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Gameday, Ravens host Eagles

By Mike Brown | November 23, 2008 | Ravens Roost

I've been looking forward to this game for quite some time. At last I'll be able to tailgate after 3 weeks of away games, and everything in the world will be right again, or so it surely seems. We once again have football back in Baltimore. Thank God! I believe the home town crowd will come up big this game, and be a deciding factor for a Ravens victory. You'd better believe that I'll be doing my part, and if I come home with any trace of a normal voice left, then I didn't do my job. Have no worries, I'll do my job, and then some. I won't be speaking until Wednesday at the earliest. Feel the Karma that is growing by the minute, the Ravens are about to make another statement, proclaiming that they do indeed belong in the playoffs. This team is overacheiving like no other that...

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The Search For A Power Hitter In Right Field; Do we already have the answer?

By Tommy Rancel | November 23, 2008 | Outs Per Swing

It's no secret that a right handed, power hitting right fielder is at the top or near the top of the Rays wish list. Ideally, this person would also be under 30 and come cheap. Milton Bradley or Pat Burrell woudl be ideal, but realistically are out of the price range the Rays are looking for. There is also Rocco Baldelli, but his health problems are a concern over a full 162 game season. Even asking him for 70-80 games could be a stretch. There are other cheaper free agent alternatives like Juan Rivera, Gabe Kapler or Emil Brown, but for 2-3 million are they worth it when we already have a guy who can do what they can do for cheaper? This player is right handed, can play the outfield(below average, however), is just 28 years old and is still in his arbitration years. He'll never hit for much average,...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Emil Brown, Gabe Kapler, Hot Stove, Jonny Gomes, Juan Rivera, MLB, Rays, Rocco Baldelli

Mission: Detroit Lions

By Jamie Kiefer | November 23, 2008 | Atop the Crow's Nest

Coming off of a victory, the Bucs are looking to steamroll their next competition. The Bucs are extremely confident, and they will only look to boost their confidence against an 0-10 Detroit Lions team. The Lions are struggling, and they are the epitome of terrible. Even with the new quarterback, the Lions can't get anything going. The Bucs are rolling, but they will have to play the rest of the season without their star running back. The Bucs would look poised for a victory, but they have been overconfident before. Aside from that, the Lions have shown some promise in the past couple of weeks. One of the Lions claims to fame is that they are made up of several former Buccaneers. Apparently, it doesn't matter. The Lions have looked better in recent weeks, ever since the addition of Daunte Culpepper. He has helped the Lions to a ranking of...

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MVN Top-30 MLB Prospect Rankings

By EJ Fagan | November 22, 2008 | MVN Outsider

As promised, here is the list: Matt Wieters - C, Orioles - Like Soto, but better at everything.David Price - LHP, Rays - A great prospect, but Wieters edges him. The Rays won't complain.Matt LaPorta - LF/1b, Indians - I love him more than most. Think about Carlos Lee. Rick Porcello - RHP, Tigers - He got that MLB Contract out of HS for a reason.Jason Heyward - OF, Braves - Another genius pick up from the Braves. Colby Rasmus - CF, Cardinals - His 2008 wasn't great, but he retains Bobby Abreu-like skills.Madison Bumgarner - LHP, Giants - 154/21 K/BB ratio in 134 2/3 innings... and a lefty.Trevor Cahill - RHP, A's - A young Brandon Webb, but with much better control.Cameron Maybin - CF, Marlins - Started to cut back on Ks in 2008, and stepped everything elsePedro Alvarez - 3b, Pirates - Contract drama included, I'll take...

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Philly college hoops update: Friday night action

By Jon Burkett | November 22, 2008 | Passion and Pride

The Temple Owls took care of business against Lafayette on Friday, while the LaSalle Explorers battled Big East power UConn in the Paradise Jam. The Owls won by double digits, while the Explorers prevented the Huskies from doing so to them. LaSalle hung tough, but UConn prevailed by eight. For Temple, Dionte Christmas had 29 points and 12 rebounds in the 71-55 victory over the Leopards. Semaj Inge chipped in with 11 points and eight rebounds. Jeff Kari led Lafayette with 16 points. The win moved the Owls to 3-1 on the season. They are off until the Saturday after Thanksgiving when they take on Buffalo on the road. For LaSalle, Rodney Green tied a career high 25 points, but it was too much Jeff Adrien. The Huskies forward had 22 points and 14 rebounds in the 89-81 victory. Kemba Walker led UConn with 23 points. The Explorers advance...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Connecticut Huskies, Lafayette Leopards, LaSalle, NCAA, NCAA Basketball, Temple

Sixers clip Clippers, 89-88

By Jon Burkett | November 22, 2008 | Passion and Pride

The Sixers-Clippers game had all the hype of a backyard brawl between two wannabees. Elton Brand, the quintessential gentleman in a ferocious pitbull's body, came to the Sixers in a maroon job done by superagent David Falk on the conversations between his client, the Clippers star player, and coach. When Falk did this to Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriquez, A-Rod fired his agent and stuck with the Yankees. Meanwhile, everybody's favorite NBA personality, perhaps second only to Gilbert Arenas, decided to follow the spotlight and head down the California coast. The leading role already cast for Elton Brand, B-Diddy was to be cast as the co-star in the L.A.'s leading opening act to the Lake Show. He was to be the Danny Glover to Mel Gibson, the Chris Tucker to Jackie Chan, the Cheech to Chong, the Starsky to Hutch...but turned in to the Turner to a Hooch that skipped...

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Bodog's 2009 World Series Odds: Cleveland Indians 16-1

By James Pete | November 22, 2008 | Tribe Report

Bodog's early World Series odds are out, and the Cleveland Indians are in at a very respectable 16-1. I have to admit that I'm moderately surprised that the Indians have such good odds after a season that saw the Indians be, well, the Indians.Their 16-1 odds puts them tied for eighth most likely to win the series this year. Who's ahead of them? It shouldn't be that hard to figure out.The Boston Red Sox come in at first place, where they have been roaming for a few years now, at 11-2. The Yankees roll in next at 6-1. Now, I'm not doubting the sense and sensibilities of most odds-makers, and we'd all be stupid not to rank the Sox and the Yankees at the top two, but did anyone notice that neither team mentioned made it to this season's world series?Yeah, I know, what happened to the Phillies and the...

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Biron, Carter star in Flyers victory over Buffalo

By Jon Burkett | November 22, 2008 | Passion and Pride

-Jeff Carter via neat1325 flickr photostream Creative Commons LicenseMarty Biron stopped 40 shots and Jeff Carter scored two goals to lead the Flyers to a 3-0 shutout of the Buffalo Sabres in Buffalo. It was the first shutout on the season for Biron and the 24th of his career. The Sabres failed to take advantage of opportunities, and that's the name of the game in the National Hockey League. Biron's shutout was a combination of great saves and Sabres misfiring on open chances. As the Lindy Ruff, Sabres coach, said, "We did a great job of making their goaltender look good." Even Biron admitted, "It wasn't a perfect game for me, nor was it for the whole team, but we pulled it off." The offensive star of the game, Jeff Carter, said of Biron's performance, "Marty did everything that we needed him to do" and "Marty was great." It's exactly...

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MVN Top-30 MLB Prospect Rankings

By EJ Fagan | November 22, 2008 | MVN Outsider

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Ranking Baseball's Top-30 Prospects, Part 1

By EJ Fagan | November 22, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Tomorrow, I will post my top-30 prospects in baseball. I've been covering the Yankees' minor league system for years now. I think that I have ranked the Yankee system a dozen times. This was a fairly simple task: my pool of players to choose from was pretty well-defined, and I knew the individual history of each player. Ranking the top-30 in all of baseball is a little more difficult. I'm going to use this post to talk about the criteria that I use to determine who I think is the best prospect.First off, I define a prospect as any player who is still rookie-eligible but has either just been drafted or is currently in the minor leagues. So, older rookies coming from Japan will not be ranked, nor will college or high school players who have yet to be drafted. I also for the most part tend to shy away...

Read more | 1 Comment | Tags: 2008 Prospect Rankings, Lists, Milb, MLB, Prospects

NFL week 12 preview: Predictions and burning questions

By Anthony Hall | November 22, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Every weekend, MVN Outsider's five NFL writers look into their crystal balls and pick the outcomes of the week's games. After eleven weeks of predictions, here's how the standings look:Patrick Patterson: 10-6 last week, 103-57 overall Anthony Brown: 11-5 last week, 98-62 overall Andrew Strickert: 12-4 last week, 98-62 overall Anthony Hall: 11-5 last week, 97-63 overall Greg Trippiedi: 12-4 last week, 95-65 overallAnd here are their predictions for Week 12 of the NFL season: Finally, we'll leave you with a few burning questions for the week:Does the return of Reggie Bush put Drew Brees back in the MVP race?Does Kurt Warner's magic work against great teams like the Giants?Which should I bet on: Brady Quinn's broken finger, or Sage Rosenfels' damaged psyche?...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Arizona Cardinals, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, New Orleans Saints, New York Giants, NFL

NBA Outsider Ballers of the Week for Nov 14-20

By Jon Burkett | November 22, 2008 | MVN Outsider

MVN's NBA Outsider presents to you the NBA's "Ballers of the Week." Since this is a team game, major bonus points are award to players who lead their teams to undeafeated records in any given week. Individual stats are nice, but it's wins and losses that matter most. Here's who had the greatest impact on the bottom line for the week November 14th to November 20th... -Devin Harris as a Maverick, addressing the fans (Tim Cummins flickr photostream via Creative Commons license)Eastern Conference- Devin Harris, G (Nets) Nets point guard Devin Harris missed three games with an ankle injury, but he returned on November 14th against the Hawks at home. The Hawks were coming off their only loss of the season at that point, a one point nail biter in Boston against the defending champs. Thanks in large part to the performance of Harris, the Nets made it two in...

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Hot Stove Dishes - November 22, 2008

By Brian Joseph | November 22, 2008 | MVN Outsider

The latest buzz served up from baseball's Hot Stove League. Ten of the hottest stories, moves and rumors from the past week: The Giants are the dark horse to be big time players this offseason.Out of nowhere, rumors swirled that the Giants would be inserting themselves into the CC Sabathia chase. San Francisco already went out and signed one of the better lefty relievers on the market. Besides Sabathia, the Giants are after Edgar Renteria and might jump into the fray on another higher end infielder to fill their middle infield needs. If the Giants land Sabathia, they would instantly be contenders in the National League West. Mike Mussina retires!We can move on from the discussion of will Mike Mussina return to the Yankees or not for 2009 since he officially announced his retirement this week. The 270-game winner now will be discussed based on his merits for Hall of...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: Arizona Diamondbacks, Atlanta Braves, CC Sabathia, Chase Utley, Edgar Renteria, Francisco Rodriguez, Joe Beimel, Los Angeles Dodgers, Mike Hampton, Mike Mussina, MLB, MLB Playoffs, New York Mets, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies, Ramon Vazquez, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers, Trever Miller

A Debt of Gratitude

By Nicolas A. Lewis | November 22, 2008 | MVN Outsider

That is exactly what Lane Kiffin has right now. He was kindly (or not so much) shown the door by Oakland Raiders owner Al Davis earlier this season among lots of the usual questions about how bad the Raiders are, how much was Kiffin's responsibility, and so on. However, now that's all over and done with, Kiffin should probably send Al a fruitcake or some other Christmas present as a way of thanking Davis for sending him on his way. Sounds crazy, right? Thanking a guy for saying "go home, and don't take your money with you, either." Except in firing Kiffin, and doing it during football season to boot, Davis has now provided Kiffin with a head-start and quite possibly his hand-picked choice of one of the many NCAA football coaching jobs that are going to be available at the end of the season. At this very moment, there...

Read more | Discuss | Tags: ACC, Al Davis, Big East, Clemson TIgers, Greg Robinson, Lane Kiffin, NCAA Football, Oakland Raiders, Pac 10, SEC, Syracuse Orangemen, Tennessee Vols, Utah State Aggies, Washington Huskies

Getting To The Bottom of The LeBron James/New York Media Circus

By Amar Panchmatia | November 22, 2008 | MVN Outsider

Let's get this out of the way right now: Neither the New York Knicks nor the Cleveland Cavaliers have a desirable history or any sort of discernible "tradition." Neither franchise has banners hanging from the rafters like the Boston Celtics. Neither team has dynasties in nearly every decade like the Los Angeles Lakers. And neither team has a legendary No. 23 hanging from the rafters like the Chicago Bulls. About that last part, though: The Cleveland Cavaliers are on their way to adding their own No. 23 from the rafters of Quicken Loans Arena. But not before the New York Knicks have something to say about it. Don't believe it? You probably weren't paying attention to what new Knicks President Donnie Walsh was doing on Friday. Walsh took two mammoth contracts belonging to Jamal Crawford and Zach Randolph and pawned them off for Al Harrington, Cutting Mobley, and Tim Thomas....

Read more | 2 Comments | Tags: Al Harrington, Cleveland Cavaliers, Cuttino Mobley, Dan Gilbert, Danny Ferry, Donnie Walsh, LeBron James, Mike D'Antoni, New York Knicks, Tim Thomas, Wally Szczerbiak, Zach Randolph

Knicks trade Zach Randolph to the Clippers

By Jon Burkett | November 21, 2008 | MVN Outsider

In a matter of 24 hours, Knick GM and President Donnie Walsh traded the Knicks top two scorers. First, Jamal Crawford was dealt to the Warriors for Al Harrington. Now, Zach Randolph was dealt with guard Mardy Collins to the Clippers for Cuttino Mobley and Tim Thomas. This is Thomas's second stint with the Knicks. He spent part of the 2003-04 season with the Knicks after being traded from the Bucks for Keith Van Horn. With the Knicks that season, Thomas averaged a career-high 15.8 points per game in 24 games. Thomas spent the entire 2004-'05 season with New York, averaging 12 points a game in 71 contests. Through 10 games this season, he's averaging 9.5 points per game. As a Clipper, Thomas never really found the shooting stroke that carried him in his time with the Knicks and later on, the Suns. Cuttino Mobley coming to New York...

Read more | 4 Comments | Tags: Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Clippers, NBA, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers

Wednesday Night Tip-Off Show: Cavs-Pistons

By Sam Panayotovich | November 17, 2008

This Wednesday marked the second episode of MVN Live, the network's premiere source for live talk on the biggest events throughout the sporting world. Sam Panayotovich and Steve Weinman previewed the Central Division showdown between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Detroit Pistons. Main headlines included the red hot starts for both teams, King James' new found supporting cast, and how the Pistons are adjusting to life with Allen Iverson. The guys fizzled through the...

14 recommendations | 2 Comments

iPhone = Greatest Invention Ever

By athooks | November 19, 2008

From the 'that didn't take long' files: After roughly 16 hours I'm confident enough to say that the iPhone is the greatest single invention since 2000. Like many of you, I'm not easily persuaded by hype. I like what I like and if popular culture tries to jam 'it' down my throat- I don't react in kind. Please don't get me wrong, I enjoy trying new things and I'm all for advancement but I want to...

6 recommendations | 10 Comments

Analyzing the Coco Crisp/Ramon Ramirez trade

By Evan | November 20, 2008

Coco Crisp - Evan BrunellWe sure woke up yesterday to some staggering news, didn't we?I don't know about you, but I didn't expect to hear that Coco Crisp had been traded to the Kansas City Royals for a reliever. The expectation was that Crisp would be packaged somewhere along with a young pitcher for a catcher. But no, a one-on-one trade was in Crisp's future and in the newest Boston Red Sox, Ramon Ramirez.WHO IS...

6 recommendations | 75 Comments

Baseball Time In Arlington: A Major Announcement

By Joey Matschulat | November 16, 2008

Before throwing a couple of miscellaneous rumors out there that I'm far too exhausted to dissect after countless hours spent staring intently at a 15-inch laptop screen, I would like to make a huge announcement with regard to the future of Baseball Time in Arlington -- an announcement that has been quite some time in the making, believe it or not.Twenty-one months ago, I wrote the first of what would ultimately turn out to be...

6 recommendations | 1 Comment