After not hitting lower than .291 in his entire Major League Baseball career, last season, Derek Jeter hit .270 and slugged just .370. The slugging percentage was also the lowest of his career. And even though he won his 5th Gold Glove in 2010, his decline in range at shortstop over the last few years is very apparent. As of this writing, Jeter is currently hitting .206 with just one extra base hit in the first nine games of the […]
Sports
Blerd Appreciation: Dennis Rodman
One of the five best defensive players in basketball history will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame this summer. While many of you hear the name “Dennis Rodman” and immediately think “cross-dressing train wreck”, those of us that followed basketball in the late Eighties and most of the Nineties (hopefully) feel differently. Rodman was, basically, a freak of nature. Drafted at age 25 out of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, he didn’t follow the typical trajectory of a basketball stud. […]
Roundball Soundoff 4/11/11: Playoff Preview
With only a few games left in the season, the playoff picture is pretty clear, so let’s have a look at the match-ups: Eastern Conference First Round 1. Chicago vs. 8. Indiana Chicago put together a great season and a nice final run to secure the top spot in the East. They are my favorites to win the title. Indiana squeaked in the final spot while Charlotte crumbled; they are the only playoff team with a sub-.500 record, so I […]
Cardboard Funk 01: Joe Juneau
Joe Juneau (seen here as a member of the Boston Bruins) had a lengthy career as a journeymen wingman. After spending his college years playing for both R.P.I. (NCAA Frozen Four participant last year) and the Canadian National Team, where he won a silve medal at the 1992 Albertville Games, Juneau joined the Bruins for 14 games during the 1991-92 season. The following year was Joe Juneau’s best year statically. He racked up a career high 32 goals and 70 […]
Roundball Soundoff 4/4/11: The Losers
The….race for 8th in the East (ed. note: Do we really wanna call this a *race*?) (AKA the team who gets to be swept by the Bulls in the 1st round) is just about over. And the winner is….The Bobcats because they get to avoid the brutal beatdown the Bulls are going to provide. I hope you like the teams that are in the playoffs this year because the only lottery teams I can see even possibly making it next […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – Beware The Disease Of More
Later tonight, the baseball team I’ve been watching since 1984 takes their first step in defending their World Series championship. It was only just five short months ago when Brian Wilson struck out Nelson Cruz to clinch the Giants’ first ever world championship in San Francisco. While I cherish the moment of being able to call my team the champs, I sit here conflicted as I await to see what 2011 holds for them. So much of my rooting last […]
Name Our New Column, Win an iTunes Gift Card
We here at Popblerd! are always looking for new concepts, new columns, new writers-and when our buddy Geoff came to us with the idea to write a column about his trading card-collecting childhood, we were super-psyched (also, we’re very excitable, so generally speaking, we’re super-psyched about most things). Geoff has already delivered an inaugural column and everything. However, there’s just one problem. We can’t think of a name for it. With baseball season literally right around the corner, we’d love […]
Roundball Soundoff 3/28/11: Basketball: Where It’s Good To Be Sheep & Cattle
* I don’t follow college hoops nearly as much as I do the pros, but I have to admire what the Virginia Commonwealth Rams have done in the tourney. This is a college whose last noteworthy pro player was Gerald Henderson, whose last pro was drafted in 1982 and lasted only a year (Edmund Sherod), and who has produced just four players in the entire history of the NBA. Regardless if any of the current guys make the pros, it’s […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – Hobbling Towards Opening Day
There are just six days until baseball starts. On March 31, at 10:00AM Eastern, the Detroit Tigers take on the New York Yankees and the Atlanta Braves take on the Washington Nationals. But the big game on the docket is the San Francisco Giants against their hated rival, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Giants have had a strong Cactus League season so far, with an 18-9 record which is tops for all teams in the spring (as of this writing). […]
Roundball Soundoff 3/21/11: James Dolan Can Suck It
– Since the Carmelo trade the Knicks are 1-6 against below .500 teams and 6-2 against above .500 teams. Yeah you read that right. – In a related note, since the Knicks are above .500 (barely) for the first time in 7 years, ticket prices are going up 49% next year. Thank you James Dolan. – People are complaining that the NBA is becoming too top-heavy. Look at seeds 5-8 in the west. If you’re, say, the Lakers do you […]
Roundball Soundoff 3/14/11: The Heat is On
* I wonder if Miami’s recent win over the L.A. Lakers will finally give them the spark they need to start winning against better teams. Prior to that game, they were 1-9 against the top five teams in the league and 15-19 against all teams with a record of .500 or better. Stats like that don’t bode well for the playoffs when it’s nothing but the top teams. For the Heat to make any noise in the playoffs, I think […]
Sweet Chin Muzak – Interview With Cardinals Blogger, Daniel Shoptaw (Part 2)
Make sure you click here to check out Part 1 of GG’s interview. In Part 2, Daniel Shoptaw shares who his favorite Cardinals fantasy sleepers are, who would be perfect next to Albert Pujols on the right side of the infield, what he expects out of the club in 2011, and where he thinks Pujols ends up. GG: The Cardinals have had quite the 2000s so far. There have been seasons where they totally dominated the regular season, only to fall […]