Still Hating The Freaky Deaky Dutch

Hey Peeps and anyone else checking in. A special "Hey" goes out to Hazel Mae if she is checking in this fine Saturday.

Well, its come down to this at the UEFA Under-21 Championships in Holland - Portugal goes into today's game against Israel needing a win, and needing Holland to beat Belgium. Under normal circumstances, this scenario would be plausible and quitel likely; however, things are never normal in UEFA competitions. The Dutch, who have already secured a place in the semi-finals, know that a tie is enough to keep them atop the Group A standings and knock Portugal out of the tournament...so we are expecting the stinking Dutch to roll over for Belgium today. We're not being bitter, just realistic - the Dutch have an axe to grind with the "Quinas", given that we have knocked them out out of Euro 2004 and World Cup 2006. We expect the Dutch to throw national pride out the window today and be more preoccupied with knocking Portugal out of the tournament. We have plenty of beefs with this year's championship - not the least of which was the scheduling of games, which departed from the norm...but we won't bore you with that. The good guys are in this position because they have failed to get things done in the first two games - we can only hope they'll pull it together against Israel...and hope against hope that the "Oranje" fans spur their team on to victory. We aren't holding our breath though...as mentioned earlier this week, we hate the freaky deaky Dutch right now.

Since we are so late with today's entry - not much point in recapping the action last night; suffice it to say anyone reading this page likely had a good night last night with the Red Sox and Blue Jays winning. A great night from our perspective with the Red Sox West beating the Angels last night at Dodger Stadium.


FRIDAY'S THREE STARS
Boston Red Sox 2B Dustin Pedroia was 5 for 5 last night with a home run and five runs batted in - the AL Rookie of the Month for May is hitting at a .417 clip over his last 32 games...not bad for a kid whose ability to hit major league pitching was being questioned at the end of last year and the beginning of this one.

Texas Rangers RF "Skinny" Sammy Sosa's 599th career home run was a grand slam and powered the Rangers to a 7-6 win over the Reds. Sosa finished the night going 2 for 5 with five runs batted in.

Red Sox West P Derek Lowe limited the Angels to one run on six hits and a walk while striking out eleven as the Dodgers beat the Angels by a score of 2-1. Lowe continued his string of great performances at Dodger Stadium where he has been almost untouchable.


SATURDAY THREE PLAY
One of those frustrating nights where going 3-1 nets you a stinking $80 - I can't believe the Tribe blew it against the stinking Braves last night...oh well, we're back in the black for the week, albeit a minimal $50. Today's suggestions

Cincinnati over Texas - the Reds won't drop two in a row to the road wimp Rangers...especially with Aaron Harang going for them. Lay $100 on the Reds - $175.

Atlanta over Cleveland - we expect John Smoltz to have a good day today against Paul Byrd. Lay $100 on the Braves - $105.

Chicago over Pittsburgh - we'll go with Mark Buerhle today, especially after having lost last night to the Pirates. Lay $100 on the White Sox - $135.

St. Louis over Oakland - our upset special today, for a couple of reasons: 1) teams who get pounded usually come up big the next day; 2) we still don't think much of former Sox P Lenny DiNardo. Lay $100 on the Cards + $165.

That's it for today gang - wish we would have gotten here early enough to suggest the Blue Jays today. Have a great one peeps.

Hazel, I hope things are groovy in your world.

I'm Out.