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

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!!

Knicks Debacle, Cup Finals, CC To The Rescue

After becoming relevant again in NYC, the Knicks have begun to implode with the announcement that Donnie Walsh will no longer serve as President and GM of the basketball team.  It's interesting reading the different takes on this.  Most of the writers in the dailies are really giving it to James Dolan.  Their belief is that Dolan forced Walsh out because Donnie wanted more control.  Walsh recommended two guys to take over as GM: Mark Jackson and Chris Mullin.  Dolan said no.

The other take is that Dolan wanted Walsh to agree to a two year deal and at a reduced salary.  Walsh turned it down more over the length of the deal.  Whichever reason you want to believe if your a Knick fan you have to be leary of what's up next.  For all Knick fans, here's hoping that Isiah Thomas is no where to be found.  If he comes back, it's over for the resurgence at the " world's most famous arena."

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In another nail-biter, the Vancouver Canucks have taken a 2-0 series lead with 3-2 overtime win over the Boston Bruins.  The Bruins had a 2-1 lead going into the third period and it looked like they might even the series.  However, it was not to be and instead of possibly leaving Vancouver 1-1 or up 2-0, they head home down and in a must win situation at the TD Garden on Monday.

Boston has been in this situation before against the Canadiens.  Actually it was worse because they lost the first two games at home.  I think this series will go at least 6 games but for the Bruins to have a chance they will need to get their power play going and they will need to tighten up, particularly in the later stages of the game.  Game 3 is always the pivotal contest.  Can't wait for Monday night.

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CC Sabathia does it again.  Proving once again why he is an ace and why the Yankees must make sure he doesn't exercise his option to bail out next season.  Going 8 2/3 innings, Sabathia was on his game and provided the type of game that was needed to ensure that the Yanks will end the road trip with a winning record.

ARod came up with a big tw0-run homer that provided the winning runs.  It would be nice for Bartolo Colon to give the same type of effort today with the Angels starting Joel Piniero.  Going home with a 6-3 road trip under their belts would certainly set the stage for their series against the Red Sox at the Stadium starting Tuesday.  They owe the Bosox big time as they are down 5-1 in the season series against their blood rivals.

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Tomorrow more Ohio State stuff and other tidbits heading into the Red Sox-Yankees series.

Leadership In Pro Sports: All 4 Are Not Fan-Friendly

If I was in charge of a multi-million dollar corporation, I can honestly say that I wouldn't hire Bud Selig, Roger Goodell, Gary Bettman or David Stern to manage it.  Look at all four leagues that they supposedly lead.  Major League Baseball has two franchises in major markets (Mets, Dodgers) who are in financial disarray and is still trying to recover from the steroid era.  The NFL has locked out the players in spite of the mega-billions of dollars that is split up between the owners and players not to mention the criminal activity that seems to plague NFL players.  The NHL has franchises struggling in spite of a shutdown of the 04-05 season which was suppose to cure all ills and a franchise moving with another one possibly on the way.  Not to mention all of the controversy over concussions, etc.  The NBA has a majority of its franchises losing money and players basically playing general manager by constructing their own fantasy teams.

Who gets hurt the most in all of the above is the fan.  The fan is the one who supports all of these leagues yet they must endure higher ticket prices, threats of their team moving, players up and leaving when they can and the turning of the sports page into the police blotter and gossip column.  Can you remember when the sports page was only about the game???

All four of the Commissioners could give a damn less about the fan.  They owe their allegiances to their bosses who are the owners.  The phrase, "doing what's in the best interest of the game " has been replaced by "doing what's in the best interest of my bosses."  The last commissioners who gave a damn were Pete Rozelle, Clarence Campbell, Bart Giamatti and Larry O'Brien.  Of course, the owners were different too.  They understood that if the whole wasn't doing well it didn't matter how well your team was doing individually.  This was particularly true in the NFL.

But that is all gone now.  It's all about making sure I have enough luxury boxes, personal seating licenses and a fat bottom line.  Each league would do well if they reduced the number of teams as the talent is really watered down as evidenced by the number of late 30 & early 40-somethings playing.  Of course that would effect the bottom line as expansion fattened the league and team coffers.

Television dictates when games are played.  Do you remember when the Super Bowl was played on Sunday afternoon??  When weekend World Series games were played at 4pm?? When NBA and NHL playoffs were done by the end of May???  Not now.  Have to be on prime time and not interfere with existing programming. 

The sports fan is used and abused and the four dopes leading their leagues could give a damn less.

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Tomorrow more on Ohio State, the Knick debacle, Game 2 of Stanley Cup and of course the Yankees.

Red Sox Mistakes Get A Pass

Yesterday I read a report that Dice-K was facing Tommy John surgery in effect shutting him down for the next year and a half and possibly ending his career here in the U.S.  The Red Sox will not feel the effects because they have not really counted on him at all this year.  In fact, Dice-K has not really been someone the Bosox could count on since his first 2 seasons.  So for $103 million, the Red Sox received a decent 2007, a very good 2008 and  and then garbage.  Remember the Red Sox paid $51 million just to have the right to talk to Dice-K and then signed him to a 6 year deal for $52 million.  Hmmm, nice move by the young wizard Theo Epstein.

There's a trade back in 2005 that gets very little scrutiny: Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell for Hanley Ramirez and Anibal Sanchez.  I'm not going to argue that Lowell was not productive and that Beckett has not been an asset for the Red Sox.  But Hanley Ramirez???  Despite his poor start this year, it is acknowledged that he is one of the top 3 players in major league baseball.  And by the way he is a shortstop.  How many shortstops have the Red Sox had since 2005??

Sanchez this year has been a stud for the Marlins, slowly achieveing elite starter status.  Who would you rather have Sanchez or John Lackey??  Oh and how did you make out with the Lackey free agent signing???  There's also Justin Masterson who they traded to the Indians for Victor Martinez, who now is playing for the Tigers.

Am I going to say that the Yankees have never made mistakes with trades and free agent signings??  Absolutely not!!!  In fact, I can recite them going back 35 years.  But the difference is that the Yankees and their fans continually here about it.  I never hear anyone mention the money that was wasted on Dice-K.  I never hear anyone bring up the fact that Hanley Ramirez was a top Red Sox shortstop prospect.  I never hear anyone talk about what a bust John Lackey has been since he's come over to the Red Sox.  Instead we hear about what a wunderkind Theo Epstein is and what a great organization the Red Sox are.  The fact is the Red Sox are no different than the Yankees: they both will spend money with the edict to win now.  Would be nice if everyone will recognize that.

Yanks Sweep, Winnipeg & What A Cup Debut!!!

If we could bottle the way the Yankees played yesterday and used it the rest of the season we might be able to plan for a  long trip into October for playoff baseball.  AJ Burnett pitched the way the Yankees would love for him to pitch for the rest of his contract.  After giving up a two-run homer to Josh Willingham in the second inning, Burnett slammed the door and went 7 innings to get his first win on the road since last July in Cleveland.  This was the type of game that Burnett needed to pitch in his last start against Seattle after the Yankees had staked him to a lead.  I kept on waiting for the bottom to fall out, especially after Coco Crisp's 2-out triple in the 5th but Burnett ended the inning quickly.

The other cause for optimism is the continued hitting of Nick Swisher.  Swisher's 3-run homer was the winning margin for the Yanks as it put them ahead 4-2.  Swisher seems to have awoken from his early season slumber and it would be a tremendous boost to the Yankee offense if he can keep this up.  Before the start of the series with the A's there was plenty of concern as the Yanks were going to face three good young pitchers.  The Yanks took it to them and have received outstanding starting pitching of their own.

The Yankees have now won 4 in a row (the first time this year) and find themselves two games in first place in the AL East over their blood rivals, who were swept at Fenway Park by the White Sox.  The Yankees move down to Anaheim to take on the Angels before heading home to face Boston who lead the season series 5-1 over the Yankees.

Friday will be a big night for Ivan Nova as he may be pitching for his spot in the starting rotation.

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I think its great news that Winnipeg is getting a hockey team back.  Hopefully, Mr. Bettman will mark Atlanta off the list for good as this is the second time a team will leave that city.  It was laughable that for the last week and a half  the denials of a move after it had been first reported by a Canadian media outlet.

Two issues that will be interesting to watch: 1.) which team will move to the Eastern Conference to allow Winnipeg back into the West and 2.) whether the NHL will impose some type of criteria for the new franchise as it relates to the number of season tickets that need to be sold.  Stay tuned.

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If last night's Game 1 between the Canucks and Bruins is any indication of what we have to look for in the rest of this series we are in for a treat.  The game was filled with outstanding goaltending and tough physical play.  I certainly thought we were heading to overtime until unlikely hero Raffi Torres put one past Tim Thomas to give the Canucks the Game one victory. 

Both teams power play came up empty and both had 5 on 3 opportunities.  Claude Julien's move to have Zdeno Chara in front of the net on the power play was a good one as this caused problems for the Canucks but the B's still couldn't get one past Luongo.  I'm not sure if Chara will be able to do this throughout the series while playing mega-minutes against the Sedin line.

  I thought Tim Thomas had to make more difficult saves than Roberto Luongo but both showed why they are Vezina Trophy candidates.  The intensity and animosity between the two teams was really evident and has me wishing Game 2 was tonight.  Of course we have to wait until Saturday which is totally ridiculous.  The NHL Playoffs this year have been awesome and Game One of the Finals lived up to the excitement of the early rounds.

Tressel’s Gone But Only Tip Of Iceberg

On Monday Jim Tressel resigned as football coach of the Ohio State Buckeyes.  It had to happen and probably should have happened months ago.  Before I go on, I have read numerous articles about the situation and I want to start out by saying that Jim Tressel has accomplished many great things.  His record as a football coach, both at Youngstown State and Ohio State, is one of success.  In reading what plenty of former players had to say it was clear that Tressel was well respected and has had a positive impact for many of them.  These achievements cannot be taken away from him.

However, what is hard to reconcile is why a man who obviously understood the importance for these young men to be prepared to do things the right way in their lives would knowingly allow and in some instances assist in the violation of NCAA rules which specifically dealt with trading memorabilia for various items.  Those items ranged from tattoos to cars.  You can argue about the ridiculous premise for this rule but the fact remains that they are there and should be abided by and I think Coach Tressel would agree.

While Tressel bears responsibility for this so does the University.  Remember when he was asked whether he would remove Tressel, OSU President Gordon Gee said that he hoped that Tressel wouldn't fire him??  What a message!!!  It basically was saying to the world that football is king in Columbus.  It's one thing for some southern Ohio yahoo to be saying that it's another thing for the University president to say it.

The University has had several opportunities to get out in front of this situation.  Reports are coming out of Columbus that the University forced or urged Tressel to resign.  They could have done this in January after the Sugar Bowl.  One has to wonder if the reason for the change in direction had to do with the knowledge of the SI investigative report and the hope that by Tressel being out of the picture that the NCAA will go easy on the OSU football program.  Hopefully, OSU will have guessed wrong.

The other person who should also be shown the door is OSU Athletic Director Gene Smith.  Obviously Smith was asleep at the switch.  He would have to be blind not to see what was going on yet he decided to let it all happen as Tressel was beating Michigan, winning Big Ten Championships and a national championship.

One of the most telling comments made by a former player was that of Craig Krenzel, the quarterback of the national championship team Tressel coached at OSU.  As indicated in an article in the Columbus Dispatch, Krenzel expressed his utmost respect and admiration for his former coach.  However, he did express his disappointment in the current athletes on the OSU football team.  "There's been a culture change that I've seen over the last five, six years in terms of guys coming in with a sense of entitlement," he said. "It's no longer good enough just to have a chance of being a Buckeye - as an opportunity and a gift. They look at it (today) as, 'Hey, it should be more.' I couldn't fathom selling my Big Ten ring or gold pants."

That might be an indictment on modern day athletes in general which is a topic for another day.  But the fact remains that Tressel and Smith allowed this culture change to happen and for that Tressel has lost his job and the OSU football program should be punished.

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Tomorrow, check in for comments on the new Winnipeg NHL team, Game One of the Stanley Cup Finals and the Yanks series ending game against the A's.