Speak of the Devils-June 7, 2012

Speak of the Devils

Staring their own doom in the face down three games to none in the Stanley Cup Finals, the sixth-seeded New Jersey Devils refused to blink. Playing in a raucous STAPLES Center against the miracle eight-seeded LA Kings of the Western Conference, the Devils avoided a sweep with a clutch 3-1 victory in 60 scintillating minutes last night.

Certain future Hall-of-Fame goalkeeper Martin Brodeur had 21 saves and rookie Adam Henrique had the winning goal with less than five minutes left, keeping the Devils' season alive for at least three more days, and denying the Kings the chance to match the all-time best playoff run at 16 wins and 2 losses.

"We have to go back to Jersey anyway," Brodeur said cheerfully after the game. "We figured we might as well bring them with us, and play another game."

The Devils' victory called into question-again-the go-for-the-throat killer instinct of a Devils team that obliterated the #1, 2, and 3 seeds in their conference but seemed to lose focus every time they were on the verge of a sweep.

"We know it's going to be a tough task," moustachioed rookie Henrique admitted, "but there's no quit in this group. We know we can do it."

That belief is somewhat validated after a game in which the Devils were held without even a single shot on goal for nearly 17 minutes in the second period, but nonetheless scored first (Patrik Elias knocked a ricochet past LA netminder Jonathan Quick 7:56 into the 3rd period) and then shook off a game-tying goal by LA's Drew Doughty exactly one minute later. Veteran Ilya Kovalchuk added an empty-net goal with twenty seconds left to push New Jersey's advantage to 3-1.

"We stayed alive," Elias added. "Marty (Brodeur) had to work hard, but he gave us a chance. All we've got to do is keep playing hard."

Saturday, the Devils will, on their home ice, look to stave off elimination again, to see if they can come without shouting distance of the 1942 Toronto Maple Leafs, the only team to ever win the Stanley Cup Finals after losing the first three games (it has been done three other times in the NHL playoffs).

"It's fun," Henrique said. "This is where every kid dreams of playing one day."

How The West Was Won, June 7, 2012

How The West Was Won

How was the West(ern Conference of the NBA) won? To use another easy play on words: the Thunder rolled. Not a 34-point first quarter by the San Antonio Spurs, not an early 18-point deficit, not a 15-point halftime deficit, not even the fact that the Spurs hadn't lost four games in a row in over a year, could stop the quick, athletic, flashy Oklahoma City Thunder. Up 3-2 in the Western Conference Finals but down early at home, the Thunder's young stars refused to give in to their much-ballyhooed, multi-championship-winning foes, eventually pulling out a 107-99 victory in front of 18,000 screaming fans.

"I know it's just one step closer to our dreams but it felt good," Thunder superstar forward Kevin Durant said.

Durant, who was on the court for all 48 minutes, led the winning team with 34 points and 14 rebounds. Point Guard Russell Westbrook added 25 points, and  guard James Harden added 16.

They needed every one of those points against a Spurs attack that was firing on all cylinders early, to the tune of 63 first half points. Point Guard Tony Parker had 29 points, including an incredible 17 in the first quarter explosion; center Tim Duncan (25) and shooting guard Stephen Jackson (23) each added 20 in an attack that had the Thunder back on their heels early. In fact, the Spurs reached the locker room at half-time sitting on a 15-point lead and the knowledge that, never in their playoff history, had they blown a half-time lead of more than 11.

"There's not much to complain about," Spurs point guard Manu Ginobili said. "We had a great run. We just couldn't beat these guys."

The Thunder did it by outscoring San Antonio 59-36 in the second half, including crucial fourth-quarter three-pointers by Harden and former Los Angeles Laker Derek Fisher (known for his crunch-time prowess anyway) that kept the home crowd on its feet, screaming at the decibel level of a jet engine, throughout the fourth quarter.

By the end, the Thunder were so secure in the driver's seat that Durant stepped toward the edge of the court and hugged his mother with 14 seconds left.

"I never want to take those moments for granted," he said.

He may just have more moments to take or not take for granted in the next week.

The Thunder can relax and watch Thursday night to see if their Finals opponent will be decided. The Boston Celtics currently hold a 3-2 edge on the Miami Heat, and will begin play on their home court at 9 p.m. ET. If needed, a Game 7 in that series would be played in Miami on Saturday night.

The Big Red Machine Rolls On, August 8, 2011

I've been hearing and hearing about the amazing 2011 Boston Red Sox, who rebounded from a 2-10 start to become one of the most exciting Major League Baseball teams in recent memory, but I haven't seen much of them. Because I'm often either up early in the morning or out late at night for work, I haven't been able to watch much baseball this season, but tonight I had some free time and turned on the first game I could find, a Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins prime-time on ESPN.

I think these TV deals are made before the season starts, but I wouldn't be surprised if the fanfare of the Red Sox early in the season made this presentation possible.

When I turned the game on, the bottom-dwellers (this year) from Minnesota were leading Boston 2-1. After two innings, the Twins had turned on 45-year-old knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who is seeking his 200th win, with outfielder Jason Kubel bombing a home run and superstar catcher Joe Mauer ripped an RBI double, and Twins starter Scott Baker was mowing down the amazing Red Sox, retiring seven in a row and upping that strikeout total to 6 against arguably the best lineup in professional baseball.

By that point, the commentators were all over the Red Sox, muttering about a team performing sluggishly after a late-night trip to Minnesota after a tense series with the rival Yankees. Highly-paid outfielder Carl Crawford bobbled a fly ball in left, shortstop Marco Scutaro botched a hard grounder, and catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia looked silly misjudging some of the floating knuckleballs.

But in the top of the sixth inning, with the score 5-1 Minnesota, it all changed, and I got to see the show that is the 2011 Sox. Crawford led off the inning with the 110th triple of his big league career. Adrian Gonzalez notched his Major League-leading 92nd RBI of the year with a fly ball to left. Former AL MVP Dustin Pedroia ripped a single up the middle. Then David 'Big Papi' Ortiz smashed a 438-foot drive into the right-center-field stands, making it 5-4. Just a few pitches later, Saltalamacchia slapped a ball 420 feet down the right field line, and trotted around the bases while Ortiz raised his fist in friendly salute.

Now this is just one inning, against a fourth-place team, but the Sox are still showing me the spectacle they are. Wakefield is suddenly toughening up, striking out two last inning. Now there are two on, no out, with Crawford at the plate...

I'm anticipating some excitement from the most exciting team in baseball circa 2011.

The world over, Red Sox Nation has a smile on its collective face.

Note: Atlanta 2B Dan Uggla just reached on an infield single to short in his game against the Florida Marlins, upping his personal hitting streak to 29, the second-longest hitting streak of the 2011 MLB season (Andre Ethier of the LA Dodgers had 30).

A Giant Acquisition, July 28, 2011

Didn't you hear? The Patriots just traded for Albert Haynesworth!
Oh, and Reggie Bush is going to the Miami Dolphins.
Donovan McNabb is officially with the Minnesota Vikings.
Matt Hasselbeck is now with the Titans, and Tarvaris Jackson is replacing him with the Seahawks, and Sidney Rice is joining him in Seattle.
The Jets are keeping Santonio Holmes...

All of those developments have been big news in the professional sports world the past two days, but I'm not referring to any of those dizzying NFL headlines.

If you caught the obvious pun in the title, you know what I am talking about:

Yesterday, 34-year-old New York Mets outfielder and former All-Star Carlos Beltran agreed to a trade to the defending-World Champion San Francisco Giants in exchange for San Fran's top pitching prospect, Zach Wheeler. Beltran was playing out the final year of a seven-year, $119 million contract with the Mets that he signed in 2005.

Beltran-probably still best-known for hitting .435 with eight home runs in the 2004 postseason with the Houston Astros, who fell to the St. Louis Cardinals in a seven-game NLCS that year-will join a Giants club that is in first place but in desperate need of offense.

Last year, the Giants made the playoffs and won the World Series with a style of baseball they called "torture", i.e. a lot of one-run games in which victory was made possible only because of their pitching. The Giants won the World Series on the strength of their pitching (Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, Brian Wilson, etc...), and, this year, are seeking to follow essentially the same formula. They are currently three games ahead of second-place Arizona in the NL West, an otherwise fairly uncompetitive division at the moment.

However, watching parts of the Giants' 2-1 victory over the Phillies (a 2010 NLCS rematch) last night on ESPN, it wasn't hard for me to see why the Giants needed an impact bat. They were kept in the game because Cain, per usual, pitched brilliantly, but he was barely better than his Philadelphia counterpart, Cole Hamels, who, in the seventh, gave up a run (to make it 2-0 Giants) but then pitched out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam with relative ease. In the post-Barry Bonds era, the Giants have never been known as an offensive force, and that became even more pronounced when they lost catcher and clean-up hitter Buster Posey-the defending NL Rookie of the Year-for the season in May with a broken leg. Looking at their lineup last night, the Giants are a team made up of able veterans you may have heard of (Aubrey Huff, Aaron Rowand) if you've been around baseball enough, and a few players (Miguel Tejada, Pablo Sandoval) who no longer produce like they once did. Like Posey, starting second baseman Freddy Sanchez-who tore the cover off the ball in the World Series last fall-is on the DL. The current team leader in RBIs has probably fewer than 40 (and the Major League leader in RBIs, Adrian Gonzalez of the Red Sox, has 87).

Now, it's true that Beltran is well-remembered for taking a called third strike with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth inning in Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, sending the Mets home for the winter that close to the World Series after a dream season (the Mets were 97-65 that year, with six players in the All-Star Game, including Beltran). He has also missed chunks of the last two full seasons with injuries to his knees, which hinder the range of the three-time Gold Glove winner. But he's also a former Rookie of the Year (1999, with the Kansas City Royals), who has hit 20 or more home runs 8 times, driven in 100 or more runs 8 times, and stolen 20 or more bases 6 times. In other words, he's a career .282 hitter with a knack for hitting doubles and home runs from the heart of a lineup.

In other words, exactly the kind of player a manufacture-runs-outlast-them-through-the-torture, low-scoring team like the Giants needs.

They're three games up on Arizona. None of the other teams in their division are closer than 11-and-a-half games out (Colorado). Once Lincecum is back from his current illness (he's missed two starts) they'll be trotting out the Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, Zito, Bumgarner group continuously, to baffle opposing offenses. Plus they have that eccentric bearded closer (Wilson) for mop-up duty. With Posey out, Sanchez out, Sandoval struggling, and Tejada and Huff no longer capable of producing as they once did, for their dreams of a repeat to become legitimate, the Giants, despite their division lead, couldn't make a more important acquisition for the stretch run.

Beltran is expected to bat third for the Giants tonight in their game against the Phillies. A long-time Met, Beltran's reception from Philadelphia fans should be interesting.

Everything's Bigger in Texas, July 26, 2011

Especially the run support.

Texas Rangers left-hander Derek Holland started last night's game against the Minnesota Twins with a 9-4 record thanks, in part, to 6.60 average runs of support per start, the third-highest total in the American League. This morning, Holland leads the American League with 7.55 average runs of support per start, thanks to an offensive explosion by his teammates, who rained 20 runs and 27 hits on Minnesota en route to a 20-6 victory.

"My focus was easy to keep," Holland-who pitched six innings, allowing one run on five hits-said after the drubbing. "Every time I went back to the mound I felt like I had to get loose again. The main thing was to throw strikes and make sure the momentum was in our favor."

Added Holland: "I can't say enough about the offense."

Here's a few things one can say about the barrage that started against Twins right-hander Nick Blackburn and ended up touching six pitchers:

• After five innings, the Rangers had 22 hits, the most by an American League team in an entire game this season



• After those same five innings, the Rangers had 18 runs, in the process becoming just the third team since 1900 to score 3 runs in each of the first three innings. Noted Twins manager Ron Gardenhire: "The first five innings went like a ZIP code. That tells you how it went for us. I think that's somewhere in New York, 33354."



• The Rangers' 27 hits were the second-most in team history, behind only the 29 they notched in their notorious 30-3 August 22, 2007 victory over the Baltimore Orioles.
  


• Three Rangers-second-baseman Ian Kinsler, outfielder Nelson Cruz and catcher Mike Napoli-had four hits each, and four others-designated-hitter Michael Young, shortstop Elvis Andrus, outfielder Endy Chavez and first-baseman Mitch Moreland-had three each.

It was the fifth time in franchise history the Rangers have scored 20 or more runs in a game.

Sunday night, the Rangers were blanked, 3-0, and put up just four singles against Toronto Blue Jays lefthander Brent Cecil in a draining loss. Four-time All-Star outfielder Josh Hamilton, who had two hits and three RBIs in Monday's blowout, went back to that shutout loss by way of explaining the outburst. "Think we were mad," he asked.

"We came out with a lot of energy," Young, who had an opposite-field two-run homer in the first inning to put the Rangers up 3-0 after they had already gained a one-run lead, said. "Obviously you never expect a game like this."

"It was fun," Hamilton said. "Obviously you're not going to do it all the time, but when you do it, it's fun. It seemed like everybody fed off each other."

Both Young and Hamilton mentioned how grateful they were to be on the winning side of the onslaught rather than the other.

"We have a lot of respect for the Twins," Young said. "They are a very professional team. We expect a tough game tomorrow."

But, for now, the Rangers will enjoy satisfying memories of their highest-ever hit output at home, in the Ballpark of Arlington, the most runs in one game by any team thus far in 2011, and the fact that a late Anaheim Angels loss expanded their cushion as the first place team in the American League West to four games instead of three.

"We did a pretty good job," Andrus said, to summarize the night's events.

*All quotes courtesy of July 26 MLB.com article by T.R. Sullivan

Football is Back, Now What to Do! July 25, 2011

Thank goodness, it's over!

I think President Obama said it best: "How can owners, who are each worth nearly a billion dollars, and players, who are almost all millionares, have a work stoppage over money?"

One of the best things he's ever said, in my opinion.

And here we are, 132 days after March 11, when the last labor agreement expired, and everybody's finally talking about getting football going again. Now James Harrison will have to face up to his teammates after his direct call-outs of QB Ben Roethlisberger and RB Rashard Mendenhall in a Men's Journal interview, Chad Ochocinco had stop playing soccer and riding bulls, Peyton Manning and Terrell Owens can get on the recovery train after injuries and surgeries, the New York Jets can start trying to lend outspoken head coach Rex Ryan some legitimacy after he declared that this was the year--the Jets really were going to win the Super Bowl.

I haven't been too into sports lately, what with my family and my favorite baseball team-the Baltimore Orioles-in the pits after an offseason of optimism, pro and college basketball over, pro Hockey over, and no big tennis tournaments in immediate site. I watched the second half, overtime periods, and penalty shootout of the Women's World Cup, and was, like many, sorely disappointed when the USA women basically fell over and died in the latter, losing the shootout 3-1.

I haven't been too into sports lately, but I'm glad football's back on the slate. It wasn't until the Super Bowl this past year when I went "ya know, I should request off-work on Sundays..." Not just for the football, mind you, but for church-related functions as well; you know how it is. But yeah. I used to start work at 1 p.m., so, at best, I'd catch some pregame clatter and maybe the end of the night game. Now I'll be able to really watch, assuming my work/living situation doesn't drastically change anytime soon.

Note: In all the hoopla over the players agreeing to the owner's tentative proposal and whatnot, I haven't heard anything about changing the schedule from 16 regular-season games to 18. I hope that isn't a coincidence; i.e., I hope they don't change it. I can't imagine the injuries that would result from two more games squeaked out just for the sake of several-million more dollars.

So, what now? Players go to training camp, then into preseason games, and then it all starts again. Ben Roethlisberger should be able to start this season at the beginning-as opposed to last year, when he missed the first four games with a suspension-and he'll do so this year as a) a married man, and b) a first-time Super Bowl loser. Carson Palmer's been whining and whining that he wants out of Cincinnati; will he retire or will Cincinnati let him go first? Will Cam Newton make any difference to a hopelessly-beleagured Carolina Panthers club? Has defending unaminous league MVP Tom Brady cut his hair at all, or, in fact, done anything with it?

I'm glad football's back, even though it technically doesn't start-to the garden-variety fan-until mid-to-late August. I'll look forward to Sunday afternoons, chilling, with a cold drink nearby, reclined, and watching grown men in helmets pound into each other. Sounds worthwhile, right?

Are You Ready For Some Football? No, Seriously, ARE YOU?? July 25, 2011

"Football's back, and that's the great news for everybody." -NFL commissioner Roger Goodell (on Monday)

It really is. Nearly four and a half months after the league's old labor contract expired on March 11, and we were plunged into a world where America's most lucrative sport was officially not happening until the NFL owners and the NFLPA (Player's Association) got together to agree on issues centered primarily around dividing the leagues billions of dollars in annual revenue.

The longest work stoppage in league history came to an end when the owners proposed a tentative deal on Monday and the players agreed to it, or at least agreed to make a collective bargaining agreement official out of the structure of the proposition.

DeMaurice Smith, head of the NFLPA, said the sides still had to sit down and agree on, among other things, "health, safety, benefits, and other collective bargaining issues", but he stated that he had "a great deal of confidence that both sides (were) going to engage."

According to an ESPN.com article put together with information from the Associated Press and ESPN.com writers John Clayton and Chris Mortensen, the main points of the new, approved deal are:
- the nearly $9 billion in annual revenue will be divided 53/47 in favor of the owners
- $120 million salary and bonus cap for every team for 2011, and potentially for '12 and '13
- $22 million in benefits
- salary system (and potential cap) for spending on first-round draft picks
- unrestricted free agency after four seasons (for most players)

Still to be worked out are issues including a new substance-abuse policy, punishments for on-or-off-field antics, and benefits and health care.

The article did not mention anything about the length of the regular season schedule, which at one point was strongly rumored to be expanding to 18-regular-season games.

"I wanna thank all the players for their leadership, and for securing the long-term future of the game," Goodell said in a press conference Monday. "Having a 10-year agreement is an extraordinarily great thing for our players, and especially for our fans. Everybody worked hard, everybody had a passion, and everybody believed in this game of football, and what we could do to make this game better, and I think this agreement is going to make our game better."

"I believe it's important that we talk about the future of football as a partnership," Smith said.

This, also from ESPN.com, is a timeline of what will happen in the next week, now that the two sides have agreed:

Monday: Teams can go to 90-man rosters and will receive the official free-agent list
Tuesday: Trades can commence. The signing of rookies and undrafted free agents can begin at 10 a.m. Teams can reach agreements will all free agents. Signed players are allowed back into team facilities.
Wednesday: Players can begin reporting to training camp, 15 days before their first preseason games.
Thursday: Teams can begin to cut players at 4 p.m.
Friday: Teams can file free agent signings beginning at 6 p.m.

"I want to get back to work," Four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning said.

Said DeMaurice Smith: "This is a great day for everybody."