2010 NFL Pro Bowl Rosters Announced With Few Surprises

Here are the rosters as posted on NFL.com, there really arent many surprises. Glad to see Sid Rice, Peterson, Williams, and Allen make it, as they all deserved to go. Too bad Percy Harvin didnt get consideration as a KR, as he definitely deserved to make it as well. Usually they select a different returner than the players already selected, but Jackson has also done a great job for the Eagles. In total the Vikings got 8, which looks to be the highest of the NFC, but I didnt go that far into it.

It also doesnt hurt to mention that if a team is playing in the Super Bowl, those players will not play, so there could be quite a few slots that would be filled. Favre hasnt played in a pro-bowl in years, and a lot of players still fake injuries to avoid going, or maximize existing injuries. For all intensive purposes, this game is a joke anyways, so the honor is in the actual consideration. Stupidly, the game is being played in miami, BEFORE the Super Bowl, and I am still not sure why the league decided on this.

AFC on the left, NFC on the right.

(CLICK TO ENLARGE)

2009 All Star Starters, Or Why The Fans Should Not Be Allowed To Vote Volume 205

American League:

C Joe Mauer - this was right.

1B Mark Texiera - Morneau has the best VORP for all AL 1Bs, was #8 for the entire league, but was third in the voting. Tex wasnt even in the top 30 for the league.

2B Dustin Pedroia - Again, Ben Zobrist was the top 2B for AL, Pedroia wasnt even on the first page of players for the stat.

SS Derek "Calm Eyes" Jeter - Jason Bartlett has a Top 5 VORP in the whole FUCKING league, but wasnt even close in voting to the most overrated player in MLB history.

3B Evan Longoria - this was right

OF Jason Bay - should be Shin Soo Choo

OF Ichiro - this was right

OF Josh Hamilton - Should be Torii Hunter. Just goes to show you what a HR Derby performance can do for fans who dont watch baseball more than one game here or there. The guy has played 35 games, hit 6 HRs, and basically has done nothing this year. Why is he an all star? Oh right, because he hit a bunch of HRs in an exhibition.

NOTE: Tim Wakefield has made it because he has 10 wins. That is fucking crap. He has an ERA at almost 5. Wins mean nothing. Absolutely nothing. What shit.

National League:

C Yadier Molina - HA! Should be McCann. Funny enough, there isnt an NL catcher in the top 60 for VORP.

1B Albert Pujols - This is a duh-level right.

2B Chase Utley - This is right

SS Hanley Ramirez - This is right

3B David Wright - should be Pablo Sandoval, who oddly did not get the nod AT ALL. Final vote my ass.

OF Ryan Braun - this is right

OF Raul Ibanez - this is right

OF Carlos Beltran - this is right

Man, they need to stop the fan voting. Half of the AL players have been vastly outperformed by other, more statistically superior players. Its crazy.

Since this game "counts" for some fucking ridiculous reason, its important to prevent the general stupidity of the fans from entering into the equation.

2009 NFL Pro Bowl Rosters Come Out Today, But Who Cares?

In baseball, the All Star rosters are important, now, and it should never, eeeeeeeeeeeeeever have been that way due to the EXHIBITION status of the game. Regardless of the above stupidity, its still pretty fun to watch. I like seeing my favorite team play, but its amazing to see the best players most popular players face off in a game.

On the other hand, we have the NFL "All Star Game" or the Pro Bowl, where players make up injuries not to go, its after the season when people are still reeling from the Super Bowl, and with no bump and run coverage, or people who care, it becomes boring. On top of all this, you still have fan voting, which means that LaDanian Tomlinson will probably still get in, despite having the worst season of his career.

Funny enough, there was even controversy about the balloting for this game that no one wants to play, as the Washington Redskins were accused of stuffing the ballot box for starting a campaign a little early on their website and games. As a result 8 of the 11 starting positions were dominated by Redskins players in the vote. In retaliation, the NFL extended some stuff and really, it boiled down to no one caring.... again. In my mind, there are only a few people that should go to the pro bowl, as we have come to find out that the non-skill players are just there because they were last year.

What do I think should be done? Well, im glad you asked! If it were me, I would do this as an All American style thing where you dont actually play a game that no one watches except in Hawaii. Instead just have a banquet there, and let everyone still get their trip.

The thing that I hate about the Pro Bowl is that when its over, so is football action for a long......... long fucking time, and that sucks ass. Sure we have the draft in May or whatever, but its still just people on a stage. Really too bad.

I Was Misinformed, But This Is Twice As Stupid

So the LA times posted the wrong rosters yesterday. But, I would much rather have those rosters than the new pieces of crap.

The reason I am so shocked is because Jason Varitek has been named as a reserve. Jason Varitek, the guy who is putting up .219AVG, 7HR, 27RBI, .289SLG, .661OPS. You have got to be fucking kidding me. He should be disqualified. Maybe he will get injured and someone who actually deserves it will be named instead of the stupid ones usually voted in by the idiot fans.

From Real Sports Blog:

Jason Varitek is the most recent All-Star to make our list. The Red Sox catcher entered Monday night's game hitting just .219, in the midst of a terrible 12-for-92 (.130) slump and had more strikeouts (70) than hits (53). Varitek was selected to the team by other players, something that slightly embarrassed him, even though he says, “Cut out the last three weeks and I’d be OK.” Not quite. 'Tek is just 15-for-113 with 38 strikeouts since May 21, and as of Sunday night, over the same length of schedule and assuming a minimum of 100 plate appearances, San Francisco Giants shortstop Omar Vizquel was the only major leaguer who had hit for a lower average (.108) than Varitek (.133).

I Am Really Sick of East Coast Teams/Fans, Part 2

For those of you who havent seen the recent all star game balloting update on MLB.com, a Yankee or a Red Sox player leads the vote in each goddamned category. Fucking gross if you ask me, considering that this game actually counts for something.

Let me tell you something. Jason Varitek should not be the top vote getter for AL catchers, nor should Ivan Rodriguez. But, since the average 9 year old is still allowed to vote, and because the average baseball fan is a blithering idiot, he leads by a good margin. I would pick Napoli, Mauer, and 3 other guys before I would waste my vote on those guys. Ivan Rodriguez isnt even batting .270!


Youkilis commits error, needs new pants.

Youkilis is having a great year, but he should not be leading by over 200,000+ votes. Not a chance. Same with Pedroia and ESPECIALLY Derek Jeter. I know Jeter prevented a plane crash last week by piloting the team plane to a smooth landing from 35,000 feet, but he is not even close the top shortstop in the AL. Calm eyes aside. Also, sidebar, Jason Giambi has 3 place in the vote for AL 1B, I want to kill myself.

If this exhibition game is going to count, which it shouldnt as an exhibition game, fans should be taken out of it. I say to let the managers pick their rosters because the fans have no clue, and when I mean no clue, I mean NO FUCKING CLUE who to start.

Based on VORP and EqA, here is who should be starting:

CF - Josh Hamilton
LF - Carlos Quentin
RF - Magglio Ordonez (May actually be a starter)
1B - Kevin Youkilis (Morneau leads EqA w/ Youk a close second)
2B - Ian Kinsler
3B - Carlos Guillen
SS - Michael Young
C - Joe Mauer
DH - Milton Bradley

Ill take this team, you guys take your Yankees/Red Sox hybrid. We'll see who wins.