NLCS: Cards win 4-2, up 3-2: Thanks to that rain delay from Monday, we go right into Game 6 in New York tonight, with the Mets facing elimination and throwing lightweight John Maine against reigning NL Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter. Yet why do I still think the Mets will win? If you haven't been watching (and I know that's a lot of you), it's time to tune in.
From A-Rod to "A-Wrod": I think it's hilarious that all anyone wants to talk about with Lou Piniella is how soon the Cubs will trade for A-Rod. From the Day 1 coverage, you'd think it's a done-deal already. (And, as I pointed out yesterday, it should be.)
It's hard to believe that we're going to be living with this soap opera for the next four months. The Yankees and Cubs should do everyone a favor and consummate the trade during one of the World Series off-days.
Tiki to retire after '06 season? That's the story in today's NY Times, and I wouldn't blame him. Have you ever seen an NFL player get more love from TV and advertisers?
He may not be the most talented player (or most exciting or most winning), but he's good ENOUGH, good-looking and – always key – plays in New York. He'll have a lucrative TV analyst deal in place before the Giants' season is over.
Clinton Portis says he wants the ball more: And, given the Redskins' start, can you blame him? Tens of thousands of fantasy owners who took Portis anywhere from the 4th to 12th overall pick agree.
Koren Robinson's appeal was denied and he's suspended for the rest of the season. More important: Falcons OG Matt Lehr was suspended 4 games for violation of the NFL's substance-abuse policy.
How many NFL 2006 undrafted free-agents are on active 53-man rosters? Because Marcus Vick is having the last laugh, just moved from practice squad to the real deal. He's a poor man's Wes Welker. (And next stop: Starting QB! Just kidding, but wouldn't that be awesome?)
Melee in Miami, Cont'd: I have to say, for all the knee-jerk "Throw them all out!" ranting, I'm most impressed with The U. honcho Donna Shalala, who recognized that punishment was necessary but refused to give in to the insta-mob mentality and kick the offending player(s) out of school. But it's not like she didn't draw a line: The school now has a "zero-tolerance" system for antics like this. We'll see how that plays out as the inevitable antics occur. But I think she's handled it about as well as it can be handled.
(If it turns out that Shalala never saw the tape of the brawl, I'll have to downgrade my rating from "as well as it can be handled" to "some good, some bad." It's inexcusable for a school president to not watch that tape, particularly if she's passing judgment. Did she think that it would somehow insulate her judgment if she didn't see it? Makes no sense.)
(Meanwhile, have you heard about the OTHER brawl this weekend in college football: Dartmouth vs. Holy Cross. Yes, exactly like Miami vs. FIU... except, you know... Ivier.)
NBA Preseason Watch: Amazingly, last night's Knicks-Celtics game offered a look at two of the more intriguing rookies of the new season:
*Celtics PG Rajon Rondo continued to look like the most impressive rookie of his class and THE steal of the draft: 14 pts (7-11 FG) with a team-high 7 assists. (Why'd they trade away Roy/Foye for Telfair again?)
*Knicks SF Renaldo Balkman isn't even close to the embarrassment people thought he was the morning after draft night. In fact, he could end up one of the Top 10 most impressive rookies of the season, if only because the expectations are so LOW. Last night, he had 9 pts and 7 reb in 14 minutes (and, in 3 Knicks preseason wins, is averaging 8 pts and 6 reb in 18 minutes).
Evgeny Malkin debuts tonight: Now we get a chance to see what all the hype was about. (And if you're going, "Who's Evgeny Malkin?" consider your ignorance to be bliss.)
14-y.o. hoopster commits to USC: 6-6 guard Dwayne Polee got an offer from Tim Floyd and already took it. (USC fans should take a lesson from UCLA, which got a similar commitment from stud Taylor King, who reneged to go to Duke. And Illinois fans will tell you all about the "value" of early commitments.)
LCS to TBS: Turner Sports paid $350M to get the rights to one of the LCS series. Just as long as they don't hire Steve Lyons (actually, the rumor is that they're targeting Ripken or Grace for TV analyst roles).
CFB Top 25 Update: As I finalize my ballot for the week, I'm very close to joining the crowd, flip-flopping Michigan and WVA, putting UM at No. 2 and WVA at No. 3. (Happy, haters?)
-- D.S.
Posts
60 comments:
Dan-
General question here...
Do you read your email?
I once emailed you a topic i thought was right up your alley for discussion here and you didn't answer or talk about it.
I'm not saying you need to answer everything, I just wanted to know.
and in case you did read it, it was the email about the SI All-Time All-Star Team
"Over his career, Gibbs's Redskins are 120-19 when rushing more than 30 times in a game, and 22-61 when failing to do so."
"In the last 13 games, the Washington Redskins are 6-0 when having a back rush for over 100 yards, and 0-7 when they don't."
Fantasy aside, Clinton Portis is being "reasonable" and "logical", two words I'm having trouble associating with Gibbs and Saunders anymore.
Evgeni Malkin sighting? I had to sign up a blog so I could post about this. Gonna be a big night in the 'burgh.
Anyone else watch Philly get greased last night?
Dan, you are joking right?? Impressed with Donna Shalala? She should be ashamed of herself for calling the 1-game suspensions satisfactory and even more so for not calling for Brandon "Albert Haynesworth" Merriweather's immediate dismissal, along with that of Reddick (who was indefinitely suspended).
The one game suspension is completely meaningless to these players, especially since it for a worthless game against Duke.
As others have noted, this is not some new behavior by the Miami players, but rather a consistent pattern of lack of discipline. (Three fights in seven games?)
This zero tolerance policy is too late. These kids have already learned their lesson that they can get away with their violent antics.
Stop Jinxing The Mets Already, Dan.
I am hoping for some Shea magic tonight, and that the mets line-up finally finds it's life. But make no mistake, that was a tough loss to take last night, with their ace on the mound, and leaving the tying runs on in the 8th...
I Believe, and all that. But don't diss the cards anymore, since they've played better than I, or anyone else outside of Missourah ever thought they would this series (outside of game 4, and I think the cards made everyone forget about that last night).
The Mets definitely are no longer overconfident, and neither are their fans. Time to cross our fingers and hope for some good MoJo. Let's Go Mets!
Cardinals haven't won a series they've been up 3 games to 2 since 1985.
Ok, a couple of things...
ted(pittsburg)- no, no one saw that, I'm saying this assuming you're talking about hockey
Dan - **IMPORTANT INFO**
A-Rod to Cubs is gonna be very doubtful to make happen. Aramis Ramirez (the center of said trade on the Cubs side) has an opt-out option for this year, meaning if he wants to go to the yanks he could just opt-out and sign there, he's not likely to sign with chicago to be traded to ny, altho this is common in the nba it isn't in the mlb
Im very in favor of of Marcus Vick starting for Miami. the dolphins are done. they should give daunte the time to rest, and i guess they are raising joey harrington's trade value cause they said daunte's the future. so i would put vick in, why not?
THE BIG NEW NOW should be what was discovered on Mike and Mike this mourning. They apparently spoke to Donna Shalala and found out SHE NEVER SAW THE TAPE!!!
exuse me, WHAT????
everyone said this was inexuseable....your take?
guyinthecorner,
You dude you gotta simmer down. Dan graces us with his presence by spending time on the blog. He has a life outside of this. Should he give up being a dad so he can respond to your emails? If you have questions for him, just shoot them in the blog. Save emails for your mad honeys. With your brothas from anota motha just stick with the blog. I'm glad you don't know his address and phone number otherwise you'd be showing up at his place at 11pm in your yellow Trans Am in a wife beater. Chill the hell out!!!
She never saw the tape?! Yes, that's inexcusable.
guyinthecorner, I did see your email, and I'm sorry I didn't reply and didn't post about it here. Chalk it up to start-up inanity over these first weeks, but if you try again, I'm sure I'll get you a reply promptly.
Dan-
Did you read the Tribune last year? The Cubs getting Damon, Furcal, and Burnett last year was a lock according to the Chicago Tribune. They didn't end up getting any of them. This "hype" you're hearing is created by the newspaper that owns the Cubs, and people fall for it each year. This year, the Cubs are "supposed" to get A-Rod, Carlos Lee, Jason Schmidt, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DiMaggio...LMAO.
What I find really funny is how the Tribune says it "can't afford" to build a new parking garage close to Wrigley, but they can somehow increase payroll to over 100 million this year. I guess they're doing ok since their company-owned scalping service gets most of the tickets before the general public does.
2 reactions from last nights Mets game
1) Where did this studly Mets lineup run to? They were seen as the most dangerous lineup in the NL, yet last nite they go something like 1-8 with RISP and leave like 14 men on base. The big boys need to wake up tonight or it's an off-season of questions for Omar.
2) The Fox radar gun was the big talk last week. What about the Fox Tracker? I've noticed the umps are calling strikes that the Fox Track shows are clearly out of the zone, yet nothing is made of it. Are the strike zones expanding that much, or is Fox's equipment that bad?
Okay, here's one. Everyone was worrying about Tom Glavine on short rest....2-5, 6.75 ERA.
Last night, Glavine gives up 3 ER in 4 innings. We all know how that computes, right? That's very funny.
I remember 20 years ago, the Mets coming home down 3-2 facing the eventual Cy....ugh, that seemed to work out ok for them. (Although they weren't throwing John Maine out there.)
I'm an alum, and I didn't even know about the Dartmouth-Holy Cross fight. I did read that crutches were involved, but mostly it's the annoying "let's jump and down in the middle of their field" thing. More MSU-ND, Miami-Louisville, than the Miami-FIU thing.
Does anyone have reason to believe Cal Ripken is a competent announcer? At least Mark Grace has worked in ESPN's booths at this point.
Actually, the idea of separate networks for the LCSes is old school, and a good idea. Now both games can overlap properly.....I doubt games can be switched around just to have the big market game at night. Really, how hard would it be to have the games scheduled in stone BEFORE they know who's playing? Like, the ALCS is going to be played on these days, at these times, on this network.
(I also think some billionaire could make scheduling his pet hobby. Hey MLB, here's $50 million, I want these games played at THIS time.)
Donna Shalala handled it in the best way possible? Sure if "best way possible" means to make sure the players are back from the beach in time to play Georgia Tech.
Don't get me wrong. I understand that Miami is financially motivated, but the real embarassment occurs from the difference in the way FIU handled the incident. Even if you believe FIU treated it's players too harshly (and I think they're getting off easy), Miami looks like a kindergarden teacher giving a 5 year old a time-out for not walking in a straight line. By comparison anyways.
The sad thing is that if FIU could potentially score big bucks from having its players back right in time to play their most important game of the year, they wouldn't take action either.
(But the NCAA needs to spend its time investigating Reggie Bush instead of dealing with on-field brawls and pathetic graduation rates.)
Just want you to know I hate you right now Dan. You could have taken your Mets' prediction back, and we all would have been happy! Damn you and the curse...
Sorry, I need someone else to blame...I already cursed David I've got ARod Disease Wright, Shawn Slow Foot Weak Arm Green, and the blasted umps who's strikezone is the size of a doughnut (and I agree it was for Glavine AND Weaver, but it would have helped Glavine moreso).
No Quickie on the 9-1 Shellacking of the Flyers last night at the hands of the mighty Sabres Dan?
Huh? Hockey started?
Why do you need a policy that says that you are not allowed to bash people in the head with your helment and stomp on people while they are lying on the ground with your cleats?...Oh we are talking about Miami.
Donna Shalala should be ashamed for calling a one game suspension satifactory especially if she never saw the tape. I wonder if they were playing G-Tech next week instead of Duke if any player would have been suspended?
Dan - Thanks for the laugh. The word Ivier is hilarious.
I can't see A-Rod going to the cubs unless Zambrano and a solid hitter are sent back to NY (although I don't know the cubs have anyone other than Ramirez and Lee and I doubt the cubs would part with either of them and their ace). It may be a good fit, but I don't think the cubs have the right people the yankees are looking for (namely a solid starting pitcher and a decent hitter to fill the hole at third).
A-Rod is most likely going to revert back to being his dominant self after leaving NY and the Yankess don't want to look like fools for sending him packing for anything less than superb talent.
(As an aside, I still think he is an extremely dominant hitter despite all the hate he gets from the media, but for arguments sake I'll admit he is playing slightly below where he was two or three years ago when he was by far the best player in the league. I don't want him to leave for anything less than a future cy-young winner)
I have to agree with the Mob regarding "The U" and Donna's "punishment". A few points:
1. Suspension for the Duke game is not punishment, it's a week off.
2. To not have viewed the tape before handing out these so-called punishments in unconscionable, irrresponsible, and every other long word that implies BAD.
3. She didn't want throw anyone under the bus?!?!?!? Stomping on players and swinging helments are two specific stops on the "bus". in fact, the bus is instructed to back up and run over these people a second time.
4. Anything less than permanaent suspension for the two worst offenders is too light.
And lastly, did you hear Coker's comments after the game? He indicated that everyone should be proud of the way his players reacted! This is absolute insanity!
Also, What is this hockey some of you speak of?
How about instead of getting hit with a Shalala, the offending Hurricanes get hit with a Shillelagh?
one of those Irish sticks across the back of the head might put some sense in them.
FIU Handled the situation much better than Miami. Instead of letting its players off the hook this time and saying they will punish them if they do it again (which is basically what is going on in Miami), they actual took action and legitimately punished the players that basically were committing felonies on the field. Miami is a disgrace and is a huge blackeye for CFB.
Also, I know hockey isn't exactly everyone's favorite topic on this site, but this is a relevant question: I realize you can fight in hockey legally (in terms of state and federal law) but I thought you could be arrested and/or charged by the state if you attack someone with your stick. Is this true? If so, can't the state bring action against the players attacking people with their helmets on the field? I could be way off base here with the hockey stick thing though. Just wondering.
OK, the jokes are old, we get it, hockey was missing for awhile and now its back.
It was funny last season.
Its old now.
Just some proof I'm not insane or trying to blame it (all) on the umpires...here's what Keith Law said...
"Pujols is one of the best hitters in the game, and I thought Glavine struck him out on the pitch right before the homer anyway...Wainwright got a generous strike-three call to end the threat and make La Russa look smart."
Just throwing it out there.
Ivier (adj)- When part of your kidney is missing.
Sentence: I drank so much my kidney got Cory Ivier.
You can be arrested for incidents on the hockey ice especially if it is vicious. One would think that if its inside the accepted conduct of the game (penalty or not) it will be ok unless it is really vicious and outside the norms of hockey play.
As a cubs fan I'm happy to begin the Lou era.... However, I want no piece of the A-fraud era. His narcissistic self stat loving, non-clutch performing, and general fake personality is not what Chicago should get for the what they would have to give up, both dollar wise and talent wise. I'd rather keep Ramirez.
Unfortunately all this 'father - son' relationship crap between him and Lou will eventually land him.
First of all, the Miami players were suspended by the ACC. So Donna didn't even hand down that suspension. And they will be missing the DUKE game.
She couldn't have handled it any more poorly. It's business as usual in Coral Gables. Dan, I can't believe you think she did the right thing. Did YOU see a tape of the brawl? All of those dudes should be off the team, and probably out of school. If most of the regular students at UMiami did some of those things, they'd be charged with assault, and facing disciplinary action with the school.
The best thing to do would be to forfeit the game, and voluntarily give up a bowl game, the way South Carolina did when they had their brawl. And even that is probably not enough.
Throw me in with those who don't get (AT ALL) what's supposed to be impressive about Shalala and Miami's handling of the fight aftermath. Guess it's real important not to have a 'knee-jerk' reaction to a program with a history for this kind of behavior...and you really want to think over thuggish, dangerous violence to make sure you don't fall pray to the 'mob mentality' of thinking those kind of actions are absolutely inexcusable and horrifying, and worthy of extreme punishment.
The school now has a "zero-tolerance" system for antics like this.
LMAO!!! Good. Glad they thought that one through. I guess simple human deceny and a semblance of discipline wouldn't have led to the general policy of zero-tolerance for violent, out-of-control fights during a game. That takes the 'impressive' Ms. Shalala to handle after the fact, right?
Sorry, Dan, you are so completely wrong on this one, I'm not even sure where it is you're coming from.
FWIW, after a 1993 brawl with Colorado, UMiami AD Paul Dee said there would be a "new standard" for Hurricane athletics from then on.
It only took 13 years for the new standard to come into effect.
Re: Miamai's slap on the wrist punishments, what a disgrace. Dan, can't believe you're commending Donna S. for her spineless appeasement. The football team is too big a revenue source for the U to mess with seriously, I guess.
Is there no chance for a repreive? Could the NCAA do anything (similar to what the NBA did after the Pacers/Pistons?) Since it's not in the financial interests of Miami to lay down the law, why doesn't the NCAA? Surely they'd have the authority to bar them from bowl play.
i live 10 minutes from holy cross and i didn't hear of any brawl.. this is where youtube comes into play.
I got Evgeni Malkin on my fantasy team.
"He's really good. He's going to be scary good," Mark Recchi said Tuesday. "I hate to bring up this comparison, but I don't think we've seen anybody with his size who can skate like him and do as much as him. He's as close to Mario as we're going to see for a long time."
And, going to the other Evgeni, Nabakov that is. 2 shutouts in 2 starts. Will he takeover the #1 goalie from Toskala?
Sharks BAY-BYYYYYYYYYY!
Mark Grace announcing an LCS? Yes, Please. It'll keep him busy until he replaces Lou Piniella in about 4 years.
"3. She didn't want throw anyone under the bus?!?!?!? Stomping on players and swinging helments are two specific stops on the "bus". in fact, the bus is instructed to back up and run over these people a second time."
Thanks for that -- not only did it completely sum up how these morons should've been handled, it made me laugh my ass off at the same time!
Urgh...
I don't want the LCS on TBS.
TBS's visuals SUCCCCK on an HD TV.
Big sports events should be enjoyed on HD TV. If you watched TBS on an HDTV it looks real blurry. Ironically the better your HD set is, the worse TBS looks...because the better HD TV's make the HD Channels look better at the cost of regular channels
Dan,
You finally got smart. Now we gotta convince you that Michigan is number 1. Buck the Fuckeyes! Just ask Penn State who played harder??? Both QB's are out and concussed, questionable for Sat. We rock, bro. After Nov 18th, the dust settle and we will show we are #1.
Only reason OSU is #1 is because of inertia from last year. It's true. You better believe it Shanoff!
Just learned that Coack K on Duke is Jewish. Interesting. I guess this explains why he has a lot of Jewish players. Interesting shizzle. I learn something new everyday
I thought he was Yiddish
um
i gotta say i was scared to death for a sec there
coach k jewish?
luckily for me (and all jews) you are wrong
he is polish catholic
that wasa close 1 though
Duck Fuke
Actually no. He's Jewish. I read an article at the Onion which explains. And it makes sense. I think like 60% of his recruits are Jewish. And 80% of Polish Catholics are Jewish
Jesus. It just gets worse.
Manningham, you sound like you just got through defending the "OB" or something. Settle down - nobody (who matters) wants to sit down any QBs with any concussions. I was proud that Penn State's total sacks allowed on the season doubled last weekend (and then some), but I obviously am not bragging about injuring other players.
Although, I was considering making a joke relating Penn State to that Michigan high school that isn't playing football this year.
Or maybe it was serious, I'm not even sure.
Anyway, I expect that we can agree - Michigan's defense is fast and tough.
ok i'm not sure what confused me more about the last post
was it
A. The fact I looked it up and found 0 evidence he's jewish
B. Numerous refernces to him being polish-catholic is what I found
C. The Onion is a sarcastic newspaper
D. 60% of his recruits are jewish is crazy inaccurate cause theres no more than 2 jewish guys on the team
E. Polish catholics are polish catholics not jewish
F. All of the above
I'm goin with F
john (ann arbor, mi)
Actually I love the fact that we injure other QB's. I get an adrenalin drive from it.
There's no crying in football.
Lastly, of-course coach K is half Jewish. Just ask Dan. Any real Jewish person knows that coach K is half Jewish. GoBlueforever is right. Most Polish Catholics are usually half Jewish.
And his team IS Jewish. I'll tell you why. He CONVERTS them.
It's all in the Onion, 1995 issue. Go read it. Let me see if I can find the link. They had that whole article on how he converts everyone. Not sure if it was a joke. I mean I know the Onion is satirical but it's usually based on some truth. Wasn't sure if they would stretch it as far as making it up
mh86 -
Perhaps you should reread my post. It contains a parenthetical note which allows both of our statements to be true.
in the future when people make posts they have to clarify if they are kidding
that last post coulda gone either way, at least most of it
and jews don't convert people, and you can't really be half jewish, at least according to jewish law, jewish mom = jew, non-jewish mom = non-jew
i went to the onion and their archives only go back to 1996 so....
i also googled and couldnt get anything
so if theres a link.....
Belated Steve Lyons link...
Interview from Mike & Mike in the morning:
http://espnrad.vo.llnwd.net/o10/espnradio/insider/mike%26mike/mike%26mike_10172006_11.mp3
john,
chill, homes!!
Nothing wrong with admitting that you're excited that you injued an enemy.
It's war, baby! Do you think they wouldn't feel happy if they injured Henne??? They want him to fail after he declined PSU. They were prank calling Breaston.
You're not a real Wolverine if you can't bask in our glory.
Quit being a wuss!!!!
john,
he right, he right!
BE A MAN!!!
john,
we need to take this outside bro. Since when do Michigan fans want to celebrate Penn State players having good health. Are you sure you're not a Nittany Lion?
john,
are you the guy from bursley with the green leather pants and the teal colored turban? are you? are you?
Guy in the Corner,
You woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.
I wake up to see you yelling at Dan for not writing back to your emails and returning your calls. CALM DOWN!!!!!! Don't have a baby
Then you're jumping on me for calling Coach K (the 12th best basketball coach ever...so it's a compliment) Jewish
Chill the hell out. TELL HIM, DAN
At work today we bandied about the idea that because UM is a private school while FIU is a state school, that is both small and not very old (30 yrs I think,) there is a difference in the motivations behind the different responses by the respective schools. Miami has a long and rich $ history of donations and as a private school they are much more profit oriented than a small state school. Lets be honest how many FIU players on the roster saturday have a legit shot at the NFL? A handful at best. Miami on the other hand is loaded and once a player signs that second contract with the inflated bonuses and whatnot you know who is going to be in contact soon. Since FIU is only 30 yrs old they suffer the same problem that all the second tier state schools have, a much smaller alumni to hit up for money. Therefore they aren't going to kowtow to the boosters and can be free to act in a much bolder way. Miami on the other hand would have about 80 odd yrs of alumni and their children to contend with. Maybe we are thinking into it too much but I bet if the same thing happened at UF or FSU the response would be similar to UM's while if it happened at USF, FAU, or UCF it would be more like FIU's. I really would like to hear your thoughts about this Dan Since you do follow fotball in florida.
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