It's Spring Again... F@ck!

This is a new column called "Manny Stiles' Gratuitous Pondiferications of the imitation brand emoticon "f@ck"

I call it:

Manny Stiles' Gratuitous Pondiferications of the Imitation Brand Emoticon "F@ck"

This is a poem I wrote called "F@ck Boston"

Suck it in...
suckas
it's the smell of Spring.
Fungoes in bloom,
the Red Sox in perilous doom.

John Lackey is whack-y
he got smacked-y
like a cricket bat whacking a
wicked dust bunny...

Oh, yess... yessss Spring!
The Rays stepped on 'em
and swept the Sawx with a broom.

Carlos Pena,
puttin' you through pain, huh?
Why not pay Josh Beckett MORE money?
It's so wicked funny...

Ha Ha haaa haa ha.

Ha hahaaa yeah, that's what I said.


F@ck Boston.

F@ck the Celtics.

They're whatever Rasheed wants them to suck as bad as...

Garnett is toast begging to get buttered only to fall buttered side down in a pile full of bone-on-bone contact.

F@ck the Patriots.

Why?

Because the chicken crossed the road to rape, kill and eat the Easter Bunny. But only a split second before Bill Belichick was going to.

Slander? Hell yeah I'll slander Bill Belichick with all kinds of deluded methaphors and dream clouds in print. Nothing against the guy except for F@ck Bill Belichick! F@ck the entire franchise, their retired players not named Sam Cunningham, the current and future personnel and especially that repulsive logo.

And because my pet shrimp told me so. True story.

F@ck the Bruins. No one's afraid of you, you measly chumps.

I can't even feign interest in the Bruins. I'm serious. I tried to feign interest, but pitifully to NO avail, no regard and no measurable or distinctual change. They're the Bruins. Nothing to get excited about here.

F@ck Sam Malone, too. You know why.

Paul Revere made chamber pots, Ted Kennedy was addicted to rectal self-examinations and you Bostonians live in a sub-state. Massachusetts should be a county inside a Big Boy state, not a teeny, tiny, quiant, lace-ruffled pansy-derriered state that looks like the Iron Sheik's boots. F@ck Massachusetts (for the most part, I suppose). What did Massachusetts ever do right other than let itself get forced to free Maine out of it's grimy clutches?


And also.... Because I said so.

The New Curse is ON. Count it. Tick... tick... tick...

Live Updates from Adelaide and Hong Kong Sevens

Sure it's half way around the world for most of you, but that does not mean Walker Sports does not have their finger on the pulse of international rugby. Thanks to our friends over at UR7s.com we are proud to bring you live updates from the Adelaide Sevens which is currently in progress, and the Hong Kong Sevens which is just around the corner.

Be sure to catch up with friend of Walker Sports Robin Heymann as he brings all the latest action from both of these amazing tournaments. Adelaide Sevens are already underway and the US Eagles are making headlines for all the right reasons. On the first day they managed to knock off powerhouse England 24-21. That's right there's never a dull moment on the sevens pitch. Catch up on what you missed yesterday, and get ready for the games today.

Read the Live Text here.

Sports Betting for Dummies

Want to bet on sports but don't know what to do? Click here:

Sports betting for dummies

Testing, testing, 1, 2, 3!

U.S. Rugby Chat Episode 11: Mid Season Report

Once again, we are back and talking rugby with none other than Jeremy Beynon from HeavensGame.com. This week we get into a bit of dicey territory when we take a look at the Mid-Year report provided by U.S.A. Rugby. Take a listen and see how we interpret this massive document.

Listen Here

View the USA. Rugby Mid-Year Report Here.

2009 NFL Preview with Predictions Part 1: The NFC

(Who, contrary to popular, joyous celebration and belief, is STILL alive and
getting RIGHT back into his old habits of posting NFL preview articles several months too early. Good times!)

As I was sitting back earlier yesterday evening and filtering out whatever it was that my girlfriend was yelling at me for... I had a random change of heart about how I was going to approach my 2009 NFL Prediction/Preview article. As I was looking at and also picking winners from Super John's simply SUPERB (CLICK HERE TO GET IT – seriously, it's A+ stuff!) NFL season schedule, I realized that while we can have a pretty firm and grounded grasp on say – the first half of the season – there are just WAY too many outside factors that come into play such as injuries, player suspensions, and of course, Cinderella stories, to try and accurately make any kind of educated and realistic end-of-season type prediction.

Traveling further upon this train of thought, not only did I actually try to convince myself that predicting the first ten weeks of the season would be fun – but I actually thought it would be just as satisfying and intellectually filling as a full season preview. Don't bother asking me why I thought this was a good idea. It was probably a mix of being yelled at for not washing the entire house with a toothbrush and being hypnotized by the whole NFL schedule on one sheet of paper.

Yeah, but ANYWAY, after I went through and picked every game for the first ten weeks and mapped out the standings I was left with... well, I was left with some predicted Week 10 standings.

Thankfully though, common sense prevailed and I realized that I was heading down a rocky and spike-stripped trail that would probably only succeed in leading me to waste countless hours of my time predicting perhaps the most obscure point throughout an entire NFL football season. That's right. I have returned, ladies and gentleman!

As with all my write-ups, please feel free to shower me with praise or disagree vehemently while questioning how I've managed to even figure out how to get on a computer and use the Internet. Unfortunately, there is no in between...

First up in Part 1? The National Football Conference (also known as the NFC).

Cue the predictions!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NFC North:

1. Bears (12-4)

2. Packers (8-8)

3. Vikings (7-9)

4. Lions (4-12)

Off-season occurrence that could shake up all of 2009: The Bears acquisition of former Broncos QB Jay Cutler.

Wild card/Sleeper team of the division: Minnesota Vikings

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A lot of people might think that I'm taking the Cutler deal as a sure-sign that the Bears will turn things around. If that's what you were thinking, than you, sir, are correct!

Cutler is a GREAT quarterback with an absolute CANNON for an arm and he also now has one of the best all-around backs in the league behind him in Matt Forte. If not THE best all-around back – but we'll wait a bit longer to anoint him with that title.

Either the Bears are going run away with it or it is going to be an absolute, drag-em-out brawl, reminiscent of the AFC and NFC South over the past few years or so, with everyone in the seven to nine win margin range.

The Packers can really go either way. They had a solid draft and have some playmakers and potential stars on either side of the ball. Also, they now know that Aaron Rodgers is no bum, so that's always a good thing, of course.

The Vikings' quarterback situation is still pretty wide open as I highly doubt Sage Rosenfels will end up leading this team to the promised playoff land. Tarvaris Jackson, on the other hand, could go balls to the wall this off-season and forcefully take over the reins while being the QB everyone thought he could be. He showed flashes of brilliance at the end of last year but let's not get ahead of ourselves shall we? Or we could. IT'S ONLY JUNE FOR GOODNESS SAKE! AHHHHH!

Still though, with a stellar offensive line and arguably the best running back in the league in Adrian Peterson, all the Vikings would really need would be to not lose games on the defensive side of the ball and also hope the receiving corps of Berrian, Harvin and Rice can help carry a passing game that will be led by one of two quarterbacks – both of which are questionable signal callers in their own right.

As for the basement team: surprise, surprise! It's the Lions! At least they're heading in the right direction after throwing off an ill-intentioned team strategist and GM Matt Millen. Hopefully he's not on Football Night in America again this year, as that would not make ANY sense at all and probably cause half of Detroit to throw their televisions out their windows. We can't be having that, NBC!

Unless, of course, you ask him questions each week that center on how he'd run certain teams into the ground; that would definitely have some good time potential!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NFC South:

1. Falcons (11-5)

2. Panthers (10-6)

3. Saints (7-9)

4. Buccaneers (5-11)

The Buccaneers are to quarterbacks as chocolate is to...? Uhmm... what?!

Wild card/Sleeper team of the division: New Orleans Saints

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

This is pretty much the same thing as last year, with the Falcons and Panthers running away with the season's race while the other two teams sulk deeper into the depths of despair and losing. You could practically flip-flop the Falcons and Panthers for that #1 spot that will probably take at LEAST 11 wins in order to be able to wear the crown.

Also, I said last August that Deangelo Williams would break out during the season, much to the chagrin of some very loyal Jonathan Stewart owners. Well, they both had great seasons so I'm not trying to suggest who won the argument, but I AM suggesting that Deangelo Williams is going to have another stellar year, if not a better one, and NOT just because he's one year away from his contract year with a pretty tasty incentive bonus to work towards.

If you didn't notice it last season, Deangelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart have learned to feed off each other. They've both realized that they're too good to be replaced by the other and have accepted this fact while, at the same time, trying to playfully outdo each other each and every game. Don't get me wrong, I think Stewart will have another solid year, but I think Williams will come out on top stat-wise at the end of the year thanks to more experience, more wisdom, and a career and attitude changing experience in which he realized he had to work his tail off to succeed in the NFL and could not just rely on pure talent.

As for the Stewart vs. Williams' argument, I'm personally against debating anymore. They're two unique talents who are both going to have good games that are better than the other, and any time spent trying to argue who is better than the other could be better spent on looking forward to when you next get to watch them again. I was 100% pro Deangelo Williams last year, I'm not going to lie, but after many a game spent trying to root against him I eventually just stopped and wondered what tine the world was wrong with me. If you're a football fan than you can delight in watching both of these guys play – regardless of which is on your fantasy team. I'm aware that fantasy loyalties can complicate matters, but unless one of them gets injured, I think it’s been made pretty clear that they’re both going to get their fair share of pigskin touches.

All they really need is for Delhomme to continue on and stay injury-free and what we've got is a Panthers team who's fully ready to take any and all comes for the NFC South title. Not to mention just THINKING about the Panthers vs. Falcons divisional race (at least from the outset of the season) already has me giggling like a little schoolgirl.

As for the other two teams, the Saints definitely have the talent and could explode at JUST the right time. If Reggie Bush's surgery went well than they may be that dark horse candidate that everyone loves to pick come pre-season. They're certainly an INTERESTING pick, that's for sure. By interesting, I don't mean that I'd bet money on them mind you. Just... interesting – like -- bet your buddy $20 they'll win at least 8 games interesting. I just got the shivers.

Last and probably... deservedly... least... the Tampa Bay Buccaneers! I dunno, I just don't see them doing ANYTHING unless they somehow nab a veteran QB like Brett Favre or Michael Vick. Rookie Josh Freeman has some potential for sure, but he's no Joe Flacco and he's no Matt Ryan. Although he does have a fairly strong offensive line to help with protection and joining him on any credit card commercial deals he decides to film. It's up in the air if he'll even be starting though, and I just don't see Byron Leftwich leading this team ANYWHERE but downtown-Charlie-Brown-into-the-ground. This looks like it may be shaping up to be one of those classic, "Start the veteran until the season's practically gone and hopeless, then just throw in the rookie signal caller to learn the ropes, get roughed up for the rest of the season, and throw Peyton Manning early in his career type interception totals."

Then again, you never know. Freeman COULD be the next Joe Flacco or Matt Ryan – but I just don't think so. Kellen Winslow Jr. would certainly help matters, though... if he doesn't break both his legs trying to jump in front of and wave down a taxi or something. I honestly wouldn't be surprised if I heard that story break on Sportscenter in a few minutes. Would you? '

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NFC East:

1. Redskins (11-5)

2. Cowboys (10-6)

3. Giants (9-7)

4. Eagles (7-9)

Best chances to be the "least in the NFC Beast"? Eagles by a mile.

Wild card/Sleeper team of the division: WHAT?! There is NO such thing as a sleeper team in the NFC Beast!! RAWWRG SMASHH!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Out of all of the divisions for each of my annual NFL previews, I ALWAYS completely whiff on the NFC East predictions and they end up being the exact opposite of what I predict they'll be. You may all now commence your future divisional bets on the Eagles if you wish.

Now to explain the method behind my madness:

While Jason Campbell hasn't certainly been the ideal starting QB, especially for a franchise like the Redskins who have no problem with spending the equivalent of the gross national capita of a small country on an injury prone role player, I for one have seen him show flashes of brilliance over the past few years. And even more so last season! He's certain not to take the Redskins courtship of Jay Cutler lightly and with his contract up at the end of the season, I wouldn't be surprised in the least if he had a monstrous, breakout year.

He has the weapons on offense to put up plenty of points on the board on a good day and now has some defensive playmakers to step it up on the defensive side of the ball. If all goes well (although judging from my previous NFC Beast predictions it will instead go horribly wrong) then I can honestly see the Redskins taking the NFC East crown. I really can. Seriously, I'm not trying to talk myself into this pick at all. No way!

The Cowboys on the other hand just remain an enigma per the usual. While Terrell Owens departure will surely be felt, it probably isn't going to make THAT much of a difference considering how old he was getting and how often he dropped passes that hit him square in the hands. I'm not saying the guy wasn't a game breaker and an occasional game changer or anything, but I AM saying that he's a diva who whines like a little biatch when things don't go his way. And how quickly we've all forgotten about Roy Williams! His skills were overshadowed a bit with the arrival of Calvin "The Freak" Johnson, but from what I remember of him, he used to be pretty good.

All the Cowboys doom and gloom can stop. They're going to be fine. And even if they DON'T turn out okay this season, all that really means is that we can all rejoice and dance around because who DOESN'T love to see the Cowboys lose and then subsequently make fun of Cowboys fans right after? Seriously! Who's with me! Anybody? No?

The Giants are still the Giant, sans Plaxico Burress, which, to ME, is a pretty big sans. He was there best receiver and played a HUGE role in their Super Bowl win. So there's that. It's up in the air as to how it's really going to affect them. I personally can't wait to see Brandon Jacobs pound the rock though – it's truly a joy to see him run the football and also run full grown men flat over. Good times!

As for the Eagles, I just get the feeling that they're on the decline rather than on the up-and-up. Brian Westbrook is going to lose his magical powers sometime soon and I'm projecting that it least starts this season.

All in all though, this could be McNabb's last hurrah in an Eagles uniform and while I picked them to finish last, I'm not going to be double-taking if McNabb starts slinging balls left and right and sixty yards downfield. No matter what happens, we can be sure that the NFC Beast will live up to its billing as one of the most tough, exciting, and action packed divisions throughout all of the league. Plus, you can call it the NFC Beast which is just hilarity in its purest form. '

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NFC West:

1. Cardinals (10-6)

2. 49ers (8-8)

3. Seahawks (7-9)

4. Rams (4-12)

The only certainty in the NFC West this coming season: It will, in fact, RAIN in Seattle. Write it down!

Wild card/Sleeper team of the division: Do I have to? Uhmm... well... if I HAD to pick a sleeper team – like if you had a gun to my head and I HAD to pick a sleeper team – I guess I'd take the Niners. 'Cause Mike Singletary is the man and will have them playing their hearts out each and every week. Too bad they don't have a steady QB option though -- unless of course, you consider Damon Huard a steady QB. HAHAHA!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Now that the Seahawks' marathon streak of winning the NFC West – which lasted what... 42 straight years in a row or something – has been broken, the NFC West is at least worth following now. Well, maybe not the Rams but we can still hope can't we? Hey, I wonder If Marc Bulger will be out of the concussion section of the St. Louis Hospital in time to start the season. What? Have the Marc Bulger has a horrible offensive line jokes and gets concussions and breaks his ribs all of the time jokes been done to death? LIES! Some jokes just never get old!

The Cardinals look to be the juggernaut that will take the divisional crown this year, but as we all know, this is the NFL and in the NFL, we're always a split second away from someone's MCL, ACL, TCL, ZCL or ABCDEFG getting torn apart or severed. One of those injuries to Fitzgerald and bam – we might start thinking someone else has a chance in the division. Maybe...

But for now, it's looking like the Cardinals got it on lockdown unless Matt Hasselbeck bounces back and greedily snatches the crown back once again for the Seahawks. Knowing Matt Hasselbeck though, I wouldn't put that past him at all. He seems like a very greedy person.

The 49ers are definitely a wild card and a promising prospect for a deep sleeper pick if ONLY because Mike Singletary is the MAN! They need to fix the QB situation though because no matter how much heart and ferocity everyone else is playing with, that same heart and ferocity can't complete passes and throw for touchdowns. Surprising, I know, but trust me -- it's true!

The Rams could potentially come out of nowhere and surprise everyone but I'm convinced that Marc Bulger cannot and will not drop back to pass anymore WITHOUT preparing himself for broken ribs, a broken hand, or just a good old concussion. Good job offensive line! Way to fail your job in such a RIDICULOUSLY pathetic way that you may have mentally scarred your poor QB for life.

Definitely a good two years at the office for you guys though, and by good, I mean absolutely, positively, horrifically, disgustingly bad. Good thing they brought in some new blood that hopefully understands that they're job is to PROTECT the QB – not let him become a weekly staple at the local emergency room every Sunday night.

I understand that sacks are unfortunately a part of the game, but the poor guy went through TWO years in a row where he wasn't just sacked often, but he was sacked by people who were very often no longer being held back by the lineman. AKA he got hit HARD when he got sacked.

I hope the offensive line is successfully patched up at long last and we can finally see the Marc Bulger of old. But I just highly, highly doubt it. I don't know why.

Translation: He's not coming anywhere NEAR my fantasy squad. Sorry, Marc. You burn me once? Shame's on your offensive line. You burn me twice? Shame's on your offensive line. You burn me THRICE? Nice try offensive line but I'm going to make fun of your torrid performances until the day that I no longer want to anymore.

Revenge at its finest!

Stay tuned for the AFC focused Part 2... sometime in the next few days. So stay tuned!

Oh! Mass Media, how doest thou annoyest me?

I spent a random 20 minutes watching some popular sports network today while I was sitting at a local establishment and oversaw the scattered brainplops of those participants/employees within the media conglomerate. Their conversation started on a simple premise: Randy Johnson is likely the last 300 game winning pitcher we will ever see. They went into the logistics of how difficult it is for a pitcher today to tally enough decisions per season on top of the needed longevity it takes to become a 300 game winner.

It bored me to death. Kneejerk reactions are no longer commonplace these days - they are EXPECTED!

They gave reason after reason why it is so tough to amass 300 wins in a career under baseball's current conditions - specialized relievers, pitch counts, etc - where starting pitchers receive less than 69% of their start's decisions. They jumped the sheer cliff of - there's no one on the immediate horizon to win 300 games (save Jamie Moyer from pitching well into his 50's) - to "No one will ever do it again!"

Gee, brainiacs a mere 30 years ago, that number was all of 74%. So apparently we should expect 5% less 300 winners to make the cut based on that fuzzy math leap of logic, right? My guess is that 5% is the same as ALL with today's economy...

Furthermore, they neglected to note that two of the winningest pitchers EVER recently retired (or were "shooed away") - Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens both eclipsed 350 wins! Another pitcher with 300 wins still thinks he's active (Tom Glavine). How easy is THAT to do with a 5 man rotation and specialized relievers.

They neglected to note how Randy Johnson sucked for a LONG time before he became a winning pitcher. They noted that it takes a pitcher many seasons of 20+ wins to make a 300 win career yet blatantly refused to note RJ had all of THREE 20-win seasons in his lengthy career! THREE!

Let's disregard the overwhelming realism that the Big Unit became only the 24th pitcher in the HISTORY of the GAME to accomplish the feat. So it's not exactly an easy bar to leap in the first place... Over nearly 150 years, we should average a 300 winner about twice a decade. We've had 4 this decade. And it's even more interesting to note that nearly HALF of the 300+ wins pitchers have won their 300th game SINCE the advent of the 5 man rotation, designated hitter and the arrival of the closer and specialist relievers.



NONE of this is my point, though.

The next two stories after this great debate are what really irritated me:

1) Roy Halladay won his 10th game of the season yesterday.

It's JUNE 7th and he has 10 wins... me thinks he's going to make a solid run at 20 wins this season. Gee, that would give him his third 20-win season in his career - the same number as Randy Johnson had! Wow! And get this... Oh yeah, that win yesterday gives him 141 for his career... or 49 more wins than Randy Johnson had at the very same age!!! Hello!

2) Stephen Strasburg is a "Once in a generation talent", blah, blah, blah. Gee, let's not tell him that he has NO CHANCE at winning 300 games, right?



I won't get into the whole "Magic are down 2-0 so the series is obviously over", "Brett Favre is trying to come back so let's not speculate how much he obviously will suck because he's old" or "Let's disrespect Roger Federer because he didn't beat the #2 player to win the French Open title."

When Television was invented there were debates over whether they would lead to the downfall of society. I must say is it's not the TV's fault. All I'm saying is - Educate yourselves people! Sports information disseminated for the masses should be consumed for entertainment purposes AT BEST! Laugh at your buddies who think they have a clue because they saw two morons debate the topic on TV. If they foul sports information up this badly, you can only guess what the real story behind the nightly news might be... From now on, I'm only watching the commercials... that way, I might ACTUALLY learn something useful!

Pujols v.s. Ramirez (and Other Fantasy Updates)

We are nearly a month into the 2009 MLB season, meaning players are pretty much up to speed on things while others are already nursing injuries, some worse than others. All you fantasy baseball players are probably looking for that waiver wire gem and/or contemplating a few trades, blockbuster or not. Power or speed? Consistency or scattered power outages? Wins or saves? These are all questions that enter the fantasy owner's mind at all hours of the day. What you want in a player is, quite obviously, consistence. Surprises usually aren't welcome in the fantasy world, especially since most surprises aren't necessarily good ones. Not only that, but you want a player that you can count on, and it sure doesn't hurt to know exactly what to expect from this player each and ever day.

For these reasons, Albert Pujols should have been the number one player taken in the draft this year (and every other year of his illustrous career, for that matter). Pujols is the definition of consistency. Since entering the league in '01, Pujols has put up 30 or more home runs (HR's) with over 100 runs batted in (RBI's) and, yes, he has even had a .300 or better batting average (BA) in all eight of those seasons. Don't underestimate his ability to steal a base or two, either. In '05, he stole a career-high 16 bases and has four so far this season. At age 29, Pujols will have 500 career home runs in no time and if he can keep this extraordinary pace, may even contend with the home run record in his later years.

Why draft Hanley Ramirez with the first overall pick, when you can snag Pujols? Yes, Ramirez's track record looks pretty good too, but he doesn't have it all like the St. Louis Cardinals' first baseman, Pujols. Ramirez has played three full major league seasons in the Florida Marlins organization as a shortstop, but hasn't quite shown the consistency and reliability you want in your top fantasy player. When he has a good day, yeah he's good, but the fact that he has never recorded over 100 RBI's, and his batting average has been a little off-beat (.292, .332, .301) at times, tells me that he has some weaknesses. Whether it be an inability to hit with runners in scoring position, or lagging injuries, there are holes on Ramirez's stat sheet.

Pujols v.s. Ramirez (so far in '09)

Pujols (24 games; 87 at bats): .356 BA, 9 HR's, 29 RBI's, 4 SB, 25 runs, 18 BB's, 8 K's, .724 SLG

Ramirez (21 games; 81 at bats): .272 BA, 2 HR's, 12 RBI's, 3 SB, 9 runs, 7 BB's, 13 K's, .432 SLG

Final Word: After taking a look at the two's numbers after the first twenty games, I am sticking with my Pujols over Ramirez verdict. El Hombre, as they call him in St. Louis, is leading every major category over the speedy Hanley. Pujols, one of the best all-around players in the game today, attracts more walks than most other players, therefore he produces a lot of runs for his ball club and has more chances at stealing bases. All of these reasons lead me to believe that he is not only a great player for your fantasy team, but does a lot to help his team win games. St. Louis would not be nearly as good a team without him.

As for the rest of the fantasy baseball world? Well, here is my list of six current hot and cold players (as of Monday, May 4th):

Hot

Carlos Pena, 1B, TB..In the past three or four games no one has been hotter at the plate than this slugging infielder. In his team's four-game series against the Red Sox this weekend, Pena was 6 for 14 with two home runs and four runs batted in. He is hitting just .269 this season, but I expect his power surge (11 HR's, 27 RBI's in '09) to continue through October, maybe November.

Zack Greinke, SP, KC..Yes, the Kansas City Royals (14-11) are in first place, and it is mainly because of this young man. Greinke has posted a 5-0 mark, and a 0.50 earned run average (ERA) in his first five starts this season. He has recorded two complete games with 10+ K's in late April, and has straight dominated opposing batters. His only two earned runs of the season came on the 29th of April against the Detroit Tigers. Greinke is, without a doubt, the hottest pitcher in baseball right now. He will make his sixth start of the season tomorrow against the Chicago White Sox.

Adrian Gonzalez, 1B, SD..Gonzalez has seemed to have gotten overlooked by the other stars of the game, but Gonzalez has hit nine home runs (tied for third most in the league), and has had just three games without a hit in his team's 25 games this season. He has put up a solid .318 average, and has driven in 20 runs. His team hit a bit of a cold streak during their series against the Dodgers this past weekend, but I expect him to continue his successes throughout the season.

Cold

Mark Teixeira, 1B, NYY..Expected to make an immediate impact in his new home in New York, Teixeira has been a bust already (in some people's minds). The slugging first baseman has his just .182 with three home runs and 10 runs batted in while in pin stripes. In his past 12 games, Teixeira has had six hit-less games (a combined 8 for 46 with zero home runs and three runs batted in). Not exactly what New York fans, and fantasy owners, were expecting 20 games into the season. Get it in gear, Mark!

David Ortiz, DH, BOS..U-G-L-Y! It appears as though Ortiz's best fantasy days are behind him. The "former" slugger is hitting .215 with zero homers in 93 at bats. As a matter of fact, Ortiz hasn't hit safely since April 29 against the Cleveland Indians (went 1 for 5), meaning he went 0 for 11 in Boston's four-game weekend series with the Rays, as his Sox dropped three of the four games.

Josh Hamilton, OF, TEX..Hamilton has been a big disappointment to both baseball fans and fantasy owners. Much was expected from him this season after his monster year in '08, but he was recently placed on the 15-day disabled list by Texas after he sustained a strained rib cage muscle. In the 18 games he played in before his DL stint, Hamilton was hitting a rather low .242 average with just two home runs and 10 runs batted in. You may see him again towards the middle to end of the month, but most likely not before then.

Erin Andrews Wins Again!!

Some of you may have heard about the the contest being run by Playboy to find America's sexiest sportscaster. Well all the votes have been tallied, and the results are in. Once again for the second year in a row ESPN's Erin Andrews has taken the title of sexiest sportscaster in America. Not too surprising really. Congrats to Erin, although our vote here at Walker-Sports still goes with Washington D.C.'s own Lindsey Czarniak