Tigers come out on top in conference slugfest

The Riverside City College Tigers were able to overcome some inconsistent fielding Thursday night in Irvine defeating Irvine Valley College by a score of 10-9 continuing their hot conference start.

The win was the Tigers fourth in a row, third straight in conference play, and again featured an explosive offensive outburst which has been the biggest reason for the team’s success since conference play began.

The first inning featured a plethora of runs for both teams with RCC getting the game off to a fast start by scoring five runs in the top of the first inning. The highlight of the inning for the Tigers was a three run bomb by short stop David Kiriakos, his first on the season.

Irvine answered quickly by pushing four runners across the plate in the bottom half of the inning, but not without a little help from some shoddy defensive play by the RCC defense. All four of Irvine’s runs in the inning were unearned. This fact wasn’t enough to save Tigers starter Kyle McNutt from falling victim to a quick hook from manager Dennis Rogers. McNutt would face 11 batters in his one inning of work while allowing no earned runs.

The third inning featured more miscues for the Tigers pitcher Brain Hopper found himself guilty of two balks; both which allowed runs to score. A double from Irvine’s right field Bryan Glynn would give Irvine a two run lead.

Chad Erickson provided the Tigers with a spark in the top of the fourth, crushing a pitch from Irvine starter Cody Fitzgerald over the wall for his second home run of the season, driving in two Tiger runs in the process and tying the game at six.

After a top of the sixth inning in which it looked like RCC may have finally put Irvine away by taking a two run lead, the Tigers again were plagued by errors in the field allowing their opponents back into the game.

After reaching on an error by RCC third baseman Curtis Cassise, Irvine center fielder Robert Dey stole second base and later scored on an RBI triple off the bat of second baseman Scott Kaplan. Kaplan would later score on a sacrifice fly, once again tying the game.

The two teams would remain scoreless from that point on until the top of the ninth inning when RCC would finally score the deciding run as Michael Castello was able to cross the plate on a fielder’s choice.

Kristopher Butler (3-0) collected the win for the Tigers allowing only one hit over three innings played. Brendan Cates (2-1) allowed six earned runs over five and two-thirds innings pitched.
Chad Erickson led the Tigers offensive attack by going 4-for-6 and driving in three runs. Kiriakos also added three runs batted in, all by way of his home run in the first.

The Tigers will next face off against the Santa Ana Dons, who are currently the top ranked team in the state, on March 10th at Evans field in Riverside in a battle for Orange Empire Conference supremecy.

Running with the Bulls

With the return of Joakim Noah, the Chicago Bulls are the team to beat in the NBA Eastern Conference.

With the championship caliber coaching of Tom Thibodeau (who is my Coach of the Year) and leadership of third year point guard Derrick Rose (who is my season's Most Valuable Player,) the Bulls are favorites to make it out of the East.

Chicago is 39-17 on the season and recently got Noah back into the line-up and the Bulls are no where near of slowing down their pace.

Thus far the team is third in the East and two and a half behind No. 1 seed, the Boston Celtics and two back of the Miami Heat, who the Bulls defeated tonight, 93-89.

Alongside Rose and Noah is a solid supporting cast that includes Carlos Boozer, Kyle Klover, Luol Deng, Taj Gibson and Ronnie Brewer.

In a recent video from "Bballbreakdown" it shows how the supporting cast is benefiting from the coaching of Thibodeau and leadership of Rose.

Deng has improved his shooting based on the Bulls' team defense that leads to great team offense.

The other supporting cast held the fort down during the absents of Noah and now with Noah back from his injury, the Bulls are lead contenders in the East and are capable of defeating the Celtics and Heat in a seven-game series.

As said in the "Bballbreakdown" video, the Bulls are contenders now.

Random NBA trades at the deadline

Kendrick Perkins, Deron Williams and Baron Davis all have something in common other than being basketball players.

The three were not notified to being traded by their teams and sent off unexpectly to another NBA team.

The stunned trades began with Williams yesterday when the Utah Jazz traded off its All-star point guard to the New Jersey Nets for Devin Harris, Derrick Favors and a future first round pick.

Williams' trade came weeks after the Jazz's long time head coach Jerry Sloan unexpectedly stepped down as the head coach and retired.

Williams and Sloan were believed to be in a heated argument days before Sloan stepped down.

The team denied Williams being the reason for Sloan to quit as head coach but with the trade it seems as if he was all along.

Davis was the next player to be traded without being notified. Davis and Clippers' owner Donald Sterling had their share of disagreements throughout the season.

Davis was being accused of not being interested in the team's season and Sterling was heard criticizing Davis during Clippers' games every time Davis ran pass him.

The Clippers were serching for a team to trade Davis on but Davis is going to be earning over $30 million for the next two seasons and he had a tough contract to move.

The Clippers manged to pull off a trade that sent Davis to the Cleveland Cavaliers for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.

The latest trade was the biggest stunner of the NBA trade deadline trades.

The Celtics traded Perkins along with Nate Robinson to the Oaklahoma City Thunder for Jeff Green and Nedad Krsitc.

The Celtics were a team set to compete and favorites to win the NBA title this season with the return of their starting center, Perkins, after he returned from a knee injury he suffered in Game 6 of the 2010 NBA finals.

The Celtics had all the pieces in place but now everyone around the association is scratching their head and wondering why did the Celtics make the move.

One theory is the Celtics are trying to pick up Troy Murphy after the Golden State Warriors buy him out but that is not guaranteed.

The trade might hurt the Celtics because the team made another trade a few minutes later that sent two more big men to the Cavaliers for a Cavaliers' second round pick.

Thus far these trades have been unexpected and odd but the biggest trade was Carmelo Anthony being sent to the New York Knicks. All season the Nuggets were trying to move Anthony and they finally got to make it happen and the team ended up getting great pieces back. The trade was great for both teams.

Packers are favorites all around

America remains anxious for the biggest game of the year as we make our final picks on Super Bowl eve.

It has been two weeks since the NFL completed its conference championship games and my New York Jets did not advance to the big game.

In the American Football Conference championship game the Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Jets, 24-19, to make their eighth appearance in the Super Bowl.

In the game the Jets were unable to overcome a 24-0 Steelers lead and the team was unable to complete a one yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.

In the National Football Conference championship game the Green Bay Packers defeated their arch rival, the Chicago Bears, to advance to the Super Bowl.

The Packers were unstoppable with quarterback, Aaron Rodgers' passing in the first half. The Bears lost their quarterback, Jay Cutler, in the end of the second quarter with a knee injury.

A Steelers and Packers victory now brings us to a huge Super Bowl showdown in Arlington, Texas at Cowboys Stadium.

The two teams are outstanding on the defensive end and they both have two of the greatest quarterbacks in the league today.

On the Steelers side we have Ben Roethlisberger, who is a tough quarterback that refuses to go down and is great at dodging tackles.

Roethlisberger has the ability to throw the ball down the field and run the ball down the field by himself. He already has two Super Bowl rings so it will be hard for the Packers defense to keep him under control.

On the Packers side we have Aaron Rodgers, who is becoming his own star in Green Bay and making a name for himself alongside the great Bret Favre.

Rodgers has the ability to throw the ball down the field and run the ball for himself. Rodgers will be focus on winning his first title as the leader of the Packers, the team he had to sit and watch Favre lead for several years until the Packers finally picked Rodgers over Favre.

In the championship round, I went one-for-two in my picks.

For the Super Bowl I have the Packers defeating the Steelers. The Packers were favorites to win the Super Bowl before the season started and the team was able to overcome its injuries throughout the regular season. Since then the Packers are unstoppable and on a big winning streak heading into the Super Bowl.

Go Pack Go!

No. 6 teams going to the Super Bowl

The National and American Conference Football leagues of the National Football league are set for Sunday as the New York Jets face the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers face the Chicago Bears.

In the AFC championship game, the Jets head into Pittsburgh as the underdogs again and are not favored to win this game because no one believes the Jets can do the unthinkable again and knock off another elite team following the high emotional victory against the New England Patriots.

The Jets and Steelers are defensive teams first then offensive teams second. The Steelers are a great defensive team at stopping the rushing game and the Jets are a great offensive rushing team.

In order for the Jets to win another tough game, they must play every play as if it's their last and make no mistakes. The Jets have to find a way to put points on the board because their running game is not going to be enough. Jets' quarterback, Mark Sanchez has to be able to make great passing decisions and avoid being intercepted.

The Jets defense will show up again in this game and they will be on top of their game but they cannot be overwhelmed by the full-length of the field passes that Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethisber is known for throwing.

I have been sold prior to the NFL playoffs that the Jets were going to head to the Super Bowl and they are a game away from completing that prediction so in this game I am riding with the Jets to beat the Steelers.

On the other side of the coin, the NFC championship game features the two teams with the longest rivalry in the NFL, the Packers and Bears.

The Packers are on fire ever since they got back into the playoff picture back in week 15 of the regular season and they do not seem to be stopping their hot streak.

The Bears are a great team of themselves too, lead by quarterback, Jay Cutler.

The Packers have the best team thus far in the postseason and they are not going to lose again unless they lose focus or a key player is loss during a critical point of the game.

Along with quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the Packers are one foot into the Super Bowl and a win away from eliminating the Bears in Chicago.

I am picking the Packers in this game because like the Jets, I was convinced before the playoffs started that the Packers were going all the way to the Super Bowl.

In summary I have both No. 6 teams of each conference heading to the Super Bowl. My motto for the 2011 NFL playoffs is "the year of the No. 6s."

Go Jets and Packers!

New York Jets win!

The New York Jets did the unthinkable and upset the New England Patriots as divisional playoffs ended Sunday night to advance to the American Conference championship game.

The Jets were given no chance by every NFL analyst to beat the Patriots but the Jets, lead by coach Rex Ryan, came out on top.

The Jets opened up the first quarter by preventing a a Patriots touchdown and only giving up a field goal worth three points. The Jets offense was showing some success with the running game but they were unable to convert points.

In a Patriots drive in the first quarter, quarter back, Tom Brady, was intercepted by a member of the Jets defense and took it back to the 10-yard line before the Jet was taken down.

The Jets were unable to convert points from the Brady interception. Later on in the game Jets' quarterback, Mark Sanchez, made a few touchdowns with passes to Ladainian Tomlinson and Braylon Edwards to lead 14-3 at halftime.

The Jets defense continued to stay on top of Patriots in the third quarter but Brady was able to bring the Patriots back into the game in the fourth quarter after he led a drive worth eight points to cut the Jets lead t 14-11.

The Jets kept their cool and Sanchez was able to connect with Santonio Holmes for a incredible catch in the in zone for a touchdown.

The Patriots tried to make a late comeback but the Jets maintained the lead and won the game 28-21 to face the Steelers on Sunday for the AFC championship.

On Saturday the Packers were able to complete my prediction and slautered the Atlanta Falcons and move on to face the Chicago Bears in the National Football Conference championship game.

In my divisional playoff picks I went 75 percent and picked three of the four winners right.

I know I did a lot better than most NFL analyst because I believe in my Jets!

Packers, Steelers move on to title games

Day one of divisional playoffs is over in the NFL and I went one-out-of-two in today's two games.

In my predictions I picked the Baltimore Ravens over the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Green Bay Packers over the Atlanta Falcons but the Packers were the only pick I got right today.

The Packers went into Atlanta with a road win against the Philadelphia Eagles and lots of confidence to win on the road. The Packers started the first quarter trailing 7-0 then giving up a 102 yard return touchdown to the Falcons.

After trailing 14-7, the Packers went on a scoring outburst with Aaron Rodgers as the team scored 35 unanswered points to lead 42-14 through three quarters.

Atlanta tried to make a comeback in the fourth after scoring their first touchdown of the second half but that was not enough as the Packers beat the Falcons and move on to the National Conference League championship game to face the winner of tomorrow's Chicago Bears/Seattle Seahawks game.

In the other game, my prediction looked like it was going to come through as the Ravens defense was making plays and scored 14 points for the Ravens. The Ravens defense was so good in the first half as it held the Steelers to only seven points in the first half.

The game looked too good to be true because the second half was the opposite for both teams. In the second half, the Steelers were the ones making plays on the defensive end and scoring points.

The Steelers defense made turnovers and brought the team back from behind to take the lead and eventually win the game.

Steelers' quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger,iced the game in the fourth quarter when he connected with Antonio Brown on a 58-yard pass on a third-and-19 with 1:33 left in the game. The pass would lead to a Steelers touchdown and a victory to move on to the American Conference League championship game and face the winner of the New York Jets/New England Patriots game.

Overall I am not surprised the Ravens couldn't beat the Steelers because their offense is always a question and today was another example that their offense can't pull them to the next level.

The Packers are gaining more momentum and are stomping their way to the Super Bowl.

Tomorrow I will have two more chances to improve my prediction's percentage and see if my Jets can do the unthinkable and beat the Patriots in New England.