizzes or musical lists, or whatever.

One that caught me was "25 Songs", in which, after being tagged, I was to go to itunes, hit shuffle, and list the first 25 songs that came up on shuffle. My musical interests since the time of making that list haven't so much changed as much as they have broadened... aka, I like a lot more rap.

Here is the list from August of 2009:

1. Make Me An Angel - Moros Eros
2. Boyscout'n - Menomena
3. Rock Box - Run DMC
4. Live Your Dream - Reel Big Fish
5. What a Good Boy - Barenaked Ladies
6. Strong Coffee - The Cat Empire
7. Epidemic - Blackfield
8. Crack the Code - 311
9. Steam Engenius - Modest Mouse
10. Cygnus... Vismund Cygnus - The Mars Volta
11. Roundabout (early rough mix) - Yes
12. Distant Early Warning - Rush
13. Interlude - The Sound Of Animals Fighting
14. Drunk Side - Dredg
15. Obessesions - Damiera
16. Habitat - Mos Def
17. Metropolis, Part 1 (The Miracle and the Sleeper) - Dream Theater
18. Drilling - Minus the Bear
19. Clock With No Hands - The Roots
20. A Man. A Plan. A Canal. Panama. - The Fall of Troy
21. Yes 'em To Death - The Coup
22. Hello City - Barenaked Ladies
23. The Modern Imagination - Phantom Regiment 1993
24. Peter Piper - Run DMC
25. Consequential Apathy - RX Bandits

Surprisingly, not an awful list. I turned 19 about a month after posting this list, so I guess I've liked decent music at least since then. Anyway, new music, new stuff, I decided to do it again, 2013 style. Here we go, March 22, 2013:

1. Illegal Theft - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
2. Luca - Brand New
3. Walk Alone - The Roots
4. Deception: Concealing Fate Pt. 2 - TesseracT
5. Man on the Moon - Kid Cudi
6. Vedamalady - The Mars Volta
7. Worst Case Scenario - Tech N9ne
8. Lazarus - Porcupine Tree
9. Jobs Schmobs - Bomb the Music Industry
10. The Saddest Song - Streetlight Manifesto
11. Three Little Pigs - Lloyd Price
12. Hearts That Hanker for Mistake - RX Bandits
13. Rosa Parks - OutKast
14. Although Indigent, Rural Families Have Little to Say in the Matter, Third Rate Public Education Has Kept Them Ignorant and Thus, Great Sources of Ridicule! - David Cross (not a song, comedic track nonetheless)
15. Sentimental - Porcupine Tree
16. Wood & Wire - Thrice
17. All Things Considered - The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
18. Cosmo Canyon - Random (Mega Ran) and Lost Perception
19. Hot 16's - Hopsin
20. All Fall Down - Kanye West
21. New Sheriff in Town - Solillaquists of Sound
22. Blue Magic - Jay-Z
23. The Podfather Pt. 1: Halloween - The Rick Gervais Show (again, not a song.)
24. Firebreather - Thrice
25. Extremophile Elite - Between the Buried and Me

Overall, as one is prone to do with age, I believe the newest list represents a more mature, diverse taste in music, and as I predicted, a lot more hip hop/rap. I still have a ton of Run DMC and Mos Def on iTunes, I was just catching a lot of other artists in this one. Honestly not a song on the second list I wouldn't recommend to anyone... pretty decent, actually. The Rick Gervais Show is hilarious as well, give it a listen.

Like I said, the first list isn't totally embarrassing, but I think it's pretty clear that my tastes have evolved. I don't really listen to much of that music anymore, but I still don't think any of it is particularly bad.

CHECK THESE FUCKING TRACKS OUT, ASSHOLES.

How to boil an egg.

I just read an entire blog post detailing, at great length, how to boil an egg.

There are three primary problems with a post of that nature.

1 - Boiled eggs are fucking disgusting.
2 - Few foods actually have the directions of how to cook it entirely in the name. Boil. Egg. Done. If you fuck that up, I think you have bigger problems. Like how to count to 10.
3 - Of all of the egg preparations that you could pick (over-easy, sunny-side up, scrambled, deviled, poached, omelet, etc.), you choose to BOIL THE EGG? It's the easiest preparation and the grossest way to eat them!

Seriously, they're gross. The white tastes like slippery fat and the yolk is a chalky texture with a taste of nothingness.

The egg is a magical thing. I love eggs. More than I love most people, truthfully. But this was an entire post (lengthy, with video) about how to boil an egg. Just fry it like a normal, fat American and live a little.

I realize now that I have talked about boiled eggs for an entire post as well. Perhaps the master plan was to shock us into spreading the evil of boiled eggs.

Dammit.

My Zero Dark Thirty experience.

So, last night I went to see Zero Dark Thirty. It was something I've been meaning to do for a while now,  and for whatever reason I just got around to it last night.

I had heard from everyone it was absolutely wonderful, brilliant, etc. And I agree. It was pretty damn good. I loved the fact that it was more spy/espionage thriller than action thriller, and I loved the fact that it keeps relatively quiet until the last 30 minutes, when it gut punches you so hard that it leaves you breathless.

Two things happened inside of the theater over the course of the film, though. Both of them were either due to me, or because of me.

I pride myself on my movie etiquette. I'm kind of a movie buff and I love seeing movies in the theater, and when it's a movie as impressive and important as Zero Dark Thirty, I like to stay out of it and let the movie do the work. No comments about who's doing what, no "yeah!" from the audience when Bin Laden gets shot, nothing like that.

But I broke the rules twice last night.

The first happened when a group of people, presumably around my age, decided to be douche bags. Two guys, one girl. There's a clip in the film of a speech President Obama made regarding the use of torture by the United States and how he wouldn't allow it anymore. This was pertinent for the film, which up to that point had been showing some pretty intense torture scenes.

The girl in the group behind me said, "I fucking hate that piece of shit," to which her two boyfriends (probably cousins) guffawed. I turned around, glared, and silently made it known that I'm trying to watch the movie.

Seconds later, another brief showing of President Obama. The girl made a similar quip. At this point, I broke etiquette, because I had no idea how many more times they were going to show Obama onscreen. I turned around and told her that no one in this theater cares about her idiotic opinion, and that it would be nice of her to kindly shut up so the rest of us could watch the film and understand the intricacies of what is happening.

I turned back around and sat. The people beside and in front of me looked at me and smiled, and as we were walking out, one of them thanked me. The group behind me glared, but I had mob mentality on my side, so I wasn't worried.

The SECOND time was all on me. Well, maybe not all on me. It has to be partially blamed on the casting department for ZD30.

ANDY FUCKING DWYER FROM PARKS AND REC PLAYS ONE OF THE NAVY SEALS WHO KILLS OSAMA BIN LADEN.

Andy Dwyer is probably the biggest, most hilarious doofus on TV right now. The second I saw him, I burst out laughing. He was playing this hugely important part as deadly Navy SEAL, and all I could think about was when he made Ron Swanson orgasm by rubbing his foot.

It took me about two seconds to realize my laughter was not shared by anyone in the theater, and another two or three seconds to stifle my laughter into quiet giggles, which resumed for at least another 10 seconds.

So that's it. I sat in front of some idiots who couldn't keep their politics out of one of the most uniting American events in the history of this country, and I couldn't stop laughing at the fact that a guy who broke both of his legs falling into a big hole was playing a Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden.

Solid Night at the movies.

Four months. I suck, yo.

Sup guys... all three of you that depended on me to post reliable blogs on a regular occasion. (I actually checked my page view count and was pretty surprised at the high-ish number, but that's neither here nor there.)

Fact is, it's been a long-ass time (four months, five days) since I've posted anything on this blog, and I promise it's not because I forgot. I thought about it on a regular basis, and the fact is, I was just too busy with other things.

Not that this takes last place in the all-important Conner Prioritization List, but it certainly is below the sites that I'm obligated to write for, moving, and various other things you'd expect a 22 year old person to do.

I'm just giving you guys a quick update about what's been going on with my life, how I've been doing, and hopefully telling you guys I'm here to stay. For real this time.

I moved to Clemson, SC, which was quite stressful. My apartment has bug problems, and my roommate and I are constantly being bombarded by people thinking we're twins. Grow a beard, you too can join the Conner-Dylan look-a-like club.

I've been doing better and better every week it feels like. If you know me and are reading this, you might know what I've been through the past eight or so months, and if you don't know me, just know that I had some really unfortunate shit happen to me. For months I didn't get a break from bad news, depression, and anxiety... but I feel like that's finally getting past me. Except the anxiety, that's still pretty bad.

Don't get me wrong, things are still rough sometimes. But for the most part, I'm doing my best to get my life back together, and I'm feeling better thanks to a lot of great family, friends, therapy, and medication.

I'm still writing off-and-on for BleacherReport.com, and I've recently been picked up as a staff writer for the Carolina Hurricanes at CardiacCane.com, which is pretty fun. I'm working on getting a couple more writing gigs online, especially at a Milwaukee Brewers-centric site.

And I finally decided to start blogging again. For real this time. It might not be every day, it might not be every week, but it will be fairly regularly, if for no other reason than to document how shit in my life is going and to talk about music, sports, and whatever the fuck else I want to talk about.

I'll also be promoting the hell out of the drumline I teach, so get ready for that.

Hockey is back, which means I get to write about hockey again! Basketball is on, and the Charlotte Bobcats, though not good, are at least kind of exciting to watch!

Also, I'll leave a link below for the Facebook page, but in case you've been living under a rock, there's a better than average chance that Charlotte will reclaim  the Hornets name and bring it back to the Queen City. Bring back the buzz!

And of course, spring training is right around the corner. I have a post coming about how I think the World Baseball Classic (WBC) in which 14 Brewers are participating will influence the start of the season for the Brew Crew.

Until then, thanks for reading! Love you guys. Kind of. Not really... but I mean, keep reading. It makes me feel good about myself.

As promised, here's the We Bee-lieve Facebook page... please check it out and like it!

http://www.facebook.com/pages/We-Beelieve-Charlottetake-back-your-Hornets/110429122320741?fref=ts

I suck at blogging

Hi guys, I suck.

I was going to write a pre-game and postgame analysis for Milwaukee vs. Washington, but I've been slammed with other things.

Brewers won, is the main thing I wanted to point out in this post. Equally as important, the Cardinals lost in extra innings to the Cubs, meaning that the Brewers are now only 1.5 games behind the wild card.

According to ESPN, the Brewers have a mathematical chance of making the playoff to the tune of 17.5 percent. A month ago, that number was hovering right around zero.

And the math involved doesn't take into account that the Brewers just beat one of the best teams in baseball, while the Cardinals lost to one of the worst. The math doesn't take into account that the Brewers are far and away the hottest team in baseball.

Me? I say flip a coin. The Brewers have a tougher schedule ahead of them, but the Cardinals are playing like shit and the Brewers are playing unbelievably well.

On a side note, Braun stole his 29th base of the season tonight against the Nats. Assuming he steals one more (I'm sure he will), he'll be a 40/30 player. After joining the 30/30 club last season, Braun only wants more.

Maybe next year we'll see the elusive 40/40.

Some personal stuff, I didn't have a great day, but shit happens. I have some good friends who do a good job of picking me up when I need it.

I've also decided that this weekend will be the weekend where I really figure out things about next semester. I'm going to buckle down, evaluate costs, school programs, and get my shit together so I can become a better writer and start a whole new adventure.

I'm going to post some more tomorrow. Definitely. Probably. I hope. Maybe.

Here's some music by The Roots, listen and be happy. And for those wondering, the piece I posted in my previous post was done by Jeff Jordan.

Late entry because last night's didn't publish

Last night I posted a blog that didn't publish for some reason. Sorry to leave you guys out :(

The basic gist of it was that the wild card race stands like this after the series that just took place: the Cardinals are out in front by 2.5, the Brewers are back 2.5 and the Dodgers are back 3.0.

The Brewers have the Nationals next, and we need to at least win two of these games. The Nationals have been kind of cold lately, and the Brewers have been as good as ever, so I think that's well within the realm of possibility.

I haven't been posting as much because of my work on Bleacher Report. You can check out my latest article here.

Like I said, I'll have a preview of the game out soon.

The Cardinals are in the seventh inning against the Cubs, and for the first time in my life...go Cubs.

That hurt just to type.

In the meantime, some art.

I don't know where to go to school...

This is the first non-sports post since my first one... I know I said it wasn't going to be all about sports, but let's face it... my life pretty much revolves around them.

Anyway, assuming most of you know who I am, you know that I recently made the decision to take this semester off to transfer somewhere to study journalism. I was one semester away from graduating with a degree in psychology and a minor in biology. I know, I'm an idiot, whatever.

Fact is, I couldn't stand the thought of going through another semester of banalities at Winthrop University. Don't get me wrong, it's a good school, and a few of the professors I've had there are people I hope I never lose contact with. But I really didn't care about psychology or biology, and I knew I was never, ever going to make a career out of either.

So, long story short, start writing for Bleacher Report, realize I want to be involved in sports journalism/production as a career.

I've applied several places, but I really have no idea where I want to go.

Right now the list is: University of Oregon, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, and Clemson University.

You'll notice the only school in-state (South Carolina) is Clemson. That's my super fall back.

Other than that, it's a toss-up. I really have no idea where I want to go. I kind of think that the University of Minnesota and Wisconsin-Milwaukee are the front-runners right now, as they have by far the cheapest out-of-state tuition... they're not much more expensive than Clemson's in-state tuition.

Plus, Minnesota is a great school and is considered a public-ivy school. It's located in Minneapolis/St. Paul, so I would have access to all four major sporting franchises (Twins, Timberwolves, Wild, Vikings) which is pretty important for my profession.

The same goes for UW-Milwaukee, though it's not quite as prestigious as Minnesota.

I'm a terrible decision maker. It has taken me four years of college to figure out what I want to do, and this is going to be my third university (I went to the University of South Carolina my first semester and hated it).

I have to decide soon. I also have decisions to make about marching in an indoor percussion ensemble and living arrangements and everything. This is a headache. Someone help me.

Milwaukee Brewers Postgame 9/19

Final Score
Milwaukee Brewers: 3
Pittsburgh Pirates: 1

Recap

Well, tonight's game wasn't quite as explosive as I thought it would be. It did start off with a bang, with Norichika Aoki launching a leadoff homer in the first inning, but things slowed down from there.

If you read my preview, I predicted that rookie Kyle McPherson would probably get shelled in his first outing as a starter in the majors, but he pitched respectably, and his change-up, which he barely used in relief, was probably his best pitch.

McPherson went 4.1 innings, struck out two, and gave up two earned runs—the solo blast by Nori, and an RBI single by opposing pitcher Marco Estrada.

Speaking of Estrada, he pitched another gem tonight. He didn't quite have the strikeout pitch working, as he went 7.0 innings and only struck out four, but he had excellent control the entire night. He threw 96 pitches, 68 of which were for strikes. He was locating his fastball perfectly, and was in complete control of the the Pirates lineup, only giving up three hits.

Axford came in during the ninth and gave up a solo jack to Andrew McCutchen, but otherwise looked pretty good. It was his 30th save of the season. Ax is performing extremely well now, and it looks like his early-to-mid season woes are all but gone.

Axford's recent success is a microcosm of the Brewers as a whole. Shitty to start, shiny to finish.

Also, for what it's worth, Brewers' shortstop Jean Segura had a great game tonight. He went two for four (raising his average to .262) and made some excellent plays in the field. He really is finally starting to look as good as advertised, and I have no trouble seeing him as Milwaukee's shortstop for quite a while.

The Bucs—on national speak like a pirate day, of all days—could not have looked more lethargic. Two errors, one of them costing them a run, and practically no offensive production except for Cutch. In two games the Brewers have solidified their name as a contender for that wild card slot while essentially eliminating the Pirates.

The Dodgers split a double-header with the Nationals... They are only a half game ahead of the Brewers. The Cardinals won against the Astros (huge surprise) and kept the Brewers back 2.5 games. I'll cover the wild card race more in depth in another post tomorrow.

In the meantime, enjoy the fun times, Brewers fans. This season has turned out to be one of the most exciting I've ever seen, and it feels good to be a Brew Crew fan right now.

Previewing Brewers vs. Pirates Game 2: 9/19/12

Milwaukee Brewers: 75-72
Pittsburgh Pirates: 74-73

Probable Starting Pitchers:
Milwaukee: Marco Estrada (3-6, 3.77 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 119.1 IP, 125 K)
Pittsburgh: Kyle McPherson (0-0, 1.54 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, 11.2 IP, 11 K)

The Game

I mentioned in my postgame analysis last night that the Pittsburgh Pirates are playing like a team that has already been defeated.

I don't see that changing over the timespan of 24 hours.

The Brewers went into PNC Park with a road record of 28-43. They just aren't that good away from Miller Park. Still, they left with a win, and they did it without hitting a single home run. Two rarities in one night.

Not to mention the seven total stolen bases, three by Ryan Braun alone.

The Pirates are showing just how desperate they are tonight by shoving rookie Kyle McPherson, who has pitched all of 11.2 innings in the majors for his first start.

McPherson is basically a two-pitch pitcher. He has a good fastball in the low-to-mid 90's, and a curveball in the mid-to-upper 70's. He occasionally throws a change-up in the low-to-mid 80's.

He has been average in the minors, and while he's pitched well in relief in the majors, 11.2 innings is hardly a large enough sample size to judge his abilities in the majors. He'll need to bring his best against the hard-hitting Brewers.

There's no word on if Corey Hart will be in tonight's lineup as of this write-up, but he was available to pinch-hit last night, so there is a possibility we see him again tonight, giving McPherson yet another problem to deal with.

It seems like every Brewer is on a hot-streak offensively, so it's officially the worst possible time for a rookie to make his first start. The Brewers are arguably the best offensive team in the National League, and there's a good chance his ERA is going to rise quite a bit.

Meanwhile, Marco Estrada, who has been pitching extremely well lately, is going to be facing a Pittsburgh offense that is all but dead. With the exception of Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates don't have a bat to swing against Estrada.

Other games to watch: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Washington Nationals (going on right now), and St. Louis Cardinals vs. Houston Astros. The Brewers are looking to move one step closer to that wild card slot, and to do that they still need to leap the Dodgers and the Cardinals.

Prediction: Brewers win again, Dodgers lose to the Nats, Cards hold off the Astros.

Milwaukee Brewers Postgame 9/18

Final Score 
Milwaukee Brewers: 6
Pittsburgh Pirates: 0

Recap

Steal, steal, steal, steal, steal, steal, steal.

The Milwaukee Brewers took full advantage of Rob Barajas' poor throwing arm by stealing a collective seven bases—three by Ryan Braun, and one each by Carlos Gomez, Norichika Aoki, Rickie Weeks, and Jonathan Lucroy.

The seven stolen bases is the most for the Brewers in 20 years.

Both starters had solid outings, but Yovani Gallardo got the better of A.J. Burnett, going 6.2 innings. He only gave up two hits but walked four. He also struck out six batters. If you watched the game, you know that Yo had his good stuff tonight, just like he has the past two or so months it seems.

The name of the game was small-ball tonight for the Brewers, scoring five of their six runs on RBI singles, and one on a sacrifice fly. Norichika Aoki came up big or the Brewers tonight (as he has been quite frequently lately) by contributing an RBI single and the sac fly, going two for four.

Braun, on top of his three stolen bases and an RBI single, scored a run collected two hits and a walk. Jonathan Lucroy also had a good night, going three for five with an RBI single, a stolen base, and a run scored.

And finally, Jean Segura went two for four with two RBI and a run scored. Not a bad night for the rookie short stop, who also made some good plays in the field.

The Pirates look like they've given up. Sorry. They played poorly, put up absolutely no fight offensively, and played piss-poor defense, with two errors and a bunch of plays that should have been made but weren't.

This is one of the tightest wild card races in history, a pivotal series, and the Pirates are rolling over and dying while the Brewers continue to win in whatever way they can. Sounds about right.

Good news on the injury front, though he didn't make an appearance, Corey Hart was available to pinch-hit tonight, meaning it looks like we should see him back in the line-up soon. Travis Ishikawa has done a decent job at first defensively, but the Brewers have to be missing Corey's bat in that five hole.

Tonight's win makes 10 consecutive starts for Gallardo where the Brewers have won, and it was Gallardo's 16th win of the season, only one shy of his career high which he could surpass. He also lowered his ERA to 3.59.

I'll post a preview for tomorrow's (well, really today as it's 3:10 AM EST) game later, but it should be a good one. Marco Estrada is red-hot on the mound, stringing together some extremely impressive starts. He'll be taking on rookie Kyle McPherson, who will be making his first career start.

The Cardinals won against the Astros tonight (big surprise there), so the Brewers stayed two and a half games back of the wild card, but with the way the Brewers have been playing, it's not time to worry yet.

Yunel Escobar is a douche bag.

It doesn't matter if you follow sports or not, you've probably heard the story about Yunel Escobar's blatant assholery. If not, here is a link to the story and the fallout it has created.

I'll sum it up briefly. MLB players are still allowed to write little sayings on their eyeblack. Most of them are sentimental, silly, religious, ritualistic, or whatever. Escobar's was flat out offensive.

In case you don't speak Spanish (don't worry, I don't either), the saying in the eye black "Tu ere maricon" translates directly to "You are a faggot".

Why did Escobar decide to be such an asshole? He said it was "just a joke". I'm not buying it. Maybe it's because he's tired of being such a shitty baseball player... he's only batting .249 with nine homers and 49 RBIs. Maybe he's tired of seeing his Toronto Blue Jays suffer because he couldn't hit a beach ball with a baseball bat if it was floating calmly his way.

Pent up frustration? No, that's probably pissing him off a little bit, but it can't be the only reason.

My theory: Closet homosexual. You heard it here, folks. Behind the hateful words and eyeblack is a crappy baseball player afraid to come out to the world, so he tries to firmly and explicitly distance himself from his own reality.

Fortunately, the Jays did the right thing by condemning and suspendin him for three games, not that it really matters. He sucks, and the Blue Jays have long since been out of the playoff picture. If it were up to me, I'd make him wear "I love weenies" on his face the next time he plays.

There's no word of a fine yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if the MLB laid the hammer pretty hard on him financially. It's not like he's earning the money anyway.

Previewing Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates 9/18/12

Milwaukee Brewers: 74-72
Pittsburgh Pirates: 74-72

Probable Starting Pitchers:
Milwaukee: Yovani Gallardo (15-8, 3.72 ERA, 1.29 WHIP 186.1 IP, 188 K)
Pittsburgh: A.J. Burnett (15-7, 3.66 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 174.2 IP, 157 K)

The Game

The Brewers are about to start their final road trip of the season, and the first stop is in Pittsburgh for an incredibly important three game series against the Pirates. Both teams are in the thick of the second NL wild card slot and both teams are heading in very separate directions.

The Brewers have been the hottest team in baseball over the past month, while the Pirates have floundered into mediocrity, quite similarly to last year when they were in the mix for the playoffs but collapsed at the end of the season.

Because both of these teams are trying to get that last spot, this series could be make or break for each team. The Pirates have the advantage of being at home, and the Brewers have the advantage of finally figuring out how to a play complete game of baseball without the bullpen blowing five-run leads.

Still, the Brewers (like last year) are not that good outside of their home in Miller Park. They are only 28-43 away from Milwaukee, while Pittsburgh is a solid 42-30 at home in PNC Park.

Still, all bias aside, I think the Brewers are going to take this one. Over the past month, the Pirates are a horrible 8-19 overall, while the Brewers are sitting pretty at 21-8. To add insult to injury, the Pirates have only managed three wins in September, two coming against the lowly Houston Astros, and one coming against the equally lowly Chicago Cubs.

A.J. Burnett will be taking the mound for the Pirates in this one, and while he's pitched well over the course of the season, the Pirates are winless in his last five starts.

Meanwhile, Yovani Gallardo is pitching lights out. His ERA is deceptively high, and the Brewers come to play when he pitches. They've won nine consecutive starts with Yo on the mound. He also leads all of the majors with 24 quality starts.

Worth watching is whether or not Ron Roenicke decides to put Corey Hart, who has been having some foot problems, into the lineup for the game today. The Brewers have managed to play well without him, but there's no doubt that I'd rather have Hart and his 27 homers at first over Travis Ishikawa.

This is going to be one hell of a series. The Brewers have been on fire lately, and the Pirates are playing just about as poorly as possible, with very little offensive production.

Brewers pitchers are nailing it, offense has been stellar (especially Rickie Weeks who finally decided to show up this season), and the bullpen has stopped blowing every lead they've been given.

Prediction: Milwaukee wins, Yovani goes at least seven strong innings.

Dear NHL, please don't leave me...

Today I did nothing but sit around and watch Doctor Who. If you haven't watched Doctor Who, you need to get your shit together and get on the ball.

In-between episodes I had time to ponder some sporting news and whatnot, and I am finally coming to terms with the fact that the NHL very well may not be happening this season.

I'm a big-time Carolina Hurricanes fan. The Canes did a lot to make their team better this year, including adding two of the better forwards in the game to their line-up.

They traded several players to the Pittsburgh Penguins to acquire Carolina's longtime star Eric Staal's brother, Jordan Staal, and proceeded to extend him 10 years at $60 million.

They also signed Alexander Semin to a one-year, seven million dollar deal to give Eric Staal a top-of-the-shelf winger.

But with news becoming increasingly negative out of the NHL, it looks like a lockout is not only a probability, but pretty much a certainty.

What a year to decide to lockout. The Canes finally put some money into the offseason and acquire some great players, while extending some of their own great players, and there's a better than average chance we won't even get to see them this season.

Quietly I wept. Not really. Well, kind of.

The point is this: Over the past 2 years, three of the four major sporting leagues in North America have come to, or came very close to a lockout. You all remember the near-season ending lockout in the NFL. You all remember the lockout that pushed the NBA two months back to force a shortened, compacted season. Why is this happening?

Greed. I tend to side with the players regarding these things, especially in hockey where players are wildly underpaid for the type of beatings they take in their normal 82 game schedule.

My suggestion (as if anyone of importance will read this) is that the owners get their heads out of their asses and fork over a few extra bucks. They're making more than most of their players combined and they sit in a pressbox and drink bourbon and smoke cigars and laugh at the lower class citizens below them.

Capitalism at its finest.

Here's to hoping the fat asses who don't pad-up every night realize they're being dicks and fork over a little more money to the players who go out every night and risk concussions, broken bones, torn ligaments, and any other severe injury you can think of.

The Brewers are kicking ass right now.

As little as three weeks ago I was looking at the MLB standings and grimacing at the sight of my Milwaukee Brewers toiling in the basement of the NL Central, nowhere near making the playoffs.

Still, I faithfully watched, hoping by some miracle, the bullpen would get their shit together and start throwing some fucking strikes.

I guess my negative power floated their way and they got the hint.

Rickie Weeks is on fire. His stats are deceivingly low, and he just hit his 20th homer of the season, becoming the fourth Brewer this season to hit at least 20, joining Ryan Braun (40), Corey Hart (27), and Aramis Ramirez (24).

The Brewers also just broke their previous franchise record for most collective strikeouts in a season today with Wily Peralta's eight shutout innings and five strikeouts.

All of that's impressive. Extremely impressive.

Even more impressively, in his sixth year as a major leaguer, my favorite player Ryan Braun crushed his 200th homer of his career, and then in his next at-bat smacked his 40th of the season, the first time he's reached 40 homeruns in a season.

All of you assholes who think he juices can turn around and walk the other way. He's not. And he's proving it to you with what might be his best season to date, even better than his MVP season last year.

The Brewers are now 2.5 games back of the second wild card slot in the National League. They're the hottest team in baseball, and with the Cardinals and Dodgers flailing, it looks like there's a real possibility that the Brewers can nab that last spot as long as they keep playing like they are.

For the love of God, please keep playing like you are, Brewers. We need to avenge what was a devastating defeat in last year's NLCS.

And in case you didn't know, I fucking hate the Cardinals. Sorry.

Finding the right spot.

This is something I've been putting off for a while. Don't ask me why, I can't give you a straight answer.

I don't know if my thoughts or ramblings are interesting enough to attract viewers, and I definitely don't know if my writing is exciting enough to keep viewers coming back.

But as I sit here on my couch, after another day of endless writing and trying to prepare for my third university of my college career, I realized it was time I started a blog. For real this time. Not just some piece of shit, once every three month post blog, but something to actually help document what's going on in my life.

I won't get into specifics with this post, because it would likely take days to write and as much time to read. I will tell you that whatever is coming into my head will be on this blog.

My brain is constantly dancing around sports, music, psychology, stress, and school. I have a few good friends and family members who take care of me, and I have a few people who have completely abandoned me for greener pastures.

That's for another day. The point is, I get by.

I don't know where I'm going to be in January... to put it into perspective, I've spent four years in university. One semester at the University of South Carolina (which I hated), and three and a half years at Winthrop University, which I hated slightly less than USC.

I was very close to earning my bachelor's in psychology when I realized this summer after a series of pretty horrible events that I actually hated what I was doing. Not just hated in the sense of "oh, this kind of sucks having to go to class for something I don't care about", but in a real, deep pitted anger filled hate that made me want to puke at the thought of it.

The professors I've had have been great and I hope I never lose contact with some of them, same for the people I met at Winthrop. But it's time for me to move on. I've applied to several colleges, only one of which is in the state of South Carolina. I don't know where I'm going yet, but once I know, you'll know. If you're reading. Which you're probably not.

That's it for this post. It was mostly introductory. Probably at least 75% of what appears in this blog will be sports related, since I have every intention of becoming a professional sports journalist, and I already write for a sports website called BleacherReport.com.

The other 25% will be stuff like this. Me bitching about my life, or in the rare case that I'm actually happy, me telling this blog that I'm happy.

Whatever.

You get the point.