We’re taking a brief break from our Fantasy Primer series to tackle a few issues of greater importance in the world of sports. Though Canon Fodder does not endorse gambling outside the borders of Nevada, here are a quintet of suggestions should you find yourself in a sports book with money to wager.
This is the high water mark for the Yankees – With a pitching rotation still in flux and Joe Torre’s penchant for overworking his bullpen, it’s hard to imagine the pinstripes keeping pace with the boys from Beantown. Though I’m sure the collars on Red Sox uniforms are feeling a bit tighter today than back in May, this is probably as close as these two teams will be the rest of the summer. On the other hand, the Yanks are probably in the wild card race for the duration and that will likely mean the world (or at least the Worldwide Leader in Sports) will turn all its attention to a renewal of “The Rivalryâ€.
The resurgence of Rick Ankiel will be short-lived – Remember this guy? Here’s a clip…
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=f_7PzR9H_54[/youtube]
We’ll Rick’s back and playing right field for the Cardinals. He’s already hit a trio of bombs since being recalled from the minors last week. But what’s going to happen when Ricky hits his first slump? I’m betting more of the same as we saw back in ’01.
The dominance of the San Diego Chargers is at an end – Marty and his dreadful playoff record is gone, replaced by Norv Turner and his dreadful regular season record. Hear that window slamming shut? That was the Chargers’ shot at a Super Bowl this year.
But at least Tomlinson should continue to put up some big numbers and be a key cog on fantasy championship teams.
The release of Madden 08 on Tuesday will be the biggest yet – I would like to make fun of the pathetic souls standing outside their local video game store at midnight except I’ve been there and was frustrated when clock struck twelve and cursed the guys working for not unlocking the door fast enough to satisfy the throng of losers. Considering Madden is the only NFL-sanctioned game in town, the odds of this game succeeding might not even be on the board in Vegas.
Barry Bonds won’t be a Giant in 2008 – With #756 out of the way and the Giants wallowing near the bottom of the standings, there’s little reason to keep an aging super-duper-prima donna so expect the human bobblehead to find a new residence even if it’s just across the bay DH-ing for the A’s. But the fans in San Francisco love Barry, you say. True. Unfortunately his teammates are only lukewarm to him. Don’t think so? Watch the clip closely.
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Er8Ws1Ttx_E[/youtube]
Did you see elation on the faces of the other Giants players? Their Hall of Fame-bound teammate just passed Hammerin’ Hank for what might have be the most prized record in all of sports and they were cheering as enthusiastically as if they were at a junior high production of Fiddler on the Roof. Heck, even Aaron’s scoreboard speech seemed to be forced at gunpoint. (Though I’ll give him credit for doing the entire monologue through gritted teeth.) Taking all that into consideration, you can bet Giants management will bid the bobblehead’s oversized hats, ego, paycheck and Balco troubles a found “adieu†when the calendar turns to November.
So there you are; five bet-your-house locks you can take to Vegas. While you’re there, put a fin for me on the Detroit Tigers to take the AL Central. The White Sox (my preseason pick) are long gone and forgotten. The Twinkies have scoring issues and I’m just not sold on Cleveland’s pitching staff down the stretch so hand the division crown to the Bengals and let’s get ready for the post-season.
Like what you’ve seen so far? Tell someone about Canon Fodder. Question, comment or complaint? Fire them my way: jeff@canon-fodder.com.
Ankiel has one of the most compelling stories of any current pro athlete. I would it comes behind only Vick and Bonds. By the way, you guys need to make logging in simpler and add a spell check to this thing.
[...] Under the scrutiny of an HGH scandal, Rick Ankiel and the Cardinals are slumping. As the only living human being that didn’t jump on the ‘feel-good comeback’ bandwagon, I just want to say, “Told you so.†(Second headline.) [...]