Running The Point

Shiny new digs - We've moved!

2008-05-14T00:01:00.002-04:00

Since the time came for a redesign of this standard template, I decided, why not take it up a notch and really make this site shine? So, instead of staying here on the wonderful (read: free) Blogspot, Running The Point has moved to – the aptly named – runningthepoint.com

Please come by and check out the new place. All the archives have been transferred so you can read your old favourites as well.

Click here for the new site.

Ninth inning horrors

2008-05-13T03:08:00.000-04:00

People in Milwaukee should be feeling two different emotions over the same the situation right now. How can a guy (Eric Gagne) that they have just signed to a very large contract ($10-million US) to do a job (close games) just come out and beg his boss to not let him go out and try to do what he’s supposed to. The feelings that Brewers fans should have are right now:

A) Outrage and B) Relief.

So this guy is basically quitting and giving up on his job that he is being massively overpaid for? Are you kidding me? A little outrage should also be directed at Brewers management who signed the Canadian pitcher who was clearly on a steep down slope career-wise after last year's disastrous stint in Boston.

As for relief, here's Gagne's line so far in 2008: 1-2. 9 saves with 5 blown. 6.89 ERA with a WHIP of 1.85. 18 hits over 15.2 innings.
Is that who you want to call in to "save" the game for you? Didn't think so. Look for anybody to come out of that mess Milwaukee calls a bullpen to save games. They should really look into making a deal.

In St. Louis, long-time incumbent Jason Isringhausen isn't going to be closing games for the Cardinals any more. Having an ERA of 7.47 will cause you to lose that responsibility. Well, he had a good run for a guy drafted in the 44th round back in 1991. Ryan Franklin and Russ Springer figure to get shots in the ninth while Izzy tries to work things out.

In Cleveland, the human rain delay of closing, Rafael Betancourt had a little scare of his own. First, he was nailed just above his (non-throwing) left elbow by a come backer. Then, stayed in the game and gave up three runs in the tenth inning to the Blue Jays. And the Jays hadn't scored a run in the previous 31 innings. Well, if Betancourt can't go for Cleveland, they can always trot of save-king Joe Borowski.

The funniest part about all of this? Brad Lidge hasn't allowed a run this season and Troy Percival is lights out closing games for the Rays.

This weekend in the NBA

2008-05-12T00:00:00.000-04:00

What happened this weekend in the NBA you ask? Well I'll tell you what I saw.

How dare the fans in Utah boo Derek Fisher. Nearly a year to the day that he flew across the country after being by his daughter's hospital bedside to play for the Jazz and hit some clutch shots in a win, he's being booed during the introductions of Game 3 of the Lakers-Jazz series. Utah let Fisher leave the team to play for L.A. so his daughter could get better treatment over the offseason. There shouldn't have been any ill intentions, so why the boos? This should have been a amicable split but Utah booing Fisher is in poor taste. Why not just boo Kobe? It would make a lot more sense.

It's a good thing that the Celtics have home-court advantage throughout the playoffs because they absolutely cannot win on the road. Its getting a bit ridiculous. Has a team ever won the championship without a single road win? It seems that all it may take to bounce Boston from the playoffs is one win at the Garden. Taking that advantage from the C's may be the equivalent to taking their playoff lives.

And speaking of home court woes, how are the Pistons the only team to win on the road so far in round 2? Not to knock Detroit or anything, but it's pretty sad that contenders like Boston, New Orleans, San Antonio and the Lakers can't win on the road. Of those four, Los Angeles has it the toughest. Utah has been one of the best home court teams in the league all season long and are playing them tough. With the Hornets and Spurs, both of them are playing amazingly and are playing the best seven-game series of this year's playoffs. The fact that San An can't shut down the Bugs offence is a true testament to Chris Paul's play and the fact that they can ratchet up their game is a testament to their entire squad.

And the Celtics, well read one graf up.

So the Phoenix Suns have let coach Mike D'Antoni walk out of the desert to New York for a large amount of money. This move really shows that the Suns aren't going to continue their break-neck-paced offensive style and perhaps move to a game plan based on saving Steve Nash's career. If they can find a way to keep those Nash-Amare pick-and-rolls going while not having Nash take the punishment and wear from the speed game, the Suns could get better. They do have the pieces to do well in the West and really need a find a coach who can change their culture and institute some tougher defensive standards. As D'Antoni's new team, the Knicks may have paid a lot for his services but he'll be worth it. That hiring is such an upgrade over Isiah Thomas that the Knicks could actually contend for the playoffs next season.

A bad day for Clevelanders

2008-05-09T00:30:00.002-04:00

Cleveland sports fans and residents haven't had very many super days in their history and yesterday wasn't great either.

First, on what should have been a joyous day for every hungry person or glutton in Cleveland's city limits, Papa John's was giving away large, one-topping pizzas for 23-cents. "What a deal!" you might say. In a move that perhaps every one was too dumb to see happen, there were hour-long waits for said pizzas. Of course, just as predictably, people got mad and police had to guard some shops.

Look, when you have fast food ultra cheap, there will be a whole bunch of people wanting it and it may not be pretty. Prepare for the worst.

Then there was the monstrousity that was called "Game 2" taking place in Boston. TD BankNorth Garden, or whatever they're calling the Garden now, is not a very happy setting for LeBron. In the Cavs two losses to open the second round series, King James shot an outstandingly awful 8-for-42. Yes, he missed 36 shots in two games. I think that every one in the world was expecting more from LeBron, regardless of how touted Boston's defence is. If he can't do better than that in the playoffs, can we really compare him to MJ — regardless of the lack of talent on the Cavs' roster?

Ouch!

2008-05-08T00:17:00.001-04:00

A bad thing happened yesterday to the city of Detroit as well as fans of their basketball team. Chauncey Billups went down with a hamstring injury in the first quarter of their game Orlando. This could be the opening the Magic need to dig themselves out of the 2-0 hole the were put in to begin their second round series.

Point guard, as I'm sure you may know, is a very pivotal position in basketball and it is very hard to continually advance if you don't have a decent floor general leading the charge.

If Billups can't get back into the lineup and play at — the very least — 80%, Jameer Nelson might actually be the better point guard in this series. Of course, we've all heard stories of playoff heroics and guys playing through injuries. This whole situation may turn out to just be a single-game storyline.

The final four and more ramblings

2008-05-07T00:23:00.000-04:00

Since I was lazy yesterday and not much has changed today, how about some ramblings about some recent going-ons? I thought you'd say that.

There are only four teams left playing for the Stanley Cup. While I'm sure that the NHL isn't too happy the West Coast and Canada not being represented in the final four, having Sid the Kid and the Pens in is great. Matching up Pittsburgh with their natural rival. the cross-state Flyers is going to be a great series. In the West, having Dallas still playing could draw the southern markets; Detroit has always been a hockey hotbed and an original six draw. It'll be interesting to say the least.

A-Rod apparently passed out in the hospital while his wife was giving birth to their first daughter. Am I supposed to care? If an average player — say Morgan Ensberg, who's filling in while A-Rod is injured — had passed out during child birth, would anybody care. Also, this incident happened in 2004. Get over it.

Kobe Bryant deserved the NBA MVP more than Chris Paul did. Whoever is calling this a "lifetime achievement MVP" is an idiot. Bryant was by far the best player on the best team in the best conference and was playing without another all-star — unlike Paul. Don't get me wrong CP3 had an amazing season and was a very worthy candidate, but was not more valuable than the Black Mamba.

Roger Clemens. I don't even know what to think any more about the Rocket.

So Ronaldo allegedly beat up some cross-dressing prostitutes after finding out they were, in fact, men. I've seen the pictures of the prostitutes. Either Ronaldo has severely awful taste in women or he's blind. They were obviously dudes. And it's nice to see he's finding time to get in the news while rehabbing his torn ACL.

Suns coach Mike D'Antoni won't be with Phoenix for long after getting team approval to shop his services around. The best possible fit would be Toronto where his former boss Bryan Colangelo is running the show. D'Antoni could turn Jose Calderon into a surefire all-star.

Nice game, Gavin Floyd! The previously written off starter pitched 8 1/3 innings of no-hit ball before one of the best batters in the game (Joe Mauer) managed to beat him. Floyd is showing more and more this season that the Phillies were wrong to send him packing and that the White Sox were smart to take him on. And just how do you allow a run on three walks and an error in a game? I don't think the were in a row either.

A big congratulations to Big Brown for winning the Kentucky Derby. But with the second-place finisher running on broken ankles, how weak was the rest of the pack? Also, for the record, I did pick Big Brown to win, even if I am just saying it days after the fact.

And, finally, how did LeBron miss that last layup? That seemed a bit ridiculous to me and if you didn't find Game 1 boring, you must have a far better tolerance for defensive tilts than me. Spur-Celtics could be even worse than Spurs-Pistons if San Antonio makes it.

Rooting against, not for

2008-05-05T00:35:00.000-04:00

After watching Boston throttle the Hawks yesterday I was very disappointed. Not because Atlanta lost, I'm not a fan. It was because Boston won and advanced. It wasn't so much that I was rooting for the Hawks to win, I found myself cheering for the Celtics — and, to an extent, the entire city of Boston — to lose. It was why I was even watching.

Sure, it's kind of non-sensical cheering on a team with no real shot of winning it all, but seeing the scrappy Hawks tumble the goliath C's with their Big Three would have been a great story even if they would be swept next round by King James.

A Celtics-less playoffs would draw less ratings and I'm sure that everyone wants to see an instant-classic finals like Lakers-Celtics, so maybe it was a bit obvious that Boston would take game 7 at home in a league where referees are — fairly — criticized for questionable, league-friendly calls.

Also, Kevin Garnett's dirty play these playoffs has to stop. I have no clue why he hasn't been suspended. David Stern needs to pull his head out of his ass and actually watch what is happening. For the second time in series, KG throw an elbow at Zaza Pachulia. It is downright filthy and dispicable that an elite player would stoop so low. I honestly would've expected a bit from a guy who was an alleged MVP candidate. I'm glad he didn't win because MVPs are better than that.

Only in Canada

2008-05-02T00:15:00.000-04:00

The Canadian Football League has stepped it up in terms of ridiculous rulings in a desperate attempt to keep up with their Canadian brethren — the NHL. But this could be a landmark in stupidity we're looking at. What happened prior the CFL draft is even worse than the NHL changing a rule MID-PLAYOFFS. It's that bad.

Now, following in the NFL's and NBA's footsteps of stripping teams of first round picks for cheating (See: SpyGate), when the league found out that the Montreal Alouettes had violated salary cap rules by going over, the looked to punish them. Here's where the problem and stupidity comes in.

Montreal had traded away their pick to Hamilton before the draft.

Now common sense would tell you that Hamilton is not the team that the league was trying to punish for breaking a rule, therefore they could keep the pick since they traded for it before it was stripped. No. Hamilton lost the pick.

I could go on an angry rambling about how dumb this league is but, the way I see it, why complain about a minor league football organization. It's not like any of the guys could compete in the NFL.

Coach of the year eh?

2008-04-30T00:37:00.000-04:00

Let me just say this before I start complaining: Congratulations Byron Scott, you did a great job coaching the Hornets this season and are quite deserving of the Coach Of The Year award.

Now, does he honestly deserve it? There were a ton of great coaches this season. Greg Popovich did a great job while missing at least one of his big three for parts of the season and dealing with his roster aging. As much as I dislike Mike D’Antoni, having to change his team’s style of play while still maintaining position in the West gets him some kudos. Nate McMillan did an amazing job with a team that had been written off before the season started – even if the Blazers petered out. And let’s not forget that Phil Jackson won the West with Kobe, almost a half season with Gasol, and a roster full of “not that good”
players.

That’s right, absolutely no love for Doc Rivers. We know that it’s KG coaching that team.

The COTY award too often goes to coaches who are simply at the helm of teams that had a tremendous turnaround from the previous season. Look at last year’s winner, Sam Mitchell of the Raptors. The only reason he kept his job because the media looked past the roster overhaul and saw a big win-total jump. Now, I’d hardly be surprised if Sam was fired after another first round exit.

How would my ballot have looked you ask? D’Antoni would be third, Scott would be second and Phil Jackson would be first. Did you know that would be the Zen Masters second COTY award? How does a guy with nine – NINE – NBA championships win the coach of the year award only once? A tad ridiculous, don’t you think?

Isiah Thomas gets the comedic vote and a landslide victory.

Two awards in one day?

2008-04-29T11:31:00.000-04:00

Sure it may not have been completely official, but the NBA pretty much announced two of its regular season awards in one day. After announcing the Magic's Hedo Turkoglu had won the Most Improved Player award, word started spreading that the Hornet's Byron Scott would be the coach of the year winner.

Turkoglu played amazing this season and was a huge reason why Orlando won their division. He may not be the best player on his team but still was an integral part of the Magic's lineup. He also had big shoes to fill after Grant Hill's departure. Nobody took as big of a leap talent-wise as Turk did.

As for coach of the year — to be formally announced today — Scott is a good choice. He helped turn around the Hornets and coached them to second place in the hardcore West. He may have had Chris Paul running the floor but he didn't have as much depth up front as I thought they did going into the season.

I would really like to know who does the voting for some of the NBA awards as well. It is apparently by a panel of sports writers across North America but some votes are just too dumb to have been cast by people who follow the sport for a living.

Honestly, who could possibly think that Shaquille O'Neal was the second most improved player this year? What an idiot. Oh, there were other questionable votes too: LeBron James, while steadily improving on his greatness, should not be getting a first place vote. Al Jefferson falls somewhat into the same category. Giving Monta Ellis some votes is kind of questionable considering he won the award last year. Come on, most improved in the entire league twice in a row? Andrew Bynum greatly improved but was injured for half the season.

Personally, I think that Hedo deserved it and I would have given the second place vote to Jose Calderon while David West would get my third place vote.

What an NFL weekend

2008-04-28T00:29:00.000-04:00

Sure the draft went down on Saturday and Sunday but there is a much more pressing subject that needs to be brought up. Brett Favre on the cover of Madden 09? This can mean one of two things: Either somebody thinks No. 4 is coming back this season or this is a good homage to a great quarterback who was one of Madden's boys forever. If the first scenario is the case, somebody should have told the Packers before they drafted Chad Henne. And we can all look forward to a lot of jokes along the lines of Favre never throwing another touchdown after getting the cursed cover.

As for my draft thoughts:

Picking Chris Long second makes sense for the Rams. If they had taken Glenn Dorsey there, Adam Carricker would have to switch positions again. Putting Long outside and having the former Cornhusker inside makes the most sense.

You heard it here first, Matt Ryan is going to be a dud in Atlanta. I can't wait to see the mocks three years from now with the Falcons taking another "stud" QB with a high pick. Either that or D.J. Shockley will have stepped it up by then.

I really hope nobody was shocked that the Raiders took Darren McFadden. It was out there from every insider for weeks now.

The Jets taking Vernon Gholston ahead of the Patriots is more than just a spite pick. Eric Mangini is going to love that guy.

Picking Felix Jones over the higher-ranked Rashard Mendenhall looks risky for the Cowboys. The clincher for Jones had to have been an acceptance of a supporting role to Marion Barber. Remember, Jones split time with McFadden at Arkansas.

And as for Mr. Irrelevant, David Vobora, an outside linebacker for Idaho, was the lucky guy taken last in the draft. Vobora was drafted with the 45th pick of the seventh round — 252nd overall — and will go down in history as a trivia answer. Congratulations buddy.

The end is near

2008-04-25T00:04:00.000-04:00

It's the beginning of the end for a few things in the NFL. SpyGate may finally be resolved now that Matt Walsh is going to come forward and talk to the league and possibly produce the tape of the Rams' final walkthrough. This had better be worth the wait but after hearing what his demands were to talk — assurance that the Patriots will not sue him and a free flight to New York — it has to be something big and juicy. Why else would he want immunity if there was nothing that could get him in legal trouble?

Commissioner Goodell has also stated that if Walsh can produce evidence of the Patriots further cheating, New England is going to be hit by more fines and levies. If their first penalty was any indication of how serious this "crime" is, the Patriots should get ready for a huge blow.

And, what we, as sports fans, are all looking forward to ending is the millions of mock drafts that flood the internet this time of the year. How many different opinions of what *might* happen do we need? One per publication is about as much I need.

Then, even when it's all over, we'll be mowed down by NBA draft mocks.

NFL Trade mania

2008-04-24T00:46:00.000-04:00

Strip club owners in the Dallas-Fort Worth area should be either jumping for joy or cowering in fear today. Pacman Jones is a Cowboy. According to ESPN and The Associated Press, the Cowboys and Titans came to an agreement on a deal yesterday but the paperwork on it won't be filed with the league office until today. This addresses needs for both teams; Dallas gets a very good corner to flank Terrence Newman while the Titans get rid of Pacman. Now the only hurdle for Dallas is getting Jones reinstated.

The Chiefs ensured they had enough picks early in the draft to help their ongoing rebuilding cause by dealing away franchise defensive end Jared Allen to Minnesota. This move gives the Vikes a very good shot at winning the NFC North — which may be quite easy with Favre "retired" — and maybe even win 10-12 games next season. Many teams are going to be having fits trying to block the defensive line of Minny that already had two Pro Bowlers before landing Allen. They'll just have to see how far Adrian Peterson can carry them.

There's also some non-trade mania heating up:

Cincinnati has told Chad Johnson that he's not getting dealt and may be sitting out this season. Looks like opening his mouth severely back-fired for Ocho Cinco. The Bengals may be painting themselves into a corner as well; turning down a trade off from the Redskins that would have netted two first-round picks could really hurt in the long run.

Another receiver the 'Skins tried and failed to pull in was Arizona's Anquan Boldin who's a bit bitter over his contract situation. The Cardinals may have turned down Washington's advance but if Philly keeps on dangling surplus corner Lito Sheppard we could have a swap on the board.

Some quick April ramblings

2008-04-23T00:54:00.001-04:00

Jake Long's going to be the first-overall pick on Saturday in the NFL draft. Moves like these (signing no. 1 picks before the draft) takes all the suspension and anticipation out seeing the commissioner walk to the podium. The least the could do is negotiate a deal and keep it quiet.

The Seahawks did the right thing by cutting Shaun Alexander. If you watched him at all last season, you could tell he wasn't the same back that ran all the way to a touchdown record and a Madden cover shot. So is this the worst case of the Madden jinx yet?

The Sharks are lucky Jeremy Roenick didn't retire last summer. His performance in game 7 last night was off the hook and a huge reason why San Jose won.

The NHL lost out on a ton of ratings by seeing Alex Ovechkin and his Capitals lose. Had Washington beaten the Flyers, Alex the Great would have been facing off of with Sid the Kid in round two. Hockey could have gained a lot more fans watching those two go at it.

Looks like C.C. Sabathia reads this blog. He finally stepped up his game and got back to his winning ways last night. Now, I'm just going to have to wait to see if he can keep up this form against non-Royals.

The Raptors are outmatched by the Magic. They can win one game but I'd doubt if they can take two. That might have been the worst play I've ever seen drawn up to end a game last night.

The Suns had better start turning up the Heat on the Spurs if they don't want to make an early exit. They have to play as hard as they did in game one opposed to how the started to fade down the stretch in game two if this series is going to live up to its billing.

And congratulations to Jay-Z and Beyonce for finally getting married. Those two have been together for what? like ten years?

Lucky Game 7s

2008-04-22T00:24:00.000-04:00

It's starting to look like the only thing that the NHL has going for it is playoff game sevens. No league can build up to head more the NHL, not the NBA and not Major League Baseball; that's right, hockey actually wins at something.

The thing that makes an NHL game seven that much better than the rest of series-style playoff sports is the physicality of the game. In Basketball, you have intense matchups — some one-on-one throughout the series — but if you were to hit a guy, inflict some physicality, you'd be called for a foul. In baseball, there's no physicality except occasional dustups that are nothing special and series are more based on managing strategy than the other sports.

This is especially the case when it comes to one of the longest-running rivalries in sports like the Montreal Canadiens and the Boston Bruins. And, in a surprisingly predictable turn of events, the Canadiens put the beat down on Boston 5-0.
The rivalry will continue with the same result for decades.

Tonight, the lucky fans of hockey get two more game sevens. First Alex Ovechkin — the most electric player in the game — and his Capitals face off with the rough and tumble Flyers who are well on their way to getting back their image of low-life goons. Then, after east coast fans will probably be asleep, the Flames try to take down everyone's chic choice to win it all, San Jose.

And for the record, I'll only be watching because I've got work.

A quick look at the NBA's game 1s

2008-04-21T12:36:00.001-04:00

There’s a few things you should be surprised by after this weekend’s NBA playoff opening games. The top seeds (Lakers and Celtics) rolled through their opponents. Orlando didn’t have too tough of a time with the Raptors while Dwight Howard put up a 25-22 game. And San Antonio and Phoenix played a great game that went into double OT before the Spurs made the Suns set.

Then there were some surprises. Philadelphia, who has looked frisky throughout the season, went into Detroit and beat a talented, deep team in a very close game. I don’t think there’s been this much happiness or optimism for Sixer fans since their finals appearance when Iverson was still carrying them. It surprised me that a team that people had started to write off - even if they were only a game out of first place – the Hornets, took it to the Mavs like they did. Maybe playoff experience and coaching matchups don’t matter that much.

One quick case of surprising some: LeBron and the Cavs beat the Wizards. A lot of people took the Wizards to win this series despite Cleveland having the best player (and not much else). We’ll have to see if King James can keep up the winning ways against a deep opponent.

And in case you’re one of the few people who care about who the Lakers play next round, the Jazz beat the Rockets in game 1.

Now we’ll see how every adapts to their opponents.

The playoffs are here!

2008-04-18T00:11:00.001-04:00

Now that the whole mess of teams near 50 wins has been sorted out in the West, we finally know what the match-ups are for the only conference that really matters in the NBA. You could argue that the Celtics and the Pistons have a chance to come out of the East and bring some noise, but who are we kidding here? The only chance they really have is the eventual Western champion getting banged up on the way to the finals.

First, let's just bang out some unimportant East predictions so they're out of the way.

Celtics vs. Hawks: Boston sweeps Atlanta with little resistance.
Pistons vs. 76ers: Philly is better than you think but won't hold up Detroit's march onwards. Detroit in 5.
Magic vs. Raptors: Matchup-wise, Toronto may have an advantage, but I really can't see them winning this series. Orlando in 7.
Cavaliers vs. Wizards: Is actually the Wizards vs. LeBron and i'd still take that one man over the whole Washington team (Do you think the league would let King James get bounced early?). LeBron in 6.

Heading out West, where some of the best basketball in many years will be played:

Lakers vs. Nuggets
The Nuggets look so good on paper because of their big names but facing the Lakers in the playoffs when Kobe Bryant is around is a tough task. The Nuggets are not nearly mentally focused enough to take down the West's top dog. And seriously, do you really expect an 8-over-1 upset two years in a row? Lakers in 4 although Denver could steal a game.

Hornets vs. Mavericks
The upset that everyone is going to pick. Does that really make it that much of an upset any more? Dirk and the Mavs have looked great recently and are rolling heading into the post-season. I see a lack of playoff experience ultimately killing the Hornets. Dallas in 7.

Spurs vs. Suns
Any NBA fan's dream. The Suns traded for Shaq simply so they could beat the Spurs playoff time. Now they have to prove that move paid off. The Spurs also are out to prove they still have since doubters have been riding them all season. Amare Stoudemire has been an absolute force since the Shaq trade and will cause problems. But you also have to count in that the Suns have no one capable of guarding Manu Ginobili. In the end, whichever team can turn the "it" more will take the series. I think it's the Spurs in 7.

Jazz vs. Rockets
The least appealing matchup in the first round and whoever takes this series is going to just be fodder for the Lakers — who may have Andrew Bynum back at that time. Utah is a great team at home and will ride the Rockets there while taking at least one on the road. Jazz in 5.

I'll call the second round matchups when I see them, simply because the Spurs-Suns series will impact the entire playoffs. But if I was calling it now, I would have the Lakers beating the Pistons in 5 games.

What did I do to deserve this?

2008-04-17T01:41:00.000-04:00

I don't know how it happens, but it seems that every year I end up drafting a guy to my fantasy baseball team who should be good, but proceeds to tank awfully. This year, C.C. Sabathia is killing me.

In three starts — including a 13-2 loss to the underachieving Tigers last night — Sabathia is 0-3 with an ERA of 13.50 and a WHIP of over 2.50. He's struck out 14 batters while also walking 14. Do those sound like the numbers of a contender's ace?

How a pitcher coming off of a Cy Young award winning season goes into the gutter so quickly and sharply is a mystery to the universe. It's not like he's battling injuries either, no such concerns have risen on that front.

Even worse, his value was highly inflated because he's in a contract year! This is the season where he was supposed to be at his best and earn a nine-figure deal from (most likely) New York. They probably had a pin-striped No. 52 already made up for him.

C.C. should give fellow hefty pitcher / former A.L. Cy Young winner Bartolo Colon a call and ask him how his story went along. Colon, who's now a minor leaguer for the Red Sox is hoping he can crack Boston's rotation one day. His best chance may be through injury troubles though. Sabathia had better get back on track fast or it may not just be fantasy teams that are passing him over.

Sports debate: TV vs. Live

2008-04-16T03:48:00.000-04:00

Having recently attended a major league baseball game, a thought came to mind: Is baseball the only sport where it might be beneficial to stay at home rather than go out to the ballpark? Out of the big North American leagues , it probably i,s which is a sad statement for a great sport.

Let's break down the sports that make up the front pages of your daily sports section — with one omission: Golf. But I'll get to that later. Also, I'm judging by my own experience having watched games from reasonable, affordable seats, not the MSG Spike Lee court-side special.

Football: There is nothing better than seeing a game of NFL football live. The experience of watching the game unfold combined with the elements of being outdoors and the "socially lubricated" fans that surround you make football the best sport there to get out to. This is probably the reason why nearly every game sells out, regardless of where you are. How do you know it's sold out? Because if it isn't, you can't even watch it on television because it will be blacked out in the area.

A game at the stadium even has most of the benefits that television would provide (replays, out-of-town updates) as well as eliminating potentially annoying commentary. And if you want commentary, bring along a radio.

Basketball: A great arena sport to watch live. Especially when the stars come out to shine. Watching Kobe Bryant play anywhere is a treat and worth more than the price of admission. Again, you lose out on annoying commentators and still have updates on televisions around the arena. But the big gain is that instead of commercials during TV timeouts, you get cheerleaders or a chance to grab another beer.

Hockey: Pretty much the same benefits as basketball, but colder. While rinks are kept at a reasonable temperature, it can get chilly for those not used to it. The NHL is fast-paced enough to be more entertaining live but is also viable to watch on TV (especially in hi-definition if you have it). The biggest benefit of watching hockey live is the lack of commentators. The NHL somehow managed to employ the worst commentators out of all sports. Watching a hockey game while listening to the commentators will, most of the time, amount to being bashed with over-the-top homerism, severely slanted points of view, people yelling points for no good reason and former players or coaches talking who are about as smart as the pucks they had played with.

Baseball: I'm a huge fan of baseball and avid supporter of the game, but even I got bored when at the game last week. This wasn't a snoozer either with a 9-7 score and several dingers. But sometimes a guy has to change the channel and sometimes a guy has to drink past the 7th inning (cut off time at most stadiums). On television, you get a better view of the field and a superior view of pitches. There is no way you can get a better angle at a pitcher’s delivery or the ball coming in than on TV. That is, unless you’re one of those goofs who bring binoculars and a glove to the game when you’re 45-years-old.

As for the fringe sports:

Autos: If you're a fan of racing — I'm not — you're going to enjoy cars going around in a circle (NASCAR) and also get to see the wrecks first-hand. But all that noise and a good view of only a portion of the track does not sound appealing to this sports fan. When I do watch races, I like to know the information I gain from TV.

Lacrosse: Nearly a combination of UFC and Hockey. Watching guys pummel each other is a great way to spend a night if you're in a city with a NLL franchise.

Golf: Has to be the worst spectator I can think of. Watching guys either tee off or putt will not draw a casual fan. That casual fan would more than likely rather be playing 18 holes than watching an event on his day off.

What's wrong with the NHL: Apr. 08 edition

2008-04-15T01:13:00.001-04:00

How a league changes a rule any time during a season, let alone in the PLAYOFFS, like they are thinking about doing now is a reason for outrage. Especially when this new rule contradicts what the league has been trying to accomplish (increase scoring). And worst of all it can be argued that this rule change is only in the fast-track because it "victimized" a great, top-tier player and it was perpetrated by one of the sports biggest "villains."

Let me set the scene for you: With the Rangers on a power play against the Devils, New York's super-pest did what any coach would want a player to do in front of the net, screen the goalie — in this case, Martin Brodeur, a future hall of famer. What Avery did though, instead of the conventional stand-in-front, watch-the-play-develop style you would normally see, is face Brodeur as if he was guarding him basketball style. Avery would wave his hands and stick in Marty's face without touching him, obviously taking the Devils netminder's mind off of the puck. The play resulted in a goal that Avery tucked in while in front of the net and then was warned by officials he would get a penalty if he tried that sort of antics again.

Now, I don't see what was wrong with the play — which is soon to called under the umbrella of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties. I think it was a great, innovative idea. If you have no qualms with about being hit in back with a potential shot, you should be allowed to face-guard goalies.

Netminders have gotten away with cross-checking, slashing and abusing opposing players in front of their creases for far too long. It's absolutely preposterous that —during the playoffs — a rule is being added because a villian thought up a sound idea.

And, finally, why the hell wasn't there a Devils defenceman around to clear out Avery? That may be the worst part of all of this.

This is all yet another reason why the NHL is dumb.

A Yankees-Red Sox filled weekend

2008-04-14T01:04:00.001-04:00

With the two teams duking it out in the series rubber-match last night at Fenway, there was a more interesting story developing in New York, rather underneath the new Yankee Stadium. It turns out that a construction worker — and member of Red Sox Nation — tried to curse the new field by planting a David Ortiz jersey in the cement foundation. After hearing reports of this and getting tips on its whereabouts, workers promptly jack hammered it out to remove any potential curse. They even turned this lame publicity stunt around and donated the tattered (from the jackhammers) jersey to a charity for a possible auction. Who would've thought the "Evil Empire" would have a heart?

As for the construction worker, he may be staring down the barrel of a lawsuit from the Yankees’ empire for such negligence. This guy had better not show his face around the Bronx any time soon or he may not walk out looking so pretty.

In the game, I have no idea how these two teams can prolong a nine-inning game like they do. While it is understandable that games with higher scores tend to go longer than pitching duels, four hours for a game is a reason why casual fans get turned off of baseball. The Red Sox were able to hold on and win despite an attempt at a comeback by the Yanks after Phil Hughes looked unspectacular again.

And hey, what's wrong with Big Papi? He is certainly not himself so far this season despite having off-season surgery to correct his ailing knee. In fact, he was scratched from the starting lineup last night to get some work in with the Sox hitting coach, Dave Magadan. Ortiz has a very un-Big Papi like .070 batting average – going three-for-43 this season, even if one of those three was a home run. It's so bad that J.D. Drew is a more viable option for the three-hole in the lineup and that Alex Cora, a usual target of offence-related jokes, has as many hits as Ortiz, but in only three at bats. Now, being a Red Sox Nation hater, I couldn't be more pleased by this development, but then again, being a human being and a baseball fan, it's kind of sad seeing a big name in the game struggle mightily.

Remember folks, you have to care to hate.

The Wild West

2008-04-11T23:47:00.001-04:00

After the Nuggets victory over the Warriors on Thursday night, 2008's playoff teams are pretty much set in the NBA. Golden State is now one game out of eighth place but since Denver holds the tie-breaker, Golden State would have to finish a win up on them. Each team has three games remaining each but the odds of the Warriors winning all three while Denver only takes one seems a bit out of reach. The Nuggets do have a tougher schedule with Utah, Houston and Memphis remaining while the Warriors have the Clips, Suns and Seattle.

Now, the seeding is a huge jumble in the West. While New Orleans is looking like the King of the Mountain, four teams in the one and a half to two and a half games out. The last three games on the schedule are going to be very interesting seeing how a team like the Lakers could potentially drop from second in the conference to sixth. Utah seems to be the luckiest team in all of this, firmly locked into the fourth spot.

In the East, where nobody really cares, the Hawks have a two game lead on Indiana, seemingly clinching the right to be swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round.

Free the cheap seats!

2008-04-10T01:19:00.000-04:00

It looks like the Toronto Blue Jays are on the road to eliminating their $2 Tuesdays offer and it's a crying shame. The promotion that lets fans buy tickets for the upper deck as well as the 200-level outfield seats for only two bucks is in danger of going the way of the dodo because some fans apparently can't hold their liquor very well. That and they're mistaking America's pass-time (Baseball) for Canada's game (the goon sport of hockey). Yep, mix alcohol and idiots with a lack of security and entertainment that is not so entertaining at times and you get fights. A lot of them too. Several broke out at Tuesday night 9-8 loss to Oakland before the flow of beer was cut off and security was positioned at every gate.

The first step that the Jays are taking is eliminating alcohol service in the entire upper bowl. Are you serious? Do they not realize that a large percentage of baseball fans may need a beer or two to enjoy the game? Also, not everyone who drinks gets belligerent after a few cold ones.

This decision may even hurt the bottom line for the organization. How much revenue do baseball clubs — or stadiums in general — make off of their over-priced beer. The fact that spectators are still willing to pay the exorbitant prices should be evidence enough that fans need a beer to loosen up.

It is not very hard to see this decision coming back to bit the Jays and any other team that tries ban alcohol. A lot of casual fans will be scared away.

Memphis blows it

2008-04-08T01:02:00.001-04:00

I don't know how you a) win 38 games in a season and b) get to the national championship game and c) have a two point lead with 10-point-something seconds left while shooting free throws and lose a game. Memphis deserved to lose the game. Any team that cannot hit game-clinching free throws should not be a national champion. Even worse, after bricking two free throws, they were able to get the offensive rebound and draw another foul! And the consensus number 2 pick in the coming NBA draft could only hit one of his two tries. I would be remembering that sequence if I drafted Derrick Rose.

Then the Jayhawks Most Outstanding Player, Mario Chalmers, nailed a death-defying three to tie the game and send it to overtime — where Memphis never had a chance. Chalmers' shot, with two Tigers in his face, was about as clutch as you can get. Nearly Kobe- or LeBron-esque.

Now, in retrospect, despite the absence of a cinderella story or even a 2- or 3-seed making it into the championship game or even the Final Four, the fact that two number one seeds duked it out in the final makes both the tournament and especially pools, somewhat more interesting. I had figured it was going to boring for poolies, seeing that many experienced entrants would not go against history and taking four number 1s. But the most exciting part about your pool is now "who took the right 1s?" Anybody who wanted to go against the masses and picked against UCLA and UNC is obviously raking in the dividends now.

The other playoffs

2008-04-07T01:35:00.000-04:00

While every sports fan waits in anticipation for the NBA playoffs to start, another sport is on the brink of starting their post-season. That's right, the red-headed step child of the sporting world, the NHL, is about to start its extended run towards the Stanley Cup.

So who're the favourites? Well you can start with last year's champs, the Ducks of Anaheim who have the fourth seed in the West but will have a tough matchup in the second round with the Red Wings — the best team in the league — if all four top seeds roll.

An upset wouldn't be out of the question as Colorado has a good chance of knocking off Minnesota and the Sharks could choke against Calgary if the Flames catch fire.

In the East, Washington went from the ninth-seed to the three seed with one win and will meet the up-and-down Flyers. It will be interesting to see who Philly sends out to try to injure Alex Ovechkin.

The struggling Senators who will be without their captain, Daniel Alfredsson and centre Mike Fisher for at least the first round and have to face Sid the Kid and Malkin in Pittsburgh. Look for an easy series for the Penguins.

The Canadiens are the first seed and deep enough to give a lot of teams fits. A concern about Montreal is that they're leaning on a rookie goaltender, Carey Price, to carry them.

As for the poor saps who weren't good enough to crack the NHL's top-16 teams, at least the draft lottery is today.