tonytalkssports My Take on Sports, particularly the Yankees, Maple Leafs and Browns

NHL Trades & Rumors, Tiki/Mike Flap

Yesterday on the eve of the NHL Entry Draft, the Philadelphia Flyers got things going by making two blockbuster trades setting the scene for a possible wild night in Minnesota today.  The Flyers sent their captain, Mike Richards to Los Angeles for Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and a draft pick.  They weren't done as they then traded Jeff Carter to Columbus for Jacob Voracek and the Blue Jackets 1st and 3rd round pick.  Not soon after all of this it was announced that the Flyers signed Ilya Bryzgalov to a multi-year deal.

The Flyers cannot be done because as it stands today, they are not a better team right now and that's nothing against the young players they acquired.  Voracek, Schenn and Simmonds are all promising young players with Voracek and Simmonds showing some of that promise in the NHL and Schenn being acknowledged as possibly the best young player not in the NHL.  However, they are currently not Jeff Carter and Mike Richards.  The other thing to consider is that both Carter and Richards are only 26 years old.

Obviously, Paul Holmgren has decided that the team needed to go in a different direction.  The Flyers in the past 2 years had signed Carter and Richards to long-term multi-year contracts.  That's why I can't believe that the Flyers are done making trades because they are in no way a top 3 team in the East as they currently sit today.  L.A. and Columbus have made major improvements.  The Kings have appeared to be on the cusp of being a dangerous team in the West and showed flashes of that this year in its playoff series against the Sharks.  Richards will provide veteran leadership and offensive skill which can only help this young hockey club.  The Blue Jackets now have a center to pair up with Rick Nash that gives them a comparable 1-2 punch with any of the other Western Conference top teams.

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The Flyer moves have probably set the market for what could be more trades before the July 1st free agency date.  The Maple Leafs were in on the Mike Richards talks, having reportedly offered Nazem Kadri, Nikolai Kulemin and a first round pick for Richards.  The Flyers opted to take the Kings deal and it is reported that they did not want to deal Richards to an Eastern Conference team.  Brian Burke has indicated that he would be willing to move both of the teams 1st round picks and their high second round pick to get a player who can help them now.  It's rumored that they are in on talks with Tampa regarding Steven Stamkos and that they had a deal in place to acquire Brad Richards, however Richards turned down the Stars' request for him to waive his no trade clause.  Its also rumored that the Leafs are looking to make a move with the Devils to get Zach Parise.

The NY Rangers seem to be the favorites to get Brad Richards.  Reports out of New York indicate that the Rangers are prepared to do whatever it takes to get the 31 year old former Conn Smythe winner.  The Calgary Flames have asked Robyn Regher to waive his no trade clause so that they can move him to Buffalo.  No report as to what the Sabres would be giving up in order to get Regher.  Its also reported that the San Jose Sharks are also interested in Regher.

Jason Spezza's name is being mentioned in possible trades with the Canucks and Sharks.  Paul Stastny's name is floating around as possibly being on the move, along with Kevin Bieska and Christian Erhoff.  For the next week if you are a hockey fan, hang onto your seat because it has the makings to be a wild one.

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If you have a chance go onto YouTube and type in Mike Francesa/Tiki Barber.  You'll get the clip of Mike's interview with Tiki Barber on Wednesday.  It's a classic.  Francesa basically called Barber out as being a failure in the broadcast world, particularly with his stint on NBC.  Barber took exception to Mike's criticism and Tiki's agent also gets in on the act.  But, despite having to deal with the two, Francesa had them both on their heels.  Take the time to go to YouTube.  It was great!!!!

Races Shaping Up In MLB

As we are officially into Summer 2011, a look at the Major League Baseball standings indicate that we may be in for some exciting pennant races.  Over in the National League, the West Division is led by the Arizona Diamondbacks.  The Dbacks lead the 2010 World Series champion SF Giants by 1/2 game.  The Giants have dropped 5 games in a row, including being swept by cross bay rival Oakland A's.  Lurking in third place are the Colorado Rockies, 2 1/2 games off the pace and a team which has a history of making late season runs.

The NL Central, possibly the worst division in baseball, has the Milwaukee Brewers leading the way by 1/2 game over the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Brewers certainly have the personnel to be in the hunt and possibly win the division.  The Cardinals will have to figure out a way to deal with the loss of Albert Pujols.  The defending Central Division champs, the Cincinnati Reds are only 2 1/2 games out and will be a factor.  And a surprise team right now are the Pittsburgh Pirates who are only 4 games out of first and are one game under .500.

The division leader with the largest lead in Major league baseball are the Philadelphia Phillies.  The Phils have a 4 game lead over the Atlanta Braves and may have the ability to run away with the divisional crown.  What makes this very possible is that the 3 other teams in the East are not so good, particularly the Mets and Marlins.

In the American League, the West is vying with the NL Central to be the worst division in baseball as 5 1/2 games separate the 1st place Rangers from the last place A's.  The Rangers are 2 games ahead of the second place Seattle Mariners, who are only one game over .500.  A team to watch could be the Angels who are 4 games off the pace.

The AL Central sees the Cleveland Indians come back down to earth as their early season lead has been cut to one game over the Detroit Tigers.  The Indians have been a nice story this season but I don't see them having the ability to hold off the Tigers.  Also still in the picture are the Chicago White Sox who are 2 1/2 games behind the Indians.  You would have to think that this will come down to the Tigers and White Sox.  A team that has made a recent surge and could be a factor down the stretch are the Minnesota Twins who are only 6 1/2 games out of first place.

The AL East finds the Red Sox holding a 1 game lead over the Yankees and a 4 1/2 game lead over the scrappy Tampa Bay Rays.  The Red Sox hold an 8-1 lead in the season series against the Yanks and still only remain 1 game ahead of the Pinstripers.  Both teams have flaws but this one will go down to the wire with the 2nd place team probably being the wild card team.

A quick examination of the standings also illustrates something rather interesting.  In the American League, 7 out of the 14 teams are under .500 and in the National League 8 out of the 16 teams are below .500.  50% of the teams in major league baseball are under .500.  Not sure how this stacks up with past seasons but it says to me that season records are one thing and dominant teams can really make hay during the  regular season.  The true test comes in the playoffs where the teams are more even.  That's why pitching is key and that's why both the Red Sox and Yankees are not necessarily shoo-ins to be the AL representative in the World Series.

At The Billy The Goat Tavern

The Billy Goat Tavern is named after the famed goat that was not allowed into Wrigley and a curse was placed on the Cubs. Had a double cheeseburger which is what the SNL skit is based on. Will be heading to Wrigley shortly.

We Are Online From Chitown

Looks like I've got this down. Will be posting from Chicago through the weekend. Bad loss today meaning Cubbie fans will be pumped tomorrow. Should be fun.

Wrigley Field Test

Testing how to post from iPhone. Bear with me

Bruins Champs, Yanks Win & MLB Realignment

Last night the Boston Bruins, led by Conn Smythe Trophy winner Tim Thomas, defeated the Vancouver Canucks 4-0 to capture the Stanley Cup.  The Bruins finally broke through on Roberto Luongo in Vancouver as Patrice Bergeron led the way offensively with 2 goals.  The Canucks vaunted offense and power play shot blanks throughout the series and in fact allowed a back breaking shorthanded goal last night which pretty much sealed the deal before the end of the second period as the Bruins went up 3-0. 

Going into this series, I believed that the Canucks had the better team.  I will admit I don't follow the Western Conference teams that much, particularly the ones on the West Coast so I didn't really have any feelings about the Canucks.  The Bruins, on the other hand, I have plenty of feelings about and most of them are not good.  However, as this series rolled along beginning with the Alex Burrows bite and ending with Roberto Luongo's foolish comments about Tim Thomas, it found me actually wanting the Bruins to win.  I can't believe it to be honest with you but its hard to look favorably on a team that whines, dives and seems like they have their share of cheap shots.  Quite frankly, they deserved to lose.  Well, a Canadian based team once again lost out on the Cup.  Canada will have to wait until the Maple Leafs bring it home!!

By the way, I cannot believe the ridiculous rioting that took place in the city of Vancouver in response to the Canuck loss.  What a joke!!!

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The Yankees continue to roll on with a convincing 12-4 win over the Texas Rangers.  The Yankee bats continue to pound away with Mark Texiera leading the way.  Initial reviews are good for Eduardo Nunez as he is 4 for 8 since replacing Derek Jeter, including a home run last night. 

Today Brian Gordon will take the mound for the Yankees, the replacement for Bartolo Colon.  Can Gordon be this year's Aaron Small???  I guess we will find out.

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There has been some confusion on the proposed Major League Baseball realignment.  The proposal does not include a team to play an equal number of games between the leagues.  In other words, the Yankees would not play the same number of games against the Red Sox as they would against the Mets.  The balanced schedule would be amongst the AL teams, so the Yankees would play the Red Sox the same amount of times as they would against the A's.  That is not the case now and actually penalizes the teams in the AL East.  In fact, the realignment will make it hard to continue interleague play as it currently exists.  You may see actually less interleague games which would be fine by me.  That's one reason why I think the proposal merits serious consideration.

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Over the weekend I may have limited posts as I'm heading to Wrigley Field to watch the Yanks and the Cubs.  Wrigley Field is my favorite place to watch a game and it should be great.  Still smarting over the fact that if Jeter was playing I may have seen the 3,000th hit.  Anyhow, I will try to post and if not check out Twitter.  I will definitely be back for Tuesday's Thoughts.

Justice Has Been Served: Mavs Are NBA Champs!!

Last night was a win for team play.  It was a win for the lunch pail crew.  It was a win for the people who put their head down and work every day.  It was a win for the unselfish.  Nearly a year after the Miami Heat staged the big coming out party for their recently signed free agents Chris Bosh and Lebron James, the big party belonged to the Dallas Mavericks as they took it to the Dream Team on their home floor to become NBA Champions.

As I have stated before, I'm not a big NBA fan but last night was a game I had to watch.  Incredibly, despite a cold shooting first half for Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs led by 2 at half thanks to the incredible shooting of Jason Terry.  How can you not like Terry.  Coming off the bench, he picked his team up while their star was trying to find his way. 

Nowizski, who couldn't buy a basket in the first half, rose to the occasion in the second half knocking down some key baskets at the end including a couple of 3s.  What can you say about Jason Kidd.  He may not have scored much but he provided leadership and tough D throughout the game and hit a couple of big shots in the 4th quarter, including an incredible 3 point shot with the 24 second clock winding down.  It was nice to see this 17 year veteran get his first title.  And how about little Jose Barea?  Awesome game making some big shots for his team.

The Mavs were the better team at the free throw line.  The Heat had almost twice the chances at the charity stripe and were terrible.  The Dream Team made more turnovers than a baker while the Mavs protected the ball well.  Rebounding is all about positioning and desire.  Well, the Mavs had it and the Heat didn't.  Several times late in the 4th quarter, the Mavs got critical offensive rebounds which allowed them to continue to work the clock and get second scoring chances.

I thought it was great that in the second half, with the Mavs beginning to pull away, ABC showed the big coming out party with the Big 3 preening and posing for the cameras.  Could you imagine any other sports franchise doing that for their first presser after signing some big free agents??  The arrogance and immaturity of James and D-Wade was further on display a couple of days ago when they were caught mocking Nowitzski, who was suffering from a severe sinus infection but still played despite a 101 fever.  Of course, the dynamic duo tried spinning their way out of it but it was as hollow as their play last night in the second half.

In the end, the Mavericks are champs because they were the better team.  Not one of the Big 3 were able to put their team on their backs to bring their team back in the 4th quarter.  They choked as evidenced by Wade dribbling the ball off his foot and James being in hiding for most of the second half.  Speaking of James, this guy really needs to grow up and learn that sometimes you have to eat crow and be humble.  But no not King James.  After choking big time, he blasted his critics by saying that people who are happy that the Heat lost will have to get up this morning and go to work and deal with their personal problems while he is going to live his life the way he wants.  Who gives a damn what you say Lebron.  A champion knows how to win with humility and lose gracefully.  You haven't learned that lesson because you've been pampered and catered to all your basketball life.  We may have to go to work and deal with our personal problems this morning, but Lebron you have to wake up this morning knowing that you are choke artist and a loser.  JUSTICE HAS BEEN SERVED!!!

Great Night For Boston

Last night Boston's baseball and hockey teams scored impressive victories to give their followers plenty to crow about this morning.  The Red Sox continued their domination of the Yankees with an 11-6 win at Yankee Stadium marking the first time since 1913 that the Red Sox have won the first 5 games played in New York between the two teams.

AJ Burnett was brutal.  This from the guy who is being paid $82 million over 5 years and is the designated #2 of the starting rotation.  Once again the Yankees found themselves down after the top of the first, a deficit they never could recover from.  Once again the Yankees played uninspired baseball.  Some Yankees talked about this is how things started in 2009 and we know how that ended.  But their kidding themselves if they are trying to compare this edition of the Yankees with the 2009 World Champion Yankees.

2 quick points:  What the hell was Brett Gardner doing on third base in the 6th inning???  I think even a little leaguer would have known enough to come home on a passed ball that went all the way to the backstop.  Girardi characterized it as a "misread".  I characterize it as being a bonehead.  If I was manager Gardner would find himself on the bench today.

Second point: So much for the babying of the Yankee Young Guns.  With Phil Hughes on the DL, we now find out that Joba Chamberlain joins him.  Apparently, Joba has been complaining of tenderness in the elbow but has pitched through it.  Now the Yankee bullpen is made up of Rivera, Robertson and a bunch of no-names.  By the way, Boone Logan is terrible.

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The Bruins dominated the Canucks once again last night and clearly have the momentum heading back to Vancouver for Game 5.  The Canucks looked intimidated and could generate nothing on its power play.  With a little luck, the Bruins could be up 3-1 or could have swept this series losing by one goal in both games earlier played in Vancouver.  Game 5 will be interesting to see if the Canucks can regain their swagger and their scoring touch.  Tim Thomas seems to be in a groove and the Canucks are going to have to find a way to beat him.  If they don't Beantowners will be witnessing a championship.  And with the way things are going in baseball, 2011 may be a banner year for Boston.

Red Sox Roll, Mavs Win & Pryor Leaves

0-4....That's what the New York Yankees are against their blood rivals the Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium.  It's not only that fact, its the way they have been bullied in their own playground.  There is much to focus on.  Freddy Garcia was terrible.  3-0 after the 1st inning put the Yanks in a hole they never got out of.  It gives you pause, if you are a Yankee fan, if what you saw last night from Garcia is what you would see if the Yanks are playing in October.  It also puts the spotlight on the fragile status of their rotation.

The bottom of the first illustrated a familiar site: Mark Texiera gets hit on the knee, putting him out of the game, and possibly out of this series.  Thankfully, there was no break.  But how many times have we seen Yankee hitters getting plunked by Red Sox pitchers.  Do you remember the game several years ago when ARod and Jeter were nailed in the same game???  Was there any pay back last night??? Absolutely not and I for one am tired of it.  Anyone of the Red Sox 3-4-5 hitter should have been plunked.  It needed to happen last night but it didn't.

This lack of fire and team pride gets me hotter than a firecracker.  What happened to the Yankee intensity as exhibited by the playoff game that saw Don Zimmer go after Pedro??  What happened to the intensity that saw Graig Nettles go at it with Bill Lee??  The Yankee players of the past had the same intensity for this series as their fans.  Now, it seems like its beneath them to get down and dirty.  Case in point, in an interview after the game, ARod was asked his reaction to David Ortiz's theatrical bat flip after he homered off rookie Hector Noesi.  "We have a lot of respect for those guys over there," he said not directly answering the question.  Respect??  These guys are taking it to you in your own backyard and your talking respect???  How about we gotta put an end to this!!!!  Somehow it is hard to imagine Thurman Munson or Lou Pinella talking about respect after the Red Sox took out one of their top hitters and beat them once again at Yankee Stadium. 

With respect to the bat flip by Ortiz, if that was ARod who did that off some rookie pitcher that put the Yankees ahead 6-1 you would have heard all kinds of howling as to what a jerk he is.  But, Ortiz basically said go stuff it when he was told that Joe Girardi took exception to it.  That says it all to me.  Red Sox players have the same intensity as their fans.  They don't give a damn about the Yankees, Yankee Stadium or anything else.  Since 2004, they have the swagger the Yankees once had.  As Yankee fans we have to endure the grab-ass feel good crap while the Red Sox roll along.  This is why I try not to get too worked up about these early games.  But this is a big series and if the Yankees don't see that well then all I can say is: if they don't care why the hell should I care!!!

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Watched the last quarter and a half of the NBA Game 4 Finals last night.  It was a very exciting game and I was very happy that the Mavs came back and held on to defeat Miami to even up the series at 2.  Dirk Nowitzki played heroically with a 102 fever and Tyson Chandler had a big rebound at the end which kept possession for Dallas late in the game.  We have a series now and hopefully the Mavericks can pull this one out.

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It was announced yesterday that Terrell Pryor is leaving Ohio State.  The move is interesting since it would appear that Pryor will now not play football all year heading into next year's NFL Draft (if there is one).  Not sure where Pryor would fall in the draft.  Some believe he is of the Vince Young mold, more a runner than passer.  I felt that Pryor had showed glimpses of being a decent pro quarterback.  But not playing football for a season could impact his draft status.

What also could impact his draft status are character issues which had resulted in him being suspended for 5 games this year if he had stayed in school, along with plenty of other information that came out as a result of the OSU investigation.  It's interesting that the two key players in the investigation, Tressel and Pryor, have now left Ohio State.  I'm sure that the administration believes that this will bode well for the athletic department when the NCAA comes out with its findings.

Pryor was the new fall guy after Tressel resigned.  It will be interesting if the Buckeyes find a new fall guy.  The problem for them the most logical fall guys should be the athletic director and the school president.  Somehow I don't think that those two will point the finger at each other.  What a joke!!