Hey, F*** You David Stern

This could turn out to be a landmark moment in the one year breeding ground that is college basketball. Brandon Jennings, the number one ranked point guard prospect in the nation has decided to pass college ball entirely and head to Europe for one season before entering the NBA Draft (and also brought the flat top fade back--so the kid can't be all that bad). The headline says it all. Jennings is encouraging NBA Commish David Stern to forcibly insert his age limits into his anus.

Now, Jennings (who originally signed with Arizona) is yet to sign with an agent who will help him get set up with a contract in Europe (How would the bidding go? Do European leagues have drafts? Is it like when the Yankees signed Jose Contrares). Jennings and his family are going to consult with Sonny Vaccaro (how could this possibly go wrong?) before hiring an agent.

The fade. Word. Seriously, word to Kid.

*UPDATE*: ESPN's Jemele Hill (who can be over the top at times) has an article that's a pretty good read regarding Jennings' decision. If you have a chance, it can be found here.

About That Interview Last Night...

Well, after a little bit of a delay, The Reach Blog made it's radio debut last night, thanks again to Josh for having me on. I ended up calling in and doing a prerecorded interview. The lovely people in Deadwood will be able to hear the interview play in portions throughout the rest of the week. As for this site...well, I'm still working on figuring out how to post the audio so give it some time. If you'd like a copy of the interview emailed to you, contact me and I'll set you up.
As for the interview itself, well, I suppose it went OK. Not bad for a first time. We talked midseason baseball and Brett Favre (again, this is the only mention of the supposed comeback by #4 you'll get--I'm done with that story).

Cubs Answer Brewers, Land Harden

So the Chicago Cubs have answered back to the Milwaukee Brewers and landed former Oakland pitcher Rich Harden. That sound you're hearing is a collective gasp from Cubs fans when they realize that Harden has been on the DL six times in six seasons. But why should the Cubs get nervous? Their pitchers get hurt after they land in Chicago...not before. There's no way this ends up like Mark Prior--(sorry, it's not my intention to sound this bitter).

Harden has been viewed as a second tier pitcher (with Sabathia being the only true first tier pitcher) this trading season but his numbers have been great when he's pitched (5-1 with a 2.34 ERA in 13 starts this season). The Cubs gave up Sean Gallagher, Eric Patterson, Matt Murton and Josh Donaldson to aquire Harden who has not won more than 11 games in a season in his career.

Two blockbuster deals in three days? I suppose the trading season is officially on. Fasten the seatbelts.

UPDATE: The Cubs also get pitcher Chad Gaudin in the trade. Gaudin is 5-3 with a 3.59 ERA.

Reach Blog On The Radio

For those of you in South Dakota area, I will be interviewed on Josh Nguyen's radio show on KDSJ 980AM tonight at 7pm (cst). This is a big step for the site becasue it means that someone is actually asking for our opinion as opposed to us just offering it. If you want to listen to the interview live you can do so by clicking here and then clicking on the "LISTEN LIVE" button on the upper right hand corner of the home page.

So gather the family and sit really close to the radio (or computer if you don't live in Deadwood). We will be quizzing people on the interview on this site tomorrow, so you're not going to want to look foolish.

And as far as getting the interview on this site...I'm not sure what the time table for something like that is (and if we'll even be able to do it).

KDSJ989.com

MLB Midseason Awards (A-Rod Free Edition)

It seems like we blinked our eyes and all of a sudden...we're less than a week from the All Star Break. This is good for a few reasons, most notably, because it means we're seven days away from not having to watch that awful All Star game commercial. Secondly, it means in about two weeks, the season will start to get real interesting with the trade deadline approaching.

Like with most leagues, it's fun to see where things stack up if the season ended today. I mean, this is a rather historic season so far. If the season ended today, the Cubs and Phillies win their divisions with St. Louis as a Wild Card. Arizona and LA are locked in a heated battle to be the team that sucks the least (since both are under .500 currently--hell, the Giants are only 5 games out. Can't we just give the Marlins or Brewers the finals spot instead of a team from the NL West?). In the AL, NOBODY saw Tampa making the run that they are currently making. Same goes for Minnesota (1.5 games out of the division lead behind the White Sox). If the season ends today, Tampa, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston are in. Imagine if these teams hold on and make the playoffs...two Chicago teams, maybe two Los Angeles teams, two teams nobody expected in the playoffs in the first place (St. Louis and Tampa Bay).

So how did we get here in the first place? Who are the movers and shakers in the first half? Let's rundown the midseason awards (including two potential award winners that were traded for each other before the season began):

AL MVP: Josh Hamilton, Rangers- Hamilton's comeback story has been one of the great storylines over the last two years or so. For those that don't know, Hamilton was the first overall pick in the 1999 draft and proceeded to be suspended by baseball altogether when he developed a drug problem. He wouldn't play any baseball between 2002 and 2006.

This year though, Hamilton was named a starter to the All Star Game while putting him up numbers to the tune of .308, 19 HR, 85 RBI in, assuming he stays healthy, his first full season in the Majors.

NL MVP: Lance Berkman, Astros- It would be interesting if these two players did win MVP considering both teams have very slim shots to sniff the playoffs. But that should be a testiment to how great both players are playing. Berkman is making a run at the Triple Crown batting . .348, 22HR, 70 RBI. This is the toughest award to decide right now, as Chipper Jones and Hanley Ramirez could both have cases made.

AL CY YOUNG: Cliff Lee, Indians- Another great story from the first part of the season. Lee was sent down to the minors last season to work on his control (see Cubs fans, there is hope for Rich Hill). This season, he's 11-2 with a 2.43 ERA and 99k. Arguements could be made for Joe Saunders who is leading the AL in victories and Oakland's Justin Duchscherer who has come out of nowhere to lead the AL with a 1.96 ERA.

NL CY YOUNG: Tim Lincecum, Giants- Lincecum leads the NL in strikeouts with 122, second in ERA with 2.49 and is doing pretty good for himself with a 10-1 record. Edinson Volquez is another guy I think gets a strong look from voters but could end up with Rookie of the Year instead.

AL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Evan Longoria, Rays- The Rays are looking quite smart after locking up Longoria with a long term contract before his first big league game. Longoria has been just about as solid as you can ask a rookie to be batting .283 with 16 HR, and 52 RBI.

NL ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: Geovaney Soto, Cubs- As tough as it might be to give Soto the nod over the previously mentioned Edinson Volquez, Soto's Cubs are in the thick of the playoff race right now. Soto has put up almost identical numbers to Longoria this season batting .289, 15 HR, 52 RBI.

AL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Joe Maddon, Rays- You know what? I think this race is closer than it appears (Minnesota's Ron Gardenheire is a close second) but I have to give it to the manager of the team that has been the biggest story in major league baseball thus far. Nobody expected Tampa to be leading the Red Sox by 4 games at this point in the season.

NL MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Tony La Russa, Cardinals- Heading into this season, the National League Central was supposed to be a two team race between the Cubs and Brewers. How dumb of us to count out a Tony La Russa run ballclub. The Cardinals are currently in second place and if the season ended today--they would be your Wild Card winners. All this without a pitching staff. Well played Mr. La Russa. Well played.

The DeLorean: Back For 2008

That's right Marty, we need to go back...back to the future! After the last DeLorean drove off the line back in 1982, only about 6,500 of the original 9,000 still remain. Well, acording to Jalopnik, we can expect the DeLorean to be back on the road in 2008. So take from that story what you will...I saw the story as I was leaving the Reach Blog Offices and figured you would appreciate it while you were drinking your morning coffee and eating your Frosted Mini Wheats (or whenever the hell you visit this site).

Rock The Casbah

We really need to get the ball rolling on legalizing the use of testicles for currency because I would give my middle nut to see The Clash live. Of course this won't happen becasue, aside from the testicle for currency thing--which isn't going to happen, regardless of what those damn Liberterians promise--Clash lead singer Joe Strummer died from a heart attack five years ago.
I could go on and write for an hour about how great I thought they were, but as of right now, time is limited. I spent the last 45 minutes trying to find the perfect Clash video--and I couldn't choose one so I picked one at random.
"Rock The Casbah" was the only song of theirs to make it onto the Billboard Top 10 list in America (reaching #8 in 1982). The video for "Casbah" was their most popular (understand that The Clash broke up not too long after MTV came around--they never benifited from the channel and only made low budget videos).
Topper Headon was the most well known drummer of The Clash but is absent from this video after being kicked out of the band due to growing drug problems (the rumor is, that Headon wrote the main piano riff on the song but wasn't specifically credited). This opened the door for Terry Chimes to return to the band for a third tenure (he was the band's original drummer in 1976).
Much to the dismay of the band, this song was the first song played on "Armed Forces Radio" at the start of the Gulf War in 1991. The song also managed to be named the #20 "Conservative Rock Song Of All Time" by The National Review. The sound you hear right now is Joe Strummer turning in his grave.
Well, enough chit chat...I give you The Clash's "Rock The Casbah"...enjoy...