We begin Odds & Ends on this Saturday with the disappointing start to the San Francisco Giants’ season. At 2-5, the Giants are currently fifth in the National League West, and while they did win 5-3 yesterday in San Diego to avoid getting swept in that series, this team has shown through seven games that something is definitely missing with this team.

What gets me is how bad the bullpen is and how nothing was done to address it in the offseason. Yeah,I get not retaining Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla (even though both men have been very effective for their new clubs so far this season), but the team didn’t do very much to replace them other than sign Mark Melancon and hope and pray that he alone can fix their bullpen woes. The Giants blew eight different leads in their first five games and a lot of that can be attributed to how bad the bullpen has been.

George Kontos and the rest of the Giants’ bullpen have been far from stellar seven games into the season.

I get it,losing Will Smith sucks because he was supposed to be the set-up man, but nobody has proven that they can fill that spot otherwise. When I see these relievers come in, I cringe a little and question how badly they’re going to blow it for the Giants. I used to not do that when they were winning championships in 2010 and 2012,now it seems only necessary.

Also,why the fuck can’t anyone who plays left field get a god damn hit? From Jarrett Parker to Chris Marrero (who I’d never heard of until he came to the Giants) to Aaron Hill, nobody can get a hit who plays that position. I’m also not impressed with the defensive play in the outfield in general. Also, I’m done seeing Gorkys Hernandez not only play center field, but also bat lead-off. I hope to god that either Drew Stubbs and Melvin Upton, Jr.,both of whom were signed over the weekend to minor league deals, can plug a long-standing hole in left field.

And one more thing, why are some of these starters getting days off a week into the season? The season just started, you’ve only won once thus far, get your ass out there and play. Bruce Bochy does not need to be giving these guys a day off a week into the god damn season.

Look,I know it’s still early and I’m probably overly panicking about all of this, but the things this team needed to fix the most, those being the bullpen and left field,didn’t get done and those two things need to be remedied as soon as possible if they want to sniff the postseason again because right now this team doesn’t look as good as they should.

As Mike Singletary once said, “I want winners!”

Tony Romo announced his retirement from the Dallas Cowboys and the NFL last week.

Tony Romo officially announced his retirement from the NFL this week after a 14-year NFL career, all of which was spent with the Dallas Cowboys.

Following his announced retirement, he was hired by CBS and will be the new color analyst alondside Jim Nantz.

“It was a very difficult decision. I went back and forth a number of times,” Romo said on a conference call regarding whether or not he wanted to continue playing or retire. Romo also said that he and his wife had a lot of late nights talking about his future and that it was nice to have some clarity.

Had he kept playing,Romo said that the Houston Texans were on the top of his wish list,but the deal with CBS was too good to pass up.

I think Romo could’ve played longer,I really do. He’s 36 and there are teams who could use a serviceable quarterback like Houston, but in the end he’s taking into account his health and if he plays another season whether or not he gets hurt again and probably doesn’t want to go through that anymore. That’s respectable and I think he isn’t playing again,I think he’s done.

The Edmonton Oilers will play host to the San Jose Sharks in their first playoff series in 11 years. Game One begins on Wednesday at 7pm Pacific on USA!

I think it will be a great series,however,I’m hearing from a lot of people that this is going to be such an easy series for the Sharks to win because Edmonton is very young and hasn’t had a lot of playoff experience.

Excuse my Oiler bias, but I wholeheartedly disagree.

First of all, the Oilers’ youth is an advantage in my opinion. Not only are they young,but they’re very fast. Does anyone not remember how the Sharks did when they faced a very speedy Pittsburgh team in the Stanley Cup Finals last summer? I think the Sharks are going to have the same problems with the Oilers that they did with the Penguins.

As for their so-called “inexperience”, while there are many Oilers making their playoff debuts, there are some guys on this squad who have been there before. Has anyone forgotten that Milan Lucic has won a Stanley Cup? And that Cam Talbot was a part of some great Rangers teams in his early career? Does anyone remember that Oilers coach Todd McLellan coached the Sharks two seasons ago and knows that team pretty damn well? This team has more postseason experience than people are willing to give them credit for and because of that, I think it gives the team more of a chance to beat San Jose in the first round.

Also,the Oilers are coming into the postseason on a hot streak,winning 13 of their last 15 games. San Jose finished by winning only four of their last 10 games, including two losses to Edmonton in that span.

While anything can happen in the postseason,and while the Sharks are a tougher team in the playoffs now than in years past,I think the Oilers will win this series in six games. I may be wrong and if I am I will say so in a future edition of Odds & Ends, but I’m pretty confident in my team and I know how well they’ve played to this point. Either way,it’s gonna be a dandy of a series.

Finally this week, if Russell Westbrook of the Oklahoma City Thunder does not win the NBA’s Most Valuable Player award after averaging a triple double for the first time since the 1961-62 season, there is no justice in this world.

After his longtime teammate Kevin Durant left to chase a ring with the Warriors,Westbrook was left to lead the team on his own and he has done just that. While the Thunder have won 46 games and are sixth in the Western Conference, Westbrook is pretty much the main reason why. Without his 31.7 points per game,his 10.4 assists per game,and his 10.7 rebounds per game and his 42 triple doubles this year, Oklahoma City wouldn’t have been remotely as good as they are.

Oscar Robertson, the last man to average a triple-double in season 55 years ago,predicts that Westbrook will win the award this year.

“I could not be happier for him. Congratulations to Russell Westbrook on a magnificent season,” Robertson wrote for the Undefeated. “Westbrook’s averages are similar to mine in both scoring and assists [a point higher in scoring, a digit lower in assists]. What’s more, he leads the league in scoring by a comfortable margin at 31.9 points per game.”

I echo what Robertson said. His season is too good to be ignored for this award this year. Sure, James Harden and LeBron James have had great seasons,too,but have they averaged a triple double? Westbrook has done something that’s been done only once since 1962 and that deserves a lot of recognition.

That’s about it for this edition of Odds & Ends this week, have a great week and enjoy the Stanley Cup Playoffs!