Halladay tosses 2nd perfect game in Phillies’ history – Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay became the second pitcher in Philadelphia Phillies’ history to throw a perfect game on Saturday. He was also the 2nd pitcher to throw a perfect game this season, the other being the A’s Dallas Braden, which was the first time two pitchers accomplished the feat in the same season since 1880. Halladay retired all 27 batters against the Marlins and now is only one of 5 pitchers ever to pitch a perfect game and win a Cy Young Award. It was also the first NL perfect game since Randy Johnson’s in 2004 for the Diamondbacks. Halladay, who is in his first season with the Phillies and was a favorite to win the NL CY Young, was flawless as he recorded a season high 11 strikeouts. Marlins pitcher Josh Johnson was almost as good allowing only one unearned run. Halladay had to stay sharp as his team has been struggling to score runs and this game was no exception. The Phillies would win the game 1-0 on the 115th pitch from their ace. Halladay is now 7-3 with a sub 2.00 ERA. His tremendous start is perhaps overshadowed by the historic start that Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez has had. Jimenez recently won his 10th game to improve to 10-1 with a minuscule ERA of 0.78.
NHL Finals – The Chicago Blackhawks held serve at home to take the first 2 games of the Stanley Cup Finals. The favored Western Conference Champions started off strong winning a wild Game 1 by a score of 6-5. They then won a completely different kind of game in a tough 2-1 victory to take a 2-0 series lead. Despite their lead, the young stars of the Blackhawks, Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were yet to record a point in the series. A pivotal Game 3 would be a thriller in Philly as the game went to overtime. Kane and Toews finally got on board with Kane having a goal and an assist while Toews assisted on Kane’s goal, however it wouldn’t be enough this time. The Flyers thought they had the game won, but after the replay it showed that the puck never crossed the line. Less than a minute later, however, the Flyers would get a goal that counted by Claude Giroux and made the series 2-1. Philadelphia now has made this a series and will be looking to win again at home on Friday.
NBA Finals – The Celtics and Lakers will open up the NBA Finals in Los Angeles tonight. The two storied franchises have combined for 32 NBA Championships with the 33rd to come at the end of the postseason. The Lakers have now made the NBA Finals 3 consecutive years, becoming the 4th team since 1990 to do so, all of which have been coached by Phil Jackson. The match up is also one that features the last two NBA Champions, the Lakers winning last season while the Celtics beat the Lakers in 2008. Back in 2008 the Celtics had the same starting lineup while Ron Artest and Andrew Bynum, who was injured back in 2008 and has some injury concerns this Finals as well, are newcomers. In the regular season, each team won on the opposing team’s home court as they finished with one win a piece. It should be a great series and I’m picking the Lakers to repeat as champions in 6 games.
Number 1 seeds lose at French Open – Top seeded Roger Federer lost in the quaterfinals of a major for the first time since 2004. It snapped his streak of making 23 consecutive semifinals appearances in majors, by far and away the longest streak of all time. Federer lost a tough 4-set match to number 5 seed Robin Soderling of Sweden. Soderling is the only player to have now defeated both Federer and Rafael Nadal at Roland Garos. Soderling is the only man to beat Nadal at the French Open when he accomplished the feat of knocking off the Spaniard last year. He would lose to Federer in the finals in 2009, which gave Federer his French Open Title he was desperately seeking. Coming into the match, Soderling was 0-12 against Roger, so I guess you could say he was due for a win. Soderling will now face 17th seeded Tomas Berdych from the Czech Republic in the semifinals. The other semifinal will match up Nadal and 22nd seeded Jurgen Meltzer of Austria, who defeated Novak Djokavic yesterday. It would appear that we are heading for another Nadal v. Soderling match up in the finals which would certainly be an entertaining one.
Serena Williams lost yesterday in the quarterfinals to 7th seeded Sam Stosur. The Australian was coming off a win against 4-time French Open Champion Justine Henin in the previous round. It was the first time Henin had lost at Roland Garos since 2005, although she took two years off for retirement. Williams was the last American left on either the men’s or women’s side of the draw. The way Stosur is playing, she has to be the favorite to win the title. The other semifinalists are 4th seeded Jelena Jankovic, 17th seeded Francesca Schiavone, and 5th seeded Elena Dementieva. This morning, the 26 year old Stosur, who was a semifinalist in France last year as well, steamrolled over Jankovic while 29 year old Schiavone, who was the first Italian in a Grand Slam semifinal since 1954, beat Dementieva who was forced to retire due to injury after losing the first set. Neither of the finalists, or other 2 semifinalists for that matter, has ever won a Grand Slam title so this will be the first for whoever becomes champion.
Armando Galarraga robbed of perfect game – Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga was perfect through the first 26 batters of the game, but that was just the start of the drama that would ensue. Cleveland Indians shortstop Jason Donald grounded to first baseman Miguel Cabrera who tossed it to Galarraga covering first for what was seemingly the third perfect game this season. Unfortunately, Donald, to even his surprise, was called safe by umpire Jim Joyce. After seeing the replays, the veteran umpire clearly made the wrong decision and cost Galarraga from being part of history. It also seemed that Joyce loaded up to punch out Donald, but apparently changed his mind for a decision he would come to regret. The Tigers players and manager Jim Leyland were all over Joyce, especially after the game. Galarraga would get the next batter out for what was really 28 consecutive outs, a perfect game plus another batter. The “perfect game” was also highlighted by an amazing catch made by Austin Jackson to start the 9th inning. Galarraga finished the game with only 88 pitches and the game lasted only an 1 hour and 44 minutes.
The umpiring in Major League Baseball has come under scrutiny recently and has been sub-par for the last few years in particular. In particular, umpire Joe West and his crew have been the main targets for the criticism. West previously stated that AL East games, particularly Yankees v. Red Sox games, were too long and he complained that the pace of the game was ridiculous. West recently failed to grant Rays first baseman Carlos Pena time on a 3-2 count in the 9th inning. The pitch was right down the middle for a strike and Pena as well as manager Joe Maddon went off on the umpire.
To his credit, however, Jim Joyce admitted his error and stated that he, “cost that kid a perfect game.”
Supposedly, the call can be reversed by commissioner Bud Selig and is currently under review. I hope that for everyone’s sake the call is reversed and Galarraga is credited with the third perfect game pitched this season. Although there is an argument that a change in the perfect game ruling would open up discussion for any similar situation that occurred in the past, this incident seems so blatant that I think something has to be done. If everyone who has watched the game knows it was wrong, there’s no point in keeping the decision. It would be the 21st perfect game ever and shockingly the second in the last week. Galarraga couldn’t have handled the situation any better as he said, rather ironically, that nobody’s perfect, and that he knows in his heart he tossed a perfect game, whether or not Selig changes the decision.
One thing this incident does advocate is instant replay. In my opinion, the important thing is getting the call right and it is time that MLB expands the use of replay. Baseball seems to get caught up in its past and traditions sometimes to a fault. We saw replay work to perfection in the NHL playoffs on multiple goals and it is time baseball expands replay.
* Honorable Mention – Seattle Mariners outfielder Ken Griffey Jr. retired after a Hall of Fame career. This was the topic I would have written about if the events with Galarraga had not occurred. The 40 year old played 22 seasons in the Major Leagues and is 5th on the all-time home run list with 630 home runs. Only Willie Mays has more gold gloves out of the members of the 500 home run club and Griffey was a 13-time all-star. Perhaps what will be most remembered about “the kid” is how he lost so much time due to injury. Griffey was also a member of the all-century team and was named the best player of the 90’s, despite not being 30 years old yet at the time. A sure first ballot Hall of Famer, it is incredible to think what Griffey’s numbers would have been had he stayed healthy.
June 3, 2010 · Filed under MLB, NBA, NHL, Uncategorized
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With Part 1 of the Subway Series behind us and no other New York sports teams in action, I figured today would be a good time for our first annual New York power rankings. Where do the nine New York teams rank up against each other? Let’s go in reverse order. I’ll be ranking each team in the four following categories, and each will get points based on them (as in, first gets 9 points, last gets 1 point). The categories will be based on:
Recent Success: Self-explanatory enough.
Ownership/Management: Does the team have the front office in place to either get them out of their funk or continue generating success?
Youth: What kind of future can the team look towards with the players they already have?
Immediate Future: Can the team win now?
9. New York Islanders (12 Points)
The Islanders are a clear #9, and are way at the bottom of the pack here. Rumors about them leaving the area have been strong for two years and running, and it’s all on Charles Wang and Long Island to pass some sort of building project so that he doesn’t have to move the team.
Recent Success: Ninth (1 Point). They haven’t made the playoffs since 2007, and haven’t gotten out of the first round since the early nineties, in 1993. That’s not good.
Ownership/Management: Seventh (3 Points): Charles Wang is dedicated to saving the Islanders, and it’s not his fault that the team has failed. Him and GM Garth Snow drafted John Tavares a year ago, and he looks to be the real deal. Most of their draft picks have fared well, and look to have a strong future. The cloud looming over the franchise’s head is the still mammoth contract given to Rick DiPietro, which still has…
(Hold on, stifling a laugh…)
10 years left on it.
(Wow.)
Youth: Third (7 Points) The majority of the Islanders points come from here, with John Tavares coming off a good rookie season, Kyle Okposo continually improving, Josh Bailey looking like the real deal and a supporting cast of scorers that can improve over time. The defense still isn’t great, but this team probably won’t be getting a whole lot better for another few years, meaning they’ll have the high draft picks to stock up on every position and be a force in a few years. (See: Pittsburgh Penguins, 00-04)
Can They Win Now?: Ninth (1 Point) They won’t win for awhile, but when they do, they’ll be a major contender. For the rest of the Atlantic’s sake, let’s hope it happens in Kansas City.
8. New York Knicks (12 Points)
For the Knicks, it’s Lebron or go home. I gave them the tiebreaker over the Islanders because their immediate future seems so much brighter only because of Lebron. From what they have on their roster today, they are in worse shape than any other New York team. But if Lebron signs with them, they’ll skyrocket up this list. If he doesn’t they’ll be in 9th by themselves next year.
Recent Success: 8th (2 Points). They’re only 8th because they play in the same city as the Islanders. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2004, and haven’t won a playoff game in longer. They haven’t had a meaningful playoff run since the end of the Ewing era. Isaiah Thomas still has his mark on this team with Eddy Curry’s contract.
Ownership/Management: 5th (5 Points). If Thomas was still here, they’d be in a distant 9th. But Donnie Walsh has cut salary where he’s needed to, and his tenacity has been admirable. He knew his mission was to clear the money needed to sign Lebron, and he’s put them where they need to be. Mike D’Antoni is a good coach, but he hasn’t had any players worthy of his skills. This year will be his test. James Dolan seems like a moronic golden child, but he can write a check, right?
Youth: 9th (1 Point). There really isn’t any. Danilo Galinari is young, but he has the back of an old man. Can he hold up for an entire NBA career? The rest of the youth movement is barren. David Lee was a nice draft pick, but he’s likely out the door. Once again, it’s all on Lebron.
Can They Win Now?: 6th (4 Points). If they sign Lebron, they can win now. If they don’t, then not so much. It’s all up to the King.
7. New York Mets (13 Points)
It’s been a rough few years to be a Mets fan. They fell apart in back to back seasons in ’07 and ’08, and didn’t even have the opportunity to fall apart a year ago, when they were out of contention by July. But, they do have a few positives.
Recent Success: 7th (3 Points) They had a playoff run in 2006, and contended for the playoffs in 07 and 08, fruitlessly. They made the World Series in 2000, but considering that the cross-town Yankees won the championship, the year was a bit tainted, at least by New York standards.
Ownership/Management: 8th (2 Points) The Wilpon family has thrown good money after bad, and not just with Bernie Madoff. The Oliver Perez contract was abysmal, Luis Castillo’s signing was regrettable, and Francisco Rodriguez may have peaked before coming to New York as their closer, although the jury’s still out on that one. The ownership seems to have made the necessary moves to come close to contending each year, but not the moves required to actually win anything. For Omar Minaya, it seems like much longer than three years ago that he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated and being heralded as the best GM in baseball. Most of his investments have turned sour, and the 1-2 punch of Perez and John Maine has gone right down the toilet. It appears that he vastly favors signing Latino players, and for the most part it hasn’t worked.
Youth: 5th (5 Points) Their farm system has failed them in the past, but it’s easy to forget that David Wright and Jose Reyes are still relatively young. They have a lot of good years left, assuming that Wright regains his swing and Reyes’ Anthony Galea connection doesn’t do him in. Mike Pelfrey has developed into a strong #2 starter, and Ike Davis looks like the real deal from what we’ve seen thus far. Jenrry Mejia has looked very good, and I would think we’ll see him as a starter by 2011. Fernando Martinez is still a project, but he’s very far from a lost cause. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot more pitching in the farm, though, since we’d have already seen it, considering the lack of quality arms on the big-league club. R.A. Dickey has pitched well, but let’s not fool ourselves.
Can They Win Now?: 7th (3 Points) They’ve played a bit better of late, but I don’t think they have the talent to match up with the Phillies right now. It’s not impossible, but I’m not buying into them unless Carlos Beltran comes back completely healthy and their starting rotation is revitalized. They’ve been incredibly streaky all season, and really for the past few years as well. Until they can play with some consistency over a multiple month stretch, I’ll pass on them as a legitimate contender.
6. New Jersey Nets ( 14 Points)
The Nets just endured among the worst seasons in NBA history, and also weren’t able to get the first pick in the NBA Draft and John Wall. Definitely a rough turn of events for the franchise. But, they have a young core of players and their situation isn’t impossible to get out of.
Recent Success: 6th (4 Points) It’s easy to forget that this team made it to the finals twice in the 00s and had a few other sustained playoff runs to go along with them. In fact, I almost completely forgot it when preparing for this column. I guess the dominant run of both the Lakers and Spurs overshadowed them. The past few years have made those times a distant memory, but it still is there.
Ownership/Management: 6th (4 Points) Rod Thorn knows what he’s doing, at least to some degree, and Mikhail Prokhorov intrigues me. What will he do with a pro franchise? He’s got ridiculously deep pockets, so he’ll take the steps to make the franchise viable, including the move to Brooklyn.
Youth: 6th (4 Points) Brook Lopez is a franchise center, which is a pretty rare commodity. Devin Harris is relatively young, and with their 3rd draft pick and projects such as Yi Jianlian and Chris Douglas-Roberts still as possibilities to pan out, the future could be bright. But I keep thinking that if Lopez and Harris were really the future of this franchise, wouldn’t they be able to eke out more than 12 wins? I get that the team was inexperienced and had injuries. But Lopez was healthy all year, and if he truly is a franchise player, shouldn’t he be able to put his team on his back and win the game for them at least a few times? If Lopez is an elite center, then that’s the next step. If he can’t do that, to the point where the Nets simply suck as opposed to historically suck, then that’s a problem. Not one great player in the last three decades has let his team go to the depths of awfulness that he Nets descended to last year. If you’re for real, prove it, Brook.
Can They Win Now? 8th (2 Points) They’re an outside contender to win the Lebron sweepstakes, but I wouldn’t count on it. A haul of Rudy Gay and Amare Stoudemire seems more doable. If they can do that, their starting lineup would probably be Devin Harris at point guard, Rudy Gay at shooting guard, forwards of Derrick Favors and Amare Stoudemire and with Brook Lopez at center. That’s probably too big of a lineup to be realistic, and Amare might not make sense for the Nets, but either way, that’s pretty imposing. On paper, they could be good. But they have a lot to prove.
5. New York Rangers (17 Points)
My favorite professional team comes in 5th. Their mix of talent is gritty and relatively deep, but without the dynamic scorers needed in the NHL. But, as we’ve seen with some of the sleepers in the East this playoffs, secondary scoring is pivotal, and the Rangers do have some of that. I could see this team bottoming out in the next few years, but I could also see them making a few runs deep in the playoffs. The NHL is just so unpredictable that it’s tough to say.
Recent Success: 5th (5 Points) They had four straight playoff appearances, ending this year after losing in a shootout on the final day of the season that would have catapulted them into the playoffs (and messing up what wound up happening with the lower seeds making it to the 3rd round). The case could be made that the Nets have had more success than them of late, but the stink of their last year puts the Rangers ahead.
Ownership/Management: 9th (1 Point) I’ll pardon Jim Dolan from the following by saying that it’s not his job to evaluate talent. It’s his job to sign the check, and he has done that. But GM Glen Sather has not only done a terrible job in evaluating talent and knowing what money to spend, but he’s done it in a salary cap climate where each move has a direct impact on what else he can do. When the Yankees or Mets make a horrible signing (and there have been plenty…remember Kei Igawa?), they can easily be forgotten because they always have the opportunity to sign someone else. The Yankees’ cap may have gone up, but wasting money on Igawa didn’t stop them from signing AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia two years later to shore up the pitching staff. The same can be said about the Mets, but I have them ranked far lower than the Yankees in terms of management because their ownership hasn’t been nearly as willing to forget about past mistakes and buy their way out of them. It may be the villainous thing to do, but it’s what makes a team better. Sather’s moves have not only been fiscally irresponsible, but they’ve impacted the long term development of the team because of the decreased flexibility that he’s given himself. A year ago, the Rangers were in desperate need of a top-line scorer, coming off of a year when no Ranger scored more than 25 goals. In order to sign Marian Gaborik, which was in fact a very good signing, Sather had to move Scott Gomez and his huge salary for far under market value for a player of Gomez’s skill. (The Rangers did acquire a good prospect in Ryan McDonagh in the deal, but that’s not the point.) Because nobody would take Wade Redden, an even worse signing, Gomez had to go. Gomez was making too much money, but he would’ve been a good player to have during the stretch run when goals were few and far between. If it were the Yankees, Sather could’ve just signed Gaborik, kept Gomez and had everyone play together. But because of the lack of foresight with his other signings, including Chris Drury’s, he had to cut bait with Gomez. So not only did he overspend, but he killed the team because of the salary cap. Because of his inability to know what he was working with and the limitations of what he could do in the current financial structure, Sather is by far the worst GM in New York.
Youth: 4th (6 Points) On the brighter side, the Rangers do have a lot of young talent. Henrik Lundqvist is entering the prime of his career, Marc Staal, Dan Girardi, Michael Del Zotto and Matt Gilroy are forming what should be an outstanding defensive unit for the next decade (assuming Sather can re-sign all of them; see above), Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov look to be strong secondary scorers and the farm system is ripening with players all but ready for the NHL. Evgeny Grachev, Derek Stepan and Chris Kreider all have bright futures as top scorers and Bobby Sanguinetti and McDonagh will help to anchor the back line with the aforementioned defensemen. The tragic loss of Alex Cherepanov in Russia two years ago set back the offensive part of the system, but it seems to be coming back together.
Can They Win Now?: 5th (5 Points) With an elite goalie in Lundqvist, the team is able to contend in the East every year. He had a bit of a down season this year, but still was excellent and among the best in the game. As the defense matures and the offense starts to click, the team should have a good chance at contending next year and beyond. But if Sather continues to hobble the franchise with dumb free agent signings, all bets are off.
Coming Soon: Part 2
May 28, 2010 · Filed under MLB, NBA, NHL
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Stanley Cup Finals set – This year’s Stanley Cup Final was set when the Philadelphia Flyers finished off the Montreal Canadians in 5 games on Monday. The Chicago Blackhawks completed their sweep of the top seeded Sharks on Sunday. Game 1 will be on Saturday in Chicago. The Blackhawks, the 2 seed from the West, are the better team on paper and will be heavy favorites to raise the cup, but Philadelphia, the 7 seed, was the underdog in their first two series and came back from being down 3 games to none to beat the Bruins 4 games to 3 in the second round. While Chicago are the favorites, this is the NHL playoffs and anything can happen.
The Flyers are making their first appearance in the Finals since 1997. After coming back from 3 games down and 3 goals down in Game 7 against the Bruins, the Flyers carried that momentum into their series against the 8th seeded Canadians in an unlikely Conference Finals meeting. In Game 5, Philadelphia allowed a goal in the first minute of the game, but came back to win the game and the series. Goalie Michael Leighton, who is playing due to injuries to Philadelphia’s top 2 goaltenders, had a franchise record 3 shutouts in the Flyer’s 4 wins in the series.
Chicago was one of the top teams in the NHL all year long. This is their first appearance in the Finals since 1992. They easily defeated the Western Conference’s top seeded San Jose Sharks in 4 games and seem to be hitting their stride at the perfect time. Captain Jonathan Toews set a franchise record by registering a point in 13 straight postseason games and seems to be the favorite to win the Conn Smythe Trophy (Playoff MVP). Toews, 22, was also a member of Gold Medal winning Team Canada in this year’s Olympics and is the second youngest full-captain to lead his team to a Stanley Cup Final, only Sidney Crosby was younger. Rookie goaltender Antti Niemi has been fantastic and key players like Patrick Kane, Marian Hossa, Kris Versteeg and Dustin Byfuglien have all had great postseasons. Chicago comes in as a solid favorite, but Philadelphia’s defense has shown its toughness. Still, I expect the Blackhawks to take the series in 5 games.
NBA playoffs – While the NHL is down to the final two, the NBA still has some drama left in the Conference Finals. In the West, the Lakers jumped out to a 2-0 lead against the Phoenix Suns in Los Angeles. Phoenix came back home down 2 games and were written off by most people. They have now won 2 straight games and have tied the series up at 2 games a piece. During Game 3, the Suns moved to a zone defense which seems to be giving the Lakers trouble. Phoenix has been able to play at their own pace and has had superb play from its bench while at home. They also have greatly improved their defensive effort after allowing 128 and 124 points in games 1 and 2 respectively to the Lakers in Los Angeles. I suspect the Lakers will still win, but the Suns are making it a series and could be primed for an upset.
After the Celtics jumped out to a 3-0 series lead in the Eastern Conference Finals, The Magic have come back to win the next two games. Orlando has finally got some improved play from players such as Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard. Howard in particular has stepped his game up and seems to be proving the point that he has the potential to be a superstar in the league. With his size and strength, there’s no reason why Howard shouldn’t be getting at least 20 points and double digit rebounds every single game. He needs to improve his offensive game in order to become a true superstar and with 32 and 21 point efforts in the last two games, he certainly is showing signs of improvement. The Magic will need Howard, Lewis, and Vince Carter to step up even more in Game 6, where all of the pressure will be on Boston to close out the series at home. No NBA team has ever come back from a 3-0 series deficit, but Boston has seen this story before. The Boston Bruins were up 3-0 in their series against the Flyers this year, but Philadelphia came back to take the series 4-3, becoming only the 3rd NHL team to ever do so. The only other sport that has seen a comeback when being down 3 games to none was in baseball when the Boston Red Sox came back to beat the Yankees 4-3, which is still the only occurrence in MLB history. Game 6 will certainly be interesting, but the Celtics do not want to go back to Orlando where it would be a tall order for Boston to win a Game 7.
2014 Super Bowl to be held at new Meadowlands stadium – For the first time ever, there will be a Super Bowl in the New York area. The Giants/Jets new stadium will be the site of Super Bowl XLVIII. Most complaints about a Super Bowl in the New York area have been about the weather. For the record, the lowest recorded temperature during a Super Bowl was 39 degrees. Super Bowl XLVIII could certainly break this record and it also could be the first time snow is on the field during the game, but these things aren’t that important in my mind. The weather will not make the crowd not show up and if anything will only increase the amount of people that watch. Let’s not get carried away with the weather, the coldest temperature it would be is something close to 30 degrees, not negative 30.
Conference Championship games have been played in all kinds of weather, the way football was meant to be played as it is an all-weather game. A perfect example is the Giants v. Packers NFC Championship game in Green Bay a couple of years ago where the wind chill was about negative 20 degrees. Nobody says that the Giants only won because it was snowing or freezing, and the game was certainly one to remember. New York has hosted every big event except for the Super Bowl and could certainly use the boost for the local economy. I think that it is appropriate that the nation’s most popular sporting event will finally take place in the nation’s greatest city.
Cavaliers fire coach Mike Brown – This firing was certainly not a surprise, as the Cavs failed to advance past the second round of the playoffs after being upset by the Boston Celtics. In his 5 seasons as coach, Brown has the best winning percentage in Cavs history and was the Coach of the Year two years ago, however, it is difficult to say how much of that is actually due to Brown’s input or is it a result of the play of LeBron James. Brown seemed to be out-coached by Doc Rivers this year and Stan Van Gundy last season in the playoffs. He went into the playoffs with the best regular season record the last two seasons while Cleveland has had consecutive 60 win seasons. The one win he needed, however, was the NBA Championship.
There has been a lot of discussion of how this effects the decision of free agent to be LeBron James. I don’t think this will change or influence his choice at all and I think Brown’s firing was an inevitability after the Cavs lost to Boston in the second round. I think James has played his last game in Cleveland, although you never know what he might do at this point. I’m not going to speculate where the star might go, but we will all find out by July 8th at the latest when all teams can announce a signing of the 2-time reigning MVP. Brown will get another job in the near future where he will get a chance to remove himself from the shadow of James, which clouded the truth of whether he could truly coach or not.
USA sets final 23-man roster for World Cup – The USA National soccer team set its final roster for the 2010 World Cup yesterday. The announcement came off the Americans 4-2 loss to the Czech Republic in an international friendly on Tuesday, granted the US didn’t have all of their starters in the game and were experimenting with different players and schemes. The Czechs were a member of the US’s group in 2006, but failed to qualify for the finals this time out as they finished 3rd in their qualifying group behind Slovakia and Slovenia, the latter of which will join the US in Group C in South Africa. There were few surprises on the list, but it was nice to see the final members of the team who will representing our country in South Africa.
Some of the more surprising players to make the team were among the forwards. Coach Bob Bradley decided to take only 4 forwards, which I think is a good thing as these will be the four men the US will rely on and each player should receive a decent amount of playing time. Joining Jozy Altidore up front will be Robbie Findley, Herculez Gomez, and Edson Buddle. Findley and Buddle play in the MLS, where Buddle is this year’s leading scorer, while Gomez cuurently plays for Pachuca in the Mexican League after stints in the MLS. Gomez, 28, became the first American to lead a foreign league in scoring when he tied for the league lead in Mexico with 10 goals. Buddle, 29, got only his second appearance for his country this Tuesday with the first coming back in 2003 when he played only 11 minutes. Some surprises also meant that seven players didn’t make the cut from the preliminary roster, the most notable of which was forward Brian Ching. Ching recently returned from injury on May 13th and was a member of the 2006 squad, although he didn’t see any action. Others not making the cut were Sacha Kljestan, Chad Marshall, Heath Pearce, Alejandro Bedoya, Robbie Rogers, and Eddie Johnson. The final roster will play two friendlies before they open up the World Cup against England on June 12th. They play Turkey in Philadelphia on Saturday before heading to Johannesburg where they will play Australia on June 5th. Hopefully these two friendlies will be more telling of the side we will see in South Africa and the US can gain some confidence from these final two games.
May 27, 2010 · Filed under NBA, NFL, NHL, Soccer
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Wanna get a good laugh? Look at my mini-column from Saturday, before game 3 of Magic/Celtics. Here’s what it said:
“Fact: The Magic won twice in Boston during the playoffs last year, including in Game 7.
Opinion: The Celtics and their fans have gotten cocky in the three days off since Game 2, and may be primed for a loss.
Fact: The Magic went 2-0 in Boston during the regular season, and only 1-1 at home.
Opinion: The Magic shooters are due to improve on their horrid shooting in the first two games. No better time than now.
Keep the faith, fans. This series isn’t over. It begins tonight.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Rothschild, proud Magic fan”
Despite all the factors working against them, I believed that the Magic could turn around the series. I looked at the positives, and thought that the team that I watched all year was better than what I had seen. Then, the Magic came out and laid one of the biggest eggs that I can remember in a game of that magnitude.
For the most part, I consider myself to be a positive fan. My teams had a good amount of success in my formative years, so I learned to maintain a positive attitude. In my very early years, the Rangers won the Stanley Cup when I was six, and the Magic made it to the NBA Finals when I was seven. By the time I was thirteen, I had witnessed four Yankees’ championships, as well as two more conference finals appearances from the Rangers and Magic. I did, and still, believe that with patience and a belief in a team that salvation will be had. So, when a team of mine betrays me in such a grand way as the Magic did, it hurts me even more. Not only because of the loss of my team, but because it makes me question why I watch sports in the first place.
A year ago, when his Detroit Tigers were knocked out of the MLB Playoffs after collapsing down the stretch and losing a one-game playoff in heartbreaking fashion to the Minnesota Twins, my podcast co-host Allen Pines came to me for advice. He couldn’t figure out what the point was in watching sports when his teams would betray him in the way that the Tigers did. After saying that he was being spared the agony of watching his team get rocked by my eventual World Champion Yankees, I didn’t have much of an answer. All I could really tell him was that the positives in watching sports outweigh the negatives, and that in time his team would rebound. But in what way could I possibly back that up? I feel the same way now about the Magic. If I put so much faith into one team, and they reward me by sh**ting the bed when they need to play their best, why even bother? What do I get out of watching as many games as I can and getting this turd of a reward for all of my time invested?
If this sounds like a religious sermon to you, you may be right. The more that I watch sports and emotionally invest myself in them, the more it feels like a religion to me. The fundamentals of most religions require a placing of your faith in an entity that you have no control over. You devote your beliefs towards something that you hope will at some point pay off, but you have no proof of it. Believing that Jesus Christ will redeem you is kind of like believing that the Magic will beat the Celtics when they need to. I have an equal amount of control over what will happen to me when I die as I do in if Dwight Howard can make a hook shot in the paint, which is none. Yet, people around the world go to church every Sunday, and people continue to buy season tickets and give their money to sports teams. I’ve often said, when debating going to synagogue, that my temple is the New York Rangers. I get every bit as much religious satisfaction listening to Sam Rosen as I do in hearing a rabbi or preacher. The rituals are similar, in their attempt to get us closer to the unknown. When we fast on Yom Kippur, we’re trying to show to God that we’re asking for his forgiveness, and that he’ll listen. Basically, by doing something relatively extreme measure, we’re asking for his attention. When we wear our favorite team’s jersey, we’re trying to make ourselves more like the product we’re watching. We’re trying to become holier by wearing a Sports prayer shawl, if you will. When we chant a player’s name derisively, or boo a referee, aren’t we just trying to get their attention? “Listen to us, we matter too!” But, these are trained athletes who have been perfecting their craft for years. How much of an impact can we really have? It makes me question the relationship that we have to the game, especially when we’re let down like I was with the Magic on Saturday.
But, somehow, we all still watch. We have faith that our actions will be rewarded. Moses split the red sea. Players buckle under pressure and miss big free throws. Pitchers lose control of the strike zone. And because of it, I wear t-shirts of my favorite teams. I switch seats with my friends when our team is losing, on the off-chance that the five foot change of our coordinates on this earth will impact a game miles and miles away from us. In the same way that we can’t control what happens in the game, or what happens when we die, we can’t control why we have faith. It can be either in God or in our teams. We just have it. When I started writing this column, in the back of my mind I thought, “Maybe this will work as a reverse jinx, and bring the Magic back from the dead!” Because my column will have an impact on Vince Carter and Jameer Nelson’s play tonight. Sure it will. Despite the three straight games of disaster that have questioned my faith, this crazy line of thought still lies within me. Some people believe in God when tragedy hits them. They believe that God is good, and he will redeem them. I believe in sports. When my teams fail, I believe that they will pick me up and redeem me, even if I can’t see how right away. Call me crazy, but if that’s not devotion to a real religion, then I don’t know what is.
May 24, 2010 · Filed under NBA
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Dear Magic Fans,
Fact: The Magic won twice in Boston during the playoffs last year, including in Game 7.
Opinion: The Celtics and their fans have gotten cocky in the three days off since Game 2, and may be primed for a loss.
Fact: The Magic went 2-0 in Boston during the regular season, and only 1-1 at home.
Opinion: The Magic shooters are due to improve on their horrid shooting in the first two games. No better time than now.
Keep the faith, fans. This series isn’t over. It begins tonight.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Rothschild, proud Magic fan
May 22, 2010 · Filed under NBA
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