Remember Kids, It Could Be Worse...

You know... I almost feel bad for Dodger fans.

For the 8th or 9th time this decade, their season is mathematically over before the Angels' after losing the the Padres 6-0 last night. Not only that, but their fearless leader, Joe Torre, is leaving the team at season's end, to be replaced by Don Mattingly, who has already admitted he is going to be a terrible manager to start.

Not only that, but rumors are running around that Torre could just be leaving to go to a job in New York (to coach the Mets) or Chicago (to coach the Cubs). Thats right, someone would rather coach the Mets or the Cubs than your incredibly boring baseball team.

In addition, the McCourts, the family who owns the team, is currently going through a rough divorce trial, trying to decide who owns the team. This has put a hold on most money coming in or out of the team for a while, and has really crippled their ability to compete.

Oh, and Dodger Dogs taste like Rodent.

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Angels Elimination Number: 4 (Still?)
Carl Crawford Countdown: 81 Days

Adenhart Trial Update

From ABC 7 News Chicago:

The man accused of murder in the collision that killed Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others told police afterward that he blanked out driving home from a bar.

SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A man charged with murder in a drunken-driving crash appeared shocked in a videotaped interview when police told him about the collision that killed Los Angeles Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two others.

"I did a horrible thing," defendant Andrew Gallo said as he sobbed in the recording played Monday during the trial in Orange County.

Gallo, 23, also rubbed his eyes as the jury watched the interview done soon after the April 9, 2009, collision.

Adenhart, 22, died just hours after pitching six scoreless innings at Angel Stadium in Anaheim. Two of his companions, Courtney Stewart, 20, and Henry Pearson, 25, also died. Another friend was critically injured.

Gallo sped through a red light in a minivan and smashed into the side of the sedan carrying the four victims, authorities said.

In previously played segments of the interview, Gallo described a night of drinking beer and shots of sake with his stepbrother then claimed surprise that he had been driving, explaining his license was suspended.

"It's a big blur, I don't even know how we got there ... I don't remember how the accident happened," Gallo said in the footage shown Monday.

Gallo was seen sitting in a corner of a small room, rubbing his shoulder and sipping from a cup of water between questions. Investigators asked if he wanted them to relay a message to the victims' families.

"I'm sorry..." Gallo said, his voice cracking. "I didn't mean for anybody to get hurt."

Gallo pleaded not guilty after he was indicted on three counts of second-degree murder, a felony count of fleeing the scene of a traffic collision involving death or permanent injury, and two other felonies involving driving under the influence.

He could face a maximum sentence of 54 years and eight months to life in state prison if convicted of all counts.

Defense attorney Jacqueline Goodman began calling witnesses on Monday, including Gallo's father Thomas.

Goodman has said Andrew Gallo drove while intoxicated but did not intend to kill anyone and thought his stepbrother was his designated driver.

Prosecutors said they took the unusual step of charging Gallo with second-degree murder -- and not the lesser charge of manslaughter -- in part because he had a prior drunken-driving conviction and because he was driving on a suspended license.

Jon Wilhite, the lone survivor from Adenhart's car, suffered what one doctor called extraordinary injuries that included the separation of his skull from his spine.

Wilhite's recovery has been one of the best reported in medical literature for the injury, spine surgeon Dr. Nitin Bhatia testified.

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I'm not a Lawyer, nor do I claim to be, but it seems pretty odd that his defense so far has been "I don't even remember driving". As someone with a past history of DUI charges, it seems like "I don't even remember driving" would be a terrible way to go with your case.

I'm also not a Judge, nor a part of the Jury, but if this is how the whole trial is going to go, this seems to be a pretty easy one case to decide. Throw this clown in jail for as long as you can. Anything else is too good for him.

At Least We Aren't The Dallas Cowboys.

"America's Team" lost again yesterday to the Chicago Bears to start the season 0-2. Right now, under head coach Wade Phillips, they look more like Cowgirls than anything (and even that might be underestimating Cowgirls).

The Angels, however, beat the Tampa Bay Rays again to win the weekend series. They almost look like a real baseball team again. They were one Fernando Rodney Saturday blow-up from sweeping the second best team in baseball.

The Angels days are still numbered, however, as the Rangers won a game this weekend to bring the elimination number down to 4. The Rangers are in town for the next three games. By tomorrow night the Angels could officially be out of the race. Conversely, by the end of Wednesday, the Angels could be only 7.5 back with 10 to play (11 for Texas).

It would be the worst late-season collapse in Major League history, but its very unlikely. The Angels are still trying to find their identity, while the Rangers are playing for their first postseason in ten years.

Although, if the Angels can do the unthinkable and find themselves 3 or 4 games back of Texas when they start their final series of the season in Arlington, it would make for some damn interesting games.

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Speaking of the Cowboys, Kim Kardashian recently broke up with Cowboys Wide Receiver Miles Austin (again). Its pretty clear that Austin needs to step his game up. At this time last season, Kim's old beau Reggie Bush was 2-0...

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Angels Elimination Number: 4
Carl Crawford Countdown: 83 Days

Cleveland, Now 100% More Depressing.

Who thought that could even be possible?

Another loss to the last place Indians puts the Angels 11.5 games out in the West, and dwindles their elimination number down to 6. That means as soon as Sunday night, the Angels could be eliminated from postseason contention for the first time since 2006.

For all intents and purposes though, the season is over. Even if the Angels win the rest of their games, the Rangers still have 10 remaining games to win 6 more, and eliminate the Angels. Its not like its going to be difficult, either. All 10 are against either the A's or Mariners, including a 3-game set in Seattle starting tonight. With the Angels in Tampa for 3 against the first place Rays, its very likely the Angels season will be over Sunday night.

Personally, I wont be watching this weekends games. In fact, I probably wont watch another baseball game on TV until the playoffs begin in three weeks. The Angels have been hard to watch, even in victories, and my attention has shifted towards the NFL season, and the upcoming NHL season (Pre-season next week!)

However, that doesn't mean Angels Nation is dead for six months, no sir. Once the season is actually over (somewhere around October 4th) I'll do a 2010 season retrospective, along with the seasons best moments and an in-depth look at the season ahead. Not to mention 2010 Postseason and World Series coverage, and once we get into November, some of the most opinionated Hot Stove coverage on the internet!

I was thinking about using the slogan "Angels Nation: Where Angels Baseball is Always On", but I don't want to get sued by the MLB Network, so I've opted for the much more appropriate "Angels Nation: Carefully Documenting How The Angels Will Suck Next Year, Too"

Angels Elimination Number: 6
Carl Crawford Countdown: 86 Days.

Things I'd Rather Watch...

The Angels lost to Cleveland, the joke of all sports-towns, AGAIN last night, and to be honest, things dont look good going into tonight. Weaver is on the hill tonight, but that has spelled trouble for the Angels in the last two months, getting something like 5 runs in Weavers last 12 starts (I need a stat-checker).

Regardless of the Win or Loss, the Angels have been tough to watch lately. The Offense looks comatose, and the Bullpen seems to think they need to serve up batting practice.

So, lets go through my list of hilarious things I'd rather watch than Angels Baseball right now.

1. The WNBA Finals. At least some of those girls have talent.
2. Keeping Up with the Kardashians. Not only is Khloe married to one of the reigning NBA Champions, but she is a former WWF Women's Champion!
3. Pre-Season Hockey. No Good Reason for this, and its a little sad.
4. Dodgers Baseball. Haha, no, just kidding.

On the bright side, the season is almost mercifully over.

Rangers Magic Number (To Eliminate the Angels): 8
Carl Crawford Countdown: 88

Ok, Fuentes, Now Its Personal....

Hey, look at that picture up there. Its a pretty rare one. Its Brian Fuentes throwing a pitch for his new team, the Minnesota Twins. Why is it rare, you ask? Well, he has only faced one batter since being traded for Andre the Giant a few weeks ago. Why is that? Well, because the no-good schmuck seems to have hurt his arm, something the Twins didn't know going into the trade (We're not that sorry).

Why am I being so outspokenly aggressive towards a player who cant suck for us anymore? Well, on a radio interview yesterday with Mason and Ireland on the local ESPNRadio affiliate, he trashed us, the Angels Fans (Note: I am currently unable to find any kind of article pertaining to the interview, but I will provide a link once one surfaces). He complained about us "booing him" last year, even though he lead the league in saves.

First off, buddy, the 2008-2009 Angels played in such a way that my sister could have lead the league in saves. Next, we didn't boo you because we didn't have anything better to do, we booed you because you sucked, and we all knew it. You were also third in the league in BLOWN saves.

Then, he gets on us about booing John Lackey (on his return trip with Boston) even though he was a major factor in the team winning the 2002 World Series. Well, I cant really argue that he helped us win the series, but he got booed because he badmouthed the fans after he left. A classless act.

His reasoning for the booing of himself and Lackey by the Angels faithful? "Thats the kind of fans they are".

You know, at first, I was just happy you are gone. Never around to walk 3 batters in the ninth inning, or grow creepy porn-'staches again. Now, I wish you the worst of luck. I wish your new team the worst of luck (acquiring your sorry ass was a good start). I hope Minnesota not only falls out of the playoffs, but I hope when (if) you come back this season, you have the most miserable final two weeks of the season, and you are pretty much forced out of the league.

Go White Sox!

Angels Get Nice Win; NFL Season Kicks Off

Although the Angels are still 9.5 games out of first place, and the Rangers magic number is down to 14, the Angels got a really big win last night, outlasting the Cleveland Indians in 16 innings. After a Torii Hunter double led off the inning, Callaspo moved him the third which set up the sac fly by Jeff Mathis to win the game.

The Angels still only had 6 hits in 16 innings, and their offense looks as abysmal as ever, but wins like this could propel them back into second place, and help finish the season with a winning record. Also, Peter Borjous hit his third major league Home Run last night. I cant wait to see what this kid can do in a 162-game season with major league time under his belt.

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The NFL Season Kicks off tonight with the Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints vs. the Minnesota Vikings (the team the Saints beat in the NFC Championship game to get to the Super Bowl).

I'd like to take this time to just throw out a few predictions for the upcoming NFL Season, and get some of you used to seeing football on here a bit more.

Playoff Teams:
NFC: Cowboys, Vikings, Saints, 49ers, Eagles and Packers.
AFC: Jets, Bengals, Colts, Raiders, Patriots and Steelers

NFC Championship: New Orleans Saints defeat Dallas Cowboys
AFC Championship: New York Jets defeat Indianapolis Colts
Super Bowl: New York Jets defeat New Orleans Saints

Yeah, its a homer pick, but part of the charm of the upcoming NFL Season is that no team is really a clear favorite. Every team has a number of weaknesses, and I think the Jets have the fewest weaknesses (even fewer is Mark Sanchez finally comes into his own as a great NFL QB).

Oh, and to be super cool, lets go ahead and add an NFL prediction section to this blog.

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Texas Rangers Magic Number (to Eliminate the Angels): 14
Carl Crawford Countdown: 94

NFL Opening Day Prediciton (Record: 0-0):
Saints defeat Vikings