411 Sports Fact or Fiction 08.11.08: Michelle Wie, The Redeem Team, Manny's Dodgers And More

Posted by Ken Schmidt on 08.11.2008

Will the USA Men's basketball team win the Gold this year? Will the LA Dodgers win the NL West? Will Francisco Liriano lead the Twins to the post season? 411's Sat and Sean Garmer debate these and other topics in the latest edition of 411 Sports Fact or Fiction!

We are back after another long week of complications, this time the fault lays pretty much completely on me. Either way we have the third quarterfinal match-up and now that my brother doesn't talk to me anymore the tournament must go on. Let's get to the participants that long to meet Lealos and JT in the next round.

In the red corner is 411's resident soccer expert but his 2-0 record in Sports Fact or Fiction proves that he knows more than just soccer. You can catch him talking about every sport in the Coast 2 Coast Sports Report along with myself and other quarterfinalist Randy Isbelle, it is Sean Garmer

And in the blue corner we have a man attempting to be the second wrestling zone writer in the semi-finals. You can find him arguing the high road and low road with Uncle Trunx or participating in numerous different sports roundtables and events, it is Sat.

Ladies and Gentleman: LET'S GET READY TO RESEARCH


1. The L.A. Dodgers will win the N.L. West.

Sean Garmer FACT This is hard for me to answer because it defies my basis that pitching wins championships. The LA Dodgers rotation is a combined 34-38 with only one pitcher, that being Billingsley, having over 10 wins as of this writing. Derek Lowe their supposed ace is 8-9. Yet they are ranked 8th in overall pitching only two spots behind their rivals Arizona according to MLB.com. Of course, that also uses wins and statistics from the bullpen as well so that's a bit tainted. Arizona also own them in the save department as between Rauch and Lyon they have 41 saves combined, where Saito only has 17 for the Dodgers. So obviously, Arizona owns the pitching side of things. The Dodgers take care of the fielding situation a bit better than Arizona and the Dodgers are four spots above them in overall batting, but they would be higher if Manny had been there the whole season. The overall record between the two teams is similar as they are both 7 out of their last 3, and the Dodgers are 1.5 games back right now, mainly because they were idle on Monday night. Arizona may hold the season series 6-4 but only three of those games included Manny. With Manny in the lineup they are 2-1 against the D-Backs.

So let's look at the remaining schedule, which includes the two teams playing each other six more times. In August, the Dodgers have a rough schedule having to play St. Louis, (though they have dropped from the division race, the wildcard still goes through them, and they will be playing hard every game.) They also have to play the Phillies in two sets of four this month and they also have to play the imploding Brew crew so possibly by the time the Dodgers get to this point the Brewers might be out of it. Where Arizona only have a set against the fighting Marlins and possibly a worry with the Braves, the rest of the games are against bad division opponents, and though Colorado has a slight chance, it probably is not gonna happen unless the Dodgers get beat 6 out 8 times by the Phillies or something. In September things even out as the Dodgers face all division opponents except the Pirates, where Arizona have to play St. Louis seven times along with the Dodgers for three. So it may come down to how the Dodgers do against the Phillies and the D-Backs do against the Cardinals in September. Not to mention those games late in August and September will be the key when the two teams play each other. So even with the schedule the two teams are level.

As you can see, the point is the two front-runners for this division are equal in almost every aspect. I mentioned on the podcast a week ago that I thought if the D-Backs got Teixeira that it would put them over the top, however he ended up going to the Angels. The Dodgers pulled a great move and signed the insane yet powerful Manny Ramirez and he has been electric to the city and especially to the team. Since he's arrived Manny has two homeruns, five R.B.I.'s, four runs, and all in 13 AB's as of this writing. Manny has the team playing loose and takes the pressure of those players. Teams now have to pitch around Manny and this is going to allow the rest of the lineup to start hitting better. The Diamondbacks may be playing well now, but when the two teams confront each other, Manny is the cog that trumps the two-headed monster of Haren and Webb. Manny may be a two month rental but this trade is going to rejuvenate the team, give them confidence they can put runs on the board, and thus give the pitchers more confidence as well. The D-Backs stood pat and they may pay for it, as the Dodgers surprised us all and may win the division as a result.

Sat FACT The Dodgers have been awful on offense for years now and with Manny Ramirez joining they are definitely going to be a much better offensive team. Another thing to note about Manny's addition is that is going to the players around him start to see better pitches. Now, Sean makes a good point about the pitching staff's record, but to me that is not a concern. One of the things that I remember was when Roy Oswalt in I believe 2006 said that it is hard on the pitchers to try to pitch perfect because they know that they are not going to have that many runs to work with because of a weak offense. It basically forces them to pitch a shutout each time out. Now, with the Dodger's staff knowing that their team can score some runs, I expect them to do a lot better. Also, wins and losses is not a good indicator of how a pitching staff is doing. Wins and losses can be skewed with how many runs your team scores, but WHIP tells you what the pitcher is actually doing. The Dodgers have three guys with a WHIP under 1.30 and they are Lowe, Billingsley, and Kuroda. The Diamondbacks' three pitchers do have a better WHIP than the Dodgers' three pitchers that I mentioned, but does anybody on that offense really scare you? So, I think that Manny's addition to the Dodgers is going to have a huge impact on the offense and the pitching and that will be enough to get them the N.L. west.

Scoring

Ken Schmidt This is an easy one for me to score because Sat kind of bitch slapped Garmer with the same thing I would have if we were talking about the Dodgers on the Sports Report. Sure the pitchers have bad records but Sat is right. The WHIP and ERAs tell the story. So, yes, the pitching is good enough and Manny is going to lead the offense to more than 2 or 3 runs a game.

Dan Owen Sat takes the opening question, and I agree with pretty much everything he says. Adding a guy like Manny not only makes the team better offensively, but the psychology of the game is something that a lot of fans who haven't played the game at a high level undervalue. Being able to go out there and believe that even if you slip up you are still in the game is huge for pitchers. Also, Sat's correct in pointing out that wins are a poor indicator of how well a pitching staff is doing


2. Francisco Liriano will lead the Twins to the post season.

Sean Garmer FACT Liriano had a wonderful season in 2006 where he went 12-3 and then he got hurt, did not play in 2007, came in to 2008, and went 0-3. The Twins decided to send him down to Triple-A Rochester where he struggled to start out but then he won eight consecutive decisions and earned himself a spot on the squad. On Sunday, he led the team to a 6-2 victory where he pitched six innings and only allowed three hits. It seems like he is back to his great form that he had in 2006. Livan Hernandez was dropped from the team as a result too, so Liriano now has an opportunity to claim the job of starting ace for the club. Adding Liriano to the staff is almost like having a new signing for the Twins, as they are really the only team to improve their pitching and they did it with a proven player (already in their system) that just needed time to gain confidence. Liriano can only go up from here, and he does have the hitting around him to help him accomplish that. The Twins are a contact hitting club with only the Homerun Derby winner Justin Morneau and Kubel having over 10 home runs. They also have catcher Joe Mauer that can turn it on if need be. The point is they get on base and score the runs when necessary to help Liriano and the other pitchers out.

This rotation really needs Liriano's help as no one left on the staff has more than eight wins but they do have a great closer in Joe Nathan to spell them. The Twins also have a nicer schedule than their division rival Chicago White Sox, the Tampa Bay Rays, and the Boston Red Sox. The Twins only have to play two serious contending teams in the Yankees and Angels in August, (With Joba Chamberlain now going to see Dr. James Andrews that injury may be serious enough to knock the Yankees out of contention, but I don't think they are going to fall off the map either.) In September, the Twins have a four game set against the Rays (which could also determine who ends up where) and then one last three game set against the White Sox. Whereas the other three contending teams have to play another contending team six times in sets.

The great thing for the Twins is that they are contending on two fronts (though it is probably easier to try to win the division) they could realistically win the wildcard, if Boston or Tampa falters for some reason. So this allows them to focus on themselves and not have to constantly be watching the White Sox every night to see if they are still in first place. If they can keep the hitting consistent and I believe Liriano will only get better now that he's gotten his first win since 2006, we could very well see the Twins in the playoffs, probably just edging out their rival (power-hitting, with a little better pitching) White Sox.

Sat FACT The addition of Francisco Liriano was basically a C.C. Sabathia or Rich Harden added at the trade deadline. And if you look at who he replaced in the rotation, then you know that this is definitely going to help the Twins in the long run. Livan Hernandez was 10-8 with a 5.48 ERA. Francisco Liriano is definitely going to do better than that. Now, for the Twins to make the playoffs, they either have to catch the White Sox or win the wild card. The Twins are only a game behind the White Sox and I would say that right now the White Sox are the better team. The White Sox have the overall better team. Still, with the Twins only a game back anything can happen. I think that the Twins have the best chance of winning the wild card. In this case, they are competing with the three teams in the AL East. I would say that right now the Twins should be able to stay ahead of the Yankees because of all the injuries that have hit the Yankees. I want to say that the Rays can not keep this up, but I think that they have proven that they are for real. But, the Twins should be able to compete with the Red Sox with Lowell's hamstring problems and if Ortiz is still not recovered from his wrist problems. Either way, the Twins have a great chance at the playoffs because they are involved in both races and the fact they added an ace in Francisco Liriano.

Scoring

Ken Schmidt This one was tougher to score than the first question because both have a point, the Twins have a good chance of catching the White Sox or the Red Sox, either for the division or wild card, but the point goes to Garmer, the Twins have the pitching and the hitting and most likely will catch the White Sox.

Dan Owen The point goes to Garmer here. He brings up good points on the schedules the different teams will face in down the stretch, and I think that more than anything will benefit the Twins.


3. The U.S.A. Men will win the gold medal in basketball this year.

Sean Garmer FACT When James Naismith invented the game at a small YMCA court in Springfield, Mass, in December of 1891, I don't think he imagined how impactful that moment was. I'm sure he never imagined just how global the game would become. After receiving three straight gold medals in 1992, 1996, and 2000 with professionals, the USA's talent became exposed in 2004, we had a disappointing showing and barely got third (well disappointing by our high standards). In 2006, at the FIBA World Championships (Basketballs equivalent to the World Cup) we lose to Greece in the Semi-Final but end up placing third as well. Well, in 2008, the team looks a bit different, but we have to deal with something new. Understanding that the world has effectively caught up with us and now it is this team's obligation to show the world that the United States is back to retake its crown.

To do that though they have to understand three things, 1. They are no longer the top dogs they must take every team seriously. 2. This team has been given a three-year window to come together and be one unit. They have to do that, the international game is not about individuals it is about teamwork, playing one for another, and playing tight defense, with everyone understanding their role. 3. They have to get out of the Group of Death, Group B, which contains the World Champs Spain, Greece, home nation China, Angola, and a Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman led Germany squad. Another thing that weighs against the USA is that defending Gold Medalists, Argentina lies in wait in the other group. In order for them to avoid playing them until the final, they have to come out of Group B as the #1 team, as Argentina will probably be #1 in the other group. They also want to do that so they can avoid having to play the 2nd best team in their own group until the final as well. Do I believe they can do all this? Yes, because they seem committed to the cause and everyone except Kidd hasn't gotten a chance to feel what it's like to play in the Gold Medal game for your country. They have plenty of motivation for it. I'm sure that's not the information you want though, so here's really why.

Other than the teams in 1992 and 1996, this is the most international ready team the US has ever produced. Though, many will dispute the inclusions of an aging Jason Kidd or Chris Bosh instead of a Chauncey Billups, Paul Pierce, or Amare Stoudamire. This team is prepared to go up against anything (except for maybe size). They have scorers that can take over a game in Kobe, LeBron, D-Wade. We have point guards that know how to find players Paul, Deron Williams, and Kidd. We have three-point threats in Carmelo, Michael Redd, and Kobe. We have players that do double duty in Kobe, Boozer, Prince (possibly a younger version of Bruce Bowen), and Bosh. We also have a big man that loves to block shots, rebound, and dunk it in Dwight Howard. Even though Kidd doesn't have the speed to keep up on the defensive end, he knows the game so well, and brings to the team the experience of winning a gold medal and they need that. I also think that with the work from the coaches they understand most teams play a zone defense and they will know how to break that. Not to mention, I don't think a lot of these teams can deal with the physicality with which the US plays, in our country many of them would be considered "soft." There are some great teams in this tournament with Spain, Argentina, and Greece being loaded with great international players. Dirk has proven he can be a one-man scoring machine for Germany before, and the Triple Towers in China will represent well for the home nation. In the end, this is a tough ask for the US to do, win a gold medal against the world that plays a game different from your own. However, I believe the "Redeem Team" is focused on one thing this summer and that's to do whatever it takes to get that gold medal.

Sat FACT I think that this is the best team that the United States has put out in a long time. This team is motivated to win because they have seen what has happened in the past. More importantly, this team has stars on its team with Kobe, Lebron, and Carmelo. During the last Olympics, most of the superstars were hesitant to join the U.S. team; this is not the case this time around. They have great point guard play with Deron Williams and Chris Paul. They have experience with Jason Kidd. They have guys that can play shut down defense with Tayshun Prince, Carlos Boozer and Kobe Bryant. They have guys that can make the perimeter shot, something they have lacked in the past. My only concern with this team could be that they have only one big man in Dwight Howard. Still, I think that this team will win the gold medal because most of the team has been together for three years, that they have something to prove and the fact that they have superstars willing to play in the Olympics.

Scoring

Ken Schmidt I know, I have heard the complaints, only one big man? Really. Well like I heard said, the foreign players are a bit soft and I think the point goes to Garmer here even though both guys have completed agreed with each other through three questions.

Dan Owen I'm giving the point here to Sat, because while you two guys basically gave us the same argument (though Garmer's was quite a bit longer), Sat brought up the one concern I have for this team, and that is the utter lack of big men. Howard is great, but one big man really isn't enough. I still think the U.S. will win the Gold because this team is very good, has great motivation and excellent coaching.


4. Michelle Wie does not belong in the Men's PGA tournaments.

Sat Fact I do not blame Michelle Wie for taking the sponsor's exception and playing in the PGA tournament, but she does not belong in the PGA tournaments. She still has not won an event in the LPGA and the closest she came to making a cut in the PGA was when she finished four shots behind the cut line. This was almost two years ago. She recently tried to make the cut at the PGA's Reno-Tahoe Open and she was nine shots back from the cut line. At last year's Sony Open, she was fourteen shots back from the cut line. And if you look at how she has done in the LPGA this year, she is either ten or more shots away from the winner or not even making the cut. This is not a person who should be playing in the PGA. Her main focus right now should be trying to make cuts and winning some tournaments in the LPGA. When she does that, then she should try to focus on making the cut in the PGA.

Sean Garmer FACT It's a nice story that Michele Wie plays against the men. When she was making good strides as an amateur in 2004-2005, including just missing the cut by one stroke in her first ever PGA Tour event the Sony Open (an event that she would compete in for three consecutive years after that, thanks to a sponsor's exemption). She also went on to finish fourth at the LPGA Kraft Nabisco Championship that year too. Beginning 2005, Arnold Palmer said Wie could bring young people to the golf course and have an impact similar to Tiger's. She showed that by finishing 2nd at the LPGA Championship, 2nd at the SBS Turtle Bay Open, and barely missing the cut by two strokes in the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic. She also finished tied for 2nd at the Evian Masters and tied for third at Women's British Open. In her first match as a pro, the LPGA Samsung World Championship she was supposed to finish fourth but she was disqualified for signing the wrong score card. In 2006, she had some nice finishes 3rd in the LGPA Field's Open and tied for 3rd in the Kraft Nabisco Championship. Well, after she finished four strokes off the cut in the PGA Sony Open, she has not gotten even close to sniffing the cut at a Men's tournament. She also has been inconsistent in Women's events, she tied for 2nd at the Evian Masters, but then finished 26th at the Weetabix British Open. This year she's placed sixth in an event on the Ladies European Tour, and would have been one stroke off the lead heading into the final round in the State Farm Classic if she paid attention and signed her 2nd round scorecard.

In all of this Wie has decided to take a break from college (Stanford, the same college Tiger attended) in order to focus on golf, which is a good idea seeing as she can't play on the golf team there. Wie has proven she has the potential to be a great golfer and has done some outstanding things for just turning 18 on the Women's Tour. However, her parents, namely her father needs to stop thinking that Wie can play against the men at this point, she hasn't even made the cut at a PGA Tour event yet. She's gotten close, but there's a big difference between almost making it, and achieving a goal of making the cut at a Men's Tournament. She hasn't even won an LPGA event, but she has proven she can hang with the Women on tour. She needs to win some major tournaments and gain her confidence back because that form she had in 2005-2006 is gone right now. Obviously, she can't even focus long enough to sign a scorecard. The girl is also kind of a brat off the course; she's fired nine caddies since 2004. When Annika Sorenstam played against the men it was because she wanted to do something different, she already won pretty much everything there is to win in the LPGA. Wie is nowhere near that right now, she's pretty much in the situation Danica Patrick was in previously. All this hype but no wins to show for it, go out there, and show people you can win on your own tour, and then try to play against the men, because right now it seems like a waste of time for anyone to give her an exemption to play in the PGA.

Scoring

Ken Schmidt Once again these two decided to answer the same exact way so I will give the point to Sat because he said it first, win something in the LPGA before you try to win against the boys.

Dan Owen The point here goes to Garmer again, for doing superior research on the topic. I really had no idea Wie had slipped as much as she has.


5. The coach's poll was right ranking Georgia as the pre-season number 1 in college football.

Sat Fact First off, I am not the biggest fan of the pre season rankings and I have always wanted the rankings to come out after a few games have been played. As for the question, I would say Fact for a few reasons. Georgia ended last season ranked second or third in the nation depending on the poll that you look at. They were the hottest team to end the year and they are returning sixteen starters. That right there has to make them the favorites. LSU, the defending national champions, lost their quarterback because he was kicked off the team, so they have to be on the decline. Georgia definitely deserves to be ranked higher than Ohio State because the SEC is way better than the Big 10 as we have seen in the past two national championship games. USC has lost ten players to the NFL and Mark Sanchez will be taking over for John David Booty. USC is not the team to beat right now, but they could be at the end of the year. Since this is a preseason poll, I have no problems with Georgia ahead of USC. Again, I do not like the pre season rankings, but I do believe that if you had to rank the teams right now, then Georgia should be the number one team.

Sean Garmer FACT Firstly, the poll is probably right. Georgia does deserve to the #1 ranking. After their loss on October 6th to Tennessee, they went undefeated and concluded the season with blowout victory over undefeated Hawaii 41-10. The fact is they would have been in the SEC Championship game against LSU last year, if they hadn't lost to Tennessee. They are returning 14 starters including a QB Matthew Stafford, that threw for 2,523 yards and 19 touchdowns, along with a tailback Knowshon (that is seriously one of the weirdest names I've ever seen) Moreno that ran for 1,334 yards and 14 TD's. LSU lost Matt Flynn and Glenn Dorsey to the NFL, and USC lost their QB as well, though Mark Sanchez may not end up being too bad, they only have one returning starter at the offensive line and they are inexperienced on offense in total. Ohio State is strong again this year especially with much of that defense returning and 20 starters overall including Todd Boeckman and Chris Wells in the offensive side. The one-man team Tim Tebow is back for Florida along with several other starters, so there are a lot of tough teams again this year. However, the validity of the preseason poll to predict the winner of the BCS Championship has faltered, since 2004 the eventual champion is not ranked #1 to start the season. Really, I understand why these rankings for the magazines and all of that exist, but having a preseason coaches' poll seems silly it means nothing in the end. The validity of it seems to be thrown out the window, I mean Michigan was ranked 5th last year and they lose to Appalachian State. Georgia has a very tough schedule this year and are going to have to do a lot to keep that #1 ranking all throughout, but if there's a team out there that can do it, it'd be them. They are the deepest team in college football and seem to have a lot of pieces to a make run for the crystal football this season.

Scoring

Ken Schmidt With every other team being ravaged by the NFL draft the only team that was great last year and did not lose most of their stars was Georgia, and Sean Garmer gets the point because he is riding Knowshon's wagon.

Dan Owen This was a tough question to score, since you guys really didn't say anything differently. I'll give the point to Sat here, since he lead off, and I agree with him (as much as it pains me to say it since I am a Minnesota fan) that the Big Ten is just not as good as the SEC…right now.


6. The United States Olympic Soccer team has a chance at winning a medal this year.

Sat Fiction Before I even start this question, I am going to say that I am assuming that you are talking about the men's team and not the women's team. Every team that has made it this far has a chance, but for the United States to win a medal, they are going to have a lot of things fall in place for them. First, most of the other countries competing for a medal have an advantage over the United States because in other countries soccer is the main sport that they focus on. This generally gives these countries a better chance at winning a medal. Second, I can name at least five teams that are better than the United States and this means that for the United States to get a medal, they need at least three teams to get upset. Third, I would say that the United States biggest weakness is their defense. This could be a huge problem for the U.S. because some of the teams are loaded and they can score. For example, Brazil and Argentina have some great scoring teams.

Sean Garmer FICTION Sat noted some important things about the US, one that their finish may depend a lot on chance, as much as how well they play and that the USA do have defensive issues. (The Goal Keeper Brad Guzan is very good, he just moved to England, I'm talking about the defenders in front of him.) I don't even know why Patrick Ianni is there, he is horrible. We do have good defenders in Marvell Wynne And Michael Orozco (that plays in Mexico). Then we have the energetic and multi-position man Dax McCarty (he's here as a replacement for Nathan Sturgis.) the thing is he isn't a natural defender so the US are almost naked in defense and that is dangerous considering what they have to deal with in this tournament. To compensate for that, they will have to go with a 3-5-2 a system that plays to their strengths. As playing their regular 4-4-2 would leave them without any defensive subs. If they play this formation, Michael Parkhurst (the MLS's best defender) already plays the center field role for New England every week, and since he reads the game so well, it gives him the freedom to make stops defensively. It also allows McCarty to play his natural position as a defensive midfielder that sits in front of the three defenders. The US is full of young midfielders that can both score and create with Freddy Adu, Sacha Klejstan and guys like Michael Bradley and Benny Feilhaber that aren't afraid to dig in for the tackle or go forward to bother defenders. We know one thing the US should be able to score from many areas as Brian McBride provides a big target for headers and Jozy Altidore can score from anywhere inside the box, and Robbie Rogers provides someone that can score on the move. The US has a good team but they have some issues to attend to, and I'm talking about the other teams.

The USA akin to their Basketball brethren are in the "Group of Death" with the UEFA EURO U-21 champions in the Netherlands, the FIFA U-17 champions Nigeria, and a tricky team in Japan. They do have the good fortune of getting to play Japan first (which we could consider the weakest team in the group) for them to have any shot they have to win against Japan. Then they need to poke points away from either the Netherlands or Nigeria which is a tough task seeing as Netherlands have brought a strong team. Nigeria is always tough because they have players with a lot of power and pace that can cause issues for the defense. So, it's even going to be hard for them to get out of their group. Then I haven't even mentioned the fact that the US would probably have to finish top of Group B to avoid Argentina and Brazil (in the Quarterfinals and Semi-Finals respectively). (Unless Argentina decide to take it easy and just go for 2nd spot, so they don't have to play Brazil until the final, believe me that's happened before.) Not to mention that Brazil's coach Dunga is in trouble (he has already been told that if he doesn't win the Olympics he will be fired) so he can't afford to do anything but go all out against the weak group Brazil is in.

Let's say things turnout great for the US and they do end up top of their group and Argentina and Brazil are on top of theirs. They could very well snatch a win from either Serbia or Ivory Coast. They would probably wind up with Italy in the Semi-Final, and with all honesty, the buck should probably stop there. So you see, any way you slice it, unless we just have a whack job of a tournament. It is difficult for the US to even get to the medal rounds. The best thing for the US is they are an underdog and people may not take them seriously allowing them to spring an upset. I think it's just too difficult of a task to put on them. When you have teams such as the defending Gold Medalists, Argentina, which brought along Lionel Messi, Juan Roman Riquelme, and Sergio Aguero, then you factor in Brazil with Diego, Ronaldinho, and Pato (and the fact this is the only trophy the country has never won) that's a steep mountain to climb. Italy didn't even bring an over-age player because they feel that confident about their squad, and you can't discount any of the African teams either or Netherlands either. In the end, this will be a fun watch, I expect the US to perform well, but they will finish at best in the Quarterfinals , maybe Semi's (if they get out of their group) and if some luck goes their way.

Scoring

Ken Schmidt Ugh, I feel bad that Sat picked a bad week to go up against Garmer. The man knows his soccer and he gets the point even though once again he rambled on and on about Soccer even though he promised me he'd keep it short. Unlucky for Sat to get the Olympic Fact or Fiction and run into Mr. Soccer. GO U.S.A.!

Dan Owen Hate to say it Sat, but you couldn't expect to compete with 411's resident MLS mind. Sean gets the point easily, saying a bunch of stuff that mostly went over my head.

Final Score Well the question might have been a bit tough for Sat when it comes to soccer but Sean Garmer brought superior research and took this one by a final of 7-5 and he will move on to the next round.

First Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	FINALS
May 18 James Thomlison vs. Porfirio Diaz	July 20 James Thomlison vs. Dan Schmidt	August 17 James Thomlison vs. Shawn Lealos	August 31 ??? vs. ???
May 25 Dan Schmidt vs. B.L. Anderson
June 1 Geoff Keller vs. Shawn Lealos	July 27 Shawn Lealos vs. Ron Martin
June 8 Ron Martin vs. Jared Marcus
June 15 Sean Garmer vs. Bayani Domingo	August 3 Sean Garmer vs. Sat	August 24 Sean Garmer vs. ???
June 22 Jerrome Cusson vs. Sat
June 29 Randy Isbelle vs. Jake Chambers	August 10 Randy Isbelle vs. Larry Csonka
July 6 Blake Lovell vs. Larry Csonka

Join us again next week for my most anticipated showdown of the second round where my number #2 in the podcast (I do have a bit of an ego) takes on the number #1 man in the realm of Wrestling and MMA.