Rashad McCants: playing in the D-League, after initially saying he was better than 70% of the NBA, "I was being modest saying 70 percent. My honest opinion is 95 percent. I don't even think there are top-tier All-Stars who are better than me, and they know who they are."
Adrian Peterson: referring to how NFL Owners treat the players, "It's modern-day slavery, you know?"
Four of my nominations made the Big Dance last year (http://kruschkeleaks.weebly.com/1/post/2011/02/pst-2010.html and http://kruschkeleaks.weebly.com/1/post/2011/03/pst-2010-it-was-a-nice-run.html), and three this year:
HARTMAN REGION - #13 SEED
Charley "Shooter" Walters: "Speaking of Rochester, shortstop Trevor Plouffe's slugging percentage through six games is .826. Babe Ruth's slugging percentage was .690."
HARTMAN REGION - #12 SEED
Tim Brewster: "I'm a coach by nature, that's who I am, and I'm a darn good one."
GORG REGION - #9 SEED
Mark Teixeira: Before spring training, "We're the underdogs this year. I love it. No-one is picking us right now."
My Shooter statement lost out in the 1st Round, 51 to 49%, to Joe Schmit's "Justin Morneau returning to a spring training game must have felt like Game 7 of the World Series."
Coach Brew made a strong run to the Silly Sixteen, pasting a weak utterance from the FAN's Joe Nelson 67 to 33% before dismantling Schmit's aforementioned statement, 62 to 38%. However, AP's eventual runner-up comment on slavery was too much, handily defeating Brew 64 to 36%.
Teixeira started off with a convincing 61-39% win over Kevin Gorg's "The Minnesota Wild have plenty of top-end talent" statement, but ran into the buzzsaw that was the eventual champion McCants in the 2nd round, going down decisively, 78 to 22%.
The tourney ended, as has become the tradition, with "One Preposterous Statement," a song I penned a few years ago (in case you haven't heard) to the tune of "One Shining Moment" that some other rube recorded and submitted. You can read more about it at the first KruschkeLeaks link I posted above.
For the sake of posterity, here's the rest of my nominations that didn't make this year's tourney:
2011 PST nominee: Ron Gardenhire, speaking on Joe Mauer's power
February 14, 2011
Ron Gardenhire, on Joe Mauer's power numbers being down last year: "If Joe Mauer wants to hit for power, he will hit for power."
2011 PST nominee: Jimmy Fallon on Joe Mauer
February 17, 2011
From Shooter: Twins catcher Joe Mauer, appearing on NBC's "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" on Tuesday, won a video game batting contest against Fallon with a home run. Fallon referred to Mauer, the all-star from St. Paul, as the "Anti-LeBron James" because he could have signed for "millions of dollars more" by opting for free agency rather than remaining in Minnesota.
2011 PST nominee: the Twins won't trade Drew Butera
March 11, 2011
Twins catcher Drew Butera was the Astros' first choice to replace the injured Jason Castro, according to Peter Gammons of MLB Network (on Twitter). However, the Twins won't trade Butera, according to Gammons.
2011 PST nominee: Steve Sax says Kirk Gibson could be worth "15 wins" for the Diamondbacks
March 22, 2011
"You take somebody like Kirk Gibson and he might be a 15-game difference," Sax said. "And I say that because this guy is pretty dynamic. You're talking about one hell of a tenacious guy who knows how to win."
2011 PST nominee: Dave St. Peter - "Opening Day ... a state-wide holiday"
March 23, 2011
As heard on the Sports Huddle with Sid and Dave on March 20: Sid Hartman asked, "You got any big events coming up during the season?" St. Peter answered, "Opening Day's gonna be huge; I think that's really developed into a state-wide holiday ..."
PST 2011 nominee: Jim Pohlad compares Target Field to Disneyland
April 10, 2011
Pohlad, who can see Target Field from his Minneapolis office and regularly walks to the ballpark from there, loves the current ballpark. "To me, it's just unbelievable," he said. "It's like being at Disneyland for me as an adult."
2011 PST nominee: Minnesota Twins, for "Vote now for your favorite Target Field Spruce Tree Video"
April 29, 2011
Vote for your favorite Spruce Tree Giveaway submission today! Vote now »
2011 PST nominee: al-Qadia rube "... trillions of Osamas will be born"
May 6, 2011
"America is celebrating Osama bin Laden's killing, but it will be a temporary celebration," said Abdullah Sittar Chishti, a member of the Jamiat Ulema Islam party who attended the rally in Khuchlak. "After the martyrdom of Osama, billions, trillions of Osamas will be born."
PST 2011 nominee: Phil Mackey, on Kelly Shoppach framiing pitches
October 5, 2011
Talking about potential Twins free-agent signee, catcher Kelly Shoppach: Shoppach also holds his own when it comes to framing pitches.
PST 2011 nominee: Phil Mackey, on Nick Punto being respectable offensively
October 5, 2011
On the possibility of bringing back Nick Punto as a free agent next year: He (Punto) also draws enough walks (10.2% career, 15.3% this year) to be respectable offensively.