The SACK Lunch

AFC West Preview

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 03:24:00 +0000

Check out the beginning of our NFL Previews over at the new site!

New Site, New Posts

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:16:00 +0000

Check out our newest posts on our new site!

2011 NFL Mock Draft

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 22:49:00 +0000

Hey, check out Will's 2011 NFL Mock Draft over at the new site!

We Have a New Home

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:17:00 +0000

We launched our brand new URL Today! http://thesacklunchblog.com/. It's still a work in progress, but we (Will) are working to get it up to full running capacity. All future posts will be posted there.

Thursday Lunch Special: 2011 NBA Playoffs Bracket!

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 02:00:00 +0000

By Will Robinson

Note: Check out this same post on our NEW site!

The NBA Playoffs are amongst us, so it’s time to have another bracket challenge! Why you may say? Why not! Below will be a picture of the bracket and our form you will submit in the comments section. The scoring for the rounds will be as follows:
2 Points for the correct winner and 1 Point for the correct amount of games per series in the first round.
4 Points for the correct winner and 2 Points for the correct amount of games per series in the second round.
8 Points for the correct winner and 4 Points for the correct amount of games per series in the Conference Finals.
16 Points for the correct winner and 8 Points for the correct amount of games in the NBA Finals.
Our tiebreaker will be an NBA Finals MVP pick.
Our second tiebreaker will be the score in the deciding NBA Finals game.
Our third tiebreaker will be a potato sack race around DHS’s track.
Note: Points for predicting the correct amount of games for a series are only eligible if the correct winner of the series is selected.

Second Note: In each round, where it says winner, there is also a letter and a number associated with it (as you see, the winner of Bulls vs. Pacers is E1). There is a spot in the next round that team’s name should be written in (so if you have the Bulls winning the first round, they are E1 and “Chicago Bulls,” “Chicago,” or “Bulls” must replace E1 in the Second Round section).

FIRST ROUND
EASTERN CONFERENCE
(1) Chicago Bulls vs. (8) Indiana Pacers
Winner/E1: TEAM in # GAMES

(4) Orlando Magic vs. (5) Atlanta Hawks
Winner/E2: TEAM in # GAMES

(3) Boston Celtics vs. (6) New York Knicks
Winner/E3: TEAM in # GAMES

(2) Miami Heat vs. (7) Philadelphia 76ers
Winner/E4: TEAM in # GAMES

WESTERN CONFERENCE
(1) San Antonio Spurs vs. (8) Memphis Grizzlies
Winner/W1: TEAM in # GAMES

(4) Oklahoma City Thunder vs. (5) Denver Nuggets
Winner/W2: TEAM in # GAMES

(3) Dallas Mavericks vs. (6) Portland Trailblazers
Winner/W3: TEAM in # GAMES

(2) Los Angeles Lakers vs. (7) New Orleans Hornets
Winner/W4: TEAM in # GAMES

SECOND ROUND
EASTERN CONFERENCE
E1 vs. E2
Winner/E5: TEAM in # GAMES

E3 vs. E4
Winner/E6: TEAM in # GAMES

WESTERN CONFERENCE
W1 vs. W2
Winner/W5: TEAM in # GAMES

W3 vs. W4
Winner/W6: TEAM in # GAMES

EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
E5 vs. E6
Winner/E7: TEAM in # GAMES

WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
W5 vs. W6
Winner/W7: TEAM in # GAMES

NBA FINALS
E7 vs. W7
Winner: TEAM in # GAMES
NBA Finals MVP:
Deciding Score in Elimination Game:

Thursday Lunch: MLS Week 5 Picks

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Current Year’s Record
Evan: 18-20
Kyle: 16-22
Nick: 13-25
Will: 14-24

	CHI at POR	SEA at PHI	DCU at TFC	Chivas at VAN	SKC at CLB	SJ at NY	LA at CHI	FCD at POR
Evan	POR	PHI	DCU	VAN	SKC	NY	DRAW	DRAW
Kyle	POR	DRAW	DCU	VAN	DRAW	DRAW	LA	FCD
Nick	POR	SEA	DCU	Chivas	SKC	SJ	LA	POR
Will	POR	PHI	DCU	VAN	SKC	DRAW	DRAW	FCD

	NE at HOU
Evan	HOU
Kyle	HOU
Nick	HOU
Will	HOU

Wednesday Lunch: The Top 10 Sacramento Kings

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 01:15:00 +0000

By Will Robinson

Note: Check out this post on our NEW site!

Last night, some fantastic news broke out. Chris Webber, one of the best basketball players during the late 90s and early 2000s, announced that he had formed a group in an effort to try to purchase the Sacramento Kings with the purpose of keeping them in Sacramento. I was ecstatic. If Webber, one of the, if not the greatest King during the Sacramento era, somehow manages to push the ongoing charge in trying to keep the team in town, he would be the River City Saint. I even said on Twitter and on my Facebook, that there should be a pure gold statue of Webber erected in his honor. Hell, there should a statue of him anyways. This sparked some jokes and such, but it prompted an idea for a BLOG post: Who are the top 10 Kings of the Sacramento era? Well, ladies and gentlemen, here is the DEFINITIVE TSL Top 10 Sacramento-era Kings. Just for some criteria: I’m looking at people who were in Sacramento for at least three years.

10. Jason Williams
I ALMOST put Mateen Cleaves here at the bottom of the list, but I decided to go with someone that actually contributed something to the franchise. Williams did not put up particularly fantastic numbers will in Sacramento (11.3 PPG-2.7 RPG-6.3 APG), but he should be credited in sparking the “new Kings.” Williams was known for his amazing passing ability but was not a particularly amazing shooter and made some boneheaded moves. I have to give Williams some props for sparking the high-powered, fast-paced Kings offense, and was the key piece in the Mike Bibby trade.

9. Lionel Simmons
I really don’t know much about Lionel Simmons, but after doing some homework, he had a really fast start to his career. He played his whole seven-year career in Sacramento, and was second in Rookie of the Year voting to Derrick Coleman, in which he recorded 18.0-8.8-4.0 during his first year. In his first three years, by far his best, he averaged 17.7-8.1-4.3 – decent numbers for a second option on the team from the three spot. Injuries derailed his career, and he was relegated to the bench after his fourth year, but he gave some good years to the franchise.

8. Reggie Theus
Kings fans know about Theus’ shaky tenure as the head coach, but he put up some good numbers. During his three-year stay in town, Theus posted an impressive 20.0-3.4-8.3. He was by far one of the most dangerous players on the Kings team during the 80s, during their rough patch. He also played two years for Kansas City, so he was one of the original Kings to come over. Plus, he was front and center in this sweet picture. Just stay away from the bench, Reggie. No coaching for you.

7. Wayman Tisdale
The late Wayman Tisdale, as well as being an accomplished jazz musician, was quite the ball player. He was traded to Sacramento in the middle of the 1988-89 from the Pacers for Randy Whitman and LaSalle Thompson. He took Sacramento by storm; he averaged 19.8-9.6-1.7 right after being traded. For his best four-year stretch (counting his half season after being traded and his injured season), Tisdale posted 19.7-7.5-1.5, including an impressive 22.3-7.7-2.0, with a career high in points per game in a season. Just like Simmons, Theus, and one other person further on the list, the lack of winning during one’s tenure in Sacramento hurts their standing. Tisdale will always be remembered as a phenomenal college player and (according to me) as the seventh best Sacramento King.

6. Doug Christie
Christie never lit up the scoreboard, but while he was on the team, he was never asked to. The Kings acquired Christie from the Raptors for Corliss Williamson before the 2000-01 season to join Williams, Webber, Peja Stojakovic, and Vlade Divac in the starting five. Christie was the quintessential perimeter defender the Kings needed to add to their lineup to compete against division rival, Kobe Bryant (most of the great scoring guards were in the East). During his peak years in Sacramento, Christie averaged at least 2 steals per game and at least 35% from behind the arc. He made the All-Defensive Second team in 2001-02 and 2004, and the first team in 2003. Christie’s tenacious defensive was one of the final keys the Kings needed to tear up the league.

5. Vlade Divac
During the Kings’ swift building process in 1998, the signing of center Vlade Divac was a crucial one. Divac was an efficient center and an elite passer from the five spot, and became one of the best centers in the league. Divac is one of the three Sacramento-era Kings to have their number retired, and with good cause. His statistics were not particularly amazing, with a high of 14.3 PPG during his tenure, but at the highest, Divac was the third scoring option. His passing from the block was critical to the team’s success, and he always had a reliable driving hook he could make with a high percentage. The history of the Kings will always include Vlade and his chain-smoking.

4. Mike Bibby
I really thought I would be placing Bibby higher on this list, but his numbers and duration on the team made me put him slightly behind the next guy. There is absolutely no doubt that the Bibby trade was perhaps the most important move for their success, as the integration of Bibby to the lineup produced the best Kings team to date. Unlike Webber or Peja, Bibby never seemed afraid of the biggest of moments. Sure, Webber and Peja have made their fair share of big shots, but they both had a tendency to drift away in crunch time. Bibby made the gigantic shot in Game 5 in 2002 against the Lakers to win that game (I just got chills watching the clip). He carried the Kings in Game 7 as they tried to beat LA and make the NBA Finals, but the team came up short. Bibby didn’t even hit his peak until after the series, but it was a launch point for his career. Bibby was the perfect floor general the team needed to make the next step in the league.

3. Peja Stojakovic
Growing up, my favorite King was undoubtedly Peja Stojakovic. The way Peja was an assassin from behind the arc really drew me to him, and he was one of the most important players to the team. When he became a starter, Peja never shot worse than 38% on three pointers, and during his best season, 2003-04, he averaged 24.2-6.3-2.1, with 43% for 3’s, 48% from the field, and 92.7% from the free throw line. My only Peja-related beef is that they too quickly incorporated him after his injury during the 2002 Western Conference Finals and was ICE cold during Game 7. Regardless, Peja was one of the best players the Kings have had, and his contributions to the franchise should not be forgotten. Plus, he has won TWO Three Point Shootouts. Shouldn’t that be enough?

2. Mitch Richmond
Before CWebb and Peja joined the Kings, this is what we had as our consummate All-Star candidate. Richmond was the lone beacon of light during a very, very dark time for the Kings. Richmond flourished while in Sacramento, getting a career high in points averaged in a year during the 1996-97 season. He put the team on his back and led them to a playoff berth. As I mentioned earlier, Richmond is one of the three Kings with his name and number in the rafters. He gave the team seven great years and never failed to average less than 20 PPG. In addition, after giving seven great years, he was the key trade piece in acquiring the number one player…

1. Chris Webber
This spot is undeniably Webber’s until someone unseats him. He may have received a bad rap about being unclutch in the last five minutes of games (perhaps as a result of the dreaded timeout – I cannot watch this), he was phenomenal for the team. During his reign, Webber’s peak resulted in 25.4-10.6-4.5 – great numbers. He is responsible for some great moments, such as his amazing 51-26 game, and is the only superstar the Kings have ever had, and made five All-NBA Teams (1x First Team; 3x Second Team; 1x Third Team). During the 2001-02 playoffs, he only failed to score 20 two times and grab 10 rebounds six times in 16 games. I love watching highlights of the “good ol’ days,” especially watching Webber dominate the high post.

There you have it, my top Sacramento Kings. I hope they will be here long enough so there will be some additions to this list (Cousins, DeMarcus and Evans, Tyreke), but who knows what the future holds. Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things. All we can do is that.

Monday Lunch: The Legend of Keyser Söze

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 01:00:00 +0000

By Evan Ream

Note: Check out this post on our NEW site!

After recently re-reading The Book of Basketball by Bill Simmons (a must read for any sports fan), I studied his Keyser Söze chapter closely. In this chapter, Simmons chooses the ten best teams of all time (number one was the 86 Celtics) in the NBA. Each of these teams were great because they could and would go “Keyser Söze” on opponents; not just beat them, but also humiliating them in the process. I believe we are seeing the first ever “Keyser Söze” team in MLS this year: Real Salt Lake.

MLS has a very short history and thus very few dominating teams. For me to claim that we are seeing the first “Keyser Söze” team this year, we must first look back at each previous year.

1996: MLS Cup Champion DC United (16-16, 46 points)
No dominating teams here as the championship team actually had a losing record (one of their wins was a shootout win), and the best team (Tampa Bay) still had 12 losses. DC also won the Open Cup on penalties against Dallas but this was simply a team that got hot at the right time, not a dominating team.

1997: MLS Cup Champion DC United (21-11, 55 points)
Still not a dominating team as DC failed to retain their Open Cup and there was another 21-11 team. Furthermore, they allowed 53 goals.

1998: MLS Cup Champion Chicago Fire (20-12, 56 points)
Chicago did the double as an expansion team, but LA finished with 68 points and 85 goals and were the best team that year. Chicago failed to be amazing in the regular season and LA failed to be amazing in the playoffs/Open Cup. Still no dominating teams.

1999: MLS Cup Champion DC United (23-9, 57 points)
DC are the first team to claim to be a dominating team as the first champion to also win the Supporter’s Shield, but they only finished 3 points ahead of the Galaxy in the regular season and had an amazing six shootout wins. This was not a dominating team.

2000: MLS Cup Champion Kansas City Wizards (16-7-9, 57 points)
They won the Supporter’s Shield and MLS Cup, but did both by the narrowest of margins. This team was definitely not a dominating team.

2001: MLS Cup Champion San Jose Earthquakes (13-7-6, 45 points)
This was the worst of the champions so far. They won with a crazy playoff run and beat LA in the final in a really close game. This team was not dominant.

2002-2004: The league is incredibly diluted and 80% of the teams make the playoffs!

2005: LA wins despite being .500!!!!!!!

2006-2007: Houston wins back to back despite never having great regular seasons!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008: MLS Cup Champions Columbus Crew (17-7-6, 57 points)
Finally, a worthy champion. This team won the Supporter’s Shield by 6 points and absolutely trashed teams in the playoffs. Still, they didn’t top 60 points, and they relied too much on Guillermo Barros Schelotto and his free kicks, often not having a plan B as every great team needs. This team wasn’t as good as everyone thinks as they lost their title defense in the first round next year to a sub .500 team.

2009: Aforementioned sub .500 team wins the Cup

2010: Colorado, the 7^th seed, wins the Cup

Okay so now that we have established that there are no dominating teams, let’s look at what RSL has done this year through 7 competitive games.

February 22^nd, CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals Leg 1
Real Salt Lake 0 Columbus Crew 0
RSL, a possession oriented team, plays to a scoreless draw with Columbus as they play nearly the entire second half a man down on a terrible field that had been snowed on earlier in the day.

March 1^st, CONCACAF Champions League Quarterfinals Leg 2

Real Salt Lake 4 Columbus Crew 1
RSL dominates the possession the whole game, taking an early 2-goal lead. Columbus gets a goal back before Javier Morales puts the game away and Andy Williams scores one in stoppage time as RSL is still trying to score until the end of the game.

March 15^th, CONCACAF Champions League Semifinals Leg 1
Real Salt Lake 2 Saprissa 0
RSL dominates the best team from Costa Rica at home and has a third goal disallowed on a terrible call.

March 19^th, MLS Week 1
Real Salt Lake 1 San Jose Earthquakes 0
RSL gets a tad bit lucky and steals an away win in terrible weather on a Kyle Beckerman wonder strike. San Jose made the playoffs last year and RSL beat them in their opener despite having a midweek game.

March 26^th, MLS Week 2
Real Salt Lake 4 LA Galaxy 1
RSL scores their second 4-1 result of the season in their home opener. LA is missing Landon Donovan, but still has one of the best defenses in the league as well as David Beckham and Juan Pablo Angel. RSL is missing Alvaro Saborio (their top scorer last year) and Will Johnson (starting outside midfielder) and they still jump to a 4-0 lead before LA get a consolation goal.

April 5^th, CONCACAF Champions League Semifinals Leg 2
Real Salt Lake 1 Saprissa 2
RSL lose their first game of the season, though it feels like a win because they advance in the series 3-2 on aggregate. RSL get a lot of the possession in this game and have most of the scoring opportunities. It is 1-1 late until Saprissa gets a consolation goal on a penalty. Getting a result in Costa Rica is something that MLS teams rarely do and RSL did it easily.

April 9^th, MLS Week 4 (RSL had Week 3 off)
Real Salt Lake 2 New England Revolution 0
RSL start a lineup that looks like this:

Arturo Alvarez Paulo Jr.

Will Johnson Jean Alexandre Collen Warner Ned Grabavoy

Tony Beltran Rauwshan McKenzie Chris Schuler Robbie Russell

Kyle Reynish

Of course RSL beats a previously unbeaten team… on the road… missing 9 starters. If that isn’t the definition of “Keyser Söze” I don’t know what is. No team in MLS history is winning that game missing that many starters.

To recap: RSL is 5-1-1 in 7 games (3-0-0 with 9 points in MLS), in the CONCACAF Champions League Final. In their 7 games, their only loss was away in a game they didn’t need to win. They have scored 14 goals against 4 allowed. Four different players have scored multiple goals for them. They have beaten two playoff teams already. They have used 23 different players in their 7 games.

There are certainly many games left to play, but I fully expect this team now to win the CONCACAF Champions League, the Supporter’s Shield, and MLS Cup; they have the depth to do it. This team could and should be the first team in MLS history to win a treble and thus the first “Keyser Söze” team in MLS.

Unbeaten Teams Remaining:
Real Salt Lake

Golden Boot Watch (My pick in Bold)
Player                          GP      G      A
1. Charlie Davies             3        4       0
2. Camilo                        5        3       1
3. Teal Bunbury              2        3        0
4. Eric Hassli                 3        3        0
    Diego Chaves             3        3        0
51. Alvaro Saborio       1        0         0

Thursday Lunch: MLS Week 4 Picks

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 02:33:00 +0000

Current Year’s Record
Evan: 12-16
Kyle: 12-16
Nick: 9-19
Will: 10-18

	COL at FCD	CHI at SEA	NY at PHI	RSL at NE	LA at DCU	CLB at Chivas	TFC at SJ	VAN at HOU
Evan	COL	SEA	DRAW	RSL	DRAW	DRAW	SJ	HOU
Kyle	COL	SEA	DRAW	RSL	DCU	DRAW	SJ	HOU
Nick	COL	SEA	NY	RSL	LA	CLB	SJ	DRAW
Will	COL	DRAW	DRAW	RSL	LA	DRAW	SJ	HOU

	LA at TFC	COL at RSL
Evan	LA	RSL
Kyle	LA	DRAW
Nick	LA	RSL
Will	LA	RSL

Wednesday Lunch: The SACK Lunch’s Guide to Booing Etiquette

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Thu, 07 Apr 2011 01:00:00 +0000

By Nick Gallaudet

MLB’s 2011 Opening Weekend is in the books, and as usual with sports, it was accompanied by a flurry of mixed emotions ranging from euphoria to frustration to disappointment. As an A’s fan, I experienced all these emotions on Opening Day: euphoria with Josh Willingham’s 1^st inning homerun, frustration with the A’s defense as a whole (five errors in the season opener!?!?!), and disappointment as I watched Felix Hernandez become the A’s daddy. One thing I noticed watching that game, however, was that the A’s fans at the game had no problem expressing their emotions. I heard more boos at that game than I have ever heard at an A’s game, and this is coming from a guy who watches over 100 A’s games a year. The two instances in which I was embarrassed as a baseball fan to hear boos were when former Athletic Jack Cust stepped in the batter’s box for the Mariners and when A’s 3^rd baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff made back-to-back errors in the top of the 4^th. I didn’t think either of those instances called for boos, so I am going to take it upon myself, here and now, to give you the SACK Lunch Guide to Booing Etiquette.

The SLGBE is going to focus on baseball, but these rules can be used for any sport.

Types of Boos

First, for us to really understand when it’s okay to boo, we need to identify what is fueling them. I personally believe there are three motivating factors behind boos: jealousy, frustration, and legitimate hatred. Jealousy and legitimate hatred tend to go hand-in-hand, for example, Derek Jeter has heard his fair share of boos during road games, and I would say 85% of those boos are based solely in jealousy. The other 15%, I would contend, are a mixture of jealousy and hatred. There is no doubt that when Jeter is booed at Fenway Park; it is because Red Sox fans cannot stand even the sight of the man, but at the same time, there is not a Red Sox fan out there who would not have loved to have Jeter in Boston for his entire career. Most of the booing heard in MLB games is from home team fans directed at the away team, but that is not the only time fans boo. The third form of booing is unique and usually saved for home fans directed at home players. These are the boos motivated by frustration, and usually reserved for poor performance or attitude by home players (like Kouzmanoff in the A’s opener).

Booing the Visiting Team

Now that we have a solid understanding booing and its motivating forces, we can get down to when it is appropriate and inappropriate to boo.

Booing the opposing team is almost always okay, and should be expected by the away players. Most of the time, the booing directed at the road teams is a sign of respect and tends to be directed at the best players on the other team. Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau are two of the classiest players in the league, but they are still booed at away games. It’s just part of being a superstar, and those are the jealous boos and as far as I’m concerned are perfectly fine. The only time I take issue with home fans booing an away player is if that is the first game back for a recently departed player that made major contributions to the team, and that can be a sticky situation. I felt like Jack Cust did not deserve to be booed during the season opener, and that’s saying a lot given the fact that I openly celebrated the day he signed with the Mariners because now he officially would not be clogging up the middle of the A’s lineup any more. Despite my feeling about Mr. Cust, I recognize the fact that for three years, he was pretty much the A’s only power threat and he brought a much-needed presence in our lineup. When he signed with the Mariners, he didn’t spurn the A’s for the highest bidder as the A’s chose not to re-sign him. He did nothing to disrespect the A’s organization and was (mostly) a decent guy when he played in the Bay, and he did not deserve to be booed in his return to Oakland. That same reasoning also applies to traded players. It is also poor form to boo a returning player who was traded, because that was management’s decision, not his, but if that player asked to be traded, that’s another story, and as far as I’m concerned it’s open season.

It also is important to mention that sometimes, the only option a player leaves the fans with is to boo. Jason Giambi, for example, was a major piece of the Oakland lineup in the early 2000’s earning AL MVP honors in 2001 before ditching the A’s for the Yankee pinstripes. Giambi made a much larger and longer contribution to the A’s than Cust could ever hope to, but the way he bolted left some fans understandably bitter. I recognize that you can’t blame the man for chasing the money, but at the same time, the fans have the right to let him know how they feel about his greed. Sometimes this one can be hard to come to grips with, because I was personally a big Giambi fan, and couldn’t bring myself to boo, despite the betrayal I felt, but I had no problem with other fans letting him have it.

So here is the recap of when it is okay to boo visiting players:

BOO: Opposing superstars, former players that spurned fans for the big pay day, and former players that asked to be traded.

DON’T BOO: Former players that were traded or former players that were not re-signed by your team.

Booing the Home Team

This one is simple. There is only one time you are ever allowed to boo a player at home and that is when they clearly are not doing whatever it takes to better the team. That means if they are clearly mailing it in, not hustling, or are starting fights with teammates (basically anything Milton Bradley does when he gets bored) it is okay to release the boo birds. Last year, Marlins shortstop Hanley Ramirez jogged after a misplayed popup, allowing two runs to score in the process, and was rightfully booed, and subsequently benched by his manager. That blatant lack of hustle was more than enough to warrant booing, but this is where responsibility falls on the fans. It is up to the people in attendance to judge whether or not an error was caused by lack of effort or simply a poor play. In last year’s ALDS, Atlanta Braves 2^nd baseman, Brooks Conrad made three errors in Game 3 against the Giants and was greeted with boos by the Atlanta crowd. Like Kouzmanoff’s Opening Day errors, these were simply misplayed balls, not a result of lack of effort, and while it may be hard to contain your boos, it is vital to do so, because these players are busting their tails everyday to try to win. Kouzmanoff has never done anything to give A’s fans reason to question his play and Friday was no different. I always get upset when I hear home fans boo their players for making a physical mistake because I can guarantee that they did not commit the error on purpose and booing does nothing to help their confidence, which is such a major part of baseball. Players need to know they have the support of their fans, because baseball is such a mental game that if they play in fear of being booed, they’re going to make mistakes.

In 2006, his last year in Oakland, Jay Payton was a key part of a very good A’s lineup and played his heart out every game. On the A’s Labor Day game against the Texas Rangers, Payton misplayed what should have been a line drive single into an inside-the-park-homerun and was booed by the Oakland crowd. Payton famously called the booing A’s fans, “a bunch of dumb-ass people,” after what he felt was unjustified booing, and I agreed. Baseball is a tough game to play; it is a daily grind and with 162 games, players are going to make mistakes and I think it falls on the fans to show those players support and let them know they have their back even if they do make a mistake. Payton’s reaction to the boos demonstrated how personally players can take the criticism. Boos can’t be un-heard, and players take it to heart, so it really is a fan’s responsibility to show support for their team if they want the best play out of them. I almost feel silly begging fans not to boo their players at home, but since I started paying attention to it this week, it happens more than you’d think.

Recap of when to boo home players:

BOO: When, and only when, they show a blatant lack of effort.

DON’T BOO: Any other time.

I hope this guide will prove to be helpful next time you go to a professional sporting event, and remember this: it is always okay to boo Barry Bonds.

Tuesday Lunch: Recap of Vancouver vs. Sporting KC

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 01:00:00 +0000

By Kyle Mohr

Vancouver’s second ever MLS home game picked up right where the Whitecaps left off with an entertaining game, complete with an improbable comeback deep in stoppage time that proved to be enough for Vancouver to salvage a tie. The second MLS game at Empire Field featured six goals again so be sure to see if the streak continues tomorrow (April 6) when the Whitecaps take on the Revs. And now, a few notes on how the Vancouver - Kansas City game played out:

For Vancouver:

The Whitecaps missed Jay DeMerit: Besides the obvious skills that Jay DeMerit brings to the back line, it was perhaps his command and organization of the rest of the defense that was most missed by Vancouver. Not to take anything away from Teal Bunbury, but the positioning of the center backs on the Sporting goals was not the best, especially on Kamara’s goal. Once DeMerit returns and Vancouver can tighten up their defense, they will be able to collect more points.

Camilo Sanvezzo: What a game the young Brazilian had. He looked dangerous the entire 90 minutes and was a constant threat to the Sporting defense. Not only did Camilo display his technique on the ball but showed his speed time and time again, repeatedly making threatening runs in behind the defense. I thought that he did an excellent job linking up with Wes Knight and later Davide Chiumiento and gave Sporting’s left back Roger Espinoza trouble all day, constantly finding space behind on the Honduran defender. To cap off a fantastic performance, Camilo scored both of Vancouver’s stoppage time goals, in the 92nd and 93rd minutes to secure a point for the Whitecaps. Camilo showcased his passing abilities extremely well too and proved how dangerous he is both at creating chances for himself and other players.

Sub warfare: The turning point in this game was the subs by Teitur Thordarson. Although each team was looking for different things tactically from their substitutes, Vancouver won the bench battle. Once Vancouver made their subs the game changed in their favor and KC was unable to respond to the changes off the bench. Chiumiento and Nizar Khalfan proved to be invaluable to the Whitecaps. On the other hand, Sporting’s substitutes failed to make much of an impact. Shavar Thomas looked a bit confused in the back and Stephane Auvray played decently. Craig Rocastle came in mainly to take time off the clock, but was unable to help KC hold onto their lead.

Davide Chiumiento: Once Chiumiento came into the game in the 69th minute, Vancouver improved drastically, scoring their first goal only several minutes later. Chiumiento provided the assist on the second Vancouver to leave his mark on the game. I think that the duo of Chiumiento and Camilo bring a lot of creativity to the Whitecaps offensively and when not scoring themselves should be able to set up Atiba Harris and Eric Hassli (who was out serving a suspension) for plenty of goals. The Vancouver attack is much better than I originally expected and it will be interesting to see if they need to rely on that to win games or if the defense can strength itself to relieve a bit of pressure from the attackers.

Nizar Khalfan: The offensive minded substitution of Khalfan for Greg Janicki proved to be a deciding factor in the game. Khalfan impressively improved the Vancouver attack and was lethal running down the wings and distributing the ball. He assisted on the first and third Whitecap goals, with both assists coming from the left. Along with the assists, Khalfan provided great link up play and helped to relieve pressure when Vancouver won the ball in their own half. Much like Camilo, Khalfan’s speed often proved to be too much for Sporting and he should as much on the first Vancouver goal, sprinting from within his own half to the far touchline while playing a great give and go with Camilo before sending his cross across the face of goal for Atiba Harris to tap in.

Down the wings: Vancouver seemed to attack mainly down either wing instead of trying to go straight down the middle. In particular, it seemed that Vancouver wanted to attack down their right wing where Sporting was playing rookie C.J. Sapong in the midfield in front of left back Espinoza, who struggled to defend his area, especially when Vancouver overloaded that side with players from the midfield. Repeatedly, Whitecaps were able to find space behind him, whether it was runs from Camilo, or overlaps from right back Jonathan Leathers. Vancouver were pretty successful at exploiting KC’s outside backs with their speed down the wings. Once they got in behind, they would send the balls into the box and it was using this strategy that Vancouver scored all of their goals. The first two Vancouver goals show how easy it was for them to get behind the Vancouver defenders and then center the ball back into the box. For the third goal, Vancouver went after Espinoza again who was positioned on the wrong side of Camilo, allowing the Brazilian to head home the equalizer.

Overall: Thordarson must be pleased with his team for coming back but they definitely struggled defensively. The offense and midfield looked good and I think Terry Dunfield has the potential to be a great creator from the midfield, he just needs to work on some of his decision making a bit. I was constantly impressed with the Whitecaps in this game and am looking forward to see if they can continue to play an entertaining and effective style against New England.

For Sporting KC:

Sporting came out strong, controlling the game for the first twenty minutes or so but unable to get anything to show for it. They didn’t create as many chances as Vancouver and I think they were outplayed a bit in the midfield. The suspension of Omar Bravo meant that Vancouver had an easier time of trying to shut down Bunbury (not that they did a good job of it) and I think the game would have opened up for KC much more had Bravo been on the field.

They be like Teal: What more can you say about Bunbury? He scored two wonderfully taken goals for Sporting and proved how dangerous is. Although he seemed to fade at times, he used that to his advantage to find space unnoticed by Vancouver and whip in his shots. He was harassed all game by the Vancouver crowd but responded with a brace and did not celebrate out of respect. Without Bravo to share the goal scoring responsibility with, Bunbury took the pressure upon himself and stepped up when his team needed him too. The opening goal was a great display of individual skill. Vancouver allowed Teal too much space but it was quickly shut down and the shot was perfectly placed. Bunbury’s second goal came from a great run into the box and then a quick move that left Janicki turning in circles. Teal then curled his shot to the near post and let the chorus of boos begin. Bunbury made great runs throughout the game and seems to be trying to send a message to Bob Bradley for this summer’s Gold Cup.

Birahim Diop: Along with Teal, I think Diop had one of the best games for KC. He did a good job in the midfield, and Vancouver’s attacks came most from the sides (whether that was by strategy or because of Diop is debatable) but he played well regardless. In general, the KC midfield often looked stretched but they did provide some good passes forward that led to scoring opportunities.

Jimmy Nielson: Nielson made several spectacular saves during this game and because of him, Sporting was able to keep the lead for as long as they did. The defense in front of him was not particularly effective and Nielson was required to make up for that. I won’t say it was Tim Howard vs. Argentina status, but it was a similar situation. Without Neilson in the net, Sporting probably would have given up several more goals, due to defensive lapses not poor keeping. The quote of the match was also inspired by Nielson. After giving up two goals in a matter of seconds in stoppage time, Khalfan raced towards the Sporting goal and unleashed a shot just wide, which could have been the winner for the Whitecaps. Nielson was furious with his defenders (rightly so) and began screaming in frustration. As the blood rushed to his face, the commentator promptly announced, “Jimmy Nielson has lost his nuts.” Given the amount of frustration Nielson was venting, that assessment probably wasn’t too far from the truth.

KC’s Defensive Problems: Like Vancouver, KC struggled in the back. One of their biggest problems was getting enough men back to mark up everyone that Vancouver was throwing forward. On the last goal, when Espinoza was positioned on the wrong side of Camilo, it was because he was trying to cover both Camilo and Chiumiento was would have been wide open, had Khalfan’s cross been sent to him instead of Camilo. On the second Vancouver goal as well, Espinoza was pushed up the pitch, without Sapong covering for him, which allowed Dunfield to find a huge amount of space for Chiumiento. Once Chiumiento was in on goal, KC’s two center backs found themselves on the wrong side of a three on two in the box. Before the pass to a wide-open Camilo, Thomas was marking him on the back post and Matt Besler was covering Atiba Harris at the near post. Once Chiumiento got in however, Besler was forced to shift over to try and defend him, leaving Thomas to cover two players. Harris delayed his run while Camilo ran diagonally to the near post leaving Thomas in no-man’s land and unable to cover either player. Like the third goal, KC lacked the numbers in the back to adequately defend all of the threats Vancouver had and this inability let Vancouver make a comeback.

Overall: I think KC was outplayed by Vancouver and relied on two players - Nielson and Bunbury - too much for that result. That being said, when Bravo returns KC should be much more dynamic and I think they are still a good enough team to challenge for a playoff spot, assuming this road trip doesn’t take too much out of them, which it may already be doing.

Monday Lunch: MLS, Where Does your Team Stand?

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 01:00:00 +0000

By Evan Ream

After three games for most teams (though two to four for some), I feel like there is a decent enough sample size to assess each team’s chances of winning MLS Cup as well as the Supporter’s Shield. I have therefore divided up all the teams into these four categories:

Rebuilding – This team will not make the playoffs this year, they are at least one year and one or more key players away from doing so.

Playoff Contender – not to be confused with an MLS Cup Contender, these teams simply have a good shot at making the playoffs and nothing more; likely a first round exit.

MLS Cup Contender – These are the second-tier teams (such as Colorado from last year) who will almost assuredly make the playoffs, but aren’t quite as good as the top teams. In a four game (or five now) tournament, one of these teams could catch fire and unexpectedly win the cup (like the last two years).

Supporter’s Shield Contender – These first-tier teams have the quality and depth to bring it every night. These teams should finish in the top three or four of the league and have a great chance to win the Supporter’s Shield as well as MLS Cup.

Rebuilding Teams (or building in Portland’s case): Portland, Chivas USA, Toronto FC, Chicago Fire, New England Revolution

You can’t really make a case for Portland, Chivas, or Toronto to not be listed in this group so I won’t really go over it. Chicago and New England are different cases though. Chicago have been unimpressive in their first two games. In both games, they were up a man against their opponent and yet struggled against them. Dallas probably should have beat them, but they suffered from poor finishing, while Kansas City would have been a much different team had Teal Bunbury played the whole game. Chicago are a mediocre team with a bad coach and just one star player (Marco Pappa). This team will start struggling in a few weeks once everyone figures out that Pappa is their only impact player.

New England on the other hand has been impressive, and by impressive I mean terrible. I don’t usually like to blame referee decisions, but against LA, the Revs had four goals called back. Two of those were good calls, one was questionable, and one was terrible. Either way the Revolution’s defense didn’t look good and they were exposed by a team that started Chad Barrett and Mike Magee up top. Against DC, their goals came from one terrible no-call and one questionable call. DC’s goal was questionable as well; in my mind this game was just a 0-0 game that the ref screwed up. Of course, none of this matters because they have five points from three games, but I watched two of their games (LA, DC) and they were thoroughly dominated in both. The Revolution will come back down to Earth in the coming weeks.

Playoff Contenders: FC Dallas, Seattle Sounders FC, Houston Dynamo, Vancouver Whitecaps, Columbus Crew, San Jose Earthquakes

These teams will all contend for the playoffs, but will be unable to win MLS Cup this year, all for different reasons. All these teams could be MLS Cup contenders if they find the missing ingredient required.

FC Dallas need to find a suitable replacement for Dax McCarty so the pressure can be taken off of David Ferreira and their offense can actually do something.

Seattle Sounders FC need to find decent outside backs, and a reliable goal-scorer.

Houston need to control more of the possession and stop relying on Tally Hall (they allowed 26 shots against Seattle). They also need to find a reliable scorer.

Vancouver still have a lot of question marks about their defense and how good some of their players actually are. Their depth in their defense is poor and they have allowed two goals per game. They could use an upgrade at keeper.

Columbus Crew need to find someone who is going to score the goals for them (Andres Mendoza is a joke for a DP). Also, this actually has nothing to do with how bad they are, but if Julius James couldn’t make it in Toronto, Houston, and DC, how is he starting over Andy Iro?

San Jose Earthquakes need to find their #10, a playmaker that can actually set up Chris Wondolowski. The Earthquakes are much too reliant on Bobby Convey and their flank play.

MLS Cup Contenders: DC United, Philadelphia Union, Sporting KC, Colorado Rapids

Before you backlash at my inclusion of DC United into this list, give me a chance to explain myself. DC WILL make the playoffs. I promise you that. Once they get into the playoffs, they will obviously field their Best XI, which has happened exactly zero times this year. The closest thing we saw to their Best XI was week one in which they dominated the Crew. In Week 2, they played without two first choice defenders and a first choice midfielder and dominated but lost to New England. Week 3 they played Colorado and actually had even play, but Colorado scored on all four of their shots on goal. Oh and DC was playing with three back-up defenders. This team has enough good players to put together a good run and click when it matters.

So why is Colorado with this group? Many people have them as one of the best teams in the league right now, but they haven’t proven anything yet. They beat an expansion team in its first game at home, a terrible Chivas team on the road, and a team missing five starters at home in the snow. Yes, they have nine points, but let’s see them do it against better competition. Furthermore, their depth has yet to be proven. Attacking wise it obviously isn’t a problem as they go four deep at forward and three deep at outside mid, but who will replace Jeff Larentowicz, Pablo Mastroeni, or any of the defenders or the keeper if they get hurt or tired? There are no clear replacements.

Philadelphia has been impressive in all three of their games, winning away at Houston, at home against Vancouver, and losing on a set piece at LA. This team is very strong defensively and should be offensively once Le Toux, Mwanga, and Ruiz break out.

Sporting KC is probably the most interesting team here. On one hand, they have scored eight goals in three games with their highly-touted forwards scoring seven of them. On the other hand, they can’t stop anyone on defense. Sporting should make the playoffs and light up the scoreboard, but out of all the teams in this group, they are probably the weakest due to their terrible defense.

Supporter’s Shield Contenders: LA Galaxy, Real Salt Lake, New York Red Bulls

None of these teams needs an explanation. They all have at least three game changing players (Angel, Beckham, Donovan for the Galaxy; Morales, Saborio, Beckerman, Olave for RSL; and De Rosario, Richards, Ream, Marquez, Agudelo, and Henry if he starts actually trying for New York), they all have deep teams, and they all play every game to win. New York probably has the worst chance of winning the Shield out of these three just due to the fact that they will probably lose Greg Sutton, Roy Miller, Tim Ream, Rafa Marquez, Dwayne De Rosario, Dane Richards and Juan Agudelo for the Gold Cup (seven starters if you’re counting), though they were impressive against Columbus missing most of these guys. Regardless, these three teams have to be the favorite

Golden Boot Watch (My preseason pick in bold):

Player GP G A

1. Charlie Davies 2 3 0

Teal Bunbury 2 3 0

3. Atiba Harris 3 2 3

4. Camilo 3 2 1

5. Caleb Folan 2 2 0

51. Alvaro Saborio 1 0 0

Unbeaten Teams Remaining:

Colorado Rapids

Real Salt Lake

New England Revolution

New York Red Bulls

Friday Lunch: MLS Week 3 Picks

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 01:00:00 +0000

Current Year’s Record
Evan: 10-9
Kyle: 8-11
Nick: 6-13
Will: 8-11

	FCD at CLB	Chivas at TFC	KC at VAN	POR at NE	HOU at NY	PHI at LA	SEA at SJ	DCU at COL
Evan	FCD	TFC	KC	NE	DRAW	DRAW	SJ	COL
Kyle	FCD	DRAW	KC	NE	NY	LA	DRAW	DRAW
Nick	CLB	TFC	KC	POR	NY	LA	SEA	DRAW
Will	FCD	TFC	DRAW	NE	NY	DRAW	SJ	COL

	VAN at NE
Evan	VAN
Kyle	DRAW
Nick	DRAW
Will	NE

Thursday Lunch: 30 Bold Predictions for the 2011 MLB season

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:26:00 +0000

By Nick Gallaudet

Note: Check out this post on our NEW site!

With the Major League Baseball season kicking off today, it’s my last chance to make outrageous predictions before the season starts, so here we go: 30 bold predictions about the 2011 MLB season, one for each team.

1. ANGELS - Vernon Wells will earn every penny of the $21 million he’s owed this year. I have been very critical of Wells in the past, but I think he’ll be rejuvenated by the change of scenery and inspired by how bad he’s been beaten up recently by both fans and the media. I think this offseason put a charge into him, and he’ll be able to come to Southern California, forget about his last couple years, and have fun again.

2. ASTROS – Carlos Lee will not hit more than 15 homeruns in an Astros uniform. There are two ways this prediction can play out: he’ll either be traded for the deadline and proceed to go on a tear for a contender, or play with the lowly Astros, with absolutely no protection in the lineup, and no incentive to try. Basically, what I’m saying is don’t take him in your fantasy league until he’s traded.

3. ATHLETICS – The A’s will have two starting pitchers finish in the top seven in ERA in the AL. The A’s led the AL in ERA last year, and their starters were a big part of that. Dallas Braden, Gio Gonzalez, Trevor Cahill, and Brett Anderson all posted ERAs of 3.50 or better and could all improve on their 2010 numbers. If I wasn’t sure the voters have already given the AL Cy Young to Jon Lester, I would get even more bold and say Gonzalez would win the Cy Young, but unfortunately, I just don’t think the voters know baseball happens West of the Mississippi.

4. BLUE JAYS – The Blue Jays will leapfrog the Rays and compete for the Wild Card. The Blue Jays are very talented and can hit the poo out of the ball. They have some young studs in the rotation and should be able to keep up with the other AL East offenses. I don’t know if they will be able to unseat two of the three powerhouses in the East and win the Wild Card, but they will definitely make a run at it.

5. BRAVES – Fredi Gonzalez will be named NL Manager of the Year. Chipper Jones is in love with his new manager and that’s saying something. Jones has only played for one manager his entire career, and now that Bobby Cox is retired, there was speculation that no one could possibly fill his shoes. Gonzalez looks comfortable as the new manager and will be a big reason why the Braves will be playing for a playoff spot come September.

6. BREWERS – Prince Fielder will hit 50 homeruns. The Slugger Currently Known as Prince is in a contract year, coming off a relatively poor performance last season. Prince has something to prove and the Brewers will be in the middle of a pennant race all season; I think Fielder will really thrive. I don’t really have any reasoning for this prediction, it’s more a gut feeling, and I feel like Prince’s gut is going to drop some bombs.

7. CARDINALS – Matt Holliday will be the Cardinals’ MVP. I feel like Albert Pujols’ season can go one of two ways: he’ll either hit 60 homeruns to spite Cardinals management, or let this contract rigmarole get to him and have his first subpar season. I don’t think it’s going to be a bad season, but I think it could be along the lines of .300 avg, 25 homeruns, and 100 RBI, which leaves the door open for Matt Holliday (who I do think will have a monster year) to step up and take charge of this team.

8. CUBS – Matt Garza will have a sub-.500 record. Matt Garza strikes me as somewhat of a head case, and Chicago is the last place a head case can thrive. Talk of the Curse and having to pitch in the launching pad that is Wrigley Field, I think Garza’s emotions will get the best of him and he’ll go Carlos Zambrano on a water cooler or two en route to a 4.50 ERA.

9. DIAMONDBACKS – Russell Branyan will hit 30 homeruns. I am higher on Branyan than most people, but it seems like every time I watch him play, he hits a homerun. I think he’ll be a good veteran presence in Arizona and he has shown he is capable of decent power numbers in the past.

10. DODGERS – Jonathan Broxton will not be the closer come June. Don Mattingly has already stated that Broxton has a short leash as the closer and I don’t think Broxton will do well enough to hold that spot for long. Broxton had a poor year last year and I expect him to pick up where he left off, blow some early saves, and relinquish the closer role.

11. GIANTS – Brandon Belt will challenge Freddie Freeman for Rookie of the Year. Just like last year, the Rookie of the Year race will come down to a Brave and a Giant. Belt broke camp as the Giants starting first baseman and should hang on to that job all year. He has the potential to put up crazy numbers and it should be fun to watch Freeman and Belt trade blows all season long.

12. INDIANS – Grady Sizemore plays the entire season and is on another team come April 2012. Sizemore has missed most of the last two seasons with injuries, but I think he comes back this year and plays at least 145 games, puts up big numbers and gets traded in the offseason. Everybody knows what Sizemore is capable of, and after two years of killing his value, he comes back strong this year.

13. MARINERS – King Felix is traded by the deadline. I don’t know exactly how bold this is, but the only real bold thing I could say about this team is that Ichiro won’t hit .300 or they’ll make the playoffs and I don’t believe either of those things. It’s going to be tough for Seattle to get rid of Hernandez, but he’s the only player on their team who’s any good, his trade value has never been higher, and he’ll be gone when he becomes a free agent, so it’s almost Seattle’s only option, other than win…which they won’t.

14. MARLINS – Mike Stanton will hit 35 homeruns. Everybody knows Mike Stanton has big time power, but I think he’s going to show it this season. Stanton hit the ball pretty well this spring and I think he’s in for a big year, and he’s going to put on a couple fireworks displays in Miami.

15. METS – Jason Bay hits more than six homeruns, but less than 15. Bay had a horrendous 2010 campaign in which he hit a measly 6 homeruns, and while I expect him to fare better this year, it won’t be much better. Brought over from the Red Sox to assuage some of their power issues, Bay has been a complete bust up to this point and I don’t think he’s going to turn it around this year.

16. NATIONALS – Bryce Harper, Steven Strasburg, and Jayson Werth will all have minimal impact for the Nationals this year. Strasburg’s out this year, Harper won’t sniff the Bigs this year, and Werth is going to have a poor season. The Nationals headliners this year will not have any major impact, I don’t think Werth will hit over .275, hit more than 20 homeruns, or drive in more than 80. The real show is coming in 2012.

17. ORIOLES – Vladimir Guerrero will hit 40 homeruns. I think Guerrero has one more monster year in him and what better team to do it with than the rag-tag Orioles. This team looks like a weird version of the Miami Heat, a bunch of over-the-hill free agents got together and said, “let’s all play together,” and they ended up with the Orioles. This team is going to be fun to watch, Buck Showalter seems like a candidate for AL Manager of the Year and I think Vlad is going to turn it on and put on one last show.

18. PADRES – Mat Latos will win ten games or fewer. Latos looked like the ace-of-the-future for this Padres rotation last year, but towards the end of the year, he faltered, kept running his mouth, and proved he’s not as good as he thinks he is. I think he’s in for a letdown this season and the lack of run support won’t help much.

19. PHILLIES – Chase Utley will not play regularly until September. Utley is stricken with tendonitis in his knee, and it’s not a problem that looks like it’s going to go away any time soon. There is no timetable for his return, and I think that he’s going to re-aggravate this injury midway through the season. It doesn’t look good for the perennial MVP candidate, and all the Phillies can hope is that he’s healthy for the playoffs.

20. PIRATES – Garrett Jones will not make the All-Star team, even though he’ll put up better first half numbers than Andrew McCutcheon. McCutcheon is a virtual lock to be the Pirates only representative on the All-Star team this year, but I think first baseman Garrett Jones will put up monster numbers in the first half of the season. He could have 20 homeruns by the All-Star break and he still won’t make the team.

21. RANGERS – Brandon Webb will continue his miraculous run of not playing baseball. The Rangers are looking at Brandon Webb to regain his Cy Young form and help them replace Cliff Lee and make it back to the World Series, but it just isn’t going to happen. Webb is too fragile and will not make any significant contributions to this Rangers team.

22. RAYS – Neither Manny Ramirez nor Johnny Damon will hit over .250. Ramirez and Damon are making last ditch efforts to be relevant in Major League Baseball, and unfortunately, it’s not going to pay off. I think this is Ramirez’s last season in the Bigs, and Damon is not far behind, both players will have poor years, and it’s possible that neither will have a job next year.

23. RED SOX – Daniel Bard will finish with more saves than Jonathan Papelbon. It’s only a matter of time until flame throwing youngster Daniel Bard dethrones Papelbon as the Red Sox closer, and it’s going to happen sooner than later. Papelbon had a rough year last year, and I don’t think he’ll show signs of improvement this year, and I think Bard has all the makings of a superstar closer, so look for manager Terry Francona to make the move soon.

24. REDS – Whatever Aroldis Chapman does, he will be the best on the Reds at it. Dusty Baker still isn’t sure what he’s going to do with Cuban fireballer, Aroldis Chapman, but whatever role Baker gives him, he’s going to be the best on the Reds. If they use him as a closer, he will post about a gazillion saves, and if they use him as a starter, he’s going to be their ace. Chapman has electric stuff and will be a vital piece to this Reds team repeating in the AL Central.

25. ROCKIES – Todd Helton retires at the end of the season. First baseman Todd Helton has meant more to the Rockies franchise than any other player in its short history, and this will be his final year. Helton, the consummate professional, will not be happy with his lack of production or being benched, which he will be halfway through the season. After handling his misfortune with class, and hanging with the Rockies for one more playoff run, he’s going to hang up his spikes during the offseason.

26. ROYALS – The Royals will lose well over 100 games. Despite the fact that the Royals have countless minor league prospects capable of making an impact soon, only Mike Moustakas will contribute this year, and that won’t be enough for this team to be any good. The Royals are clearly one of the two worst teams in the AL, followed closely by the Mariners, but they just won’t be able to put a decent season together and will finish in dead last.

27. TIGERS – Austin Jackson will strikeout 200 times. Jackson has the dubious honor of starting his Major League career with the most consecutive games with a strikeout with 19. He also struck out a total of 170 times last year in 151 games. Barring injury, I think that number will increase, and Jackson will push Mark Reynolds for the league lead, although no one will pass Reynolds; he’s the Babe Ruth of strikeouts. (I just want to point out, I have the Tigers game on in the background, and right after I typed this paragraph, Austin Jackson struck out for the second time today).

28. TWINS – Jim Thome will not have an average higher than .215. Jim Thome had a great season last year as the Twins’ DH, but I think the magic he was able to find last year will wear off a little bit. He will still put up decent homerun numbers, but I think this season will be the beginning of the end for Thome and he’ll be relegated to the role of late-inning pinch hitter on a National League contender in the near future, a la Matt Stairs.

29. WHITE SOX – Adam Dunn will lead the AL in homeruns. Mr. Dunn is a country-strong farm boy born to be a designated hitter, and in his first year in the American League, Dunn is going to go bananas. Without silly old defense to worry about I think Dunn could put up as many as 50 homeruns and take down the homerun crown.

30. YANKEES – Bartolo Colon will win 13 games as a starter. Although he may be relegated to the bullpen to start the season, it’s only a matter of time before the Yankees realize Freddy Garcia is not the guy, and Colon, who was lights out in the spring, is much better suited for that last rotation spot. I think Colon will make good use of the run support he’ll receive and put up decent numbers as a starter for the Yankees this season.

Tuesday Lunch: The Kings are on a Roll

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 01:00:00 +0000

By Will Robinson

Yes, the relocations talks have been hovering all over the team. Yes, there is now a public pissing match between the owners and the city of Sacramento, but despite all of that, the Sacramento Kings are playing their best overall ball of the year. They have won five of their last six (the lone loss being a blowout in Chicago), including going 4-1 on a five game road trip. There have been some interesting developments going on with the team, so I will highlight a few that I have noticed (and extrapolate from some box scores).

Rebounding

The Kings have DESTROYED in rebounding. They have averaged 48.5 RPG, which would be the top number in the league; however, they are already the third best team in the league rebounding wise. The difference? Rebounds allowed. 37.3 RAPG (Rebounds Allowed per Game). The difference of 11.2 RPG difference is a dominant mark, which is double than the season high average per game (Chicago, with +5.6 RPG).

Samuel Dalembert’s Hot Streak

Dalembert was acquired for his defense and rebounding, but he has been lighting up the stats sheet with his scoring. He actually hasn’t done much during this streak (12.5 PPG), but before the Timberwolves game, he had been putting up good numbers. For comparison, his season average is 7.8 PPG. Slammin’ Sammy has been dominant on the boards, pulling down 12 a game: 4.3 above his season average. DeMarcus Cousins has been inconsistent during this six game stretch, but the play of Dalembert in the middle has kept the Kings rolling. Speaking of another big…

The De-Slumpification of Jason Thompson

Thompson struggled enormously over the month of March, but has come on stronger during these six games. He had one big stinker performance (Bulls game), but has produced good rebounding numbers, as well as a solid percentage shooting (50%), slightly above his season average (48.7%). He’s played well recently, but he has been too hot and cold to jump on the bandwagon yet.

Marcus Thornton

Since joining the Kings back in February, Thornton has lit up the scoreboard. Obviously, in limited time, 18 games, Thornton has posted career high averages in practically category. Since Tyreke Evans had been out, Thornton has been the primary scorer, particularly over this stretch, in which he is averaging 24.3 PPG. He has looked absolutely great and unstoppable at times, and has been the Kings best player as of late. He has succeeded very well without Evans in the lineup, which was a concern of mine; they have played well in the three games with Evans’ return. With Evans coming off the bench, he has received limited minutes and has become more of the game manager I doubt he could be. Granted, it has only been three games, but he messed around and ALMOST got a triple double against Phoenix last night (11-10-8). The Kings would be fools not to resign Thornton.

I believe the future for the (location in question) Kings/Royals is particularly bright, especially if they can finish this season off strong. They need five more wins to top last year’s total, and with another lottery pick, should have a nice core of talent for the future. I clearly hope the Kings stay in town, but it’s not looking too good, especially with the dire situation with the letter to Anaheim and all. Let’s focus on now, though: beat the Nuggets tonight!

Wednesday Lunch: NL West Preview and Playoff Predictions

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 01:00:00 +0000

By Nick Gallaudet

Note: Check out this post on our NEW site!

This week we finish our division-by-division look at Major League Baseball with the National League West, home of the World Series champion San Francisco Giants. This division is notoriously tough to pick and it seems like each of the last five years, it’s ended up the opposite of what everyone thought it would be, so let’s see if this year is going to be any different.

ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
Arizona finished dead last in the West last year by 15 games, and went into this offseason looking to complete the roster purge they began in the regular season. Since Opening Day of last year, the Diamondbacks parted ways with starting pitchers Brandon Webb, Dan Haren, and Edwin Jackson. On top of that, they also lost power bats Adam LaRoche and Mark Reynolds, but honestly, LaRoche and Reynolds really aren’t as good as everyone is making them out to be. LaRoche was replaced by the more than capable Russell Branyan. In the last two seasons in the American League, Branyan has over 50 homeruns in just over 200 games. Branyan has shown he can provide some pop when he’s in the lineup, but it’s kind of a lateral move, because he also has almost 300 strikeouts in that same span, around the same number LaRoche put up in more games.

The strengths in this Diamondbacks team rest in its youth, except I don’t know if you can call it youth anymore. SS Stephen Drew, CF Chris Young, and RF Justin Upton have had plenty of time now to adjust to the Major League game, but none of them have blossomed into what they were expected to be. All three of them put up decent numbers last year but none of them look like they’re capable of putting this team on their back and making them serious contenders, and the way this team has be shuttling people out the door, I wouldn’t be surprised to see one or two of these guys move this year if they don’t start winning.

The pitching staff is the one ray of hope on this team, albeit a little one. In the 11 games he started for the D-Backs last year, Daniel Hudson was 7-1 with a 1.69 ERA. Hudson, coupled with the promising, but still unproven Ian Kennedy make a solid core for their future rotation, but this year, the talent stops there. Joe Saunders was unimpressive last year, and Barry Enright showed signs of fatigue toward the end of the year. Even with the addition of J.J. Putz as closer, this bullpen isn’t much to worry about either, all things considered, this looks like another long year for the Diamondbacks.

COLORADO ROCKIES
Offensively, this team is pretty formidable. Aside from 1B Todd Helton, this team is young and very good. The only weaknesses in the lineup are on the right side of the infield where Eric Young Jr. and Todd Helton look to get the majority of the playing time It’s hard to believe, but Todd Helton has simply fallen off the face of the planet, statistically. In 118 games last year, Helton hit eight homeruns and drove in 37 while posting a .257 average. It’s a little disheartening to see a perennial All-Star play like that, but for the sake of his dignity; I hope he can pull out a decent season this year. Other than those two, though, this lineup sports slugging SS Troy Tulowitski, Triple Crown threat Carlos Gonzalez, and young studs like Dexter Fowler and Seth Smith. This team was third in the NL in runs scored last year, and will most definitely put up some runs this year, as well.

The Rockies pitching staff is a little more suspect. Anchored by flamethrower and first-half phenom, Ubaldo Jimenez, this rotation could be worse. Jimenez will be followed by Jorge de la Rosa, Aaron Cook, Jason Hammel, and Jhoulys Chacin, all four of which have potential. Luckily for them, this rotation will have a stellar bullpen to fall back on, with studs like Matt Lidstrom, Rafael Bettancourt, and Huston Street. This staff will get a lot of run support this year, so if they can get decent outings from their staff, this team could make a run for the NL West crown.

LOS ANGELES DODGERS
The story of the Dodgers for the last season and a half has been instability. The McCourts, owners of the Dodgers, are going through a nasty divorce, manager Joe Torre retired, and don’t forget the whole Manny Ramirez saga. The mayhem culminated in an offseason where they had to sit and watch as their rival won the World Series. New manager Don Mattingly will look to stabilize this team and create an identity, and he may just have the talent to do so. The Dodgers offense certainly underachieved last year, finishing toward the back of the pack in most offensive categories, which is surprising given the talent they have. Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Rafael Furcal, and Casey Blake are all coming off years in which they all showed flashes of brilliance, but never really got it going consistently. If a couple of those guys can return to form and James Loney can continue his quiet consistency, and new addition Juan Uribe picks up where he left off with the Giants last year, there is no reason the Dodgers shouldn’t be able to compete offensively, even with the loss of catcher Russell Martin.

The Dodgers also look to improve their middle-of-the-pack rotation from last year. Again, this is going to be a case of proven veterans regaining their form. Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly, and Vicente Padilla have all proven they can play at the big league level. Chad Billingsley and Clayton Kershaw have also proven to be formidable starters, and throw in Jon Garland on top of all this; the Dodgers definitely have options on the mound. The real problem for this pitching staff is in the bullpen. The Dodgers added Matt Gurrier to a sub-par pen from last year, and closer Jonathan Broxton looked human last year, blowing seven saves and posting a 4.04 ERA. Mattingly made it clear that no one’s spot is safe in the bullpen, and this group of relievers is going to be a huge factor in whether or not the Dodgers can compete in this division.

SAN DIEGO PADRES
The Padres ended last season with a devastating collapse, losing the division and wild card race in the last weekend of the season, and unfortunately for them, it just gets worse from there. The Padres lost their only real run producer from last year in Adrian Gonzalez as well as their shortstop, centerfielder, second baseman, and one of their top starting pitchers. The Padres managed to fill those gaps well, but they weren’t really able to upgrade any position other than Orlando Hudson replacing David Eckstein at 2B. Josh Bartlett is a decent replacement for Miguel Tejada and Cameron Maybin is kind of a lateral move from Tony Gwynn Jr., but Brad Hawpe is far from Adrian Gonzalez. It’s going to be hard for this team to do worse offensively than it did last year, but it may just be able to do it.

As far as the pitching staff that posted the second best ERA in the league last year, it’s looking like it may take a major step back. Jon Garland, who tied for the team lead in wins last year, is being replaced by a rapidly aging Aaron Harang. Harang, the ace of the Reds once-upon-a-time has been steadily declining these last couple years and is most definitely not the pitcher he used to be. With that being said, this is still largely the same staff from last year, with Mat Latos and Clayton Richard looking to repeat their solid season and young gun Tim Stauffer getting a larger workload. The bullpen is also largely the same and should supply manager Bud Black with plenty of option toward the end of the game. I’m really not expecting a lot from this team, but I said the same thing last year, and they almost made the playoffs.

SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
The Giants pitching alone should be enough to get them back to the playoffs, but there is not a lot of room for error with this team. All it takes is one injury or one down year, and this team is vulnerable, because as good as their pitching is, their offense is mediocre. The Giants were dead last in hitting with runners in scoring position last year, and they didn’t do much to bolster their lineup. The Giants lost Juan Uribe and Edgar Renteria, but they shouldn’t feel it that much because replacement Miguel Tejada is a comparable replacement. Other than that, this lineup hasn’t changed much, but having C Buster Posey for a whole season should provide a little boost. On top of that, word on the street is that Fat Boy Sandoval has slimmed down a little and maybe might learn how to hit again. I just don’t have much faith in this offense, but with their rotation, it doesn’t really matter.

Even with Tim Lincecum coming off a “down” year, the Giants still posted the best ERA in the Bigs last year, and they’re showing no signs of slowing down. Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Barry Zito, and Madison Bumgarner make up what many are calling the best rotation in Major League baseball. On top of that, the Giants also sport one of the best bullpens in the NL anchored by closer Brian Wilson. I personally don’t think Wilson is going to be able to duplicate his 48 save performance from last year, but notwithstanding, the Giants are still the team to beat in the NL West

TEAM W-L
San Francisco Giants 91-71
Colorado Rockies 90-72
Los Angeles Dodgers 84-78
San Diego Padres 78-84
Arizona Diamondbacks 69-93

POSTSEASON PREDICTIONS
AL East Red Sox NL East Phillies

AL Central White Sox NL Central Reds

AL West A’s NL West Giants

AL Wild Card Yankees NL Wild Card Rockies

ALDS NLDS
Red Sox over White Sox Phillies over Rockies
A’s over Yankees Giants over Reds

ALCS NLCS
Red Sox over A’s Phillies over Giants

WORLD SERIES
Phillies over Red Sox

There you have it, the Philadelphia Phillies will win the 2011 World Series. I don’t like the pick any more than you do, but that’s what it’s going to be. Go A’s.

Tuesday Lunch: MLS All Time Team Leading Goal Scorers

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 01:00:00 +0000

By Evan Ream

While watching the MLS games last weekend, I was thinking about each individual team’s all-time leading goal scorers. For some reason (maybe because MLS has only existed for 16 years) people never talk about the player that is the leading goal scorer for each team. Now that each team officially has a leading goal scorer, I would like to look at who are each team’s all-time top marksmen and when that mark will be broken as well as who will break it. I will start with the team who has the lowest goal total for their all-time leading scorer and go up from there.

Portland Timbers: Kenny Cooper* – 1 (* means the player is active)

Player closest on the current roster: Everyone – 0

This total is likely to be broken… in one minute, one game, next season, who knows? Cooper is Portland’s most established scorer (and player for that matter) and will likely end the season as the leading scorer. I can see Cooper staying for four to five seasons and scoring 40-60 goals in keeping this record for a while. If anyone on this roster has the chance to break Cooper’s record, it will be Darlington Nagbe who could be in MLS for a few years. If Cooper, who is injury prone, doesn’t stay healthy for his Timbers career, then Nagbe could overtake him.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC: Eric Hassli* – 2

Player closest on the current roster: Atiba Harris and Terry Dunfield – 1

This total is likely to be broken… who knows? This is a similar situation to Portland. Eric Hassli is the only established scorer on this team, the only player that likely has a chance to break this is Omar Salgado, and he can’t even play until September. Even if he is great, he likely won’t last long in the league so it all depends on how many goals Hassli scores.

Philadelphia Union: Sebastien Le Toux* – 14

Player closest on the current roster: Danny Mwanga – 7

This total is likely to be broken… in two years if Danny Mwanga stays around for the entirety of his MLS contract. I am one who happens to think that Le Toux had a fluke season last year and will come back down to earth this season. I think Mwanga will score more goals this year before overtaking Le Toux in 2012 before moving to Europe. After that, Le Toux will likely take it back. Carlos Ruiz has an outside chance if he returns to his for in the early part of the last decade.

Seattle Sounders FC: Fredy Montero* - 22

Player closest on the current roster: Steve Zakuani – 14

This total is likely to be broken… in the late stages of this season if Fredy Montero plays as he has been in the first two games. In all likelihood though, Zakuani will put up a similar amount of goals as Montero this season and therefore not break it. If Montero is sold this summer, which is a definite possibility, then Zakuani could break it early next season, but Montero should be the owner of this record for as long as he is playing in Seattle.

Toronto FC: Dwayne De Rosario* – 27

Player closest on the current roster: Maicon Santos – 5

This record is likely to be broken… never because Toronto is a terrible franchise who trades away players like Jeff Cunningham, Edson Buddle, Conor Casey, and pretty much anyone else who can score goals. You may think this is a joke, but I’m willing to be that in 15 years, Dwayne De Rosario, who only has a few years left in his career, is still Toronto’s all-time leading goal scorer.

Real Salt Lake: Robbie Findley – 29

Player closest on the current roster: Fabian Espindola – 16

This record is likely to be broken… near the end of this season or the beginning of 2012, but not by Espindola. Saborio will score between 10-20 goals this season giving him an outside chance to do it, but he needs 17 to tie and 18 to break it. Saborio is an excellent finisher and should have no problem doing it under his current contract.

Chivas USA: Ante Razov – 30

Player closest on the current roster: Justin Braun – 16

This record is likely to be broken…by the end of 2012. Braun, a decent but unspectacular goal scorer, will be able to score 15 goals in the next two seasons, especially with the extra games.

Colorado Rapids: Conor Casey* – 42

Player closest on the current roster: Omar Cummings – 31

This record is likely to be broken…not for a long time. Cummings is only 11 goals away, but he will likely move to Europe at the end of his current MLS contract. Even if he doesn’t Casey is good enough to not let Cummings score 11 more goals than him as long as they are playing together. However if Cummings plays for the Rapids for three to four more years, I could see it happening, but not in the near future as Casey will likely end his Rapids career in the 70s or 80s.

Houston Dynamo: Brian Ching* – 46

Player closest on the current roster: Brad Davis – 17

This record is likely to be broken…once again not for a long time. The Dynamo have no proven scorers right now and Ching is nearly at 50 goals. Though he is slowing down, he should end up with 60-70 goals, which would mean that they would have to sign a top player and keep him for 5+ years to make this happen. This isn’t happening any time soon.

New York Red Bulls: Juan Pablo Angel - 58

Player closest on the current roster: Dane Richards – 13

This record is likely to be broken…by Thierry Henry, or some other big name Designated Player. I could be wrong about this, but I think Henry has four seasons left on his contract. Four Years is enough time to score 56 more goals to tie Angel, Henry just has to put his mind to it and stop playing terribly. For those that think Juan Agudelo has a shot at this, it’s not likely, Agudelo is going to get sold before he reaches more than 30 goals; he is too young and too good to not be sold. One player who does have an outside chance is actually Jozy Altidore. If Jozy keeps struggling in Europe for a few more years, I can see him coming back in his late 20’s and demolishing this record.

San Jose Earthquakes: Ronald Cerritos – 61

Player closest on the current roster: Chris Wondolowski – 21

This record is likely to be broken…in four years if I was wrong about Wondolowski having a fluke season last year. Wondo should be able to break it in six if he ends up being a decent scorer though. I think Wondo will have this record at some point, but when that point is remains to be seen.

Columbus Crew: Brian McBride and Jeff Cunningham* - 62

Player closest on the current roster: Eddie Gaven – 21

This record is likely to be broken…depending on how far Jeff Cunningham improves this record, who knows? Cunningham is probably good for 20 more goals in his career and thus it will take someone probably 7-10 years to break it and the Crew don’t have anyone capable of that on their current roster.

Sporting KC: Preki – 71

Player closest on the current roster: Davy Arnaud – 43

This record is likely to be broken…in 2016 if Davy Arnaud scores five goals per season for the next six seasons. It could happen; he’s not likely to go to another team and he definitely isn’t going to Europe. There are two other candidates on the roster though, Kei Kamara who has 11 goals and Omar Bravo who has two. Kamara isn’t good enough to play in Europe and he is still just 26. If he stays with KC for the next eight years he could possibly do it. Bravo is 31, but if he has four to five amazing years in MLS he could have an outside chance of doing it, but it would have to be four to five of the best years anyone has ever had in MLS. Only time will tell, but if anyone is going to break this record in the next decade, it will be one of these three.

LA Galaxy: Landon Donovan* - 71

Player closest on the current roster: David Beckham – 9

This record is likely to be broken…sometime in 2030 when LA sign a DP for 10 years and he breaks Donovan’s record of 150 goals. Really, the sky is the limit for Donovan who looks to be capable of playing well into his 30s and should still score plenty of goals for the Galaxy.

Chicago Fire: Ante Razov – 76

Player closest on the current roster: Marco Pappa – 12

This record is likely to be broken… not for a very, very long time. No one on the current roster can do it. Chicago would have to have a young player come in and play with the team for five to ten seasons in order for this to happen.

FC Dallas: Jason Kreis – 91

Player closest on the current roster: David Ferreira – 16

This record is likely to be broken… in a similar situation that a player will break Chicago’s record. Best-case scenario is that FC Dallas locks up one of their academy players for a long time and he does the job. We have no idea who will break this, but it won’t happen for 10+ years unless Kenny Cooper comes back.

New England Revolution: Taylor Twellman – 101

Player closest on the current roster: Shalrie Joseph – 29

This record is likely to be broken… never. The Revolution really caught lightning in a bottle with Twellman. They are known for being one of the cheapest teams in MLS, refusing to spend money on top players. Twellman’s record should stand for at least 30 years. I can’t see the Revolution caring enough to sign a player of Twellman’s caliber for as long as Twellman was here. Twellman was one of a kind and should own this record for most of his life.

DC United: Jaime Moreno – 131

Player closest on the current roster: Santino Quaranta – 22

This record is likely to be broken…by Charlie Davies if he has a successful season and DC sign him to a deal and he repays the faith in them by staying there his whole career. Davies could have the record in ten years. Unfortunately for all parties involved, I don’t think this is going to happen as Davies likely still has European aspirations, but one can hope. More likely, Davies scores 10-15 goals this year, heads back to Europe, promising to return to United for his last years, and ends up scoring around 50 goals total once he comes back. At the moment, he is the only chance United have of breaking this record, no one else will do it.

Records are made to be broken, and many of them will be this season and in the seasons to come. As the years in MLS pile on, each team will have a more respectable number for their leading scorer and it will become harder and harder as well as more sought after to break these kinds of records. I want to keep this piece up and look at it in 5 years and see if any of these things have actually happened and re-investigate how each team’s situation is then. Hopefully you enjoyed this piece; I will be looking into numbers like this more often from now on.

Monday Lunch: Thoughts on MLS Week 1

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 01:00:00 +0000

By Evan Ream

Wow, what a great opening weekend! MLS First Kick 2011 has made me upset that it is only Monday now and I have to wait until Friday to watch more. This weekend had it all: There were goals, upsets, red cards, dream debuts, flops, and tons of drama. Here are a few thoughts on each of the games that took place this weekend:
LA Galaxy 1 Seattle Sounders FC 0
Despite the score line, this was actually an even game that was won by a single moment of brilliance from Juninho. The bad news is that Seattle had nearly all of their first choice starters while LA was missing Donovan Ricketts, Omar Gonzalez, Gregg Berhalter, and Juan Pablo Angel. The game itself was actually pretty boring; Seattle looked like they didn’t even want to be there. O’Brian White missed a few chances that Blaise Nkufo would have likely put away, but that is why he couldn’t even get minutes for Toronto last year. No one on Seattle looked very good. Steve Zakuani showed flashes, but we got the first glimpse of what may turn into a long season for Seattle.

Vancouver Whitecaps FC 4 Toronto FC 2
This may have been the game of the week; good thing the feed was totally working on Match Day Live…OH WAIT! After this game, maybe Vancouver showed us that they did actually know what they were thinking all along, or maybe they were just playing Toronto FC. Toronto looks terrible, they will need to get things together for this week’s game against Portland: to lose to two expansion teams in two weeks would probably end any hope they had of being good at all this season. Vancouver’s Eric Hassli had a great debut; showing that he can be the goal scorer they need. The important player for them however, may end up being Davide Chiumiento, who showed class and skill in the Whitecaps inaugural game. For now, the Whitecaps are near the top of the table and it will be interesting to see if they can stay there.

DC United 3 Columbus Crew 1
Everyone will remember this as the Charlie Davies comeback game, but for United fans it was so much more. Even without Davies, United dominated this game with their new acquisitions. They had some unforced errors and slip-ups, but this can be attributed to the new players. Dax McCarty, though he struggled on his set piece delivery, was impressive from the get go and combined well with the other midfielders. The biggest question for United was about the defense, which proved strong. Perry Kitchen looks like a Rookie of the Year candidate and Dejan Jakovic looks like a possible Defender of the Year. The way the United team played as a whole was impressive, stringing together passing sequences that haven’t been seen since the Jaime Moreno-Christian Gomez days. Unexpectedly, Josh Wolff was very impressive up front and was unlucky to not score more than one goal. If there was a downside to the whole day for United, it was that Joseph Ngwenya was absolutely awful, but once Davies gets 90-minute fit, he shouldn’t be starting anyways. United look to have the depth (especially in midfield) to make a strong playoff run this year. On the flip side, Columbus were awful. Though they had a similar number of shots on goal and possession to United, the quality of each was just not the same. Columbus was unimaginative in the final third and did almost nothing attacking wise until Robbie Rogers came on. If Robbie Rogers is your key offensive player, your season is definitely not looking good.

New York 1 Seattle 0
This game is all about three things: Thierry Henry’s penalty miss, Juan Agudelo’s first start and goal, and Seattle’s second consecutive mailed in performance. Thierry Henry was pretty bad and is apparently now injured again; that doesn’t bode well for NY. On the bright side, Juan Agudelo scored an amazing first career goal. The 18 year old who had just two regular season and two playoff games combined coming into this game showed that he has the potential to be the real deal. Agudelo should be one of the biggest storylines in MLS this season. For Seattle though, things aren’t looking so good. Has Sigi Schmid lost this team? I know they lost to two of the best teams in the league in one week, but outside of Steve Zakuani there was no spark; no one seemed like they wanted to win. Only time will tell, but for Seattle they are one loss away from being in panic mode.

FC Dallas 1 Chicago 1
There isn’t much to report here other than that Dallas (outside of Zach Loyd) didn’t look as good as they did last year. It will be interesting to see if Brek Shea continues to get minutes at center back; I doubt Schellus Hyndman will let just one red card get in the way of this experiment. Chicago was equally as unimpressive, though they did get a point on the road, which is more than anyone expected from them.

Philadelphia Union 1 Houston Dynamo 0
This is a very impressive result for the Union, who will look to make the playoffs for the first time this year. The defense looked very solid, as did new keeper Faryd Mondragon. This is the type of game that Philadelphia was incapable of winning last year; a low scoring affair where the team grinded out a victory while not playing the best soccer. Unfortunately for MLS and Union fan, Carlos Ruiz was back to his antics. There is perhaps no player in league history I hate more than Ruiz; he deserved a red for his reckless elbow to Andrew Hainault’s head. Houston should have taken at least a point though; Dominic Oduro once again proved his reputation as a terrible finisher by missing a sitter. This Houston team badly misses Brian Ching.

Colorado 3 Portland 1
Not really a surprising result from Colorado here. The Timbers showed that their defense is suspect and Colorado showed that their attack is great. This game went down pretty much as everyone expected it to.

Real Salt Lake 1 San Jose Earthquakes 0
I was at this game and I am proud to report that so far my prediction (link to MLS preview) of Chris Wondolowski coming back down to earth is so far correct. Both teams had pretty much the same amount of good play, but RSL showed that their players (in this case Kyle Beckerman) have more class when it matters. Beckerman hit a screamer of a goal while Wondo was forced to rue his three missed sitters.

Sporting KC 3 Chivas USA 2
I thought KC’s attack would struggle in the first part of the season, especially without Teal Bunbury. Apparently, I was wrong as KC put up a 3 spot on the road against a pretty decent defense. It is too early to tell if KC will be one of the best teams in the league or if Chivas will be one of the worst (likely it will be somewhere in the middle ground), but for now, what we can take away is that new Sporting KC designated player Omar Bravo looked like the real deal, scoring two goals. It will be fun to watch what this attack can do once it gets Teal Bunbury back.

LA Galaxy 1 New England Revolution 1
The Galaxy should have won this game. Period. I don’t care what the ref called, or how many goals got called back. The Galaxy had the ball pretty much the whole game and limited the Revolution to pretty much two chances the entire game. Landon Donovan looked like he didn’t want to be there as did a lot of the rest of the LA team, but they still dominated the whole game and have absolutely no excuse to not have 6 points from two games. The Galaxy will likely lose next week to Real Salt Lake and they will lament their missed opportunities in this game. If they lose the Supporter’s Shield by only 1 or 2 points, they can look back to this game as to why. For New England, despite getting the result, it looks to be another long year. Shalrie Joseph is the only player worth noting on this team; it is only a matter of time before he becomes frustrated with his inferior teammates and gives up. Very few MLS teams have ridden one player all the way to a playoff berth, but the Revolution will have to do exactly that this year.

Golden Boot Watch:
Player                       GP     G     A
Charlie Davies            1        2      0
Omar Bravo               1         2     0
Eric Hassli                 1        2     0
Juninho                      2        2     0
Atiba Harris                1        1 2

Unbeaten Teams Remaining:
DC United
Sporting KC
New York Red Bulls
Philadelphia Union
Chicago Fire
New England Revolution
LA Galaxy
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Colorado Rapids
Real Salt Lake
FC Dallas

Thursday Lunch: NL Central Preview

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 00:54:00 +0000

By Nick Gallaudet

It’s ironic that the division with the most teams in baseball also seems to be the least competitive. The NL Central has some of Major League Baseball’s most storied franchises, but we’re talking about 2011, so none of that matters, now let’s get down to business.

CHICAGO CUBS
2011 is going to be Mike Quade’s first full season as the Cubs’ manager, having stepped in mid-season for retiring Lou Pinella. While Quade was on duty last year, the Cubbies posted a very good 24-13 record, but will that trend continue this season? Their offense was mediocre last year, and they did little to upgrade it, but that doesn’t mean it won’t improve. This is a team that boasts Aramis Ramirez, Alfonso Soriano, Carlos Pena, and Geovany Soto, so there is definitely potential. Soto aside, all of these players are coming off horrendous 2010 campaigns, and even Soto’s wasn’t that impressive, but there is no reason we shouldn’t see these guys rebound. On top of that, Pena’s move to the NL should help his numbers jump at least a little bit. If those four players can turn it around and Starlin Castro and Marlon Byrd can pick up where they left off last season, this offense definitely has potential.

The Cubs also return a similar pitching staff from last season, a staff that was second in the MLB in quality starts. On top of that, the addition of Matt Garza via trade with the Rays should only help this rotation. The report from camp is that Carlos Zambrano has bounced back from his demotion last year, has picked his velocity back up, and is looking very good this spring. Despite the Cubs high number of quality starts last year, they still ranked toward the bottom of the league in most other major statistics, and a lot of that was due to their middle relief. Closer Carlos Marmol had a good year last year, but even with the addition of a rejuvenated Kerry Wood, this bullpen is going to cost them some games. I like the Cubs to fare better than last year, but I don’t see their title drought ending anytime soon.

CINCINNATI REDS
The Reds are the defending NL Central champs, and one of the two teams I think has a shot at winning this division. Reigning NL MVP Joey Votto is obviously the focal point of the NL’s most potent offense last year and still has plenty of help around him. I was stunned that the Reds led the NL in scoring last year, and I still don’t know how they did it. Their lineup is by no means a murderer’s row, but every spot has a guy that knows how to handle the bat and can get his job done. I don’t see a reason why their production should slow. Scott Rolen seems reinvigorated, Jay Bruce is a superstar in the making, Johnny Gomes is quietly productive, and Drew Stubbs is still growing. Mix in another year of experience for the young guys and I think they could easily come out on top again, offensively.

The Reds rotation looks a lot like their lineup. Edinson Volquez seems to be the Joey Votto of the rotation, and he’s followed up by Bronson Arroyo, Johnny Cueto, and Homer Bailey. None of the last three guys are superstars, but they are all pretty good and more than capable of getting you a win. Add wild card Aroldis Chapman, and this rotation could be very good, but Chapman could easily find himself in the bullpen as well. Honestly, Chapman is a future All-Star whether he starts or comes in out of the ‘pen. Speaking of the bullpen, the Reds’ relievers did a good job last year even though closer Francisco Cordero had an up and down year, blowing eight saves and posting an ERA over 6 in September. All in all, this team looks good and will definitely be in the conversation come September.

HOUSTON ASTROS
Last year, the Astros were paced offensively by Hunter Pence and Jeff Keppinger…not exactly what you want from a contender. The Astros scored the second fewest runs in the league last year, and didn’t get much better. Carlos Lee is still capable of decent numbers, but he can’t carry an offense any more, and neither can Pence or Keppinger. Yougsters, Brett Wallace and Chris Johnson are definitely the future for this offense, but they aren’t ready to propel this team into the playoffs quite yet.

The Astros pitching staff is definitely their strength, but that’s not saying much compared to their anemic offense. Losing Roy Oswalt still leaves a void at the top of that rotation, but Brett Myers seemed to fill the void well enough last year. Myers is followed by Wandy Rodriguez and J.A. Happ, making for a formidable 1-2-3. The pieces seem to be in place for this team to grow for the future, especially after unloading Oswalt and Lance Berkman last year, but they still have a ways to come before they sniff the top of this division.

MILWAUKEE BREWERS
It seemed like the door had shut on the Brewers a couple of years ago, and the fact that the Brewers’ pitching staff posted the third worst ERA last year appeared to be proof, but not so fast. The Milwaukee front office had one goal in mind this offseason and that was upgrade the staff, which they most definitely did. The addition of Cy Young winner Zack Greinke and Shaun Marcum shored up a porous rotation. Greinke and Marcum join Yovanni Gallardo and Randy Wolf to make this a pretty good rotation. I’m a bigger fan of Shaun Marcum than most, but this is a sneaky-good 1-2-3 for the National League and I think they could really blossom with the run support they should be getting.

This is a Brewers team that is going to score runs this year, but it’s a tricky situation. The Brewers have two choices with Prince Fielder, who is in the last year of his contract; they can win now, or deal him before the deadline. Obviously, this decision is going to depend on how the first half of the season goes, but if this division goes the way I expect it to, the Brewers are going to be one of the two teams jockeying for division supremacy. I’m going to go ahead and say they’ll keep Prince, and he’ll be a big part of a lineup that includes Ryan Braun, Rickie Weeks, and Corey Hart. I’m higher than most on the Brewers, but I recognize that the loss of closer Trevor Hoffman is not going to be easy to replace. I don’t know if the Brewers have enough to overtake the Reds, but I certainly like them to give Cincy a run for their money.

PITTSBURGH PIRATES
I don’t know where to begin. The Pirates owe a thank you to the Mariners, because if it wasn’t for the pathetic Seattle offense, the Pirates would have been last in pretty much every major category in both pitching and hitting. Garrett Jones and Andrew McCutchen were the only hitters on the Pirates last year that did anything even remotely productive. They added Matt Diaz and Lyle Overbay this offseason, but honestly, that doesn’t really help. The pitching staff is just as bad as it was last year, with Paul Maholm, James McDonald, Ross Ohlendorf, Scott Olsen and newcomer, Kevin Correia. I just feel bad for Pittsburgh fans; there is no way this team will come close to snapping its streak of 18 consecutive losing seasons. I just can’t find anything good to say about this team, at least with the Royals, I could tout their farm system…

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS
It took a while for me to convince myself that the Cardinals are not the class of the NL Central anymore, but it seems to be the case. I don’t really want to revisit the Albert Pujols contract drama, that warranted an article all to itself, but I don’t think it’s a good thing for the Cardinals mentality. I don’t think Pujols is going to let it affect his play, but I think as a teammate, the fact that Pujols may not want to be there might create some doubt. What I’m trying to say is that I have a weird feeling about this team. The talent is definitely there, and they still have their offensive superstars in Holliday and Pujols, but after them, there is a significant drop off. Yadier Molina is solid, but Lance Berkman looked lost with the Yankees last year, and I’m just not sold on Colby Rasmus, Skip Schumaker, and Ryan Theriot as major contributors yet.

The pitching staff also worries me. With the loss of Adam Wainwright, the Cardinals staff basically became Chris Carpenter and four scrubs. Jaime Garcia was third in Rookie of the Year voting last year, but he is still an unproven talent, and everyone else on that staff, including Carpenter, has a history of injuries. I like the Cardinals, and I personally want them to do well, but this team just has the look of a team that is ripe for a mid-season meltdown following a catastrophic injury, I just can’t sign off on this team in 2011.

Projected 2011 NL Central Standings
TEAM                    W-L
Cincinnati Reds      93-69
Milwaukee Brewers 89-73
Chicago Cubs         82-80
St. Louis Cardinals 78-84
Houston Astros      77-85
Pittsburgh Pirates   3-159

Wednesday Lunch Special: MLS Week 1 Picks

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:14:00 +0000

	LA at SEA	TFC at VAN	DCU at CLB	SEA at NY	PHI at HOU	FCD at CHI	POR at COL	KC at Chivas
Evan	LA	VAN	DCU	NY	DRAW	FCD	COL	DRAW
Kyle	DRAW	DRAW	DCU	NY	DRAW	FCD	COL	KC
Nick	LA	DRAW	DRAW	DRAW	DRAW	DRAW	POR	DRAW
Will	DRAW	DRAW	DCU	NY	DRAW	FCD	COL	KC

	RSL at SJ	NE at LA
Evan	RSL	LA
Kyle	RSL	LA
Nick	DRAW	DRAW
Will	RSL	LA

Tuesday Lunch: 2011 MLS Season Preview

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 01:47:00 +0000

By Evan Ream, with help from the Intern

Before we get started, if you haven’t checked out any of our individual team previews yet, here they are:

DC United Team Preview

Chivas USA Team Preview

Philadelphia Union Team Preview

New England Revolution Team Preview

Houston Dynamo Team Preview

Toronto FC Team Preview

Chicago Fire Team Preview

Sporting KC Team Preview

San Jose Earthquakes Team Preview

Colorado Rapids Team Preview

Seattle Sounders FC Team Preview

Columbus Crew Team Preview

FC Dallas Team Preview

New York Red Bulls Team Preview

Real Salt Lake Team Preview

LA Galaxy Team Preview

Portland Timbers Team Preview

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Team Preview

Now, the Intern and I are going to predict who will win every major award and trophy along with a small explanation for each. We would love to hear what you guys think as well, let us know.

Individual Awards

Golden Boot:
Evan – Alvaro Saborio is the best goal scorer on the best team. He will benefit from the service provided to him by a stacked midfield especially, Javier Morales. Saborio will be the first player since Landon Donovan in 2008 to score 20 goals.

The Intern – I agree with Evan’s pick of Alvaro Saborio and he looks to be in the best situation to win the award. I think Henry could challenge him though if he cans stay healthy for the entire season. Henry has proven himself to be a top class scorer everywhere he has played and should have a strong year for New York. He will be playing with a strong midfield behind him with Dane Richards and Joel Lindpere on the wings and should get plenty of service.

MVP:
Evan – I think Landon Donovan will have a monster season and become the second two-time MVP after Preki. Donovan will lead the Galaxy to the Supporter’s Shield once again and have a double-digit goals and assists season. Watch out for Javier Morales in this category as he has as good of a chance as anyone.

The Intern – Landon Donovan. I can’t even make much of a case for that many others. Maybe Freddy Montero in Seattle but Donovan is still the favorite.

Goalkeeper of the Year:
Evan - Nick Rimando should have finished above Donovan Ricketts in the voting last year (though not above Kevin Hartman), and I think the media will finally give him the love he deserves. He has really been playing at a high level the last two years.

The Intern - I really like what Sean Johnson did last year with Chicago and he earned them points the whole season, but the defense in front of him is not strong enough for him to win this award. Since Evan took Rimando, I’ll say Kevin Hartman, who played incredibly in last year’s playoffs. It’s hard for me to see someone besides Hartman or Rimando winning this.

Defender of the Year:
Evan – Tim Ream will be the key player on the New York Red Bulls defense this year as well as the sophomore player that improves the most. Word has it that Ream is being called up for the Argentina and Paraguay games, all but insuring his inclusion for the Gold Cup roster; this could count against him.

The Intern – Despite the tremendous year Tim Ream had last year, I still think he is a year or two away from winning this award, although everyone seems to be going crazy over him (rightfully so) which helps his chances. Ream’s New York teammate Rafa Marquez could win this one though since he will be another major part of the NY back line but then there’s that Omar Gonzalez guy in LA too. This is the toughest one for me to choose because it’s very subjective but I’m going to pick Marquez for this one.

Rookie of the Year:
Evan – Being from Davis, Calif., how could I not pick Jalil Anibaba? Well, because he won’t be better than Perry Kitchen. It took me a while to make this pick, but I think Kitchen will be a first choice starter and lead a resurgent DC United team to the playoffs; making him an easy pick.

The Intern – I like Perry Kitchen for this year as well, mainly because of how strong I think DC will be. Darlington Nagbe is also a candidate for this award and he should get plenty of minutes partnered with Kenny Cooper for the Timbers. If he can provide a legitimate goal scoring threat, the attacking duo of Portland will be able to do some damage and possibly get enough attention for Nagbe to win this award.

Trophy Picks
US Open Cup:
Evan – Historically there are four teams that really care about this trophy. Four-time winners Chicago are terrible and won’t win it, same for the Columbus Crew. This leaves DC United and Seattle Sounders FC who will win it. Seattle want to become the first MLS team to three-peat and will make this tournament a priority.

The Intern – Seattle really seems to care about this trophy and they are one of the best teams in the competition. They should be able to win. That being said, DC will be eager to win a trophy (besides the Carolina Challenge Cup) this year because of all the improvements they made in the offseason and the Open Cup is their best chance to do so.

Supporters Shield:
Evan – As previously mentioned, I think that the LA Galaxy will win the Supporter’s Shield based on their depth in their squad and their star players. I still think Real Salt Lake have the best team, but I think they are involved in too many competitions to win this trophy.

The Intern – It’s really hard to see LA not winning this, but I think RSL and Seattle will be breathing down their necks the whole season and one of them may be able to slide into first place towards the last few weeks of the season.

MLS Cup:
Evan – I think Real Salt Lake will make up for their first round failure last year by taking this trophy for the 2^nd time in 3 years. RSL should have won it last year and they know it, they will not make the same mistake two years in a row.

The Intern – Given how literally anything can happen in the playoffs, it’s hard to make this prediction just yet so I’m going to go with a possible outcome that I would enjoy seeing. Seattle. I like the team they have and it would be great to see another first time winner.

This is how I see the table turning out:
1. LA Galaxy
2. Real Salt Lake
3. New York Red Bulls
4. Seattle Sounders FC
5. FC Dallas
6. Colorado Rapids
7. DC United
8. San Jose Earthquakes
9. Philadelphia Union
10. Sporting KC
11. Houston Dynamo
12. New England Revolution
13. Columbus Crew
14. Portland Timbers
15. Chivas USA
16. Chicago Fire
17. Toronto FC
18. Vancouver Whitecaps FC

This is how The Intern sees the table turning out:
1.   LA Galaxy
2.   Seattle Sounders
3.   Real Salt Lake
4.   New York Red Bulls
5.   Colorado Rapids
6.   FC Dallas
7.   DC United
8.   San Jose Earthquakes
9.   Philadelphia Union
10. Sporting KC
11. New England Revolution
12. Columbus Crew
13. Houston Dynamo
14. Portland Timbers
15. Chivas USA
16. Toronto FC
17. Chicago Fire
18. Vancouver Whitecaps FC

And lastly, some bold predictions:

Chad Barrett will score more goals than Chris Wondolowski
Steve Zakuani will be the first midfielder to score 15 goals in one season
Arturo Alvarez will score 10 goals in all competitions

The Intern’s:

We will see at least 10 Stanky Legs this year.
Contrary to Univision announcer Pablo Ramirez, opposing defenses will not like that Boon-boo-ree, especially if it’s part of a four-three-three.
Hopeful thinking: Kasey Keller wins a championship to end a remarkable professional career.

Predictions for tonight’s opening match:
Evan Ream: LA
Will Robinson: Draw
The Intern: Draw
Nick Gallaudet: LA

Monday Lunch: MLS Team Preview – Vancouver Whitecaps FC

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 01:47:00 +0000

By Evan Ream, with help from the Intern

Last Year: N/A

Key Losses: N/A

Key Additions: Joe Cannon, Alain Rochat, Jay DeMerit, Atiba Harris, John Thorrington, Michael Nanchoff, Omar Salgado, Eric Hassli

Projected Starting XI: Many of these projected starting players are untested in MLS and thus Vancouver is somewhat of an unknown side. Up top, Atiba Harris has been a fringe starter everywhere that he has gone as a utility man; Vancouver will count on him to score goals, not something he is exactly known for. Their newly signed designated player Eric Hassli scored quite a few goals in the Swiss First Division, but the level of competition there isn’t what it is in other parts of Europe. Vancouver are counting on him to make the same impact as Alvaro Saborio, another player with Swiss First Division experience. Other than John Thorrington, the entire midfield is completely untested. Blake Wagner had a decent stint with FC Dallas a few years back and he will join Wes Knight and Terry Dunfield as players trying to prove they can play at this level. The backline is led by team captain Jay DeMerit, an EPL and USMNT veteran. DeMerit was one of the best signings any team made of the offseason and should solidify a decent backline. He will be partnered by former USL super defender Greg Janicki who was solid but unspectacular for DC United a few years back. Alain Rochat, also a former Swiss First Division player will be the team’s starting right back while former Kansas City Wizards player Jonathan Leathers will look to play right back. In goal two time Goalkeeper of the Year Joe Cannon should be the starter, but there are rumblings around camp that Jay Nolly could take the starting spot if Cannon, 36, starts showing his age.

Eric Hassli Atiba Harris

Blake Wagner John Thorrington Wes Knight Terry Dunfield

Alain Rochat Jay DeMerit Greg Janicki Jonathan Leathers

Joe Cannon

Prognosis: I don’t really know what is going on with this team. They have signed some decent players in Jay DeMerit, Joe Cannon, and John Thorrington, but they have just 20 players overall signed, one of which (Omar Salgado) can’t begin playing until he turns 18 in September due to FIFA laws. Not only is this team extremely light on depth, but they just don’t seem to have signed very many quality players as well. Vancouver may have the worst midfield in the entire league with only one above average player. I think this team could very well be headed to a last place finish, especially if Eric Hassli doesn’t pan out. They could possibly win some games based on the strength of their backline, but I expect Vancouver to struggle like Toronto did in their first season.

The Intern’s Take: Although the quality of the teams likely won’t be as great as those in tomorrow’s opener between the Sounders and the Galaxy, the opening game for the Whitecaps against Canadian rival Toronto FC should be a fun game. There will be a lot of emotion tied up in that matchup, both because of it being Vancouver’s first game in MLS, and both teams will be playing for Canadian bragging rights. As far as the actual team goes, Vancouver just do not seem to have the talent and experience needed to have a strong year, which is alright at this point. Just getting adjusted to MLS and improving the team are reasonable goals for the Whitecaps and there really isn’t anywhere for them to go besides up. They have a veteran leader in the back in Jay DeMerit, but he was without a club for several months after the World Cup has not played competitively since the USA-Ghana game, nearly nine months ago. The Whitecaps have some decent players, but they do not seem to have done as much during the offseason as this year’s other expansion team, the Portland Timbers, and Vancouver will likely struggle as they try to find a style of play and develop their on-field chemistry. The signing of Eric Hassli is a good one because Vancouver do not seem to be pinning their hopes on him, which should allow him time to adjust to MLS without having unrealistic expectations and pressure placed upon him. The forward duo of Hassli and Atiba Harris should be interesting and will need to score often if Vancouver are to finish above the bottom four or five spots at the conclusion of the season.

DC United Team Preview

Chivas USA Team Preview

Philadelphia Union Team Preview

New England Revolution Team Preview

Houston Dynamo Team Preview

Toronto FC Team Preview

Chicago Fire Team Preview

Sporting KC Team Preview

San Jose Earthquakes Team Preview

Colorado Rapids Team Preview

Seattle Sounders FC Team Preview

Columbus Crew Team Preview

FC Dallas Team Preview

New York Red Bulls Team Preview

Real Salt Lake Team Preview

LA Galaxy Team Preview
Portland Timbers Team Preview

Sunday Lunch: MLS Team Preview – Portland Timbers

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 02:38:00 +0000

By Evan Ream, with help from the Intern

Last Year: N/A

Key Losses: N/A

Key Additions: Troy Perkins, Eric Brunner, Darlington Nagbe, Sal Zizzo, Peter Lowry, Jack Jewsbury, Jeremy Hall, Rodney Wallace, Steve Purdy, Kenny Cooper

Projected Starting XI: The Timbers will look to make the best use of their available players by playing a straight 4-4-2. Up top Kenny Cooper should be an automatic starter next to 2010 Herman Trophy winner Darlington Nagbe. John Spencer should look to make his left side the same as the 2008 Maryland side with Jeremy Hall playing left mid and Rodney Wallace at left back. The combination of those two will be key to the Timers success this year. In the middle, Peter Lowry should accompany the newly acquired team captain Jack Jewsbury. Sal Zizzo looks to be the front-runner at right mid. The rest of the backline should be made up by David Horst, Eric Brunner (two reserves on top 5 MLS teams last year), and converted center back Steve Purdy. In goal, Troy Perkins looks to be the clear starter.

Kenny Cooper Darlington Nagbe

Jeremy Hall Peter Lowry Jack Jewsbury Sal Zizzo

Rodney Wallace David Horst Eric Brunner Steve Purdy

Troy Perkins

Prognosis: This team definitely has offensive firepower with Cooper and Nagbe, but there are many questions to be addressed in the midfield and defense. When I first saw their completed roster, I noticed how many players they have that are question marks. Purdy, Horst, Brunner, Lowry, Hall, and Zizzo are all unproven players at this level. This being said, all of those players have great potential to be good. Portland should win a few games just based on Kenny Cooper outscoring the other team, but I think the Timbers will ultimately struggle to win consistently and end up around 12^th-15^th place.

The Intern’s Take: Watching the recent Portland-Seattle game in the Cascadia Cup, I was more than impressed with the Timbers. There are a lot of interesting pieces on this team and if they can create a cohesive style, they could definitely cause some stirs throughout the season. It’s hard not to be excited about Kenny Cooper’s return to MLS after a rather unspectacular few years in Europe, and hopefully he will make a strong rebound and score plenty of goals. By expansion team standards, I think that this team is lined up to have a very good year and although I do not think they will make the playoffs, they should have a very respectable season. The one aspect of this team that I am most eagerly anticipating however is what they will bring to MLS off the field. The Portland fans, especially the Timbers Army have shown they have plenty of passion for their team and they will bring that in full force to the league. The games against Seattle and Vancouver should all have incredible atmospheres (hopefully similar to or even more spectacular than this). Overall, the Timbers seem to be set for a memorable inaugural season in MLS, likely causing a few upset along the way. They have good players and great fans, a wonderful combination that should provide plenty of entertainment.

DC United Team Preview

Chivas USA Team Preview

Philadelphia Union Team Preview

New England Revolution Team Preview

Houston Dynamo Team Preview

Toronto FC Team Preview

Chicago Fire Team Preview

Sporting KC Team Preview

San Jose Earthquakes Team Preview

Colorado Rapids Team Preview

Seattle Sounders FC Team Preview

Columbus Crew Team Preview

FC Dallas Team Preview

New York Red Bulls Team Preview

Real Salt Lake Team Preview
LA Galaxy Team Preview
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Team Preview

Saturday Lunch: MLS Team Preview – LA Galaxy

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 02:00:00 +0000

By Evan Ream, with help from the Intern

Note: Check out this post on our NEW site!

Last Year: 18-7-5 59 points, 1^st in West, 1^st overall. Beat Seattle Sounders FC 3-1 on aggregate in the Western Conference Semifinals, Lost to FC Dallas 3-0 in the Western Conference Final. Won the Supporter’s Shield

Key Losses: Eddie Lewis, Chris Klein, Dema Kovalenko, Tristan Bowen, Edson Buddle

Key Additions: Juan Pablo Angel, Frankie Hejduk, Chad Barrett, Paolo Cardozo

Projected Starting XI: The Galaxy look to play in a straight 4-4-2 just like they did last year. Up top, Juan Pablo Angel is a clear lock for one of the two forward spots. Chad Barrett looks to have the upper hand on Adam Christman for the other starting forward spot, though it should be noted that Landon Donovan could see some time up top as well. Donovan will probably be preferred at left midfield where he can see more of the ball and make better use of his speed. On the opposite flank, David Beckham is the clear starter. In the middle Juninho will likely start alongside Chris Birchall. Juninho will likely be slightly more of an attacking player than Birchall, but not necessarily that much higher up on the field. Juninho is a linking player who plays further back than people think while Birchall is just a prototypical destroyer. This year’s Galaxy backline looks to be one of the strongest in the league: perhaps only second to Real Salt Lake. Todd Dunivant should be the starter at left back; Gregg Berhalter should play next to him, though it is unclear how well he will hold up during the entire season. Leonardo should get a good amount of starts in place of Berhalter. Omar Gonzalez is one of the best defenders in the league and he is a clear starter here as well. Sean Franklin, an underrated player in my eyes, will be a lock at right back. Frankie Hejduk should be able to come off the bench late in games to preserve leads or be a solid back-up to Dunivant and Franklin. In goal, Donovan Ricketts will be the starter for the third year in a row.

Chad Barrett Juan Pablo Angel

Landon Donovan Juninho Chris Birchall David Beckham

Todd Dunivant Gregg Berhalter Omar Gonzalez Sean Franklin

Donovan Ricketts

Prognosis: This team is pretty old in some areas and Bruce Arena picked up some very old players (Angel and Hejduk) in the offseason. This looks to be a championship or bust type of squad. Though they won’t completely destroy the squad if the team fails to win, you have to think that some guys like Beckham and Hejduk will be on their way out. This team possesses perhaps the best finisher in the league (Angel), the best passer in the league (Donovan) and the best crosser in the league (Beckham). If Angel stays healthy (and Chad Barrett actually decides to play soccer), this team could be one of the best offensive teams in league history. One thing that I have learned to do over the years is never to doubt David Beckham. He has overcome so much, and I think even he knows that his MLS legacy will look a lot better if he wins a title in his last year. For that reason, and the quality of players and coaches the Galaxy have, I can’t see them finishing out of the top two. This team will make a good playoff run and should be considered one of the, if not the favorite for the title.

The Intern’s Take: The main question about LA is how far they will go in the playoffs, not if they will earn a spot there. They are filled with talent in most positions and should be challenging the entire season for the Supporters’ Shield and have a very real chance of winning that trophy for the second season in a row. Although getting up there in age, Juan Pablo Angel should be able to adequately replace the forward role left open by Edson Buddle’s move to Germany, and maybe even score more than Buddle did for LA last season. The Galaxy went unbeaten in their first 12 games last year, only losing once the World Cup was underway, when they were without Donovan and Buddle. With this summer’s Gold Cup, the Galaxy will have a similar situation, and there is also the possibility that Omar Gonzalez may be called up onto the US roster. As the reigning regular season champions, the Galaxy will be playing in the 2011/12 CONCACAF Champion’s League. They are a very talented team and it will be interesting to see how much emphasis they put on this tournament. For the sake of MLS, let’s hope they don’t make the same mistakes as last year, in which they did not manage to qualify for the group stage and were embarrassed at home in a 4-1 loss to the Puerto Rico Islanders. I would love to see a full strength Galaxy team take on some of the Mexican teams in this tournament. The Galaxy will have a lot of soccer crammed into the season (MLS, CCL, US Open Cup, as well as players in the Gold Cup) and there must be concerns about how this team will hold up, especially given the age of some of LA’s key players. That being said, they are still a talent packed team that is in the middle of the discussion of possible MLS Cup winners for the 2011 season.

DC United Team Preview

Chivas USA Team Preview

Philadelphia Union Team Preview

New England Revolution Team Preview

Houston Dynamo Team Preview

Toronto FC Team Preview

Chicago Fire Team Preview

Sporting KC Team Preview

San Jose Earthquakes Team Preview

Colorado Rapids Team Preview

Seattle Sounders FC Team Preview

Columbus Crew Team Preview

FC Dallas Team Preview

New York Red Bulls Team Preview
Real Salt Lake Team Preview
Portland Timbers Team Preview
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Team Preview

Friday Lunch: MLS Team Preview – Real Salt Lake

noreply@blogger.com (The SACK Lunch Team) — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 02:00:00 +0000

By Evan Ream, with help from the Intern

Last Year: 15-4-11 56 points, 2^nd in West, 2^nd Overall. Lost to FC Dallas 3-2 on aggregate in the Western Conference Semifinals

Key Losses: Robbie Findley

Key Additions: Arturo Alvarez

Projected Starting XI: Real Salt Lake play a 4-4-2 with a slight diamond midfield, but it isn’t a true diamond. Most people say it is, but Kyle Beckerman is much more offensive than most people think and Javier Morales does a lot more defensive work than everyone thinks. Together, Morales and Beckerman are the best central midfield pairing in the league by far. Their outside midfielders, usually Will Johnson or Andy Williams tuck inside, though their outside backs don’t overlap much, which allows the midfield to take a lot more attacking chances. Alvaro Saborio scored 18 goals in all competitions for RSL last year and could score even more this year. Fabian Espindola is a limited player in terms of his awareness and decision-making, but being the worst starter on this team isn’t bad. Jamison Olave really cut down on his mistakes last year and became the best defender on the best defensive team in the league. Though their best team is the one you see below, they don’t use it very often. Jason Kreis plans ahead to give each starter ample rest throughout the season, sometimes planning the lineups five games in advance. Their depth will be tested with all the competitions they’re in this year, but they have key role players that can come off the bench and be nearly as good as the starters. Up front, the young Paulo Jr. looks to be a future star in the league and should start a few games. Arturo Alvarez can also slide into a forward role or either outside midfield position where Ned Grabavoy can also play. Tony Beltran is capable of playing either outside back spot and Rauswhan McKenzie can slide in for either Borchers or Olave at center back. The biggest drop off though is the central midfield replacement for Beckerman or Morales, either Jean Alexandre or Collen Warner, but they are usually fine as long as they have at least one of Beckerman or Morales.

Fabian Espindola Alvaro Saborio

Will Johnson Kyle Beckerman Javier Morales Andy Williams

Chris Wingert Nat Borchers Jamison Olave Robbie Russell

Nick Rimando

Prognosis: Last year RSL were the best team in the league, but they came up three points short for the Supporter’s Shield and had a few tough breaks in the playoffs. I fully expect them to be better this season than they were last year, but it may not show in the standings. They are still alive in the CONCACAF Champions League where they beat Columbus, keeping them alive in four competitions (five if they play SuperLiga). Javier Morales thinks they can win the treble; I don’t doubt him for a second. I have a good feeling that this team will come away at the very least with one trophy. Alvaro Saborio should challenge for the golden boot and Arturo Alvarez should have a very big season, and may turn out to be even better than Robbie Findley, not that that is saying much. As the best passing team in MLS, RSL are a great team for soccer lovers to watch, and you likely will be watching them in late November.

The Intern’s Take: It will be interesting to see how RSL holds up through all of their competitions this year and if they pull a Columbus type burnout towards the end of the season. This seems like a remote possibility however due to the fact that they have arguably one of the most talented depth pools in the league. RSL is one of, if not, the most well balanced team in MLS. Whereas some teams have spent monstrous sums of money bringing in big name players, RSL has no standout superstar, and I get the sense that is how they want it. Their focus on the overall team is evident in the fact that unlike most MLS teams, RSL has no glaringly obvious weakness and therefore should be right back in the playoffs again this year. Anything short of that must be considered a failure. Anchoring the back is Nick Rimando in goal, who started for the USA against Chile in January. The RSL defense only let in 20 goals over 30 games last year, helping the team finish with a league best +25 goal differential, an impressive seven goals ahead of second place LA. Leading the back line again this year will be the reigning MLS Defender of the Year, Jamison Olave. The central midfield duo of Beckerman and Morales is solid and effective, and with Alvaro Saborio up top, the forwards generally have no problems finding the back of the net. Arturo Alvarez, Ned Grabavoy, and Tony Beltran should be able to provide quality off the bench and are all adequate starters if needed. This RSL team is solid and well built and they should be able to compete against any team they face this year, whether in MLS, Open Cup, or CONCACAF Champion’s League.

DC United Team Preview

Chivas USA Team Preview

Philadelphia Union Team Preview

New England Revolution Team Preview

Houston Dynamo Team Preview

Toronto FC Team Preview

Chicago Fire Team Preview

Sporting KC Team Preview

San Jose Earthquakes Team Preview

Colorado Rapids Team Preview

Seattle Sounders FC Team Preview

Columbus Crew Team Preview

FC Dallas Team Preview
New York Red Bulls Team Preview
LA Galaxy Team Preview
Portland Timbers Team Preview
Vancouver Whitecaps FC Team Preview