|
Sports
The baseball season, for both Yankees and Mets fans, is over. The New York Yankees, after a rough start, made the playoffs for the 12th consonsecutive year under Joe Torre as the AL Wild Card. However, they ran into a young, tough Cleveland team that shut them down with great pitching, clutch two-out hitting, and Canadian Soldiers. The latter contributed to the demise of Joba Chamberlin in Game 2, with the Yanks clinging to a 1-0 lead, as much as the lack of offense. Joba quickly developed into a sure-bet after a late-season call-up, but the burly kid with the 100mph fastball was no match for the bugs. Staff ace Chien Ming Wang got slapped around by the Tribe in his two forgettable starts, though there were bright spots from Pettitte, Mussina, and Phil Hughes. A no-show offense did hit several solo home runs but not when they needed it most. And so the fallout now is the status of Joe Torre, plus free agents Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and the opt-out potential of A Rod. If Joe goes, do they? After a decade of Joe Cool, do they need a new voice, a new spark? The manager can't be faulted when the team fails to hit, like Hideki Matsui and Derek Jeter hitting 100 points below their average. Nor is the manager on the hill throwing BP to a hot Indians lineup. However, in George Steinbrenner's dysfunctional kingdom, losing will not be tolerated. So heads will unfortunately roll. Most likely Torre's and a coach or two. Which leads us to ask who will replace Torre? Don Mattingly is the favorite yet Joe Girardi is a close second. The talk of Tony LaRussa coming to the Yanks is nonsense- his skin is way too thin to handle the day-to-day grind of the NY media. If the players respond that they support Torre now more than ever, Torre may indeed return. The New York Mets epic collapse in the NL East stunned baseball fans across the country. Their bullpen blew countless leads, let close games get quickly out of control, and sabotaged their chances for a NL title. There was nobody Willie Randolph could use to stop the bleeding. It was contagious. And it affected the overall pysche of the team. As the final straw, the last game of the year saw future Hall of Famer Tom Glavine self-distruct on the mound then nonchalantly respond in the media that it was a lesson he could learn from! Is he kidding? He just stunk up Shea with the worst outing of his career in one of the biggest games of his career and he said that? I lost respect for Glavine that day. Fortunately, GM Omar Minaya came out almost immdiately in support of Willie Randolph. He did the best he could, with what he had since Minaya didn't get him much help at the trading deadline. When injuries hit the team (Delgado, LoDuca, El Duque again) Minaya responded with 2B Luis Castillo. They replaced hitting coach Rick Down with HoJo and brought in Rickey Henderson as a coach to mentor Jose Reyes. That experiment failed as Reyes' 2nd half was awful. Pitchers and catchers report in 125 days. The NY Rangers cashed in with free agents Scott Gomez and Chris Drury during the off-season and now are poised to challenge for the Stanley Cup. Add them to an already solid team with Jaromir Jagr, Henrik Lundqvist, Brendan Shanahan and fiesty Sean Avery, the Broadway Blueshirts are ready to take on the NJ Devils as the elite team in the NHL Eastern Conference. The Devils, well... they have another new coach, Patrik Elias, and Brian Gionta. They lost Gomez to their arch-rivals and D Brian Rafalski to Detroit. Smells like rebuilding in the new Prudential Center. The NY Giants and NY Jets are off to lackluster starts at the quarter mark in the NFL. The G Men got whipped early then won three straight vs Washington, Philadelphia, and the Jets. DE Osi Umenyiora had a monster game vs the Eagles with nine sacks. That helps makes everything better. QB Eli Manning has shown flashes of improvement however his wide-outs continue to drop too many passes. Burress and Shockey sabotage momentum every time they drop a pass that hits them in the hands. It boggles the mind. RB Derrick Ward stepped up nicely for Brandon Jacobs, and the much-maligned secondary has also made strides recently. The Jets made more news off the field vs New England with Spy Gate than they have on it. Their running game is MIA, QB Chad Pennington is on borrowed time as the starter, and the defense can't stop anyone, except Miami. Looks like a long year for wonderkind Eric Mangini. Finally, I must comment on the Patriots- they are awesome, and the Bolts/Saints/Bears have suffered hangovers from last year's successes. Green Bay is a nice surprise, and the rash of injuries to QBs has forced 44-year-old Vinny Testaverde back into the starting lineup for Carolina. As Keith Jackson would say, Whoa Nelly!
Bottled Beer | On Tap | Beer Club | Promo Nights | Directions | Email-list About Andy's | Sports | Cast of Characters | Links | Contact Us |