This time of year, most people put on a couple of extra pounds. The term "Holiday Weight" has been coined to explain individuals' lack of exercise/over-eating around Christmas and New Years. Whether you've stuffed your face full of turkey on the 25th or making yet another new years resolution about keeping active, something has to give. It isn't hard work to be lazy, so lets go through some ways to make 2009 different... no more excuses, it's time to get fit.
One of the most basic ways of getting exercise is incorporating it into your daily routine. Think about what you do throughout the day. Is there time to hit up the local gym? Maybe get together with a couple of friends to play a pick-up game of your favourite sport? These are the simplest ways of getting exercise but for some reason are the hardest to commit to. There always seems to be some kind of excuse to miss a workout session or to postpone a game with the buddies. By the end of the night, you end up at a bar sitting around WATCHING the game instead of participating in it.
It doesn't take a lot of will power to say, "I'm going to the gym three times a week"... but it does to actually stick to it for more than one week. How do you stick to a routine? One of the most effective ways is to hire a personal trainer.
The reason being is now you HAVE to exercise. Sure, it may cost a bit of money to hire one but now that you have invested in keeping fit you are more likely to be motivated. There's a guy/girl out there who is getting paid whether you attend the sessions or not. So you might as well attend and get the benefits of working one on one with a certified professional.
Sessions mainly happen at a gym or at your home. I suggest doing them at home just because even if you don't feel like working out that day, once you hear that knock on the door it gets even harder to avoid.
Being the big city it is, Toronto has a vast array of personal trainers for hire. Just typing it into a search engine will give you an overwhelming amount of results. So if you truly want to keep that holiday weight off and are serious about getting in shape, hiring a personal trainer might be the best decision you've ever made.
If you're the type of person who just wants to keep active, recreational sports are a great alternative. All the time we hear about house-league sports for kids but there are many house-league sports for adults too. For example, pick-up games of basketball are easy to organize just by going to your local community centre. By going to a local rink you can find out a schedule for when shinny (pick-up hockey) is being held. The problem with this is that there are so many people that have that exact same mind-set. If you don't show up, it's no big deal because there are so many people that you probably won't be missed.
Boxing is such an under-the-radar type sport that many people don't know how useful it can be in keeping active. There are many different ways to on how to make boxing a part of your daily routine. First, you can head over to the local gym and start working on the punching bag. This is a great way to start and will really help work your upper body. The downside is how many times will you really go to the gym? Secondly, you can get a personal trainer who specializes in boxing to help you out. This would be ideal because you get the advice of someone who knows the art of boxing and you would know that you are doing everything right. Also, the personal trainer would be able to show you how to work different parts of your body while boxing. And of course, it's always a lot safer with the guidance of a professional. Finally, for the real lazy people out there just pick up a Wii and get Wii sports. You do get a workout playing the boxing game but it does get a bit repetitive.
Staying active consistently is extremely hard if you aren't motivated. Keeping in mind these tips will hopefully help in deciding what course of action is right for you. 2009 is here, the question is will you stick through your new years resolution or give up in the middle of February? Lets hope it's not the latter.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
-also, check out one of toronto's newest sports magazines at Toronto Sports Magazine. My blog entries are also posted there along with many other interesting topics.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Thursday, December 4, 2008
It's no longer Sam's Club
Seventeen games into an uninspired start to the season, the Raptors brass has fired Sam Mitchell.
8-9 isn't the way I thought this team would start the season, but to fire a head coach this early is kind of surprising... not a very Brian Colangelo like move.
I personally am against the move. There are so many reasons as to why Sam should have stayed, but there are also a lot of reasons he needed to go. But lets start with why I'm against the move.
The first main point that needs to be made is the roster dynamic. Last year the Raptors had one of the best benches in the NBA. Calderon, Delfino, Kapono and Rasho kept the Raps in games and allowed Mitchell to rest his starters. Turn that around to this year and its clear that the Raps depth is one of the worst in the NBA. Joey Graham has been a nice surprise and Roko Ukic is coming along nicely. But in order to win games, Bosh/Calderon need to play 40 minutes a night, something neither of them has done consistently in their short NBA careers. If Mitchell was given a longer look (maybe another 17 games), he might have been able to turn things around.
Injuries have also been a big part of this year. Jose and JO have both had minor injuries that have kept them out of action for some time. You can't blame all 9 losses on just injuries, but without JO the team lacks a sense of toughness. Without Jose, the team lacks a decent ball-handler. Mitchell has had to deal with these injuries by being forced to start Will Solomon (something no coach should ever have to do) and be forced to leave Bosh out there for close to 45 minutes a night. The great thing about Bosh is that he will never complain and he'll always welcome more action but over the stretch of 82 games, it's clear that he needs to get some rest. Playing him this much early in the season will wear on him.
Finally, Mitchell has been with the team since 2004. He's developed a lot of players on the team like Bosh, Jose and Andrea. I think every player in that locker room respects him for what he's done for the organization. Just like the players, he's developed as a coach as well. In his first year, no one talked about his coaching methods. They only talked about his soundbytes... "if you don't want to play, do everyone a favour... quit". His sarcastic way with the media made more headlines than his horrible coaching record. But once he was given some talent to work with, he did a great job. His level of brashness toned down quite a bit and in his last days as the coach, he was extremely relaxed (almost too relaxed). If the 39 point loss to Denver happened 3 years ago, there would have been a 5 minute tirade by Mitchell. When it happened a couple of days ago, he just had a solemn attitude and talked like he would after a 10 point loss.
But this may also be a reason as to why Colangelo let him go. Watching that interview after the Denver loss was kind of disheartening. I wanted to see Mitchell go off on his players. And I think Colangelo wanted to see that kind of fire as well. But the lack of passion from Mitchell and a seemingly lack of passion from the players probably influenced this decision. That and the fact that the Raps have had at least a couple of games in the bag this year and just blew it at the end. The game in Boston and the VC dagger shot and dunk are two things that Colangelo admittedly said bothered him. Maybe a new voice will wake the players up cause it is obvious that the Raps aren't playing with any sense of urgency right now.
With the team up against the salary cap right now, the 8-9 record couldn't be fixed with a trade. A lot of people thought that maybe Al Harrington or Gerald Wallace might be traded here but the Raps would have to give up a major piece in order to get a guy like that. And the only major piece the Raps have that is trade-able is Andrea Bargnani. Colangelo has been adamant that he won't trade him so this move was the only one that could be made.
If I've learned anything in the 3 or so odd years that BC has been here, it's that he hasn't made one bad move. He's the anti-JP so to speak. But it bothers me that the Blue Jays GM has had 8 years of losing seasons and still has a job, whereas Mitchell spent 4 years here, leading the team to the playoffs twice while winning coach of the year and still he gets fired.
I have no doubt that Jay Triano will do a good job because he knows the players that are here. He's already talked about wanting the team to run more so we may be looking at the Phoenix-East team everyone talked about 3 years ago. And only Brian Colangelo could make this move... making a Canadian the coach of Canada's team. Always a crowd pleaser and that's why he's Toronto's most loved GM.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
-also, check out one of toronto's newest sports magazines at Toronto Sports Magazine. My blog entries are also posted there along with many other interesting topics.
8-9 isn't the way I thought this team would start the season, but to fire a head coach this early is kind of surprising... not a very Brian Colangelo like move.
I personally am against the move. There are so many reasons as to why Sam should have stayed, but there are also a lot of reasons he needed to go. But lets start with why I'm against the move.
The first main point that needs to be made is the roster dynamic. Last year the Raptors had one of the best benches in the NBA. Calderon, Delfino, Kapono and Rasho kept the Raps in games and allowed Mitchell to rest his starters. Turn that around to this year and its clear that the Raps depth is one of the worst in the NBA. Joey Graham has been a nice surprise and Roko Ukic is coming along nicely. But in order to win games, Bosh/Calderon need to play 40 minutes a night, something neither of them has done consistently in their short NBA careers. If Mitchell was given a longer look (maybe another 17 games), he might have been able to turn things around.
Injuries have also been a big part of this year. Jose and JO have both had minor injuries that have kept them out of action for some time. You can't blame all 9 losses on just injuries, but without JO the team lacks a sense of toughness. Without Jose, the team lacks a decent ball-handler. Mitchell has had to deal with these injuries by being forced to start Will Solomon (something no coach should ever have to do) and be forced to leave Bosh out there for close to 45 minutes a night. The great thing about Bosh is that he will never complain and he'll always welcome more action but over the stretch of 82 games, it's clear that he needs to get some rest. Playing him this much early in the season will wear on him.
Finally, Mitchell has been with the team since 2004. He's developed a lot of players on the team like Bosh, Jose and Andrea. I think every player in that locker room respects him for what he's done for the organization. Just like the players, he's developed as a coach as well. In his first year, no one talked about his coaching methods. They only talked about his soundbytes... "if you don't want to play, do everyone a favour... quit". His sarcastic way with the media made more headlines than his horrible coaching record. But once he was given some talent to work with, he did a great job. His level of brashness toned down quite a bit and in his last days as the coach, he was extremely relaxed (almost too relaxed). If the 39 point loss to Denver happened 3 years ago, there would have been a 5 minute tirade by Mitchell. When it happened a couple of days ago, he just had a solemn attitude and talked like he would after a 10 point loss.
But this may also be a reason as to why Colangelo let him go. Watching that interview after the Denver loss was kind of disheartening. I wanted to see Mitchell go off on his players. And I think Colangelo wanted to see that kind of fire as well. But the lack of passion from Mitchell and a seemingly lack of passion from the players probably influenced this decision. That and the fact that the Raps have had at least a couple of games in the bag this year and just blew it at the end. The game in Boston and the VC dagger shot and dunk are two things that Colangelo admittedly said bothered him. Maybe a new voice will wake the players up cause it is obvious that the Raps aren't playing with any sense of urgency right now.
With the team up against the salary cap right now, the 8-9 record couldn't be fixed with a trade. A lot of people thought that maybe Al Harrington or Gerald Wallace might be traded here but the Raps would have to give up a major piece in order to get a guy like that. And the only major piece the Raps have that is trade-able is Andrea Bargnani. Colangelo has been adamant that he won't trade him so this move was the only one that could be made.
If I've learned anything in the 3 or so odd years that BC has been here, it's that he hasn't made one bad move. He's the anti-JP so to speak. But it bothers me that the Blue Jays GM has had 8 years of losing seasons and still has a job, whereas Mitchell spent 4 years here, leading the team to the playoffs twice while winning coach of the year and still he gets fired.
I have no doubt that Jay Triano will do a good job because he knows the players that are here. He's already talked about wanting the team to run more so we may be looking at the Phoenix-East team everyone talked about 3 years ago. And only Brian Colangelo could make this move... making a Canadian the coach of Canada's team. Always a crowd pleaser and that's why he's Toronto's most loved GM.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
-also, check out one of toronto's newest sports magazines at Toronto Sports Magazine. My blog entries are also posted there along with many other interesting topics.
Monday, October 20, 2008
Rays Win!
And I thought the only magic that happened in Florida took place an hour away from St. Petersburg in Orlando...
The Rays did the impossible Sunday by beating the playoff-tested Boston Red Sox. How could anyone think the Rays could pull this one out tonight? Just one year ago, these same Red Sox (sans Manny) were in the same position down 3 games to 1. Last year they beat an arguably better team in the Cleveland Indians. They had cancer-survivor Jon Lester on the mound, who lost game 3 but hadn't lost 2 straight decisions all season. And of course, the normal cast of characters: Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz.
Last year, the Sox faced sinker-baller Jake Westbrook in game 7 of the ALCS. This year, a young kid named Matt Garza took the hill with a pair of earplugs to drown out the ruckus crowd at the Trop. Like Westbrook, Garza features a hard 93 MPH sinking fastball and he had it tonight. Other than an early Dustin Pedroia homer, Garza was lights out the rest of the night. Delmon who?
As for the Rays offense, Evan Almighty got the party started with a double just inside the right field foul line. Willy Aybar provided the pop with a solo HR to stretch the Rays lead to 2 in the bottom of the 7th.
With a 3-1 lead going into the 8th, Garza allowed Alex Cora to reach base on a Jason Bartlett error. Rays skipper Joe Maddon then went to his bullpen... the same bullpen who had a 3-1 SERIES lead and a 7-0 game 5 lead. After Dan Wheeler allowed a Coco Crisp base hit, he got Pedroia to pop out to left. With Papi strolling to the plate, Maddon went to the mound for the 2nd time in the inning to get a lefty-lefty matchup going with JP Howell. Howell got Ortiz to ground into a very close fielder's choice at 2nd base. With runners at 1st and 3rd, Maddon came out once more to get veteran Chad Bradford to pitch to Youkilis. After walking Youk on 5 pitches, Maddon did the unthinkable.
With the 70 million dollar JD Drew coming to the plate, Maddon pulled the veteran submariner for a 23 year old kid just out of Vanderbilt. The first overall pick in the 2007 David Price jogged to the mound from the bullpen. A guy who started the year in A ball in May would pitch to one of the most dangerous hitters in the Boston lineup.
Four pitches later, all the nay-sayers stand corrected. A pumped up Price strikes out Drew on a check-swing call. After an uninspiring bottom of the inning, Maddon does the unthinkable.
He brings out Price to close out the most important game in Rays history. Jason Bay is the first batter up and he draws a walk out of the rookie southpaw. You can hear the critics now, "Price has no experience... Kazmir is available, he's their ace... Balfour was made for this moment." But before you can say "Manny being Manny", the Vandy Dandy stikes out a couple of batter and coaxes a ground ball to the end the game and win the pennant.
How can a manager let a rookie go out into that situation? In my opinion, David Price is arguably every single thing the Rays have stood for this season. All 25 guys that started the season in Tampa didn't have a lot (if any) post-season experience. Sure, Troy Percival had been a closer for the World Series winning Angels in 2002, but the core group of guys (Upton, Crawford, Pena) have never been in a game 7 let alone a post-season game. Entering the 2008 playoffs, all these guys were rookies. And for the longest time, all everyone's heard is you need veteran leadership to make it deep in the playoffs. After all, that's why the Brewers faltered in the first round. In any sport, experience always seems to be a factor. But the Rays are real proof that a team with as little experience as them could grow together in less than a month.
Joe Maddon deserves a lot of credit for his gutsy move. He will get it when the season is over World Series champion or not, but he is one of the few managers out there that KNOWS his team. What he's done this past year with the group of guys he's had is nothing short of unbelievable. I've paid attention to the Rays most of the year and can't tell you how many genius moves he's made, from pitching changes to weird defensive alignments (this one deserves a blog post on it's own). The Phillies may have a bit more talent, but if the World Series comes down to managing, the Rays should sweep the series.
As much as we all most likely hoped for a Dodgers/Sox World Series just to see Manny's return to Boston, you gotta love the storybook ending for the Rays. In just a couple of days, Tropicana Field will be the happiest place on earth.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
The Rays did the impossible Sunday by beating the playoff-tested Boston Red Sox. How could anyone think the Rays could pull this one out tonight? Just one year ago, these same Red Sox (sans Manny) were in the same position down 3 games to 1. Last year they beat an arguably better team in the Cleveland Indians. They had cancer-survivor Jon Lester on the mound, who lost game 3 but hadn't lost 2 straight decisions all season. And of course, the normal cast of characters: Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis and David Ortiz.
Last year, the Sox faced sinker-baller Jake Westbrook in game 7 of the ALCS. This year, a young kid named Matt Garza took the hill with a pair of earplugs to drown out the ruckus crowd at the Trop. Like Westbrook, Garza features a hard 93 MPH sinking fastball and he had it tonight. Other than an early Dustin Pedroia homer, Garza was lights out the rest of the night. Delmon who?
As for the Rays offense, Evan Almighty got the party started with a double just inside the right field foul line. Willy Aybar provided the pop with a solo HR to stretch the Rays lead to 2 in the bottom of the 7th.
With a 3-1 lead going into the 8th, Garza allowed Alex Cora to reach base on a Jason Bartlett error. Rays skipper Joe Maddon then went to his bullpen... the same bullpen who had a 3-1 SERIES lead and a 7-0 game 5 lead. After Dan Wheeler allowed a Coco Crisp base hit, he got Pedroia to pop out to left. With Papi strolling to the plate, Maddon went to the mound for the 2nd time in the inning to get a lefty-lefty matchup going with JP Howell. Howell got Ortiz to ground into a very close fielder's choice at 2nd base. With runners at 1st and 3rd, Maddon came out once more to get veteran Chad Bradford to pitch to Youkilis. After walking Youk on 5 pitches, Maddon did the unthinkable.
With the 70 million dollar JD Drew coming to the plate, Maddon pulled the veteran submariner for a 23 year old kid just out of Vanderbilt. The first overall pick in the 2007 David Price jogged to the mound from the bullpen. A guy who started the year in A ball in May would pitch to one of the most dangerous hitters in the Boston lineup.
Four pitches later, all the nay-sayers stand corrected. A pumped up Price strikes out Drew on a check-swing call. After an uninspiring bottom of the inning, Maddon does the unthinkable.
He brings out Price to close out the most important game in Rays history. Jason Bay is the first batter up and he draws a walk out of the rookie southpaw. You can hear the critics now, "Price has no experience... Kazmir is available, he's their ace... Balfour was made for this moment." But before you can say "Manny being Manny", the Vandy Dandy stikes out a couple of batter and coaxes a ground ball to the end the game and win the pennant.
How can a manager let a rookie go out into that situation? In my opinion, David Price is arguably every single thing the Rays have stood for this season. All 25 guys that started the season in Tampa didn't have a lot (if any) post-season experience. Sure, Troy Percival had been a closer for the World Series winning Angels in 2002, but the core group of guys (Upton, Crawford, Pena) have never been in a game 7 let alone a post-season game. Entering the 2008 playoffs, all these guys were rookies. And for the longest time, all everyone's heard is you need veteran leadership to make it deep in the playoffs. After all, that's why the Brewers faltered in the first round. In any sport, experience always seems to be a factor. But the Rays are real proof that a team with as little experience as them could grow together in less than a month.
Joe Maddon deserves a lot of credit for his gutsy move. He will get it when the season is over World Series champion or not, but he is one of the few managers out there that KNOWS his team. What he's done this past year with the group of guys he's had is nothing short of unbelievable. I've paid attention to the Rays most of the year and can't tell you how many genius moves he's made, from pitching changes to weird defensive alignments (this one deserves a blog post on it's own). The Phillies may have a bit more talent, but if the World Series comes down to managing, the Rays should sweep the series.
As much as we all most likely hoped for a Dodgers/Sox World Series just to see Manny's return to Boston, you gotta love the storybook ending for the Rays. In just a couple of days, Tropicana Field will be the happiest place on earth.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Sunday, September 21, 2008
The Fenway Faithful
"Sweet Caro..."
The music stops. Jason Bay is already at the plate to start the bottom of eighth while Scott Downs is ready to pitch. But the fans won't let him pitch without finishing the song themselves... without the music.
"...line, BA BA BA. Good times never felt so good, SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD."
After letting the fans finish the 8th inning tradition, the first pitch Jason Bay sees he hits off the green monster for a double. For the Downs and the Jays, their season ended a few moments after that.
Why? Cause of that darn Neil Diamond and the passionate Boston fans.
During the seventh inning stretch at Fenway Park, its a tradition (at least since 2002) to play Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" over the speakers. The fans are encouraged to sing along and I would say 95% of them do. Take last Saturday for example. 40,000 plus were on their feet singing the tune while adding their own little Fenway rendition at some parts. Once the inning was ready to resume, the music abruptly stopped much to the displeasure of the Fenway faithful.
But that didn't stop the fans. Without the music, they continued the song until after the chorus was over. At least 25,000 fans must have sang along because it sounded like the whole stadium was singing... and they sang it pretty well. Everyone let out a big cheer afterwards. I don't know if this has happened before where the song suddenly stops but the fans continue it. But if not, then it was something quite special to witness.
It really shows you how close-knit Red Sox fans are. To chant a song on the fly like that was pretty cool. And it changed the whole dynamic of the baseball game. With the whole Fenway crowd on their feet, Jason Bay smacked a first pitch double to start the Red Sox rally in the 8th. Before you know it, the Red Sox do what they do best... find a way to win. I know that's one of the most overused cliches in sports but I don't think there's a team that better exemplifies that. How do they do it?
Not only do they have speed and power. Sure they have guys like Ortiz, Lowell, Pedroia and Ellsbury. But I think it is the Fenway fans that make a huge difference. Fenway Park has had over 450 straight sellouts! Yes, they only have a capacity of just over 40,000 but we're including weekdays too. 40,000 plus people on a Tuesday? That's unheard of... even when some other teams hold $2 promotions, they don't get 40,000. Now that isn't a knock on Toronto fans, it just shows how loyal and passionate Boston is about their beloved Red Sox.
Don't get me wrong, I hate the Red Sox as much as the next guy (as long as the next guy isn't Hank Steinbrenner). But I have to salute the fans. They cheer their team on whether the Sox are at Fenway or not. Take today's Sox/Jays game for example. The Rogers Centre attendance was just a shade over 40,000. Does anyone really believe that all 40,000 of these fans are from Toronto? Not a chance. I would say at the most, 33,000 fans were Jays fans and that's being generous (and the other 7,000 are the loudest Bostonians I've ever heard). Red Sox Nation goes anywhere and everywhere.
To open the 2008 season, the Sox started an "away" series with Oakland in Tokyo. Even though Oakland was the home team on paper, Boston had a distinct advantage. The first being the fact that they had two Japanese players on their roster in Dice-k and Okajima. Second, Japan has their very own Red Sox Nation. Apparently many Japanese baseball fans are Sox fans. "Sweet Caroline" was actually played during the 7th inning stretches of the games over there! So much for an away game for Boston.
As much as I'd like to take a page out of Hank Steinbrenner's book and say "F*** Red Sox nation!", I really can't. Their fans take it upon themselves to travel where ever the team goes. It's sad this isn't the case everywhere, especially in Toronto. Toronto has a great sports city but as long as the ownership of these teams raise ticket prices to insane levels, the REAL Toronto sports fan has to stay home and watch the game on television. Once hockey season starts up, I'll definitely go into more detail as the Leafs are a prime example of corporations screwing the average fan.
So cheers to you Red Sox fans... your team is about to reach the playoffs once again. Enjoy the success until hockey season starts.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
The music stops. Jason Bay is already at the plate to start the bottom of eighth while Scott Downs is ready to pitch. But the fans won't let him pitch without finishing the song themselves... without the music.
"...line, BA BA BA. Good times never felt so good, SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD."
After letting the fans finish the 8th inning tradition, the first pitch Jason Bay sees he hits off the green monster for a double. For the Downs and the Jays, their season ended a few moments after that.
Why? Cause of that darn Neil Diamond and the passionate Boston fans.
During the seventh inning stretch at Fenway Park, its a tradition (at least since 2002) to play Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" over the speakers. The fans are encouraged to sing along and I would say 95% of them do. Take last Saturday for example. 40,000 plus were on their feet singing the tune while adding their own little Fenway rendition at some parts. Once the inning was ready to resume, the music abruptly stopped much to the displeasure of the Fenway faithful.
But that didn't stop the fans. Without the music, they continued the song until after the chorus was over. At least 25,000 fans must have sang along because it sounded like the whole stadium was singing... and they sang it pretty well. Everyone let out a big cheer afterwards. I don't know if this has happened before where the song suddenly stops but the fans continue it. But if not, then it was something quite special to witness.
It really shows you how close-knit Red Sox fans are. To chant a song on the fly like that was pretty cool. And it changed the whole dynamic of the baseball game. With the whole Fenway crowd on their feet, Jason Bay smacked a first pitch double to start the Red Sox rally in the 8th. Before you know it, the Red Sox do what they do best... find a way to win. I know that's one of the most overused cliches in sports but I don't think there's a team that better exemplifies that. How do they do it?
Not only do they have speed and power. Sure they have guys like Ortiz, Lowell, Pedroia and Ellsbury. But I think it is the Fenway fans that make a huge difference. Fenway Park has had over 450 straight sellouts! Yes, they only have a capacity of just over 40,000 but we're including weekdays too. 40,000 plus people on a Tuesday? That's unheard of... even when some other teams hold $2 promotions, they don't get 40,000. Now that isn't a knock on Toronto fans, it just shows how loyal and passionate Boston is about their beloved Red Sox.
Don't get me wrong, I hate the Red Sox as much as the next guy (as long as the next guy isn't Hank Steinbrenner). But I have to salute the fans. They cheer their team on whether the Sox are at Fenway or not. Take today's Sox/Jays game for example. The Rogers Centre attendance was just a shade over 40,000. Does anyone really believe that all 40,000 of these fans are from Toronto? Not a chance. I would say at the most, 33,000 fans were Jays fans and that's being generous (and the other 7,000 are the loudest Bostonians I've ever heard). Red Sox Nation goes anywhere and everywhere.
To open the 2008 season, the Sox started an "away" series with Oakland in Tokyo. Even though Oakland was the home team on paper, Boston had a distinct advantage. The first being the fact that they had two Japanese players on their roster in Dice-k and Okajima. Second, Japan has their very own Red Sox Nation. Apparently many Japanese baseball fans are Sox fans. "Sweet Caroline" was actually played during the 7th inning stretches of the games over there! So much for an away game for Boston.
As much as I'd like to take a page out of Hank Steinbrenner's book and say "F*** Red Sox nation!", I really can't. Their fans take it upon themselves to travel where ever the team goes. It's sad this isn't the case everywhere, especially in Toronto. Toronto has a great sports city but as long as the ownership of these teams raise ticket prices to insane levels, the REAL Toronto sports fan has to stay home and watch the game on television. Once hockey season starts up, I'll definitely go into more detail as the Leafs are a prime example of corporations screwing the average fan.
So cheers to you Red Sox fans... your team is about to reach the playoffs once again. Enjoy the success until hockey season starts.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Saturday, September 13, 2008
The streak is over
The Jays have finally lost while this is my first post in a long time. A lot has changed in the past 2 months. For one, the Jays actually played exciting/meaningful games in the month of September. The Canadian National Soccer team also played a meaningful game and promptly disappointed many with a loss to Mexico. What looked like a promising year for Canadian soccer took a turn for the worst as Canada's World Cup chances are looking bleak.
Back to the Jays though, who have had an up and down year. On the bright side, fans can have an optimistic view at 2009 seeing the kind of streak this ball-club is capable of. The pessimistic side to this point is that the Jays can only play solid baseball once the pressure is off. I tend to agree with that point to a certain extent. I don't think the whole Jays team is like this, just a few players. Alex Rios for one is one of the most "unclutch" players the Jays have. But it is nice to see him hitting for power again. His SLG% is relatively high this year because he's still hitting extra base-hits. But if he starts off next year the same way he did in 2008, JP is going to hear it every Wednesday.
Speaking of Ricciardi, where does he stand for next year? Some fans support him and some do not. At the beginning of the year, I was extremely against every move he made. Not signing Barry Bonds was at the top of that list. I still believe that if the Jays had Bonds they'd have 7-9 more wins this year. Just look at all the one run games the Jays have been in. But as much as I disagreed with his stance on a lot of things, I think JP should be back in 09. If he is let go, this team will go into semi-rebuilding mode. No one else wants this team to be a success more than Ricciardi. He started to make Toronto a contending team back in late 2005 and has only made improvements since then. Simply put, I do not think there is any other guy who could do a better job then him with the group of guys he has now. Besides, this team will be known as "JP's team" until around 2010, maybe longer with Hill, Rios and Wells signed longterm.
The one thing JP won't do is chase after AJ this off-season. Not including Doc, Burnett is my favourite player on the Jays. His stuff is probably top 3 in the Majors, yes even better than Halladay's. And now in a contract year he finally puts it to good use. The Yankees have flat out said they're interested in Burnett and seeing how things have gone this year, there's no doubt they'll shell out Bronx Bombers money for him. Another top team I see in the Burnett sweepstakes is St. Louis who lost out on Burnett in 2005 because the Jays offered him the opt out clause, something the Cards would not do. If Burnett chooses to stay, the Jays will be EXTREMELY deep with their rotation. JP has said about a million times, "we're prepared either way," in terms of AJ staying/going.
If he leaves, the Jays have an abundance of starting pitching to look at in 09. In addition to Doc, Marcum, McGowan and Litsch, the Jays have to give David Purcey a spot right? Well its not that easy. Remember the guy who was taken right ahead of Troy Tulowitzki? He's pitching fairly well in Syracuse and may get a look in Spring Training. Then there's Brett Cecil. He is easily one of the top prospects pitching wise in all of baseball right now. Being a left-hander, the Jays will definitely give him a shot to take a rotation spot. Casey Janssen will also be returning to the team in Spring of 09 but its likely he'll start out in the bullpen. Because McGowan will start 09 on the DL, it is highly possible one of their top prospects will get a look.
Now that the pitching scene is out of the way, what about the Jays achilles heel? The offense has shown signs of life in September but is this just an illusion? Probably not. Lyle Overbay seems to have finally recovered from a John Danks fastball while V-Dub is hitting the ball like it's 2006. The aforementioned Alex Rios is slowly getting his power back and Aaron Hill may be ready for the start of next season. Rod Barajas is doing as well as you could have hoped for a catcher while Scott Rolen hopefully gets surgery in the offseason. That leaves 3 positions. Left-Field, DH and Shortstop. Currently, Adam Lind, Travis Snider and John McDonald occupy the roles. If JP is smart, he'll leave Lind and Snider alone. These guys are pure hitters and can rack up some big numbers if giving the chance. The Shortstop position is really the only weakness from an offensive standpoint. Defensively Johnny Mac is a wizard. But if AJ does opt out, the Jays will have some money to go after some free agent shortstops.
At the top of the list has to be Rafael Furcal (who also serves as the proto-typical lead off man they have been looking for since JP got here) and Orlando Cabrera (who beat out Johnny Mac for the gold glove last year). Both are extremely capable with the bat and may come cheaper than expected. Furcal has been injured for a huge chunk of the season but was on a tear before he went down. The Dodgers have also said they are very interested in retaining him. As for Cabrera, he's had a somewhat off year in terms of average. A .300 plus hitter for the Angels in 2007, hes been sitting around the .270 mark for most of the year. Cabrera will be cheaper than Furcal because he is 3 years older (Cabrera is 33 while Furcal is 30). Also on the radar will be Edgar Renteria who has a team option with the Tigers for 12 million. If the Tigers let him walk, it'll only cost them 3 million. Renteria is probably hoping for the buy-out so he can get out of the American League. His two years of non-National League baseball have been atrocious. He'd have to get a lot of money from an AL team to stay. From a fan's perspective, you would hope the Jays go after Furcal because of the speed and offense he brings to the position. Just think about him and Hill at the top of the order followed by Rios, Wells and Lind.
So with this all in mind, what do I think the Jays will do? JP has a tendency to trust veteran players over the youth so as much as I hate to say it I think Snider will spend most of 2009 in Triple A honing his skills and developing better strike-zone awareness (that is the only part of his game that needs some polishing). Look for a guy like Raul Ibanez to sign on. Hopefully for only 1 year though. The Jays were offering what was believed to be Brandon League and David Purcey for him at the trade deadline but Seattle declined. At the shortstop position, Furcal may be wishful thinking but I think a platoon similar to earlier this year will work with Scutaro/McDonald taking the reigns. Lind should stay in left-field but would likely split time with Ibanez. On the pitching front, I think JP will sign a pitcher. I've always seen Derek Lowe in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform for some reason and think he might get the money Burnett leaves. Something like a 4 year 45 million dollar deal could be reasonable.
Here's my lineup card for your 2009 Toronto Blue Jays:
SS Scutaro (can see Cabrera here but I see Lowe more likely for JP)
2B Hill
CF Wells
LF Lind
RF Rios
DH Ibanez
C Barajas
1B Overbay
3B Rolen
I tried to stay as "right, left, right" as possible but it probably wont. Say it aint so Joe... I feel really bad for Inglett because he has proven he can start.
1 - Roy Halladay
2 - Derek Lowe
3 - Shaun Marcum
4 - David Purcey
5 - Jesse Litsch
McGowan, Cecil and Romero are going to start in 2009. Knowing the Jays, someone in the starting 5 will get injured and one of these guys will take their place. McGowan will come back in May while I see Cecil and Romero starting in September at the latest.
CL - Ryan
SU - Downs
SU - League
RP - Accardo
RP - Janssen
RP - Carlson
LRP- Tallet
Ah the bullpen. The one thing that can be counted on for next year. As much as I'd like to see BJ traded, it probably wont happen. Maybe he'll turn back into "Bazooka BJ" (credit to Jamie Campbell) of 2006.
Prediction: 1st in AL East, 95-67
Yes, you read that right... as long as everyone can stay healthy *knock on wood*.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Back to the Jays though, who have had an up and down year. On the bright side, fans can have an optimistic view at 2009 seeing the kind of streak this ball-club is capable of. The pessimistic side to this point is that the Jays can only play solid baseball once the pressure is off. I tend to agree with that point to a certain extent. I don't think the whole Jays team is like this, just a few players. Alex Rios for one is one of the most "unclutch" players the Jays have. But it is nice to see him hitting for power again. His SLG% is relatively high this year because he's still hitting extra base-hits. But if he starts off next year the same way he did in 2008, JP is going to hear it every Wednesday.
Speaking of Ricciardi, where does he stand for next year? Some fans support him and some do not. At the beginning of the year, I was extremely against every move he made. Not signing Barry Bonds was at the top of that list. I still believe that if the Jays had Bonds they'd have 7-9 more wins this year. Just look at all the one run games the Jays have been in. But as much as I disagreed with his stance on a lot of things, I think JP should be back in 09. If he is let go, this team will go into semi-rebuilding mode. No one else wants this team to be a success more than Ricciardi. He started to make Toronto a contending team back in late 2005 and has only made improvements since then. Simply put, I do not think there is any other guy who could do a better job then him with the group of guys he has now. Besides, this team will be known as "JP's team" until around 2010, maybe longer with Hill, Rios and Wells signed longterm.
The one thing JP won't do is chase after AJ this off-season. Not including Doc, Burnett is my favourite player on the Jays. His stuff is probably top 3 in the Majors, yes even better than Halladay's. And now in a contract year he finally puts it to good use. The Yankees have flat out said they're interested in Burnett and seeing how things have gone this year, there's no doubt they'll shell out Bronx Bombers money for him. Another top team I see in the Burnett sweepstakes is St. Louis who lost out on Burnett in 2005 because the Jays offered him the opt out clause, something the Cards would not do. If Burnett chooses to stay, the Jays will be EXTREMELY deep with their rotation. JP has said about a million times, "we're prepared either way," in terms of AJ staying/going.
If he leaves, the Jays have an abundance of starting pitching to look at in 09. In addition to Doc, Marcum, McGowan and Litsch, the Jays have to give David Purcey a spot right? Well its not that easy. Remember the guy who was taken right ahead of Troy Tulowitzki? He's pitching fairly well in Syracuse and may get a look in Spring Training. Then there's Brett Cecil. He is easily one of the top prospects pitching wise in all of baseball right now. Being a left-hander, the Jays will definitely give him a shot to take a rotation spot. Casey Janssen will also be returning to the team in Spring of 09 but its likely he'll start out in the bullpen. Because McGowan will start 09 on the DL, it is highly possible one of their top prospects will get a look.
Now that the pitching scene is out of the way, what about the Jays achilles heel? The offense has shown signs of life in September but is this just an illusion? Probably not. Lyle Overbay seems to have finally recovered from a John Danks fastball while V-Dub is hitting the ball like it's 2006. The aforementioned Alex Rios is slowly getting his power back and Aaron Hill may be ready for the start of next season. Rod Barajas is doing as well as you could have hoped for a catcher while Scott Rolen hopefully gets surgery in the offseason. That leaves 3 positions. Left-Field, DH and Shortstop. Currently, Adam Lind, Travis Snider and John McDonald occupy the roles. If JP is smart, he'll leave Lind and Snider alone. These guys are pure hitters and can rack up some big numbers if giving the chance. The Shortstop position is really the only weakness from an offensive standpoint. Defensively Johnny Mac is a wizard. But if AJ does opt out, the Jays will have some money to go after some free agent shortstops.
At the top of the list has to be Rafael Furcal (who also serves as the proto-typical lead off man they have been looking for since JP got here) and Orlando Cabrera (who beat out Johnny Mac for the gold glove last year). Both are extremely capable with the bat and may come cheaper than expected. Furcal has been injured for a huge chunk of the season but was on a tear before he went down. The Dodgers have also said they are very interested in retaining him. As for Cabrera, he's had a somewhat off year in terms of average. A .300 plus hitter for the Angels in 2007, hes been sitting around the .270 mark for most of the year. Cabrera will be cheaper than Furcal because he is 3 years older (Cabrera is 33 while Furcal is 30). Also on the radar will be Edgar Renteria who has a team option with the Tigers for 12 million. If the Tigers let him walk, it'll only cost them 3 million. Renteria is probably hoping for the buy-out so he can get out of the American League. His two years of non-National League baseball have been atrocious. He'd have to get a lot of money from an AL team to stay. From a fan's perspective, you would hope the Jays go after Furcal because of the speed and offense he brings to the position. Just think about him and Hill at the top of the order followed by Rios, Wells and Lind.
So with this all in mind, what do I think the Jays will do? JP has a tendency to trust veteran players over the youth so as much as I hate to say it I think Snider will spend most of 2009 in Triple A honing his skills and developing better strike-zone awareness (that is the only part of his game that needs some polishing). Look for a guy like Raul Ibanez to sign on. Hopefully for only 1 year though. The Jays were offering what was believed to be Brandon League and David Purcey for him at the trade deadline but Seattle declined. At the shortstop position, Furcal may be wishful thinking but I think a platoon similar to earlier this year will work with Scutaro/McDonald taking the reigns. Lind should stay in left-field but would likely split time with Ibanez. On the pitching front, I think JP will sign a pitcher. I've always seen Derek Lowe in a Toronto Blue Jays uniform for some reason and think he might get the money Burnett leaves. Something like a 4 year 45 million dollar deal could be reasonable.
Here's my lineup card for your 2009 Toronto Blue Jays:
SS Scutaro (can see Cabrera here but I see Lowe more likely for JP)
2B Hill
CF Wells
LF Lind
RF Rios
DH Ibanez
C Barajas
1B Overbay
3B Rolen
I tried to stay as "right, left, right" as possible but it probably wont. Say it aint so Joe... I feel really bad for Inglett because he has proven he can start.
1 - Roy Halladay
2 - Derek Lowe
3 - Shaun Marcum
4 - David Purcey
5 - Jesse Litsch
McGowan, Cecil and Romero are going to start in 2009. Knowing the Jays, someone in the starting 5 will get injured and one of these guys will take their place. McGowan will come back in May while I see Cecil and Romero starting in September at the latest.
CL - Ryan
SU - Downs
SU - League
RP - Accardo
RP - Janssen
RP - Carlson
LRP- Tallet
Ah the bullpen. The one thing that can be counted on for next year. As much as I'd like to see BJ traded, it probably wont happen. Maybe he'll turn back into "Bazooka BJ" (credit to Jamie Campbell) of 2006.
Prediction: 1st in AL East, 95-67
Yes, you read that right... as long as everyone can stay healthy *knock on wood*.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Party Like It's 1993
When I heard the news that John Gibbons got fired I was relieved. But when The Score ticker continued to let the public know that CITO GASTON would take over as the manager, my jaw dropped. Out of all the people in the world, the guy who it seems baseball has forgotten about.
Mind you, Jays fans really won't party like its 1993. Let me reiterate, this season is over. I would say the turning point happened when BJ blew the save in Anaheim. Its weird because the past 2 years, I'd say the turning point in the Jays' seasons hinged on Ryan as well. In 2007, I really believed that once we lost BJ for the year we were done. In late July 2006, he blew a save in Oakland when Milton Bradley hit a walkoff HR in the bottom of the 9th.
I've heard a lot of analysts and media people say that this move was made so that fans will still come out to the ballgames in August and September. But JP and the Jays regime were never the kind to bring in people for marketing purposes. If they wanted butts in the seats, they would have signed Barry Bonds after Frank Thomas left. I think Cito was the replacement because really there was no one more qualified. How can you argue against Cito? He took this team to back to back World Series (even though many think just about any average joe could have).
More importantly, Cito is an offensive guy. And that is what the Jays need right now. The big problem has been the offense. Gibbons couldn't get the team going and he's had more than enough time. Even though the Jays have only scored 3 runs in 2 games with Cito I am ecstatic to see that he has put together a lineup that makes sense. Jays fans have had enough seeing Rios and Wells batting leadoff for some odd reason. I think even Matt Stairs saw time at the leadoff spot during Gibbons reign. Weird. I still believe that David Eckstein should leadoff but Marco Scutaro has proved himself this year. Overbay fits in the 2 hole nicely while the 6-9 spots cant really be argued with.
My only beef is with the 3,4 and 5 guys. First, let me say that Vernon needs to have a good bat protecting him in the lineup and Rolen makes the most sense to do so other than Stairs. Gibbons for some reason never realized this so kudos to Cito. But I liked what Gibbons did on Thursday. He bumped the slumping Rios all the way down to the 6 spot. I've never liked Rios and with his bat the way it is, the 6 spot is more than generous. I would have the lineup like this:
Eckstein SS
Overbay 1B
Wells CF
Rolen 3B
Stairs DH
Rios RF
Lind LF
Barajas C
Scutaro 2B
Obviously the Jays are playing by NL rules and also they have faced 2 lefties which is why Stairs hasn't seen much time in the lineup. I wouldn't mind swapping Stairs into the cleanup spot but then it exposes back to back slumping hitters. As for Lind, as long as he's up he should get at bats. Barajas really deserves to be higher in the order but keeping him at the 8 spot gives the lineup some balance. I also like to keep the right-left-right-left order in the lineup as it forces the opposing manager to use specialists for 1 batter at a time (eg. Righty comes in to face Rios but then a lefty has to come in to face Lind).
Another thing about Gibbons is that he would change the lineup too often. Changing the lineup every night seems a bit extreme and puts more pressure on the players because they know their manager isn't happy.
On the pitching front, Marcum will be out for 2 starts (since it is soreness in the elbow, I'm going to say he is out 4 weeks. If the Jays continue this tumble down the standings, I wouldn't be surprised if they shut him down altogether). Now the Jays won't need another starter until next week because they have an off-day Monday. Will they bring up Purcey? I think he'll do much better this time around because he'll get more than 1 start before getting sent down.
Having said that, I may be the only one who thinks that Ricky Romero should be called up instead. I doubt the Jays will do it because he really doesn't deserve to be promoted. But since this year is over, I would give him shot and see how he does. Yes, his ERA is in the 5's at Double A New Hampshire but look at Armando Gallaraga of the Tigers. He never had that much success in the minors and he is taking the majors by storm. Give Romero a shot and if he screws up, send him down. This may shatter his confidence even more but how much more can his ego be deflated? Every day he hears how the Jays should have taken Troy Tulowitzki. Give him a couple of starts and see how he does.
Also, the Jays really have to get rid of Burnett. They can get a good prospect in return because teams overpay for pitching (Carlos Silva getting 48 million?). Dumping Burnett now is ideal because its a foregone conclusion that he will opt out. With that vacant spot in the rotation, Purcey could come up and fill it permanently. I think he'll be even better once the Jays let him know he has a job for good and won't be sent down.
I may be a little crazy (we'll get to the World Cup next) but this season can still be promising for the Jays once they admit they're done. JP is too pigheaded though due to the fact he could be next to go if the Jays don't finish well. Either way, it is nice to see a shakeup in Jays land and hopefully they will let the prospects play sooner rather than later.
Predictions
I predict that I will no longer make predictions. But given my track record, I should probably predict the opposite. Turkey and Russia in the semi-finals??? This is just crazy. I honestly have no idea how it will turn out. Could another underdog country win the Euro Cup again?
Moving away from the Euro Cup, lets talk about the World Cup. Canada is now into the third round of qualifying after beating St Vincent and the Grenadines. There are 12 teams remaining split into 3 groups of 4. Canada's group consists of Mexico (or Belize), Honduras and Jamaica. Canada will have a tough time in the group but if they finish in the top 2 (probably with Mexico) then they will advance to the final round of qualifying. The matches will be played from August through November 2008. Canada looked very strong and some are touting this team to be the best yet.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Mind you, Jays fans really won't party like its 1993. Let me reiterate, this season is over. I would say the turning point happened when BJ blew the save in Anaheim. Its weird because the past 2 years, I'd say the turning point in the Jays' seasons hinged on Ryan as well. In 2007, I really believed that once we lost BJ for the year we were done. In late July 2006, he blew a save in Oakland when Milton Bradley hit a walkoff HR in the bottom of the 9th.
I've heard a lot of analysts and media people say that this move was made so that fans will still come out to the ballgames in August and September. But JP and the Jays regime were never the kind to bring in people for marketing purposes. If they wanted butts in the seats, they would have signed Barry Bonds after Frank Thomas left. I think Cito was the replacement because really there was no one more qualified. How can you argue against Cito? He took this team to back to back World Series (even though many think just about any average joe could have).
More importantly, Cito is an offensive guy. And that is what the Jays need right now. The big problem has been the offense. Gibbons couldn't get the team going and he's had more than enough time. Even though the Jays have only scored 3 runs in 2 games with Cito I am ecstatic to see that he has put together a lineup that makes sense. Jays fans have had enough seeing Rios and Wells batting leadoff for some odd reason. I think even Matt Stairs saw time at the leadoff spot during Gibbons reign. Weird. I still believe that David Eckstein should leadoff but Marco Scutaro has proved himself this year. Overbay fits in the 2 hole nicely while the 6-9 spots cant really be argued with.
My only beef is with the 3,4 and 5 guys. First, let me say that Vernon needs to have a good bat protecting him in the lineup and Rolen makes the most sense to do so other than Stairs. Gibbons for some reason never realized this so kudos to Cito. But I liked what Gibbons did on Thursday. He bumped the slumping Rios all the way down to the 6 spot. I've never liked Rios and with his bat the way it is, the 6 spot is more than generous. I would have the lineup like this:
Eckstein SS
Overbay 1B
Wells CF
Rolen 3B
Stairs DH
Rios RF
Lind LF
Barajas C
Scutaro 2B
Obviously the Jays are playing by NL rules and also they have faced 2 lefties which is why Stairs hasn't seen much time in the lineup. I wouldn't mind swapping Stairs into the cleanup spot but then it exposes back to back slumping hitters. As for Lind, as long as he's up he should get at bats. Barajas really deserves to be higher in the order but keeping him at the 8 spot gives the lineup some balance. I also like to keep the right-left-right-left order in the lineup as it forces the opposing manager to use specialists for 1 batter at a time (eg. Righty comes in to face Rios but then a lefty has to come in to face Lind).
Another thing about Gibbons is that he would change the lineup too often. Changing the lineup every night seems a bit extreme and puts more pressure on the players because they know their manager isn't happy.
On the pitching front, Marcum will be out for 2 starts (since it is soreness in the elbow, I'm going to say he is out 4 weeks. If the Jays continue this tumble down the standings, I wouldn't be surprised if they shut him down altogether). Now the Jays won't need another starter until next week because they have an off-day Monday. Will they bring up Purcey? I think he'll do much better this time around because he'll get more than 1 start before getting sent down.
Having said that, I may be the only one who thinks that Ricky Romero should be called up instead. I doubt the Jays will do it because he really doesn't deserve to be promoted. But since this year is over, I would give him shot and see how he does. Yes, his ERA is in the 5's at Double A New Hampshire but look at Armando Gallaraga of the Tigers. He never had that much success in the minors and he is taking the majors by storm. Give Romero a shot and if he screws up, send him down. This may shatter his confidence even more but how much more can his ego be deflated? Every day he hears how the Jays should have taken Troy Tulowitzki. Give him a couple of starts and see how he does.
Also, the Jays really have to get rid of Burnett. They can get a good prospect in return because teams overpay for pitching (Carlos Silva getting 48 million?). Dumping Burnett now is ideal because its a foregone conclusion that he will opt out. With that vacant spot in the rotation, Purcey could come up and fill it permanently. I think he'll be even better once the Jays let him know he has a job for good and won't be sent down.
I may be a little crazy (we'll get to the World Cup next) but this season can still be promising for the Jays once they admit they're done. JP is too pigheaded though due to the fact he could be next to go if the Jays don't finish well. Either way, it is nice to see a shakeup in Jays land and hopefully they will let the prospects play sooner rather than later.
Predictions
I predict that I will no longer make predictions. But given my track record, I should probably predict the opposite. Turkey and Russia in the semi-finals??? This is just crazy. I honestly have no idea how it will turn out. Could another underdog country win the Euro Cup again?
Moving away from the Euro Cup, lets talk about the World Cup. Canada is now into the third round of qualifying after beating St Vincent and the Grenadines. There are 12 teams remaining split into 3 groups of 4. Canada's group consists of Mexico (or Belize), Honduras and Jamaica. Canada will have a tough time in the group but if they finish in the top 2 (probably with Mexico) then they will advance to the final round of qualifying. The matches will be played from August through November 2008. Canada looked very strong and some are touting this team to be the best yet.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Hard to Win, Harder to Predict
The Euro Cup has been just that. Another bad round of predictions by me as I went 3 for 8. Lets examine my losses and I'll try to defend my logic the best I can.
Portugal/Switzerland: When I made this pick, I was under the impression that Portugal would at least give its starters half an hour. But with 8 starters out, Portugal couldn't pull it off. I predicted 1-1 but the hosts gained some pride while Portugal is now well rested.
Czech/Turkey: The Turks pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in Euro Cup history. Croatia and Turkey is easily the worst of the quarterfinal matches. But you can't blame me for picking the Czechs.
Netherlands/Romania: Holland benched one of the best goalies in the tournament... and still won. Romania is a lot like Switzerland in that they only have one good player. Mutu can't do it all, but I expected a better effort.
France/Italy: The slow starters find themselves in the quarter-finals. I was rooting for both these teams to go out but Italy is picking up steam. Franck Ribery is the big loser here as the world will have to wait another 2 years before noticing the soccer phenom.
Russia/Sweden: After beating Greece and almost beating Spain, I thought Sweden was the overall better team. But age caught up with them. Ibrahimovic was not completely healthy for the game and Sweden didn't have a supporting cast. This was a toss up and Russia played better. Good luck vs Holland.
Predictions:
Here we go for the quarters:
Portugal vs Germany - Germany has not looked as dominating as the tourney has progressed. Portugal is well rested and should come out of this one victorious. This will be a rematch of the 3rd place game at the World Cup 2 years ago. You can be sure that the Portuguese haven't forgotten about it. 2-1 (goals from Ronaldo, Nuno Gomes and Ballack).
Croatia vs Turkey - If Turkey wins this game, I will stop my predictions altogether for the Euro Cup. Croatia is perfect so far and even though they haven't looked as strong as some of the other teams, they're facing quite arguably the worst of the remaining teams. 2-0 (goals from Modric).
Netherlands vs Russia - If it wasn't for Turkey, I'd suggest that Russia is the worst team remaining. And they're up against the undisputed favourite right now. Holland's fire power is too good and unless the Netherlands have a Czech-like collapse, they'll move on to face Spain or Italy. 2-0 (goals from Robben and Ruud).
Spain vs Italy - Spain is right there with Holland for the best team remaining. While they didn't coast to a first place finish in Group D, they got some bounces in the last 5 minutes of games. Look for this one to go to penalties. Spain and Italy have both been in this kind of situation before. And history tells us that Spain chokes and Italy somehow pulls it off. 1-1 after 120 minutes (goals from Torres and Toni) and Italy wins on penalties thus getting another shot at Holland.
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Portugal/Switzerland: When I made this pick, I was under the impression that Portugal would at least give its starters half an hour. But with 8 starters out, Portugal couldn't pull it off. I predicted 1-1 but the hosts gained some pride while Portugal is now well rested.
Czech/Turkey: The Turks pulled off one of the greatest comebacks in Euro Cup history. Croatia and Turkey is easily the worst of the quarterfinal matches. But you can't blame me for picking the Czechs.
Netherlands/Romania: Holland benched one of the best goalies in the tournament... and still won. Romania is a lot like Switzerland in that they only have one good player. Mutu can't do it all, but I expected a better effort.
France/Italy: The slow starters find themselves in the quarter-finals. I was rooting for both these teams to go out but Italy is picking up steam. Franck Ribery is the big loser here as the world will have to wait another 2 years before noticing the soccer phenom.
Russia/Sweden: After beating Greece and almost beating Spain, I thought Sweden was the overall better team. But age caught up with them. Ibrahimovic was not completely healthy for the game and Sweden didn't have a supporting cast. This was a toss up and Russia played better. Good luck vs Holland.
Predictions:
Here we go for the quarters:
Portugal vs Germany - Germany has not looked as dominating as the tourney has progressed. Portugal is well rested and should come out of this one victorious. This will be a rematch of the 3rd place game at the World Cup 2 years ago. You can be sure that the Portuguese haven't forgotten about it. 2-1 (goals from Ronaldo, Nuno Gomes and Ballack).
Croatia vs Turkey - If Turkey wins this game, I will stop my predictions altogether for the Euro Cup. Croatia is perfect so far and even though they haven't looked as strong as some of the other teams, they're facing quite arguably the worst of the remaining teams. 2-0 (goals from Modric).
Netherlands vs Russia - If it wasn't for Turkey, I'd suggest that Russia is the worst team remaining. And they're up against the undisputed favourite right now. Holland's fire power is too good and unless the Netherlands have a Czech-like collapse, they'll move on to face Spain or Italy. 2-0 (goals from Robben and Ruud).
Spain vs Italy - Spain is right there with Holland for the best team remaining. While they didn't coast to a first place finish in Group D, they got some bounces in the last 5 minutes of games. Look for this one to go to penalties. Spain and Italy have both been in this kind of situation before. And history tells us that Spain chokes and Italy somehow pulls it off. 1-1 after 120 minutes (goals from Torres and Toni) and Italy wins on penalties thus getting another shot at Holland.
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Saturday, June 14, 2008
A Hero's Welcome
When the Toronto Blue Jays released Reed Johnson back in Spring Training, there was sure to be backlash from the fans. A lot of people thought that it wasn't fair that he was released. There's some justification for that statement as most of his 2007 campaign was injury plagued. Let's remember, the guy his over .300 in 2006.
But JP Ricciardi didn't have enough faith in him and went after a less injury-prone player in Shannon Stewart.
So when Reed returned to Toronto on Friday, sure enough he was the one healthy while Stewart was injured. Now I've criticized the Jays here before (probably unfairly at times) but I really believe they made the wrong move by cutting Reed. Yes, hindsight is 20/20. In a game where it is an unwritten rule that "you don't lose your job due to injury", the Blue Jays went directly against it. And it has cost them.
Coming into Friday's game, Reed had more RBI than anyone on the Blue Jays! Of course he has a lineup full of perennial all-stars but that fact just jumped out at me when he came up to pinch hit in the 9th. He grounded out but was still cheered unceremoniously nonetheless.
Enter Saturday. The Reed-off man (as I like to call him) was in the starting lineup against a pitcher he has known for more than 6 years. Wouldn't it be something if he could burn the team that let him go? It didn't start off too well as he grounded out to 3rd his first time up.
Standing in the on-deck circle with 2 outs in the 2nd inning, trying to scout a guy he's seen for years with a perfect seat in left-field, Johnson got another chance to burn the Jays. David Eckstein booted a sure 3rd out at short and up trotted Reed. The next thing you know... BANG. A line drive out to left-field and.... OVER THE WALL for a 3 run HR! The camera panned to JP and his face was priceless. I think every Reed Johnson fan savoured that moment. Even though I love Doc, you had to be rooting for Reed this weekend. While optimistic commentators and Blue Jays executives will tell you the season isn't over, it really is. Don't buy into that "long season" bulls*** or the fact that the Jays are still at .500. If the Jays were still in the race, the Reed HR would have been bittersweet. But it was great to see him jog around the bases and still get an ovation from the smart fans at Rogers Centre. If I was there, I would have definitely gave him a standing-O.
Predictions
3 out of 6 is pretty bad. At least I called 33% of the games dead on (a nice way of looking at things). Italy and France looked sluggish while the Germany/Croatia match is probably the upset of the tournament so far.
Lets try this again then shall we? It's gonna be a lot tougher because its much more difficult to predict the last leg of round robin matches. Teams rest their players and in one matchup, a team may actually want to lose.
3rd leg of matches:
Portugal vs Switzerland - Tough one to call. The Swiss are playing for pride in this one and don't want to go... stay home empty handed. If weather conditions are bad, Portugal may just let its substitutes play. All they need is a tie to clinch first. Im going to say Switzerland goes away with a point at 1-1. Nuno Gomes and Barnetta the goal scorers.
Czech Republic vs Turkey - Cant see Turkey advancing in this group. They just barely beat the Swiss in their previous match. Turkey may also still have key-injuries in their lineup. 1-0 Czech with Baros the goal scorer.
Germany vs Austria - A must win type of scenario for Germany. Podolski is questionable to play and Schweinsteiger is suspended. Those are two key players that Germany may miss but they still have the talent to overcome a weak Austrian team. Germany did look sluggish last time and maybe some of it continues in this match. 1-0 with Klose the goal scorer.
Croatia vs Poland - Poland will need a lot of help to finish 2nd in this group and may get it from Croatia. Poland needs a win but it will be hard to compete with a team that just beat the favourites. The dark horses of the tourney may rest their players in the 2nd half but don't expect a Poland win. Riding the momentum of the Germany game, Croatia wins 2-0 with goals from Olic and Modric.
France vs Italy - These two countries have been the clowns of the tourney thus far. Both teams have screwed up twice with neither team collecting a win. I'm going to say they both screw up again and tie 2-2 giving neither a chance to advance. Goals from Ribery and Henry for France while Toni scores both for Italy (he's gotta break out at some point).
Netherlands vs Romania - Quite possibly could be the greatest conspiracy in soccer EVER. If Netherlands loses this game, both France and Italy will be out regardless of what either team does in their match. Romania can still advance in this group with a tie here if Italy and France tie their game. But if you are Holland, the smart thing to do is to rest your players almost completely. Maybe 20-25 minutes for the starters and thats it. Of course, there is a sense of pride here as well. If Holland could escape the group of death with the maximum amount of points, they'll have a huge chip on their shoulder going into a quarter-final matchup with Russia/Sweden. I'm going to say Romania takes this one 2-1 with Mutu scoring both for Romania and Robben scoring early for Holland. No one would be happier than me if Italy and France were both out of this tourney... they've lost me too much money over the past couple of weeks.
Spain vs Greece - The defending champs are out after 2 matches. Kind of sad for Greek fans but even their coach called 2004 a miracle. Having not scored a goal through 2 matches, it shows how lucky they were 4 years ago. Their defense is their strength but if you can't score, you can't win. Spain can score. I don't think they'll have a strong sense of urgency but I think they'd like to advance with the 9 points. 1-0 Spain on a goal by David Villa (this guy will win the golden boot).
Russia vs Sweden - The most competitive of the 3rd leg of matches in my opinion. The winner of this match gets Holland so I don't know how much celebrating will be done afterwards. I liked Sweden to finish 2nd in the group all along so I'm going to stick with it. They may be old, but they've played well in the first two games. 1-0 with a goal from Larsson.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
But JP Ricciardi didn't have enough faith in him and went after a less injury-prone player in Shannon Stewart.
So when Reed returned to Toronto on Friday, sure enough he was the one healthy while Stewart was injured. Now I've criticized the Jays here before (probably unfairly at times) but I really believe they made the wrong move by cutting Reed. Yes, hindsight is 20/20. In a game where it is an unwritten rule that "you don't lose your job due to injury", the Blue Jays went directly against it. And it has cost them.
Coming into Friday's game, Reed had more RBI than anyone on the Blue Jays! Of course he has a lineup full of perennial all-stars but that fact just jumped out at me when he came up to pinch hit in the 9th. He grounded out but was still cheered unceremoniously nonetheless.
Enter Saturday. The Reed-off man (as I like to call him) was in the starting lineup against a pitcher he has known for more than 6 years. Wouldn't it be something if he could burn the team that let him go? It didn't start off too well as he grounded out to 3rd his first time up.
Standing in the on-deck circle with 2 outs in the 2nd inning, trying to scout a guy he's seen for years with a perfect seat in left-field, Johnson got another chance to burn the Jays. David Eckstein booted a sure 3rd out at short and up trotted Reed. The next thing you know... BANG. A line drive out to left-field and.... OVER THE WALL for a 3 run HR! The camera panned to JP and his face was priceless. I think every Reed Johnson fan savoured that moment. Even though I love Doc, you had to be rooting for Reed this weekend. While optimistic commentators and Blue Jays executives will tell you the season isn't over, it really is. Don't buy into that "long season" bulls*** or the fact that the Jays are still at .500. If the Jays were still in the race, the Reed HR would have been bittersweet. But it was great to see him jog around the bases and still get an ovation from the smart fans at Rogers Centre. If I was there, I would have definitely gave him a standing-O.
Predictions
3 out of 6 is pretty bad. At least I called 33% of the games dead on (a nice way of looking at things). Italy and France looked sluggish while the Germany/Croatia match is probably the upset of the tournament so far.
Lets try this again then shall we? It's gonna be a lot tougher because its much more difficult to predict the last leg of round robin matches. Teams rest their players and in one matchup, a team may actually want to lose.
3rd leg of matches:
Portugal vs Switzerland - Tough one to call. The Swiss are playing for pride in this one and don't want to go... stay home empty handed. If weather conditions are bad, Portugal may just let its substitutes play. All they need is a tie to clinch first. Im going to say Switzerland goes away with a point at 1-1. Nuno Gomes and Barnetta the goal scorers.
Czech Republic vs Turkey - Cant see Turkey advancing in this group. They just barely beat the Swiss in their previous match. Turkey may also still have key-injuries in their lineup. 1-0 Czech with Baros the goal scorer.
Germany vs Austria - A must win type of scenario for Germany. Podolski is questionable to play and Schweinsteiger is suspended. Those are two key players that Germany may miss but they still have the talent to overcome a weak Austrian team. Germany did look sluggish last time and maybe some of it continues in this match. 1-0 with Klose the goal scorer.
Croatia vs Poland - Poland will need a lot of help to finish 2nd in this group and may get it from Croatia. Poland needs a win but it will be hard to compete with a team that just beat the favourites. The dark horses of the tourney may rest their players in the 2nd half but don't expect a Poland win. Riding the momentum of the Germany game, Croatia wins 2-0 with goals from Olic and Modric.
France vs Italy - These two countries have been the clowns of the tourney thus far. Both teams have screwed up twice with neither team collecting a win. I'm going to say they both screw up again and tie 2-2 giving neither a chance to advance. Goals from Ribery and Henry for France while Toni scores both for Italy (he's gotta break out at some point).
Netherlands vs Romania - Quite possibly could be the greatest conspiracy in soccer EVER. If Netherlands loses this game, both France and Italy will be out regardless of what either team does in their match. Romania can still advance in this group with a tie here if Italy and France tie their game. But if you are Holland, the smart thing to do is to rest your players almost completely. Maybe 20-25 minutes for the starters and thats it. Of course, there is a sense of pride here as well. If Holland could escape the group of death with the maximum amount of points, they'll have a huge chip on their shoulder going into a quarter-final matchup with Russia/Sweden. I'm going to say Romania takes this one 2-1 with Mutu scoring both for Romania and Robben scoring early for Holland. No one would be happier than me if Italy and France were both out of this tourney... they've lost me too much money over the past couple of weeks.
Spain vs Greece - The defending champs are out after 2 matches. Kind of sad for Greek fans but even their coach called 2004 a miracle. Having not scored a goal through 2 matches, it shows how lucky they were 4 years ago. Their defense is their strength but if you can't score, you can't win. Spain can score. I don't think they'll have a strong sense of urgency but I think they'd like to advance with the 9 points. 1-0 Spain on a goal by David Villa (this guy will win the golden boot).
Russia vs Sweden - The most competitive of the 3rd leg of matches in my opinion. The winner of this match gets Holland so I don't know how much celebrating will be done afterwards. I liked Sweden to finish 2nd in the group all along so I'm going to stick with it. They may be old, but they've played well in the first two games. 1-0 with a goal from Larsson.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Thursday, June 12, 2008
For Love of the Game
Has anyone been watching the Euro Cup? Everyday I look forward to getting up at 11:30 am and watching soccer for about 5 hours. It helps that I've won some money along the way but its great to see 2 matches a day.
Well that comes to an end Saturday. Starting Sunday, all group games will begin at the same time (2:45 pm eastern). Portugal/Switzerland and Turkey/Czech Republic will both be played at the same time. For television purposes this is a shame. Fans will have to pick which match they would rather watch. They have two great choices. The Turkey/Czech match-up will have great importance as the winner moves on to the knockout stage. But fans will also want to see what what Portugal has in their bag of tricks. It will be sheer entertainment to see Ronaldo and Deco weave through the Swiss defense.
So why would UEFA decide to air the two matchups against each other? Simple. Its not about TV ratings. Its about the competition of the sport.
In order to make sure that every team in each group is competitive throughout the group stage, the third and final group matches are played at the same time.
Lets take Group A for example. If the Turkey/Czech match is played first and they tie, later on Portugal can just rest their star players. The fans that paid good money to watch players like Ronaldo and Deco would see substitutes like Almeida and Meireles (nothing against those players). By playing the games at the same time, Portugal are forced to play their stars at least for the first half because anything could happen in the Czech/Turkey game. Its almost a guarantee that Portgual will win the group barring a major defensive collapse, but if the Swiss win 3-2 and the Czechs win 1-0, then Portugal finishes in 2nd place on goals allowed.
Theres so many mind-boggling tie-breakers that teams can't afford to rest their players. Even though it is worse for the television audience, its better for the fans that paid good money. And more importantly, its best for the sport of soccer.
Predictions
For the rest of the 2nd leg of matches:
Germany vs Croatia - It should be a blitzkrieg on the Croatian net. Im gonna say 3-0 because the Croatian defense is horrible and their offense is lacking without Eduardo. Goals scored by Podolski, Klose and Ballack.
Poland vs Austria - This one is tight. I would have said Poland a couple of days ago, but an Austrian brewery has promised a lifetime supply of beer to the first Austrian goal-scorer. I'm gonna say a 1-1 tie. And Harnik picks up the last sober goal he'll ever score for Austria.
Italy vs Romania - I love Adrian Mutu. Thats the reason I believed that the Romanians could hang with the battered up French squad. I really don't like Italy, but I can't see them losing twice in a row. 2-1 in a nail-biter with Mutu scoring for Romania and Luca Toni scoring twice for Italy.
France vs Netherlands - Franck Ribery is the new French sensation. But I don't know if he can beat Holland by himself. The French are injured and dont know if captain Patrick Viera or Thierry Henry will play. The Netherlands have had their choking moments in the past but after watching them score 3 against a defensive minded team like Italy, I think they can go to an improbable 2-0 with a 2-0 win in the group of death. RUUUUUUUUD and van der Vaart the goal scorers.
Spain vs Sweden - Spain is talented. They're arguably the fastest team in the tournament and maybe even the best defensive. Old man Sweden will have their hands full with these young guys (a squad that has left off Spanish soccer hero Raul). 2-0 Spain with goals from Torres and Xabi Alonso.
Russia vs Greece - Greece is overrated. I really never believed that they'd get out of this group and their defensive strategy of putting 5 men back didn't work against Sweden. Russia is missing a couple of offensive threats due to injury/suspension. I'll give Greece a chance to win this game and give Gekas the goal 1-0.
Feel free to disagree and give me your picks.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Well that comes to an end Saturday. Starting Sunday, all group games will begin at the same time (2:45 pm eastern). Portugal/Switzerland and Turkey/Czech Republic will both be played at the same time. For television purposes this is a shame. Fans will have to pick which match they would rather watch. They have two great choices. The Turkey/Czech match-up will have great importance as the winner moves on to the knockout stage. But fans will also want to see what what Portugal has in their bag of tricks. It will be sheer entertainment to see Ronaldo and Deco weave through the Swiss defense.
So why would UEFA decide to air the two matchups against each other? Simple. Its not about TV ratings. Its about the competition of the sport.
In order to make sure that every team in each group is competitive throughout the group stage, the third and final group matches are played at the same time.
Lets take Group A for example. If the Turkey/Czech match is played first and they tie, later on Portugal can just rest their star players. The fans that paid good money to watch players like Ronaldo and Deco would see substitutes like Almeida and Meireles (nothing against those players). By playing the games at the same time, Portugal are forced to play their stars at least for the first half because anything could happen in the Czech/Turkey game. Its almost a guarantee that Portgual will win the group barring a major defensive collapse, but if the Swiss win 3-2 and the Czechs win 1-0, then Portugal finishes in 2nd place on goals allowed.
Theres so many mind-boggling tie-breakers that teams can't afford to rest their players. Even though it is worse for the television audience, its better for the fans that paid good money. And more importantly, its best for the sport of soccer.
Predictions
For the rest of the 2nd leg of matches:
Germany vs Croatia - It should be a blitzkrieg on the Croatian net. Im gonna say 3-0 because the Croatian defense is horrible and their offense is lacking without Eduardo. Goals scored by Podolski, Klose and Ballack.
Poland vs Austria - This one is tight. I would have said Poland a couple of days ago, but an Austrian brewery has promised a lifetime supply of beer to the first Austrian goal-scorer. I'm gonna say a 1-1 tie. And Harnik picks up the last sober goal he'll ever score for Austria.
Italy vs Romania - I love Adrian Mutu. Thats the reason I believed that the Romanians could hang with the battered up French squad. I really don't like Italy, but I can't see them losing twice in a row. 2-1 in a nail-biter with Mutu scoring for Romania and Luca Toni scoring twice for Italy.
France vs Netherlands - Franck Ribery is the new French sensation. But I don't know if he can beat Holland by himself. The French are injured and dont know if captain Patrick Viera or Thierry Henry will play. The Netherlands have had their choking moments in the past but after watching them score 3 against a defensive minded team like Italy, I think they can go to an improbable 2-0 with a 2-0 win in the group of death. RUUUUUUUUD and van der Vaart the goal scorers.
Spain vs Sweden - Spain is talented. They're arguably the fastest team in the tournament and maybe even the best defensive. Old man Sweden will have their hands full with these young guys (a squad that has left off Spanish soccer hero Raul). 2-0 Spain with goals from Torres and Xabi Alonso.
Russia vs Greece - Greece is overrated. I really never believed that they'd get out of this group and their defensive strategy of putting 5 men back didn't work against Sweden. Russia is missing a couple of offensive threats due to injury/suspension. I'll give Greece a chance to win this game and give Gekas the goal 1-0.
Feel free to disagree and give me your picks.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Friday, June 6, 2008
Awaking a Sleeping Giant
I'll admit I hate the Yankees, but there aren't a lot of broadcasters better than Michael Kay for home-run calls. His trademark "See Ya" comes after every home-run hit for or against the Yankees. But when a memorable Yankee home-run is hit, the call gets even better. Just take today for instance with the Yankees down 8-7 in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and 2 strikes on Jason Giambi:
"Yankees trying to rally, the 0-2... that one's driven deep to right. If its fair, its over! It is... GONE!!!! SEE YA!!! A PINCH HIT, 2 RUN, GAME WINNING, WALK-OFF HOME-RUN FOR JASON GIAMBI! AND THE YANKEES WIN 9-8, THEIR BEST WIN OF THE SEASON!"
As much as I enjoyed the call, when I first heard it I was disgusted. The Jays had a 5 run lead in the game. With the pitching staff we have, there is no way teams should score even 3 runs against us in 9 innings... much less 3 in the 9th inning itself.
These are the kinds of games that the Jays will look back on in October and think "that's one of the places we lost it." Until this point, the Yankees haven't had much to cheer about. 2008 has been a horrible year for the Bronx Bombers. Back in January, they lost out on the Johan Santana sweepstakes (mainly because they believed in Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy). Once the season started, Hughes and Kennedy completely flopped and their pitching staff was in shambles. Injuries derailed Hughes, A-Rod and Posada and even Derek Jeter was close to a DL stint. At the beginning of June, they were in the AL East doghouse with the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles. Worse yet, their heated rivals Boston were flying high in 2nd place in the AL East. Maybe even worse yet, the AL East laughing stock Tampa Rays were leading the division!
All the Yankees needed was that one win. That one, unbelievable, inspiration, amazing win. We've seen that win before. In 2007, we saw multiple wins like that thanks to Alex Rodriguez. But so far in 2008, there was no aura about the Yanks. Maybe it left with Clemens. Maybe it left with Joe Torre.
Where ever the aura went, it was back at Yankee Stadium yesterday. As Michael Kay stated, it was the Yankees best win of the season.
Thanks Blue Jays for waking up the Yankees.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
"Yankees trying to rally, the 0-2... that one's driven deep to right. If its fair, its over! It is... GONE!!!! SEE YA!!! A PINCH HIT, 2 RUN, GAME WINNING, WALK-OFF HOME-RUN FOR JASON GIAMBI! AND THE YANKEES WIN 9-8, THEIR BEST WIN OF THE SEASON!"
As much as I enjoyed the call, when I first heard it I was disgusted. The Jays had a 5 run lead in the game. With the pitching staff we have, there is no way teams should score even 3 runs against us in 9 innings... much less 3 in the 9th inning itself.
These are the kinds of games that the Jays will look back on in October and think "that's one of the places we lost it." Until this point, the Yankees haven't had much to cheer about. 2008 has been a horrible year for the Bronx Bombers. Back in January, they lost out on the Johan Santana sweepstakes (mainly because they believed in Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy). Once the season started, Hughes and Kennedy completely flopped and their pitching staff was in shambles. Injuries derailed Hughes, A-Rod and Posada and even Derek Jeter was close to a DL stint. At the beginning of June, they were in the AL East doghouse with the rebuilding Baltimore Orioles. Worse yet, their heated rivals Boston were flying high in 2nd place in the AL East. Maybe even worse yet, the AL East laughing stock Tampa Rays were leading the division!
All the Yankees needed was that one win. That one, unbelievable, inspiration, amazing win. We've seen that win before. In 2007, we saw multiple wins like that thanks to Alex Rodriguez. But so far in 2008, there was no aura about the Yanks. Maybe it left with Clemens. Maybe it left with Joe Torre.
Where ever the aura went, it was back at Yankee Stadium yesterday. As Michael Kay stated, it was the Yankees best win of the season.
Thanks Blue Jays for waking up the Yankees.
DD
-check out Captain Fanatic for more Toronto Sports Blogs and other fun stuff
Sunday, June 1, 2008
From Hero to Goat
First, let me just say how disappointed I am that ZERO Canadian television stations picked up the Brazil/Canada soccer friendly that just happened tonight. Yes, Sportsnet will show it at 10 am but thats 12 hours too late. I just find it comical that CBC just had a "Soccer Day in Canada" broadcast on the same day and failed to broadcast the game. TSN opted to show a re-run of the Spelling Bee/Sportscentre and Sportsnet showed the Jays game on ALL four Sportsnet channels.
Thank goodness we faced a soccer crazed country or I would have had to get up early to see the game. Even though I didn't understand the ESPN Deportes commentary, I did see Julian de Guzman go from hero to goat in about 7 minutes. But more importantly, I saw Canada OUTPLAY Brazil for most of the 90+ minutes.
Quick recap of the goals:
- Brazil 1, Canada 0 : RRRRRRRRRRRRRobinho BROKE a Canadian defenders ankles with some very fancy moves. He proceeded to find Diego and he put it past Onstad [4th minute].
- Brazil 1, Canada 1: Header by Friend on a lovely cross from Klukowski past the Brazilian keeper [10th minute].
- Brazil 2, Canada 1: This one sucked. Cross from Robinho to Fabiano and he put it past Onstad with a header [45th minute].
- Brazil 2, Canada 2: de Guzman walked in and sent a brilliant strike from just beyond the box past the keeper. If the game ended with this score, he'd be a hero in my book [56th minute].
- Brazil 3, Canada 2: de Guzman tried a backpass to Onstad and instead horribly mis-hit the ball. Guess who capitalized? RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRobinho took it, did a little dangle to get past Onstad on a breakaway and calmly put it in the back of the net. Then he did the "rock the cradle" celebration to the Canadian fans to signify that he put the game to bed [63rd minute].
I didn't believe the game was over because Canada really outplayed Brazil most of the night. They out-chanced Brazil and got past the Brazilian defense with relative ease. There were so many times I thought Canada had a goal but they just couldn't convert their chances.
I'll give Brazil credit though. With the little chances they had, they made good on them. Canada wasted one too many chances and you can't do that against the 2nd best nation in the world (even though they were missing Kaka, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo).
If this were a World Cup qualifying match, de Guzman would never be forgiven. But the main point of the friendly was for Canada to see how they stacked up against a premier team.
Later this month, de Guzman will have a chance to redeem himself with an upcoming friendly against Panama. Then on June 15th and 20th, they play two World Cup Qualifiers against St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Following this effort, the qualifiers will be VERY interesting. Canada may have lost against Brazil but it definitely knows it can compete with the best. Even though I haven't watched many Canadian soccer international games, I think they may make it to South Africa in 2010.
And by then, I doubt anyone will remember de Guzman's mental mistake.
DD
Thank goodness we faced a soccer crazed country or I would have had to get up early to see the game. Even though I didn't understand the ESPN Deportes commentary, I did see Julian de Guzman go from hero to goat in about 7 minutes. But more importantly, I saw Canada OUTPLAY Brazil for most of the 90+ minutes.
Quick recap of the goals:
- Brazil 1, Canada 0 : RRRRRRRRRRRRRobinho BROKE a Canadian defenders ankles with some very fancy moves. He proceeded to find Diego and he put it past Onstad [4th minute].
- Brazil 1, Canada 1: Header by Friend on a lovely cross from Klukowski past the Brazilian keeper [10th minute].
- Brazil 2, Canada 1: This one sucked. Cross from Robinho to Fabiano and he put it past Onstad with a header [45th minute].
- Brazil 2, Canada 2: de Guzman walked in and sent a brilliant strike from just beyond the box past the keeper. If the game ended with this score, he'd be a hero in my book [56th minute].
- Brazil 3, Canada 2: de Guzman tried a backpass to Onstad and instead horribly mis-hit the ball. Guess who capitalized? RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRobinho took it, did a little dangle to get past Onstad on a breakaway and calmly put it in the back of the net. Then he did the "rock the cradle" celebration to the Canadian fans to signify that he put the game to bed [63rd minute].
I didn't believe the game was over because Canada really outplayed Brazil most of the night. They out-chanced Brazil and got past the Brazilian defense with relative ease. There were so many times I thought Canada had a goal but they just couldn't convert their chances.
I'll give Brazil credit though. With the little chances they had, they made good on them. Canada wasted one too many chances and you can't do that against the 2nd best nation in the world (even though they were missing Kaka, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo).
If this were a World Cup qualifying match, de Guzman would never be forgiven. But the main point of the friendly was for Canada to see how they stacked up against a premier team.
Later this month, de Guzman will have a chance to redeem himself with an upcoming friendly against Panama. Then on June 15th and 20th, they play two World Cup Qualifiers against St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
Following this effort, the qualifiers will be VERY interesting. Canada may have lost against Brazil but it definitely knows it can compete with the best. Even though I haven't watched many Canadian soccer international games, I think they may make it to South Africa in 2010.
And by then, I doubt anyone will remember de Guzman's mental mistake.
DD
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Fair or Foul?
That is a question being asked in two major sports. In the MLB, instant replay is the hot topic of debate due to suspect calls on fair or foul balls. In the NBA, the hot topic of debate is whether or not Derek Fisher fouled Brent Barry.
Yes, the MLB needs instant replay.
The main complaint about instant replay is that it slows down the game even more. Of all the major sports in North America, baseball is no doubt the slowest. So why create a delay? To get the call right. I do not think using replay on almost every call is the way to go. But I do think that a challenge system (NFL) should be used. I think two challenges per game should be alloted to each team and if a team wins both, they receive a third. The challenges could be used on just about anything from a fair/foul ball to a safe/out call. The only exception would be arguing balls and strikes. I think that area is fine because different umpires have different strike zones. While balls and strikes can vary in baseball, outs and foul balls cannot.
As for the game slowing down, I don't think baseball fans will have a problem. The people that complain about the slowness of a game usually aren't baseball fans. If it means getting a call correct, I would not mind waiting the extra minute or two. And for the most part, whenever there is a close call, networks broadcast the replays at least 3 times anyways.
The only thing I would miss are the manager explosions at a blown call. In a couple of years, Lou Piniella may not need to kick his hat around the field. Bases won't be dislodged and thrown to the outfield. Rosen bags won't be used as pretend grenades.
Purists may not agree with me, but I say that if we have the technology, use it.
Yes, Derek Fisher fouled Brent Barry.
Joey Crawford is now public enemy #1 with Spurs fans (not that he wasn't before). Let the conspiracy theories begin. Barry should have got 2 shots from the line because it was a foul on the floor (after the contact, Barry did not immediately shoot). Should there be instant replay in the NBA? We'll leave that for another blog post.
DD
Yes, the MLB needs instant replay.
The main complaint about instant replay is that it slows down the game even more. Of all the major sports in North America, baseball is no doubt the slowest. So why create a delay? To get the call right. I do not think using replay on almost every call is the way to go. But I do think that a challenge system (NFL) should be used. I think two challenges per game should be alloted to each team and if a team wins both, they receive a third. The challenges could be used on just about anything from a fair/foul ball to a safe/out call. The only exception would be arguing balls and strikes. I think that area is fine because different umpires have different strike zones. While balls and strikes can vary in baseball, outs and foul balls cannot.
As for the game slowing down, I don't think baseball fans will have a problem. The people that complain about the slowness of a game usually aren't baseball fans. If it means getting a call correct, I would not mind waiting the extra minute or two. And for the most part, whenever there is a close call, networks broadcast the replays at least 3 times anyways.
The only thing I would miss are the manager explosions at a blown call. In a couple of years, Lou Piniella may not need to kick his hat around the field. Bases won't be dislodged and thrown to the outfield. Rosen bags won't be used as pretend grenades.
Purists may not agree with me, but I say that if we have the technology, use it.
Yes, Derek Fisher fouled Brent Barry.
Joey Crawford is now public enemy #1 with Spurs fans (not that he wasn't before). Let the conspiracy theories begin. Barry should have got 2 shots from the line because it was a foul on the floor (after the contact, Barry did not immediately shoot). Should there be instant replay in the NBA? We'll leave that for another blog post.
DD
Friday, May 23, 2008
Some fans are idiots
A couple of hours ago, I was listening to "Wednesdays With JP" on The Fan 590. The segment features Blue Jays General Manager JP Ricciardi with host Mike Wilner. For around 35 minutes, fans can call in and ask JP just about anything they want. I've listened to the show for a couple of weeks now and I've come to the conclusion that:
1) The Fan 590 purposely lets drunken, moronic fans with stupid questions on the air
OR
2) Some fans are idiots
I think I'll stick with the latter on that one.
Let me give you an example of one of these "idiot fans". Scott from North Bay called in and right away started acting like a smart ass. If you are going to act like a smart ass, you better know your s***. This is what he had to say to JP:
"I know that pitching wins championships, but if you don't have hitting you're not going to even make the post-season. For the life of me, I cant understand why you're so reluctant to trade pitching for a quality bat."
Fair enough. At this point, I'm thinking its a valid question. This guy knows what hes talking about. Then JP asks him if he were the GM, what would he do?
Scott tells him that he thinks Juan bleeping Pierre is the answer to the Jays problems. Out of all the players you could target, really... Juan Pierre? JP really picked a great time to turn the table on us fans. Here's the chance of a lifetime to be GM of the Jays for 1 minute and this idiot blows it. JP quickly makes him look like an idiot calling Pierre a singles hitter (which is true), a career .320 on base percentage player(which sounds about right) and he makes 9 million playing part time (only because Andruw Jones is an even bigger waste of money that the Dodgers have to play).
Scott backtracks a bit and says he didn't know that Juan Pierre was making that much money.
Some fans are idiots.
They think that it's all about results on the field.
Some fans are idiots.
They don't take into consideration the economics of the game. Juan Pierre isn't even that good of a player. All he brings to the Jays is speed. What the Jays need is a left handed power bat. Sorry, "the professional hitter" Matt Stairs just doesn't cut it. Adam Dunn could be a decent fit but I've never been a fan of someone who hits .240. Ken Griffey Jr. is another guy the Jays could use but I doubt he'd pick Toronto over Seattle. C'mon, Juan Pierre? What are you gonna do with David Eckstein's 4.5 million dollar bat?
Then JP asks him another question. "Who on our pitching staff would you trade?" Scott says he wouldn't mind trading Litsch.
Some fans are idiots.
Do you really think you are going to get a quality bat by just giving away your number 5 starter? I hate to pick on Scott because this is a problem with MOST fans. Would the Dodgers consider Litsch for Pierre? If I were Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, I would jump at it. After Scott said Litsch, JP ran down the reasons why Litsch is so much more valuable than Pierre. Litsch is going to make the minimum salary for the next 3 years (which I believe is 350 K), he's under the Blue Jays control for the next 5 years and most importantly he leads the Jays pitching staff with 5 wins!
Scott continues to say that most teams have bums pitching in the 5 hole and that you don't need a quality guy there.
Some fans have bad memories.
Just two years ago, ALL Blue Jay fans were complaining about Josh Towers. The main complaint was that we needed more rotation depth. Towers went something like 2-10 that year and everyone wanted JP to trade for a fifth starter. Now we have 5 guys that have the potential to be all-stars either this year or next and we're going to trade one of them?
To make matters worse, Scott goes on to say that he didn't even know that AJ (or Stray-J as he'll soon be called) Burnett had an opt out clause. Seriously? The day after he signed here I knew that. He asks JP why he gave him an opt out clause and JP quite frankly told him that if the Jays didn't, he would have signed elsewhere. Do you really think JP just told Burnett "hey, as an early Christmas present we'll throw in an opt out clause"?
All in all, JP seemed pretty disappointed throughout the whole interview with his team's lack of offense. He normally wouldn't have snapped at a fan and asked the fan what he would do. But I am very glad he did.
It shows that some fans are idiots.
Quick notes from the entire segment:
- Apparently, Alex Rios doesn't know what "green light" means. According to Mike Wilner, Rios thinks that whenever he is given the green light it means go on the first pitch. Kudos to you Mike for catching that. Rios really doesn't have the baseball IQ to become a superstar player. When you are looking for a 9th inning, bases loaded, 2 out, 3-2 curveball from one of the wildest closers in the game, that tells me you are an idiot. Obviously, he took a fastball down the pipe to end the game. Like I've said before, Rios is not a superstar player. And unless he improves his baseball IQ, he never will be.
- One fan said they wanted Jason Bay, mainly because he's Canadian. Jason Bay is something we already have in Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Scott Rolen... a middle of the order, right handed bat. I'm not sure about the economics but I think he may be making more than Juan Pierre. That's certainly out of the question.
- Many people are blaming Gibby for this slump. After listening to JP, I don't think it is his fault. Gibby has some momentary lapses but for the most part he has done a feasible job. The hitters themselves are to blame. Who the hell gave Matt Stairs the nickname "professional hitter"? It wouldn't surprise me if it was Jamie Campbell, but professional hitters don't ground into inning-ending double plays in pressure situations. Everyone in that lineup is to blame for this, but you can't fire the hitters. So maybe Gibby will be the scapegoat.
- And to all you Blue Jay fans out there: PLEASE know your s*** if you are going to call in to talk to JP. I don't mind if you give Mike Wilner your bulls*** ideas because he has no power on what the Jays do. But Ricciardi can forever use "Scott from North Bay" as the prototypical Blue Jay fan and that scares the bejeezus out of me.
DD
1) The Fan 590 purposely lets drunken, moronic fans with stupid questions on the air
OR
2) Some fans are idiots
I think I'll stick with the latter on that one.
Let me give you an example of one of these "idiot fans". Scott from North Bay called in and right away started acting like a smart ass. If you are going to act like a smart ass, you better know your s***. This is what he had to say to JP:
"I know that pitching wins championships, but if you don't have hitting you're not going to even make the post-season. For the life of me, I cant understand why you're so reluctant to trade pitching for a quality bat."
Fair enough. At this point, I'm thinking its a valid question. This guy knows what hes talking about. Then JP asks him if he were the GM, what would he do?
Scott tells him that he thinks Juan bleeping Pierre is the answer to the Jays problems. Out of all the players you could target, really... Juan Pierre? JP really picked a great time to turn the table on us fans. Here's the chance of a lifetime to be GM of the Jays for 1 minute and this idiot blows it. JP quickly makes him look like an idiot calling Pierre a singles hitter (which is true), a career .320 on base percentage player(which sounds about right) and he makes 9 million playing part time (only because Andruw Jones is an even bigger waste of money that the Dodgers have to play).
Scott backtracks a bit and says he didn't know that Juan Pierre was making that much money.
Some fans are idiots.
They think that it's all about results on the field.
Some fans are idiots.
They don't take into consideration the economics of the game. Juan Pierre isn't even that good of a player. All he brings to the Jays is speed. What the Jays need is a left handed power bat. Sorry, "the professional hitter" Matt Stairs just doesn't cut it. Adam Dunn could be a decent fit but I've never been a fan of someone who hits .240. Ken Griffey Jr. is another guy the Jays could use but I doubt he'd pick Toronto over Seattle. C'mon, Juan Pierre? What are you gonna do with David Eckstein's 4.5 million dollar bat?
Then JP asks him another question. "Who on our pitching staff would you trade?" Scott says he wouldn't mind trading Litsch.
Some fans are idiots.
Do you really think you are going to get a quality bat by just giving away your number 5 starter? I hate to pick on Scott because this is a problem with MOST fans. Would the Dodgers consider Litsch for Pierre? If I were Dodgers GM Ned Colletti, I would jump at it. After Scott said Litsch, JP ran down the reasons why Litsch is so much more valuable than Pierre. Litsch is going to make the minimum salary for the next 3 years (which I believe is 350 K), he's under the Blue Jays control for the next 5 years and most importantly he leads the Jays pitching staff with 5 wins!
Scott continues to say that most teams have bums pitching in the 5 hole and that you don't need a quality guy there.
Some fans have bad memories.
Just two years ago, ALL Blue Jay fans were complaining about Josh Towers. The main complaint was that we needed more rotation depth. Towers went something like 2-10 that year and everyone wanted JP to trade for a fifth starter. Now we have 5 guys that have the potential to be all-stars either this year or next and we're going to trade one of them?
To make matters worse, Scott goes on to say that he didn't even know that AJ (or Stray-J as he'll soon be called) Burnett had an opt out clause. Seriously? The day after he signed here I knew that. He asks JP why he gave him an opt out clause and JP quite frankly told him that if the Jays didn't, he would have signed elsewhere. Do you really think JP just told Burnett "hey, as an early Christmas present we'll throw in an opt out clause"?
All in all, JP seemed pretty disappointed throughout the whole interview with his team's lack of offense. He normally wouldn't have snapped at a fan and asked the fan what he would do. But I am very glad he did.
It shows that some fans are idiots.
Quick notes from the entire segment:
- Apparently, Alex Rios doesn't know what "green light" means. According to Mike Wilner, Rios thinks that whenever he is given the green light it means go on the first pitch. Kudos to you Mike for catching that. Rios really doesn't have the baseball IQ to become a superstar player. When you are looking for a 9th inning, bases loaded, 2 out, 3-2 curveball from one of the wildest closers in the game, that tells me you are an idiot. Obviously, he took a fastball down the pipe to end the game. Like I've said before, Rios is not a superstar player. And unless he improves his baseball IQ, he never will be.
- One fan said they wanted Jason Bay, mainly because he's Canadian. Jason Bay is something we already have in Vernon Wells, Alex Rios and Scott Rolen... a middle of the order, right handed bat. I'm not sure about the economics but I think he may be making more than Juan Pierre. That's certainly out of the question.
- Many people are blaming Gibby for this slump. After listening to JP, I don't think it is his fault. Gibby has some momentary lapses but for the most part he has done a feasible job. The hitters themselves are to blame. Who the hell gave Matt Stairs the nickname "professional hitter"? It wouldn't surprise me if it was Jamie Campbell, but professional hitters don't ground into inning-ending double plays in pressure situations. Everyone in that lineup is to blame for this, but you can't fire the hitters. So maybe Gibby will be the scapegoat.
- And to all you Blue Jay fans out there: PLEASE know your s*** if you are going to call in to talk to JP. I don't mind if you give Mike Wilner your bulls*** ideas because he has no power on what the Jays do. But Ricciardi can forever use "Scott from North Bay" as the prototypical Blue Jay fan and that scares the bejeezus out of me.
DD
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
The Jays are Shit
I really can't sugarcoat it. Leaving the pitchers aside, the Jays offense is really that bad. The Angels series will not be televised and thankfully most Jays fans wont be able to see this horrific display of untimely hitting (or lack there of).
The best example of this came in the bottom of the 7th inning where the Jays got runners on 1st and 3rd with NO OUTS down 1 run. With the Angels conceding the run, all Scott Rolen had to do was not strike out and not hit a pop fly. If Scott Rolen is playing for any of the other 29 teams, he'd most likely put the ball in play. But he plays for the Jays, so on cue he struck out. Then Matt Stairs went up their swinging and HORRIBLE pitches and after looking like a 40 year old piece of crap just barely fouling off pitches, he finally grounded into a double play.
JP Ricciardi has stated that he will not make any more moves or changes to this offense. As a huge Jay fan, I can only hope he'll make changes this off-season because there is no way this team will compete with the guys they have now. I just feel sorry for guys like Doc who work their ass off and get nothing in return. If he demanded a trade, I would not blame him at all.
With every passing day that goes by, its quite clear that Alex Rios is not a superstar player. He may be a good player, but its safe to say that he is not worth almost 11 million a year. The only superstars the Jays have are Doc and maybe Wells. Mark my words, Rios will NEVER hit 30 HRs or 100 RBI in a season. He's much too streaky and his power seems to come and go.
Quick Notes:
- The Stanley Cup opens up in Detroit on Saturday. Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Final will also be played in Detroit on Saturday. Great scheduling there Gary Bettman. The NHL will look like even more of a joke when there are empty seats scattered around the Joe.
- How exciting was the Champions League final? I usually don't watch a full soccer game unless its Euro Cup or World Cup but this one was amazing. Chelsea dominated and deserved to win. Had it not been for the rain, John Terry may have won it for Chelsea in penalties but we'll never know. Now he'll have the whole summer to think about it as England didn't qualify for the Euro Cup.
- Celtic/Laker final? Thats what ABC is hoping for at least.
- Brandon Webb has just lost his first game of the season... to the Marlins who happen to lead the NL East. Am I the only one cheering for an all Florida World Series? They could play Game 7 at Disney World. And maybe Hanley Ramirez and BJ Upton would finally get a chance to appear on FOX/TBS.
DD
The best example of this came in the bottom of the 7th inning where the Jays got runners on 1st and 3rd with NO OUTS down 1 run. With the Angels conceding the run, all Scott Rolen had to do was not strike out and not hit a pop fly. If Scott Rolen is playing for any of the other 29 teams, he'd most likely put the ball in play. But he plays for the Jays, so on cue he struck out. Then Matt Stairs went up their swinging and HORRIBLE pitches and after looking like a 40 year old piece of crap just barely fouling off pitches, he finally grounded into a double play.
JP Ricciardi has stated that he will not make any more moves or changes to this offense. As a huge Jay fan, I can only hope he'll make changes this off-season because there is no way this team will compete with the guys they have now. I just feel sorry for guys like Doc who work their ass off and get nothing in return. If he demanded a trade, I would not blame him at all.
With every passing day that goes by, its quite clear that Alex Rios is not a superstar player. He may be a good player, but its safe to say that he is not worth almost 11 million a year. The only superstars the Jays have are Doc and maybe Wells. Mark my words, Rios will NEVER hit 30 HRs or 100 RBI in a season. He's much too streaky and his power seems to come and go.
Quick Notes:
- The Stanley Cup opens up in Detroit on Saturday. Game 3 of the NBA Eastern Conference Final will also be played in Detroit on Saturday. Great scheduling there Gary Bettman. The NHL will look like even more of a joke when there are empty seats scattered around the Joe.
- How exciting was the Champions League final? I usually don't watch a full soccer game unless its Euro Cup or World Cup but this one was amazing. Chelsea dominated and deserved to win. Had it not been for the rain, John Terry may have won it for Chelsea in penalties but we'll never know. Now he'll have the whole summer to think about it as England didn't qualify for the Euro Cup.
- Celtic/Laker final? Thats what ABC is hoping for at least.
- Brandon Webb has just lost his first game of the season... to the Marlins who happen to lead the NL East. Am I the only one cheering for an all Florida World Series? They could play Game 7 at Disney World. And maybe Hanley Ramirez and BJ Upton would finally get a chance to appear on FOX/TBS.
DD
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Say it aint so Chuck
By now, everyone knows that the voice of the Raptors is heading south for Chicago. Chuck Swirsky has been apart of the Raptors organization ten years and just yesterday broke the news of his resignation. When I heard about it, my first reaction was "Are you kidding me?!"
I've only met one person in my life that doesn't like Chuck Swirsky. And that person is kind of a loner. But any normal person will tell you that Chuck Swirsky is one of the best sports broadcasters Canada has. It is a shame that he's leaving and he will be missed.
Swirsky is one of the most unique people you will ever see or hear in sports broadcasting. Every time he broadcasts a Raptor game, viewers love the fact that he is so passionate and in the game. But its not just his great work ethic that makes him unique. It is the fact that he always puts the fans first.
This guy has reached iconic status over the past couple of years and still cares about the fans. It would be so easy for him to just broadcast Raptor games and leave it at that. But no. He keeps a blog on the official Raptors website, he replies to emails from fans and he has a 3 hour radio call-in show where fans can talk to him about anything sports related. He may be making a little bit more money on the side for the radio show, but it's chump change to what he gets for being a play-by-play guy. He doesn't do it for the money, he genuinely loves the fans.
A couple of years ago, I had a school project that dealt with researching a famous author/writer. Right away I knew I wanted to do a sports writer and I ultimately came to the decision to research Chuck Swirsky. Now there isn't a lot of info on him, just a mini-bio on numerous websites. So I decided to try and email him some questions in hopes of some answers. A couple of days later, I checked my email and found one message from Chuck. As I opened it, I noticed just a one line response. Before even reading it, I thought, "great, hes going to give me one of those 'thanks for the email but I've been very busy and don't think I can answer your questions' responses."
Instead, he wrote "feel free to call (insert phone number here)."
I thought it was some sort of joke. The voice of the Raptors giving me his phone number to do an interview with him? At the bottom of the email read a disclaimer from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment telling me that if I distributed the contents of the email, I would be sued.
That made it legitimate. A couple of days later I called the number and it was Chuck that answered the phone. I almost couldn't believe it. He was extremely kind and let me ask all of my questions while giving thorough answers. He wished me well and to this day I still regret not telling him to "Get out the salami and cheese cause this interview is over!"
Nonetheless, it was an experience I'll never forget. How many mainstream sports broadcasters would do that for a fan? I doubt anyone would give away their home phone number. I'm sure many fans have different Chuck stories they could share. Whether its emailing him or meeting him in person, I don't think there is one bad thing anyone could say about him.
I wish him well in Chicago and hope the fans there embrace him as much as we did. So long Chuck, Raptor broadcasts wont be the same without you.
-Desmond D
I've only met one person in my life that doesn't like Chuck Swirsky. And that person is kind of a loner. But any normal person will tell you that Chuck Swirsky is one of the best sports broadcasters Canada has. It is a shame that he's leaving and he will be missed.
Swirsky is one of the most unique people you will ever see or hear in sports broadcasting. Every time he broadcasts a Raptor game, viewers love the fact that he is so passionate and in the game. But its not just his great work ethic that makes him unique. It is the fact that he always puts the fans first.
This guy has reached iconic status over the past couple of years and still cares about the fans. It would be so easy for him to just broadcast Raptor games and leave it at that. But no. He keeps a blog on the official Raptors website, he replies to emails from fans and he has a 3 hour radio call-in show where fans can talk to him about anything sports related. He may be making a little bit more money on the side for the radio show, but it's chump change to what he gets for being a play-by-play guy. He doesn't do it for the money, he genuinely loves the fans.
A couple of years ago, I had a school project that dealt with researching a famous author/writer. Right away I knew I wanted to do a sports writer and I ultimately came to the decision to research Chuck Swirsky. Now there isn't a lot of info on him, just a mini-bio on numerous websites. So I decided to try and email him some questions in hopes of some answers. A couple of days later, I checked my email and found one message from Chuck. As I opened it, I noticed just a one line response. Before even reading it, I thought, "great, hes going to give me one of those 'thanks for the email but I've been very busy and don't think I can answer your questions' responses."
Instead, he wrote "feel free to call (insert phone number here)."
I thought it was some sort of joke. The voice of the Raptors giving me his phone number to do an interview with him? At the bottom of the email read a disclaimer from Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment telling me that if I distributed the contents of the email, I would be sued.
That made it legitimate. A couple of days later I called the number and it was Chuck that answered the phone. I almost couldn't believe it. He was extremely kind and let me ask all of my questions while giving thorough answers. He wished me well and to this day I still regret not telling him to "Get out the salami and cheese cause this interview is over!"
Nonetheless, it was an experience I'll never forget. How many mainstream sports broadcasters would do that for a fan? I doubt anyone would give away their home phone number. I'm sure many fans have different Chuck stories they could share. Whether its emailing him or meeting him in person, I don't think there is one bad thing anyone could say about him.
I wish him well in Chicago and hope the fans there embrace him as much as we did. So long Chuck, Raptor broadcasts wont be the same without you.
-Desmond D
Saturday, May 3, 2008
The Sharks are smelling blood
Is there a cooler intro to a power-play in the NHL? Everytime I hear the JAWS music right before a Shark power-play I get goosebumps.
Being down 3-0 in playoff series of any kind is tough. Just ask the Colorado Avalanche. It's so easy to go into a 4th game and think, "Okay, lets just give it our best effort and whatever happens, happens."
What happened was an 8-2 annihilation.
The San Jose Sharks are a different story.
Of course there will be some bias here because I am a HUGE Shark fan. The affair started in 2004 when Niko Dimitrakos scored an playoff OT winner against the Blues. I call it an affair because at the time I still showed blind faith in the Maple Leafs. At that point the Leafs were aging horribly with guys like Brian Leetch and Ed Belfour. But the Sharks were a young, upstart team. One that understood my needs: I needed to cheer for a team that actually had a chance at winning the Stanley Cup. So as quick as Jeremy Roenick went top shelf on Belfour and started jumping around like a giddy schoolgirl to eliminate the Leafs, I jumped ship to the San Jose Sharks.
But lets get back to the matter at hand.
Down 3-0, the Sharks could have easily called it quits. On the road, down 3-0, with the momentum clearly in Dallas' favour. Then boom... Dallas scores first and what seemed like an uphill battle is more like a Mount Everest climb. About 3 minutes after that, the Sharks take a penalty and the Stars have a chance to make it a 2 goal lead. But a botched pass turns into an improbable short handed goal by Patrick Marleau and all of a sudden the Sharks have tied it. Fast forward to an early 3rd period powerplay and the Sharks take the lead and never look back.
"Whatever. So the Sharks win one game. We're still up 3-1 and we've already taken 2 in San Jose. We still have the momentum."
Dallas was right. Only 7 teams in 150 have forced a game 6 down 3-0 in NHL history. That means that San Jose has a less than 5% chance of winning if you look at things historically.
And what do you know? After 2 periods of game 5, the Stars led 2-0. The Sharks were flat the first two periods and would have to hope that they score at least 2 to force overtime. And 6:26 into the 3rd, San Jose scored its first even strength goal in the past 180 minutes of the series to make it 2-1.
"Whatever. So the Sharks scored a goal. We're still up 2-1 and history says that theres a 4.4% chance they score 1 or more goals. We got this guys. We still have the momentum."
Dallas was wrong. All San Jose needed to do was score one goal in the next 13 minutes and the game goes to sudden death. And just about 5 minutes after Milan Michalek scored the first goal, Jeremy Roenick (who coincidentally started my relationship with the Sharks even though he was with Philly at the time) riffles a gorgeous 60 foot pass to the streaking Brian Campbell and all of a sudden its a 2-2 hockey game.
"Ah crap."
Dallas was right. They already had 2 disallowed goals in the game and think they should be up 4-2. As much as athletes like to say that those scenarios are quickly forgotten about, it is human nature to think "the refs screwed us." So after a hard fought 3rd period, regulation time ends tied 2-2 heading for overtime. Who has the momentum?
San Jose.
As much as Dallas could argue that they've beaten the Sharks twice in OT already, in the back of their head they know they shouldn't even be playing OT. They should be popping the champagne bottles celebrating a win. The disallowed goals and a blown 2-0 3rd period lead HAD to have an impact on everyone in that locker room.
Just 1:05 into OT, Joe Pavelski sent the Shark Tank into a feeding frenzy with the game winning goal.
So as it stands, its a 3-2 series lead for the Stars with game 6 in Dallas. Who has the momentum?
It sure as heck isn't Dallas.
Yes, they are up 3-2. Yes, they are going to be playing at home. But this is the DALLAS STARS we are talking about. Choking is their middle name.
Ask yourself when is the last time Marty Turco advanced to the 3rd round in the playoffs (he hadn't even gotten out of the first round until this year). He is now 3-10 in playoff OT scenarios (before this year, his record was 1-9). Does Turks have the confidence that he can lead the Stars to round 3? I highly doubt it.
What is ironic about this whole situation is that both Dallas and San Jose have both had their choking moments the past couple of years. San Jose has been up 2-0 and 2-1 the previous two years in round 2 of the playoffs and lost both series to Edmonton and Detroit respectively. Something has to give.
The reason San Jose has the momentum is because Dallas is starting to second guess themselves.
3-0 : One more game guys!
3-1 : Let them have one, we'll close it out on their turf.
3-2: Not again...
How does Dallas get over it and just play out game 6? Matthew Barnaby says they have to look to the leaders of the team. I gotta say, the NHL is the only place you will hear these overused cliches. The fact of the matter is Dallas WILL NOT get over it. All they can do it play through it and hope their guys are better than San Jose's.
If Dallas does not win game 6, I guarantee the Sharks will win game 7. Dallas is showing signs of their past and if they let the Sharks tie the series at 3 what will be going through their minds? They would have lost 3 straight and up 3-0 becomes a distant memory.
The Sharks smell blood in the water, and they'll have no problem becoming just the 3rd team in NHL history (and 4th team in North American sports history) to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
Being down 3-0 in playoff series of any kind is tough. Just ask the Colorado Avalanche. It's so easy to go into a 4th game and think, "Okay, lets just give it our best effort and whatever happens, happens."
What happened was an 8-2 annihilation.
The San Jose Sharks are a different story.
Of course there will be some bias here because I am a HUGE Shark fan. The affair started in 2004 when Niko Dimitrakos scored an playoff OT winner against the Blues. I call it an affair because at the time I still showed blind faith in the Maple Leafs. At that point the Leafs were aging horribly with guys like Brian Leetch and Ed Belfour. But the Sharks were a young, upstart team. One that understood my needs: I needed to cheer for a team that actually had a chance at winning the Stanley Cup. So as quick as Jeremy Roenick went top shelf on Belfour and started jumping around like a giddy schoolgirl to eliminate the Leafs, I jumped ship to the San Jose Sharks.
But lets get back to the matter at hand.
Down 3-0, the Sharks could have easily called it quits. On the road, down 3-0, with the momentum clearly in Dallas' favour. Then boom... Dallas scores first and what seemed like an uphill battle is more like a Mount Everest climb. About 3 minutes after that, the Sharks take a penalty and the Stars have a chance to make it a 2 goal lead. But a botched pass turns into an improbable short handed goal by Patrick Marleau and all of a sudden the Sharks have tied it. Fast forward to an early 3rd period powerplay and the Sharks take the lead and never look back.
"Whatever. So the Sharks win one game. We're still up 3-1 and we've already taken 2 in San Jose. We still have the momentum."
Dallas was right. Only 7 teams in 150 have forced a game 6 down 3-0 in NHL history. That means that San Jose has a less than 5% chance of winning if you look at things historically.
And what do you know? After 2 periods of game 5, the Stars led 2-0. The Sharks were flat the first two periods and would have to hope that they score at least 2 to force overtime. And 6:26 into the 3rd, San Jose scored its first even strength goal in the past 180 minutes of the series to make it 2-1.
"Whatever. So the Sharks scored a goal. We're still up 2-1 and history says that theres a 4.4% chance they score 1 or more goals. We got this guys. We still have the momentum."
Dallas was wrong. All San Jose needed to do was score one goal in the next 13 minutes and the game goes to sudden death. And just about 5 minutes after Milan Michalek scored the first goal, Jeremy Roenick (who coincidentally started my relationship with the Sharks even though he was with Philly at the time) riffles a gorgeous 60 foot pass to the streaking Brian Campbell and all of a sudden its a 2-2 hockey game.
"Ah crap."
Dallas was right. They already had 2 disallowed goals in the game and think they should be up 4-2. As much as athletes like to say that those scenarios are quickly forgotten about, it is human nature to think "the refs screwed us." So after a hard fought 3rd period, regulation time ends tied 2-2 heading for overtime. Who has the momentum?
San Jose.
As much as Dallas could argue that they've beaten the Sharks twice in OT already, in the back of their head they know they shouldn't even be playing OT. They should be popping the champagne bottles celebrating a win. The disallowed goals and a blown 2-0 3rd period lead HAD to have an impact on everyone in that locker room.
Just 1:05 into OT, Joe Pavelski sent the Shark Tank into a feeding frenzy with the game winning goal.
So as it stands, its a 3-2 series lead for the Stars with game 6 in Dallas. Who has the momentum?
It sure as heck isn't Dallas.
Yes, they are up 3-2. Yes, they are going to be playing at home. But this is the DALLAS STARS we are talking about. Choking is their middle name.
Ask yourself when is the last time Marty Turco advanced to the 3rd round in the playoffs (he hadn't even gotten out of the first round until this year). He is now 3-10 in playoff OT scenarios (before this year, his record was 1-9). Does Turks have the confidence that he can lead the Stars to round 3? I highly doubt it.
What is ironic about this whole situation is that both Dallas and San Jose have both had their choking moments the past couple of years. San Jose has been up 2-0 and 2-1 the previous two years in round 2 of the playoffs and lost both series to Edmonton and Detroit respectively. Something has to give.
The reason San Jose has the momentum is because Dallas is starting to second guess themselves.
3-0 : One more game guys!
3-1 : Let them have one, we'll close it out on their turf.
3-2: Not again...
How does Dallas get over it and just play out game 6? Matthew Barnaby says they have to look to the leaders of the team. I gotta say, the NHL is the only place you will hear these overused cliches. The fact of the matter is Dallas WILL NOT get over it. All they can do it play through it and hope their guys are better than San Jose's.
If Dallas does not win game 6, I guarantee the Sharks will win game 7. Dallas is showing signs of their past and if they let the Sharks tie the series at 3 what will be going through their minds? They would have lost 3 straight and up 3-0 becomes a distant memory.
The Sharks smell blood in the water, and they'll have no problem becoming just the 3rd team in NHL history (and 4th team in North American sports history) to come back from a 3-0 deficit.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
A Barry easy way to save the Jays
Note to J.P.
- Can you please pick up your phone and call Barry Bonds?
With their latest loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Blue Jays now finish the month of April with a record of 11-17. Obviously, the main problem is their hitting. Who is to blame?
I could sit here and fingerpoint all day. But there are two solutions:
Fire Gibbons/J.P.
Sign Barry Bonds
Lets address solution 1. This is probably a no-brainer. Gibbons and Ricciardi have had more than enough time to put together a winner. Personally I would fire Gibbons before Ricciardi because I believe he is the worst manager in the game today. He manages like he is in a video game, always playing the numbers/percentages. Im not saying dont play the numbers, but get a feel for what your players are thinking. If the Jays wanted, they could hire a robot and the robot would do just as good a job. Gibby has worn out his welcome in Toronto and its time he moved on.
Now for solution 2. Why Bonds hasn't even been contacted by a team yet is beyond me. Steroids, schmeroids; perjury, schmerjury, this guy can HIT. Yes he may be a bit of a distraction, but if he can make a team better than why not sign him? The only teams that would make sense for Barry are:
Seattle
Minnesota
Toronto
Seattle needs a DH desperately. Jose Vidro is not the all-star second basemen for Les Expos anymore. But with the call-up of uber prospect Jeff Clement the need for outside help is no longer there.
Minnesota has always needed a DH. Last year they were last in DH production (dont know the exact numbers but when Jeff Cirillo gets a turn at DH, u know the production is scarce at best). But the problem here is that Minnesota has absolutely no chance of contending this year unless Justin Morneau goes back to MVP form and Francisco Liriano can pass a lie-detector test.
Not many baseball analysts gave Toronto much chance to make the playoffs this year. I mean, the consensus AL picks were/are Boston, Los Angeles and Detroit/Cleveland (one wins division, other wins wildcard). But Toronto is right there talent wise with those teams. Pitching wise Toronto has the arms with arguably the best rotation in the AL. They just lack consistent offense. I just cant understand why a team that wants to win now, wont go out and add a piece that would solve that puzzle. The best home-run hitter of all time is waiting for any GM to call him and the Jays have a solid chance to land him for a bargain. If it doesn't work out, just give him the Frank Thomas treatment.
The thing that angers me about this whole situation is that the Jays brass tells us they want to win now. But when theres an opportunity to solve a major problem on the team, they wont do it. By not signing Barry Bonds, Ricciardi and the whole Blue Jay organization is sending a message to all the fans that they have no intention of making their ball-club better. And its a damn shame if you ask me.
-DD
- Can you please pick up your phone and call Barry Bonds?
With their latest loss to the Boston Red Sox, the Blue Jays now finish the month of April with a record of 11-17. Obviously, the main problem is their hitting. Who is to blame?
I could sit here and fingerpoint all day. But there are two solutions:
Fire Gibbons/J.P.
Sign Barry Bonds
Lets address solution 1. This is probably a no-brainer. Gibbons and Ricciardi have had more than enough time to put together a winner. Personally I would fire Gibbons before Ricciardi because I believe he is the worst manager in the game today. He manages like he is in a video game, always playing the numbers/percentages. Im not saying dont play the numbers, but get a feel for what your players are thinking. If the Jays wanted, they could hire a robot and the robot would do just as good a job. Gibby has worn out his welcome in Toronto and its time he moved on.
Now for solution 2. Why Bonds hasn't even been contacted by a team yet is beyond me. Steroids, schmeroids; perjury, schmerjury, this guy can HIT. Yes he may be a bit of a distraction, but if he can make a team better than why not sign him? The only teams that would make sense for Barry are:
Seattle
Minnesota
Toronto
Seattle needs a DH desperately. Jose Vidro is not the all-star second basemen for Les Expos anymore. But with the call-up of uber prospect Jeff Clement the need for outside help is no longer there.
Minnesota has always needed a DH. Last year they were last in DH production (dont know the exact numbers but when Jeff Cirillo gets a turn at DH, u know the production is scarce at best). But the problem here is that Minnesota has absolutely no chance of contending this year unless Justin Morneau goes back to MVP form and Francisco Liriano can pass a lie-detector test.
Not many baseball analysts gave Toronto much chance to make the playoffs this year. I mean, the consensus AL picks were/are Boston, Los Angeles and Detroit/Cleveland (one wins division, other wins wildcard). But Toronto is right there talent wise with those teams. Pitching wise Toronto has the arms with arguably the best rotation in the AL. They just lack consistent offense. I just cant understand why a team that wants to win now, wont go out and add a piece that would solve that puzzle. The best home-run hitter of all time is waiting for any GM to call him and the Jays have a solid chance to land him for a bargain. If it doesn't work out, just give him the Frank Thomas treatment.
The thing that angers me about this whole situation is that the Jays brass tells us they want to win now. But when theres an opportunity to solve a major problem on the team, they wont do it. By not signing Barry Bonds, Ricciardi and the whole Blue Jay organization is sending a message to all the fans that they have no intention of making their ball-club better. And its a damn shame if you ask me.
-DD
Friday, April 25, 2008
A little introduction...
April 25, 2008
Ok fellow bloggers. The name is Desmond, I'm 19 and I'm just another sports fan. But I'm from Toronto which poses a HUGE problem. Love the city, love all but one of the teams and this blog will just be my opinion on things.
So I started this whole thing cuz Im jobless right now. Plus it'll look good on my portfolio because after I've got my Journalism degree from GUELPH-BLEEPING-HUMBER (represent), I'm gonna have to show certain people my work.
My favourite sports teams in no particular order:
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Raptors
Toronto Argos
Toronto FC
Toronto Bills (sorry to any Buffalonians reading this)
Gonzaga Bulldogs
San Jose Sharks
I love all those teams to death and my blog will probably consist of information pertaining to the teams above. And no, I have not left any teams out. Here's my most hated list though:
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
UCLA Bruins
Now I'm not some bitter Leafs fan... well maybe a little. But they are really one of the most horribly run sports franchises in present day. They wont even come close to winning the Stanley Cup until 2021 so why waste time blogging about them much less caring what they do until then. If I'm still blogging in 12 years, I guarantee I'll give them some of my time.
So with the Raptors in a heated battle with the Magic, the Jays on a 4 game losing streak and the Sharks getting ready for the Stars I'll have a lot of info for the next couple of weeks at least.
To steal a line from one of the best:
Get out the salami and cheese mama, cause this blog entry is OVER!
Ok fellow bloggers. The name is Desmond, I'm 19 and I'm just another sports fan. But I'm from Toronto which poses a HUGE problem. Love the city, love all but one of the teams and this blog will just be my opinion on things.
So I started this whole thing cuz Im jobless right now. Plus it'll look good on my portfolio because after I've got my Journalism degree from GUELPH-BLEEPING-HUMBER (represent), I'm gonna have to show certain people my work.
My favourite sports teams in no particular order:
Toronto Blue Jays
Toronto Raptors
Toronto Argos
Toronto FC
Toronto Bills (sorry to any Buffalonians reading this)
Gonzaga Bulldogs
San Jose Sharks
I love all those teams to death and my blog will probably consist of information pertaining to the teams above. And no, I have not left any teams out. Here's my most hated list though:
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
Toronto Maple Leafs
UCLA Bruins
Now I'm not some bitter Leafs fan... well maybe a little. But they are really one of the most horribly run sports franchises in present day. They wont even come close to winning the Stanley Cup until 2021 so why waste time blogging about them much less caring what they do until then. If I'm still blogging in 12 years, I guarantee I'll give them some of my time.
So with the Raptors in a heated battle with the Magic, the Jays on a 4 game losing streak and the Sharks getting ready for the Stars I'll have a lot of info for the next couple of weeks at least.
To steal a line from one of the best:
Get out the salami and cheese mama, cause this blog entry is OVER!
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