The first ever WBC began with Korea beating Chinese Tapei 2-0. Korea and Tapei are just two of the 16 teams that were selected to compete for the title of best baseball country. This whole thing has caused some controversy, some questioning, and some anticipation.
First of all, the concept of a baseball World Cup is a good one, if you ask me. Baseball is more than just an American sport. It is played in South America, Central America, North America, the Carribean, Asia, Australia, and in small pockets in Europe. Many of these countries have great amount of pride in their athletes. Orlando Cabrera, a good but not great MLB short-stop is a hero in Columbia, for example. International competitions such as soccer's World Cup, and Olympic hockey are very fun to watch because national pride is on the line, and the team's are usually All-Star calbre teams.
As far as business decisions go, the WBC is a good one. It is a chance to have a few games on ESPN, sell a few tickets to games, sell some merchandise, and more importantly grow the brand of baseball across the world. Countries like Australia have small but growing groups of fans that spend money on baseball, watch the games on satelite TV, and some eventually become baseball players. Beleive it or not, there are dozens of pro Australian born players in the minor leagues. Australia is just one of the markets across the world that baseball can use to make some money and expand the game of baseball.
Unfortunately, the WBC has been poorly planned out. The timing of it is all wrong. If you want to have a huge event, you don't time it to coincide with the NCAA tournament. If you want to have an event that measures the best of the best in baseball, don't have it during Spring Training when the best of the best are supposed to be getting into baseball shape and pitchers aren't supposed to throw that much. And if you want to have it be the best of the best, don't select the competitors, the competing teams should have to earn their spots. Every team in the soccer World Cup except the host team has to qualify from their region. The qualifiers for Olympic hockey are based on results in previous international competitions. Arbitrarily selecting 16 teams to be in the competition just doesn't hold with the concept the WBC claims to hold to.
Another thing the competition claims to be about is national pride. That doesn't make sense because Mike Piazza and Lenny Dinardo are not Italian, they're Americans with Italian ancestry. And do you think Andruw Jones would go around and call himself Dutch? No. He's Aruban and Aruba happens to be a territory controlled by the Netherlands. Under these standards, Puerto Rico shouldn't have a team because it is a territory controlled by the United States. Yet Puerto Rico has its own team, but Aruba is part of the Dutch team.
Let's look at the venues for the games. Tokyo, and San Juan are both baseball hotbeds. But Orlando, and Phoenix are not. It is screwy that the event is taking place in the US, Puerto Rico, and Japan. That's just weird. It should all be in one country or a region of countries like the World Cup of soccer. And it should be played during the summer so that baseball hotbeds like Chicago, Boston, New York, St. Louis, Seattle, Baltimore, and other MLB cities could be used. Don't you think that places like Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, and Yankee Stadium should be where the best baseball teams in the world play?
A PROPOSAL
It is too late to save the 2006 WBC, but let's think about what to do for the next one. I'm thinking it should be played entirely in the US, during the summer, and played only in MLB ballparks. The MLB season would stop, just like the NHL season stops for the Olympics. The regular season would start a week earlier and end a week or two later in order to accomodate this. Because it would be played in the middle of the season, pitchers could go deep into games and players would not be seperated from their teams while their teams were still playing and training.
Instead of simply selecting 16 teams, teams would qualify form their own regions. North America, South America, Central America, the Carribean, Asia & Australia, and Europe & Africa would have qualifying rounds to determine the best teams from each region. Like the soccer World Cup, the amount of teams per region would depend on how good those regions are at baseball and how many good teams they can send to the competition. Asia, for example, would be able to field more good teams than North America so Asia would get more slots in the competition.
There'd be a group stage with teams from different regions, not four teams from the same region. This would create more interesting games in the earlier rounds. The top two teams from four groups would move on to elimination series, not one game elimination. Baseball, as we all know, is not a game that can truly be played over 1 game. Series test depth of pitching staffs.
This is just some stuff that has been floating around in my head. It's pretty dull, but I think the WBC has potential to be a great thing and it has been ruined by some of the idiots at Major League Baseball.
Boston sports blog featuring Patriots propaganda, and opinions on the Red Sox, Bruins, and Celtics.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Thursday, March 02, 2006
COCO IS CRISP, SOX AREN'T
Coco Crisp went 3 for 3 in his first game in a Red Sox uniform, falling a homerun shy of the cycle. He was the Red Sox offense for the first half of the game, which the Sox lost 6-3 to the crosstown Twins. Crisp's performance was almost a response to Johnny Damon's 2 for 3 outing with the Yankees in their 6-3 loss to the Phillies. Crisp will be facing a lot of comparisons between he and Johnny Damon for the next 7 and hopefully 8 months. Crisp also had the first RBI of the game for the Sox. He then got knocked in to score the 2nd Sox run of the game.
The news wasn't all good out of Fort Myers. Jonathan Papelbon got hit with a liner in the foot early in the game. He stayed in there but his pitching was less than stellar. He faced 9 men in an inning and two thirds, giving up 4 hits, one of which was a homer, 2 earned runs, and walking a batter. He only struck out one Twin. The outing wasn't God aweful, though, and that's really the only thing that would be worrisome in the first game or any early Spring Training game. It didn't seem like the liner to the foot was bugging him too much, but he may or may not be feeling it all too well tomorrow. One good note on Papelbon, he induced 4 ground ball outs and 0 fly ball outs so when he kept the ball down, he was doing very well. His problem was keeping it down.
How much might it hurt guys like Papelbon, Delcarmen, Alvarez, and Hansen that Varitek is out of camp for the WBC?
None of the other potential Sox regulars did very well at the plate. Graffanino, who thinks he will be traded, went 0 for 3 with a K, but he did knock in a run. Youkilis went 0 for 3, grounded into a double play, and left a runner in scoring position with 2 outs. John Flaherty went 0 for 2, with 2 LOB, and had a throwing error trying to throw out a base stealer. Twenty-five year old David Murphy got the most playing time and also had probably the worst day. He played in left and center field, and went 0 for 4 at the plate with 4 strikeouts.
As usual, the players that had good days were the ones fighting to stay on the roster. The Red Sox had 9 hits, 6 of which came from players that probably won't be on the 25 man roster on Opening Day. The other 3, of course, came from Coco Crisp. Dustin Pedroia got a chance to pinch hit and play some short-stop. He went 0 for 1 with a strikeout. Luke Allen has a solid day, going 1 for 2 at the plate and recording an outfield assist.
Rudy Seanez did not astound me. He pitched an inning, giving up a pair of solo homeruns. Another newcomer, David Riske, followed him and gave up 2 hits and another run. Delcarmen pitched a scoreless 5th, allowing only a basehit. Hansen pitched a perfect 6th, recording one strikeout. Twenty-six year old Craig Breslow releived Papelbon in the 2nd with 2 outs. He walked a man to load the bases, but he was able to get out of the jam unscathed.
Tomorrow, the Red Sox have split-squad games against Boston College and Northeastern. Curt Schilling will start in the BC afternoon game, and Matt Clement will go in the Northeastern night game.
BRUINS HOLD ON FOR WIN
PJ Axelsson was welcomed back to Boston with a ceremony just for him and his Olympic gold medal. Marco Sturm, fresh from Torino and team Germany, scored the game winner with less than 3 minutes before the end of regulation. Every point is precious for the Bruins now with only 22 games remaining in the regular season. The Bruins are still 4 points behind Montreal for the last playoff spot. Montreal also has 2 games in hand. This was also a big win because the Bruins and Thrashers are now tied for 9th behind the Canadiens. The Bruins have 4 games against Montreal in March and April. Each game will be vital if the Bruins want to make the playoffs.
NFL AND NFLPA EXTEND FREE AGENT DEADLINE
The beginning of the free agent signing period will be pushed back by three days so the League and the Union can have some time to "cool off" so they can reconvene probably sometime next week. If they hadn't pushed back this deadline, many teams would have purged their rosters in an effort to get under the cap. This whole thing could wind up being a big mess.
# 12 BOSTON COLLEGE CLINCHES BYE IN ACC TOURNAMENT
The Eagles beat Wake Forest the other night to move into 3rd in the ACC standings and clinch at least a 4th seed and a first round bye in their first ever ACC tournament. If BC beats Virginia Tech at the Conte Forum on Saturday and #15 UNC loses to #1 Duke at Cameron Indoor, the Eagles will move into 2nd in the ACC and get a much better path through the ACC tournament. If they get the 2 seed, they won't face Duke until the finals if both teams make it that far. BC is on the verge of getting a really good seed in the NCAA tournament. They are currently projected by ESPN.com as being a 4th seed. If they can win two games in the ACC tournament, they will make a big impression on the selection committee and might get a good 3 seed.
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC BEGINS IN TOKYO
South Korea and Chinese Tapei kicked off the first ever international competition of the best baseball players in the world. None of the Red Sox players are in the Asian Group that is the first group to begin play. However, players have left Fort Myers to join their teams. The first game in North America will be March 7th at 1:00 PM when the Dominican Republic faces Venezuela. More on the WBC in a later post.
The news wasn't all good out of Fort Myers. Jonathan Papelbon got hit with a liner in the foot early in the game. He stayed in there but his pitching was less than stellar. He faced 9 men in an inning and two thirds, giving up 4 hits, one of which was a homer, 2 earned runs, and walking a batter. He only struck out one Twin. The outing wasn't God aweful, though, and that's really the only thing that would be worrisome in the first game or any early Spring Training game. It didn't seem like the liner to the foot was bugging him too much, but he may or may not be feeling it all too well tomorrow. One good note on Papelbon, he induced 4 ground ball outs and 0 fly ball outs so when he kept the ball down, he was doing very well. His problem was keeping it down.
How much might it hurt guys like Papelbon, Delcarmen, Alvarez, and Hansen that Varitek is out of camp for the WBC?
None of the other potential Sox regulars did very well at the plate. Graffanino, who thinks he will be traded, went 0 for 3 with a K, but he did knock in a run. Youkilis went 0 for 3, grounded into a double play, and left a runner in scoring position with 2 outs. John Flaherty went 0 for 2, with 2 LOB, and had a throwing error trying to throw out a base stealer. Twenty-five year old David Murphy got the most playing time and also had probably the worst day. He played in left and center field, and went 0 for 4 at the plate with 4 strikeouts.
As usual, the players that had good days were the ones fighting to stay on the roster. The Red Sox had 9 hits, 6 of which came from players that probably won't be on the 25 man roster on Opening Day. The other 3, of course, came from Coco Crisp. Dustin Pedroia got a chance to pinch hit and play some short-stop. He went 0 for 1 with a strikeout. Luke Allen has a solid day, going 1 for 2 at the plate and recording an outfield assist.
Rudy Seanez did not astound me. He pitched an inning, giving up a pair of solo homeruns. Another newcomer, David Riske, followed him and gave up 2 hits and another run. Delcarmen pitched a scoreless 5th, allowing only a basehit. Hansen pitched a perfect 6th, recording one strikeout. Twenty-six year old Craig Breslow releived Papelbon in the 2nd with 2 outs. He walked a man to load the bases, but he was able to get out of the jam unscathed.
Tomorrow, the Red Sox have split-squad games against Boston College and Northeastern. Curt Schilling will start in the BC afternoon game, and Matt Clement will go in the Northeastern night game.
BRUINS HOLD ON FOR WIN
PJ Axelsson was welcomed back to Boston with a ceremony just for him and his Olympic gold medal. Marco Sturm, fresh from Torino and team Germany, scored the game winner with less than 3 minutes before the end of regulation. Every point is precious for the Bruins now with only 22 games remaining in the regular season. The Bruins are still 4 points behind Montreal for the last playoff spot. Montreal also has 2 games in hand. This was also a big win because the Bruins and Thrashers are now tied for 9th behind the Canadiens. The Bruins have 4 games against Montreal in March and April. Each game will be vital if the Bruins want to make the playoffs.
NFL AND NFLPA EXTEND FREE AGENT DEADLINE
The beginning of the free agent signing period will be pushed back by three days so the League and the Union can have some time to "cool off" so they can reconvene probably sometime next week. If they hadn't pushed back this deadline, many teams would have purged their rosters in an effort to get under the cap. This whole thing could wind up being a big mess.
# 12 BOSTON COLLEGE CLINCHES BYE IN ACC TOURNAMENT
The Eagles beat Wake Forest the other night to move into 3rd in the ACC standings and clinch at least a 4th seed and a first round bye in their first ever ACC tournament. If BC beats Virginia Tech at the Conte Forum on Saturday and #15 UNC loses to #1 Duke at Cameron Indoor, the Eagles will move into 2nd in the ACC and get a much better path through the ACC tournament. If they get the 2 seed, they won't face Duke until the finals if both teams make it that far. BC is on the verge of getting a really good seed in the NCAA tournament. They are currently projected by ESPN.com as being a 4th seed. If they can win two games in the ACC tournament, they will make a big impression on the selection committee and might get a good 3 seed.
WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC BEGINS IN TOKYO
South Korea and Chinese Tapei kicked off the first ever international competition of the best baseball players in the world. None of the Red Sox players are in the Asian Group that is the first group to begin play. However, players have left Fort Myers to join their teams. The first game in North America will be March 7th at 1:00 PM when the Dominican Republic faces Venezuela. More on the WBC in a later post.
JOHNNY D-BAG
You know, it's hard to take Johnny Damon's "Thank You" ad seriously when he says stuff like this from the NY Times:
"'He thought for sure he was going to be gone,' Damon said Tuesday. 'Unfortunately for him, he's not. He's been there for five years. He just wants a change. He knows how good he is. It's just an unfortunate situation.'"
Seriously, Johnny, shut up. Try to adhere to the Jimy Williams doctrine when it comes to talking about the players on the other team (remember when that Japenese reporter asked Jimy about Ichiro "Oh well he plays for Seattle. Go over and talk to Seattle." Or maybe adhere to the Bill Belichick doctrine of only praising opponents in public forums.
David Wells continues to be standoffish to the media. When asked whether or not he was still seeking a trade, Wells responded "That's it guys...you asked the wrong question." The Q & A was over. Remember, this is the same guy who stood up for Kenny Rogers last season. NESN cameramen, beware!
Tonight, the Red Sox begin their Spring Training schedule by going across town to Lee County Stadium to play the Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox have released their starting lineup for tonight's game:
1. CF Coco Crisp
2. 2B Tony Graffanino
3. 1B Kevin Youkilis
4. RF Dustan Mohr
5. C John Flaherty
6. DH Ron Calloway
7. SS Alejandro Machado
8. LF David Murphy
9. 3B Enrique Wilson
Jonathan Papelbon will be on the mound.
"'He thought for sure he was going to be gone,' Damon said Tuesday. 'Unfortunately for him, he's not. He's been there for five years. He just wants a change. He knows how good he is. It's just an unfortunate situation.'"
Seriously, Johnny, shut up. Try to adhere to the Jimy Williams doctrine when it comes to talking about the players on the other team (remember when that Japenese reporter asked Jimy about Ichiro "Oh well he plays for Seattle. Go over and talk to Seattle." Or maybe adhere to the Bill Belichick doctrine of only praising opponents in public forums.
David Wells continues to be standoffish to the media. When asked whether or not he was still seeking a trade, Wells responded "That's it guys...you asked the wrong question." The Q & A was over. Remember, this is the same guy who stood up for Kenny Rogers last season. NESN cameramen, beware!
Tonight, the Red Sox begin their Spring Training schedule by going across town to Lee County Stadium to play the Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox have released their starting lineup for tonight's game:
1. CF Coco Crisp
2. 2B Tony Graffanino
3. 1B Kevin Youkilis
4. RF Dustan Mohr
5. C John Flaherty
6. DH Ron Calloway
7. SS Alejandro Machado
8. LF David Murphy
9. 3B Enrique Wilson
Jonathan Papelbon will be on the mound.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
MANNY REPORTS TO FORT
Manny Ramirez has kept his promise and reported to Fort Myers today. He deflected questions and stated that his "...main focus is baseball." Let's hope he's right.
In other news from Fort Myers, Keith Foulke's progress has been slowed down and he has been taking injections in his knees which troubled him all season last year. Let's hope this is just a temporary problem due only to his return to a strict training regimen and doesn't last all spring, or even worse all season.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
A FEW SPRING TRAINING NOTES
Tomorrow is, possibly, Manny Ramirez Day in Fort Myers. The day after that, the Sox will play the cross town Twins in the first game of the Mayor's Cup, a small trophy going to the winner of the Spring Training series between the Twins and Sox who both train in Fort Myers. Australia will also begin training at the Red Sox facility and will be playing an exhibition game against us. This suits Red Sox minor leaguer and Spring Training invitee Trent Durrington who won't have to go anywhere when he goes from the Red Sox to team Australia.
A few days ago was Photo Day, when the team takes a team picture and many baseball cards are photographed. Players going on to international duty donned their international uniforms. David Wells, who isn't expected to be on the team for much longer, did not participate on photo day. Neither did Manny Ramirez, of course.
Several pitchers started to throw live batting practice including Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jon Lester. Will Lester asked to be called Jonathan if he makes the big club this season?
For once, the Red Sox actually had a decent amount of young pitching talent in Baseball America's top 100 prospect list. Jon Lester was ranked as the 22nd best prospect, Papelbon was 37th, Craig Hansen was 54th and infielder Dustin Pedroia was 77th. Baseball Prospectus ranked Pedroia at 11th. One can easily see how much of an unclear science valuing prospects is. However, it is very nice that we actually have some young pitching talent on its way up. If Papelbon does well, and Hansen and Lester develop in the minors, we could have a nice staff at the end of a season with pitchers ranging from veterans like Curt Schilling, to recent college grad Craig Hansen.
AXELSSON ADDS MORE GOLD TO THE BLACK AND GOLD
The Bruins will be back in the swing of things on Wednesday night when they play down in North Carolina against the Whalers/Hurricanes. Carolina, by the way, has the most points in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins will welcome back Gold medal winner P.J. Axelsson of Sweden. The Bruins didn't sent too many players to the Olympics this year and that might help them in the regular season. Several teams will be struggling for a few days as players return from Torino. The Bruins desperately need maximum points from as many games as possible. Starting off against Carolina will be a test, but the Bruins can do it. They've been edged out by the Canes 4-3 twice this season, but both losses were in OT.
Speaking of the Whalers, did anyone else hear an organ version of the Hartford Whalers theme song played at the hockey rink in Torino, Italy during the bronze medal game between Russia and the Czech Republic? I did, and it was awesome.
PATRIOTS AND NFL IN A WEIRD SITUATION
The Patriots are once again facing an off-season full of questions. They are once again without an offensive and defensive coordinator due to Eric Mangini going to the Jets to be their head coach. More importantly, the NFL may or may not have a collected bargaining agreement in place for the upcoming season. The deadline is tomorrow, but we've seen deadlines for CBAs pushed back numerous times, particularly in baseball. Without a CBA in place, the 2007 would be a season with no salary cap. Teams could spend as much as they wanted on players. This would seriously screw things up, especially if those teams that go way over the cap are forced to go below the cap in 2008. Even worse, there might be a lockout of the 2008 season if no CBA is agreed on.
The Patriots also might have to find a new kicker as they didn't put the Franchise tag on Adam Vinatieri. They haven't done much in terms of negotiating with him because of the uncertainty of the NFL's economics for the upcoming season. If he goes, I think it will be a big blow to this team. Yes, he is just a kicker, but he is the most dependable kicker in the history of the game. How many times have we seen other teams lose because their kicker missed a field goal near the end of the game? Quite a few times. How many has Vinatieri blown? Not too many, if any.
The Patriots also released Duane Starks who spent most of the 2005 season injured and trying to chase down receivers running for touchdowns. The Pats also extended the contract of special teamer Don Davis. The Patriots also might have to replace Willie McGinist this upcoming season. We all forget because of the way he plays, but Willie isn't exactly young for an NFL D-end. He's been around a long time.
There are so many uncertainties with the Patriots and the NFL, and there isn't anything we can do about it except sit, wait, and watch.
A few days ago was Photo Day, when the team takes a team picture and many baseball cards are photographed. Players going on to international duty donned their international uniforms. David Wells, who isn't expected to be on the team for much longer, did not participate on photo day. Neither did Manny Ramirez, of course.
Several pitchers started to throw live batting practice including Josh Beckett, Tim Wakefield, Jonathan Papelbon, and Jon Lester. Will Lester asked to be called Jonathan if he makes the big club this season?
For once, the Red Sox actually had a decent amount of young pitching talent in Baseball America's top 100 prospect list. Jon Lester was ranked as the 22nd best prospect, Papelbon was 37th, Craig Hansen was 54th and infielder Dustin Pedroia was 77th. Baseball Prospectus ranked Pedroia at 11th. One can easily see how much of an unclear science valuing prospects is. However, it is very nice that we actually have some young pitching talent on its way up. If Papelbon does well, and Hansen and Lester develop in the minors, we could have a nice staff at the end of a season with pitchers ranging from veterans like Curt Schilling, to recent college grad Craig Hansen.
AXELSSON ADDS MORE GOLD TO THE BLACK AND GOLD
The Bruins will be back in the swing of things on Wednesday night when they play down in North Carolina against the Whalers/Hurricanes. Carolina, by the way, has the most points in the Eastern Conference. The Bruins will welcome back Gold medal winner P.J. Axelsson of Sweden. The Bruins didn't sent too many players to the Olympics this year and that might help them in the regular season. Several teams will be struggling for a few days as players return from Torino. The Bruins desperately need maximum points from as many games as possible. Starting off against Carolina will be a test, but the Bruins can do it. They've been edged out by the Canes 4-3 twice this season, but both losses were in OT.
Speaking of the Whalers, did anyone else hear an organ version of the Hartford Whalers theme song played at the hockey rink in Torino, Italy during the bronze medal game between Russia and the Czech Republic? I did, and it was awesome.
PATRIOTS AND NFL IN A WEIRD SITUATION
The Patriots are once again facing an off-season full of questions. They are once again without an offensive and defensive coordinator due to Eric Mangini going to the Jets to be their head coach. More importantly, the NFL may or may not have a collected bargaining agreement in place for the upcoming season. The deadline is tomorrow, but we've seen deadlines for CBAs pushed back numerous times, particularly in baseball. Without a CBA in place, the 2007 would be a season with no salary cap. Teams could spend as much as they wanted on players. This would seriously screw things up, especially if those teams that go way over the cap are forced to go below the cap in 2008. Even worse, there might be a lockout of the 2008 season if no CBA is agreed on.
The Patriots also might have to find a new kicker as they didn't put the Franchise tag on Adam Vinatieri. They haven't done much in terms of negotiating with him because of the uncertainty of the NFL's economics for the upcoming season. If he goes, I think it will be a big blow to this team. Yes, he is just a kicker, but he is the most dependable kicker in the history of the game. How many times have we seen other teams lose because their kicker missed a field goal near the end of the game? Quite a few times. How many has Vinatieri blown? Not too many, if any.
The Patriots also released Duane Starks who spent most of the 2005 season injured and trying to chase down receivers running for touchdowns. The Pats also extended the contract of special teamer Don Davis. The Patriots also might have to replace Willie McGinist this upcoming season. We all forget because of the way he plays, but Willie isn't exactly young for an NFL D-end. He's been around a long time.
There are so many uncertainties with the Patriots and the NFL, and there isn't anything we can do about it except sit, wait, and watch.
Saturday, February 25, 2006
BC BEATS NC STATE IN DOUBLE OT
Boston College had been 1-4 against ranked teams this season, beating only #25 North Carolina back in January. They had lost to the #14 NC State Wolfpack 78-60 in Chestnut Hill on the 10th of January. The Eagles needed two overtimes to do it, but they edged NC State 74-72 to win a very big game. The win gives the #13 BC Eagles a 9-5 ACC record with two conference games remaining, both at home and both against unranked opponents (Wake Forest, Virginia Tech). All BC has to do in order to ensure a 4th seed in the ACC tournament, and a bye, is to win one of those games or have Florida State lose on of their remaining games. Florida State has one of their games against #1 Duke so the odds of them running the table are slim. The Eagles are pretty safe in the 4th spot and if NC State loses their last game against Wake Forest and BC beats both Wake Forest and Virginia Tech, the Eagles will move into the 3rd seed for the ACC tournament. Getting the 3rd seed would bring us out of the bracket with the #1 seed. The ACC tournament will begin on March 9th (March 10th if BC gets the bye) in Greensboro, NC. If the Eagles have a good showing in the ACC tournament, they will probably get a good seed for once in the NCAA tournament.
The game itself was a great one. BC had a lead in the middle of the 2nd half before NC State when on an 8-0 run and got the lead back. Neither team led by more than 6 points the entire game. BC played some amazing defense in the overtimes, as did NC State. Only 12 points were scoredby both teams in the two overtime periods. Sean Williams had 8 blocked shots for BC. He also got 7 boards and a steal to lead the BC defensive effort. Craig Smith had a double-double with 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Eagles blew some opportunities to win this game, but whenever they did so they'd make up for it with a great defensive stand or a big shot such as Sean Marshall's three point play that won the game in double OT.
After starting their first ACC season by going 0-3, BC has gone 9-2 in the league. Their non-conference schedule hasn't exactly been easy, but they've had a few big wins within the league such as this one against NC State, and the win against UNC earlier in the year. They are poised to do some damage in the ACC tournament and if they can win two games in that, they should get a very good seed for the NCAA tournament.
Boston College is also still on top of the Hockey East standings despite a pair of losses to Maine over the weekend. They have three games left before the end of the regular season. They are 3 points ahead of rival Boston University. BU has a much easier schedule going against UVM, and then Northeastern twice. BC plays UMass-Lowell and then two against 4th place UNH. Of the 10 teams in Hockey East, only Merrimack College has been eliminated from making the tournament.
The game itself was a great one. BC had a lead in the middle of the 2nd half before NC State when on an 8-0 run and got the lead back. Neither team led by more than 6 points the entire game. BC played some amazing defense in the overtimes, as did NC State. Only 12 points were scoredby both teams in the two overtime periods. Sean Williams had 8 blocked shots for BC. He also got 7 boards and a steal to lead the BC defensive effort. Craig Smith had a double-double with 18 points, 14 rebounds, and 6 assists. The Eagles blew some opportunities to win this game, but whenever they did so they'd make up for it with a great defensive stand or a big shot such as Sean Marshall's three point play that won the game in double OT.
After starting their first ACC season by going 0-3, BC has gone 9-2 in the league. Their non-conference schedule hasn't exactly been easy, but they've had a few big wins within the league such as this one against NC State, and the win against UNC earlier in the year. They are poised to do some damage in the ACC tournament and if they can win two games in that, they should get a very good seed for the NCAA tournament.
Boston College is also still on top of the Hockey East standings despite a pair of losses to Maine over the weekend. They have three games left before the end of the regular season. They are 3 points ahead of rival Boston University. BU has a much easier schedule going against UVM, and then Northeastern twice. BC plays UMass-Lowell and then two against 4th place UNH. Of the 10 teams in Hockey East, only Merrimack College has been eliminated from making the tournament.
Thursday, February 23, 2006
MANNY OUT OF WBC
According to the Red Sox brass, Manny Ramirez will not be participating in the World Baseball Classic. This means that if he reports on March 1, as promised, he will not leave on the 2nd to join the Dominican team. Actually, this works out to give Manny more time in Red Sox camp than if he had arrived on time and played in the WBC. Perhaps the Sox and Manny made a deal in which Manny agreed to not play in the WBC in return for permission to arrive late for camp.
Of course, the team claims that they did not ask him to pull out of the event.
Of course, the team claims that they did not ask him to pull out of the event.
Wednesday, February 22, 2006
LET'S GIVE SOME CREDIT TO DAVID WELLS
David Wells, like Manny Ramirez, asked/requested/demanded a trade this off-season. David Wells, like Manny Ramirez, didn't get his request. David Wells, like Manny Ramirez, was not traded because the team couldn't find a good deal. David Wells, like Manny Ramirez, doesn't want to play for Boston anymore. But unlike Manny Ramirez, David Wells isn't guaranteed a spot on the roster, let alone a starting position. David Wells has only been with Boston for a season, unlike Manny who has been here for 5. David Wells has been paid a few million dollars by the Red Sox. Manny is bordering the $100 million mark. Yet David Wells was still able to show up for camp. David Wells was still able to work out with the team. David Wells is still DOING HIS JOB! So while criticising Manny, let's give credit to David Wells and all the other players that are doing their jobs.
Let's also stop with the Keith Foulke criticism. People are complaining that "how can you be bored when you get paid $7 million?" I'm sure there are a good number of people in this world with boring but high paying jobs. Foulke never said that he was bored when he pitched, either. I think he meant that he doesn't like to watch the game, he only likes to play in them. And you know what, THAT IS FINE! I don't care if he is having fun sitting in the bullpen. Hell, a lot of releivers don't even watch the game until the 5th or 6th innings. If Foulke goes out and pitches like he did in 2004 or 2003, I don't care how he feels about baseball. Again, it is all about doing your job and doing it well. If Foulke does, he can call me Mr. Burger King or KFC Man for all I care.
Steve Buckley wrote a harsh piece in the Herald today about Manny laughing at the Red Sox as he plays games with them. I don't think Manny is so maniacal. I just think Manny is immature. He has no boundaries or restrictions. He's a spoiled brat that simply can'd listen to discipline. I see them all the time at school. Do you know how many rich, spoiled New Jerseyans go to my school? Manny reminds me of them. They get everything they want 99% of the time and in that 1% of the time they don't, they can't take it.
Someone commented on my last post that if you get 140 RBIs, you can do whatever you want. Sadly, this is true. However, it will be very interesting to see what happens if Manny doesn't get such huge numbers this season.
This might be the best situation. Manny never shows up, thus making him in violation of his contract. This means his contract would be voided, freeing up millions of dollars for the Red Sox in the next few years. It is sad that it might come to this.
Just a question to ponder: would we have been better off if the Manny for A-Rod trade went through? That's a tough question to answer.
Let's also stop with the Keith Foulke criticism. People are complaining that "how can you be bored when you get paid $7 million?" I'm sure there are a good number of people in this world with boring but high paying jobs. Foulke never said that he was bored when he pitched, either. I think he meant that he doesn't like to watch the game, he only likes to play in them. And you know what, THAT IS FINE! I don't care if he is having fun sitting in the bullpen. Hell, a lot of releivers don't even watch the game until the 5th or 6th innings. If Foulke goes out and pitches like he did in 2004 or 2003, I don't care how he feels about baseball. Again, it is all about doing your job and doing it well. If Foulke does, he can call me Mr. Burger King or KFC Man for all I care.
Steve Buckley wrote a harsh piece in the Herald today about Manny laughing at the Red Sox as he plays games with them. I don't think Manny is so maniacal. I just think Manny is immature. He has no boundaries or restrictions. He's a spoiled brat that simply can'd listen to discipline. I see them all the time at school. Do you know how many rich, spoiled New Jerseyans go to my school? Manny reminds me of them. They get everything they want 99% of the time and in that 1% of the time they don't, they can't take it.
Someone commented on my last post that if you get 140 RBIs, you can do whatever you want. Sadly, this is true. However, it will be very interesting to see what happens if Manny doesn't get such huge numbers this season.
This might be the best situation. Manny never shows up, thus making him in violation of his contract. This means his contract would be voided, freeing up millions of dollars for the Red Sox in the next few years. It is sad that it might come to this.
Just a question to ponder: would we have been better off if the Manny for A-Rod trade went through? That's a tough question to answer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)