Yardbarker: Jake Taylor

Radford Baseball Announces 2011 Early Signing Class

Tue, 24 Nov 2009 15:47:00 -0500

From Summer Ball News SourceRADFORD, Va. – An incoming class of five players: right-handed pitchers Michael Costello (Manassas, Va./Stonewall Jackson) and Tyler Costello (South Riding, Va./Paul VI), shortstop Cam Hodge (Roanoke, Va./Hidden Valley), outfielder Blake Sipe (Weyers Cave, Va./Fort Defiance) and first baseman Jake Taylor (Ellicott City, Md./Our Lady of Good Counsel) have signed letters of intent to join the Radford baseball program for the 2011 season.Read the rest of this entry here.

Darryl Hunt: Jones, WorSharks Win 4-1 Over Springfield In Fight Filled Contest

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:22:00 -0500

The Worcester Sharks used three special teams goals to defeat the Springfield Falcons 4-1 Sunday afternoon in a fight filled contest at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts in front of 2,356 fans. The WorSharks’ special teams were put to the task early when Michael Wilson was called for a high sticking double minor, and Worcester rose to the occasion by grabbing a shorthanded goal just 13 seconds into the penalty. John McCarthy broke out of the Worcester zone down the left side and fir...

Chorney Callup?

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 08:40:00 -0500

Two sources (Flaming & Tencer) suggest that the Oilers will place Sheldon Souray on the IR today and recall young Taylor Chorney. The choice of Chorney (say that fast 5 times) isn't a shock but is worth mulling over. The obvious choice would be Theo Peckham (better overall fit for the Quinn Oilers) but his injury pre-TC set him back and he's just seeing Triple A game action.Also down on the farm are minor league veterans Dean Arsene and Jake Taylor, along with a plethora of youngs...

Stumbling To The Finish Line

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 10:00:47 -0500

Can it get any worse? No, I’m not talking about the boring Browns; I’m talking about YOUR Cleveland Indians. You remember them don’t you? Most of you aren’t paying attention. One of my favorite lines in Major League seems to apply to the Tribe these days: Lady: “who do you play for.” Jake Taylor: “The Indians.” Lady: “Here, [...]

Oilers at Canucks, PS G4/09-10

Sat, 19 Sep 2009 10:15:00 -0500

This is Marc Pouliot in a game last winter against the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jason Gregor has suggested a few times this training camp that Pouliot's job may be in jeopardy. On September 11 Gregor said "I still think Pouliot is going to be the odd guy out" and most recently suggested yesterday that Gilbert Brule "has a job if he wants it. He is much more physical than Pouliot, is just as good on the draws and plays way more aggressively."I'm not certain there's ...

TC Comments: Team B Blue and G

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 20:30:00 -0500

Louise and I were talking today and she mentioned something interesting: at some point this season the Oilers are going to have to start talking about contracts for Grebeshkov and Gags/Cogs and that conversation will contain the names of two defensemen.I spent quite a bit of time watching the Oilers very good young pairing today and have to say the future looks pretty damn goood.Denis Grebeshkov: Not only did the light go on but it's a 100-watt beauty that hopefully lasts a decade. Looke...

Training Camp Hopeful #1: Johan Motin

Sun, 30 Aug 2009 10:40:00 -0500

Over the next few days I'm going to post about a few players in the Oilers organization who might surprise in training camp. These players will be outside the mental depth chart most of us carry around all day ("if Staios were injured, would they move Strudwick up or make a call to Springfield for Peckham?") but have a legit chance to improve their standing over the next 12 months.The first player: defender Johan Motin.How did they get him? A very solid draft pick, he was chose...

Falcons 09-10 Reasonable Expectations (D)

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:45:00 -0500

The Edmonton Oilers look set on the blue for 2009-10 but do have some very interesting talent bubbling under. Unlike the forward group--whose skills are duplicated by superior players on the major league roster--the defensemen have wide ranging skills and should be useful as early as this season.In our look at the Falcons' forwards for the coming season, I suggested that one player (Potulny) had a chance to make the NHL team and another 4 (Reddox, Minard, Stone Paukovich) had a chance fo...

I have said that Paul Westphal is the Lou Brown hire...

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:59:00 -0500

And that is something that I firmly believe. Let me explain the logic. Lou Brown was the Manager in Major League. He was supposed to lead the Indians to Miami. But behind the power pitching of Ricky Vaughn and the Ecksteinish intangibles of Jake Taylor. Lou Brown brought home a division title.But that just doesn't happen in real life. Especially in the NBA, where there's a precedent for this sort of hire. There was a West Coast basketball team that had fallen on hard times. But it had...

Top 10 Sports Movie Quotes...To Use While Watching Sports

Mon, 01 Jun 2009 21:59:45 -0500

There are a handful of quality sports movies. From those, dozens and dozens of memorable quotes and one-liners have arisen. However, the true magic of a sports movie quote is being able to seamlessly drop said nugget in casual conversation. One reaches the pinnacle when you can perfectly drop a sports movie quote in the context of a sporting event. When this all makes sense, it's magic. I think you know what I'm talking about, but just in case...here's the top 10 that I find mysel...

Sports Movies and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Choices

Thu, 28 Aug 2008 22:16:50 -0500

We all know that the lion's share of sports movies follow a standard template, varying minimally from flick to flick besides maybe a different sport and some different actors. While we are cool with this if-it-ain't-broke formula for the most part, there is one element that always gets under my skin. It never fails that one of the characters always makes a very ill-advised decision in terms of siding with the hottest buns.

Exhibit A: Varsity Blues

While Amy Smart is generally no slouch, she simply doesn't bring her "A" game to the dance. This is not the ridiculously hot Amy Smart we saw in the videocamera scene at the University of Ithaca in "Road Trip." This Amy Smart is more the pants suit, political science, young republican type of chick. Mox makes an egregious error in forgoing a night with the magical Ali Larter and her whip cream bikini. Come on Mox; it's legacy. That is not the kind of leadership we have come to expect from the starting QB at West Canaan.

Exhibit B: Teen Wolf

Scott's choice to remain with Boof over his dream girl Pam at the end of Teen Wolf is another travesty. Boof doesn't hold a candle to Pam and Pam even flashed her bra. That's risque stuff for a high schooler. He should have at least taken Pam for a ride on the "Wolfmobile" before retreating to the utterly mediocre Boof. Look, more power to Scott for going "beautiful on the inside," but let's be serious; this is like drafting T.J. Ducket over Adrian Peterson... dumb.

Exhibit C: Better Off Dead

For Lane, I can kind of understand his sentiment about not going back to Beth after she ripped his heart out and left him for magna jerk, Roy Stalin. Plus, it's tough to tell if Monique has it goin' on underneath that snowmobile suit, but still Beth is head and shoulders above as a trophy bone for skiing the K-12. Plus, taking Beth home in the Camaro would really up Meyer's street cred with Jin and Nguyen Cossell.

Exhibit D: Bull Durham

Annie faced a tough decision in deciding between Crash Davis (Costner) and Ebby Calbin "Nuke" LaNoosh (Robbins). For starters, which name do you go with there? Those are both so strong. The real question is does she go with the aging handsomeness of Kevin Costner or the hard-partying loose cannon with the potential to make the bigs? Ultimately, Annie settled down with Old Balls Johnson, while Nuke headed to the bigs. Dumb. She could have latched on to a sugar daddy in the big leagues, allowing her to infiltrate her promiscuity into a big league club. Then again, the thought of spooning with Kevin Costner every night is mighty tempting. I bet he has strong arms.

Exhibit E: Major League

Highlighted by one of the more laughable scenes, the decision between the rich douchebag exec and Jake Taylor are in a downtown loft in Cleveland. The guy is a big shot business executive in friggin' Cleveland and he tries to scoff at Jake Taylor, who is simply a baseball player. I mean the minimum contract for a baseball player even back then had to be in the low six figures. Are we to honestly believe that Mr. Business Executive of the Year in Cleveland can bring in more cash or hold more prestige than a former All-Star catcher in a blue collar town like Cleveland? Come on. Fortunately, she comes around eventually and goes back to old Jakey.

Exhibit F: Revenge of the Nerds

OK, probably not a sports movie, but it was a sporting event that swung the affection of famed cheerleader, Ms. Betty Childs. After the underdog-takes-all story at the Greek Olympics and the Tri-Lams eventual defeat of the Alpha Betas, Ms. Childs picked Lewis over QB Stan Gable on the moon when we learned that nerds have big wangs. In reality, she was probably tripping on acid, but still it's a great tale that would never happen in real life. However, it was a moment for all us nerds to celebrate a small victory, real or not. Why they made 4 sequels eventually showing the couple married, is beyond our comprehension, but still?

Exhibit G: Johnny Be Good

Johnny made hands down the worst choice of anyone. He could have gone to any University in the country and plowed more hot (preferably southern) sorority girls than Matt Leinart. Instead, he opted to stay back home and attend the local city college to be with his woman - an entirely average young Uma Thurman. Besides that one anomaly bust out in "Beautiful Girls," Uma Thurman really doesn't do it for me. Maybe it's because I still resent her for preventing the world from experiencing Johnny Be Good on the football field. He was probably a little too small to land a starting QB job at a big time program, but he would have been one hell of a punter.

Exhibit H: Jerry Maguire

Um hello, Earth to Jerry. Jerry, snap out of it. Here, maybe if I put a moth ball under your nose. That chick has a KID. You just traded in a ridiculously hot model for a secretary, her annoying sister, and a KID. Do you read me? She has a KID.

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Sports Movie Hall of Fame Elections: Coaches

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 20:34:20 -0500

As the sports season rolls into a summer lull before the Olympics, it's time for the second round of elections for the Sports Movie all of Fame. Full results from the first class can be found on our website, but Johnny Lawrence, Ty Webb, Kelly Leak and Benny "the Jet" Rodriguez all made it on the strength of your votes. Instead of electing another class of athletes, we're focusing on the brains behind the brawn and determining which coaches are worthy of enshrinement in the Sports Movie Hall of Fame. Take a look at their credentials below and cast your vote at the end of the original post. Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) Accomplishments: Three time MLB MVP, hit 534 career HR, taught children all across the country to "avoid The Clap", totally nailed that waitress in South Bend Hall Pitch: Dugan should be appreciated for his off-field contributions just as much for his on-field. Not only did he help popularize one of the first professional women's sports league, he also helped the people in the stands, and all across this great nation. Without him, all our great female athletes would be running back to Oregon just before the big game to have a million babies, annoying children would be walking around with glove marks on their faces, and everyone would just assume there was crying in baseball. He emphasized the basics of the game like hitting the cutoff man and not having your #3 hitter bunt (you hear that, Dusty Baker?!). The fact that his only season of coaching did not bring home the title should not be held against him. Besides, we all know Dottie dropped that ball on purpose so Kit could feel better about herself and be the center of attention for once, right? Right?! Morris Buttermaker (Walter Matthau) Accomplishments: Pitched in the minors, got 2nd place in a highly competitive Little League, set American record for most beers drank in a 7 inning game, once went to Japan Hall Pitch: No coach has ever done more with less than Morris Buttermaker. In fact, he took "a buncha Jews, spics, niggers, pansies, and a booger-eatin' moron!" to the finals with only two real players (Kelly Leak and Amanda Whurlitzer). The cunning and strategy it takes to know where to put your terrible players in order to minimize their effect on the game is a skill that few managers possess (just ask Willie Randolph! HIYO!). An early proponent of child safety, he made sure that all team members wore a cup unless they were a girl. Or Catholic. Buttermaker's prowess was not confined to the field, however. While most managers have nothing else to distract them from running their teams, Buttermaker also ran a fairly successful pool cleaning business during the season. Gordon Bombay (Emilio Estevez) Accomplishments: Finished first (coach) and second (player) in the Twin Cities Peewee Hockey League, led Team USA to the Gold Medal in the Junior Goodwill Games, invented both the Triple Deke and The Flying V, could definitely get you Charlie Sheen's autograph (but not Martin's) Hall Pitch: A freak knee injury cut Bombay's playing career short, but maybe that was a blessing after all. It forced him into the coaching box where he really started to shine. After taking the District 5 team from last place to champions in his first year as coach, he went on to defeat Iceland in the finals of the Junior Goodwill Games. Think about that: Iceland. ICEland. Their whole country is made out of the substance the game is played on (or so I'm lead to believe)! And Gordon still lead our boys to victory. A brilliant mind, Bombay excelled at getting sponsors for youth sports, keeping young prodigious egos in check, and totally nailing Charlie's mom. Lou Brown (James Gammon) Accomplishments: Managed the Cleveland Indians to 2 Divisional titles leading to a World Series bid. Hall Pitch: Lou Brown was nothing more than a part-time minor league manager in Toledo who had to supplement his income working at a tire shop when Indians GM Charlie Donovan offered him the chance to manage in the big leagues. But Lou was able to overcome a roster that seemed built to lose and less then stellar facilities to rally from the cellar in the AL and win their division in his first year. Many attribute Brown's success to his unique style of worldly motivation. Reports of pissing on players contracts as well as using his own heart attack as a motivational tool as it was happening during his second season are only eclipsed by the rumor of a life sized picture of Indians owner Rachel Phelps naked covered with removable sections of clothing that Brown would peel away after each win. Brown was unable to return to the bench after his heart attack but continued to provide interim Manager, Jake Taylor with inspiration as the Indians won there second divisional title. Bill Yoast (Will Patton) Accomplishments: Amassed a Hall of Fame worthy career as Head Coach of TC Williams; moved aside for coach Herman Boone but stayed on as Defensive Coach to help the community deal with the freshly desegregated climate; helped Coach Boone lead the Titans to a perfect season and the Virginia State Title. Hall Pitch: Coach Yoast was a Hall of Fame coach before the 1971 High School football season. He was a shoe-in. But when TC Williams was forced to desegregate Yoast lost his position to the African-American Herman Boone. Boone offered an assistant position in charge of the defense that Yoast eventually accepted. From there these two men led the Titans to a perfect record and the State Championship game. When the good ole boy contingent attempted to fix the game so that Boone would be embarrassed, it was Bill Yoast who threatened to blow the whistle on the whole situation. After the game, Yoast was approached by community officials and told they had conducted a "straw poll" and he had just lost himself the Hall of Fame. Well, I think we need to do our own little straw poll and I expect it will be quite a different story. Harry Hogge (Robert Duvall) Accomplishments: Crew chief for not just 1 but 2 rookie sensations in Cole Trickle and Russ Wheeler. He also built the cars for Tim Daland's team as well as the Daytona 500 winning car for Rowdy Burns team. Hall Pitch: Harry Hogge is another guy that almost quit too soon. After years as crew chief for Buddy Bretherton, Hogge retired from racing when Buddy was killed during the last lap at Daytona. One year later, rookie owner Tim Daland approached Hogge and convinced him to get back into NASCAR. Without a driver, Hogge and Daland took on a young open-wheel driver named Cole Trickle. Hogge was able to make this driver understand the intricacies of stock car racing and Trickle became a powerhouse in NASCAR winning 5 of six races before getting injured. Daland hired another young unknown named Russ Wheeler while Trickle is unable to race. Wheeler has the same overwhelming success while working with Hogge (proving it's not the driver) and secures his own sponsor just in time for Trickle's return. After an accident at North Wilkesboro that destroys both of Daland's cars Trickle's team is fired, including Hogge. Both Trickle and Hogge move on to set up and drive the #51 Chevy of Rowdy Burns at the beginning of the next season, winning Daytona. Chester Lee (Rodney Dangerfield) Accomplishments: Winning a girls youth soccer league by cheating so boldly and brazenly that Tim Donaghy was jealous, ensuring Jonathan Brandis would need a lifetime of counseling (and that's just the infamous dressing room incident). Hall Pitch: A spot in any Hall of Fame normally isn't reserved for youth coaches, but Chester Lee is the exception. To get ahead in his run-of-the-mill corporate job, he decides to coach a girls soccer team. Instead of encouraging his batch of subpar players and accepting defeat, his will to win was so strong that he convinces the best player he can find to dress up in drag. Of course, he dominates but is eventually discovered? but Chester leads his team to victory anyway. Ignore the fact he was quite possibly a raging pedophile. Mickey Goldmill (Burgess Meredith) Accomplishments: Discovered "The Italian Stallion" Rocky Balboa as a no name and led him to a championship, devised effective, old school training methods to inspire underdogs everywhere Hall Pitch: It takes a special manager to guide a two-bit brawler from fighting hobos to standing toe-to-toe with the Champion of the World, "The Master of Disaster" Apollo Creed. But it takes a genius to take what could be a fluke and drive him to be a long-reigning heavyweight champion. Mick was incredibly quotable and left this world the way any old man would, scuffling with an uppity punk kid. John Kreese (Martin Kove) Accomplishments: Popularizing karate in the Valley, creating a stable of world class martial artists, striking first, striking hard and giving no mercy Hall Pitch: In the mid-80's, no dynasty had a stranglehold on their sport like Cobra Kai on the All-Valley Karate Tournament. Not only did they typically produce the champion (Johnny Lawrence), they also made up roughly 50% of the Quarter and Semi-finals in any given year. That, my friends, is true dominance. Without Sensei Kreese's take no prisoners approach, his students would be average orange belts, toiling in obscurity and being mocked by football players. Instead, they're the big men on campus that answer to nobody. Norman Dale (Gene Hackman) Accomplishments: Coached small town basketball team full of white guys to the 1954 Indiana State title, gave the town drunk a chance, owner of a "checkered past". Hall Pitch: Hickory High basketball coach Norman Dale was brought in after the death of Hickory's previous coach. For reasons unknown, the hiring was a controversial one. Coach Dale was able to win the state title with 7 players and the occasional appearance by the team manager all because he focused on the fundamentals of defense and team play. His motivational speeches before games, at halftime, and during crucial timeouts in crunch time were the stuff of legend. Dale brought his team of hayseed bumpkins to the highest level of play, all while dealing with Barbara Hershey's incessant nagging. That right there should be more than enough to earn him all your votes. Please disregard the fact that his team disagreed with the game winning play call in the final seconds and that ultimately he changed the play call to go to Jimmy Chitwood. Tony D'Amato (Al Pacino) Accomplishments: As coach and GM of the Miami Sharks, D'Amato led the team to "success" for several decades, took the Sharks to the AFFA Championship Cup in 1999 with a 3rd string quarterback. Hall Pitch: Tony D'Amato was one of the few coaches of a bygone era still scrapping in the 24 hour sports news cycle/meddling owner/prima donna athlete era. He and Cap Rooney were able to create football magic for years. Then when Cap got injured, coach D'Amato molded a raw third string quarterback into a game changer. It was the melding of old and new, vanilla and chocolate (double entendre!), pass and scramble, etc. This guy is the epitome of a hall of fame coach. With the continual carousel of head coaches in the professional leagues a tenure of D'Amato's truly stands out. D'Amato belongs with the Landry's, the Noll's, and the Shula's. Pete Bell (Nick Nolte) Accomplishments: Never had a losing season at Western University (until the start of Blue Chips), tried his best to play by the rules in a corrupt recruiting world Hall Pitch: In the slimy realm of college basketball recruiting Pete Bell tried his best to stay on the right side of the line. But the "rules" were changing and Bell was used to winning on his own terms. Initially, he bristled at the idea of buying off players and their parents. It went against everything he'd worked his life to accomplish. But the lure of winning again (he'd just completed his first losing season in his entire career) was just too much. He allowed boosters to give houses, cars, tractors, and bags of cash to the best recruits so that he could win again. But Bell knew it wasn't right. And he came out and said so at a press conference after a big win. All he needed was a little prodding by Al Bundy, investigative journalist extraordinaire. That kind of soul-baring takes some serious stones. He may have disgraced his career, but he came clean in the end. Contrary to what Neon's mom philosophy "A foul is not a foul, unless the ref blows his whistle," coach knew he had to do the right thing.