Rap-Up – Is Slim Shady ready for his return? Four years after The Marshall Mathers LP 2, Eminem will reportedly release his eighth major label solo studio album on Nov. 17, according to HITS Daily Double.
LETS. FUCKING. GO. The world is just a better place when Eminem is a part of it. His last album MMLP2 went 4x Platinum too so lets not act like his last album didn’t bang. Its been about four years since Em’s last drop so its about that time for him to make his return. You think the guy doesn’t have it anymore? Or he doesn’t still have the fire? Well, I would like to point you to this cypher he did on the BET Awards last night where he goes IN on Donald Trump for 4 minutes straight.
And Twitter was going nuts with huge names like LeBron, Colin Kaepernick, Keith Olbermann and more weighing in on the cypher so this one mayyy have some legs.
Racism is the only thing he’s Fantastic 4(fantastic for), cause that’s how he gets his rock off, he’s orange. Sheesh @Eminem!! 🔥🔥✊🏾🔥🔥#Unitedpic.twitter.com/wcL28BCWpy
Wherever you sit on the political merry go round, you don’t spit like that off the dome for 4 minutes if you don’t have some shit to say. Not that I’m necessarily hoping for a 16 track political commentary from Em, but he’s a 44 year old man who’s seen a lot, and with that age comes shifting perspectives. I for one will be first in line to buy that shit and hear what B Rabbit has got to say.
Its always difficult getting back to every day life after a heartbreaking tragedy. I remember in 2013 after the Boston Marathon bombing the whole city was put on lockdown for nearly a week. Literally — there were curfews in the city as police hunted down the terrorist cowards. Now, just a few short days after the senseless shooting on the Las Vegas strip, the Golden Knights were set to play their first home game ever. Not exactly an ideal scenario for a franchise to have its coming out party. But sports are a funny thing. When the last thing you want to do is laugh, have fun, and cheer on a meaningless game; sometimes its the best thing to start the healing process. In Boston the Bruins were the first team to play again and it was fucking electric.
In the face of terrorism, and call it whatever you want but that Vegas shooting was terrorism, Americans are downright defiant. As a wise designated hitter once put it, This is our fucking city.
So the Golden Knights had their first home game ever and after an absolutely awesome pre-game ceremony…they. blew. doors. I do not envy the Coyotes having to go into that environment. The Knights scored just 2:31 into the first period. Then they scored again less than four minutes later. Then they scored AGAIN less than two minutes after that. Then AGAIN a few minutes after that. 4-0 before the first period was even over. I said it a lot last night, but sports are incredible.
SLAM – Jeremy Lin knew that his new dreads would ruffle a few feathers, and the hair did indeed draw Kenyon Martin‘s ire. The former Nets big man accused Lin of wanting to be black.
So as we all know Jeremy Lin has hit a bit of a quarter-life crisis post-Linsanity days and has taken to filling that void in his life by sporting wacky new haircuts like every 3 weeks.
The Faux Hawk
The Dragonball Z
The Undercut Man Bun
The Cornrows
The Boys Regular
His latest cut though are some fresh new dreads.
Now I’m all for doing some stupid shit with your hair if you can 1.) grow it and 2.) not get fired for looking like an asshole. If you can fulfill both of those quotas, do your thing homie.
Lin actually wrote an extremely thoughtful article on The Players Tribune about how he wanted to be considerate about the perception of him sporting dreadlocks. He really did not want to look like he was appropriating black culture.
Welp, ever insightful Kenyon Martin, the dude who once got a pair of lips tatted on his neck, was NOT having it.
“Do I need to remind this damn boy that his last name is Lin. Like, come on man. Let’s stop this man, with these people,” Martin said in an Instagram video. “Like, there’s no way possible he would’ve made it on one of our teams with that bulls–t going on on his head.
“Come on, man. Somebody really need to tell him, like, ‘Alright bro, we get it. You want to be black.’ Like, we get it. But the last name is Lin, alright?”
Jeremy Lin clapped back though with the most polite Fuck You we’ve seen in some time. Basically told Kenyon, “Bro you have Chinese tattoos, but big fan of you’re work, Mr. Martin.”
ESPN – Ben Hill Griffin Stadium is popularly known as The Swamp. And now the Florida Gators will look the part. For Saturday’s football game against Texas A&M, Florida will wear a new uniform designed to evoke the look and feel of an alligator. The uniform, which was under development for two years and was unveiled Monday night, features a “swamp green” jersey with an alligator-skin pattern. The helmet, pants and socks are rendered in the same color, but without the gator-skin treatment.
OH MY. What have we here? I feel like the wild jersey reveals have slowed down the last year or two. You used to see every school rocking wild combos of camo and chrome and neon and it was AWESOME. Feel like theres been less and less of that lately. Enter, the University of Florida.
You wanna be a Gator? Like the actual ferocious goddamn water dinosaur that is an alligator? Well, don’t talk about it. Be about it.
Joel Embiid is the absolute living, breathing reincarnation of George Costanza. Unprecedented levels of mailing it in and the king of snaking it til you make it.
Absolute mailman of the century. Guy’s played 31 games in 3 years and just got a $150M extension. Thats a Costanza level of mailing it in. https://t.co/9J5Z0yW8E5
Seriously, you almost have to respect it. 31 games played out of a total of 246 games he’s been in the NBA for. I would kill to show up for 12 PERCENT of my job and still get paid an exorbitant amount.
There is A LOT to unpack here less than 24 hours after the Red Sox bowed out in the ALDS for the second year in a row. Granted they didn’t get swept again this year, the Sox lost in 4 games after they started off poorly as it was too little too late against a stacked Astros squad. Where do they go from here? We’ve got the future of Manager John in question, Dustin Pedroia’s health, the absolute enigma that is our starting rotation, as well as questions around Hanley Ramirez, Xander Bogaerts, Craig Kimbrel and more. Lets get it.
Has the John Farrell Era Come to an End?
If so it finally does so in a fitting way; getting ejected defending a player who never really seemed to be all-in on him.
I’m never the guy clamoring for a manager to be fired because I think with the few exceptions, an MLB manager isn’t going to make or break a team. Just don’t screw it up, put players in a position to succeed, and most of all be the clubhouse therapist. And while Farrell certainly has his limitations with in-game adjustments, and even filling out the scorecard (honestly how do you bench arguably your best hitter in Hanley Ramirez for Game 1 in favor of a guy with a shitty knee?), but I think his ultimate downfall is his inability to be that armchair psychologist.
Manager John is not the guy that will call someone into his office to lay down on his couch and just talk things through. One of my favorite stories of a manager excelling at this was one about how Terry Francona used to call players over to talk with him right behind home plate as the team took BP. So everyone in the world could see them, but no one could hear them. This is an area where Manager John is sorely lacking, which became painfully obvious on multiple occasions this year, none more so than David Price blowing up on Dennis Eckersley and then essentially defending Price and the situation was never really resolved. In a market like Boston, managing the clubhouse and all its personalities is the No. 1 job requirement, which is why I think Farrell is ultimately shown the door this offseason.
What Should We Expect Out of Dustin Pedroia Moving Forward?
I don’t want to immediately overreact less than 24 hours after their season came to an end, but I am very, very concerned about Dustin Pedroia. Similar to old friend Kevin Youkilis, as he continues to get older, Pedroia’s balls out playing style is starting to catch up to him as he is routinely dealing with nagging injuries. This year it was the knee, which limited Pedroia to 105 games this year, and Dave Dombrowski sent me in to full blown panic earlier this year when he said that Pedroia’s knee would be something he’d have to deal with for the rest of his career. At 34 years old, that is a terrifying thing to hear. Now facing a number of options on what to do about his balky knee, Pedroia himself intimated that going the surgery route could put him out for a long time.
So while I know its the health thats affecting his play more than anything else, Pedroia just batted .125 in the ALDS this year, .167 in the ALDS last year, .238 in the 2013 playoffs, .167 in 2009, .233 in 2008, and .283 in 2007. Overall, he’s hitting just .204 in his last 26 playoff games. That my friends, is a bad trend. Maybe the Red Sox can do what the Yankees should have done with Jeter years before he retired and either limit his games in an effort to keep him healthy or perhaps move him to a less demanding position. While he’s not an ideal height or power profile, perhaps mixing in some games at first base would help lessen the demand on Pedroia’s body. Rotate him in at DH, where Pedroia has actually thrived in his career, to keep him fresh. Limit the number of games he’s throwing his body around at second base and maybe you get a healthy (and productive) Pedroia in the playoffs. But with four years left on his current deal, the Red Sox don’t really have much of a choice. While I’ve heard a lot of people slamming Pedroia’s leadership this season, I think the reality of an aging body that isn’t bouncing back the way it used to, coupled with the scrutiny of having to police his own locker room to keep dickheads like David Price in check, is mentally draining the guy. Keep him healthy and you’ll have a more energetic, engaged and productive Pedroia. He did hit .293 this season when he was on the field so he’s still a very strong hitter when he’s upright. But, he’s not 25 anymore, so maybe a revived role for the longterm second baseman gets him back to his hey day of shit talking Jeff Francis and Brady Quinn. Can’t ask the guy to do everything, so while I don’t want to defend his poor playoff performance, I think its something the Sox can mitigate by taking a few steps. Again, put the players in a position to succeed.
What the Hell Do the Red Sox Do About Their Pitching
Chris Sale had his worst start of the year at the worst possible time in the playoffs. Sound familiar? Now that we’ve got that out of the way, its important to note how he bounced back and was downright dominant out of the bullpen (on short rest) to give the Red Sox a lifeline in Game 4. Despite the fact he gave up that solo HR to cough up the lead, its important to note that he was lights out. Given the fact that it was his first career postseason start, I’m willing to give Sale the benefit of the doubt. Combined with the fact that Sale seemingly ran out of gas down the stretch, I think the Sox would benefit by working in some rest throughout the year for him, similar to how they used to do for Pedro Martinez. Sale was incredible this year where he was the hands down Cy Young winner before a shaky final 2 months. And while it was exciting to watch him chase that single season strikeout record that Pedro set, whats the point? If it left the guy gassed in October then its doing the team a disservice. So I think he’ll be back and better than ever next season.
As for David Price its hard what to make of him. He was downright dominant out of the bullpen for the Red Sox, which was encouraging to see, especially to see a pissed off emotional David Price. Seriously, the guy was screaming coming off the mound at opposing batters. That David Price I need to see more of. But again the Red Sox aren’t paying $217 Million for a bullpen guy. Price needs to replicate that, or at least come close to that as a starter in 2018 or the team’s cooked again. Most big free agents seem to struggle in Boston in Year 1 and Year 2 was a bit of a wash for Price due to his elbow injury. So maybe Year 3 he’s finally got that comfort level and makes a John Lackey type redemption with a bounce back year. That elbow is still a concern though so its tough to predict.
Rick Porcello followed up his 2016 Cy Young season with a terrible 2017 season going 11-17 with a 4.65 ERA and once again failing to go very far in the playoffs. He went 3 innings yesterday and only 4 1/3 in his ALDS start last year. Not a great trend. Maybe its a mechanical issue he can fix over the winter, but the back to back playoff shellackings are less than ideal.
Steven Wright, remember him? The knuckleballer who was an All-Star that John Farrell broke by having him run the fucking bases. He should be back next year, as well as Eduardo Rodriguez unless he has another knee injury doing nothing before the season starts. Drew Pomeranz had a really solid year going 17-6 with a 3.32 ERA, but another guy who got shelled in the playoffs. Doug Fister pitched admirabily in the regular season after being a guy Dombrowski picked up off the scrap heap in July, but he also shit the bed in the playoffs getting yanked in the second inning of Game 3 and finishing with an ERA over 20! He’s probably the odd man out next year assuming everyone else is healthy. So there’s not really a lot the Sox can do other than have the starting rotation get their shit together. Barring a huge trade, this is going to be the 2018 starting rotation.
The Rest of the Rest
Craig Kimbrel drives me fucking bananas. A two-pitch flamethrower with questionable control is a prescription for Tums. Kimbrel was incredible this season going 5-0 with a 1.43 ERA and 35 saves plus 126 Ks in just 69 innings. But like a lot of other guys with the ball in their hands, he shit the bed when it counted most. Kimbrel had a 4.50 ERA in the playoffs this year, more than triple his regular season ERA. And for a guy who is completely lights out with 3 outs to go in the game, he craters when asked to get a couple of extra outs.
Kimbrel came into yesterday’s game in the 8th inning with a man on first and two outs. Just get the final out of the 8th and the Sox are still tied heading into the bottom of the frame. Kimbrel proceeds to go: Wild Pitch (advancing runner to second) Walk, and RBI Single to give the Astros a 1-run lead before getting the third out. He then hits a guy in the 9th before giving up an RBI Double to put the Sox in a 2-run hole before getting yanked for Closer B Addison Russell. Can’t have that from a guy that everyone praises all year long for his dominance.
If we can get Playoff Hanley Ramirez and not store brand Manny Ramirez, then the Red Sox are golden. But as we all know, Hanley is off more often than he is on, which is a problem. Maybe he had a “Come to Jesus” moment in the ALDS this year. Maybe Big Papi got in his ear. I don’t know, but if he can actually give a shit for an entire season then the Sox are cooking with gas. But, it would be fool’s gold to bank on that for 2018.
Xander Bogaerts needs to start drinking his protein shakes or something after struggling badly down the stretch for the second consecutive season and then hitting .059 in the playoffs this year. Before the All-Star break this year X hit .303 and after the All-Star break X hit .235. Last year his splits were .329/.253. Granted two years ago he actually hit 30 points higher in the second half, but Xander needs to figure out how to stay fresh or he could quickly find himself on the way out of town.
2018 Silver Linings
Despite some hit or miss defense, Rafael Devers looks like the real fucking deal. Devers was called up on July 24th and was the youngest player in the league at 20 years old. Ya know, after a whole NINE GAMES in Triple-A. All he did was proceed to hit .284 with 10 HR’s and 30 RBIs. Then he became the youngest player in Red Sox history to hit a postseason HR and then he hit another one; and inside the park job in the 9th inning of Game 4 as he nearly kept the Red Sox alive singlehandedly. Unreal. After the disaster that was Pablo Sandoval and trading away Travis Shaw, who hit 30 dingers himself this season, it seems like the Sox have found another young budding star. Thank god Dombrowski didn’t trade him too.
Not a ton else to look forward to as I don’t see a team thats already pressed up against the Luxury Tax making too many additions. Barring a huge trade, this will be the same squad trotting out there in 2018. So maybe another year of playoff experience, a new manager, and maybe a new bench player acting as the glue guy (i.e. Kevin Millar, David Ross, Jonny Gomes) gets this team over the hump next year. Thats it.
Nothing like some heavy ass bass from our boy Donald Glover to get your Monday (Tuesday) morning going after the long weekend.
“Sweatpants” is off of Gambino’s second official album, “Because the Internet,” which came out at the end of 2013. This whole album was another banger coming off the killer “Camp” debut album he dropped in 2011. I wasn’t a huge fan of his latest album “Awaken, My Love!” but I respect the hell out of a guy who’s got to a point in his career where he’s able to take creative chances rather than just rehashing old shit. And Donald Glover hasn’t been exactly subtle in saying that Childish Gambino is more of a side project for him and he doesn’t anticipate making many more albums, so enjoy him while he’s here folks.
Another week, another one of the worst beats I’ve ever seen in a football game with the ending of that Kansas City game. Just ruthless. As always, all of our betting lines are courtesy of the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook so blame them if the numbers change. Its that time once again to start playing fast and loose with our paychecks. Its Week 5 in the NFL, LETS GO
New England Patriots (-5.5, 55.5) at Tampa Bay Buccaneers I picked the Pats to cover and cover they did.
Sunday, Oct. 8 1 p.m. ET
New York Jets at Cleveland Browns (-1.5, 39)
There’s no way you’re going to actually put money on the Browns as a favorite are you? I sure as shit am not going to. I’ll take the Jets here.
Carolina Panthers at Detroit Lions (-3, 44)
Coming off their walkoff win over the Patriots, the Panthers have some momentum heading into Detroit. But the Lions are looking legit this year sitting at 3-1 in first place in the NFC North. It seems the Panthers are slowly figuring out the best way to use Christian McCaffrey with Jonathan Stewart together though so I’m taking the Panthers to cover here.
San Francisco 49ers at Indianapolis Colts (-1.5, 43.5)
Tennessee Titans (NL) at Miami Dolphins
No Line for this game, so nothing to see here.
Buffalo Bills at Cincinnati Bengals (-3, 38)
Call me crazy, I’m taking the Bills here. I like Tyrod Taylor to have a big game against the struggling Bengals.
Los Angeles Chargers at New York Giants (-3.5, 44.5)
A battle of two 0-4 teams. Woof. I’ve been picking the Chargers all year and they keep disappointing so its hard to rely on them here. Giants are in the same boat, but with a fully healthy Odell Beckham I think they finally get on the board here. I’ll take the G-Men to cover.
Jacksonville Jaguars at Pittsburgh Steelers (-8.5, 44)
Steelers are pretty big favorites at (-8.5) so thats asking a lot, but it is the Jaguars. I can definitely see Pittsburgh winning by 10. Fournette’s been solid in his first year rushing for 285 yards and 3 TDs, but Big Ben is rolling with Antonio Brown whos got 30 catches for 388 yards and a score. So I’m taking the Steelers to cover the big spread.
Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles (-6.5, 45)
Eagles look like they’ve found their QB of the future with Carson Wentz and while I’m still bummed about Short Guy Hall of Famer Darren Sproles going down, Philly is still rolling along. Not a huge fan of old man Carson Palmer, especially with the non-existant run gam post David Johnson, so I’m taking the Eagles to cover.
4 p.m. ET Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams (-2.5, 47) You gotta be shitting me? I know the Rams are off to a 3-1 start, but I refuse to take them as favorites over the Seahawks on a (-2.5) spread. Put some respeck on Seattle’s name. I’m taking Dangeruss and the Seahawks here.
Baltimore Ravens (NL) at Oakland Raiders
Seems to be a lot of No Lines this season, soo nothing to bet on here.
Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys (-2, 52.5) Its hard to bet against the Packers, who are 3-1 on the season going against the 2-2 Cowboys. The Pack just continue to plug and play guys like Aaron Jones and not miss a beat, but I like Dallas here. Feed Zeke all night long and win by a FG, I’ll take the Boys.
Kansas City Chiefs (NL) at Houston Texans
Another game with No Line. Moving on.
Monday, Oct. 9 8:30 p.m. ET
Minnesota Vikings (NL) at Chicago Bears
No reason to watch MNF if theres No Line. Carry on.
Overall Record (14-16) Last week (6-9)
This week (9-6)
Thursday, Sept. 28 Chicago Bears at Green Bay Packers (-7, 45.5)
Packers covered W (1-0)
Sunday, Oct. 1 9:30 a.m. ET (at London) New Orleans Saints (-3, 49.5) vs. Miami Dolphins
Saints shut out the Dolphins 20-0 sooo they covered. W (2-0)
1 p.m. ET Carolina Panthers at New England Patriots (-9, 48.5)
Pats defense continues to look like a dumpster fire as the Pats lost on a last second FG, obviously did not cover the (-9) spread. L (2-1)
Los Angeles Rams at Dallas Cowboys (-7.5, 46)
Rams look more legit every week, topped the Cowboys 35-30 so thats an upset. L (2-2)
Detroit Lions at Minnesota Vikings (no line)
Does Westgate have something against the Vikings? There’s no line for them for the second week in a row.
Tennessee Titans (-1.5, 44) at Houston Texans
Texans CRUSHED the Titans 57-14 and as I said last week “I think Deshaun Watson found his groove last week so I’m taking the Texans to cover here.” So thats a W. (3-2)
Jacksonville Jaguars (-3.5, 39.5) at New York Jets
Jets topped the Jags 23-20 in OT, which was one of the most boring games I’ve watched in a while. Thats what I get for putting my money on the Jets. L. (3-3)
Cincinnati Bengals (-3, 40) at Cleveland Browns
Bengals stomped the Browns 31-7 so thats a W. (4-3)
Pittsburgh Steelers (-3, 43.5) at Baltimore Ravens
Ya knew the Steelers weren’t gonna lose back to back weeks after losing to the goddamn Bears in OT as they covered this week with a 26-9 win so thats a W. (5-3)
Buffalo Bills at Atlanta Falcons (-8, 48.5)
HUGE win for the Bills who topped the Falcons 23-17, thus earning us all some free money. W (6-3)
4 p.m. ET New York Giants at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3, 44)
As (-3) pt favorites we picked the Bucs to cover and guess what? They won by two freaking points. Goddamnit thats an L. (6-4)
Philadelphia Eagles at Los Angeles Chargers (-1, 47)
The hard luck Chargers were (-1) pt favorites and lost by 2 as they drop to 0-4 and Phil Rivers is screaming into his helmet mic. Not great, but thats an L. (6-5)
San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals (-7, 44.5)
Cardinals had to take it to OT to beat the Niners and only did it by 3, so thats an L. (6-6)
Oakland Raiders at Denver Broncos (-2.5, 46.5)
Broncos covered the (-2.5) pt spread and won by 6. Granted the Raiders lost Derek Carr to a fractured back, but a win is a win. (7-6)
8:30 p.m. ET Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks (-13, 41.5)
Seahawks SPANKED the Colts 46-18, easily covering the (-13) pt spread. And as I said last week “Russell Wilson looked great last week and if the Seahawks can get him out of the pocket he’ll shred the Colts D. So while I usually hate picking the favorite in huge spreads like this, Dangeruss is looking good, and the Seahawks are at home where they are loud as shit. I’ll take Seattle to cover.” Thats a W! (8-6)
Monday, Oct. 2 Washington Redskins at Kansas City Chiefs (-7, 49.5)
With one of the greatest backdoor covers you’ll ever see the Chiefs scored on a R-Words fumble as they attempted to lateral it across the field as time ran out. The TD put them up by 9 to cover the spread! VICTORY. (9-6)
Are people listening to me yet? Are you making money yet? In tonight’s Patriots Pick Em I was not exactly overflowing with confidence about our boys. With the Pats being a (-5.5) favorite coming off a walkoff loss to the Panthers and still having the Patriots defense I felt that was a little rich and had the Bucs covering.
“Even with Brady having one of the best starts of his entire career, the guy can’t play defense. So while I’m not saying the Pats are necessarily gonna lose, I don’t see them winning by a touchdown or more. I think if anything they squeak by with a FG or less so I’m picking the Bucs to cover.”
What happened? The Bucs hang around and score a late TD with just over 2 minutes left to bring that Pats lead down to 5. Very, very close to blowing everything to hell, but as John Sterling would say THEEEE BUCCANEEERSSSS COVERRR!!!
The 300s 