Sports Hibernation in Full Swing

By: Rick

Well I have to thank my lucky stars that February is so short because I doubt I could handle if this month was your typical 30-31 days. The first week in February is typically the unofficial holiday of Superbowl Sunday. After that day it becomes very dull around the sports world.I have been a little disheartened by the Giants so I am ready to move on from football and ready to get ready for some Florida action. Pitchers and Catchers report in 15 days but how many of fans are dying to see to the pitchers cover first base on a bunt over and over again. Spring Training makes the baseball fan jump with anticipation and I admit I become somewhat giddy hearing the sounds of bats on baseball, hey its beautiful!

Jeter & A-Rod enjoying Spring Training

The Yankees have made a couple of moves that have people calling up WFAN in New York and asking about Damon, who is all but certainly gone in favor of Randy Winn. Damon greatly over estimated the market for him and hoped the Yankees winning the World Series would help his cause. I belive the Yankees of old (96-05-ish) would have resigned him for sentimentality alone and as a “thank you” of sorts.  Boston had no issue with letting sentimental guys like Nomar and Lowe and Pedro leave and did not get saddled with bad contracts and won 2 World Series for being able to walk away from popular players and deal with criticism. It worked for the Sox and I believe it can work again. I think Jeter needs to be resigned this would be a PR disaster if Jeter was in a Dodger uniform for 3,000th hit. Other than Jeter there is not many people that have deals running out shortly that i would feel the need to lock up. I am not a Randy Winn fan but with Granderson and Swisher being big bats in the OF the Yankees can carry the bats of weaker hitters such as Gardner or Winn. I would expect Gardner to start in LF but I think the X-factor in this case is whether Joe Giradi wants to keep him as a 4th OF and pinch runner specialist. Nick Johnson is a nice player and I feel he can be a nice 2 hitter in the line up and keep guys on base for Teixiera and A-Rod. I have always been a Nick Johnson fan since his first stint in the Bronx but between Johnson and Granderson, both lefties, will be able to hit for power in Yankee Stadium.

The rotation is almost set between CC, AJ Burnett, Andy Pettitte, and the return of Javier Vazquez. Number 5 is a debate for another time ( I need to keep my readers wanting more!) Joba vs. Hughes.  Competition between the kids will need to keep a watching. All of New York will be.

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I went to see Rutgers play Notre Dame Saturday night and I must say, I wish the NYC area had real competitive college basketball team. The RAC was bumping to see RU get their first Big East victory of the season. College basketball is just not relevant and thats disappointing. College games, whether football or basketball, have some great atmospheres.

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Just incase anyone wanted to know I picked up a couple more Topps baseball card. Still have yet to get my first A-Rod. I did manage to pull out a Sabathia toppstown card. Not my favorite but pretty cool. I also pulled out a John Lannan, a native NY’er, who pitched a gem against the Yankees this past season so i thought that was cool. I also got two Griffey cards and an all star card Joe Mauer. There is a lot to discuss about Mauer in the upcoming weeks.

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Follow me on twitter for awesome random tweets about a guy who loves sports and just going through living his life and enjoying every minute of it- @rickcracklepop

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Superbowl Sunday is always fun because of the food and the parties and the last football game but after Sunday there is that sports lull. So enjoy Sunday it will be several weeks to there is a game that actually means something. After pitchers and catchers it will be time to put on your ball caps and get your favorite radio station on speed dial to talk about your team because after Sunday…baseball is back!

Heeeeeellllllllllllllooooooooooo

By: Contributing author Alex

Yes… that was indeed an obligatory Seinfeld reference. Such an auspicious debut huh? Any way, I am a new contributor to Concrete Jungle Sports. Allow me to introduce myself, at least without my real name. I am a Yankee fan, a Ranger fan, and a JET fan. Oh yea.. you heard me right. A JET fan. I will go into that soon. I enjoy all facets of rock music. Alternative, Emo, Screamo, Punk, Ska, Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Underground and of course Classic. I am a sports gamer more then anything. I love TV. I hate reading. And most importantly I love old movies. Romantic, Comedy, Horror and all of the amazing amazing exploitation films.

Alright now that I got all of that rigamarole (btw, all of the big words I’ve spelt so far have all been on one shot. I am that good. Thank you very much.)

Now let me venture into the AFC Championship game….sigh…

ok.. ok… as much as a JET fan I am (and believe me I am a real JET fan) I will admit that The Colts were the better team during that game. There are reasons why they are that good. And the main reason is obviously Peyton Manning. Honestly, the guy is a machine. I heard he watched a game from 5 years ago against Rex Ryan when he was defensive coach in Baltimore. That is amazing. And its because of that, Peyton was able to rape the JET defense. And I know thats a bad word because of what it conjures up, but lets be real. After the first quarter, he raped the defense. He made the defense look ridiculous. Except for….Darelle Revis. And again, lets be honest here. Peyton didnt  throw at Reggie Wayne because he was lost on Revis Island. Reggie Wayne was a nonfactor. But Peyton readjusted and there was no stopping them after that.

Now on the JET side of the ball; Mark Sanchez played great. He really did.  He didnt make any mistakes, and with the loose play calling, he was able to make the big plays and he did. And Braylon Edwards finally came through. He had a decent game too. Shonn Green, before he got injured was really starting to heat up. He had back to back 7 yard runs and he was starting to break the wall that is The Colt Offensive Line. And how about Brad Smith? Seriously I was looking for the same old option play but he surprised us all with the deep ball to Jericho Cotchery. Before the game everybody was talking about how the JETS needed to make the big play. And they did just that. Do the JETS have a Super Bowl team? In my honest opinion, yes… yes they do just not this year. Unfortunately they had to play The Colts. And they are a Super Bowl team… now.

Alright enough of that. Lets talk about baseball. 22 days till pitchers and catchers. And once again being from New York I am going to focus on The Yankees and The Mets. And once again, The Yankees have the better staff. Why wouldn’t they? People actually want to play for The Yankees. Actually  you know what? I am gonna talk about The Mets here. The Mets are officially known as The Land of Misfit Toys. They have a clusterfuck of random catchers, pitchers, injured players, old veterans, people you wouldn’t put on your bench and oh yea Jason Bay. People are running away from The Mets like coaches did for The Buffalo Bills head coaching position. Joel Pinero…gone. Ben Sheets…gone. Jon Garland….gone… and that is just the start. I can go on. But I want to talk about the new piece of Met news. They want to use John Smoltz. Really!? Why!? He’s done! Lets look at realistically. He wouldn’t be able to pitch for you. There is no way. He cant do it anymore. And do they really think he would be some kind of coach? I dont think so. The Mets are in shambles. And you know what they always will be too.

Anway, I think that is good enough for my first blog on this amazing site.

Peace out people…

1968 still lives

By Rick

I wrote that if the Jets won i would be hiding until spring training. However in a dissapointing game the Jets actually lost the AFC title game blowing an 11 point game so i write to my fellow readers (the few out there). Goin into the game we heard alot about the Jets and playing with house money. However when you get there you need to win it. Just like in 1998 the Jets blew a 10+ pt lead  in the game to barely fight in the 2nd half. The turning point of the game was Peyton Manning’s  4 play :58 second drive to make it a 4 point game going into the half. If i was Rex i would have punted and pinned the Colts deep and force them to drive the field.  Then Peyton Manning started to figure out the defense and thats when the Jets lost it. The Jets have not had the offense to keep up with the Colts in a track meet. I have been hearing the loss of Shonn Greene was big however he was not running all over the place (10 for 40 yds). Thomas Jones could have done that. The Colts played the game they wanted to and now they are packing for Miami. The Jets are left wondering what happend that left them oh so close and patting themselves on the back because no one thought they were supposed to be there. True. However the nfl game the way it is now, nothing is promised especially next season. You need to seize the moment because no one knows when they might get back. With that warning now out there they look good and should be a good team next season.

Every season, whether your team is 8-8 like my Giants were or you made the AFC title game like the Jets were or a Superbowl winner which we will see in two weeks, the new season starts and there is hope. Something poetic about that. Got to Love it!

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Speaking of seasons starting, baseball season is right around the corner. Pitchers and catchers i believe is only 22 days away. Some New York teams are figuring to not be finished like Yankees in LF or the Mets at Catcher and pitcher and 1st base. As the season draws near and the smell of fresh lawns grow stronger we will discuss more hot stove.

It will be interesting if Damon signs for less money or the Mets get Ben Sheets.  Sheets would be able to thrive in Citi Field. He is said to want more years from the Mets. It seems like Sheets and other free agents are just trying to use the Mets as leverage towards the other interested teams.  All open for debate and would love to hear some of your thoughts.

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I am starting to reorganize my small baseball card collection and starting to buy some more packs. I am going strictly for Topps because they’re probably the premier name in cards. If there are any cool tips let me know. I just picked up a 2010 series pack the other day i got a couple of decent and couple of rookie cards. I have a Swisher, Smoltz, Miguel Cabrera and a Jonathan Sanchez. I really like this Sanchez one just for the fact me and my father had watched his no hitter thanks to the mlb tv package. I do find it weird some one can pitch a no hitter and not get much publicity like Sanchez has. Im going to probably pick up another one with in the next couple of days. I enjoy just getting a 12 pack of baseball cards more so than just buying a box. It makes me feel young again (not that im old but it is just alot more fun that way).  I am looking for some cards of just some of the greats in this era, and plenty of Yankees whether its A-Rod or Louis Sojo and just something. Also need to be Topps. I am just looking for any cards that my kids can appreciate in like 15 years.

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By the way i added some cool and funny blogs on my blogroll. Check them out and add them or add me!

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Hopefully the football fans will be able to stop mourning and get ready for baseball season which is right around the corner. Lets get the discussion going whether its football or baseball lets get ready for one season to end and the other to start up.

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For twitter follow me @rickcracklepop

Back…and will be back again!

Ok, so ive been totally neglegant to writing this blog. Honestly i kinda want to restart it with a new name other than Jobarules. So if anyone has a good name just comment it. Anyway i was doing a podcast and that started to get a little laborious with bringing the equipment (a laptop and a simple mic) over to my co-host. Hey when you’re lazy, you’re lazy! If anyone has listened or seen any post out there some of you would be able to pick up on my slight NY Yankee/NY Giants bias. I just can not help it. I was raised with it.

The sports of 2009 was an up and down year in this house from being top of the heap with ol’ Frank Sinatra winning an amazing World Series to watching a team 2 years removed from a Super Bowl to not even showing, which made the 2009 NY Giants so hard to watch.

A-Rod finally get his championship

 Yet, i watched and i yelled and was utterly dissapointed as i realized i would not be seeing them until a meaningless preseason game at the end of summer. Alot of New Yorkers (excluding the random Cowboy fans sprinkled in the city that annoy me to no end) have one baseball team and one football team and thats that. Very Few try this oh i root for a New York team. Some are that way, i just happen to not be one of those. During the Summer i make sure the Yankees win, the Red Sox lose and the Mets lose. During my winters I make sure the Giants win and the Cowboys lose, Eagles Lose, and the Jets lose. I can not help these things. Its how i was raised.

 As you can expect I have not been very pleased with the way the playoffs have turned out other than the bitter division rivals losing.

Vinny lead the NY Jets to AFC title game in '98

The Jets are in the AFC title game. Woah! Im banking on a repeat of ‘98 where the Yankees won a World Series and the Jets lost to the Broncos. As a Giant fan I will be rooting against my hometown because they’re not my team but instead I will be rooting for Big Brother Peyton Manning. I love Eli Manning as a QB as the face of the franchise and i love that most people dont give him his respect because of who Peyton is. I have realized Eli will never be Peyton and I am more than ok with that. Eli was brought here to do one thing: win a championship. Been there, done that. I’ll always have a softspot for Eli. Peyton does not need anymore fans but its hard to watch him and not say yea this is one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. I was too young to watch Montana and Simms so i got to see Favre, Aikman, Warner and Brady and Manning. To me none better than Peyton. Anyway regardless of the outcome either many New Yorkers will be excited which is always cool or I am happy which is also cool. It might be a little too difficult to blog about a Jets win. So if the Jets win they will definatly deserved it and they will earn all the credit they get. I however will be in hiding refusing to eat my crow.

I am starting up with Pitchers and Catchers which is not too far off in which we can kick off the baseball season. I am restarting to get my baseball cards as a kid in order and starting to pick up new cards from 2009/ 2010 so i can eventually start being one of those cool collectors. More about that later. I will still consider moving the blog to a different name which i will put new information and come on down. I still want to get the blog moving with much more hits. I promise then i will keep up with it then. Football, Baseball, New York , Cool stuff. Im down for everything. Ok, in the meantime Good Luck to the Jets (ugh) and everyone with a rooting interest hope everyone enjoys. See you in time for spring training!.

annndd introducing: Trash Talk! Episode 1

howdy do my loyal readers hows it going this is the new podcast check it out me and alex did some great stuff i think you guys would enjoy it. should be good stuff. We talk yankees mets possible trades and whether or not i should buy a ps3 or another xbox 360. take a listen and let me know what you think. thanks!

This is the link to the episode

http://trashtalk.mypodcast.com/2009/07/Trash_Talk_episode_1_722-224774.html

and for the rss feed this is the link for that:

http://trashtalk.mypodcast.com/rss.xml

http://crewchats.mypodcast.com/rss.xml

this is my new podcast. Me and my buddy Pete will be discussing ny sports couple of times a week so subscribe to it and keep us going!

 

http://crewchats.mypodcast.com/rss.xml

Yankees closing in before the break

Rick here giving you my opinion on some tidbits of New York Sports.

First and fore most i hope everyone has a safe and pleasant 4th of July. NOW ON TO THE SPORTS!

Yankees have had an interesting couple of weeks and the Mets are floundering with an offense that is anything but that. The jets will lose a large cog in the new supposedly vaunted Rex Ryan defense. The Giants are still hearing how they will go to training camp lack a number 1 receiver and if it will be enough to win another superbowl or even a division. One thing at a time now.

Leading off is the Yankees. The Yanks have started to get on a roll recently and are currently the owners of the 3rd best record in baseball. They are also 1 game out of first in the division. Considering the horrendous 0-8 against the division leaders many may be surprised at this. The Yanks have some issues that are just starting to resurface. The issue as with many teams is depth. Most teams do not have it but when you are the New York Yankees you can get a person like Eric Hinske for clip board and no one thinks twice about it; in fact many fans call up talk radio and ask “is that it?” I tend not to be so greedy however i can tell outfield help is a need and of course the (insert sarcasm) terrible bullpen that the yankees have. Phil Hughes has turned into the return of Joba. Phil Coke has been pitching very solid and brian bruney should eventually turn it around, even though there is little evidence to prove other wise. With Chien-Ming Wang going down with a shoulder injury and being placed on the Disabled List i would think that the apparent move is Phil Hughes.

Phil Hughes should be in the rotation

However, Hughes has been lights out that in the ‘pen that moving him back to the rotation is not what the Yankee Brass wants by evidence of having Alfredo Aceves pitching 4 1/3 innings today it seems the Yankees would like to stretch him out and leave Hughes in the bullpen. However the bullpen has been fine with out Joba and it will be fine with out Hughes. The Yankees needing this 8th inning set up man and now baseballs constant baby-ing of pitchers that has gone on too long we are leaving organization number 1 prospects to pitch 7th and 8th innings? Hughes is the main reason why Johan Santana is not in pinstripes and i was fine with that but did the Yankees lose Johan Santana for a set up man and 4th outfielder in Melky Cabrera? Next year i would see the Yankees be hard pressed to let an aging Andy Pettitte resign even though as of now he is 8-3. If these guys have what it takes the stunting of the development of young pitchers needs to stop. Johan Santana was not the great pitcher that he was at Joba or Hughes age. I do not understand because they can pitch an 8th inning well some one expects a kid 22 or 23 years old to be Koufax or Bob feller. I think people need to remember they need to develop and harness their skills and once that happens watch out cause i believe these two have a great future. I know the Yanks want to win this year but do not fall into the traps of trades and free agent and mortgage the future like what happend in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

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On to The Mets. Being a die hard Yankee fan i watch very little Met games but i do tend to talk alot about them with my girlfriends father who is a Met fan so i do get some good tidbits from him. David Wrights batting average has dropped about 20 points since the Yankees first played the Mets and if i was a Met fan i would worry about that. However lets use the big excuse: Injuries. I have not seen a team this riddled with injuries since the Giants in 2006 when they got killed by the Eagles and they had rumors of bringing in Jesse Armstead to play Linebacker that one playoff game. Anyway the injuries have hit the everyday players and the rotation. The games i have watched the team has Wright and no one else. People seem to want to wait on Delgado coming back but seeing the way A-Rod came back from hip surgery this could be another disaster as he is older and not the player that A-Rod is. Perez is an absolute head case but atleast will provide stability to a rotation that has Redding and Livan Hernandez, who with the exception of Friday in Philly has pitched better than many could has expected. Being 4 out of a struggling Phillie team is rough pill to swallow but it is not even the all star break and plenty of time to get atleast Beltran and hopefully Reyes back to get some hope. With a struggling offense it might be able to take some pressure of some suspect pitching and even Johan Santana who has already had to carry the team befor the injury bug hit the team now this takes on a whole new relm of pressure. I am sure everything will work out the Mets will be in the chase, it is anyone’s guess what happens then.

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Jet time

Alright Jet fans Calvin Pace is down for four games and will return for the MNF against the Dolphins however it will be interesting to see how the Jets fare on til then with a difficult schedule it could be a big question mark between on the road against Houston and back to back home games against the rival Pats and then the Titans and then the high powered offense of the New Orleans Saints. The jets can easily go 4-0 or 0-4. This team was going to be built as Rex Ryans previous team was, The Ravens, with a grind out offense lead by a rookie quaterback and a smash mouth football.

Calvin Pace suspension could mean trouble

Calvin Pace was one of the better defenders on the teams last season now with Bart Scott expecting to become Ray Lewis (north edition) in Rex’s defense with Jim Leonhard roaming the safety spot with an established player like Kerry Rhodes this was shaping into a top notch defense on paper. Vernon Gholston should be the name to step up and produce but after an extremely dissapointing rookie campaign this should be a more of wait and see approach. Other questions become whether or not Sanchez can become the ball control rookie quaterback that does not have to throw 35 times and do too much and keeps the clock moving. With Thomas Jones and a good offensive line i think that could happen and with a safety blanket in Dustin Keller and nice option in Cotchery and Chansi Stuckey proving he can play some ball there are some options for Sanchez to develop nicely. Now if only the defense can hold its own until Sanchez develops then the Jets can have something good brewing here.

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Now on to the Giants. I have heard people talk badly about Eli Manning since the day he was drafted and can not understand it. He is a smart quarterback who is at his best at the 2 min drill and has done nothing but win games. He has been in the playoffs 4 years in a row with 2 division titles and a superbowl win. Not too shabby for a guy who people say have not lived up to his family name. Now onto the offense fire power of the offense. The giants have some good Wide Recievers, not word beaters but serviceable. Between Hixon and Steve Smith and Sinorice Moss and Mario Manningham there are some very good speed and some good hands. As of now that will be the rotation as Ramses Barden and Hakeem Nicks develop and get the feel for things, even though i expect Nicks to contribute more than Barden

Hakeem Nicks doing work

.  Looking at the clips on Giants.com i can see these guys can play but right now they are in shorts so theres alot more to come once training camp gets underway( which i will attend one of the day of the last week of Giants training camp for the first time). The giants have Clint Sintim who looks like he will be a rock on the strong side making the transition from 3-4 to a 4-3 so thats something to keep the eyes peeled on. The giants no longer have Burress but dont exactly miss him either he was not lighting up fantasy leagues last season so i think it will be ok to go in a new direction offensivly. I do not know how this will turn out but it will be an interesting story line all season.

 

That’s all folks!…i am currently trying to work on a podcast and i have no idea how so if anyone has any clue on how to do that send em on down. Again i appreciate the comments so keep em rolling. Ill keep you guys posted on through out the summer thanks for staying loyal !

Sorry for the delay. We’re Backkkkk!!!

Ok. Sorry for the delay but between not much happening in Giant/Jet land and the Yankees slow start i was not dying to face the fact that not much was going on. However, finals are over and I (Rick) have just totally caved in and gave into the twitter world. Lets recap!

 

Me and Anthony were supposed to do a draft blog. Do i even know if this happend? Nope. Sorry.

Now to the loyal Jet fans…Tired of watching a superbowl champ play in the same building finally do a smart thing and go out and get a franchise quarterback. I have to go off the fact that he will be able to step right in there day 1 based on the fact the fact the he played at USC and a pro style offense under Pete Carroll.  I am not big in having a guy step in day 1 but when there is no better option i get the move. Kellen Clemens might be good and deserves a shot however under the regime of the stand up comedian Rex Ryan he may want to start with a new leaf and start with Mark Sanchez. People, including Joe Namath, have said that Sanchez can step right in and have the same success as Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan. Those players had 5 and 4 years, respectivly, of expierence and Sanchez has 16 games of expierence. So this remains to be seen. If i am Jet fan, which most of people who know me i am not, i would be very pleased to hear about Sanchez and his meeting with his WR corp to start to get ready for work. I know that is more of intangible but it lays a nice ground work. Now I have heard people in other blogs  say for the Jets are interested in former Giant, Plaxico Burress. He would help the Jets greatly and give them a great deep weapon. The common belief is that Burress will plea bargain his way out of jail or into a minimal stay in prison. There is no way Plaxico Burress can plead guilty to any charge and not suspend him when he has gone out of his way to make guys in trouble in the NFL’s life miserable. This is an illegal hand gun in New York City, not exactly the wild wild west that allows the sort of things. As a New Yorker gun laws are not very flexible. Burress picked one of the worst places to be caught with an illegal hand gun. He will be suspended for quite some time at the very least. Sorry Jet fans.

quick thoughts for the jets

• Whats up with Mark Sanchez modeling his clothes (Taken from GQ)
  

  Marky Mark modeling it up

• Drew Rosenhaus(Who i follow on twitter) said on twitter that Thomas Jones will be at the OTA’s next week.
• Thomas Jones would be wise to duplicate last seasons numbers with Shonn Greene and Leon waiting for the RB-1 spot
• Leon play says he deserves his money because he is an absolute game breaker but what happend to the old days when if you were not the starting RB you were not paid like one
• Rex Ryan will be a hit with the media, but all the corny one liners have all ready gotten on my nerves
• I know Bart Scott will be a force for years to come but man does he ever stop talking. It goes with out saying he is already a media favorite.
• Many people figure i hate the jets, and theyre right, but if Sanchez manages the game half way good and the defense is as good as it should be i say they win 10-11 games. Im not sure if that wins the division but it should put them in the playoffs
• The Jets do need a bonafide #1 WR. I do not think it will be Braylon Edwards. Sorry.

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OK. Giant Time!

There has been absolutely no news on the giants. Which after last season it is kind of nice. The Giants went and drafted and absolute catching machine Hakeem Nicks. I initally wanted Kenny Britt (due to size and resemblence of Burress) or Rey Maulauga because Antonio Pierce has slowed down. The giants took care of the SAM LBer spot with Clint Sintim who was a OLB in the 3-4 of Virginia.  Many people have been concerned with the new transition for 3-4 to a 4-3 but i think many Giant fans would agree back in the glory days (1980s not 1950s-1960s) they would switch based on the talent level from the days of Carson, LT, Banks, they had the talent for any type of defense. Football players are players and i think Sintim should eventually get the defense as Tom Coughlin did say he was good in coverage so lets see how this goes. The giants got Hakeem Nicks and the tall Ramses Barden who seem like very talented options. Along with H-back Travis Beckum. It looks like they will be able to create some match up issues while learning on the job. Kevin Gilbride said it looks like the WR corp will be Hixon, Smith, and Moss. Yes, that Sinorice Moss who had 8 catches last year. Probably wishful thinking and way to build confidence in a WR who has not sniffed the field they figure to get Mario Manningham involved as well who like Moss did not get involved at all other than a quick slant and an Uber-failed reverse (probably explains why the giants dont run plays like that). I expect Nicks to be heavly involved as he is quick and strong and has drawn comparisons to Michael Irvin and Aquan Boldin (if he is 3/4s of that the giants are thrilled) Ramses Barden and Beckum seem to be nice goal line/ and other matchup options. The loss of Plax hurts but lets give it a shot. The Giants rarely throw the ball 35 times a day. Brandon Jacobs and Bradshaw and Danny Ware seem to have there mix of carries and figure to be key roles. The giants also selected Andre Brown from NC State might crack the line up as Jacobs usually gets hurt at some point during the season. The giants have given Eli many options to move the ball and with the stacked defensive line and nice Will LBer Michael Boley and Kenny Phillips going to be a starter this season the giants should be a tough defense just like last season and plan to make Sundays hard for Campbell/Romo/McNabb who they would like to give some payback for the rough playoff loss last season. However i can not wait!

• Hakeem Nicks says he wasnt used as a deep threat but feels he can do it all. After this video why not
• Ramses Barden looks to have great skills and can be a great option for Eli. He makes a big blunder midway through but he seems like he can be a big player. No pun intended for a 6′6 WR
• Whats up with WR picking non WR numbers: Nicks 18/ Barden 13/Britt 18/ Maclin 18/ Crabtree 15. Whats the deal with that?
• I have been checking out the new meadowland stadium. It looks nice but with gray seats and concrete walls it looks incredibly bland. I understand stayin nuetral to the Giant and jet fans but yeesh it looks boring. HOORAY FOR HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE!
• OTA start first week of June for the Giants so thats when I will update status of Nicks/Barden/Beckum/ Sintim.

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Quick Blurb on the Yankees.

• A-Rod is looking mighty comfortable at the band box formally known as Yankee Stadium
• Teixiera better start buying A-Rod dinner for all the halfway decent pitches he is seeing with A-Rod behind him and not Nick Swisher
• Joba has been a bull and will be a bonafide super star as a starter with in the next 2-3 years
• CC Sabathia its good to finally meet you!
• Phil Hughes i know youre young but you need to start pitching better.
• 7 game winning streak and the yankees have picked up 2 games on the Blue Jays. I think they might be legit this year.

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Quick NBA

• Beat LA! (im hoping Nuggets in 6)
• I am looking foward to Kenyon Martin abusing Pau Gasol for the next week. Should be fun.
• Jerry West is right Lebron is the best player in the league
• So, do the Cavs win in 4-5-6?
• I think this is Lebron’s year.
• Knicks can not buy a break can they? 8th pick?  They would probably trade this pick for Eddy Curry. Oh that already happend.

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I swear there will not be a huge delay in post. Enjoy the NBA playoffs and baseball season and training camp. I will try to keep updating as much as possible.  Anyone agree/Disagree/ wanna argue/ Leave comments i love feedback. Thanks readers

Alot to catch up on…Baseball Playoffs thoughts & what to do with the Yankees

Hello fellow bloggers:

 

It has been quite a while…sorry for the layoff. I didnt see many comments and was not sure people were enjoying the blogs. However i missed it so I (Rick) is back. Now very quickly the Yankees faded down the stretch and quite honestly did not put up much of a fight for the playoffs. This team needs to be blown up and start over from scratch.  Pitching is a huge issue but not certainly not the biggest. The issue with the Yankees is the team has, quite simply, become statues out there. Looking at some of the other teams across the league it is apparent the the rest of the league just blew right past the Yankees and didnt even stop to wave good bye leaving many of the “powers that be” scratching heads.

One rumor has Mike Mussina leaning towards retiring. I am not sure how some one is ready to retire after finally reaching his elusive 20 win season.  I was one of the believers in the Phil Hughes experiment, not so much the Ian Kennedy diaster.  I felt that the upside of having Joba/Hughes 1-2 for the next 10 years was too good to pass up for an aging Johan Satana. This is not to say Johan is in the decline; but to say that 137 million dollars plus Hughes/Kennedy/ Melky/ and another prospect was a bit much. The 3 stumbled along the way but Hughes started to look like he has potential down the stretch. Ian Kennedy seemed to think he  was better than everyone else can see

Ian Kennedy did not help himself with some of his comments this summer

. Melky just lost his way.Johan is one of the biggest game pitchers many of us will ever see. How many of our great readers tell me how great Johan will be in year 6 of that deal? As great as Pedro is in the 3rd year? Now Pedro’s signing added some star power and finally some credibility to the “Little Brothers of the Bronx” and led to Beltran signing and Delgado’s trade and putting some meat in the seats and bought them one strike away from the world series( Why doesnt Beltran have to deal with that? If that was A-Rod he would be force to play 3rd base with a bag over his head) The 2009 Yankee rotation should contain Wang, Joba, Hughes, Moose( if he does not retire), and then Yankees can go out and sign either C.C. Sabathia or Burnett or Derek Lowe. Now all these pitchers come with +/-. Sabathia is an absolute monster…on the negative he is an absolute monster. Sabathia looks like he should be playing Defensive tackle not pitching, and how will the workload of 4 straight games on 3 days rest affect him coming into this season after pitching about 241 innings the year before. Sabathia will also command “Johan money” so with all the money coming off the Yankee books will they want to throw it right back on payroll with Sabathia. Not sure. Then again the well documented rumors have him with a west coast bias. Burnett well… Burnett has always pitched against the Yankees extremely well, but the reputation for always being hurt is a reputation that is easy to ignore. This isnt a reputation of someone being a sloppy eater, its a little hard to contribute if a pitcher is not on the mound. If i was the Yankees i’d be really hesistant to break the bank on him either. Some ny papers have him still being close to soon to be ex-yankee Carl Pavano. The belief is that Burnett will not be remaking “New York, New York.” Some reports had the Jays already offering him an extension making 1-2 punch of him and Halladay something to deal with until some one’s arm falls off. Scary thought in itself. Derek Lowe is getting up there in age and has been known to ” get around” in towns of Boston and LA. Is it wise to take a party boy who is getting older and put him in the great city of NY? I only hope Cashman has some contigency plans, i hope its not Ollie Perez.

There is no way Johnny Damon should be the opening day center fielder. He has become a Left fielder, and not even a good one. It is obvious Johnny Damon’s best days were in Boston and are long gone. Johnny Damon stays one more year and then they let him go. Brett Gardner/Melky Cabrera are the exact same player: Fast, Good Defensively, with little or no bat. Melky was sent down to Triple A after being in the bigs for 3 years, thats never good. Im not sure Brett Garder getting his batting average .228 is really what you call respectable. He did come on later in the season but I dont know if he can become a slap hitter such as a Juan Pierre type. Those type of players that can make a triple out of anything but eventually they slow down.

There are rumors about a Cano for Beltran deal. Now it would be nice to have a good centerfielder but at what cost? As previously mentioned this team is getting older so why give a young cog for an older piece likely to break down with in the next couple of years? Not sure if this deal makes sense for both parties. It does not for me.

Bobby Abreu is also another interesting case because many people do like his numbers but at his price of 16 million a year hes not the right fielder for me.  There are not many options so they might have to stick this one out with Abreu unless you play Nady/Damon/ Garder or Melky. Looks like it could be rough year in the production department from the outfielders.

Jason Giambi- 99% out the door. Thanks for the memories, some clutch homeruns, and making the Yankees look the the only juicers in the MLB. Giambi was a good player but he looked like he was finished as a 1st basement when he came in 2002. 

Jason Giambi and his mustache were loved..but it looks like the ride is over

The rumors of texiera are dying as people say that he may be in the Sabathia/Burnett ” I Dont <3 NY” campaign. I also saw something on cnnsi truth and rumors section stating that a team mate questioned whether or not Texiera was some one who made everyone around him better. So we need 2 A- Rods? I dont know. Is it possible to have someone to hit in the clutch. I wonder what Tino is doing right now?

Robbie Cano- Ahhh the most talented and frustrating one. We have seen him hit .341 and .250. How is that possible? Giradi benching was good, but way to late. I say he should have been benched for a weekend that should wake him up. He’s a grown man that needs a foot somewhere. These are professionals. Play the game and produce or go home.

Derek Jeter- What can be said about the fearless leader? Absolutley nothing. He is the face of the franchise no matter what. Looking at Jeter its hard not to see Jeter pump his fist and make people think of glory days that were only 10 years ago. Is he getting older? sure. Has he lost a step? Probably. Then again there is no one else that just restores faith in his team like number 2.

Time for A-Rod to make it count this year

A-Rod: Well A-Rod needs to stop playing for contracts and start playing like he’s the best player in the game. No one knows whether or not if his run ins with Madonna and C-Rod saying C-Ya really affected him. It probably did but i doubt thats the whole season. His numbers of .300 and 35 hrs and 100 Rbis are probably the most hollow numbers ive seen in a long time. A-Rod should turn on TBS at some point and watch some kid that has put his team on his back and currently has his team only 1 game away from the world series. Some where A-Rod was also one game away till he went into invisable mode and the rest was history. Another 9 years of A-Rod maybe around year 4- 6 he might do what he gets paid for. For the record, i love a-rod. Come on a-rod you’re better than that.

Jorge- He is your catcher. It was dumb to sign him to such a big deal but he was such a big part of the offense. So when the yanks lost him they lost a big part of the production. I still have faith in having him behind the plate. I hate tryin to convert regular players to 1st base. It just doesnt look right. It didnt look right for Mickey Mantle and it does not look right for Jorge Posada.  Keep molina as the back up because he was probably could have won a gold glove this year.

How can the Red sox have players like Lester, Elsberry, Lowrie that are contributing and the Rays have upton and Longoria and young ball players and the Yankees have the immovable objects in the field? They need to get younger. The statues need to go and the A-Rods and Jeters need to lead by producing and the young ones need to put up or shut up.

——-

Anyone thinking with Manny…The Red Sox series is entirely different? Yea me too.

It was only a year ago. But to Boston fans it seems even longer. Manny being Manny also meant being clutch

How could people really think the Matt Stairs homerun think it was Joe Torre’s fault? Broxton had not allowed a homerun in Dodger Stadium close to 2 years!

I am not agreeing with having Kazmir pitch game 5. They should go for the kill with James Shields. Maybe Joe Maddon hasnt been around long enough to realize this but if you let the Red Sox breathe they usually come back and haunt you. Ask Tom Gordon.

No matter what happens I am backin Torre. The dodgers were supposed to get the doors blown off by the cubs and they took it to them.  Go get ‘em Joe!

Joe Torre the rock for happier days in Yankeeland

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I will write my football review in a couple of hours. I just needed to get the first post out of my system.

 

Feel free to contact me and we can discuss it.

Baseball “RANT” – With Wang Gone Where do the Yanks Go?

Hello Bloggers

Your favorite sports writers here giving you an update in what we know best. New York Sports what else?! Plenty is happening in the world of sports, I’m sorry we couldnt get the basketball game last night but I will most likely have some thoughts in the upcoming days about that one.

Lets start of with the Yankees. In a impressive win in Houston yesterday where the Yankees put a whooping on the Astros, but the Yankees lost Ace Chien-Ming Wang. Wang had gone through a rough stretch before this road trip but now after dominating starts in Oakland and in Houston he looked like he began reverting to Chien-Ming Wang of old. He worked fast, he threw the heavy sinker, and he got out of many innings with the pitchers best friend, the double play. Now he comes a R-ANT’s Rant here. This should be a wake up call to how stupid Interleague play is. The Yankees have started to become the media made them out to be in Spring Training. They won a well pitched game by Joba Chamberlain by the score of 2-1, They also won 8-4 behind another win by the Moose, making that 10 wins on the seasons; reaching some people’s season prediction for him this season by the 14th of June. Now in a game that had offense and great starting pitching and the bullpen pitching extremely well the Yankees lost a vital cog. Chien-Ming Wang. He will be in a cast for 6 weeks, yes 6 weeks. By my calculations end of July that he will be in a cast. With out interleague play he would probably be sitting in the dug out letting matsui hit for him due to the DH instead of hurting his foot with what seems to be a Lisfranc sprain(which ended Strahans season not too long ago). Interleague play has to go but another time for that rant. Every team deals with injuries; Yankees no strangers to injuries already with losing A-Rod(who is very quietly hitting .326 this season) and Jorge Posada and two thirds of the “young guns” of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. How do the Yankees replace 19 wins and a calming factor every five days when number 40 takes the mound. The Yankees will have to look for a way to hold water with thier pitching staff losing one of thier most consistent pieces.

Where can the Yankees look to get some stability and some wins that will be missed the ace Wang. Right now the Yankees are a season high 4 games above the .500 mark and yet are still 6 behind (depending on what the Red Sox do against the Phillies tonight as the Yankees are off tonight)

Anthony will have some guys to look at these are some of the guys i want to take a look at and he will take a look at the trading market as you will have to but hopefully not over spend for some one in a desperate time.

1. Jeff Karstens- He has some Major League experience. Karstens is a gritty pitcher that will give you a tough gritty outing. I view the game against boston where he was struck off the leg and finished the inning on what was realized as a broken leg. Karstens looks as if he might be able to do some damage if given the chance. He has not been off to a great start this year but does have the talent as last year he was 5-0 with 1.49 ERA.
2. Kei Igawa- GOD NO! I hope Cashman decides not to give him another shot because if Cashman decides he is this years Aaron Small it could be a long year and we need to start gettin ready for the football season
3. Alan Horne- One of the Yankees other “Blue Chippers” that are healthy now and do not have to be waited on. Alan Horne is a young pitcher who is currently progressing through the farm system to be a starter for this team. Cashman and Hank Steinbrenner seem to be very high on him. His numbers for last season in 12-4 from 27 starts that take 153.1 inning with a 165 K’s with a 3.11 ERA. This season in AAA He is 2-0 3.44 ERA with a a Strikeout an Inning at 25 years old. He looks like he could possibly be making some heads turn this year.
4. Ross Ohlendorf -Here is the shocker right here reported right here on JOBARULES1918. Move Ross Ohlendorf into a starting role he was the Yankees long reliever this season. He has pitched at high level for the Yankees since late last season. He has started before. Ohlendorf did struggle a bit in AAA as a starter due to being streaky. He might be a very serviceable pitcher. As for the long man role you can keep Dan Giese who has pitched excellent in relief of Joba Chamberlain in the role of long man or move Dan Giese into a starting role as he proved he can pitch against major leaguers for an extended stretch as he was doing before.

David Robertson as reported by Kevin Kernan and the New York Post by says that he has the chance to become the next shut down reliever ala Joba Chamberlain. In 42 2/3 innings he has 60 strike outs and Robertson also has allowed only 18 walks. Robertson does not throw as hard as Joba does he throws into the low 90s with his fastball but is said to have a devastating curveball. Be on the look out for this kid. He might be the real deal.

Thanks for reading. Ant will have some guys he is keeping his eyes open for the next couple of weeks to take over for Wang and he will also take a look at the Trading Market.

Hello Bloggers,

Ant here-

Well I really don’t know were to begin. I am deeply saddened by the news that my favorite pitcher is going to be out for the next 6 weeks. Then a 4-6 week rehab assignment, which will probably end sooner than that if all goes well. I 100 % agree with my buddy Rick here that Interleague play must go. Instead taking mid inning piss Chien Ming Wang had to go to the plate and hit. He got on base and then was forced to run. When he ran he pulled up with a limp running around third. Interleague play blows!!! The yanks just lost there ace for most of the season due to this bullshit. Oh I found were to begin, I’m pissed off that we just got screwed because of the bullshit play known as interleague play. I am completely against it and think that something should be done in order to get rid of this unnecessary time of the schedule. Its one thing to go ahead have the pitchers hit in the World Series, because it is the world series. IF INTERLEAGUE PLAY IS SO IMPORTANT TO THE LEAGUE MAKING MONEY, THAN IT SHOULD WORK BOTH WAYS. HOW IS THE LEAGUE GOING TO MAKE UP FOR THE YANKEES LOSING THE NEXT 10-13 WINS THAT WANG WAS GOING TO GIVE THEM. They can’t and won’t so now I’m going to look into how the Yankees are going to make these wins up until Wang gets back.

One way to go is the farm system. Two pitchers in the farm system that I have my eye on are Jeff Marquez and Jason Jones. I’ll start with Jones. Jones numbers so far are: 8-2 rec, with a 2.30 ERA, 82.0 IP, 76 H, 24 R, 21 ER, 22 BB, and 45 K’S. This kid has really good numbers, especially his ERA. A very low ERA at 2.30. Although he is only in double A, i think he should be pushed up to triple A and given a chance to see what he can do. That move will take some time to happen possibly three weeks or so. There really isnt much to lose,e except the fact that they might realize that he isn’t the guy for the job or that he, in their mind, may not be a good big leaguer were as some one else may have him as a good pitcher. Then they may be able to use his experience this year as a way to showcase his talent. The possibility of a trade will be much high once he has proven that he can pitch in the big show. Hopefully a team like the Indians will like him and then we can trade him to them for a C.C. , then hope that he was mis scouted and sucks. The C.C. talk will have to wait a paragraph or two tho. I really can’t see any way that this move up to triple A at least or possibly a few starts in the majors could actually hurt unless they feel he isn’t ready yet. Or that they have some one else that will do the job even better.

Now for Jeff Marquez. I don’t think this kid is really anything special. His numbers aren’t good, he is 6-7, with a 4.69 Era, 80.2 IP, 93 H, 51 R, 42 ER, 12 HR, 24 BB, AND 33 K’S. Personally i am not really a fan of him. His numbers have shown he is very inconsistent. I don’t think he is going to make it in the big leagues. And if he does I’ m just some asshole on a computer writing about him for free, so really what do I know. Marquez numbers in double A were much better than they are now, but again that is double a and he made a move up to triple a and is struggling. How could they think that he will be able to pitch in the majors if he has struggled from jumping from double A to triple A. When he was in double a he went 15-9 with a 3.65 ERA. Which is very good, but that was double a. He has nasty stuff, he just won’t pan out for a couple of years the way he has progressed this year.

Ok i will get to the rest in a second, but i want to go out and say that i hate reading the newspapers. I will read them every day for sports news and read all the articles, but there are way to many times that the paper will name some one that is supposed to be good and eventually panning out to suck. I feel that every guy that gets a little publicity is supposed to be one of the top prospects and will turn things around. Im sick of that shit, can somebody please grow a sack and tell the reader what they are actually feeling, rather than sugar coating everything. DAM IT!! Not everyone is a phenomenal player.

C.C. needs to become a Yankee. I think that he will be a formidable option to take over for were Wang had to leave due to injury. He isn’t having a good year right now but he was a cy young award winner and i dont think you go from Cy young award winner to a bum in a year.He also plays on the indians and that may be part of the reason why he isn’t playing that well. I think that he will be able to provide much needed experience and a great pitcher to front of the rotatiion starter. If C.C. comes to NY just imagine C.C., Joba, Moose, Pettite and either Hughes or Wang if he gets back in time. Then i want to see a team come into NY and win a 5 or 7 game series in the playoffs. You got a great pitcher in C.C., A good lively arm in Joba, a very experienced Moose, a great postseson performer in Pettite and Wang who is dominate or Hughes who came to pitch last year in the postseason. I wouldn’t be to worried with that rotation. Another guy on the radar is Rich Harden. He is a great pitcher but the problem is that he always gets hurt. The yanks wouldn’t be helped with trading away a couple young pieces and make it into a great pitcher that is always getting injured. If the Yankees make a move it is going to have to be a group of players that will be sent away. One that is an option to be traded is Melky Cabrera. If he gets traded be careful and watch out for a kid by the name of Brett Gardner. He is batting .290 wit 3 hrs, 28 rbi and 25 sb. So he has what it takes to make a great leadoff hitter. You heard it right here on “RANTS”, the kid is sick.

C.C. COME ON DOWN TO THE BRONX BABY!!!

And in conclusion, the next few weeks are going to be very interesting in Yankee land. What will they do? They realize they have to make up for Wang’s wins he would give them. Will they make atrade or not, im not sure but i do hope that something will get done. Pitching Pitching Pitching thats what wins in the playoffs. My suggestion Yankee brass take care of it.