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

Tuesday’s Thoughts

While wondering how long it will be before Kim Kardashian dumps Kanye West, here's what is on my mind this morning:

* The Yankees opened up their series against the Texas Rangers with a 7-4 win last night highlighted by a strong performance by CC Sabathia, a 4 hit game by Derek Jeter and a 3-run homer by Alex Rodriguez. The Yankees have a tough week ahead as they have two more games with the Rangers before they go home to take on the Detroit Tigers.

* Have to wonder why Joe "The Binder" Girardi used Sabathia in the 8th inning last night raising his pitch total over 100, the most he has thrown this year. It's a long year and with David Robertson fully rested I wonder whether if it made sense. I guess we will find out later in the season if CC begins to falter.

* Eric Chavez' performance at Fenway Park on Friday is why I felt it was important for the Yankees to bring him back. This guy is a professional hitter and if not for injuries would have had some pretty impressive numbers for his career. It seems like he loves playing at Fenway Park as evidenced last season in a late August series against the Red Sox.

* John Kruk continued his Yankee bashing on Sunday as he ripped Nick Swisher for over celebrating his double that put the Yankees ahead in Saturday's game against the Red Sox. Kruk said that Swisher's actions were totally uncalled for and it might set Nick up for getting plunked. The former Fat Phillie (he's still fat just not a Phillie anymore) went on for quite a bit. My question for Kruk: what did you think when John Papelbon would scream on the mound after he completed a save?? Or how about the gyrations of Jose Valverde?? It seems the Fat Phillie doesn't like the Yankees. This is the same Fat Phillie who last season picked the Red Sox to win the AL East and that the Yankees would not even make the playoffs. Kruk is a joke who tries to create this persona as a beer swilling regular guy just talking sports. Terrible.

* With Phoenix knocking out the Chicago Black Hawks last night, the Western Conference survivors are not your traditional NHL powers. The Coyotes will take on the Nashville Predators while the St. Louis Blues will face-off against the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings-Blues series should be a good one.

* Heard an interesting stat about Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick: in 30% of the games he played in this season he allowed only 1 goal or less. That is simply incredible and would seem to give Team USA another option in goal for the Sochi Olympics along with Ryan Miller and Jimmy Howard.

* So happy that the New York Rangers defeated Ottawa last night to force a Game 7 for Thursday night at MSG. I really dislike the Senators and I think Chris Neil is a huge punk. Here's hoping the MSG faithful can inspire the Rangers to a big win.

* I don't understand why these NHL games are spread out so much. The only game tonight is the Florida-New Jersey contest. Washington and Boston don't play until tomorrow and the Rangers series resumes on Thursday. No reason why the Bruins aren't playing tonight and the Rangers on Wednesday unless both arenas are occupied by their respective NBA teams.

* Will be interesting to see what happens in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Vancouver and Detroit as a result of their first round defeats.

* Kudos to the University of Arkansas for firing Bobby Petrino. Read an interesting article about how Petrino hired his mistress over a much more qualified woman which once again illustrates the unbelievable power that these college football coaches have at these universities.

* The NFL Draft begins on Thursday and it appears that the number 4 pick owned by the Cleveland Browns is the most unpredictable at this point. Rumors abound as to what the Browns may do including the possibility that they could make a trade with St. Louis or Miami. If it were up to me I would keep the pick and take Trent Richardson and then use their second pick in the first round and take the best wide receiver available.

* And finally, as an NHL fan you have to love the coverage of the Stanley Cup playoffs on the NBC family of networks. Gary Bettman had quite a coup making this deal with NBC. Now if he can do something about the inconsistent officiating that has taken place he will have really done something. But what do you expect from a marketing guy who doesn't have a clue about hockey.