The Arrogance of Aaron Hernandez

Today at 8:45 a.m.  Aaron Hernandez, the now former New England Patriot tight end was arrested, charged with murder in the first degree.

We all know the story by now, Odin Lloyd, a friend of Hernandez, was found shot and killed in an industrial park 10 days ago on June 17th.  In the days the follow, Hernandez was linked to the victim, his house searched, a warrant allegedly prepared for his arrest, but on obstruction of justice charge.

Murder suspicion was never officially released to the public.  But it doesn't take a genius to piece the clues that were public together.  The police just took as much time as they needed gathering evidence.

And in the arraignment today, the prosecutor talked for over 20 minutes, detailing evidence they did have and piecing together the crime.

This wasn't a crime of passion, Lloyd was not having some kind of affair or did anything really wrong to Hernandez.  This wasn't self-defense, heat of the moment, or even an accidental shooting.

It was a *alleged* plot by Mr. Aaron Hernandez to kill Lloyd in cold blood.

But why would someone with an NFL career, new $41.1million contract, a fiance, and a newborn baby want to kill someone for, must have been pretty serious?

Well Lloyd made the mistake of talking to people that Hernandez didn't like.  "You can't trust anyone anymore."  The state supposedly has that quote from Hernandez on his own surveillance type, hour before the body was found.

Hernandez *allegedly* killed a man, because he wasn't rolling with the right crew 24/7.

The arrogance around Hernandez is appalling.

Did he really think that he wouldn't get caught?  Who cares, it was important for he and his wanna-be-gangsters sent a message.  Talk to those guys and we'll kill you.

From the state's mountain of evidence, it seems that his crew and himself are ridiculously sloppy, so they didn't plan it very well.  But guessing by the way Hernandez carries himself, he thought he was untouchable.

Talented, new family, 23, and he threw his life away.

Because his arrogance told him he was an untouchable star.

*All the allegations against him are alleged until he has his day in court.  Innocent until proven guilty.

For extra reading, check out this article from Yahoo!

Jozy's June: USA Earns 9 Points in June WC Qualifiers

The good ol boys of the US of A were faced with three important games this June in their hopes of qualifying for World Cup 2014 in Brazil.
They came out of June with three victories, and nine huge points.  And they did this riding the red hot resurgence of striker Jozy Altidore.

Altidore has been the target of much criticism for lack of offensive production in his time representing the stars in stripes.  The striker position as a whole has been a weak point, but much was expected from Jozy after his coming out party against Spain in the confederations cup in 2009 (on my birthday too)

But after going 11 games with scoring, Jozy Altidore joins elite US company as one of the few players to have scored in 4 consecutive games.  All in June.

It started when Jozy scored in a 4-3 friendly victory against Germany.  Followed that up with a goal in a crucial 2-1 road win against the Reggae Boys in Kingston.  Last week, he scored in the 2-0 home victory against Panama.

And tonight, Jozy scored twice, although one was an offsides play, in a 1-0 victory against Honduras, avenging the USA's lone WC qualifying loss.

Tonights victory was a sluggish match.  Both teams looked very sloppy, but the US had the majority of possession and chances.  It wasn't pretty, but it was a victory.
A victory that all but assures a trip to Brazil for the Red, White, n' Blue

U.S Earn Crucial Road Points

Today the United States soccer team went down to Jamaica in their fourth game of the hexagonal World Cup qualifiers and stole 3 points from the Reggae Boyz on their home turf in a dramatic 2-1 victory.

Getting it started for the Americans was Jozy Altidore, who knocked in an easy header from inside the six yard box off the beautiful cross from Graham Zusi in the 30th minute.


That lead would hold for most of the match, as the United States did a terrific job of keeping the pressure on the Jamaicans and holding onto the majority of possession.
But as the lead stayed at 1 and the Reggae Boyz began to press, an opportunity arose in the 89th minute after a Zusi foul led to a Jamaican free kick.  A long ball was sent into the box and was headed home by Beckford.

But the resilient Americans did not let up.  After surviving another Jamaican scoring chance, the US led a counter attack which yielded a corner.  The corner was quickly taken short, and when Bradley got the ball back, he found Brad Evans for the quick turn and perfectly placed finish to the US the lead back in stoppage time.


This was a huge win on the road for the Americans, giving them 7 points in the hex and firmly placing them in second place.  If they can take care of business on their home turf, there will be no doubt about the US's qualification to Brazil.

Red Wings Season Recap: Youth Movement has Arrived

David Guralnick/Detroit News

Last Wednesday our beloved Red Wings fell in a heartbreaking overtime game seven against Original Six rival Chicago Blackhawks.  Heartbreaking because the Wings had a 3-1 series lead, but we should not be angry at the collapse.

Normally, if the Wings blew a lead like that, I'd be furious, but considering the youth of our squad, what we lost and were missing, and how young and inexperienced our squad is, that series and this postseason are going to be a great learning experience for our youths.

And seriously folks, when was the last time the Wings were "young."

No fan should be disappointed by this season.  A team plagued by injury all season, and also lost two key defensemen, including Captain Nick, not only made the postseason, against many expectations, but  eliminated the two seeded Anaheim Ducks and took the top seeded Blackhawks to game seven.

The emergence of Jimmy Howard should give every Red Wings fan faith that next year won't be as rough a regular season.  Howard proved that he can win playoff and big games.  He carried this team.  Carried them into the playoffs, the second round, and all the way to game seven against the top seed.

The offseason should be very interesting.  Ian White will be gone, and Valteri Filppula will likely follow him out the door.  Val wants $5 million contract and hasn't wavered on that stance.  He will probably get that, just not from Detroit.  Not enough production to warrant that deal.

The Red Wings will have cap space aplenty, and if a top line goal scoring hits the market, I fully expect the Wings to be bidders.

With Pavel Datsyuk announcing his desire to sign a contract extension, Wings fans should expect (hope) that the front office will go out and find him a true goal scoring winger to pair him with.  Nathan Horton is a potential name that intrigues, would be a great fit.

Damien Brunner, Drew Miller, and Daniel Cleary will, in all early indications, be brought back, Brunner being the top priority.  A right-handed shooting goal scorer is too precious a resource for the Wings to let him walk away.  And he will probably cost less than Filppula.

This season should give everyone out there confidence and hope going forward.  Joakim Anderson, Gustav Nyquist, Brendan Smith, Jakub Kindl, and Brunner are all some of the young faces that emerged this season for the Wings.  Their development is key to the Wings making it 23 straight postseason appearances next season.

Which, by the way, I will already predict that they will indeed make it 23 straight.

Don't doubt the Beard, and never bet against the Wings.

Red Wings Advance in 7 as the 7 (told you so again)

Photo Credit John Gross

I'ma little late, but I'm taking a break from my vacation to bring you my thoughts that I know you all can't live without.

But our resilient Red Wings took out the Not-Mighty-Anymore Ducks of Anaheim, in 7 games, giving all us Wings lovers another third period scare in the process, but hung on to win 3-2 in the decisive game 7.

This seven game series was without a doubt one of the most fun playoff series I've ever had the pleasure of viewing (most of it.)  Two evenly matched teams battling it out night in and night out, only one game was a bad game.  4 of the 7 games went to overtime on top of that.

But our beloved Red Wings found a way to make past the second-seeded Ducks and now have a date with Chicago.

But how could the Red Wings, who just a matter of weeks ago were out of the playoffs, fund themselves still playing hockey?  Allow me to give you a rundown of some key points...

Bearded Style.

1. Playoff mentality
• When the Wings were always finishing as one of the top teams in the conference, there was one thing that always worried me about our first round matchup: The playoff mentality.  The Wings, and other low-seed teams, have been fighting for their playoff lives for weeks all the way up until the final game of the season.  They've been in playoff mode for weeks and this sometimes gives them a huge leg up on the opponents.
• Wings were 9th and had to win the last 4 games to get the 7 seed.  Minnesota finished 8, but had that spot kind of locked up for awhile, they fell into 8th but still had leeway over Columbus.
2. Perfect Matchup
• The Red Wings matched up beautifully with the Ducks, and even took the season series against them.  Yes, regular season doesn't matter in the post season, but you had to imagine there was a sense of confidence playing the Ducks as opposed to starting with Chicago.  Players claim not to think about this, but they do.
3. Youth Development
• Folks, this is the most important one here, the young folks of the Wings became men.  Babcock said it himself, without the development of the Anderson-Nyquist-Brunner line this team doesn't get past the Ducks and it's true.  That line gave Babcock good shift after good shift and scored two key overtime goals.
• But let's not forget the contributions of the other youngsters, Emmerton, Lashoff, Dekeyser, Smith, and Kindl.  While only the later of the two played every game of the series, these guys all got valuable experience this series/season, they all show a promising future for the Red Wings.
4. Beard Support

• Yupp, I predicted them to win, check the Twitter.  I may be wrong about most things, I was right about them making the playoffs, the seed they'd get(both preseason predictions, Ryan can back me up,) and them getting past the first round.

Next up we got Chicago, and unfortunately, the Wings looked outmatched.  Then again, everyone is outmatched against Chicago.  What gives me hope is that 3 out of 4 of the regular season matchups too OT or shootout, so it's been close.  And the Wings are hot and healthy for the first time.

Unfortunately, this pains me to do, but I'm going Hawks in 6.

This is your bearded blogger, keeping it real in Hawaii

Aloha y'all

The Beard Goes All Mel Kiper Jr

I'd been mulling over the Lions draft since it concluded yesterday around 7.  They filled most of their needs, so at least they did that.  But I can't help but think they're draft could have been better.

With the 5th pick the Detroit Lions took Ziggy Ansah, defensive end from BYU.  Fills a huge need, losing Cliff Avril, the Lions desperately needed a top end pass rusher.  But did they get it when they took Ziggy?  He has 4.5 sacks in his career.  4.5 sacks and only one year of significant playing time.  Oh and he never played football before college.

He is so raw that Gordan Ramsey would throw the Lions out of the kitchen in a glorious display of Scottish accent and cursing.

With his freakish athleticism, he could be the stud the Lions need.  But at number 5, I don't want a could be, I want a for certain.  What would I have done?  Try to trade down, assuming I couldn't... I'd probably take... Milliner?  Probably Milliner.

Second round though is where I have my biggest beef.  With other corners of perhaps more refined skill, the Lions make a pick at corner that would make Al Davis proud.  Darius Slay, the cornerback out of Mississippi State wasn't (arguably) the best cover corner on his team, let alone available at that pick.
The Lions became enamored with his 4.35 40 time.  So much so that we ignored knee problems.  Second round pick of a guy coming off a knee injury, stop me if you've heard this before.
What would I have done?  Trade down.  There were plenty of need/skill guys to make a move.  There would have been a suitor for a trade I have no doubt.  But the Lions were hell bent on getting Slay, but hey, what do I know?  I'm just a guy with a keyboard.

Third round the Lions finally make a pick I'm okay with, taking the big guard from Kentucky Larry Warford.  He will be starting and he will be a solid guard for years to come.  YaaaaaY Lions!

The fourth round pick end Devin Taylor from South Carolina next.  He's got freakish size, so no complaints here.  4th round pick guys need to make an impact in a couple years tops, this is the part of the draft the Lions haven't hit since.....................  I actually have no idea.

5th round pick... WE TOOK A PUNTER!!!!!!!!!!!!  A punter who didn't even lead his sub-D1 league in yards average.  In fact, he was third.
"But Dave, we need a punter!"  Hush child.  Take one in the 7th if you're so determined to take one.  Bring in 8 punters for a try out.  They're punters, there's like 50 looking for work.  Pick one.

6th round we get a wide receiver! Yay!  Tall guy that can run but can't run routes.  Exactly what I want in a wide receiver.  Al Davis would be proud.  But 6th rounders are projects.
199th pick, the Tom Brady pick.  The Lions take a Notre Dame man in Theo Riddick.  Puuuuuuuke. Lions are taking him for kick returning I presume.  Sooo there's that.  But I don't like him.  Yes it's because his school, deal with it.

7th round here we go!  Lions take Mike Williams.  Tight End from Alabama.  Hopefully this goes better than our first Mike Williams.  But he went to Bama, and all they do is produce pros so hey I like it.
Last pick, the Lions FINALLY take a linebacker.  I've wanted one since round 2.  So we take one.  But he won't be anything but a special teamer.  Let's be real here.  Brandon "Don't Call Me Audrey" Hepburn from Florida A&M, King Kwame's old stomping ground.  He's a biochemistry major... So I guess that's cool...

On a side note, the Lions told Denard if he fell to them in the 5th, they were taking him... This makes me sad.  I wanted him.  Just because I know he'll never play QB, and when you know that, you want Robinson.

Overal, they addressed the many needs they had, so I can't complain too much.  But I'm not blown away.  I'll give them a B that could easily become an A or a D.  I do have a hunch that this was the last draft for Mayhew and Schwartz... But that's another blog for another time.

Remember folks, I know more than Mel Kiper Jr so read this, not his articles.

Red Wing Playoff streak at 22... I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!!

I have friends and people that like to talk sports with me.  I did not write an official prediction blog, but people can attest that I have been very adamant all season long and even before the year that your beloved Detroit Red Wings would be amongst the eight teams in the Western Conference of the National Hockey League to compete for a chance to become the Stanley Cup Champions in the 2013 postseason.

I was told, "No, you're dumb"  "They have no chance"  "Too old"  I was even laughed at when I said I thought they were a playoff team.  Not a Cup contender, just one of the top 8 in the Western Conference.  I was laughed at.

I never wained, and now after Detroit's 3-0 win over the Dallas Stars, I can proudly write this blog and say what I've been waiting to say even before this season began...

I TOLD YOU SO!!!!!

I said they've been "too old" since 2001.  I said they've been written off year after year.  Everything I had been told this year that I "wasn't seeing" is the same rap I've heard year after year.  And all I said was this, 21 years ain't no fluke, they always find a way.

And found a way they did, getting hot at the right time to take themselves from a 9 seed on the outside looking in to the 7th seed getting a more favorable matchup and a trip to Disney Land.

Now a full playoff preview will come at a later time, but real quick I will say this:  Anaheim a much better matchup than Chicago and the Wings are hot at the right time.  Look out.

There's a lesson to be learned hear ladies and gentlemen:

Do not doubt the Beard.

Happy playoffs everyone!