JOSH DHANI

On July 22, 2009, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded one of their promising stars in Adam LaRoche to the Boston Red Sox. What did Pittsburgh get out of this deal? A minor-leaguer named Argenis Diaz.

The Pirates were looking for some “young” talent, and I believe a minor-leaguer was what they were looking for. But come on, trading a star for a player of skills we don’t how good they are.

But although LaRoche is gone, the Pirates still have some promising young stars on the squad. Yes yes, I absolutely know that the Pirates record isn’t promising, not at all, but hey, although we are looking at another losing season for like the 20th time in a row, there is a bright side looking into next year.

Pittsburgh recently brought Andrew McCutchen, their 2005 MLB first round draft pick, to the majors. And on eveybody’s face when they see McCutchen, there isn’t a frown, but a smile of a clown (okay, no, that’s scary). McCutchen has proved he can hit, has the speed, and he is a good outfielder.

But besides those three things where he masters at, there are many other categories he literally just pwns. For those of you who have not heard of this word “pwn,” as always, let Nigahiga explain to all of you.

McCutchen has proved he will be a promising young star for years to come on the Pirates. Hopefully, Pittsburgh won’t ship him off, because if they do, a fanbase will be rotting. As of right now, he is the future.

We then have Andy LaRoche. LaRoche is improving. After, in what I would call a not so good year for LaRoche in 2008, 2009 is an improving year. LaRoche, so far, has been hitting .264 with four homers, and 37 RBI. Although he probably is going to miss his brother, he’s going to have to step it up a notch these next couple of years.

And right now, he kind of is. He’s improving as well and you may need to watch out for him.

Now here is Garrett Jones. I swear, this kid is a stud. He has a lot of criminal records…on pitchers. He’s truly just an amazing athlete after he had a four-game streak of homers. He hit five of them in his last four games. The streak ended on July 19, 2009.

But although the streak has ended, Jones has proved that he can be a star. He has been getting featured in a lot of waiver wires lately, and I already got him on my fantasy baseball team. Even ESPN is looking out for him now. Jones, right now, hasn’t let anyone down and when he is playing, surely there will never be a frown.

Yes, although the Pirates have lost Adam LaRoche, it doesn’t mean they are screwed, because trust me, they aren’t. With three promising young athletes on the squad, the Pirates can have a winning season before you know it. This season may have already been over, and there were many downs in the path with Nate McLouth and Adam LaRoche gone.

But it brings a new dynasty for the Pirates, with Garrett Jones, Andrew McCutchen, and Andy LaRoche still on the team, there was light in that 2009 season. There was a spark that lit up that year.

And coming in 2010, the Pirates may be a team to look out for.

So, yeah, I admit, LaRoche leaving Pittsburgh isn’t that big of a deal. We have three athletes who are going to shine. So watch out Pittsburgh, prepare to be entertained soon.

Oh man, wouldn’t everyone want to be Buehrle’s shoes? EVERYONE wants to be in this dear man’s shoes. I mean just look at this guy. He has a gorgeous wife, won a World Series not too long ago, and hell, he threw a no-hitter in 2007.

But he just did something that topped them all (expect maybe the wife part), throwing a perfect game on this very date of July 23rd, and in the year of 2009.

He was the 18th pitcher to do such a feat, and nobody expected it. There are so many big names to do this, but it seems a guy named Mark Buehrle does not belong in that list. No doubt, Buehrle has to be the most underrated pitcher, if not player, in Major League Baseball.

You know, I think the Philadelphia Phillies would rather trade for Buehrle than Roy Halladay, am I right? Maybe not.

Buehrle also joins another group of members that have six people, a player who has thrown a no-hitter and a perfect game. He joins a valued group of players like Sandy Koufax, Cy Young, and Randy Johnson, as ESPN reported.

So, how do you feel about this Mark?

“I don’t know how to explain it,” he said. “I never thought I’d throw a no-hitter.”

Neither did many of us baseball fans. Nobody expected you to do any of this, coming from this observer. Also, look, Buehrle was guy selected in like the 40th round of the MLB amateur draft way back in 1998. Being drafted in like the 40th round, hell, nobody expects anyone to accomplish so many feats like Buehrle did.

But it wasn’t all Buehrle during that game. You have to give the props to Dewayne Wise, who unbelievably made an amazing catch that prevented a home run, and most importantly, perfection for Buehrle. Wise will always have taken a big part there.

Hell, if it weren’t for him, nobody will be talking about this perfect game.

Gabe Kapler was the man who almost ended Buehrle’s run. The 105th pitch of the game will always be remembered by true baseball fans. And true baseball fans will always remember the play Dewayne Wise made, to give Buehrle the perfect game.

So that makes it two for Wise. I bet he’ll be telling his kids that he saved Buehrle’s game. And what I meant by “that makes it two for Wise,” I meant that Wise has been a part of two perfect games.

Remember the perfect game The Big Unit had back  in 2004? Wise was part of that, but on the other end of the deal as he was the opponent. But it’s great to be on the same team as a pitcher for a perfect game.

Let’s see what the perfect-game hero said:

“I was with the Braves in ‘04 and I was there when Arizona’s Randy Johnson pitched a perfect game. So I’ve been on both sides of it,” he said. “It was probably the best catch I’ve ever made because of the circumstances.

“It was kind of crazy, man, because when I jumped, the ball hit my glove at the same time I was hitting the wall. So I didn’t realize I had caught it until I fell down and the ball was coming out of my glove, so I reached out and grabbed it.”

Also, props to Ozzie Guillen for switching in Wise.

“I guess that’s our job,” Guillen said.

Barrack Obama is a White Sox fan, who congratulated Buehrle as well. He said that many people will remember this forever. We all know Barrack will.

A big congrats to Mark Buehrle. Sometimes perfection can be bad, but when it comes to baseball and especially Mark Buehrle…sometimes baseball can actually be good.

Quotes were provided by ESPN.com

There comes a time in the NFL where there is a player that no one expects of him to be a star or make an impact anywhere for his team. Countless times, we have seen players who make a difference despite being a drafted late in the NFL Draft and being expected to not do anything for his team.

Guys like Terrell Davis, Terrell Owens, Robert Mathis and so many other guys have made an impact with their teams despite being drafted late in the NFL Draft or not being drafted at all.

Then there are some players who did nothing in their first year and made some impact in their second year. Nobody is really like that, but there is someone that comes to mind who is exactly like that. Fellas, let me introduce you to Johnnie Lee Higgins.

Coming out of Texas-El Paso, he was drafted in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. He didn’t make any amount of impact in his first season of playing due to the fact some people doubted him. He was small, too, being 5′11″ and 185 pounds.

In his first season, he recorded six receptions for only 46 yards. It wasn’t good, not good at all. He did receive some time in punt-returning as he notched 103 yards. But that wasn’t all good either because every punt return was averaged for about five yards.

It’s just horrible to see that. But yet, he was a third-round pick and nobody really expected anything out of him. It is sad to see things like these happen in the National Football League.

Now it was time for the crucial second season. It was time for Johnnie to prove he was worthy of being on Oakland Raiders’ roster. He is the future receiver for this offense. He is the target for not only JaMarcus Russell, but the future of the return the black as well.

Entering into weeks one and two the 2008-09 NFL season, nothing came out of Higgins. Just nothing at all for number 15. We then trip on a rock into week three of playing with a brown ball.

Here we see Higgins making his first ever impact for not only the Oakland Raiders, he had to do it for himself and proving to all NFL fans that he is an NFL player that deserves respect in this league.

Although Raider fans weren’t happy in the 24-23 loss to the Buffalo Bills, Higgins created a spark for Oakland as he showed what he can do as he provided an 84-yard touchdown. It truly showed that Higgins deserved to be drafted by the Raiders.

However, it was only one catch he recorded for the Raiders that game. Despite that, it showed that Higgins was going to get playing time this year. And he did coming into next week recording four catches for 35 yards. The week after that, he only had one catch for 35 yards.

Basically, it wasn’t that all surprising in the two games after the 84-yard touchdown game. People were thinking it was somewhat rather disappointing actually.

Coming into week seven of NFL football, the Raiders beat Brett Favre and the New York Jets, 16-13. Higgins did not take part in that astonishing win, but did take place in the rushing, recording an 18-yard run.

All we know is that he was getting shots at playing, but not enough to prove he’s a star. Coming into the 29-10 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, it became more of disappointment as Higgins reeled in two catches for only 16 yards.

His statistics were getting lower and were getting less surprising. What Higgins had to do now was be nothing less than legendary. That was his goal.

But that goal never came until week twelve of NFL football when he came and made an amazing return for a touchdown in the Raiders 31-10 rout against the Denver Broncos. In week 14, he finally had shots on the receiving end of play.

He had placed two catches for 22 yards. Although you may think it’s not good at all, it was a start of something new as next week showed how Higgins rolled.

In the 49-26 loss to the New England Patriots, Higgins had three catches for 66 yards, including an exciting play for Raider fans that witnessed the amazing 56-yard touchdown by Higgins. The exciting play displayed Higgins’ speed and concentration.

Higgins was truly nothing less than legendary in the last three games of the 2008-09 season, resulting a 2-1 record the Raiders themselves as well. Higgins also had three touchdowns in his last three games also.

In the 27-16 win over the Houston Texans, Higgins had three grabs for 56 yards and one touchdown. In the last game of the season, Higgins had a career-high in catches with six, along with 52 yards and a touchdown.

Yep, it was definitely nothing less than legendary for Higgins.

He had 22 catches for 366 yards and four touchdowns that year. What was better is that every catch was averaged for about 17 yards, which is solid. He was also well known in his return abilities, notching 842 yards in kick returns and 570 yards and three touchdowns on punt returns.

It was truly an exciting thing to see, although I did observe from many stat sheets of Higgins that he only started three games. So having those stats while only starting three games is truly an honor actually.

So that brings to what is going to happen next year in the 2009-10 season. The Raiders recently just got Darrius Heyward-Bey, who looks to be a helpful and speedy receiver for JaMarcus Russell. There is also the tall, fast, and indestructible Chaz Schilens and the exciting Zach Miller.

It also adds up with Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden, and Michael Bush leading the way in the running game. Right now, the Raiders have a lot of targets on offense and Higgins takes big and key role in all of it.

He can return the ball, he can run, he can catch, he can just about anything you want him to do. Although Heyward-Bey can do that, the hands have to improve. I have to admit, Higgins is better than DHB, and I hope some people have to agree with that.

And also, have any of you NFL fans ever seen highlights of him? Remember that 56-yard touchdown against the New England Patriots. That was truly an amazing play. And seriously, what about that 90-yard touchdown against Seattle?

You can’t deny that. Higgins has been making a name for himself and I think he already has in Oakland. Can he make it bigger? Can he be Mr. Hot-Shot? We’ll see next year.

So when you watch the Raiders play, NFL fans, grab a beer and watch out for Johnnie Lee Higgins next year.

Today was a sad day as former Pacer great Wayman Tisdale was announced dead. Tisdale was a three-time All-American at Oklahoma, played twelve seasons in the NBA, and  after retirement even found success as a famous jazz musician.

He died Friday morning at the St. John Medical Center in Tulsa.  Tisdale was just 44 years old.

After three stellar years at Oklahoma, the 6′9″ forward went on to play twelve seasons in the NBA with the Pacers, Kings, and Suns. He had a big smile, soft hands, and a decent NBA career, in which he averaged 15.3 points per game. Tisdale also played on the 1984 U.S. Basketball Team that went on to win the gold medal.

After playing basketball, Tisdale ventured into jazz, where he became a very popular, award winning musician. Several of his albums even climbed to Billboard’s Top Ten.

“I don’t know of any athlete at Oklahoma or any place else who was more loved by the fans who knew him than Wayman Tisdale,” said Billy Tubbs, who coached Tisdale with the Sooners. “He was obviously, a great, great player, but Wayman as a person overshadowed that. He just lit up a room and was so positive.”

Current Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel said that Tisdale, “had an incredible gift of making the people who came in contact with him feel incredibly special.”

His death was announced at the Oklahoma Senate floor on Friday.

“Whether you’re a Cowboy or a Sooner, Oklahoma has lost a great ambassador,” Oklahoma Senate Majority Leader Todd Lamb said.  “He was a gifted musician, a gifted athlete and he just wore that well wherever he went.”

Tisdale battled hard in his two-year bout with cancer, but he just couldn’t get through it.

Oklahoma retired Tisdale’s number 23 in 1997, making him the first Oklahoma Sooner in any sport to have that distinction.  He was inducted into the Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame just last month, and is survived by his wife and four children.

A great athlete, Tisdale was an even better person.  He may be gone, but he will never be forgotten.

Granger accepted the award today at Conseco Fieldhouse, barely beating out New Jersey Nets’, Devin Harris, by 364 votes 339. The voting was made from a panel of 121 journalists. While on vacation in Venice, Italy, that is how Granger found out about the award.

“I can honestly say it really did come as a surprise,” he said. “I really had it out of my mind for a while. I was on vacation, enjoying Italy, and all of a sudden, I’m winning the award.”

Granger was also honored before this award, as he was voted to the All-Star team by improving his scoring average by at least five points in each of his last three seasons. He averaged 7.5 as a rookie, 13.9 in his second year, 19.6 in 2007, and now 25.8 this year.

His 25.8 points was ranked fifth in the NBA.

“I think in my fourth year, I just had the experience of playing a lot of minutes,” he said. “I could read defenses a lot better. I could get my shot a lot easier than what I had in the past. I think I just thought my way through the game a little more than I had previously.”

Granger has also been asked to participate for the USA Basketball team training camp this summer, the first phase for selecting the squad of the 2012 Olympics team in London. Tuesday, he accepted the offer.

Granger played his best in January. He averaged 34.7 points per game during the six-game span against Western Conference teams. That stretch began on the third and during that time, he made a game-winning three-pointer over two-time MVP, Steve Nash, in a 113-110 win. A week later, he made a game-tying jumper, but later to beat the Pistons in overtime.

He made another exciting shot on the 19th as he made a game-tying three but later to get upped by Chris Paul at the buzzer. Granger missed 11 games this season and improved after his return, averaging 28.4 points per game in his last 15 games.

Now all Granger needs to do is win a MVP award next year!

Here are some history information and stats on this award, thanks to NBA.com:

2008-2009 Season Voting on MIP Award

All-Time Roster of Players to Win the Award

Here is his story, starting from high school, to college, all the way to his tough road to the NFL.

Woodhead started his football career breaking records for North Platte High School in North Platte, Nebraska. He led North Platte to the State finals with a win over Millard North High School 24-21. Woodheadsaved the game by blocking a field goal attempt. Then came Ben Woodhead, Danny’s older brother, who set up a game-winning field goal by throwing a pass deep down the field.

Jake McCarthy kicked the game winning field goal.

Sadly, North Platte eventually lost in the State Championship to another Millard School (Millard West High School), 28-14. Entering his junior year Woodhead sought the championship even more.

In his junior year at North Platte, Danny’s team went 8-1 and won two straight games in the playoffs. But once again they lost to Millard North High School, this time in the semifinals.

Then came his senior season, and North Platte was undefeated with a 9-0 record. This was the first in 40 years that North Platte went undefeated in school history. In the first round they beat Omaha North High School. They later went on to beat Bellevue East High School in the second round.  Once again though they lost to Millard North in the semifinals, the being the second year in a row.

Even though Woodhead never won the state championship, he did have a successful high school career. He finished as Nebreska’s Class A all-time leading rusher with 4,891 rushing yards from 2000-2003. Woodhead also was Nebreska’s Class A leading rusher that year. His teammate, quarterback Derek Enderle, led the state in passing yards that year as well. This also marked the first time in school history that two players led the state in two categories in the same season.

Woodhead also showed his athleticism by running some track as well, breaking the school’s 100-meter time with his 10.5 seconds.

In 2004, Woodhead attended Chadron State in Chadron, Nebraska. He rushed for 1,840 rushing yards in his true freshman year. But those weren’t freshman-like stats; Those were more like senior season stats.

In Woodhead’s sophomore year, he had 278 carries for 1,769 yards including a 6.4 yards per carry average. He also pounded out 21 touchdowns. While the rushing game was good, he pounded in some expectational stats in receiving: 30 catches for 367 yards including 12.2 yards per reception average.

Woodhead had a brilliant season. Some have even said it was Hall of Fame caliber. Through twelve games he had 2,740 rushing yards, passing the record set by Kavin Gaillaird for most single-season division rushing yards. At the end of the seson Woodhead had amassed 2,756 yards. He led his team to the NCAA Division II playoffs, too, but they lost to Northwest Missouri State.

39 games into Woodhead’s career he had accounted for 606 points (that meant he averaged an incredible 15.5 points per game by himself), the highest ever in Division II. Only Dan Pugh of Mount Union College (in Ohio), who had 248 points in 2002, and Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State, who had 234 in 1988, had more points in a season than Woodhead in 2006.

But in 2007, Abilene Christian University’s Bernard Scott broke Woodhead’s record by scoring 39 touchdowns (234 points).

Woodhead got to show his stuff in front of the Atlanta Falcons’ scouts. They wanted to see his 40 yard dash time, and he raced to an impressive 4.41 seconds. That’s pretty fast.  He also wont the 55-meter dash at the RMAC Indoor Meet in 2006 as well.

At the start of his senior year Woodhead already had 7,441 rushing yards in his career, an average of 190.8 rushing yards per game.  He rushed for 200 or more yards in 19 of his 39 games and scored at least one touchdown in 37 consecutive games. Both of those are NCAA all-division records.

After a 208-yard performance against Western New Mexico that year, he became college football’s all-time leading rusher (though you probably never heard about it). He broke former Grove City College (PA) fullback R.J. Bowers record (Bowers played from 1997-2000) for the all-time rushing record. Woodhead was also the sixth player in history to rush for over 1,000 yards in all four of his seasons.

Woodhead ended his career with 9,259 all purpose yards, second all-time behind former Villanova and now Philadelphia Eagles’ runnning back, Brian Westbrook, who played for Villanova from 1997-2000 with his 9,512 all purpose yards.

Woodhead also tied Germaine Race’s (Pittsburg State, 2003-2006) record for Division II career scoring with 654 points on 109 touchdowns. Race is also the all-time leader in two-point conversions with 658 points. Woodhead is also the second player in college football history to rush for over 100 touchdowns.

Barry Sanders is the only player to have more all-purpose yards in a season than the 3,159 all purpose yards Woodhead had gained in 2006. Sanders had 3,250 in 1988, where he won the Heisman Trophy in his junior season. Woodhead was ranked tenth all-time in all purpose Division II yards with 7,349 yards just after his junior season. The Division II leader is Brian Shay of Emporia State as he had 9,301 yards, including 1,207 on kick returns from 1995-1998.

Woodhead was also a candidate for the Harlon Hill Trophy from 2004-2007. He won the trophy in 2006 and 2007. After his career, some people complained that Woodhead could have played for the University of Nebraska. Woodhead later said in an interview that Nebraska didn’t show much interest in him while Chadron State showed 100 percent of it.

At Chadron State he majored in Math education.

Woodhead’s stats:

Amazingly, Woodhead did not receive an invite to the NFL Scouting Combine, so he had to use his Pro Day to show what he’s got. According to a report at NFLDraftWatch.net, Woodhead ran the 40-yard-dash at times between 4.33-to-4.38 in three tries. That would have been the fastest among all running backs attending the Combine for the 2008 NFL Draft. He posted the best pro-agility time (4.03 seconds), second best vertical jump (38½ inches), and the best 60-yard shuttle time (11.2 seconds).

With that said, he still went undrafted in 2008. Moments after the draft was over, he received a call from the New York Jets, who wanted to sign him. It was a dream come true. The two parties reached an agreement on a free agent contract.

On July 26, 2008, Woodhead’s dreams went down the drain as he was waived due to an injury.

See what happens? This is what happens when you give everything you have, but no one cares. People will point to his size (5′7″) and the fact that he weighs 200 pounds. But heck, look at Darren Sproles. He is shorter and is at least 10-20 pounds lighter, and has emerged as a good running back in the NFL.

Is there any love for Woodhead? He had one of college football’s most sucessful careers, but an injury derailed his dreams.

I just hope he pursues a successful career in football, no matter what league it is.