Farewell, Skip

The Padres made many moves over the offseason. One of the moves was acquiring utility man Skip Schumaker, who was a free agent after spending the past couple of seasons in Cincinnati. Before that, he played in St. Louis, winning a world series with the team in 2011. It was announced the other day that he had retired. Although he did not want to refer to the R word when he told manager Andy Green. He said that his "journey is complete." Of course, Schumaker's numbers are not the most ideal for a major-league utility man. But he brought such leadership to a young clubhouse that really needs it. Perhaps we will have to rely on James Shields and other players with similar talent and experience to pave the way for the team. Speaking of the rest of the team, the Padres have been struggling in spring training play. Of course these games don't count at all for regular season play, but day after day we are being blown out with the opposition scoring at least five runs in each game. You'd think we would make things at least a little bit more interesting. But who knows. We will just have to wait and see what happens in the regular season. But things are not looking good, especially today when James Shields yields three home runs to the White Sox. Here are your scores:

- Saturday: Rockies 9, Padres 5
- Sunday: White Sox 8, Padres 1; A's 6, Padres 5
- Monday: Padres 8, Brewers 2
- Tuesday: D-Backs 8, Padres 8
- Wednesday: D-Backs 8, Padres 4
- Thursday: Indians 9, Padres 4

You're not going to win too many games allowing that amount of runs. Hopefully the team can figure it out and get into a groove by the time opening day arrives in about three weeks. Talk about exciting, right? Opening day is so close! In terms of the Padres roster, I'm hoping to see Jemile Weeks stay instead of Alexi Amarista. Comment below to say who you would like to make the roster out of the ones competing for a roster spot.

In the NFL, there is some big news coming out of Denver. Peyton Manning has decided to call it a career and retire. What a career he had. And he was able to cap it off with a super bowl victory. Wow. Now that Broncos have to figure out how to refill the QB position. Brock Osweiler became a free agent after the end of the year and now has signed with the Houston Texans. It is unknown why he did that, since he could get the hunch that Peyton would soon retire and therefore become the next Broncos starting quarterback. But perhaps being benched in favor of Peyton at the beginning of the playoffs kind of left an impression on him that he was not wanted as much as Peyton. Now that he is going to be the starting quarterback in Houston, he can rest peacefully knowing that he has a shot at the playoffs on a good Texans team. In other news, the Browns have released Johnny Manziel after being selected in the first round of the 2014 draft. Manziel has been linked to alcohol abuse and has been given second and third and fourth chances to try to fix his issue but has been unsuccessful. With him being released, I will be surprised if he signs to another team.

Now to the NBA. With the start of the playoffs looming closer and closer, the top teams in each conference seem to be shifting their focus to that time. Both the Spurs and the Warriors have large active home winning streaks that keep going and going. And with the Thunder starting to stumble a little bit, will they be relinquish the three seed in the west before this is all said and done? Will the Cavaliers be able to hold on to the top spot in the east with the Raptors right at their heels? These are tough questions to answer, but I think the way the standings are right now is what they will be like come the end of the year.

Well that should do it for this week. Feel free to comment below on what you want me to write about or what research you would like me to do. Have a good week!