Thrice is Nice

Hello! I hope everyone had a great weekend and hopefully a great next week.

1. Yasiel Puig is going to get hit very hard by a pitcher one day who does not enjoy his antics. I understand that he is just playing "with enthusiasm and excitement" but there is a difference between that and showing up an opposing team. In the 11th inning yesterday, Puig hit a walk off home to beat the Reds, and call me bitter, but I did not like the way he celebrated. Puig tossed the bat threw both hands skyward before jogging around the bases and sliding into home plate. Oh he wasn't finished, as he then leaped straight into the air as if he were superman taking off. You would think that his celebrating would be completed there, but still, it was not. Puig ripped off his jersey in celebration. Simply put, if there is game one of a three game series, Puig is taking one between the numbers tomorrow. And when that happens, any one want to wager with me if he overreacts or not? I'll take 20 that says he does.

2. The NFL training camp injury bug is hitting some teams very hard right now and we are only in the first week. I am not discussing borderline roster players either, I am talking about guys that were going to be vital to certain team's success or lack there of this season. The loss of Jeremy Maclin (torn ACL) is huge for the Eagles because without him, DeSean Jackson really struggles to get open as he has to contend with the number one defensive back on the opposing team. Dennis Pitta, in what sounds like the most painful injury in the world, dislocated his hip this weekend. Yes, his hip is no longer located where it should be. Pitta, lost for the year, is another piece of the defending champs arsenal who will not be playing this year. With the trade of Anquan Boldin, Pitta was expected to step up and become a playmaker for this team. With respect to these two, the most damaging injury sustained this weekend occurred in Englewood, Colorado when Dan Koppen tore his ACL. Koppen, the starting center for the Broncos, was the leader of an offensive line that protects Peyton Manning. The last thing that Broncos need is for Manning to end up on his back a lot.

3. Why are teams fighting each other for Greg Oden? True, he is a 7 foot, 25 year old former number one overall pick, in possibly the second worst decision in a draft ever (Bowie over Jordan, Oden over Durant). While all of that is true, he is also a player who has played a TOTAL of 82 games since the 2007 season. That would equal to one complete season over the span of 6 years. I understand talent and the idea of potential, but I do not understand a team thinking that they have to sign a guy who will give them seven minutes a game and average 2  points and 3 rebounds. Mostly though, I do not understand why ESPN feels the need to tell me all about Greg Oden, oh wait it is because the Heat are considering signing him. Tim Hardaway, now a Heat scout, even went as far as saying that they would win a third straight title if they signed Oden. Why? Because every championship contender needs to have a giant injured man waving towels on the sidelines leading the crowd in celebration?



Please remember once is good enough, twice is OK, but Thrice is Nice.