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

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

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

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

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.

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