For the last few years, I’ve kept a running list in my head. I started watching sports in the early 1990s, but my memory of certain teams and players doesn’t have a clear starting date. I remember some teams before others, and some players before other ones. As I’ve gotten older, the players that I grew up with have as well, and almost all have retired. The list that I’ve kept has been of players that I can’t remember their teams without them being on it. There have been some players where I can’t remember their teams without them being on it, and then some players where I can’t remember the sport without them being in the league. I’ve started to include managers that have stuck with one team on the list, too. In these past few weeks, the list got shorter when Mike Modano signed with the Red Wings, leaving the Dallas Stars after 20 years. He was the last Minnesota North Star, and a staple of American hockey for the last two decades. With his signing with the Red Wings, the only hockey player that I can’t remember his team without is Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings. There are no players in the NBA or NFL that qualify, and only Tim Wakefield remains in the MLB. (Now, you might think that if Tim Wakefield qualifies from 1995, then Martin Brodeur should surely qualify, since he came to the Devils in 1993 full time, after a brief cameo in 1992. But, I remember the Devils before Brodeur, since I grew up learning about hockey by going to primarily Devils games. I remember the goalie tandem of Craig Billington and Chris Terreri before Brodeur came around, but for some reason I don’t remember the Red Sox before Wakefield. My list, my rules.) As I’ve extended the list to managers and coaches, I realized that the about-to-retire Bobby Cox, Jerry Sloan, and Jeff Fisher make the cut.
The list remains at just Lidstrom, Wakefield, Cox, Sloan and Fisher. There are many more managers that I can’t remember their leagues without, but that list gets too long. This last has become more and more of an endangered species recently. In the last few years, Joe Sakic, Brett Favre, Bill Cowher, Michael Strahan, John Smoltz, Mike Shanahan and Steve Yzerman have all come off of this list. But, it makes sense. Most teams I started remembering in the early 90s, between 1990 and 1993. It’s now 2010, so if the guys were 23 in 1993, they’re 40 now. It’s not surprising. But, in some way, it’s sad. We all look at sports differently as a little kid. As we grow up, we look at these players as heroes on our TVs; guys that can do no wrong, even if they make a misstep once in awhile. But once those guys retire, and we’re mature enough to see these guys for who they are, what’s really left?
Now that I’m 23 years old and have become a marginally responsible adult, it’s a lot easier to see athletes for who they are on a more personal level. As I wrote in my Oliver Perez column, some of these athletes may just be regular guys who happen to be really good at one particular job that pays handsomely. They don’t have to be super-competitive freaks of nature that are willing to sacrifice themselves at all costs in order to win. They might just be guys doing their jobs. It’s also a lot easier to see the bad apples in the bunch, and a lot harder to forgive guys like K-Rod for doing what he did last week to get himself arrested. When we look at the game from a strictly person-to-person level, it’s a lot tougher to idolize the players. I can be disappointed about the fact that Derek Jeter is having among his worst years in his career, but then I remember that he gets to go home to Minka Kelly every night, one of the hottest actresses on TV. Life isn’t bad for Mr. Jeter. Once we learn too much about certain players, the mystique of them goes away, and so does the idolatry. Last week, I tried to change all of that.
Last Tuesday, my podcast co-conspirator Allen Pines and I decided to take a one day road trip from New Jersey to Washington D.C., all in the name of seeing Stephen Strasburg pitch. Coming into last Tuesday’s game, he was 5-2 with a low 2.32 ERA, and had a sparkling 75 strikeouts in only 54 innings pitched. We were looking forward to hitting the road for a day out of town, but the main reason we were going was to see the phenom pitch. Here was a guy that is almost exactly one year younger than me, almost to the day. Outside of his amazing ability to pitch, I know almost nothing about him. I know he was a great pitcher in college, but that’s about it. He had his worst start of his young career while we were there, but the mood remained positive afterwards. We had all seen a young star, just as he was figuring it all out. It was an exciting place to be.
For the last week, I’ve had this running question in my head: How do the retirements of so many of the players that I grew up with as a kid, and the borderline insanity of driving 9 hours in one day to see Strasburg pitch relate? Why would I do something that extreme in order to see a player, when I’ve learned in past years not to idolize them? What’s the point of idolizing someone that’s so unproven, and someone that’s younger than me? After letting it fester in my brain for the past week, I came to this conclusion: we all idolize what we haven’t seen before. When we were younger, we idolized all of the players that we saw, because we hadn’t seen anything like it before. People playing the games that we loved to play in our backyards at this high of a level? Unprecedented. We sought their autographs, wanted to meet them, bought their baseball cards, and wanted to learn as much about them as we possibly could. As we got older, we started to see more and more repetition in the sports. Of course we cheered on our teams, but it wasn’t quite as special as when we were little kids and everything was new. Whenever we can find something that we haven’t seen before, it’s a lot easier for us to idolize it. And that’s why we went to see Strasburg. How many 22-year-old starting pitchers have come into their rookie seasons and dominated the National League like Strasburg has? Not many, if any ever. It’s a new phenomenon to see a pitcher pitch like that. Rangers fans idolize Mark Messier because he brought the vast majority of them something new, that they hadn’t ever seen in their lives: a Stanley Cup. Anyone under the age of 60 in 1994 couldn’t have remembered the Rangers winning the cup, so since he did something totally new, he was idolized as if his fans were little kids. And let’s be honest: As a Rangers, Magic and Yankees fan, I’d be much more excited to see either the Rangers or Magic win a championship than for the Yankees to win another World Series. Sure, I’d be very excited and happy to see the Yankees defend their crown, but it’s something that I’ve seen 5 times in my life already. Although I remember 1994 like it was yesterday, another Rangers title would mean a whole lot more to me, since I was only 6 when they won it last. And, of course, the Magic winning the NBA Title would mean a ton, since they’ve never done it. It would be an entirely new experience. We all want to see what we’ve never seen before. That’s why we have a special love for the players in our childhood, normal people like me would drive for 9 hours to see a kid pitcher on a last place team, and we all care so much about our teams winning championships. In the sports world, at least, what we haven’t seen before is very, very exciting.
August 18, 2010 · Filed under MLB, NHL
No Comments
This is Part 2 of the New York rankings column. For Part 1, click here.
After the longest break in a two-part piece since between the Old Testament and New Testament, I’m back to finish up the New York power rankings. For those who forgot how this works (And I’m sure there are many), here’s how it works.
The rankings for all nine New York teams 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?
Number 9 was the Islanders, 8 was the Knicks, 7 was the Mets, 6 was the Nets, and 5 was the Rangers. Let’s get to the final four.
4. New York Giants (22 Points)
We take a sizable leap here from the Rangers to the Giants, a team that has won a title in the last three years and finished first in their conference in another. But a disappointing 2009 season has left a bitter taste in fans’ mouths as they open their new stadium in September.
Recent Success: 2nd (8 Points) The Super Bowl run in 2008 was as improbable as any in New York sports history, and will go down as an all-time classic moment in football history. They’ve consistently contended for the last 5 years, and not many teams can make the same claim.
Ownership/Management: 4th (6 Points) The Mara and Tisch families are considered to be among the best owners in sports, and Jerry Reese constructed a Super Bowl champion only three years ago. The team is aging a bit, but the management has a proven track record of being able to adapt and keeping the team competitive.
Youth: 8th (2 Points) This is really the Achilles heel to the entire franchise. Outside of their receiving core that was developed nicely in this past season, most of the team is aging fast. Brandon Jacobs looks to be on the downside of his career, Ahmad Bradshaw is inconsistent and the offensive line isn’t getting younger. Defensively, Osi Umenyiora has become a malcontent, Kenny Phillips is recovering from injury and the secondary is shaky. There’s still a lot of talent, and Eli Manning has only improved and is in the prime of his career. But there are places where the team could become vulnerable quickly.
Can They Win Now?: 4th (6 Points) The defensive line remains a major strength, and the passing game has improved dramatically. But the NFC East has only gotten better, so it’s going to be a struggle. Last year’s collapse down the stretch was disastrous. Without any truly major moves over the offseason, they’ll need to rely on the talent on the roster to get back to their old form.
3. New Jersey Devils (26 Points)
The most consistently excellent hockey team in the greater northeastern area comes in at number 3. The inimitable Martin Brodeur has backstopped the Devils to playoff appearances every year since 1996, and there’s no reason to think that it’ll change in the upcoming year. But repeated first and second round playoff failures have left the team looking more like they were built to win in the regular season than in the playoffs, when the competition turns up a few notches.
Recent Success: 3rd (7 Points) They won three Stanley Cups between 1995 and 2003, more than any other team in that span, tied with the Detroit Red Wings. But they haven’t made it past the 2nd round since the NHL lockout of 2004-05. They’ve won their division the last two years, which at the very least means that a banner can be hung.
Ownership/Management: 1st (9 Points) We finally get to our first 1st place entry in these categories, as we look at the Devils’ management. Lou Lamoriello and his underlings constantly pull great deals out of the woodwork, and it’s rare that they’ve signed a player and truly regretted it. As a Rangers fan, it makes me nauseous. Just recently, they shored up their defense by signing big, hulking Anton Volchenkov to a 6 year contract, and steady Henrik Tallinder to a four-year deal. Both players signed reasonable contracts, and if they play to their strengths, Lamoriello will have done an excellent job again in fixing their biggest flaw since Brian Rafalski left three years ago. The ongoing Ilya Kovalchuk negotiations are a bit crazy. The Devils have reportedly offered him a 7 year, 60 million dollar contract, and then another deal for 17 years worth 100 million that would be frontloaded to him. Kovalchuk hasn’t outwardly rejected either deal, but he hasn’t signed, either. Kovalchuk is among the most prolific scorers in the league, but I’m not so sure that signing him to that kind of deal makes sense for the Devils, a careful team that tries not to turn over the puck (something that Kovalchuk has a habit of doing) and one that still needs to sign its franchise player, Zach Parise, in a year.
Youth: 7th (3 Points) Outside of the relatively young Zach Parise and Travis Zajac, there isn’t lots to be had here. They gave away top prospect Niclas Bergfors in the Kovalchuk trade, and the farm system isn’t one that gets anyone particularly excited. The team is still centered around the aging nucleus of Brodeur, Patrik Elias, Jamie Langenbrunner and others, and outside of Parise and Zajac, those guys are on a relative decline. I don’t see a major uprising of prospects coming into Newark any time soon, outside of perhaps Vladimir Zharkov and Mattias Tedenby.
Can They Win Now? 3rd (7 Points) There’s no reason to think that this team won’t be in the playoffs come next April. But the questions begin from there. Is Martin Brodeur still durable enough to be consistently excellent throughout a playoff run? Is there enough of a blueline presence to control the pace of a 7 game series? The last three playoff runs that this team has had has left more questions than answers, and there’s no way to resolve them except by getting there again, and seeing what they’ve accomplished in the meantime.
2. New York Jets (30 Points)
After their unlikely run to the AFC Championship Game last January, the Jets have become the toast of New York and the NFL. New York’s love affair with Rex Ryan is ongoing, and they’ve added pieces to make for a run at the title in 2010. Things look real good for the Jets right now.
Recent Success: 4th (5 Points) The run to the title game last year lifted the hopes of the fans, but the beaten down Jets fans have been here before. They haven’t gotten to the Super Bowl in 40 years, so skepticism rules the fan base. But they’ve had consistently good teams for the past few years, and have been playing meaningful December football in three of the last five, which says something.
Ownership/Management: 3rd (7 Points) Woody Johnson has kept an open checkbook for management, and Mike Tannenbaum hasn’t always been the most open person about his moves, but he’s been unafraid to make a splash. He had the guts to go and get Brett Favre, even though it didn’t work out. He took the risk of trading up in the 2009 NFL Draft to go get a franchise quarterback in Mark Sanchez and by signing Bart Scott and Jim Leonhard. He went for it this last offseason by signing veterans LaDanian Tomlinson and Jason Taylor, while trading for Antonio Cromartie and Santonio Holmes, both star players with troubled pasts. He hired Rex Ryan, a guy tailor-made for the New York style of doing things. He’s been brazen with the media, and he knows how to run a defense. The Jets defense is in better shape now than it’s been in my lifetime, and he gets a lot of the credit.
Youth: 1st (9 Points) The amount of youth amassed by this team is truly spectacular. The Jets’ starting quarterback, running back, tight end and offensive line are all under the age of 26, with the exception of Damian Woody. They got stellar rookie years out of Mark Sanchez and Shonn Greene, and D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold have developed nicely together to form a strong offensive line. They’ve put together a strong running back foundation, with Joe McKnight being counted on to fill in the holes left by Greene and Tomlinson. Defensively, Vernon Gholston has been the only true misfire that they’ve had. Everyone else that they’ve drafted has produced, including Darrelle Revis, widely considered to be the best cornerback in football. At 24 years old, there’s no reason to think that he won’t be a force for years to come.
Can They Win Now? 2nd (8 Points) They’ll go into this season, and Hard Knocks on HBO, as one of the favorites in the AFC. Most people will predict them to win the AFC East, but the Patriots will still be there. If they start to assume that teams will roll over for them, they’ll suffer. But the talent on this team should be good enough to make major waves in the AFC this season. Jets fans should be more excited now than they have been in years.
Finally…
1. New York Yankees (34 Points)
The juggernaut in the Bronx is running smoothly, as they defend their World Series crown in style. The entire team is producing, and they’re the odds-on favorites to repeat as champions, for sure.
Recent Success: 1st (9 Points) They’re the defending champions, and they’ve only missed the playoffs once in the last 15 years. They have the best record in baseball at the All Star Break, and the core nucleus of Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada are still chugging along. All-world players like Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Robinson Cano and CC Sabathia have added to the foundation and put the team over the top, and an underrated outfield trio of Nick Swisher, Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner has gone a long way in keeping the team strong. With five titles in fourteen years, Yankee fans like myself don’t have much to complain about.
Ownership/Management: 2nd (8 Points) George Steinbrenner and his family have been hated by fans all over the country for years. They’ve spent the most money in baseball by far for their team, and some of the contracts they’ve signed have been stupid. Steinbrenner gave far too much money to Hideki Irabu, signed Sterling Hitchcock to a ridiculous contract, signed Jaret Wright for no particular reason, overpaid for Randy Johnson, Gary Sheffield and Kevin Brown, and threw 55 million dollars at Kei Igawa out of mostly jealousy of the Red Sox signing Daisuke Matsuzaka. But, because of the lack of a salary cap, he can throw those contracts under the bus and just sign new people to make up for it. Him and GM Brian Cashman have kept the core group of players together, signed A-Rod, signed Teixeira and Sabathia, and made other shrewd moves that aren’t talked about nearly enough. How come Cashman never seems to get credit for knowing when to keep his prospects? He had every opportunity to trade Robinson Cano in the earlier part of the decade, but never gave in and has watched Cano develop into arguably the best second baseman in the game. He has never traded a prospect that developed into a superstar; in fact, the only two players that I can think of that have gone on to have very successful MLB careers were Mike Lowell and Eric Milton. Cashman’s a much better talent evaluator than you might think. How about the fact that Brett Gardner, someone that almost nobody gave a chance to, has become a strong starting outfielder in the biggest spotlight in the world? The common perception over the years has been that nobody can develop into a star as a Yankee, since they trade away all their players and sign guys each year to plug into holes. But Cano and Gardner have proven otherwise. What about the fact that All-Star Nick Swisher was gotten for Wilson Betemit? Cashman’s success has been hidden by the fact that the Yankees spend money, but his intelligence is what led to winning. And that’s a shame.
Youth: 2nd (8 Points) The Yankees have let their youth bleed through their roster in the last few years, and it’s reinvigorated the entire franchise. A star has been born in Phil Hughes, who’s an All Star with 11 wins at the break. He’s 24 years old along with Joba Chamberlain, who’s been consistently…inconsistent. But, as a reliever he still throws 97 miles per hour, and while he may not be the phenom that he was a few years ago, he’s still a major talent that’s still growing. David Robertson, another strong reliever, is only 25, and Cano is only 27. He has the potential to be of hall of fame caliber, and he’s been spectacular this season. Brett Gardner is also only 26, so he’ll be a staple of Yankee teams to come. Francisco Cervelli has asserted himself as a strong backup catcher with the chance to become an every day player somewhere, if not necessarily in New York. He’s only 24, with room to grow. The farm system is ripe with talent, with Jesus Montero leading the way, as a strong hitting catcher and first baseman. The Yankees are fond of another catcher in Austin Romine, and there seems to be chips in place to make a deal or to let players make the team in due time.
Can They Win Now? 1st (9 Points) There’s no reason why they shouldn’t win now. They’re the best team in the sport, and the best team in New York. It’s a Yankees world, and we just live in it. Remember that in Miami, LeBron.
July 16, 2010 · Filed under MLB, NFL, NHL
1 Comment
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
No Comments
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
No Comments
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
No Comments
Podcast Home
Podcast Directory