Dodgers Trade for Jim Thome & Jon Garland

The Dodgers just made two moves before the waiver trade deadline. The first move was acquiring Jim Thome from the Chicago White Sox for 26 year-old minor-leaguer Justin Fuller and cash. The other move was trading for Jon Garland of the Arizona Diamondbacks for a player to be named later.

In Jim Thome, the Dodgers acquire a 39-year player who's hitting .259 with 23 HR. He still has a good OBP at .375. He will automatically become the second leading home run hitter on the team.

However, Thome has been relegated to DHing for quite some time now. He hasn't played at first in over two years. Those old legs of his will most likely relegate him to pinch hitting duties. A great weapon on the bench though.

Garland went 8-11 with a 4.29 earned run average in 27 starts for the Diamondbacks this season. The Dodgers needed another starter before the non-waiver trade deadline so here is. Vicente Padilla will work spot duty.

What this means for the health of Hiroki Kuroda might be the big issue here.

Good moves by the Dodgers, trying to infuse some life into a team that has gone sub-.500 since the break. They didn't give up much to do it, so it's all on them to get to the postseason and do some damage.

James Loney, Russell Martin, and Rafael Furcal can't hit sub .200 in September if this team has any designs on winning in the playoffs.

The Dodgers better get hot at the right time, or else their historic start to the season will all be for naught.

Ronald Johnson Injury

The talented Jr. receiver for the Trojans goes down in the 1st quarter after receiving a 34-yard pass from Matt Barkley. Johnson was the Trojans' third-leading receiver last year, and scored eight touchdowns.

USC Final Scrimmage

The final scrimmage before USC's season saw Matt Barkley throw an interception, yet lead four scoring drives. He will become the first true Freshman starter in Trojan history. Aaron Corp also played well.

Catch me on "California Life" this weekend!

Try to catch me on "California Life," this weekend. The show airs at noon today on KVMD and at 5:00 pm on KHIZ. There will also be a showing on Sunday at 6:00 pm on KHIZ as well.

Here is the Orange County Football segment that airs on the show later today. Click away!

http://www.californialifehd.com/segments/orange-edison-football

State of Mater Dei: Post Barkley

The biggest question heading into the season for Mater Dei is who will replace four-year starter Matt Barkley. Who will walk out of his shadow? Interviews with Coach, Max Wittek, Chase Favreau, Jordan Allen.

Interview on the Lancer Sports Network

Trenton Schlom invited me to be a guest on his Lancer Sports Network "Countdown to Columbus" show. He asks me what to expect from Orange Lutheran this year as well as the Trinity League.

It felt weird to be the one being interviewed for a change!

You can catch my thoughts at 5:55 of the video.

Edison Hates Coin Tosses

Edison is looking forward to avenging their absence in the playoffs last year. They return 12 starters & most of their skill players are back. Interviews with Coach White, Matt Viles, Michael Rivera.

Orange Lutheran Prepares for Ohio Trip

Orange Lutheran anxiously awaits their first game of the 2009 season. Who will replace Dravis & Williams? Is there pre-season ranking worthy? Interviews with Coach Kunau, Damani Wilson & Garrett Gilliland.

The Lancers will travel to Ohio to play Pickerington Central in the "Horseshoe." Don't be fooled by the name. These kids from Ohio are tough. They've gone 24-2 the last two years, and Coach Kunau told me they were like the Long Beach Poly of Ohio.

Orange Lutheran is electing to play in Week 0, so this will give them two weeks worth of byes before they host Tustin.

The Lancers should be in good shape this year, if Bobby Wheatley continues to improve his play. He was so-so last year (not really involved, in a running offense) but he has shown promise.

You can catch Orange Lutheran take on Pickerington Central in the Kirk Herbstreit Varsity Football Series on Aug. 30th live on ESPNU.

Huntington Beach Surf on California Life

I hope you all were able to check out my segment on "California Life," this weekend, but just in case you were crazy enough not to watch...

Just click on the link below to view my Surfing Hall of Fame and Walk of Fame story:

http://www.californialifehd.com/segments/huntington-beach-surf



The Huntington Beach U.S. Open of Surfing is probably the greatest sporting event to cover. I mean who doesn’t like working by the beach?

I had the pleasure of covering both the Surfing Walk of Fame and the Surfers’ Hall of Fame. Both events honored the exploits of surfers past.

The Walk of Fame came first. It took place outside Jack’s Surfboards on the corner of Main and PCH. This year’s class included Mark Martinson, Fred Hemmings, Duke Boyd, Wendy Botha, and Jackie Baxter. Each Walk of Famer received their award, and had their plaque inserted into the ground. Now countless visitors can walk all over them…literally!

Then, it was off to the Surfers’ Hall of Fame. This event was held outside Huntington Surf & Sport, just across from the Walk of Fame. The 2009 inductees include Joey Buran, Pat O’Connell, Bruce Brown, & Jeff Hakman. Each Hall of Famer immortalized themselves by placing their hands & feet in cement. They were then free to write whatever they wanted into the cement, like “Stay Stoked!”

Working by the beach at the Huntington Surf Open. What can be better than that?

Prince Controversy (UPDATED with Video)

UPDATE: Here is the link to the video of Prince Fielder trying to charge into the Dodgers clubhouse from KCAL/KCBS:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuoA-d3xiHo

Well, it was turning out to be your run-of-the-mill Dodgers rout at the Ravine last night, until Manny Ramirez was beaned in the 7th inning.

The Dodgers were blowing out the Brewers 12-3 at the time, but Milwaukee decided they needed to get tough with Ramirez. Number 99 had already homered in the 5th inning, and doubled in two runs in his previous at bat in the 6th, so it was about time.

I wasn't against the Brewers beaning Manny. It's part of the game. You do something great against us, we're gonna take down your best guy. It's childish, but it's baseball people.

Anyways, the real question was whether or not the Dodgers would respond. After all, this is a team that twiddled their thumbs while the Phillies made Manny eat some dirt last year in the NLCS. The Dodgers Chad Billingsley did not respond within the game and almost lost the clubhouse. It wasn't until the heroics of Hiroki Kuroda that the Dodgers proved they had a pulse.

So, I wasn't really expecting any kind of retaliation, especially after the Dodgers put five more runs up on the board in the 8th inning. The score was 17-4, but I almost forgot who was on the hill...

Guillermo Freakin' Mota. This is a guy that smoked Mike Piazza in a Spring Training game in March 2003. Check out Piazza's crazy face at 1:30 of the video. The man was incensed. Guillermo Mota can do that to people.

So, like I was saying, in a 17-4 game in the 9th, it was on like Donkey Kong. Guillermo Mota nailed Prince Fielder in his rib cage and he lumbered to the floor. Home plate umpire Lance Barksdale immediately tossed Mota, without any prior warning, and the Prince just stood near home plate like a Nancy Kerrigan would and asked "WHY?! WHYYYYYYYYY?!"

It must have been perplexing to the big vegeterian because Mota and Fielder were teammates last year in Milwaukee.

But the real story occured after the game. Fielder was waiting for Mota to emerge after the game to discuss their latest cooking recipes. Obviously Mota didn't show up, and Fielder made a beeline towards the Dodgers clubhouse. He was held back by security and teammates (BTW, I'd love to see this video. It'd be like seeing Oprah being held back by her handlers before attacking a buffet. DON'T DO IT!!!).

Anywho, Andre Ethier found this very amusing:

"Some people have different manners at their homes," Ethier said. "Some people don't have to knock. Some people just let themselves in."

Meanwhile, Russell Martin tried to make sense of it all:

"It's part of the game," Martin said. "Our premier hittter gets hit and he's been hit around quite a bit this year. It's just kind of protection. That's all it is, it's part of the game. It's been a part of it since I first started playing."

"I understand he's frustrated, but I don't think you should take care of it after the game. It's the kind of thing where if you want to argue and yell at somebody, you do it during the game."

Then, Russell Martin said something that almost put a tear in my eye even though he may very well end up being susepended.

"We don't want the same scenario as in last year's playoffs where the Phillies tried to intimidate us by throwing at Manny and we didn't really retaliate," Martin said. "We don't want to be considered as a team that doesn't have our players' backs. It's about keeping the team unified and pulling the wagon altogether."

I agree with the plunking of Fielder. It shows that the Dodgers have the necessary baseballs to answer back when their top hitter gets beaned. This is an important message to send to the rest of baseball that the Dodgers are not going to take it anymore.

As far as tonight is concerned, this will be the last time the Dodgers and Brewers will play this season. Suspensions and fines might be handed out later today by MLB's Bob Watson. A suspension for Fielder will be a much harder pill to swallow than a suspension against Mota for the Dodgers. The Blue Crew has 36 other great relievers to take his place.

Major League Baseball and the umpires need to send out a no-tolerance policy tonight if they want to keep the Dodgers and the Brewers away from each other's throats. We'll see what happens, and I'll be there (as a fan) to find out! GO SCHMIDTYYYYYYYY!

NBA Schedule 09-10 Released: Shaq & Lebron vs. Lakers on Christmas

The 2009-2010 Lakers schedule has been released and there are some major marquee matchups to look forward to.

October 27th is the day you can mark on your calendar. The first day of the regular season kicks off with the battle of Los Angeles on the line.

The Los Angeles Lakers (15 time champions) will take on the Los Angeles Clippers (never made it to Western Conference Finals) in a Lakers home game in the very Center of Staples.

The newly crowned champs will receive their long awaited rings. Finally, Kobe Bryant will be able to put another ring on his wife, and this one is for freeeeeeeeeeeee!

In all seriousness though, the Clippers should be improved over last season with number one overall pick Blake Griffin. I can't stop comparing his explosiveness to Amare Stoudmire, and the Clippers are hoping he has that kind of impact with the team.

Griffin alongside rising star Erik Gordon, who averaged 16.1 ppg and shot 46% in his rookie year, and the improving Al Thornton comprise some of the best and youngest talent in the league. If the Clippers can only find a way to tune out Mike Dunleavy and light a fire under Baron Davis and lolly gagger Chris Kaman, they might find themselves fighting for a playoff spot.

Anyways, after the Lakers mop the floor with the Clippers, the next game to look forward to on their schedule is the Christmas showdown between Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. This will be the fourth time in five years in which the ex-Lakers will compete against one another.

This will be a much bigger test to the champs than the other team from L.A. LeBron is going to make this upcoming season a revenge tale of epic proportions. The Cavaliers are stacked. They bring nearly eveybody back from last year, excluding the bums they traded for in Wally Sczerbiak, Ben Wallace, and Sasha Pavlovic. They brought in a championship caliber role player in Anthony Parker, and a great athlete in Jamario Moon.

Who will be the first to five rings? Shaq or Kobe?

On January 5th, Trevor Ariza will make his triumphant return back to the purple and gold universe. Seeing him in a Rockets uniform will be weird for everybody involved, but it will be nice to see a nice guy rewarded as he was critical to the 2009 championship.

On January 8th, the Lakers will try to end their four-year losing streak at the Rose Garden in Portland. Will Brandon Roy stopper Ron Artest be the key ingredient needed to take down their rivals up north?

March 7th, the Lake Show goes back to Orlando, the scene of their latest championship crime. The Magic have retooled as much as anybody this offseason and they are coming off an NBA Finals appearance they choked away. They lose Rafer Alston and Courtney Lee but add Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson, Brandon Bass, and Matt Barnes.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm already excited looking forward to these matchups. They say the hardest thing to do in sports is repeating, and the last team to do that was the three-peat Lakers at the turn of the millenium.

We'll see if this Kobe led squad has enough fire to take every team's best shot next year.

Why am I here?

10,000 Hits and Counting

I started this blog in May of 2008, and I've finally reached the 10,000 hit plateau! I want to thank everyone, from the visitors who happened to find this site by googling "jakked up," thinking they were going to see some big time football tackle, to my most loyal visitors who aren't afraid to leave a comment!

It's been real fun blogging about whatever has been on my mind, from "Mannywood" to "Odom Gate 2009." I hope you all have enjoyed my video pieces, and be sure to check out my favorites on the right hand side of the website.

Please continue to check out my site whenever you can, and tell your friends, because this site isn't even close to being JAKked just yet!