The Skip is back!

So, now that we're two games through the most boring World Series matchup ever, we can take a moment to look back on what the hell happened. CC was the only reliable starter throughout the playoffs. You can't knock Phil, who's only 24 goddamnit, or a 39 year old Pettitte who has been hurt for the final few months of the season.
Can't blame those guys. However, you can point the finger at the rest of the staff. The word "Staff" gives you the idea that someone is doing work. Javy Vasquez, Burnett, Nova- these guys watched. Didn't even get a bite of  the field. Sure, AJ made a decent appearance in the ALCS going like 5 OK innings then self destructing.
Sure, the Yanks did it last year with 3 pitchers- but they were hot, healthy, and reliable. Pitching wins championships- look at San Fran.
The bats were somewhat there. The bottom of the lineup (Gardner, Posada, Granderson) stepped up.
For me- I blame coaching. I mean Girardi did all the right things throughout the season- resting guys, toying around with leadoff hitters, etc., but when it came down to the fight, Girardi flopped.
He just didn't have that tenacity that you expect from your Skipper. However, can't be surprised- dude was emotionless as he won rings behind the plate, too. However, SI.com reports today:

The Yankees and Joe Girardi have agreed on a three-year, $9-million extension, sources confirm.

The finishing touches are being put on a deal that also includes about $500,000 in World Series and playoff bonuses.

Sounds like hes here to stay.

Cya in the Showers

So now that baseball season is officially over- at least from a viewers standpoint (Rangers vs Giants, wtf?)- lets take a look today at athletes who have failed us over the years.
No, not Javy and Burnett deciding to be stay-at-home-dads for the playoffs, but players who have failed us in life. Here is a list of 23 athletes who have made their way from the court (or other sporting locations) to the slammer.

Doc's cousin made it.

Darryl Strawberry:

Darryl Strawberry was one of the best sluggers in baseball in the 1980s. Coming up with the Mets he won the 1984 Rookie of the Year award, was the best hitter on the 1986 World Champion Mets, and an 8 time All-Star. But his talent was never fully realized, thanks to a number of off-field issues. Strawberry had issues with cocaine, which culminated in his suspension in 1995, and a 1999 arrest for soliciting sex from a prostitute and possession of cocaine. Strawberry was fortunate, though, as he's been able to turn his life around. He met his current wife, Linda, while in rehab and currently works as an analyst for the home of the Mets, SNY.

Oh-Ver-Ray-Ted

Sports Illustrated has a great technique when it comes to polls-they let the actual players decide. The most recent poll was "Who is the most overrated player in the NFL?"
239 current NFL players anonymously voted.
Not surprisingly, the players chose Terrell "VH1>NFL Network" Owens as the most overrated player, who took in 14% of the vote. This one came as a bit of a shock to me-not because I didn't know that people hated TO, but because I didn't think some people perceived him still as a good player.
7% was the next highest vote, going to Tony "nine-at-nine" Romo. This one doesn't surprise me at all, actually, the only thing that does surprise me about this is how low of a percentage he received. No one gets more hype, has more weapons surrounding him, and cannot do squat then ya boi Tromo.
However-the third place vote getter is what really grinds my gears. Mark Sanchez ties Albert "Oh, a 3-4 defense refers to 3 down lineman" Haynesworth with 5% of the vote.
Fat Alby has one of the fattest contracts in football, and the guy has been living on the sidelines and the trading block since he arrived in D.C. All Mark Sanchez has done is silenced his critics, got over that god-forsaken "sophomore slump" and took the God Damn jets to the AFC championship in his rookie year.
Overrated??? Who the hell had such high expectations for a guy who played one year at USC and took on a Jets team that had no identity. You gotta be kidding me, guys!
Like anyone expected Sanchez to do what he did last year! Ca-mon!



Side notes- Eli took fourth with 4% of the vote. Who do I feel should have made the list?

1. Favre
2. Chad Ochocinco
3. Joey Porter
4. Matt Schaub
5. Dwayne Bowe
6. Laurence Maroney
7. Doc Gooden

Two Hand Touch?

Hot topic around the sports world today surrounds the notion of Roger Goodell and the NFL enforcing a firm control over helmet-to-helmet hits. 34 Concussions so far this year-and we've only been through 6 weeks.
Fines of anywhere from $5k-$25k are a thing of the past. When you have guys making 100x that in their signing bonuses alone, you can understand why the hits kept comin'. However, the NFL is stepping it up by now suspending players who lay such vicious blows.

This really irks me. Years ago, before concussions weren't so glorified, you had guys like Troy Aikman go through an entire season while sustaining multiple concussions. Now I am not defending the fact that guys should take time off after a serious head injury, but this is the first time I can remember that a ton of prime-time players are out one after another with a concussion.

Have the players gotten faster and stronger? Yes.
Has the game gotten rougher? Not from what I can see.
Have advancements in medical technology and research caused us to be (rightfully so) more  concerned with the effects of concussions? Yes.

So, my case is this- we understand that players need time off after an injury. However, when I am paying $150 a ticket to see Shawn Merriman go "lights out" on the opposing team, I want what I paid for. I dont want him in the right spot at the right time to lay a bone shattering hit, only to pass on it and go for the legs.

People- its called football. The game has not changed. When you put that helmet on and cash your bi-weekly $1,500,000 check, you better be damn ready to get lit the fart up.

I guess, he is, that good.

When a guy gets his own twitter feed due to the popularity of his postseason stats (#cliffleestats) you gotta believe that its fo' real. Personally, I never wanted to bite on the mass appeal of Cliff Lee in the postseason, but after that man handling of the most productive offense in baseball, I now am an believer too.

Directly following that 2-run shot from Josh "your next spokesman for Schweppes" Hamilton, Lee decided to forgo allowing the Yanks to play ball. He went 8 strong, allowing 2 hits and 1 walk. It was similar to a game of cat and mouse, except the cat was Garfield 3d and the mouse was barely a Mexican jumping bean.

So the Yanks find themselves in a 2-1 deficit with Mr. Useless, AJ "trust me, I got it this time" Burnett on the mound tonight. The yankees starting pitching as been fine, but its their bats that have been an issue. They stole game 1 late- not unusual- and yesterday they should have just let the Scranton JV team pinch hit for them.

Can anything good be taken away from last night? Sure, the fact that Lee passed the test and won over Yankee fans to the point of a $400 million dollar contract this offseason. Blame the resin, blame the cold, blame whatever, but that damn split finger fastball is gonna be laughin' all the way to the bank.

Time to get it together or else. If AJ blows it, he'll be a Met next year and if the Yanks blow it, Girardi's gone.

I hate using the term "must-win" but it couldn't be more applicable. Cmon Bombers, do it fo' ya fans!

Good thing we'll only have to see Lee once more in the series, otherwise, there would be a lot more of these expressions:

Athletes, douchebags? No!

Ran across this article this morning. I had planned on solely reviewing articles that surrounded Game 3 tonight-also known as Cliff Lee's Yankee audition- but I felt compelled to write this one up.
The article was entitled "10 Pro Athletes who may not be total douchebags."
And, as necessary, I shall review:
10. Tony Romo- you gotta be kidding me. This guy is the figurehead of douchebags. He cries, he single handedly loses games, he breaks up with Jessica Simpson, and he claims his golf game is as good as his football game. Well- that one might not be such a stretch.

 

9. Chris Paul. I'd argue that this guy is a D-bag. He cried about wanting to leave after he praised the city and franchise for years. Oh, you didn't land Bosh or Lebron? Big deal, it was never gonna happen anyway. Keep cashing your huge checks and wait for your contract to expire like every other pro athlete.

8. Steve Nash- I actually like this guy. He does wonderful things for charity. Hes great with kids. He loves soccer. Hell, hes canadian. Plus, dood loves to party:

 

7. Josh Hamilton- guy's a D-bag. anyone who willingly allows to be showered in ginger ale moves down in my book. 

6. D Wade- I don't know too much about this guy other than hes represented by Converse and T-Mobile, two of the dumbest, most worthless sponsors ever. Essentially, that means hes in it for the money, which you can't blame, but cmon, what about Nike and Tag Heuer? Be a man, d-bag.

5. Derek Jeter??? Don't even get me started. Guys got 5 rings and about to grab his sixth. Hes dating Minka Kelly. Hes the king of New York. Hes never done a thing wrong. I am simultaneously writing into the editor to ask for his home address so I can whoop his ass. 

4. Tim Duncan- the "Big Fundamental." This guy should be categorized more as a chach than a D-bag. There has never been anyone in the history of sports who does everything right while doing everything so boring.

3. Baron Davis- B. Diddy- I liked the guy, but hes fallen off hard. He took in the Hollywood lifestyle and forgot that hes an actual athlete. I say D-bag.

2 & 1. Roger Federer and Lance Armstrong. These guys are the undisputed best at their sport. Sure, tennis and cycling are gay, but to call these guys D-bags is a stretch. Bore, maybe a chach, but not a d-bag.

In my opinion, there are a lot of guys who weren't mentioned:

Papelbon, Pedro, Plaxico, Randy Moss (although I love him), now Favre, just to name a few...

Leaders of the Pack

Usually the titles insinuate one thing- in this case, two.
By leaders of the pack, I mean that the J-E-T-S are 5-1 in the AFC, which currently stands as the best record. Also, the Jets will be playing the Packers on Halloween, which will be coming after a bye week next week.
Tonight's win against the Broncos was much harder than most predicted. Denver came out swinging by the likes of:

 Mr. "lifetime backup" Kyle Orton

 and Tim "I'll wait til' marriage" Tebow

 The Jets had an answer to each of their scores by the hands of the timeless LT. Finally a call goes GangGreen's way when Santonio went for the last ditch effort pass by Sanchez and got a pass interference call. Ball on the 2 yard line with 70 seconds left? I like LT.

So, as we look forward, these aren't your parents Jets. Ground-n-Pound mixed with a (sober) Braylon Edwards and a defense meaner than we could have imagined. Halloween Sunday at home vs the Packers, who just lost to Fins. Atop the division and a rude demeanor to do so. Rock'n'roll in the Big Apple. Bloomberg might planning two championship parades this year. Hoo-Rah!

Corn on the Kolb

So Mr. Vick's ribs are in worse shape than we thought. After taking that bone shattering blow in the Redskins game, bigbutt Andy called in the reserves. Kevin "welcome to the NFL" Kolb was imediately named the starter after the departure of McNabb. During week 1, Kolb took a head knock from leading Defensive MVP candidate Clay Matthews, which gave Vick life again.
Now, Kolb is back. He is as unproven a quarterback as is he, well, a man. So the question remains- who is this chach?
So he wins the Conference USA offensive player of the year in 2006, which is still a division?
He goes 36th overall to the Birds. Then he becomes the first NFL quarterback to throw for at least 300 yards in each of his first two games. Still not sold. 
His daughters names are Kamryn June and Atley Rose. Nice spelling dude.

The dude apparently is obsessed with hog hunting-no, the real kind-he was once heard saying "One hog can ruin an entire field of crops in just one night. They dig up and eat the roots. They need to be controlled."


Looks like Philly's gonna have their handful this weekend..

One Step Closer

28 is a big number. 28 is going to seem like a really big number in the tri-state area after the Yanks womp the Phillies for the second year in a row. The east coast loves to identify with their closest city. People from Atlantic City (Southern NJ) love the Phillies. People from Connecticut love the Yanks.
Philadelphia and NYC are a measly 90 miles from one another, with the inside of that donut being the Garden State. The parade down Broadway could easily continue on down I-95 to the philthy streets of Philadelphia.
But who wants to hang out with Rocky, Gay Tom Hanks, and Kevin Kolb? Not me, and not the Yanks.

So, considering the Yanks make it past the the Rangers and the Phillies work off the Giants, its gonna look like a rematch. New additions:
Yanks- Curtis Granderson who is playing unreal right now. Lance Berkman who is finally hitting. Kerry Wood who looks 23 years old again, Javy who blows, Nova who is OK, and rejuvenated MVP Cano.
Phils- Hallady-prob the best righty in the game, but the Yanks have seen all he has for years. Oswalt- way overrated, he doesn't win big games, and Placedo Palanco- eh, nothin special.

Lookin like that 28 is gonna be shining all the way down the Turnpike.

Age(nts) of the Free World

MLB playoffs leads to the World Series, which leads to the parade down Broadway (which NYC Mayor Mike Bloomberg "has already begun planning"), which then leads to the frenzy best known as Free Agency.

Its never to early to begin looking into the future. The Yankees are going to have a lot of question marks- who will play left field everyday? Who the hell can we count on in the starting pitching role aside from CC? Who is going to catch everyday, with power and defense? Who will eventually take over for Jeet?

So, allow me to begin with who will be the 6 most sought after free agents of the 2010 offseason:

1. Cliff Lee. I've mentioned him before, and this won't be the last time. Might be the toughest lefty in the game. The guy has no problem acclimating to anywhere. He already has a Cy Young, and he is already very used to pitching in big games. Wherever he lands he will be the ace, except for maybe the Yanks or Phils.
Prediction: Yankees
2. Carl Crawford. This guy has it all- can hit for power and/or contact, can steal bases, can play amazing defense, and he knows how to win. All-Star left fielder can really play anywhere in the outfield. He is quiet off the field and a great leader in the dugout. Hell be a 1-3 batter and a star outfielder for any team.  
Prediction: Angels
3. Jayson Werth. Hate this guy. Hate his beard, hate his style, hate his lanky posture, and I hate that he does well for the Phillies.Wherever he lands he will hit a lot of homeruns and play decent outfield, but I doubt hell win the championships he could have had he elected for less money to remain in Philly.  
Prediction: Mets
4. Victor Martinez. Currently the Red Sox everyday catcher, and their occasional first or third basemen. They made it clear they won't retain him by not picking up his offseason option. The guy can hit and play amazing defense. He will be a certified backstop for any team that is willing to pay.
Prediction: Mariners
5.  Adrian Beltre. Stud third baseman from the Red Sox. He was picked up last minute from the Mariners as an option to replace an aging Lowell. He has great power and hes a certified leader. He is a bit of a hot head, but cmon, who isn't? His defense is impenetrable and hes a winner.
Prediction: Braves
6.  Adam Dunn. I hate the fact that this chach has made a career off of hitting homeruns at useless times for useless teams. However, some teams to like statistics over proven winning, so I bet he will end up playing DH for somewhere. I think he would do well with the Rays considering Pena blows and Burrell was a waste.
Prediction: Rays

Farve from Acceptable

3-1 Jets vs the old, and getting older, Vikings.
Big Brett "that's not my dong in that crude text message" Favre coming back to the Meadowlands to face the swamp's faithful. Old Man River now teams up with Randy "The Slouch" Ma in an attempt to reconstruct a 1-2 dismal record.
Revis is playing, Santonio Holmes is playing, and Calvin Pace is a maybe.
Prediction: 24-13 Jets on a pair of Shonn Greene touchdowns and a defensive touch down off of a fumble by AP.

Side NFL notes:

• Rams aren't good, haven't been, and won't be. Don't believe the hype
• Texans suck because Matt Schaub sucks
• Giants are overrated
• Todd Collins, who threw for 4 picks, made Mike Martz look like a genius and the Panthers look like a pop warner team
• There is no team in the NFL considered a lock for the Super Bowl. Instead of a handful of extremely powerful teams and a lot more shitty ones, this season has brought forth a ton of mediocre teams. Tough one for gamblers
• Alex Smith is a bust. Stop deciding

Year of the Ace

The Wall Street Journal usually fails at reporting sports. Sure, they feature the box score and the upcoming schedules, and an occasional story on the dysfunctional Mets.

However, this mornings article was quite fascinating. It was all about the idea of an "Ace" and how dominant this has been in the 'Bigs lately.They used the following examples: Doc Halladay, CC Sabathia, Tim Lincecum(hes a weed head, see below), and Cliff Lee. Those four guys might be the best four in baseball, all of whom (ironically enough) are dominating where it matters- the Post Season.
What can we take away from that? Well, easy. The Steroid era is over, and in turn, so are the homerun blasts by Bonds and Sosa. Teams are wisely investing their money into arms, not bats. 

The league wide batting average dropped for the second consecutive year, to .257 from .262
Run scoring was down 5% and homerun total fell 8.5%

That surely means a lot. Let's look at the Cardinals. Spent top dollars retaining Pujols, signing Rasmus, and signing Holliday. Sure, they put up monster numbers, but its pitching, man, pitching that does the trick.

When it comes to October, you can't just have one ace anymore. The Phillies had their ace set two years ago with Cole Hamels. Dude dropped into the third spot behind Doc Halladay and Roy Oswalt. 3 great pitchers that could be an ace on any other team. Yankees- CC is a boss and Pettitte is a lock, especially in the post season. They went out and got Javy to try to bolster the rotation, but he sucks. That being said, Hughes better step up as that number 3 or were gonna be in trouble. Reds- they have Edison Volquez and that's it. Looking like an early exit for them. Giants- Lincecum and Cain. Those two can pitch.

Notice the common trend. Baseball is more about pitching now than it has ever been. In the regular season we saw two perfect games (would have been 3 if Gallaraga didn't get robbed), three no hitters, and the upcoming Strasburg and Chapman.

Get ready for some good baseball.

Thoughts on Round 1, Game 1

Life is about learning from your mistakes.
Round one of the playoffs, the division series, is about winning now and not looking back.
So, after 3 games are in the books, allow for my personal analysis.


Rangers vs. Rays: 5-1, Rangers win. This conclusion has multiple meanings. The first is that Cliff Lee deserves big money this offseason. The guy embodies the journeyman term, and cleans up opposing batters regardless of what jersey he is wearing. Hes groomed for the playoffs- long lasting, hard throwing lefty who never gets rattled. In my opinion, rangers should have been favorites here. However, Rays won't lose again at home, and their bats can stand the likes of the rest of the pitching staff. I like the Rays in 4.


Phillies vs Reds: Doc's first postseason game means Doc's first postseason No-No. Holy smokes, that guys good. Phils win 4-0, but were way more dominant than the score shows. The phaithphul phans were out in numbers and will continue to be an X factor throughout the playoffs. I see the Reds taking one game at home, but losing in 4. Sorry, maybe Johnny Gomes (seen below celebrating out of a protective cup) and the rest of the red alert should wake the hell up.

Yanks vs. Twins: Yanks win 6-4 in a god-dang heart attack. What the hell was Girardi thinking? His ace, CC, was getting more tired by the second and he keeps him in to clean up his own mistakes in the 6th. He walked the tying run with bases loaded, was working on 110+ pitches, and Girardi just sat back and watched. Bold moves are great moves, but not always, especially when the horse is scheduled to start again in like 4 days. Joe, wake up man, image isn't everything. Twins lineup looked pretty good, especially Denard Span and of course Mauer. I still like the Yanks in 3. No looking back now.

A Patriotic Goodbye

The Patriots are known for their gutsy calls, both in and out of the locker room. As of late, they signed an aging Fred Taylor, cut Adalius Thomas and still owed him 40 million, signed Junior Seau like 5 separate times, and many, many more strange things.
The most recent news out of Foxboro has to do with a fan favorite- Randy Ma'
Randy Moss has done both what he was expected to do (go off' on d-backs for unbelievable numbers and highlight reel catches) and also didn't do what he was expected to do (complain to media, fight with teammates, not finish routes).
So today he packed his bags and headed back to good ol' Minnesota. The Patriots traded him this morning to the Vikings for a 3rd round pick. Makes sense for the Vikings- they desperately needed a downfield target for Old Man River to hit, they needed to offer excitement for their fans, and cmon, he lit up the scoreboard for the Vikes for 8 years.

So, I guess we will just have to see how this one pans out. As a Jets fan, this is a win-win. Get him out of the AFC East and get some of the media focus out of NYC. Until next time, remember, "Straaaight Cash, Homie"

Double dose of Vitamin CC

Schedule is set. Table is set. Rosters are set.
Yanks vs. the Land of One Thousand Retards Twins.
Not too much excitement surrounding this match-up, except for a few things.
What will I be watching, you ask?
1. Carl Pavano back in Yankee Stadium for a game that actually matters. This can only mean good things for the faithful fans of the Boogey Down Bronx. That dude made a career on flopping, and this won't be any different, except for the fact that it will be nationally televised and all eyes will be on his failing arm.
2. CC going on 4 days rest. Girardi decided to go with 3 pitchers for this series: CC, Hughes, and Pettitte. That being said, back to the basics with the starters. Hes done it before, but I wish that we could have waited to overextend him until at least the ALCS. Wonder what Javy, AJ, Nova, and Mosely will be doing
3. Lance Berkman. DH is pretty wide open right now, with a spot available for either Berkman, Jorge (if Cervelli plays), or Kearns. My, and most likely Girardi's, nod will go to Berkman. That guy made a career off of 2 things- homeruns and strikeouts. If the latter shows prominence, get the hell outta pinstripes.

So- rest assured- Twins are barely going to be a warmup. Yanks cruise and take game 1, lose game 2 (im thinking by quite a few runs) then come home to win the next 2.

Cincinnati Red (Alert)

First playoff berth in 15 years. Boy, they deserve it.
After a miserable departure from the NFL playoffs for the Bengals by the hands of the Jets, the god-forsaken city of the Nasty Nati needed something to cheer about.
Bronson Arroyo and the boys hit it hard this year, out dueling the rival Cardinals for the NL Central pennant.

Their fans are well known for their concern for safety.

An article came out today which detailed the fans concern for safety. During their clubhouse celebration, the Reds couldn't help but be excited. Who could blame them? This is the first time they put a team on the field that was halfway decent since the Charlie Hustle days.

However, fans did not appreciate the fact that the team was breaking the law. Beers, champagne, that stuff is OK. But dare you light a celebratory cigar in the clubhouse....

The Cincinnati Enquirer first reported that "Five people called a statewide smoking ban complaint hotline, Merz (Chief of Dept of Health in Cincinnati) said. Those complaints were sent to the city health department today for investigation. Bob Castellini (Red's owner- see below) will get letter soon notifying him of the alleged violation."

Boy, can't catch a break in the land of the lost, huh? I mean they do everything they can for their fans this year, including overpaying Brandon Phillips, and the fans tell on them?

Geeze, better hope that they don't make it past the Giants....