tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-221514512024-03-14T03:42:06.025-04:00the 13th roundA reflection on the sports world to discuss things that we don't like, who should be held responsible, and how to fix it. Oh yea, we can talk about the positive things, as well, such as records, great games, and giving credit where it's due.Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.comBlogger105125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-48711285712838884682013-05-29T23:47:00.000-04:002013-05-29T23:47:40.648-04:00Blackhawks beat all odds to advanceOn Wednesday night, the Chicago Blackhawks showed why they are the best team in the National Hockey League.<br />
Chicago overcame a three-games-to-one series deficit as well as one of the worst calls that you will ever see that would have given them a regulation win, only to come back in overtime on a shot by Brent Seabrook that beat Red Wings' goalie Jimmy Howard and turned the United Center into sheer pandemonium.<br />
With the game tied at one and time running out, Chicago's Niklas Hjalmarsson fired what appeared to be the game-winning goal past Howard and the Madhouse on Madison erupted. But the goal was waved off by the referee along the boards near center ice after Detroit's Kyle Quincy sent Brandon Saad into the Red Wings' bench. Then, in the same motion, Quincy pulled Saad out of the bench and the two of them tumbled onto the ice. A split second later, Hjalmarsson beat Howard on the glove side for the apparent go-ahead goal.<br />
The Blackhawks would have the last laugh, however, and three-and-a-half minutes into overtime, Seabrook got sweet justice for Chicago and the miracle comeback was complete.<br />
Chicago now moves on to take on the defending Stanley Cup Champion Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference finals. Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-3905547214185498922013-05-27T23:41:00.001-04:002013-05-27T23:45:38.319-04:00Blackhawks force game 7 in Chicago<br />The Chicago Blackhawks fought back to force a game seven back in Chi-town on Wednesday with a 4-3 win at Joe Louis Arena on Monday night.<br />
After cruising through the regular season and thrashing the Minnesota Wild four games to one in the opening round of the Western Conference playoffs, Chicago found themselves in a precarious position as they were shut out 2-0, down three games to one, and on the brink of being ousted from the 2013 NHL playoffs.<br />
But that was Thursday night. A lot has changed since then.<br />
On Saturday night in Chicago, the Hawks came roaring back as Andrew Shaw led the way with a pair of goals en route to a 4-1 Chicago victory.<br />
The Blackhawks tried to ride that momentum Monday night in Detroit, but found themselves on the short end of a 2-1 score after two periods.<br />
Chicago came out on fire in the third, first tying the game less than a minute into the period, and then going on to score another pair of goals before the midway point of the period had been reached, taking a 4-2 edge in front of a stunned Red Wings crowd.<br />
The fourth Blackhawks' goal was scored on hockey's rarest, but most exciting of plays, the penalty shot. Michael Frolik had beaten Detroit's Carlo Colaiacovo on a breakaway, and then just as Frolik went to shoot at Red Wings' goalie Jimmy Howard, Colaiacovo slashed Frolik from behind across the hands, leading to the free shot. Frolik charged in on Howard, and then lifted a beautiful backhander over Howard's glove side to give Chicago the insurmountable 4-2 lead.<br />
The Wings refused to give up, however, and with less than a minute remaining and Howard watching from the bench, Damien Brunner took a pass from Pavel Datsyuk and deposited his fifth goal of the postseason past Blackhawks' goalie Corey Crawford to pull Detroit to within 4-3.<br />
With the Red Wings still playing with an extra attacker, Chicago iced the puck twice, but precious seconds came off of the clock and Detroit ran out of time.Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-62272745208189882852010-10-03T21:59:00.005-04:002010-10-03T22:19:34.182-04:00Only Giants Defense Shines in First Half<div align="justify"><strong>In one half of play in Monday night's game between the New York Giants and the Chicago Bears, the Giants were miserable on two of three sides of the football.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Luckily for them, there are three sides to football teams: offense, defense, and special teams.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>New York has been miserable on both offense and special teams (if you can call them that), as there has been horrible punting, a missed field goal (from less than 30 yards), and a very stagnant offense that has no answer for Chicago defensive end Julius Peppers.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Yet, on defense, New York can do no wrong. They have set an NFL record by sacking Bears quarterback Jay Cutler nine times, and until the final two minutes of the half, Chicago had a dismal 11 yards of total offense.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>The Giants should be leading this game by a score of about 21-0 right now, but instead they lead by a mere 3-0, which means that thet are playing with fire. Everyone knows that in most sports, if you let a team hang around long enough on the scoreboard, it often comes back to bite you...right in the win column.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Tom Coughlin et al better come up with some kind of offensive game plan so that this defensive effort doesn't go to waste.</strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-80082298516954592832010-09-19T23:08:00.002-04:002010-09-19T23:29:17.782-04:00Giants' Line Woes Continue<div align="justify"><strong>Problems continue to hinder the New York Giants on both sides of the football.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>After the Colts lost in Houston last week, I knew that the Giants were walking into a lions' den this week at Lucas Oil Stadium.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Unfortunately for Big Blue, I was right.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>From the outset of tonight's game, Indianapolis showed early on that they had no intentions of a repeat performance of last week.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>The Colts began the game on offense, and Peyton cranked the machine up quickly to give the Colts an early 7-0 lead.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Then Indy came out on defense and completely smothered Eli and the rest of New York's offense. Eli had no protection, and the running game could not establish anything.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>In a nutshell, that's the way that the rest of the game went, as the Colts built a huge 24-0 lead by halftime.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Nothing worked for the Giants tonight, other than a few inspirational runs by Ahmad Bradshaw.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>The offensive line could not block for either the run or the pass, as was evident by Dwight Freeney camping out in Eli's back pocket. Freeney made New York left tackle David Deihl look like a rookie.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>But Diehl was not alone, by any stretch of the imagination. The Colts came from all angles, and from both ends of the line.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Four sacks in all were totaled for the Indianapolis defense, and the Giants simply could not get any rhythm offensively.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>On defense, the news wasn't much better.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>Peyton picked apart the Giants' soft defensive backfield, carving them up for over 250 yards and three TD's.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>New York's run defense wasn't any better, as Brown and Joseph Addai combined for more than 150 on the ground.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong>So, they couldn't stop the run, the pass, or Indianapolis' defense, which all adds up to one thng: an embarrassing 38-14 loss that wasn't even that close.</strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong> </div><div align="justify"><strong></strong> </div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-61334187546533829792010-04-18T00:55:00.002-04:002010-04-18T01:24:49.623-04:00NHL Playoffs: Giddyup!<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>One of the most exciting times of year is here: the NHL playoffs.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Many of the lower-seeded teams surprised their opponents with wins in game one, but the tables have been turned in the second game of each series, as all of the losers in the first game of the series came back for game-two wins.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">In the Eastern Conference, the Devils, the Bruins, the Capitals, and the Stanley Cup-defending Champion Pittsburgh Penguins all lost their first game, only to come back to tie their series in the second game.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">In the West, the San Jose Sharks, who come into the playoffs as the No. 1-ranked team in the conference and have a history of playoff woes, lost their first game against the Colorado Avalanche, bringing back all of the doubts, but came back in the second game to tie the series at one apiece. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The Detroit Red Wings lost game 1 against the Phoenix Coyotes, but in a game that saw four goals scored in a four-minute span, won the second game to tie that series at 1-1.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Perhaps the most exciting series so far has been the L.A. Kings against the Vancouver Canucks. Both of the first two games have gone into overtime, with the Canucks winning the first game and the Kings taking the second game on a power-play goal less than five minutes into the OT.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The Chicago Black Hawks and the Nashville Predators are the final series in the west, and Nashville surprised the Hawks in the first game, with game two slated for later today.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">As an Islanders fan, I'm used to my team not making the playoffs, which leads me to root either against the Rangers or for the New Jersey Devils, or both.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The Rangers have embarassed themselves yet again by having one of the league's highest payrolls and not making the playoffs. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">This is astonishing to me. As an Islanders fan, I'm trying to cope with the idea that my owner doesn't want to spend money and is happy being in the middle of the pack and not making the post season year-in, year-out. What baffles me is how the Rangers, with their high payroll, their ability to attract the league's highest-paid players, and a goalie like Hendrik Lundqvist, can miss the playoffs as often as they do.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I'm frustrated enough because my owner refuses to keep good players (e.g., Jason Blake, Zdeno Chara, Miro Satan, Michael Peca, Ryan Smyth, Tim Connolly, just to name a few), but I can't imagine how Ranger fans feel when their team DOES spend the money but still ends up watching the playoffs on TV.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I've gone off on a tangent here, but the bottom line is the playoffs are here, and even marginal NHL fans are perched in front of their TV's to watch the excitement.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">It's going to be going on for a while, so grab a beer and kick back and enjoy the thrill.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">And go Devils!</span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-44793254145855879682010-01-28T22:17:00.005-05:002010-01-29T01:04:43.934-05:00Lee not an NBA All-Star?<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Ok, I need someone to explain something to me. Have I lost my mind, or did the NBA East suddenly come up with a plethora of power forwards that are tearing up the stat sheet?</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>As we all know, the New York Knicks are terrible. They have been breaking some of our hearts since that magical 1973 season when they won their last championship.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>With that said, how can no one be noticing the fact that as bad as they are, the Knicks have one of the best power forwards in the Eastern Conference, if not the league.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Night after night, David Lee goes on a tear. Once again, the former Florida Gator has been averaging a double-double. </strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>This season, Lee is averaging 19.6 points per game and 11.5 rebounds per game. Just what does he have to do to get the recognition that he deserves?</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>This is not the first time that I have written in his defense. I did it last year, too. </strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Even tonight, in a losing cause against the Toronto Raptors, Lee put up 29 and 18. </strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>What does this man have to do to be recognized by his peers or the league? I just don't get it.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Maybe the rest of the league needs to be watching more than LeBron and Kobe.</strong></span></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-52850548037418362082010-01-28T22:07:00.002-05:002010-01-28T22:10:37.565-05:00For the Love of the...ART!<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>To sports fans in Saratoga Springs, the name Design has been associated with boxing for two generations.<br />In the 1980’s, Sam enjoyed success in the amateur ranks in the ring, winning local matches as well as Golden Gloves bouts. For several years now, it has been Sam’s son Alex who has made the family headlines with his ring prowess.<br />Back in 2006, Alex turned his attention to a different passion: welding.<br />In his junior year of high school, Design took a B.O.C.E.S. course in welding, fell in love with the trade, and it evolved into an artistic passion.<br />Working for Charlie Van Hall of Metro Metal Recycling in Watervliet, Design was introduced to Peter Paquet, an artist that used hard steel and molten metal as his canvas. First Design helped Paquet on his projects, which are mostly large-scale steel pieces that were built not for money, but simply for Paquet’s love of the art. None of his pieces have ever been in a gallery or on display, other than outside of his Schuylerville home.<br />“I first started at BOCES at the welding class there and I wasn’t really interested in art at that time, as far as a regular job,” said Design. “And then I was doing some structural welding for somebody private in a big, huge art studio, actually, but I was just putting in the beams and stuff like that… then his friend, Peter Paquet, needed some work done, so we (he and Van Hall) were finishing up with the work there, and it kind of actually worked out so I just started working right over there (for Paquet).”<br />As for Design, his love of welding grew, as he entered and won several competitions — including one in Syracuse on the same day he was scheduled for a Golden Gloves boxing match in the same town.<br />First, there was a local competition comprised of fellow Saratoga B.O.C.E.S. students. After winning that, he went on to win a regional competition in Schenectady before taking the state title and a trip to the national competition as New York State’s representative in Kansas City.<br />“I finished in the middle of the pack,” Design said about the Kansas City trip. “There’s some tough competition out there…but it was really nice because I got a free trip, a free hotel room, free food, everything. It was definitely a lot of fun.”<br />Incidentally, he won the Golden Gloves Championship in Syracuse, as well.<br />Since working under the tutelege of Paquet until he passed away several months ago, Design has gone on his own, working at his shop behind his house, where he has already found success as an artist.<br />His shop is adequately stocked with steel and equipment, and sitting on top of one of his racks of steel he displays one piece that is a take on a medieval warrior’s helmet that weighs in at approximately 15 pounds, and has some quite dangerous points to it.<br />Sitting on the floor against another wall is another helmet that is currently a work in progress, although this one is much larger and will eventually sit atop a steel pole. On one of his workbenches sits a partial lamp that is also in progress, and upon another is a three-foot wide propeller that he fabricated. Design is still not sure what will become of the propeller, which looks as if it was rescued from the aft end of an old ship, but he is sure that it will find a home somewhere in one of his designs.<br />Design’s work has been on display at the House of Creative Soul, a fairly new art gallery located on Van Dam Street, where he has already sold a couple of his pieces at one of the gallery shows, and still has several pieces on display, including the large steel sculpture that sits outside the gallery’s door. He seems to have already developed a signature of his work, as he incorporates a steel sphere in nearly all of his works.<br />“Searing Bliss” is Design’s interpretation of fire, as the pieces in the sculpture have bronzed look to them, and the shapes are reminiscent of flames. It’s a beautiful piece of art.<br />“I thought of that (the name) because of the color that it ended up going, and all of these shapes are similar to shapes of fire, so it’s pretty dynamic.”<br />On the configuration that sits outside the gallery, which is still unnamed, two pieces of curved steel balance perfectly, with a steel sphere sitting between the two semi-circular fragments. The whole structure sits atop a base that consists of copper and steel, and the entire upper portion of the sculpture rotates.<br />Design enjoys his craft, but is also appreciative of the fact that others may be interested in something that he does outside of the ring.<br />“I like selling them. The idea that somebody would be interested enough to buy it is pretty nice.”<br />As much as he enjoys putting on the welding shield, however, Design has not left the ring. He believes that his next fight will be within the next couple of months.<br />The House of Creative Soul is located at 38 Van Dam Street.</strong></span></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-59555936065192915042009-11-02T20:35:00.009-05:002009-11-02T21:50:03.285-05:00Trying to Catch Up<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">I haven't been writing much lately, as I have been very busy with both of my jobs over the last couple of weeks, so this piece is just going to be a little catching-up segment.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">There has been so much going on, from the Giants playing like crap for three straight weeeks, the start to the Islanders and the Knicks seasons, and the Yankees going for their 27th World Championship.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The problem that the Giants have right now is very simple. Although the offense looked dismal in the first half against the Eagles yesterday, the real issue is the defense. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">What you have to understand is that New York lost two starters in its defensive backfield within the first two weeks of the season. I'm not making excuses for them, just hear me out.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The reason that the Giants got to 5-0 is because although they were missing these players, the teams that they played were so bad that none of those teams challeneged the New York secondary. Once the Giants came up against teams with decent offenses, such as the Saints, Cardinals, and Eagles, they were then playing against teams that could stretch the field and throw the ball downfield. That's when the Giants got in trouble.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">On offense, the line is killing them. They aren't blocking for the run, which is their staple, and everyone knows that when you can't run, you generally can't pass, unless you're using the West Coast offense.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, they're not run blocking, they're not giving Eli any time to throw, and then when they do, half of the times he makes mistakes, which is something that he really hasn't done since before the Giants went to the Super Bowl.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">As for the Islanders, they're coming around a little bit. After some disappointing losses by blowing third-period leads and losing games in overtime and the shootout, New York has taken out three first-place teams of late, and it appears that a game against the Islanders is no longer an automatic "W".</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">They have shown that they have other players that can find the back of the net besides Tavares and Moulson, and the defensive unit has stiffened.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">This team needs to keep working hard, the wins will come, and their confidence will be boosted. They just may make the playoffs this year, and if they can realize their young talent, they may even have a first-round upset in their future.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">And here's an update. The Isles have just beaten the Edmonton Oilers for their fourth straight win, 3-1.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Edmonton came into the game with a 7-6-1 record, fourth place in the Northwest Division.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Brendan Witt scored a pair of goals, Tavares had one, and Weight added two assists. Roloson got the win with 22 saves, and a good sign was New York leading in shots, 37-23.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">New York is 5-4-5 and over the .500 mark for the first time this season.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Also, here's something that may loom large come later in the season. Although the Islanders have just 5 wins, they also have just 4 regulation losses. That means that in all of those other games, New York earned a point. There are 12 teams in the NHL right now that have more regulation losses than the Islanders. And that means that New York has (or will have at the end) more points due to less regulation losses, should the Islanders have the same amount of wins as they do. That means playoffs.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">On to the Knicks. This won't take long. They suck. Period. Not only have they lost their first three games, but those losses include an opening-night losst at Miami, followed by overtime losses at Charlotte and then in their home opener against the 76ers.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Tonight they are hosting New Orleans. They're winning right now, but we'll see when they blow it.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Now, for the best news amongst all of this mess, the Yankees.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">New York did a phenominal job of handling Minnesota and Anaheim in the first two rounds of postseason action, and they now have a 3-1 lead in the World Series against the defending World Champion Philadelphia Phillies.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Phillies starter Cliff Lee was absolutely unhittable in Game 1 of the Series, but the Yanks got an early run off of him in the first inning tonight.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Things sren't looking real smooth for the Bronx Bombers right now, as they trail 4-1 in the bottom of the third and Burnett is being lifted, but there's a long game to go, and the New York bats aren't even warm yet.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">And, if indeed they never do catch up to Lee tonight, think about what lies ahead. The Yankees come back home to New York for Game 6, and their starting pitcher will be Andy Pettite, who is 5-0 lifetime in games when the Yankees have three wins in a series. So, I'm not sweating anything right now.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">So much for my "little" catching-up segment.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"></div><div align="justify"></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-35976210191520399432009-10-31T21:55:00.004-04:002009-11-02T20:32:38.207-05:00Isles Showing Signs of Life<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">OK, Islanders fans, cheer up. New York got off to a disappointing start of the 2009-10 season, blowing several third-period leads and losing games either in overtime or in the shootout, but things are starting to change.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Those five overtime losses, which give me a pain in my heart, may turn out to be big points, and the Islanders have only built on those tough losses and are making a HUGE noise in the NHL.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">After losing in overtime to Washington and at Montreal, New York has answered in a tremendous way, taking out two first-place teams and a second-place team.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">First, they beat the second-place and fiercely-rivaled Rangers 3-1, then they beat the Caps in Washington in overtime, 3-2, and now have shut out the Buffalo Sabres, who are in first place in the Northeast Division.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">And what a game the Isles played.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Where do we start? Matthew Biron earned a shutout for his 200th career win and 25th career shutout, Jeff Tambelini showed signs of scoring life, which the Islanders have been waiting for, with a hat trick, and for once, New York did not rely on all of their scoring coming from John Tavares and Matt Moulson.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Islanders look good right now, and if they stay the course, they could make life miserable for a lot of teams come playoff time.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Go Islanders.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-25782620463344596582009-10-17T21:52:00.003-04:002009-10-17T22:06:14.378-04:00Girardi the Idiot<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Baseball has some very fundamental unwritten rules when it comes to managing. One of them is that when your in a tight game, say trailing by a run or the game is tied, and you have a runner on first base and no outs, you have your batter lay down a bunt to move the runner into scoring position. Anybody who knows anything about baseball knows that. Except Yankees manager Joe Girardi.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">In the bottom of the fifth inning in tonight's game, the Yankees had not one, but two runners on base and nobody out. Melky Cabrera was at second, Jose Molina was on at first, and the batter was Derek Jeter.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The no-brainer call of the game was to have Jeter bunt the runners to second and third. But, instead, Girardi helps the Angels out by not making Jeter bunt. Jeter then promptly bounces a ball back to the pitcher, who goes to second for the 1-4-3 double play.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Jeter was shown on replay to be safe at first, and of course Girardi doesn't even come out of the dugout to argue. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">That is neither here nor there, as the point is that it should have never came to that. Girardi should have put the bunt on and prevented the double play, which he didn't, so the Yankee rally was killed, and the Angels got out of the inning.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Girardi has made many questionable calls as the Yankees manager, but this was perhaps his biggest blunder.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">It just shows, once again, how he is lacking in basic baseball knowledge. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I don't know what it is that the Yankees are so impressed about when it comes to him, but he's far from the second coming of Joe Torre.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">He's more like what the newspapers labeled Torre when he was first announced as the Yankees manager.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Girardi truly <em>is</em> the clueless Joe.</span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-4621463018381944642009-10-17T20:39:00.002-04:002009-10-17T21:31:07.449-04:00Irish Lose Tough One<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">In recent years, the University of Southern California football team has had Notre Dame in their back pockets. USC has dominated play over the last few meetings, but this year things were different.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Notre Dame played well from the start of today's game, and even tied the game at 7-7 by the end of the first quarter.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">But soon things began to go USC's way, such as some generous calls from the refs (what a surprise, you say?), and suddenly, after a couple of field goals, the Trojans held a 13-7 lead by halftime.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The two teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter to make it a respectable-looking 20-14 affair, but USC scored again to make it 27-14 with less than three minutes left in the period.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Southern Cal opened the fourth with a touchdown to extend its lead to 34-14, and it looked as though the Irish were done.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">But Notre Dame showed a lot of character in this game, and they mounted a comeback, led by quarterback Jimmy Claussen.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Just two minutes after the Trojans' score, Claussen dove into the end zone to pull the Irish to within 34-20, and with 11:13 remaining, you had to wonder if Notre Dame was actually going ot make a game out of it.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">They did, as the defense stiffened after yielding the touchdown that put USC at 34 points, and with 7:28 left, Claussen hit Golden Tate with a 15-yard pass to make it 34-27.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The game ended in quite dramatic fashion, as Notre Dame was in position to tie the game in the final minute with the ball in the Trojans' red zone, and after two incomplete passes by Claussen, the Fighting Irish were down to their final play. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weiss again put the ball in the hands of his quarterback, but again the pass was incomplete. Everyone thought that the game was over, but Weiss argued to the refs that there should have been one second left on the clock. After the play was reviewed, the refs agreed with Weiss, and Notre Dame had one last chance. On the final play, Notre Dame's wide receiver fell down in the end zone, the pass fell wide, time expired and USC escaped with the win.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, the Irish didn't beat USC again, but at least this time they had an opportunity to win in the end and have nothing to be ashamed of. And with this showing today, they will deserve a little more respect. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></strong> </div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-34229871696646212252009-10-16T23:21:00.003-04:002009-10-16T23:34:31.272-04:00Sabathia Tosses a Gem<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">In the shadows of recent Yankees' postseason woes against the Anaheim Angels, CC Sabathia pitched a beautiful game to kick off the 2009 A.L.C.S.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Sabathia did something that the Yankees bullpen desparately needs: he went eight innings, leaving no work for anyone but Rivera. That's huge for the Yankees' pitching staff.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">You need your best players to perform to win championships, and that is exactly what Sabathia did tonight for New York. In eight innings, CC surrendered just four hits and one earned run, and he struck out seven batters while walking just one. The one walk is huge, because as we all know, walks (especially of the lead-off variety) can come back to haunt you big time, especially in the postseason when you are facing the better lineups in the league.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">There were not many hits in the game on either side, as the Yanks had just 10, but, of course, leading the way was Jeter, as he, Damon, and Matsui all had two-hit games. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">But tonight was Sabathia's night. He made the Angles' hitters look foolish on many occasions, and the Yankees are going to need more nights like this if they are going to post their 27th World's Championship. </span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-4950267193397765052009-10-14T21:31:00.002-04:002009-10-14T22:45:53.462-04:00Economy or Ineptitude?<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">In the midst of tremendous economic suffering in the United States at the moment, the fallout is reaching the National Football League.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Or is it?</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">For the first time in quite some time, the NFL is having to enforce its TV blackout rule. The rule is that if you do not sell out your home game, it isn't on television in your market. This is something that happens once in a while in the NFL, but recently it is happening more and more.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">There are two reasons that we can turn to to understand why this phenomenom is taking place.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">First of all, with the cost of NFL tickets as high as they are, most people simply don't have the expendable cash to spend a couple of hundred dollars on a day at the stadium. Between ticket prices, tailgating, and food and beverages inside the stadium (and souvenirs, especially if you're taking kids to the game), right now people are finding that they're money is better spent somewhere else. Like the rent. Or gasoline for the car.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">But there is another reason which is slightly more tangible. Have you <em>seen</em> an NFL game lately? They're getting to be like college games, with their 53-3 drubbings and other scores of the like. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">If you look at the numbers, it's not hard to see why some of these teams have tickets left over on Sundays.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Nearly 1/4 of the league is unwatchable at this time. The Raiders, Chiefs, Rams, Lions, Browns, Bucs, Bills, and Titans are absolutely horrendous this season. And there are others that are on the cusp of this ineptitude.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">These eight teams that were named represent a quarter of the entire NFL. That means that at this point in time, one out of every four NFL clubs are unwatchable. That's a disgrace. The combined records for these eight miserable teams is 4-36. That's barely a 10 percent winning percentage. Not very good for a league that has boasted such parody over recent years that the two teams that played in the Super Bowl were different just about every season, especially since New England's run has ended.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">But if you look at the Super Bowl over the course of the last 10 years or so, aside from the Patriots, the teams that have gone to the big dance has changed almost annually.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">I'm not going to go into detail about how horriffic these teams are, other than to say that when the Raiders are on the schedule, it's pretty much considered a bye week, or a glorified walk-through practice. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce stated after the game this week that it didn't even seem as if Oakland was trying.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">So, chalk it up to whatever reason you want, but the NFL is in a little bit of trouble right now. Don't get me wrong, it's not like they're going bankrupt or anything, but it's not good when one out of every four teams in your league is slightly better than a college team. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">So, if the wife is nagging you to go shopping on Sunday, at least you know that if you root for one of these atrocious teams, you won't be missing much. You won't even <em>want</em> to go to the electronics department to watch the game in High-Def while she's busy shopping.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></strong> </div><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"></span></strong>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-41309260238561780962009-10-12T21:41:00.002-04:002009-10-12T22:12:40.325-04:00NFL Week 5 Review<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Week 5 of the NFL season is complete (except for the Jets-Dolphins), so let's take a look at the highs and lows.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The first high is the New York Giants. They were unmerciful against the Oakland Raiders, allowing them less than 200 yards of total offense, while the G-men piled up over 400. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">This game actually covers the best and the worst.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Giants had this game in the bag so early that Tom Coughlin pulled Eli Manning midway through the second quarter. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Giants did exactly what a top-notch NFL team is supposed to do to a miserable team like the Raiders. If Dallas expects <em>anyone </em>to take them seriously, they need to watch New York and see how it's done. They certainly did not impress anyone by having to go into overtime to beat the Chiefs, another of the league's miserable teams.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Giants ran and threw all over Oakland all day, and the defense was superb, as Justin Tuck sacked JaMarcus Russell twice and Osi Umenyiora had a down lineman's trifecta: forcing a fumble, recovering the fumble, and then taking it to the house for a touchdown. All together, Big Blue sacked Russell six times and limited him to just eight completions for 100 yards.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Minnesota and Philly romped, which was no surprise since they were playing the Rams and the Bucs, disrespectively.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Cincinnati won in surprising fashion yet again, as they won in Baltimore in the last seconds. What an unbelievable season the Cardiac Cats are having. First, they lose to the Broncos on a last-second play, and then went out and won four straight games in the last minute of the game. And how about that hit that Ray Lewis put on Senor Ochocinco? It was ugly, and it clearly showed how frustrated the Ravens defense was getting.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Atlanta won in impressive style, as they thumped the 49ers on the road. San Francisco has not been very good the last few years, but this season they have been known for their defense, as they have been one of the top defensive units in the league thus far.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Not yesterday. Matt Ryan threw for over 300 yards and a pair of TD's, and Michael Turner ran for just under 100 yards and three TD's. Good win for the Falcons.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Colts improve to 5-0, and again it was not difficult, as they were in Tennessee to play the winless Titans (or is it the Titanics?). Peyton was terrific, as he's been all season, and this just may be his finest season to date. Which doesn't bode well for the rest of the top teams in the AFC who may have to find a way to defend him in the postseason.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">And, the Colts are playing amazing defense. The most amazing point to me is that they have been doing it all without Pro-Bowl defensive back Bob Sanders. What is this defense going to become when he comes back? Scary stuff.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Seattle laid a good old-fashioned whipping on the Jaguars, but seriously, who didn't see that coming? Jacksonville is another of the league's teams that are not very good. Jacksonville plays well twice a year: when they play the Colts. For some reason, the Jags match up well with Indianapolis. They don't match up well with anyone else, but they do, for whatever reason, play like a contender against Indy. Too bad they don't play them 16 times a year. Maybe they would have a winning season.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">That's about all of the games worth talking about. Shut up Pittsburgh fans. If you have to fend off Detroit, you get no love from me. Ciao for now!</span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-48522593789227130222009-10-11T14:05:00.003-04:002009-10-11T14:13:04.381-04:00Giants Destroying Raiders<strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">You know, I knew that my Giants were going to beat my Raiders with relative ease this week, with or without Eli Manning, but I didn't think that it was going to be <em>this</em> easy.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">With 6:30 remaining in the first half, the G-Men are winning by a 28-0 score, the Raiders just picked up their first first down of the game, and before JaMarcus Russell completed this pass just now, four members of the Giants offense had outgained the entire Raiders offense, who have 18 yards.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Giants really have a chance to pour it on in this game, and Eli is already putting up some fairly hefty numbers.</span></strong>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-45213873659614942282009-10-10T13:58:00.003-04:002009-10-10T14:23:27.790-04:00Yankees Keep the Drama Train Rollin'<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>The Yankees led the major leagues in walk-off wins this year, and they did it again last night as they took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Twins in the A.L.D.S.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>They received a solid pitching outing from A.J. Burnett, but when Minnesota took a 3-1 lead in the top of the eighth inning, it appeared that the series may be tied as the teams headed to Minnesota for game three.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>The Yankees offense couldn't get anything consistently going, and it looked bleak that they would pull it out. Especially when you consider that the Twins have one of the better closers in baseball, Joe Nathan.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>But, once again, the Yankees found a way to win. A-Rod should feel like the weight of the world is off of his shoulders as far as his postseason critics are concerned, as he's had several big hits in this series so far, but none were bigger than his two-run jack that tied the game. But I'm sure that the questions will still follow him until he produces in baseball's biggest event, the World Series. </strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Those are fair criticisms, but let's not forget that you don't get to the series unless you produce along the way, so even if his bat doesn't lead the Yankees to winning it all, don't forget that he helped them get there (if, indeed, they do). </strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>And can enough be said about Mark Texeira? Many free agents have been signed to huge numbers in the past and found that they could not handle the pressure of playing on the game's biggest stage, New York City (can you say Rick Rhoden?).</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Texeira, however, has shown since game one of the season that playing in New York agrees with him, and he did everything humanly possible for this team to be in the place that it's in right now. </strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>He has a good chance to be voted the league's MVP, and I can't recall if any other player came to the Big Apple and was voted the MVP in their first New York season, be it Yankee or Met.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>At first, I didn't think that Texeira's shot had a chance of making the seats, because I don't think that the ball got more than 20 feet off of the ground its entire trip. Had the left field wall in Yankee Stadium been six inches higher, Texeira most likely would have been held to a long single, given the speed in which the ball got to the wall.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>But, it cleared the fence, and the Yankees are heading to Minnesota with a two-games-to-none lead and are sitting in the driver's seat.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>Couple that with the fact that the Ded Sux' bats have gone silent on the left coast, and all is right in the baseball world on this fine autumn Saturday. Go Notre Dame.</strong></span></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-23706655402193062252009-10-09T00:20:00.003-04:002009-10-09T01:53:01.507-04:00Islanders Lose Another One Late<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">For the second time in this short NHL campaign, the Islanders still have not only not won, but have lost both games that they have played after regulation time expired. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">On opening night, they held a lead for most of the game against the defending champion Penguins until Dwayne Roloson gave up a late goal and then the game was lost in the shootout. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Now, in game two of the season, the Isles came back from a 2-0 deficit, only to allow the winning goal just 32 seconds into the OT period for their second OT loss of the year.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Islanders brought in a couple of new goalies this season, but the team seems to have the same results. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">They have no real firepower, and that is what hurt them last year, and it's going to hurt them again this year, because they think that John Tavares is going to do all of the scoring for them. They won't admit it, but by the looks of the offense that they brought in...ummm...and that would be...no one, that the organization that isn't serious about NOT being the second-worst scoring team in the NHL. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, what are we supposed to surmize from their lack of recruiting.?</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Tavares had a good game and is off to a very good start, with a goal and an assist for two points in two games, but that is not the answer right now.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Hell, even when the Islanders had Mike Bossy, they still had Trottier, Nystrom, Potvin, and a host of others that could score points. That is far from the team that Tavares has. In fact, if they rounded those guys up, they might STILL be better than what the organization is putting on the ice right now. I know that I would rather pay to watch them at their ages then to watch this dismal product.</span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-36275443464412081112009-10-08T14:24:00.001-04:002009-10-08T14:30:10.317-04:00Lee Phenominal in Debut<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Starting Pitcher Cliff Lee made his postseason debut for the Philadelphia Phillies yesterday afternoon, and Phillies fans got what they paid for as Lee threw an absolutely dominating game against the Colorado Rockies to go up 1-0 in their N.L. Divisional Series.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">You can't say enough about the job that Lee did, going the distance, which he did five times this season for the Phils, and showing incredible command of his pitches as he did not walk a single batter.</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Phillies' fans are pumped up about defending their first World Championship in nearly 30 years, and Lee gave them every reason to believe that Philly will go deep into the playoffs once again.</span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-39556716098657135132009-10-08T14:03:00.000-04:002009-10-08T14:23:35.534-04:00Jeter Leads Yanks Into Postseason<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">After a year break, the Yankees are once again in the postseason, and Derek Jeter continues to deliver, setting the table with a home run to propel the Yanks to a win over the Minnesota Twins in the first game of the A.L.D.S.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">It seems almost as if Jeter sets another record with nearly each hit. His list of accomlpsihments keeps growing, and this year he achieved one of the most historic feats of his career when he passed Lou Gehrig as the all-time Yankees hits leader.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Since then he has cracked the top-50 all-time in Major League history, and each hit draws him closer to 3,000, a plateau that he should reach sometime in the 2011 season.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">There is only one active player with more hits than the Captain, and that is Ken Griffey, Jr., with about 20 more hits. And the way that Junior exited the field after Seattle's final game this season, it appears that 2009 may have been his last season.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">CC Sabathia gave up two quick runs last night in game one, but Jeter's shot pulled both the Yankees and the fans right back into the ball game, and the Yankees kept the momentum going until they built their lead.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Even Alex Rodriguez produced, as he FINALLY picked up a hit with a runner in scoring position, something that he had not in any of his previous 19 postseason at-bats. A-Rod took it a step further when he slapped another shot into the right field corner later in the game, driving in another run.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Sabathia went on to have a fine outing, now let's see what happens in game two. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">The Twins have a lot of confidence and momentum going into this series, and losing the first game will not deflate them. After all, pretty much every road team loses the first game of any series, so they won't be all that dejected by the loss. What the Yankees need to do is sweep at home, and that might darken Minnesota's perspective on the series. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Minnesota is the type of team in the postseason where you have to stand on their proverbial necks and not let up. If you go into that dome and the fans have anything at all to cheer about, you won't be able to hear yourself think, and that can rattle a visiting ball club. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">That's what the Twins are counting on, and that's what the Yankees must prevent. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Go into Minnesota with a two-games-to-none lead, score first in game three, and New York should be watching the other series to see who they play in the second round. </span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-52150501146759860972009-10-05T22:25:00.000-04:002009-10-05T23:06:25.592-04:00Giants Looking Strong<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">We are four weeks into the NFL season, and once again the New York Giants have proven themselves to be one of the premiere teams in the league.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">After four games, the Giants first defeated NFC East rival Washington at home, and then went on to win three consecutive road games in quite impressive fashion. The icing on the cake is the fact that the Giants spoiled the unveiling of the new Cowboys Stadium. That's about as sweet as it gets for Giants fans.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">New York played extremely well in that game, and if it were not for the usual inefficiency in the red zone and a poor call by the refs, the Giants would have had a 17-point lead at halftime.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">In fact, the Giants have played so well that it was easy to overlook their red zone inefficiency. Also, not many people knew that going into the game at Tampa Bay in week three, New York was the <em>only</em> team in the league without a red zone touchdown.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Eli has played very well, including a 104.1 passer rating, he has completed 63.2 percent of his passes, and has thrown eight touchdowns with just two interceptions.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Brandon Jacobs has yet to be as dynamic as he was a year ago, with just 288 yards for 3.6 yards-per-carry and one TD in four games, but that has allowed Ahmad Bradshaw to step up, and step up he has, with roughly just 20 yards fewer than Jacobs on just over half the carries and a 5.6 yards-per-carry.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">One of the question marks that surrounded the Giants entering the 2009 campaign was who was going to step up at wide receiver, with Amani Toomer in Kansas City and Plaxico Burress in the New York Penal League.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Enter Steve Smith, who has played primarily on special teams and has been a third-down receiver for Big Blue. Smith is becoming Manning's favorite receiver, recording 34 catches for 411 yards, a 12.1 yards-per-catch average, and four TDs. His 411 yards leads the league, 12 yards more than Indianapolis' Reggie Wayne. His four touchdowns also leads all receivers. So, for the time being, at least, it appears that New York has answered that question.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Yesterday, the Giants blew out the Chiefs, one of the worst teams in the league, in a game that was basically over in the second quarter. The score doesn't reflect how one-sided the game was.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">One negative to come out of this game was an injury to Eli. It's being called a bruised foot for now, but apparently it has something to do with a tendon that runs from your heel to the bottom of your foot. He's going for an MRI tomorrow, and we'll see what happens later in the week. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">If Eli can't go on Sunday, or if the Giants decide to play it safe and rest him, David Carr should fill in just fine for the G-men because they basically have a bye week with the Raiders coming to town. The attrocious JaMarcus Russell and company should pose no threat to New York on their hoime turf. I would be shocked if the Giants couldn't win this game with <em>all </em>of their second units in.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"> </div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"> </span></strong> </div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-29095572315692698012009-10-05T21:59:00.000-04:002009-10-05T22:25:32.922-04:00NHL Season Underway<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The National Hockey League began its 2009-10 campaign this past Friday night and once again, I am filled with hope and at the same time reality (or disappointment) for my lowly New York Islanders.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Goalie Rick DiPietro is coming off of yet another knee injury and surgery and will not be available until late October at the very earliest. This year, however, I give the Islanders much more credit than least year when they were in this predicament because at least this year they are somewhat prepared for such a loss.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Instead of sitting on their hands and leaving the fate of the club in the hands of two goalies who have less than 25 games of NHL experience under their belts, New York went out and signed two former Stanley Cup goalies: Martin Biron and Dwayne Roloson.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">In case you're not familiar with them, Biron is formerly of the Buffalo Sabres, and Roloson was part of that terrific goalie tandem of himself and Manny Fernandez in Minnesota before going on to be the number one guy in Edmonton and taking them to the playoffs in recent years.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, the Islanders should be fairly solid in goal. But, what about the forwards and defensemen? </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Still lacking firepower as well as a payroll, New York did not attempt to replace the offensive presence of Bill Guerin, their former captain that they traded late last season.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Instead, the Islanders are resting their hopes on several of their kids, including number-one draft choice John Tavares. New York is putting a lot of pressure on Tavares' shoulders, whether they admit it or not.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">They say in the press that it's unfair to have all these expectations of a rookie, but what do you expect people to do when you have the kid on your number one line and no veteran scorers for him to learn from?</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">I think the Islanders are asking too much of this kid, and if they wanted to properly develop him, they would have gone out and signed some veterans for him to ease the pressure of being the only one who can find the back of the net on this club.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">New York has done nothing (outside the drafting of Tavares) to make anyone believe that they are serious about winning and are dedicated to being a contender.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Doug Weight has returned, as has Mark Streit and Brendan Witt. The Islanders will be tough, but will they be able to stop teams from scoring? They couldn't do it last year, and I'm not convinced that they can do it this year, either. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Islanders may have had a bunch of inexperience between the pipes last season, but when you're being outshot by 15 shots per game, I don't care who's in net, there's going to be problems.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">And the Islanders had plenty of them last season. Can they improve on that this year? We'll see.</span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-78891440848599667822009-10-05T21:15:00.000-04:002009-10-05T21:59:11.570-04:00Yankees Win first Place, All is Right<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>On to baseball.</strong> <strong>I can't believe that I have not made a single post the entire baseball season.</strong></span></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Especially with all that has gone on this year, with Alex Gonzalez starting the season on the disabled list with the hip injury as well as answering more steroids allegations, Derek Jeter breaking Lou Gehrig's all-time Yankee hit record as well as cracking the top-50 all-time Major League hits list, Boston taking the first eight meetings from the Yankees, and the Yankees responding by winning eight of the next nine games with the Sux to erase the memories of those early losses, and plenty of other stories around the league.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">But the icing on the cake is that all is said and done for the regular season for the Yankees and the Bronx Bombers finished well ahead of the hated Red Sux to win the American League East. Yes, that is a sign that all is well in the baseball world.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Not to say that it was easy, especially in the end when Boston creeped back into the race with a couple of weeks left, pulling to within five games of New York. But the Yankees fended off that threat and clinched the division with time to spare.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">And, in an unbeleivable turn of events, in the A.L. Central, the Minnesota Twins fought back in the final series of the season to tie the Detroit Tigers in a most unlikely situation. </span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Tigers, who were leading the division most of the season, were ahead of a red-hot Minnesota club by a mere two games with three to play.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Minnesot was hosting the lowly Royals, while Detroit was hosting the Chicago White Sox.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Twins needed a sweep of the Royals and needed the Tigers to lose all three games to the Sox in order for the Twins to steal the division. One of the problems that Minnesota had was that Kansas City had their ace, Zack Greinke, scheduled to pitch the middle game of the series. It was certain that the Twins would not sweep. And even if they did, they still needed Tigers to drop two or three at home to Chicago, who have underachieved all season. Not likely.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">If the Tigers lost two games and the Twins swept, that would put the two teams in a tie for first place and force a one-game playoff.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, what happens? Minnesota DOES sweep the Royals, including tagging Grenke for four runs in a 5-4 win in the middle game.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Things looked even better for the Twins on Saturday night because Detroit lost the first two games against Chicago, which meant that if Minnesota won on Sunday that they would own at least a share of first place.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Tigers ended up taking thre final game of their series against the Chisox, but the Twins won again, forcing Tuesday's playoff game.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">This helps the Yankees even more, because now either they get an extra two days' rest before they play the Twins, who they swept in eight games this season, or they get Detroit, who will undoubtedly pitch their ace, Justin Verlander, in this crucial playoff game for the Tigers and he will then not become available until at least game three against the Yanks, should they win. And the Yanks could have a 2-0 series lead over the Tigers by then.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">So, the Yankees begin the postseason against either the Tigers or the Twins, and New York will be well rested.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The Yankees' pitching staff has had holes and has been questionable all season, but I think that New York will be just fine with their top three guns of Sabathia, Pettitte, and Burnett.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">The rest of the rotation had been, for the most part, atrocious, but I think that the short series' of the post season will make that point moot.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">I believe that the World Series will place the Yankees against the Dodgers, and wouldn't it be special to see Joe Torre announced at the World Series in Yankee Stadium. What a response he will undoubtedly receive. Probably the best by any opponent in Yankees history.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">It all begins on Wednesday, so buckle up, buttercup, it's going to be a hell of a ride!</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-44498732592427190612009-10-05T20:28:00.000-04:002009-10-05T20:56:36.752-04:00Don't Pay the Ransom...I escaped!<div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:verdana;">Well hello. That's right, I didn't fall off of the face of the earth, or get that ever-elusive big-time radio or newspaper job. No, instead, I have been held captive on a ship with no internet, but you need not pay that ransome note (which I'm sure that all of you have gotten together and organized a fund-raising drive for my lovely wife), because, using the guile and cunning of a fugitive, I escaped so that I could come back to all of you fine people and get back to the really important things in life....sports!!</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">In fact, there has been so much that has transpired in the world of sports since my last posting, it's difficult to know where to start.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Let's see...Jeff Gordon has gone on to have a decent season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Again, he's having trouble winning races, even though he has consistenlty finished in the top 10 or top 5. He made the Chase, so, once again, at least he has a chance. But does anyone <em>really</em> have a chance against that monster known as the 48 Lowe's Chevrolet, or more specifically, Jimmy Johnson? Johnson continues to be one of the, if not THE, premier driver in the sport and is sitting pretty in the Chase for the Cup.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Johnson has four wins again so far this season, just one behind current points leader Mark Martin.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">And speaking of "the old man," as he's fondly referred to in NASCAR circles, what about the year he's having? Martin, who's gone back to a full-time ride with Hendrick Motor Sports, has started every race this year, won five of them, and is currently leading the Chase by 18 points over three-time defending champion Johnson.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">So, the 24 team has their work cut out for themselves. Right now, Gordon is in seventh place in the Chase, 103 points behind Martin.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">That covers NASCAR. To avoid having this piece drag on to 10,000 words, I'll do my catching up one piece at a time. Ciao for now.</span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></strong></div><div align="justify"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;"></span></strong></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-56391527416302105952009-07-28T14:56:00.000-04:002009-07-28T16:29:10.126-04:00Stampede heads to State Tournament<strong><span style="font-family:verdana;"> The Saratoga Stampede American Legion baseball team is going back to the New York State Tournament, which begins on Wednesday, for the third time in the past four seasons. Saratoga went to the championship game in 2006 against New Hartford, but has never attained the brass ring.<br /> The Stampede accomplished this feat by defeating their arch rivals, the Anaconda Indians out of Scotia, twice last Saturday to win the District 4 title and earn the right to head to the big tourney that will be taking place in Utica.<br /> And a big tournament it is. Legion baseball is absolutely huge in Oneida County, and the tournament will feature TV and radio coverage, a flyby by the Navy’s Blue Angels, color guards, and more. It is a true stadium event that regularly sees fan attendance in excess of 6,000 spectators.<br /> Although Stampede Head Coach Paul Mound had his sights set on Utica from the start of the season, the team faltered a bit, and about midway through the season, Mound was beginning to have second thoughts.<br /> “Honestly, at the start of the year I thought we were New York State champions, because the Saratoga High School players were performing at a high level in the spring, as evidenced by how far they went in sectional play. Spa Catholic obviously won their Class B title, the Ballston Spa kids, while they underachieved, I thought they were going to be solid players, so on paper I really thought we had a state championship team. We came out, and as you saw yourself, we were Jeckyl and Hyde. When we were bad, we were real bad, and when we were good, we were good. Suddenly, from the beginning to the end of June, I started questioning if we could even physically get out of the district.”<br /> The Stampede did make it out of the tournament, however, with back-to-back, one-run wins over Anaconda in the semifinal and championship games. Saratoga won the tournament in Scotia via the loser’s bracket, as the Stampede lost its first two games before coming to life.<br /> “We lost to Smith Post, who’s going to be out here in Utica, 3-0, and we were as flat as a pancake. We popped up I think 14 times in that Smith game, out of 21 outs, lost to them 3-0, and 20 minutes later came back and absolutely pulverized Anaconda, and beat them 10-4. So I thought, OK, we got momentum. So then we played the Montreal Titans the very next day, we came out, we started out smoking, we played horrible defense, and we handed the game away. They scored nine runs on seven errors, we allowed seven unearned runs and we lost the ball game 9-7. And then we turned around 20 minutes later, and we mercied Colchester, Vermont. So, like I said, we’re Jeckyl and Hyde.”<br /> The Stampede also fought off injuries while winning the district tournament. Catcher Tyler Prehoda suffered a fractured jaw in the Cooper’s Cave Tournament earlier this month, and Mound’s other catcher, Scott Hladik, has been suffering from a stiff back as well as not being available due to emersion classes at the College of Saint Rose. With nowhere else to turn, Mound used the advice of Skidmore College coach Ron Plourde and put his best overall athlete, Ben Cook, behind the dish. Cook had never caught and had not played anywhere but the outfield in the last four years, but he shined for the Stampede in the tournament.<br />“Think about this. It was hot, ok, and Ben Cook caught 18 innings (the last day of the tournament), and do you know what he said to me at the end of the game? ‘That was the most fun I ever had playing baseball.’ Not one ounce of tiredness out of that kid.”<br />Playing in the infield for the first time in four years, Cook enjoyed his stint behind the plate so much that he asked Mound if he could do it again. The coach told him that he single-handedly showed him (Mound) the greatest individual day of any player that he’s ever coached. That’s a pretty strong statement coming from a man who has been coaching for 17 years.<br />Mound is also fairly familiar with the competition that he will be facing this week. It won’t be an easy road for Saratoga, since the eight teams that make the state tourney come from a field that starts out with 278 teams. To make it to the final eight may also take a little luck, but the one thing that’s guaranteed is that none of the district winners will be pushovers, and Mound is well aware of that.<br /> “I don’t like opening against the host (Utica) because they have a rabid fan base (an estimated 7,000 fans will be in attendance), and that’s going to be challenging for us, but I don’t think that they’re the most talented team overall. I’m not saying that they’re not good. Let’s face it, in the New York State Tournament, when 270 out of 278 are gone, the last eight teams are pretty doggone good. I’m not looking past them, but I’d rather draw them, then say, Melvin Roads or the OTB Pirates out of Rockland County. We saw them (Melvin Roads) once this year in early June at Geyser (Park), we beat them 3-2, but I fear that team. I think they’re an immensely talented ball club. And additionally, the other team that scares the daylights out of me is the OTB Pirates, who beat (Cooper’s Cave Champion) Shrub Oak to win their district…Smith Post, out of Rome, very competitive team, by no means a pushover, but I’d probably rather see Smith than I would OTB or Melvin Roads.”<br />However tough the competition might be, Mound feels that his club is peaking at the right time, and he likes his chances for his quest for his first state championship.<br />“We’re winning now, we are exactly where we want to be, I think our focus is greater than probably any focus of any team I’ve taken to the states.”<br />Fans can also follow the tournament via the internet at <a href="http://www.nystourney.com/">www.nystourney.com</a>. The Web Site will feature detailed statistics and box scores, and all of the games can be heard through their web cast. Just go to the site and check for the web stream link.<br />The tournament begins on Wednesday, and Saratoga’s first game will be on Wednesday night against the host Utica Post. The Stampede have their work cut out for them, but perhaps the third time will be a charm for Coach Mound and his ball club.<br /> </span></strong>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22151451.post-62331826696757992492009-01-23T20:24:00.000-05:002009-01-23T20:25:24.360-05:00Curry a Big Mistake<div align="justify"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><strong>New York Knicks center Eddy Curry continues to show that it was a mistake for the Knicks to bring him to New York.<br />First, he shows up with a heart condition and the Knicks didn’t even know if he was going to be able to play or not.<br />Then, he underachieves, hurts his knee, gets fat, shows up to training camp out of shape, hurts the OTHER knee, and NOW he seems that he has gotten himself into a legal dispute.<br />It appears that his personal driver is suing him, first, for about $90,000 in unpaid wages (c’mon, Eddy), and to add insult to injury, it seems that Curry is a homosexual - not that there’s anything wrong with that.<br />But the embarrassing part is that he sexually harrassed his driver, and allegedly exposed himself to him.<br />This type of conduct is totally unacceptable. Curry, not the first person in the Knicks’ organization in recent years to be slapped with a sexual harrassment suit (see Isiah Thomas), continues to add to New York’s problems.<br />This player has been a complete bust since he first arrived at the Garden. Not only has his playing not met expectations, but his lackadaisical attitude is not endearing himself to head coach Mike D’Antoni, either. To show up to training camp fat and out of shape simply shows that Curry doesn’t care.<br />He doesn’t care about his career, his teammates, his coaches, or perhaps worse, the people who pay his salary, the fans.<br />Knicks fans have had enough heartache since Willis Reed and Clyde Frazier raised the roof of Madison Square Garden with their second championship back in 1973.<br />First, there was Jordan, Jordan, and more Jordan, who consistently crushed New Yorker’s dreams of a title in the 80’s.<br />Then, there was the missed finger roll as well as the missed free throw (see Patrick Ewing)- both times costing New York a banner.<br />Now, since Ewing left, the Knicks have been in worse shape then ever. They don’t ever make the playoffs, Isiah put his dismal signature on the organization by running them even further into the ground, his scandal which finally got him out of the front office, a trade that cost the Knicks their top two scorers, bad draft picks, and now the Knicks expect their fans to put the next two seasons on hold in hopes of LeBron James gracing the Garden’s floor after the 2010 season.<br />Other than David Lee, this organization has very little to smile about. D’Antoni, once he makes this team his own with the roster that he will build, will bring New York back to respectability.<br />It is even obvious that he has earned the respect of his current team. This team will not make the playoffs, but they are not going down without a fight. Game after game, the Knicks may not be winning, but they are not giving up. And that is because of D’Antoni. After a trade like they made, if D’Antoni can still sell his system to the remaining roster, it is clear that they have bought into his philosophy, and they are fighting each and every night.<br />So, now this. Bringing Curry to New York was a bad move, and it appears that Curry is solidifying that belief with his latest shenanigans.<br />Curry needs to be unloaded by this club. It won’t be easy, because he makes a lot of money and nobody wants damaged goods, but the Knicks have got to do something about it.<br />This is a situation that was ugly from the start, and it’s only getting uglier.<br />Come on, Eddy, pay your driver and keep it in your pants. These are not the types of headlines that the Knicks expected to see about you when they acquired you. Grow up, show some respect for ALL of the people around you, and pay your bills. </strong></span></div>Nicholas Fabianihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03271388657110534544noreply@blogger.com1