My first poker post/Sunday Sports update

I play on Pokerstars quite often, and last night was my first big cash in a tournament, taking 5th place in a 333 man tournament. I usually just play sit-n-go's, so there's a more limited amount I can win per tournament. I blew a nice chip lead, though. I guess it happens when you get pocket kings. The 2nd biggest chip stack raised, I re-raised him, he went all-in, I called him, you know he's got aces. It's such a despondent feeling because there's really nothing you can do about it, the poker gods just played a cruel trick on you. Either way, hey, I'll take it. Sure would have been nice to take down first, though, since that was three times the amount I won. Oh well, maybe I could have folded, but it takes someone with more discipline than I have to do that.

Anyway, if you just skipped that paragraph, I really can't blame you. You read this blog for the sports. Well, last night the Yankees played game two of their series against the hated Red Sox. With Mike Mussina on the mound against Josh Beckett, Yankees fans really couldn't have expected a win, but the Yankees played a good game. Unfortunately, Mike Mussina melted down a little in the 6th inning, and the Red Sox held onto the lead, despite a long rain delay as Jonathan Papelbon was about to face Alex Rodriguez with 2 on and 2 out in the 8th inning. It was amazing timing, but Papelbon was able to strike out ARod on 3 pitches once the game restarted, and then he mowed down the Yankees in the 9th to secure the victory.

Tonight, Daisuke Matsuzaka faces Philip Hughes in the most even pitching matchup of the series. Dice-K has been great so far this season, with a 1.47 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP in his first three starts. 22 strikeouts in 18.1 innings have also been a key for his early success, but he can be prone to walking batters, so look for the Yankees to take some pitches. His walk totals this year have been 4, 0, and 5, so hitters who live for walks like Bobby Abreu and Jason Giambi will likely look to get on base via the base on balls.

Phil Hughes will be making his first ever start against Boston. He is coming off a 3 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 4 BB, 2 K performance against Kansas City, so he will look to bounce back against a Boston lineup which has been underachieving just like the Yankees' offense so far this year. David Ortiz, in particular, is 3-43 this season from the plate and is hitless in his last 17 at bats. Both teams are 6-6 in the early going, and neither team wants to slip behind in the season series. The Orioles still lead the division at 7-4, but every team in the division is within 2 games.

Devils-Rangers tonight. Must win for New Jersey if they want to have any chance.

Masters is on right now, Snedeker has fallen off the pace a little, 4 back through 9, but he's still in it. Scoring conditions are awful right now, no one in the later groups can get a score under par. Immelman leads at 10 under, but he's vulnerable. Steve Flesch is a solid player, but he's not going to be getting many birdies. If Immelman collapses, Flesch could win, but Immelman has to be the favorite. Nobody is making a positive move up the leaderboard.

Introduction

Hello, everyone, my name is Mackenzie Kraemer, and welcome to my blog. Here, I will talk about sports, music, and anything else that interests me, as the title says. I don't have a whole lot to talk about now, but in the coming days, I'll have updates on the upcoming NFL draft (and what I think and hope the Jets will do), baseball, basketball, college basketball, maybe some hockey or golf here and there, and on whatever else pops into my head. I'm a Villanova student, so they are my college basketball team. I'm also a diehard Jets, Yankees, Nets, and Devils fan. I play a little guitar and I play some video games, so I might update some of that for my personal posts. We'll see where this blog goes, maybe I'll turn it into a bit of a public journal.

But for now, let's stick to the issues: Yankees-Red Sox tonight. Wang-Bucholz. The first trip of the year to Boston, always fun. Bucholz is a very young pitcher, but as Yankees fans have seen with Phil Hughes, it takes time. Sure Chamberlain spoils us, but it's easier to have an instant impact in the bullpen (not normally to that extent though). Wang often struggles against Boston, but in his first two starts, he's struck out 8 batters, an improvement over the last two seasons. The slider has really helped out his arsenal, as he quieted the Blue Jay and Ray bats pretty easily in his first two outings. The key for Wang, as always, is to keep the ball down. If he can do that, he should be able to build on his first two starts. If not, the Red Sox bats will be ready, even if they haven't played up to their full potential so far. Mike Lowell was placed on the 15 day DL, so he won't be available.

By the way, can the Yankees ever start off a season hot? Every year the offense starts off slowly. 10 games is nothing to panic about, but one time, you'd like the team to get off to a good start. Obviously, injuries have been a concern the last two seasons with Jeter and Posada already banged up, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Last year, Carla Pavano was the opening day starter, so last year's slow start made sense.

Also, Devils vs Rangers tonight. Must win for New Jersey, they can't go back to New York down 2-0. Previous Devils teams, sure. This team just does not have the firepower offensively, and Brodeur looks tired. He's going to be starting his 43rd consecutive game, so it makes sense, but Brodeur never wants to be taken out of the net. If Scott Clemmensen could play a game here and there, so can Kevin Weekes. Brodeur needs to realize he's getting older and take a few games off. I expect him to come up with a big effort tonight after being embarrassed by allowing Ryan Callahan to score right in front of him, rather than just covering the puck.

Well, my body is dead from playing basketball earlier, but now I'm going to play some tennis. When did I get so much energy?