sportsblogger

   After missing last weeks Sports Market, the Monday staple returns bigger and better than before with a beefed-up amount of topics. The weekend was full of stories that can match up with last weeks bombshells such as Manny Ramirez and Brett Favres likely return to the NFL.

Los Angeles Lakers- The Lakers have looked a bit bleek in this series with the Houston Rockets and it doesn’t appear any better. Los Angeles was blown out of Game 4 from start to finish and needs to get serious about this series and not expect to walk over the Rockets with ease.

Until the Lakers learn this, they are down in our Market.

Manny Ramirez- If it wasn’t the use of performance enhancing drugs that has hurt Manny’s reputation, it is certainly not a great week for Manny. Now he has reportedly got under the skin of Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt who has demaned Manny address his team.

Manny is down.

Alex Rodriguez- Speaking of alleged steroid users, A-Rod has had a sort of re-birth in the New Yankee Stadium as he attempts to rebuild his reputation. In his first at-bat since admitting the his use of steroids, Rodriguez belted a home-run.

That is the first step to rebuilding his reputation, and that leaves A-Rod up in the Sports Market.

Roy Jones Jr.- As Jones Jr. tries to keep a career in professional sports, he will attempt to use his boxing skills for a career in Mixed Martial Arts. The problem is no major MMA Promotion wants to take a chance on Jones Jr., so he will likely have to start from the bottom and work his way up.

With that, Jones Jr. is down.

Darrius Heyward-Bey- Do you know the name? Well I didn’t either but he was the Oakland Raiders first pick in the draft this year. Apparently, Heyward-Bey had a rough first mini-camp where he would drop three wide-open passes and would tweak his hamstring.

For that, Heyward-Bey is down.

Last Week: There was no Market last week. We will return the review section next week.

J.M.Saucedo

   Without any Sports Market on Monday, the news is over-flowing and we are going to use Shocking/Not So Shocking to get to most of it. Now, let’s get to the Sports stories that are making headlines today and put our usual funny twist on things.

Shocking: Manny “I got 99 problems but a pitch ain’t one” Ramirez has a new problem on the list, he was suspended from baseball for 50 games.

A Second Shocking: Manny was suspended for testing positive for the use of a performance enhancing drug but the rumor mills are circulating that he did not test positive for steroids or hgh. More news should appear in the coming days.

Shocking: Brett Favre is reportedly willing to talk to the Minnesota Vikings about a possible return to football in hopes of sticking it to the Green Bay Packers.

Not So Shocking: Brett Favre is reportedly not talking to the Minnesota Vikings, according to the team, they are saying they have no interest in Favre; until they sign him in the coming months.

Shocking: In the wake of the Manny Ramirez bombshell, many people are forgetting that the Los Angeles Dodgers won their 13th game in a row at home.

Not So Shocking: 13-0 at Dodger Stadium is a tremendous feat and the Dodgers should be proud of that, but the Manny Ramirez suspension is hanging over the Blue Crew today.

Shocking: The Los Angeles Lakers evened up their series with the Houston Rockets yesterday in physical fashion yesterday at Staples Center.

A Second Shocking: Whether it was the Derek Fisher getting ejected or Ron Artest, this series will be physical for the remainder of the games.

Shocking: The Champions League final is set with Manchester United returning to the final for the second consecutive year to face Barcelona.

A Second Shocking: This years Champions League Final sets up a Dream match-up with great players on the field such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Thierry Henry; it should be a great Final.

J.M.Saucedo

   The Los Angeles Dodgers are off to the best home start in MLB history with a 12-0 record at Historic Dodger Stadium this season. What is utterly surprising is how the Dodgers have been so dominant at home which has been their really efficient pitching.

   After last season, a season which took the Dodgers to the NLCS, Los Angeles was expecting this season to be much better for the Blue Crew. As it turns out, the season has started off better for the Dodgers who have opened plenty of eyes around Major League Baseball.

   To make things even more interesting for the Dodgers, they have found their pitching staff a source of comfort as even Jeff Weaver has stepped in as a solid starting pitcher again. Then there is still the Manny Ramirez factor that has rubbed off on the younger Dodger players.

   Manny has been a great leader for the Blue Crew and his Manny-factor has really helped OF Andre Eithier who is having a stellar season thus far. Then, there is Joe Torre, a World Champion Manager who is steadily improving his roster and teaching the young players how to play the game right.

   Torre’s main development is easily going to be C Russell Martin who is becoming one of the best Catchers in the National League, if not MLB. So if you incorporate all of those factors, you get a MLB record-tying 12-0 start to the Dodgers’ 2009 season.

   The real winners here are the loyal Dodger fans who show up in record numbers every season to the Diamond of Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium. There is no better place to be in Los Angeles than Dodger Stadium from April to October and it’s even better when the Blue Crew is 12-0!

J.M.Saucedo