Out With The Old, In With The New + CFootball Talk

The Toronto Blue Jays season is coming to a close but their have been some significant things that have happened that could be positive in the 2009 season। The Blue Jays took two of three from the Yankees and made the most of their final trip to Yankees Stadium and the team looked very composed and made the most out of their bats, the Blue Jays road trip was also a new look at things, gone are Matt Stairs and David Eckstein and now in the lineup new players Travis Snider and Jose Bautista। Matt Stairs was a great guy to have on the team, despite being a older player he brought solid production from the DH spot and always wanted be a Toronto Blue Jay and its kind of sad to see him get traded but I am sure that he would much rather be in a pennant race then on the Blue Jays at the moment because the Blue Jays are restructuring their team for the best and that was likely going to mean Stairs wouldn't be a part of the lineup. David Eckstein was a great player and a better person, despite not being in the lineup much he never complained and took the role that he was given and did the best to his ability, it is tough to see him go but he is in a much better situation and I hope that he excels because he is going to be in the playoffs and that is where Eckstein plays best, thanks for the service guys. The trade opens up positions for both Johnny McDonald and recently recalled Travis Snider. McDonald provides top notch defense and is improving on his hitting and makes the Blue Jays a better team and the trade of Matt Stairs gives Travis Snider some designated hitter bats and despite being 20 years old Snider plays the game surprisingly well and mature. The team did the right thing by trading the two players and the Blue Jays are turning into a better team day by day, manager Cito Gaston has done a fantastic job mentoring young players like Adam Lind (who has been amazing) and batting coach Gene Tenace has revitalized players like Vernon Wells, the team has really come together as a whole and have been playing the best baseball as a team all year, the progress under the new staff has been incredible. I have never talked hockey on my blog for a fair bit of time and I just got my internet working again and learned that the Tampa Bay Lightning gave up Alexandre Picard, Filip Kuba and a first rounder in exchange for defenseman Andrej Meszaros, don't get me wrong, I think Meszaros is a strong player but he is not worth a first round pick by itself I think that the Lightning were very desperate for another impact player and they reached quite a bit in order to acquire one and then signed him to a ridiculous contract which made the Brad Richards contract dump seem quite silly, the Lightning are a team that have way to many big contracts and it screws them in the long run, hopefully the trade works out best for both teams but I could easily see the Lightning regretting this trade in the future. Changing topics once again, the Hawaii Warriors were destroyed by the 5th ranked Florida Gators 56-10 and the scary thing is that Tim Tebow wasn't his usual ridiculous self, the team dominated in every aspect and if it wasn't for Inoke Funaki touchdown the quarterback situation would of been horrendous, the Warriors used three different quarterbacks and with the exception of Funaki the quarterbacks were terrible, the running backs weren't top notch either, the team didn't amass 100 yards on the ground as a whole. The Gators offense was great, the backs were doing the primary scoring and doing that a lot of it, there was a punt return touchdown and a incterception return for a score, the team was a complete mess without June Jones or Colt Brennan, it didn't resemble anything of the past team that played in the Sugar Bowls॥ it's going to be a very long season for the Warriors. My second favorite team Texas Tech dominated Eastern Washington with Graham Harrell completing 43 passes and throwing for 536 yards as the Red Raiders destroyed Eastern Washington 49-24, if this is any indication of Texas Tech's season then its going to be a very successful one, I am sure that the Red Raiders can challenge for a top 10 spot. thanks for reading Liam