Shane Mosley Destroys Antonio Margarito

I hate to toot my own horn, but toot toot! The overwhelming underdog, Shane Mosley, completely destroyed Antonio Margarito before stopping him with thunderous right hands in the 9th round. Margarito was favored by all. He was a 4 to 1 favorite in Las Vegas. You couldn't find ANYBODY picking Mosley, except yours truly. This is part of what I wrote yesterday:

The unanimous consensus seems that Margarito will be too much for the old fighter and will wear him down leading to a late round TKO. I'm here to pose another possibility. Mosley's speed should allow him to attack Margarito in the early rounds. His best defense will be his offense. Margarito is great at shrinking the ring and cutting off the circling game, so Mosley will have to use his jab-power combinations to force Margarito into respecting his space. Mosley should win the early rounds. In fact do not be surprised to see Mosley win the first 6 or so rounds. If this happens, Mosley can plan for the coming assault. Paul Williams used this exact game plan in a 2007 defeat of Margarito, winning the early rounds and surviving a vicious 11th round attack before Margarito tired in the 12th.

Well ladies and gentleman, this fight went almost exactly as I suspected. Mosley used his jab-power combination to establish himself as a force early in the fight. He won the first six rounds and possibly the first 8 (I scored only the 7th for Margarito, and it was close). His speed was undoubtedly the difference as he beat Margarito to the punch in every exchange. He also used the clinch perfectly, never allowing himself to be backed up by Margarito. I don't think anybody could have forseen a Mosley knockout, which is the main shock of the fight. But it is known that Mosley possesses elite power, and he showed it with tons of thunderous right hands all night, leading up to the 9th round finish.

The opening bell came and Jim Lampley provided the viewers with a very curious piece of information. The commissioner of boxing relayed the news that Margarito's hands were wrapped with an illegal hardening substance (probably Plaster of Paris) and it was discovered and his hands had to be re-wrapped three times. It obviously didn't have anything to do with the result tonight, but it does bring into question the result of the Margarito-Cotto bout from this past summer. The two were expected to rematch this summer pending results of their respective bouts, and while Margarito lost I expect they will still meet (providing Cotto beats Michael Jennings). It will be an intriguing backdrop to an anticipated rematch, and should provide plenty of rumor fodder and conspiracy theories about Margarito's power.

The road for Shane Mosley isn't as clear. One would expect a unification bout with either Joshua Clottey or Andre Berto to make the most sense, but they can be politically tricky. Maybe Cotto skips Margarito and gets a rematch with Mosley (who he has beaten) for the Welterweight Title. It will be interesting to see where Shane Mosley goes from here.

In all, it was a very impressive display by Shane Mosley. You can't say enough about him or trainer Nazim Richardson (one of my personal favorites) creating and executing a perfect gameplan. It was a great display of skill and power and focus, and one of the biggest upsets in recent boxing history. If you didn't catch it tonight, HBO is rebroadcasting it tomorrow at 9:45 AM on HBO, and at 12:45 PM on HBO2. Highly recommended.

Attn Captain Crooked Hat: Meet Brandon Lyon

Well the Captain Crooked Hat era has officially ended in Detroit before it began. The Tigers have agreed to a one year $4.25 M deal with Brandon Lyon, mercifully ending all speculative terror that has come with the Captain Crooked Hat era. Dave Dombrowski has said "We have not guaranteed Brandon Lyon the closers role." Well make no mistake about it, Brandon Lyon is guaranteed to be the closer. There is no humanly possible way that Captain Crooked Hat wins the job. Lyon would have to end up like the drummer for Def Leppard for Captain Crooked Hat to take the closers job.

Although Lyon isn't as exciting as K-Rod, Putz, Hoffman, Wood, or basically anyone else that was available, he was the best left. And they didn't have to break the bank for him, as it's only a one year deal for 4.25 Mil. And he can't get be any worse than what the Tigers would have had without him. Captain Crooked hat has proven that he cannot close games, but he is actually an effective set-up man. With The Captain of the Crooked and Joel Zumaya at the 7-8 and Lyon at the 9, the Tigers are beginning to resemble a Major League pitching staff. Now we just have to figure out if they have 5 capable starters...

Mark McGwire's Brother is a Scumbag

ESPN - A new book proposal, submitted by the admittedly estranged brother of Mark McGwire, claims the former major league slugger used both steroids and human growth hormone during his career. In the proposal, first reported Wednesday on Deadspin.com, Jay McGwire alleges that Mark used Deca-Durabolin and that he introduced Mark to performance-enhancing drugs in 1994. The McGwire brothers reportedly haven't spoken to each other for years. The book, "The McGwire Family Secret: The Truth about Steroids, a Slugger and Ultimate Redemption," is reportedly being sent by Jay McGwire to several publishing houses in New York. Deadspin.com said that it has been turned down by "many" publishers. "Mark is a man I think most would like to forgive because his reason wasn't nefarious -- it was for survival," he wrote, according to the proposal. "My bringing the truth to surface about Mark is out of love. I want Mark to live in truth to see the light, to come to repentance so he can live in freedom -- which is the only way to live. "

Alright Jay McGwire can cut the shit with the "This is out of love and repentance and shining light blah blah blah." EVERYBODY knows you're in it for the money, dude. Everybody. There can't be a single person in the world who really thinks Jay McGwire is heartlessly throwing his estranged brother under the bus "out of love." Yeah, love of a million dollar publishing deal maybe. And I can understand why the publishing companies are pushing this away like its a poop-on-a-stick. Because EVERYBODY knows Mark McGwire used steroids. Everybody. There can't be a single person who really thinks McGwire blew up like a balloon and starting jacking 600 ft homers 65 times a season based on a strict pilates program. This is probably the reason the greatest slugger of the 1990's can't even get 15% of the Hall-of-Fame vote let alone the required 75%. There is nothing startling or remotely intriguing about a "Mark McGwire Used Steroids" book. Now if it was about how McGwire threw steroid parties with Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens and a handful of transvestite strippers, maybe it'd be worth a book deal... but not based on this lame-o 'exclusive'. I guarantee that Jay McGwire's estrangement and this book deal are because McGwire wasn't giving him money back then or now. Well Jay McGwire wasn't wowing America in a heated homerun chase with Sammy Sosa was he? So he can piss off, he never deserved money from Mark McGwire and certainly doesn't now.

Margarito-Mosley Should Be Fantastic

Let it be known that I am a big boxing fan. And tomorrow night we will all be treated to a rare title fight for free. The economic downturn paired with contract quarrels has led to this fight being broadcast on HBO. Regular HBO, no pay-per-view. It's not really free in a sense that you pay for HBO, but for those that do have HBO available, I highly recommend tuning into this fight tomorrow night... Antonio Margarito vs. Shane Mosley for the Welterweight Title.

The Ledgers:

Antonio Margarito

Age: 30

Title: WBA Welterweight (2008-Present, 0 defenses)

Height: 5'11"

From: Tijuana, Mexico

Record: 37-5 (25 KO)

Record in Title Fights: 11-2 (9 KO), 1 No Contest

Previous Titles: WBO Welterweight (2002-2007, 8 Defenses), IBF Welterweight (2008, 0 Defenses)

Current and Former World Champions Defeated: 4 (Andrew Lewis, Kermit Cintron (twice), Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto).

Current and Former World Champions Defeated by: 2 (Daniel Santos, Paul Williams)

Shane Mosley

Age: 37

Title: None

Height: 5'9"

From: Pomona, California

Record: 45-5 (38 KO)

Record in Title Fights: 14-5 (11 KO)

Previous Titles: IBF Lightweight (1997-1999, 8 Defenses), World/WBC Welterweight (2000-2002, 3 Defenses), World/WBC/WBA Jr. Middleweight (2003-2004, 0 Defenses)

Current and Former World Chamions Defeated: 8 (Phillip Holiday, John John Molina, Jesse James Leija, Oscar De La Hoya, Raul Marquez, Fernando Vargas, Luis Collazo, Ricardo Mayorga)

Current and Former World Champions Defeated by: 3 (Vernon Forrest, Winky Wright, Miguel Cotto)

Fight Breakdown

This fight matches contrasting styles. Margarito is a relentless puncher, throwing tons and tons of shots. He has a renowned chin and can take a lot of damage. He is a plodding fighter, usually stalking his opponent about the ring. Mosley possesses amazing raw talent. His combination of speed and power once captivated the world. Although he has since slowed a bit with age, he is still a great example of the prototypical combination of speed, skill, and power.

The unanimous consensus seems that Margarito will be too much for the old fighter and will wear him down leading to a late round TKO. I'm here to pose another possibility. Mosley's speed should allow him to attack Margarito in the early rounds. His best defense will be his offense. Margarito is great at shrinking the ring and cutting off the circling game, so Mosley will have to use his jab-power combinations to force Margarito into respecting his space. Mosley should win the early rounds. In fact do not be surprised to see Mosley win the first 6 or so rounds. If this happens, Mosley can plan for the coming assault. Paul Williams used this exact game plan in a 2007 defeat of Margarito, winning the early rounds and surviving a vicious 11th round attack before Margarito tired in the 12th.

However there is a lot at stake in this fight. Margarito has scratched and clawed to become part of the boxing's "Elite," and will not want to exit this group. Mosley has been in this group for the better part of 15 years. Will Margarito be the hungrier fighter? Additionally, this fight will occur in front of 20,000+ fans in Los Angeles' Staples Center; a great location for two Southern California based fighters. The atmosphere will be electric and the setting perfect.

It is very difficult to predict a fight where the fighters are so different, and where both possess one punch knockout power. I'll make a prediction knowing full-well that it could be completely wrong. I think that Mosley will win the early rounds before slowing and Margario taking full control of the fight. However, I expect Mosley to have such an advantage on the scorecards that he is able to plan for and avoid the assault. If he is standing at the end of the 12th round, it means he's outboxed Margarito and has won numerous rounds. I also make this pick to go against the grain a little bit... All signs point to Margarito overwhelming Mosley, but I think the old vet has one last run in him.

The Pick: Mosley by Decision

So definitely tune into this fight. It's a non pay-per-view title fight, and a good one at that. Even the undercard is really loaded (but I won't bore you). HBO 10 PM on Saturday.

Can Everybody Stop With the Lions Drafting a QB Talk?

(Georgia QB Matthew Stafford)

(USC QB Mark Sanchez)

(Alabama OT Andre Smith)

OK this pre-draft talk is getting really old. Add Mel Kiper to the long list of "experts" who have the Lions taking a QB with the #1 overall pick. This has to stop before it gains anymore steam. What a terrible waste of a pick any QB would be. Especially Georgia's keg-lifting QB Matthew Stafford. He has a great arm, they say. Yeah... so does JaMarcus Russell, how is that working out? So did Alex Smith and David Carr. USC's Mark Sanchez has gotten some talk, but I wonder where all his talk was before Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, and Colt McCoy chose not to declare eligibility for the draft. The fact is NOBODY considered Sanchez a top 10 pick until the other underclassmen chose to stay in school. The franchise's answer at QB is not in this draft. Besides the lack of QB talent worthy of a #1 pick, drafting a QB just doesn't make sense for the Lions.

For any rookie QB to survive and succeed, they must step into a well-managed situation. The Lions have a rookie head coach, a rookie GM, a sieve for a defense, a sieve for an offensive line, and they are coming off an 0-16 season. If Jesus Christ himself decided to enter the draft and the Lions picked him to play quarterback, he wouldn't succeed. The Lions are in complete rebuilding mode, and throwing a rookie QB on a terrible team would end in disaster, ask Joey Harrington.

The benefits of passing on the QB this year and selecting mammoth O-Tackle Andre Smith are plentiful. Andre Smith is a beast. He's allowed something like 2 sacks his entire career. He's widely considered the best OL in the draft. First Round Tackles have a very strong track record. Joe Thomas and Jake Long are two recent examples of top 5 OT's that have established themselves as pillars for many years to come. The Lions can immediately plug Smith into the LT position for the next ten years. They can move Jeff Backus to Guard and immediately improve two Offensive Line positions. Following the selection of Smith, they must turn to defense. Every draft pick by the Lions should be Offensive Lineman and Defensive players. Not a single skill position player should be drafted. If that happens and the kids can contribute, they will establish a TEAM where a young Quarterback could succeed...

In all likelihood, the Lions will be drafting in the top 10 again next year. And next year will provide a nice crop of QB's. Sam Bradford, Tim Tebow, and Colt McCoy should all be available. All three are better prospects than Stafford or Sanchez. Why not build a solid team and wait a year to use such a high pick on a capable player? It makes the most sense.

So I'm here to say we must stop any and all talk of the Lions selecting Stafford #1. It will cripple the franchise even more and set them back another 5 years. It will be Joey all over again...

Lidstrom, Datsyuk Pull Out of All-Star Game

(Lidstrom's elbow pain was caused from lifting too much hardware)

Freep - Just a few days ago, Red Wings forward Kirk Maltby pointed out the irony of the NHL All-Star Game is that the players going are the ones their respective teams would most want to see get some rest. As it turns out, the Wings' Nicklas Lidstrom and Pavel Datsyuk will spend the rest of the week getting refreshed, because both have pulled out of the Montreal festivities. "Both are due to ongoing and steadily worsening injuries," team spokesman John Hahn said via e-mail Wednesday. "Lidstrom has been suffering from elbow problems this season while Datsyuk recently experienced problems with a hip flexor."

The old elbow and hip flexor All-Star Game excuse. Look, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that neither Lidstrom or Datsyuk wanted any part of this game. They'd rather be laying around on some beach or sleeping in till noon on their time off than playing in a skills competition and a glorified exhibition. I aint mad at 'em. What I am mad at is the hockey media painting this as "bad for the game" because Versus is going to lose all the viewers in a huge market because no Red Wings are in the game! I wouldn't watch the All-Star Game if there were 10 Red Wings playing, and neither would you. And let's face it, Versus isn't losing any Detroit viewers because we all would have been watching the Canadian channel anyway. Give me the Skills Competion and nothing else NHL.

And haven't we been carrying this league for the last ten years anyway? So now Detroit must not only singlehandedly carry the regular season, playoffs, and everything else; but we're responsible for the success of an All-Star game. Here's an idea: Give us a damn All-Star game in Detroit and then we'll watch it.

Michigan State Loses to Northwestern

Michigan State lost its first Big Ten game of the year, its first home loss in 28 games, and snapped an 11 game win streak with a 70-63 loss to Northwestern at the Breslin Center. I’m usually one to say that no loss is a good loss, but I almost feel like this is a good thing for MSU. It’s never good to peak in January, unless you’re playing in the NFL, and MSU was peaking. They had also had gutted out the last few wins, with each one in question, and this should let them know that they are beatable. Undoubtedly, this will be a wakeup call for the Spartans.

The defeat doesn’t present only positives, however. MSU was completely baffled by a zone defense, just as they were against Penn State. I will even say they are exposed as a team that can’t handle the zone right now. Make no mistake, MSU is going to see a lot of zone after this. And guess who runs a 1-3-1 zone just like Northwestern? The boys down the road in Ann Arbor. That game just got a lot more interesting. The zone defense forced MSU into what seemed like 56 turnovers. Chris Allen (or Chris Hill if you’re Tom Hamilton,) turned it over around 40 times. Kalin Lucas was indecisive and ineffective all day, just lobbing errant passes around. MSU consistently passed to a spot, instead of a man, which lead to the turnovers.

On Northwestern’s side, Kevin Coble clearly sold his soul to the devil. He was unconscious, hitting every shot he chucked up. Raymar Morgan went back to his terrible defensive ways and was abused by Coble. Now I know that Raymar had the flu, but if he was too sick, Izzo would have benched him. If he’s playing you have to assume he is OK. Play he did, and abused he was. Raymar couldn’t even slow Coble down on his way to 31 points.

But this loss is squarely on the Point Guards’ shoulders. Here’s some key numbers: MSU wins rebounds 39-19, Field Goal Pct is NW 43% MSU 40%, 3 pointers made NW 9 MSU 5, TURNOVERS: NW 9, MSU 18! When the offense turns it over 18 times, the blame goes to the ball handlers: Kalin Lucas, Chris Allen, and Travis Walton. And I’ll throw some blame on Tom Izzo, who relied way too heavily on a small lineup and perimeter shooting when the inside game was where the success was. In fact Goran Suton deserves mention as the ONLY Spartan who played well.

In all, a loss is never good, especially to Big Ten bottom-feeders at home. But I think MSU needed a loss to get them hungry again, knock them down a few notches, and humble them a bit. I think this will be considered a good thing in March.

Michigan Continues Collapse

As stated in this very blog only two weeks ago, it was ridiculous for Michigan fans to think their invitation to the dance was sealed. And the chance to dance is very clearly slipping from the Wolverines with every loss. The latest in the three game losing streak was a 73-58 devastating loss at Penn State. The loss wasn't devastating in a nail-biter way, but more like a complete beatdown on the road to a Big Ten bottom-feeder kind of way. Big Ten road games are hard to win, but the ones at Penn State, Indiana, Iowa, and Northwestern have to be won. Make no mistake about it, this was a bad loss for Michigan. They are now 3-4 in the Big Ten, good for 8th place. They must go at least 2-1 in the Northwestern, @ Ohio State, @ Purdue stretch coming up to have any hope. It looks like they will battle Ohio State for the last Big Ten invite to the tournament.

The game provided us with the best college basketball play-by-play man, Gus Johnson. That was really all that was right, though. Michigan is learning it's hard to win with 5 Small Forwards. They were destroyed inside, for the third consecutive game. And they shot poorly for the third consecutive game. Not good things. There is no time to spend on the losses, however, as the season continues and each game becomes more important. Next up a must-win game vs. Northwestern at Crisler Arena.

Tonight: Keep an eye out for the MSU-Northwestern game-wrap.

Michigan State Comes Back to Beat Illinois

Quick thoughts and things to consider after MSU's come from behind win over Illinois:

• ESPN's announcing crew consisted of Doris Burke and Dave O'Brien. Now traditionally, I'm not the biggest fan of female announcers, but Doris Burke is one of the better basketball analysts out there. Many times during the game Doris tried to get into some hardcore b-ball x's and o's, historical discussions, or player technique talk; and it was clear Dave O'Brien couldn't hang.

• Michigan State can push the ball upcourt. If it wasn't clear before the game, it certainly is now, as MSU's second half comeback was thanks in most part to their relentless fast-break.

• The Izzone was rocking. After a few questionable calls to wake it up, the student section erupted down the strech, climaxing after Raymar Morgans score-and-foul when it looked and sounded crazy in the Breslin.

• Speaking of questionable calls, how bad was the shot clock/three pointer play? I understand that there was an inadvertent whistle, but didn't it happen after MSU grabbed the rebound? And if you were going to give the ball back to Illinois, why was there 1 second on the shot clock when the ball clearly hit the rim? Shouldn't there have been 35 seconds? Just a terrible sequence of events by the referees.

• Michigan State is proving themselves to be very mentally tough. They were dealt some really tough blows in this game, and many other teams would have folded and accepted the loss. But the Spartans kept at it, storming back and winning in the end. After the aforementioned shot clock play, Izzo's technical foul, their stretch of turnovers, the Spartans had numerous opportunities to quit and never did. They look to be a VERY tough out come tournament time.

• Illinois is definitely one of the better Big Ten teams. They are no worse than 4th best in the league. They will be one of the tougher tests the Spartans face the rest of the way when they travel to Champaign on March 1.

• Who lit the fire under Marquise Gray's ass?

• I hate to put a damper on MSU's current win-streak, but you hate to think they are peaking too early. You want to win every game you play, but I just hope they aren't hitting their stride 3 months too soon.

• Next up: Northwestern at the Breslin Center on Wednesday, and at Ohio State on Sunday.
  

Sharks Out Shoot the Red Wings 6-5

The Sharks outscored the Red Wings last night to win 6-5. Is there any doubt that this will be the matchup for the Western Conference Finals? Both teams will surely be seeded 1-2, so they won't be able to match up until the conference finals, and I don't expect either to lose until then. Last nights game was really competitive, as opposed to the last two meetings where the teams traded lopsided wins. The big point of discussion this morning is whether Patrick Marleau was offsides on his breakaway goal (he probably was), but it's the wrong thing to discuss. Once again it's defensive breakdowns that doom the Wings. For as talented as this team is, they have not been good defensively this year. Last years team was great defensively, limiting chances and forcing turnovers, this years team is just not a good defensive team. And everybody has been saying all year "They'll get it together..." but time is running out on that. At this point in the season, you are what you play like. And right now this team has problems on defense. It's hard to say what exactly the problem is, because the personel is identical from last year, and they've added a great defensive forward in Hossa. So it's hard to say, but the way things stand NOW they probably aren't good enough defensively to defend their title... But hey, they'll turn things around...