Bruins Use Force to Take Game Two
It is a play that happens many times throughout the course of a hockey game; two man go into the corner to battle for the puck, but on this occasion, Mark Recchi of the Boston Bruins turned it into anything but ordinary.
When the 42 year old veteran went into the corner against the Buffalo Sabres' Tim Kennedy, he knew he was going to dig it out, "I knew it was going to be a battle," Recchi said, "we were kind of even going in and I was just trying to get position and I was fortunate that I caught him proper and wa able to win the battle."
Recchi turned a proper play into a grat and series changing play. After depositing Kennedy onto the ice, he slipped a beautiful pass to the slot for Patrice Bergeron who was able to beat stellar netminder Ryan Miller on the glove side. The play gave the Bruins a 2-1 lead, and eventually, with the help of Tuukka Rask in net, a 2-1 series lead.
The Bruins played from behind for most of the first two games, falling behind 1-0 in each of the first two games, so it should not have been a surprise the Bruins continued that trend when Mike Grier flicked a wrister past the right shoulder of Rask early in the first period.
But the Bruins were able to tie the game in the first period and simply outplayed the visiting Buffalo Sabres, on the offensive side, on the defensive side, and most importantly with their tenacity.
Whether it was Zdeno Chara planting a charging Sabre while flat-footed or Johnny Boychuk absolutely trucking Matt Ellis, the Bruins brought the game to the Sabres and it was apparent the entire game. Even though the Sabres notched the first goal of the game it always seemed like they were playing from behind and simply trying to pull even with the Bruins.
Without Miller in net for the Sabres this game could have easily been a 4-1 or 5-1 game, but Miller, who made 27 saves, almost all of them difficult, kept the Sabres in the game and provided them with an opportunity to tie the game in the waning seconds.
But it was not to be as the upstart Finnish rookie Rask made 32 saves in net and was a wall in front of the cage after allowing his first period goal. If the Bruins are to make it out of the first round they are going to have to play like they did last night: faster, smarter and tougher than their opponents.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Patriots Day
Bostonians Celebrate Holiday with Running and Baseball
Patriots Day commemorates the first battles of the Revolutionary War, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which took place on April 19th, 1775. The Holiday is celebrated in the state of Massachusetts, where the battles took place, and in Maine, which was once a part of Massachusetts.
Many great fights and competitions have come from the state of Massachusetts and in 1897, the Boston Athletic Association decided to add another way to do battle on Patriots Day.
The Marathon is Born
The first Boston Marathon was held on April 19th, 1897. The course ran from Metcalf’s Hill in Ashland to the Irvington Oval in Boston, but unlike the traditional Olympic Marathon which runs 26 miles and 385 yards, the first Boston Marathon covered only a distance of 24.5 miles.
Out of a field of 15 runners, John J. McDermott from New York won that very first race 114 years ago, doing so in a time of 2:55:10. The race was altered in 1924 to conform to the Olympic Marathon standards.
More tweaks were made to the Marathon and Patriots Day when in 1969 it was decided to move Patriots Day from April 19th to the third Monday of April (before that change Patriots Day was held every year on April 19th except for when it fell on a Sunday, in which case the Marathon was held on the following Monday).
“Heartbreak Hill”
The modern day Boston Marathon course is home to one of the most psychologically brutal hills in running, “Heartbreak Hill.” Heartbreak Hill is the fourth and last of the “Newton Hills,” which begin at the 16 mile mark of the Marathon and near the campus of Boston College.
Most runners suffer from a term called “hitting the wall,” where during a Marathon, usually between the 18 and 20 mile markers, runners run out of stored glycogen and severe fatigue starts to set in. One runner has described the experience as “It felt like an elephant had jumped out of a tree onto my shoulders and was making me carry it the rest of the way in.” (http://www.marathonandbeyond.com/choices/latta.htm)
Heartbreak Hill is only about an 88 foot elevation, but because of its positioning at the point where most runners “hit the wall,” it has defeated many runners over the years and can even make experienced runners halt to a walking pace.
Let’s Play Ball
Six years after the Boston Athletic Association held the first Boston Marathon, the Boston Red Sox (then known as the Boston Americans) played their first Patriots Day baseball game when they hosted the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds.
The starting time of the game was 10 A.M., and 8,376 fans showed up to witness their Boston team beat the visiting Philadelphia ball club 9-4. The following year the Boston Braves decided to play an afternoon game, but attendance was sparse, and the Red Sox and Braves alternated playing the Patriots Day at home until 1953 when the Braves left for Milwaukee.
Morning Baseball
The Red Sox have played a home game every year on Patriots Day since 1959 (with the exceptions of 1965 and 1967 because of off days and 1995 because of the player’s strike) with the traditional 11:05 starting time beginning in 1968. The time was again changed in 1987 due to complaints from the Player’s Association that the starting time was too early, but was changed back the next year to 11:05.
The traditional starting time of the game has been 11:05 A.M. with a couple of changed due to weather and other various conditions. The traditional early start time of the game allows fans in attendance of the baseball game the chance to watch the full game and see runners making their way through Kenmore Square, which is about the 25 mile marker for runners.
However, due to a combination of the lengthening time of baseball games and progressively earlier starts to the Boston Marathon, runners over the past couple of years have been making their way through Kenmore Square sometime in the middle of the baseball game.
A New Feel to Patriots Day
On a day filled with running and baseball, the Boston Red Sox have done their best in recent years to add to the enjoyment. The Red Sox are 66-49 on Patriots day, and before this year’s game had won their last six contests on the civic holiday.
But this year there was more heartbreak at Fenway Park than on the last of the Newton Hills.
The Red Sox entered the game at 4-8 and losers of three in a row to their divisional rival the Tampa Bay Rays (who had won their only other Patriots Day game in 1999). And the early season trends continued for the Red Sox, as the shoddy defense and pitching that has plagued them so far this year reared its ugly head again on Patriots Day.
The Red Sox, who are normally the best team in baseball at home, are now 1-6 at the not-so-friendly-anymore confines of Fenway Park. The Patriots Day match-up seemed to favor the Red Sox and the pitching match-up looked great on paper, but like most things that have looked great on paper this year for the Red Sox, reality did not agree with the paper match-up.
The Red Sox sent hurler John Lackey (1-1, 5.63/1-0 with a 1.42 ERA before the game) to the mound to face off against Jeff Niemann, the Ray’s tallest pitcher in their short history, standing a towering 6’9 on the hill and who can command four different pitches.
But the Red Sox had history going for them… and that was about it. The Rays manufactured a run on a lead-off double, a sacrifice bunt and a RBI groundout to short in the first inning and never looked back.
A big three run home run by B.J. Upton in the third inning just out of the reach of the glove of Bill Hall in right center made a 3-0 game into a 6-0 affair, and all the hype and energy that Red Sox fans mustered up for the Patriots Day game quickly dissipated.
Lackey was mercifully pulled after 3 1/3 innings while allowing eight earned runs; just a day after Jon Lester allowed six earned runs in his start.
But there was some solace in Boston; those who participated in the Marathon and lost their personal battles with Heartbreak Hill did not have to watch the Red Sox.
Patriots Day commemorates the first battles of the Revolutionary War, the Battles of Lexington and Concord, which took place on April 19th, 1775. The Holiday is celebrated in the state of Massachusetts, where the battles took place, and in Maine, which was once a part of Massachusetts.
Many great fights and competitions have come from the state of Massachusetts and in 1897, the Boston Athletic Association decided to add another way to do battle on Patriots Day.
The Marathon is Born
The first Boston Marathon was held on April 19th, 1897. The course ran from Metcalf’s Hill in Ashland to the Irvington Oval in Boston, but unlike the traditional Olympic Marathon which runs 26 miles and 385 yards, the first Boston Marathon covered only a distance of 24.5 miles.
Out of a field of 15 runners, John J. McDermott from New York won that very first race 114 years ago, doing so in a time of 2:55:10. The race was altered in 1924 to conform to the Olympic Marathon standards.
More tweaks were made to the Marathon and Patriots Day when in 1969 it was decided to move Patriots Day from April 19th to the third Monday of April (before that change Patriots Day was held every year on April 19th except for when it fell on a Sunday, in which case the Marathon was held on the following Monday).
“Heartbreak Hill”
The modern day Boston Marathon course is home to one of the most psychologically brutal hills in running, “Heartbreak Hill.” Heartbreak Hill is the fourth and last of the “Newton Hills,” which begin at the 16 mile mark of the Marathon and near the campus of Boston College.
Most runners suffer from a term called “hitting the wall,” where during a Marathon, usually between the 18 and 20 mile markers, runners run out of stored glycogen and severe fatigue starts to set in. One runner has described the experience as “It felt like an elephant had jumped out of a tree onto my shoulders and was making me carry it the rest of the way in.” (http://www.marathonandbeyond.com/choices/latta.htm)
Heartbreak Hill is only about an 88 foot elevation, but because of its positioning at the point where most runners “hit the wall,” it has defeated many runners over the years and can even make experienced runners halt to a walking pace.
Let’s Play Ball
Six years after the Boston Athletic Association held the first Boston Marathon, the Boston Red Sox (then known as the Boston Americans) played their first Patriots Day baseball game when they hosted the Philadelphia Athletics at the Huntington Avenue Grounds.
The starting time of the game was 10 A.M., and 8,376 fans showed up to witness their Boston team beat the visiting Philadelphia ball club 9-4. The following year the Boston Braves decided to play an afternoon game, but attendance was sparse, and the Red Sox and Braves alternated playing the Patriots Day at home until 1953 when the Braves left for Milwaukee.
Morning Baseball
The Red Sox have played a home game every year on Patriots Day since 1959 (with the exceptions of 1965 and 1967 because of off days and 1995 because of the player’s strike) with the traditional 11:05 starting time beginning in 1968. The time was again changed in 1987 due to complaints from the Player’s Association that the starting time was too early, but was changed back the next year to 11:05.
The traditional starting time of the game has been 11:05 A.M. with a couple of changed due to weather and other various conditions. The traditional early start time of the game allows fans in attendance of the baseball game the chance to watch the full game and see runners making their way through Kenmore Square, which is about the 25 mile marker for runners.
However, due to a combination of the lengthening time of baseball games and progressively earlier starts to the Boston Marathon, runners over the past couple of years have been making their way through Kenmore Square sometime in the middle of the baseball game.
A New Feel to Patriots Day
On a day filled with running and baseball, the Boston Red Sox have done their best in recent years to add to the enjoyment. The Red Sox are 66-49 on Patriots day, and before this year’s game had won their last six contests on the civic holiday.
But this year there was more heartbreak at Fenway Park than on the last of the Newton Hills.
The Red Sox entered the game at 4-8 and losers of three in a row to their divisional rival the Tampa Bay Rays (who had won their only other Patriots Day game in 1999). And the early season trends continued for the Red Sox, as the shoddy defense and pitching that has plagued them so far this year reared its ugly head again on Patriots Day.
The Red Sox, who are normally the best team in baseball at home, are now 1-6 at the not-so-friendly-anymore confines of Fenway Park. The Patriots Day match-up seemed to favor the Red Sox and the pitching match-up looked great on paper, but like most things that have looked great on paper this year for the Red Sox, reality did not agree with the paper match-up.
The Red Sox sent hurler John Lackey (1-1, 5.63/1-0 with a 1.42 ERA before the game) to the mound to face off against Jeff Niemann, the Ray’s tallest pitcher in their short history, standing a towering 6’9 on the hill and who can command four different pitches.
But the Red Sox had history going for them… and that was about it. The Rays manufactured a run on a lead-off double, a sacrifice bunt and a RBI groundout to short in the first inning and never looked back.
A big three run home run by B.J. Upton in the third inning just out of the reach of the glove of Bill Hall in right center made a 3-0 game into a 6-0 affair, and all the hype and energy that Red Sox fans mustered up for the Patriots Day game quickly dissipated.
Lackey was mercifully pulled after 3 1/3 innings while allowing eight earned runs; just a day after Jon Lester allowed six earned runs in his start.
But there was some solace in Boston; those who participated in the Marathon and lost their personal battles with Heartbreak Hill did not have to watch the Red Sox.
Boston Struggling to Find Consistency
Chance for Big Saturday Turns Bad with Red Sox DH Finish
When Zdeno Chara's wrister from the point snaked past Ryan Miller's right shoulder, Boston fans celebrated. When Mark Recchi empty netter rattled the back of the cage, Boston fans celebrated, and if you think they were done, you were wrong.
Dwayne Wade took control of the opening game of the Celtics/Heat series, but then Tony Allen came in in the third quarter and shut down Wade, and Celtics fans celebrated. Even when Kevin Garnett got into a scuffle with Quentin Richardson and was ejected, Boston fans celebrated; after all, this was the fire and intensity that had been missing for the last several months from the 2008 NBA champions.
It was shaping up to be a great weekend for the Boston sports scene, and the Red Sox were in position to seal it, possibly taking two games on Saturday night from the Rays. But it was not to be. Red Sox could not muster a run in the suspended game and then imploded in the night-cap.
So far this season if the Red sox troubles were not coming from the plate, they were coming from the bullpen, and the starting rotation has even been dinged up a bit, but on Saturday night the defense decided to join in on the unspectacular play.
An error by Mike Cameron allowed the flood gates to open and the Rays scored four unearned runs in the first and never looked back. Even after a pair of two run jacks, one by Dustin Pedroia (five HRs) and the other by Kevin Youkilis (two HRs), the Red Sox were not able to make up the six run difference.
Sunday was not much better; Jon Lester, who has well documented troubles in the month of April, allowed six runs and the Red Sox bats were just as bad; the Red Sox through seven innings only collected two hits, one of those from hot-hitting Jason Varitek (that's a line most Boston fans would not have believed any time over the last two years).
But signs are pointing up for the Red Sox as John Lackey (1-0 1.42 ERA) is set to take the mound and today is Patriots Day in Boston and the Sox have won their last six Patriots Day games.
Game starts at 11 AM and let us hope the Red Sox do not just wake up for the game, but come ready to play because if they keep bringing this type of, ummm, intensity, they will be looking up at not just the Rays and Yankees, but the Blue Jays too.
When Zdeno Chara's wrister from the point snaked past Ryan Miller's right shoulder, Boston fans celebrated. When Mark Recchi empty netter rattled the back of the cage, Boston fans celebrated, and if you think they were done, you were wrong.
Dwayne Wade took control of the opening game of the Celtics/Heat series, but then Tony Allen came in in the third quarter and shut down Wade, and Celtics fans celebrated. Even when Kevin Garnett got into a scuffle with Quentin Richardson and was ejected, Boston fans celebrated; after all, this was the fire and intensity that had been missing for the last several months from the 2008 NBA champions.
It was shaping up to be a great weekend for the Boston sports scene, and the Red Sox were in position to seal it, possibly taking two games on Saturday night from the Rays. But it was not to be. Red Sox could not muster a run in the suspended game and then imploded in the night-cap.
So far this season if the Red sox troubles were not coming from the plate, they were coming from the bullpen, and the starting rotation has even been dinged up a bit, but on Saturday night the defense decided to join in on the unspectacular play.
An error by Mike Cameron allowed the flood gates to open and the Rays scored four unearned runs in the first and never looked back. Even after a pair of two run jacks, one by Dustin Pedroia (five HRs) and the other by Kevin Youkilis (two HRs), the Red Sox were not able to make up the six run difference.
Sunday was not much better; Jon Lester, who has well documented troubles in the month of April, allowed six runs and the Red Sox bats were just as bad; the Red Sox through seven innings only collected two hits, one of those from hot-hitting Jason Varitek (that's a line most Boston fans would not have believed any time over the last two years).
But signs are pointing up for the Red Sox as John Lackey (1-0 1.42 ERA) is set to take the mound and today is Patriots Day in Boston and the Sox have won their last six Patriots Day games.
Game starts at 11 AM and let us hope the Red Sox do not just wake up for the game, but come ready to play because if they keep bringing this type of, ummm, intensity, they will be looking up at not just the Rays and Yankees, but the Blue Jays too.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Troubling Signs Coming From Fenway
No Offense, Bad Bullpen... Troubles-a-brewin' for the Sox
Jason Varitek is on an absolute tear... and... ah... yeah... that's about it. Jason Varitek has four hits on the season, three home runs and a double. Jason Varitek was the only offense the Red Sox could muster in their suspended game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Josh Beckett, in the first night of the game, pitched seven masterful innings, only allowing one run, but like so many starts in this early season, the Red Sox bats were unable to help out their starting pitcher.
The two most troubling signs coming from the Red Sox came in back to back half innings. Daniel Bard was able to retire the side in the tenth and the Red Sox seemed primed for the victory when they loaded the bases in the bottom of the tenth with nobody out. Normally, the man at the plate would have forced manager Joe Maddon to shake with fear, but the man at the plate, David Ortiz, has not struck fear into anybody so far this season, with the lone exceptions being Red Sox fans.
In years passed, Ortiz in extras meant two things... Game... Over. But it was not the case tonight, a weak one hopper to first and he reached on a fielder's choice, but the winning run was forced out at the plate. Then Adrian Beltre grounded into a double play.
Manny Delcarmen replaced Daniel Bard, and in a season where the bullpen has been the left Achilles heel to the red sox offensive woes, Delcarmen came in and proceeded to allow a couple of runs and just like that the Red Sox were in a hole they had to claw their way out of.
However, this is apparently not the lineup that knows how to claw for those crucial runs, and the only hit of the eleventh came off of the bat of, yup, you guessed it, Jason Varitek, who came close to going four for four with hits and home runs, but settled for the double. But the come back was not to be, and the Red Sox's disappointing season continues, but hey, at least the captains hitting... right? What? He only plays one every five games? DAMNIT
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Same Old Wakefield, Same Bad Luck
"The ball is carrying real well today." Those ominous words were uttered by Don Orsillo in the early portions of today's game between the Red Sox and the Twins. Normally, the Red Sox are the heavy hitting team that benefits from having the ball carry an extra 10-20 feet, just not when Tim Wakefield is on the mound.
Wakefield is notorious for allowing home runs; its what makes watching his starts so pressure filled, any pitch he throws can end up in the bleachers, no matter how well the knuckleball is dancing that day. At Target Field, where the Red Sox have been so very nice to their hosts, a day in which the ball carried an extra couple of feet every at-bat was not a good day.
Wakefield was able to get the first five batters out in 16 pitches, but the knuckleballer, who seems to luck out of roughly eight wins a year (including his first start of this season) had the same old luck he has always had, in other words, bad luck.
With two down in the second inning and breezing through the Twins line-up, Wakefield faced notorious Red Sox killer Jim Thome. Thome ripped a line drive into the shift, but the ball deflected off of shortstop Marco Scutaro's (who was playing to the right of the second base bag) glove and into center for a single. Two more two-outs singles later and the Sox were down 1-0.
With the Sox still down 1-0 in the fifth, Wakefield allowed a lead-off double and the next batter Denard Span blooped a ball down the left field line that was about a half foot from going foul, but dropped in fair territory for an RBI double.
The sixth inning did not fair much better as Adrian Beltre committed his first error of the year and the wheels started to fall off for Wakefield and the Red sox. A single here, a double there, and Wakefield was pulled after six runs, five earned (four if you expect players to not throw the ball around like little-leaguers) in 5 1/3 innings.
Despite the defensive woes and bad luck for Wakefield (the knuckleball was dancing all day, but the Minnesota bats were consistently able to drop the bat heads on Mr. Rawlings), it would not have mattered. The Red Sox were defenseless against Francisco Liriano's aresenal of fastballs, changeups and sliders.
Liriano was able to get out of a jam in the top of the first inning when he had runners on second and third with one out, but got Kevin Youkilis to swing on top of a slider down and in, and got Adrian Beltre to ground out to third. Liriano went seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and only needing 96 pitches to do so; the 96 pitches is the easiest marker of the Red Sox inability to make the embattled left-hander work.
For the Red Sox and Tim Wakefield it was another missed opportunity, and another example of a team that simply did not show up to play, a troubling consistent storyline early in the 2010 season.
Wakefield is notorious for allowing home runs; its what makes watching his starts so pressure filled, any pitch he throws can end up in the bleachers, no matter how well the knuckleball is dancing that day. At Target Field, where the Red Sox have been so very nice to their hosts, a day in which the ball carried an extra couple of feet every at-bat was not a good day.
Wakefield was able to get the first five batters out in 16 pitches, but the knuckleballer, who seems to luck out of roughly eight wins a year (including his first start of this season) had the same old luck he has always had, in other words, bad luck.
With two down in the second inning and breezing through the Twins line-up, Wakefield faced notorious Red Sox killer Jim Thome. Thome ripped a line drive into the shift, but the ball deflected off of shortstop Marco Scutaro's (who was playing to the right of the second base bag) glove and into center for a single. Two more two-outs singles later and the Sox were down 1-0.
With the Sox still down 1-0 in the fifth, Wakefield allowed a lead-off double and the next batter Denard Span blooped a ball down the left field line that was about a half foot from going foul, but dropped in fair territory for an RBI double.
The sixth inning did not fair much better as Adrian Beltre committed his first error of the year and the wheels started to fall off for Wakefield and the Red sox. A single here, a double there, and Wakefield was pulled after six runs, five earned (four if you expect players to not throw the ball around like little-leaguers) in 5 1/3 innings.
Despite the defensive woes and bad luck for Wakefield (the knuckleball was dancing all day, but the Minnesota bats were consistently able to drop the bat heads on Mr. Rawlings), it would not have mattered. The Red Sox were defenseless against Francisco Liriano's aresenal of fastballs, changeups and sliders.
Liriano was able to get out of a jam in the top of the first inning when he had runners on second and third with one out, but got Kevin Youkilis to swing on top of a slider down and in, and got Adrian Beltre to ground out to third. Liriano went seven scoreless innings, striking out eight and only needing 96 pitches to do so; the 96 pitches is the easiest marker of the Red Sox inability to make the embattled left-hander work.
For the Red Sox and Tim Wakefield it was another missed opportunity, and another example of a team that simply did not show up to play, a troubling consistent storyline early in the 2010 season.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
John Lackey Notches First Win as a Red Sox
Sox Back on Winning Track, but Baard/Bullpen still Shaky.
John Lackey went 6 2/3 innings while allowing two runs, both earned to grab his first victory as a member of the Red Sox. After going six shut-out innings in his first start, but having the bats disappear, the bats made backed him up in his first away performance.
The Sox got some much needed offensive help from Dustin Pedroia who is coming to be known as "ol' reliable" for the sox (2-5 with a double and a home run). They also got some help from one of the new faces. Jeremy Hermida only roped one hit, but it was a big one; a bases clearing two-out double in the eight inning that put the Sox up 6-2.
They Sox needed the hit too as Daniel Bard's troubles in the eighth inning continued. After allowing the game winning hit two games ago against the Kansas City Royals, Bard had another shaky outing at Target Field in Minnesota.
It may be all the hype he recieved as possibly the new Jonathan Papelbon has painted a target on every single one of his 98 mph+ fastballs, but so far this season he has not looked good. Against Minnesota Michael Cuddyer welcomed Bard rudely by taking a meaty slider and hooking just over the fence in left.
He did settle down though. After allowing a double to Delmon Young, Bard was able to get pinch-hitting Jim Thome to pop out to Marco Scutaro to end the threat. The shakiness almost seemed contagious as Papelbon could not get through the ninth without having to face the game-tying run in the person of that same Michael Cuddyer.
Papelbon was noticeably low in his deliver to the plate; both in arm angle and in stature. He was getting a great push off of the rubber, but it seemed to be lowering his whole frame in his approach to the mound causing his fastball to dart low and moer importantly, giving a better view for the better.
Despite the mechanical problems, which resulted in two walks, Papelbon still battled through it and was able to finish off Cuddyer and the Twins almost exclusively on fastballs (the one split-fingered fastball was a wild pitch that travelled 58-feet before demolishing the dirt in front of the plate).
The news was not all bad: afterall, the Red Sox did get the win, Hideki Okajima came on to relieve John Lackey and got out of a bases loaded jam by forcing a pop-up out of the dangerous Justin Morneau, and Papelbon, despite having B- stuff on the mound, recorded the save without allowing a run.
It may have been ugly, but the Red Sox pulled out the win, and if its going to take ugly wins to get the ball rolling for the Red Sox, then the Sox will take all the ugly they can get. Plus, they are already well acquianted with ugly... they have Kevin Youkilis don't they?
John Lackey went 6 2/3 innings while allowing two runs, both earned to grab his first victory as a member of the Red Sox. After going six shut-out innings in his first start, but having the bats disappear, the bats made backed him up in his first away performance.
The Sox got some much needed offensive help from Dustin Pedroia who is coming to be known as "ol' reliable" for the sox (2-5 with a double and a home run). They also got some help from one of the new faces. Jeremy Hermida only roped one hit, but it was a big one; a bases clearing two-out double in the eight inning that put the Sox up 6-2.
They Sox needed the hit too as Daniel Bard's troubles in the eighth inning continued. After allowing the game winning hit two games ago against the Kansas City Royals, Bard had another shaky outing at Target Field in Minnesota.
It may be all the hype he recieved as possibly the new Jonathan Papelbon has painted a target on every single one of his 98 mph+ fastballs, but so far this season he has not looked good. Against Minnesota Michael Cuddyer welcomed Bard rudely by taking a meaty slider and hooking just over the fence in left.
He did settle down though. After allowing a double to Delmon Young, Bard was able to get pinch-hitting Jim Thome to pop out to Marco Scutaro to end the threat. The shakiness almost seemed contagious as Papelbon could not get through the ninth without having to face the game-tying run in the person of that same Michael Cuddyer.
Papelbon was noticeably low in his deliver to the plate; both in arm angle and in stature. He was getting a great push off of the rubber, but it seemed to be lowering his whole frame in his approach to the mound causing his fastball to dart low and moer importantly, giving a better view for the better.
Despite the mechanical problems, which resulted in two walks, Papelbon still battled through it and was able to finish off Cuddyer and the Twins almost exclusively on fastballs (the one split-fingered fastball was a wild pitch that travelled 58-feet before demolishing the dirt in front of the plate).
The news was not all bad: afterall, the Red Sox did get the win, Hideki Okajima came on to relieve John Lackey and got out of a bases loaded jam by forcing a pop-up out of the dangerous Justin Morneau, and Papelbon, despite having B- stuff on the mound, recorded the save without allowing a run.
It may have been ugly, but the Red Sox pulled out the win, and if its going to take ugly wins to get the ball rolling for the Red Sox, then the Sox will take all the ugly they can get. Plus, they are already well acquianted with ugly... they have Kevin Youkilis don't they?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
"It's a Jump...To Conclusions Mat"
It's Early, but... They Kinda Suck
Red Sox Red Sox Red Sox.
The Red Sox and their players have one of the greatest fanbases in all of professional sports (I'm looking at you Manchester United). With that distinction comes a rabid fanbase and media scrutiny unlike anything most players have ever seen; John Lackey, after one start and six shut-out inning, might just be the greatest free-agent acquisition ever.
The fanbase knows how to overreact, and why not with the second highest pay-roll in the major leagues; the fans expect a great show when they tune into NESN for away games and an even greater show when they go to Fenway and sit in the ever-increasing pricey seats.
However, the Sox are off to unspectacular 3-4 start; losing two of three to the Yankees, at home, then taking two out of three at Kansas City (big whoop, except for the lone win came off of Zach Greinke), and just yesterday lost the Twins' home-opener (a true home opener as it was the first professional baseball game played at Target Fiend).
Like every year the starting lineup has some new faces (Marco Scutaro, Mike Cameron, even Victor Martinez is technically new) and old faces (David Ortiz, Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis), but for some reason this team has come out of the blocks in unspectacular fashion. It could be a simple case of, "they haven't meshed yet" or "it's early, no time to overreact," and while that may be the case, it's how they have lost some of the early games that is cause for concern.
The Red Sox lost a game in which John Lackey went six shut-out innings, but the bullpen blew it in the eight and eventually the tenth, only scoring one run in those ten innings. They lost a great start by Tim Wakefield when the bullpen blew it in the eight, this time only scoring four runs. Then, just yesterday, they lost to Carl Pavano and the Twins 5-2 when the bats never really did get going; one of their two runs was on a warning track drive by Big Papi which bounced off the heal of left-fielder Delmon Young's glove.
The main concern for Red Sox fans coming into the season was "how are the bats going to hold up." Now I know you cannot expect 9 runs a game, but it's more than that; the Red Sox have no energy coming into the games and it seems that there is something missing from the entire team, with the exception of Papi (who despite the atrocious start, 3-22 with 11 Ks, is still playing with passion; see, eighth career ejection), Youk, Pedey, and when he plays, Jason Varitek.
It is not that the new players do not yet understand how to mesh with the veteran Red Sox, its that they don't understand when you play for the Red Sox, you are expected to bring the intensity everyday. Red Sox fans can take losing (see, the 1900s), but what they cannot take is players that do not come prepared with energy everyday; the fans cannot take players thinking the Red Sox are like every other average, run of the mill baseball team because Red Sox fans, in the 2000s, have come to expect anything but average from their players.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Playing The Role to Perfection
Jason Varitek Showing Early on He Can be a Backup
Having to sit the first four games for Red Sox Captain Jason Varitek could not have been a good feeling. After being the Red Sox primary catcher since 1999 Varitek took on the role of backup catcher having to take the back seat to a less efficient defensive catcher, but a much more potent offensive catcher in Victor Martinez.
The common consensus before the season was that Varitek would catch the majority of Josh Beckett's games, like a specialty catcher, because of the problems that Martinez and Beckett had meshing last season. He would also spell Martinez when needed and start when it appeared that a certain pitcher needed the help and influence of the veteran catcher labelled by many as the best pitch caller in the majors.
His first start did not get off to a stellar beginning; Beckett allowed a run in the first inning and Varitek's first at-bat against Zach Greinke ended like many last year, with him staring at a tw0-seamer that finished right down the heart of the plate.
But Varitek is a veteran and did not want his first start of the season to fizzle out. After Jeremy Hermida homered to tie the game in the fifth inning, Varitek took the next pitch into the bullpens in right. But Varitek was not done.
In the ninth inning, with the Red Sox clinging to a 5-3 lead, Varitek, who was batting again from the left side, the side many people thought the switch-hitting catcher could no longer do any damage, took a meaty change-up from reliever Luis Mendoza and handed a nice souvenir to a lucky fan in right. Dustin Pedroia finished off the scoring with a two-run homer later in the inning to make it 8-3 and the Red Sox took the second game of this three game series.
And of Varitek and his role as backup catcher? He still preaches the same values of catching that made him a mainstay behind the dish over the past decade, "My focus obviously was Josh and what has to go on there," said the veteran catcher, but he was not complaining about the offensive spurt, "It's nice to contribute, absolutely. Both swings, I was able to get the good part of the bat on the ball. The ball was carrying a little bit to the right."
So Varitek, who spends the majority of his time watching films of opposing batters, not pitchers, knows his role, and although it is only one start into his 2010 season, sure looks like he is fitting perfectly into that role.
(Portions of this article came from Associated Press articles)
Saturday, April 10, 2010
This Feels Familiar
Sox Bullpen Blows Another One
In movie theaters right now you can check out "Hot Tub Time Machine," and if you get NESN or know anyway to watch or listen to Red Sox baseball, you can tune into "Red Sox Bullpen Time Machine." Watching the Red Sox right now is like taking a time machine back to the 1990's and the years of the bullpen by committee.
The Red Sox are 1-3, and last night spoiled another great effort by a starter, this time though it was an old face, a very, very, very old face the bullpen collapsed for. With his first knuckleball to David DeJesus in the bottom of the first inning, Tim Wakefield became the oldest starting pitcher in Red Sox history (43 years, seven months and seven days to be exact).
The knuckleballer who was born on August 2, 1966, has been the model of consistency for the Red Sox. Whenever he steps on the mound I always pencil him in for six innings, and three to five runs.
More times than not he proves me wrong; like last night's outing where he went seven innings, striking out six and only making two mistakes: a 73 mph four seamer in the sixth to Billy Butler that was nothing more than a batting practice pitch, which Butler kindy deposited into the left field stands, and the next pitch, a 63 mph knuckleball to Rick Ankiel (yes, that Rick Ankiel) which landed fair and in the bleachers down the right field line.
Besides those two pitches Wakefield was phenomenal; he allowed just those two runs through his seven innings, and most importantly, only needing 98 pitches to do so. That is now two strong starts in a row for Red Sox pitching; Wakefield's performance came on the heels of a six-inning shutout performance by John Lackey who needed 100 pitches to do so.
With the travel day between games the Red Sox bullpen did not need the help, at least that's what the common consensus was until the Red Sox bullpen took the ball in the eighth.
Holding on to the 3-2 lead Hideki Okajima allowed a leadoff double, but got the next batter out when Terry Francona called on Daniel Bard to get the final two outs. Bard allowed a walk, got the next out, and with runners on second and third allowed a broken bat single to Ankiel who sawed the pitch into left and the lackluster arm of Jacoby Ellsbury.
Just like that a 3-2 lead turned into a 4-3 deficit and a great pitching performance by the oldest starting pitcher in Red Sox history, vanished. It was the bullpen's third straight loss (second straight blown save for Daniel Bard) and stopped Wakefield from gaining his 190th win (176th win the Red Sox), which would put him just 16 wins shy of the all-time Red Sox record owned by Roger Clemens and Cy Young.
But most importantly, that third straight loss by the bullpen is harkening back images (nightmares?) of the days of Heathcliff Slocumb and the Bullpen by Committee when Red Sox fans knew that they were in for a roller coaster ride once the starter was out. The problem here is hard to grasp; Francona has two legitimate set-up men in Okajima and Bard, but right now he has them splitting the eighth, and it just seems that both are uncomfortable knowing that neither owns the inning and that at the slightest trouble, one will go in for the other.
The Red Sox most impressive bullpen season in recent memory was in 2007 when it was Okajima in the eighth and Papelbon in the ninth, and until this question of "who owns the eighth?" is resolved, you can be assured the bullpen struggles will continue.
No matter "whodunit" in the latest bullpen collapse of this very early season, the saddest thing is to see another chance at history dance away from Tim Wakefield and the Red Sox. Here's to hoping that the man who has done everything for the Red Sox over the past 16 years starts to get some help from his bullpen... Oh yeah, one more thing; did we mention he has 22 saves as a Red Sox pitcher?
Friday, April 9, 2010
Tiger is Still Tiger
Masters and PGA Breathe Sigh of Relief
When Tiger Woods held his press conference earlier in the week my first reaction was, "Hmmmm, he's got a goatee, this is gonna be badass Tiger... Awesome."
But then... he scared the golf world, "I am actually going to try and obviously not get as hot when I play," confessed Woods, "But then again, when I -- not as hot, I'm not going to be as exuberant, either."
As people started to move to the next question, you could almost hear everyone at the Masters and PGA scream out, "NOOOOOOOOO."
Tiger Woods makes golf exciting. I'll write that again, Tiger Woods makes Golf... GOLF, exciting. The purists out there will tell you that golf is exciting no matter who is playing, but Woods makes golf exciting to the average sports fan.
Woods is why golfers are now making more money than they ever thought possible. It is easy to understand why golfers are angry with Woods; if Woods goes, so does almost all of the money he brought with him.
Anxiety set in for PGA officials, even after he nailed his opening drive down the middle of the fairway, just waiting for a sign, any sign, good or bad, that the old Tiger is lurking.
The moment came on the eighth hole. His blind approach shot stopped within 30 feet, and after nailing the eagle pump, Tiger roared; he pumped his fist, albeit, a little subdued, but still, the same emotional Tiger. he finished his day at four under, his best opening round at the Masters, and more importantly, just two shots behind the leader.
No matter what happens between now and the end of the Masters on Sunday, the fact that the old Tiger is out there, stalking his prey, is good for everybody: the man, the golfer, his fans and of course, the PGA officials who were "embarrassed" by his actions.
When Tiger Woods held his press conference earlier in the week my first reaction was, "Hmmmm, he's got a goatee, this is gonna be badass Tiger... Awesome."
But then... he scared the golf world, "I am actually going to try and obviously not get as hot when I play," confessed Woods, "But then again, when I -- not as hot, I'm not going to be as exuberant, either."
As people started to move to the next question, you could almost hear everyone at the Masters and PGA scream out, "NOOOOOOOOO."
Tiger Woods makes golf exciting. I'll write that again, Tiger Woods makes Golf... GOLF, exciting. The purists out there will tell you that golf is exciting no matter who is playing, but Woods makes golf exciting to the average sports fan.
Woods is why golfers are now making more money than they ever thought possible. It is easy to understand why golfers are angry with Woods; if Woods goes, so does almost all of the money he brought with him.
Anxiety set in for PGA officials, even after he nailed his opening drive down the middle of the fairway, just waiting for a sign, any sign, good or bad, that the old Tiger is lurking.
The moment came on the eighth hole. His blind approach shot stopped within 30 feet, and after nailing the eagle pump, Tiger roared; he pumped his fist, albeit, a little subdued, but still, the same emotional Tiger. he finished his day at four under, his best opening round at the Masters, and more importantly, just two shots behind the leader.
No matter what happens between now and the end of the Masters on Sunday, the fact that the old Tiger is out there, stalking his prey, is good for everybody: the man, the golfer, his fans and of course, the PGA officials who were "embarrassed" by his actions.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Don't Call Me Cinderella
Underdog? Sure. Overmatched? Maybe. Cinderella? Absolutely not.
The most uttered phrase from the National Championship game between Butler and Duke was "cinderella." The problem? Butler is not a cinderella team. Sure, are they from a "mid-major" conference? Yes, asbolutely. But are they a team nobody heard about before the start of the season? No, not at all.
Butler started the season ranked 10th in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and 11th in the Associated Press Poll. So a team that began the season in the top ten is a surprise contestant in the national championship game? Please. I know writers everywhere are searching for great story-lines, but what many people lose is perspective. Many people in this day and age label every game they watch as a "David versus Goliath" match-up or as "the best game ever."
By saying that a team ranked in the top eleven of both national pre-season polls is a cinderella is to say that any team no ranked #1 in the pre-season poll is a cinderella. A simple math quiz; If Butler is number eleven, how many teams in the country would NOT be the underdog when matched up against Butler? Class... Bueller... Gooooood, ten, ten is the answer. That means all but ten teams are the underdog when going up against Butler.
I know what you're saying, "But that's the pre-season poll, they mean nothing... Hell, UNC was ranked sixth in the pre-season." Good point. But, pray tell, where was Duke ranked in those same pre-season polls? Eight in the ESPN/USA Today, ten in the AP... right in front of Tennessee and West Virginia, respectively. Where did those two end up, one losing in the last second in the Elite Eight and the other losing to Duke in the Final Four. And they say pre-season polls do not mean anything.
Butler... Great story, tough team, great defense, atrocious offense for the most part, but in the words of DMX, "what's my name?" Bulldog? Mid-Major, Underdog? Sure, but stay away from Cinderella.
The most uttered phrase from the National Championship game between Butler and Duke was "cinderella." The problem? Butler is not a cinderella team. Sure, are they from a "mid-major" conference? Yes, asbolutely. But are they a team nobody heard about before the start of the season? No, not at all.
Butler started the season ranked 10th in the ESPN/USA Today Poll and 11th in the Associated Press Poll. So a team that began the season in the top ten is a surprise contestant in the national championship game? Please. I know writers everywhere are searching for great story-lines, but what many people lose is perspective. Many people in this day and age label every game they watch as a "David versus Goliath" match-up or as "the best game ever."
By saying that a team ranked in the top eleven of both national pre-season polls is a cinderella is to say that any team no ranked #1 in the pre-season poll is a cinderella. A simple math quiz; If Butler is number eleven, how many teams in the country would NOT be the underdog when matched up against Butler? Class... Bueller... Gooooood, ten, ten is the answer. That means all but ten teams are the underdog when going up against Butler.
I know what you're saying, "But that's the pre-season poll, they mean nothing... Hell, UNC was ranked sixth in the pre-season." Good point. But, pray tell, where was Duke ranked in those same pre-season polls? Eight in the ESPN/USA Today, ten in the AP... right in front of Tennessee and West Virginia, respectively. Where did those two end up, one losing in the last second in the Elite Eight and the other losing to Duke in the Final Four. And they say pre-season polls do not mean anything.
Butler... Great story, tough team, great defense, atrocious offense for the most part, but in the words of DMX, "what's my name?" Bulldog? Mid-Major, Underdog? Sure, but stay away from Cinderella.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Ahhh Finally...
Taking Pleasure in Other People's Pain Ok if You're a Sports Fan
As I sit in Syracuse watching West Virginia methodically dismantle the Washington Huskies, I cannot help, but feel good. As you can tell from my other posts, the majority of the last year has not been a good one for a New England fan living in Connecticut, but finally, at least for a night, things are good.
I watched the number five-seed Butler Bulldogs take down the number one-seed Syracuse Orange and it made me HAPPY. As a grad student in Syracuse who happens to love the Uconn Huskies, this season has been an absolute nightmare: Wes Johnson coming out of nowhere to become one of the best players in the country, the smug and ultra-annoying Andy Rautins seemingly hitting every three he takes and overall the entire team overperforming thanks to great chemistry (and some beneficial officiating).
But tonight, it was good. Butler took them down thanks to some lucky bounces and the abscence of Arinze Onuako. I remember having a conversation with another Syracuse student in the Broadcast Journalism department and I posited to her, "who is more important to Syracuse, Arinze Onuako or Andy Rautins?" The student said Rautins without a second thought, citing his leadership more than anything else. I mentioned that everything runs through AO and without him no one, including Rautins, can get their shots.
So tonight, I had two things that made me happy: the knowledge that I was right, which is always, always a great ego rub, and most importantly, the rest of the Syracuse campus and join me in the misery that is watching the NCAA tournament knowing your team is out and there is nothing to do until next year (or until the NBA and NHL playoffs... unless you are from Connecticut and still miss the Whalers).
Is this feeling better because of other people's misery wrong? Absolutely not. Why be a true fan if not for the highs of winning, the lows of losing, and the happiness that comes from other's misery. Some people throw out sayings not knowing what they actually mean, but you know what they say, "misery loves company." And tonight in Syracuse, I have a great deal of company.
As I sit in Syracuse watching West Virginia methodically dismantle the Washington Huskies, I cannot help, but feel good. As you can tell from my other posts, the majority of the last year has not been a good one for a New England fan living in Connecticut, but finally, at least for a night, things are good.
I watched the number five-seed Butler Bulldogs take down the number one-seed Syracuse Orange and it made me HAPPY. As a grad student in Syracuse who happens to love the Uconn Huskies, this season has been an absolute nightmare: Wes Johnson coming out of nowhere to become one of the best players in the country, the smug and ultra-annoying Andy Rautins seemingly hitting every three he takes and overall the entire team overperforming thanks to great chemistry (and some beneficial officiating).
But tonight, it was good. Butler took them down thanks to some lucky bounces and the abscence of Arinze Onuako. I remember having a conversation with another Syracuse student in the Broadcast Journalism department and I posited to her, "who is more important to Syracuse, Arinze Onuako or Andy Rautins?" The student said Rautins without a second thought, citing his leadership more than anything else. I mentioned that everything runs through AO and without him no one, including Rautins, can get their shots.
So tonight, I had two things that made me happy: the knowledge that I was right, which is always, always a great ego rub, and most importantly, the rest of the Syracuse campus and join me in the misery that is watching the NCAA tournament knowing your team is out and there is nothing to do until next year (or until the NBA and NHL playoffs... unless you are from Connecticut and still miss the Whalers).
Is this feeling better because of other people's misery wrong? Absolutely not. Why be a true fan if not for the highs of winning, the lows of losing, and the happiness that comes from other's misery. Some people throw out sayings not knowing what they actually mean, but you know what they say, "misery loves company." And tonight in Syracuse, I have a great deal of company.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
A Perfect End to an Imperfect Season
Uconn's Season Ended The Way it Should Have...With a Heartbreaking Loss
Everything was there for a semi-magical end to the season: the other team that has been berated in the media for their bad performance, UNC, was knifing through the NIT, their main man Jerome Dyson was finally playing like he had millions of dollars riding on the line with his last couple of games and the ball was in the most consistent player of the year, Gavin Edwards, with a chance for a win... and it all came "rushing" down.
Everyone that cares about them knows that the University Connecticut MEN'S basketball team had underperformed all year. Something was missing from this team; to most that watched it was leadership. Jerome Dyson was supposed to be the leader for this Final Four caliber team, but when they needed him most, he failed, and failed gloriously.
From average games, to poor games and then finally at the end of the regular season and Big East tournament, to bad games for Jerome Dyson, it was clear that something was amiss and the team took the brunt of his bad play; Uconn dropped from NCAA tournament consideration to maybe on the outside of the NIT.
The leader for the team by the end of the year (and for at least one more to come) was clearly Kemba Walker; he had been playing out of his mind and it was clear from simple facial gestures that Walker has a killer's heart and should be something to behold next year when he finallly has his mad rushes under control.
It was those same mad rushes that made Uconn so dangerously good...and so dangerously bad. When the team was on, nobody could stop them (just ask Texas, Villanova and West Virginia), when they were off, anyone could beat them (just ask Providence, Michigan and St. John's). Uconn could run any team off the court, including themselves.
There were times this year when you would just marvel at Jerome Dyson barreling into the key and drawing the foul, but they were other times, too numerous to count, where Dyson or Walker would be barreling down the court and chuck an ill-conceived alley-oop for Stanley Robinson or simply lose control of the ball.
They were an enigma; at times both beautiful and painful to watch, and it all came to a head at the Virginia Tech game.
They showed their experience by not being phased by an unusually large NIT crowd, but showed their complete lack of leadership and true experience by not being able to handle a 2-3 zone (the same zone they dismantled only a month before at the Carrier Dome). The player lost in all of this is Stanley Robinson, who himself was more of a riddle than anyone else.
Robinson could take a game over with his thunderous dunks and streaky three-point shooting, but then fade into obscurity as fast as his leaps to the rim. He never really learned how to dominate in the low-post against smaller players nor how to drive past faster players; it will only be in the NBA where people will see just how great of a player he can be (my only reasoning being I have seen him play for three and a half years and know how good he is, he only has to develop that killer instinct that the entire team seemed to lack).
But with all the problems of this year's team there was one great story, Gavin Edwards and his meteoric rise as one of the most consistent, if not best, sixth men in the country. Edwards morphed from a shaky bench player to almost a certified double double man every game. His defense was spectacular and he was the only man on the team that could score in the pain with ease.
That is what made the last sequence so perfectly imperfect...
Down by one with about ten seconds left in the game, Kemba Walker drove a little too far, took an ill-advised jump-shot... the shot was blocked, but, like so many times before, he fought for the ball, got it back, drove again, and, with about four seconds left, made a beautiful pass to Gavin Edwards who took the pass in mid-air with no one around him and time on the clock....
But like seemingly everything else that went wrong this year for the Huskies, he rushed when he did not have to; Edwards, most likely thinking there was less time on the clock, caught the ball in mid-air, spun towards the hoop and shot, without ever touching the ground. The end result was a missed lay-up, maybe the only thing Edwards did not do right during the game. The shot clanked off the rim, but there was still time for a rebound and put back, but again, the team that seemed plagued all year was yet again plagued, but this time by the hard-work that eluded them most of the year.
Edwards went for the rebound and had position, but Kemba Walker, who had never given up on the play, unknowingly battled Edwards for the rebound and it bounced off both players and right into the hands of Virgina Tech. One for two at the line for Tech left Uconn with a sliver of hope, 0.7 seconds, and the last desperation heave fell short.
For a team that rushed through their season at a somehow breakneck, but snail-like speed, the Edwards hasty and ill-fated shot was the perfect way to end the season... It was just an imperfect ending for the team and their fans.
Everything was there for a semi-magical end to the season: the other team that has been berated in the media for their bad performance, UNC, was knifing through the NIT, their main man Jerome Dyson was finally playing like he had millions of dollars riding on the line with his last couple of games and the ball was in the most consistent player of the year, Gavin Edwards, with a chance for a win... and it all came "rushing" down.
Everyone that cares about them knows that the University Connecticut MEN'S basketball team had underperformed all year. Something was missing from this team; to most that watched it was leadership. Jerome Dyson was supposed to be the leader for this Final Four caliber team, but when they needed him most, he failed, and failed gloriously.
From average games, to poor games and then finally at the end of the regular season and Big East tournament, to bad games for Jerome Dyson, it was clear that something was amiss and the team took the brunt of his bad play; Uconn dropped from NCAA tournament consideration to maybe on the outside of the NIT.
The leader for the team by the end of the year (and for at least one more to come) was clearly Kemba Walker; he had been playing out of his mind and it was clear from simple facial gestures that Walker has a killer's heart and should be something to behold next year when he finallly has his mad rushes under control.
It was those same mad rushes that made Uconn so dangerously good...and so dangerously bad. When the team was on, nobody could stop them (just ask Texas, Villanova and West Virginia), when they were off, anyone could beat them (just ask Providence, Michigan and St. John's). Uconn could run any team off the court, including themselves.
There were times this year when you would just marvel at Jerome Dyson barreling into the key and drawing the foul, but they were other times, too numerous to count, where Dyson or Walker would be barreling down the court and chuck an ill-conceived alley-oop for Stanley Robinson or simply lose control of the ball.
They were an enigma; at times both beautiful and painful to watch, and it all came to a head at the Virginia Tech game.
They showed their experience by not being phased by an unusually large NIT crowd, but showed their complete lack of leadership and true experience by not being able to handle a 2-3 zone (the same zone they dismantled only a month before at the Carrier Dome). The player lost in all of this is Stanley Robinson, who himself was more of a riddle than anyone else.
Robinson could take a game over with his thunderous dunks and streaky three-point shooting, but then fade into obscurity as fast as his leaps to the rim. He never really learned how to dominate in the low-post against smaller players nor how to drive past faster players; it will only be in the NBA where people will see just how great of a player he can be (my only reasoning being I have seen him play for three and a half years and know how good he is, he only has to develop that killer instinct that the entire team seemed to lack).
But with all the problems of this year's team there was one great story, Gavin Edwards and his meteoric rise as one of the most consistent, if not best, sixth men in the country. Edwards morphed from a shaky bench player to almost a certified double double man every game. His defense was spectacular and he was the only man on the team that could score in the pain with ease.
That is what made the last sequence so perfectly imperfect...
Down by one with about ten seconds left in the game, Kemba Walker drove a little too far, took an ill-advised jump-shot... the shot was blocked, but, like so many times before, he fought for the ball, got it back, drove again, and, with about four seconds left, made a beautiful pass to Gavin Edwards who took the pass in mid-air with no one around him and time on the clock....
But like seemingly everything else that went wrong this year for the Huskies, he rushed when he did not have to; Edwards, most likely thinking there was less time on the clock, caught the ball in mid-air, spun towards the hoop and shot, without ever touching the ground. The end result was a missed lay-up, maybe the only thing Edwards did not do right during the game. The shot clanked off the rim, but there was still time for a rebound and put back, but again, the team that seemed plagued all year was yet again plagued, but this time by the hard-work that eluded them most of the year.
Edwards went for the rebound and had position, but Kemba Walker, who had never given up on the play, unknowingly battled Edwards for the rebound and it bounced off both players and right into the hands of Virgina Tech. One for two at the line for Tech left Uconn with a sliver of hope, 0.7 seconds, and the last desperation heave fell short.
For a team that rushed through their season at a somehow breakneck, but snail-like speed, the Edwards hasty and ill-fated shot was the perfect way to end the season... It was just an imperfect ending for the team and their fans.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Line in the Sand
Do Not Step Over It...Wipe it Out Completely
Note: I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass...
The first Jemele Hill article I ever paid attention to was her "Putting Kobe in Perspective" article. Forgetting the fact she is blatantly wrong, I realized writing, or at least, coming up with ideas to write about nowadays is not so much about the ability to write as is, the topic you which to write about.
In the sports world, every John and Sally out there can write about what they think Tiger Woods should do, or who is really to blame for the Steroids Era, but the thing that will get people to read is not the prose of the author, but the topic.
I will be unabashedly straightforward; I am fairly certain I have never seen a Jemele Hill article and gone, "ooo goody, another Jemele Hill article." Simply put, I just do not agree with a single word that she says, well, until now...
On ESPN.Com you can find an article about "stepping -- a rhythmic form of dancing, clapping, and stomping that is widely practiced by historically black fraternities and sororities," in which Jemele Hill calls out the Coca-Cola Co. for waving a magic wand and forcing an all-white fraternity (Zeta Tau Alpha) to share the national title for best steppers with an all black sorority (Alpha Kappa Alpha) after discovering a "scoring discrepancy."
Back Ground
For those who know me, I am not what you would call a silent, or even shy person, when it comes to expressing my opinion. I have held Jemele Hill in such low regard because I think her stance on Kobe Bryant being better than Michael Jordan was simply a cowardly attempt to get people to read her article because no sane person could ever come to that conclusion (and if she does think this it does not help out her case).
One of my biggest rants in life comes out of discussions about race. I grew up in a predominantly (and that is even an understatement) white farm town on the border of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Knowing such you would think that there is rampant racism and bigotry, but for the most part, this lack of "mixing" has been a pretty vital ground for my stance on racism and bigotry.
Not only is it a predominantly white town, but to say that there is a religious melting pot would be lying through your teeth; there are Roman Catholics, Protestants and... and.... well, not much else.
I am an Irish Jew (kinda makes people go , "abuh?") and growing up Jewish in a town of practically all Christians was fun. Instead of nobody saying a damn thing about my "otherness," it was fair game for making fun of and teasing. If you are reading this (and considering the amount of views, I'd say you are not) and saying "oh that's terrible, what horrible, horrible children," get off your damn soap box.
The easiest way to integrate people is by making fun of them; you make fun of people that you are comfortable with, and the easiest way to include somebody is by showing that they are fair game. If you are saying to someone that they are fair game to be made of, you are inviting that person to turn the tables on you (yes, I am aware that there is a fine line, but in this day in age, that fine line is easy to spot).
Yesterday I was told using "Negro" in a Law Brief, even though I had it in quotation marks and it was used in the original case filings, was in bad taste and I should use "African American." Bullshit. My friends from back home with dark skin prefer to be called "black." I say I'm an Irish Jew because it is easy for people to pinpoint, but I think its stupid.
I think the term is stupid and the term African-American is stupid because it does not go the whole way; if you really want to start delineating people by their race, then I say we go the whole way, you are not an African American, but a "Ghanese-American," or a "Samburu-American." The worst is when I hear someone call musician Seal an African American...just wrong...not even close.
The Article
Jemele Hill's thesis in her article is stepping should bring cultures together and that cultural inclusion is a two way street; by forcing the honor of c0-national champions on the all-black sorority and taking the sole honor away from the all-white fraternity they are saying it is good if cultural inclusion works one way, but not the other.
Her thesis (and it pains me to say this) is absolutely correct. She pinpoints the issue when discussing the comments after the Youtube video was posted that the reason the Zeta's won was because they are a novelty rather than for their abilities and Hill writes "Hmm, now where have I heard that one before."
I will let this be known before I go any further, I hate stepping. I hate stepping probably because I have never seen it done well and the most memorable performance I can remember came at a Trinity College Fall Festival show my Freshmen (not Firstyear Trinity, but FRESHMEN) when the "Rhonda Steppers" did a bit at the beginning of an OkGo concert... it sucked.
What made it worse was that at the end of the OkGo concert the bad performed their routine from "A Million Ways," which I, and everyone else there, believed blew the Rhonda Steppers out of the water.
Talking about race and the need to be politically correct is downright unintelligible. As a religious person I truly believe we are all of one species (is that religious or scientific?) and studies show that this is the case. Simply because we originally came from different parts of the world means absolutely nothing anymore.
Do we look different? Yes, but everyone looks different, meaning that no is different if what makes us different is all the same ("YOU ARE NOT BEAUTIFUL AND UNIQUE SNOWFLAKES"). Racism, and having to abide by a certain set of codes is useless, and all it does is waste time and slow down the process of true integration.
Once we can get past stupid things like this "stepping controversy," we will as a species truly start getting it into our thickheads that the only differences we see are the ones we invent...
-A Money Grubbin' Constantly Drinking Potato Loving Kike
Note: I hope this doesn't come back to bite me in the ass...
The first Jemele Hill article I ever paid attention to was her "Putting Kobe in Perspective" article. Forgetting the fact she is blatantly wrong, I realized writing, or at least, coming up with ideas to write about nowadays is not so much about the ability to write as is, the topic you which to write about.
In the sports world, every John and Sally out there can write about what they think Tiger Woods should do, or who is really to blame for the Steroids Era, but the thing that will get people to read is not the prose of the author, but the topic.
I will be unabashedly straightforward; I am fairly certain I have never seen a Jemele Hill article and gone, "ooo goody, another Jemele Hill article." Simply put, I just do not agree with a single word that she says, well, until now...
On ESPN.Com you can find an article about "stepping -- a rhythmic form of dancing, clapping, and stomping that is widely practiced by historically black fraternities and sororities," in which Jemele Hill calls out the Coca-Cola Co. for waving a magic wand and forcing an all-white fraternity (Zeta Tau Alpha) to share the national title for best steppers with an all black sorority (Alpha Kappa Alpha) after discovering a "scoring discrepancy."
Back Ground
For those who know me, I am not what you would call a silent, or even shy person, when it comes to expressing my opinion. I have held Jemele Hill in such low regard because I think her stance on Kobe Bryant being better than Michael Jordan was simply a cowardly attempt to get people to read her article because no sane person could ever come to that conclusion (and if she does think this it does not help out her case).
One of my biggest rants in life comes out of discussions about race. I grew up in a predominantly (and that is even an understatement) white farm town on the border of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Knowing such you would think that there is rampant racism and bigotry, but for the most part, this lack of "mixing" has been a pretty vital ground for my stance on racism and bigotry.
Not only is it a predominantly white town, but to say that there is a religious melting pot would be lying through your teeth; there are Roman Catholics, Protestants and... and.... well, not much else.
I am an Irish Jew (kinda makes people go , "abuh?") and growing up Jewish in a town of practically all Christians was fun. Instead of nobody saying a damn thing about my "otherness," it was fair game for making fun of and teasing. If you are reading this (and considering the amount of views, I'd say you are not) and saying "oh that's terrible, what horrible, horrible children," get off your damn soap box.
The easiest way to integrate people is by making fun of them; you make fun of people that you are comfortable with, and the easiest way to include somebody is by showing that they are fair game. If you are saying to someone that they are fair game to be made of, you are inviting that person to turn the tables on you (yes, I am aware that there is a fine line, but in this day in age, that fine line is easy to spot).
Yesterday I was told using "Negro" in a Law Brief, even though I had it in quotation marks and it was used in the original case filings, was in bad taste and I should use "African American." Bullshit. My friends from back home with dark skin prefer to be called "black." I say I'm an Irish Jew because it is easy for people to pinpoint, but I think its stupid.
I think the term is stupid and the term African-American is stupid because it does not go the whole way; if you really want to start delineating people by their race, then I say we go the whole way, you are not an African American, but a "Ghanese-American," or a "Samburu-American." The worst is when I hear someone call musician Seal an African American...just wrong...not even close.
The Article
Jemele Hill's thesis in her article is stepping should bring cultures together and that cultural inclusion is a two way street; by forcing the honor of c0-national champions on the all-black sorority and taking the sole honor away from the all-white fraternity they are saying it is good if cultural inclusion works one way, but not the other.
Her thesis (and it pains me to say this) is absolutely correct. She pinpoints the issue when discussing the comments after the Youtube video was posted that the reason the Zeta's won was because they are a novelty rather than for their abilities and Hill writes "Hmm, now where have I heard that one before."
I will let this be known before I go any further, I hate stepping. I hate stepping probably because I have never seen it done well and the most memorable performance I can remember came at a Trinity College Fall Festival show my Freshmen (not Firstyear Trinity, but FRESHMEN) when the "Rhonda Steppers" did a bit at the beginning of an OkGo concert... it sucked.
What made it worse was that at the end of the OkGo concert the bad performed their routine from "A Million Ways," which I, and everyone else there, believed blew the Rhonda Steppers out of the water.
Talking about race and the need to be politically correct is downright unintelligible. As a religious person I truly believe we are all of one species (is that religious or scientific?) and studies show that this is the case. Simply because we originally came from different parts of the world means absolutely nothing anymore.
Do we look different? Yes, but everyone looks different, meaning that no is different if what makes us different is all the same ("YOU ARE NOT BEAUTIFUL AND UNIQUE SNOWFLAKES"). Racism, and having to abide by a certain set of codes is useless, and all it does is waste time and slow down the process of true integration.
Once we can get past stupid things like this "stepping controversy," we will as a species truly start getting it into our thickheads that the only differences we see are the ones we invent...
-A Money Grubbin' Constantly Drinking Potato Loving Kike
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Disappointment
I have taken a great deal of grief from people over the years because of the way I embrace sports; I embody the true meaning of the word fan, as in fanatic. If you are not accustomed to how people of my ilk act, I'll put it this way; if the team I am rooting for loses, it is not the end of the world, but it will certainly ruin the rest of my day. To say the least, there are not many people at my advanced age who behave this way, but I have never been one to toe the line, I live on the extremes of polarity.
I bring this up for two reason: if you are not used to be around people like this and all of a sudden find yourself in their tornado of odd emotions, the best bet is to just let them steam out and eventuallly they will come back to reality and realize the folly of shutting down simply because the result of a sports game did not go the way they wanted to, the other reason is that if you have never been around one of these people, you will absolutely never, and i mean never, understand where in the blue hell they are coming from.
Many people would think that this is an insane way to live, and it may well be, but from my experience it is pretty common among New Englanders, and as a man from Connecticut, I fit right in.
For most people who simply do not know how to find that golden mean, living life and watching sports is a double edged sword. The best way to describe the upside of one of these (well, let's call them benders because that is what they truly are) benders is the realistic description that as a life long Red Sox fan, I will always have in my back pocket the pure euphoria of watching Keith Foulke underhand a ball to Doug Mientkeiwidshjfhdkshldkjhc for the final out of the 2004 World Series...
The opposite would be from the year before when it took a whole fifteen minutes for me to move after Aaron "Bleepin'" Boone took Tim Wakefield deep to end the Red Sox World Series Hope (phew sentence over).
Today was a Bleepin' Boone day...
It was shaping up to be a wonderful day, Uconn vs. Louisville and USA vs. Canada for the gold in men's ice hockey. I was hoping for a split (realistically Uconn).
Uconn outplayed Louisville in the first half, but the Cardinals were able to bank in a prayer at the end of the first half and the old-school Red Sox fan inside me kept saying, "thats the kind of stuff that happens when three points at the end of the game will kill us, this is not good, this is not good." (It was not good).
Sarnardo Samuels made a campsite in the lane and did not get called once, and to ease the pain, Uconn blew a winnable game (they are no 0-6 in games decided by 5 or less) and now are resting very cautiously on the bubble against a suddenly red hot Notre Dame team.
To describe what Uconn sports means to the good Nutmeg people is hard to do; many do not realize that it is our only team. When the Whalers left in 1997 (leaving behind a rabid fanbase, but it's ok Gary Bettman, sure overexpand, take teams out of Canada and the Northeast and send them south and to warm climates where hockey is not played, makes great sense) they took with them Connecticut's only professional sports team. Who was there to help us through this transition*? The University of Connecticut Huskies *Transition means moving on to something, we were left with nothing and still do not have anything.
Uconn (both men and women, and thankfully recently the football team) is that conservative and pretty rebound girlfriend that you got after breaking up with that cazy, but smokin' hot girlfriend; sure, she may not be as good looking as the last girl, but she will always be there and she will never hurt you (and inside you are saying, "true, but crazy girl was smoking hot, and it was kinda fun not knowing if she would stab me or up and leave in the middle of the night..." always forgetting that she did in fact up and leave in the middle of the night.
Uconn made the pain of losing the Whalers go away slightly. When you go to bed at night you are thinking about Emeka and Rip and Ricky Moore, but every once in a while you have that sex dream of Sean Burke and Pat Verbeek (by the way, gross line right there) and you wake up sweating and on the verge of tears.
Back to the point, Uconn lost a winnable game, ok...ok... USA can do this, we got the momentum...
CRAP down 2-0... there is no way we can come back against this team that reads like the who's who of hockey, I should've known things would turn out like this, my Red Sox sense have been tingling all day....but ya know, Luongo IS looking kinda shaky....
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL.... Ok ok, we're in this and Miller is playing like a beast, but damn are we getting crushed here in the third...fast forward.
Pulled goalie, we are dominant with the extra man, holy crap...... ... ........ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL. I LOVE YOU RYAN KESLER I WABT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!!!! Ok, overtime....
Has JR been doing lines? He is literally just as tense as I am JEREMY ROENICK YOU ARE NOT HELPING... Pucked drop (oh no, it's four on four we are so screwed....)
Yup, Igilna, don't let him pass it, no...wait WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!? He scored? I didn't even see it (neither did Miller apparently)...
Dear NBC,
I hated every single method you used to over the olympics and thanks to you, I didn't even see the overtime goal in one of the best games ever...EVER... in hockey. Please do the Mama Cass and choke and die. That is all.
Sincerely,
He who should've seen it coming
I bring this up for two reason: if you are not used to be around people like this and all of a sudden find yourself in their tornado of odd emotions, the best bet is to just let them steam out and eventuallly they will come back to reality and realize the folly of shutting down simply because the result of a sports game did not go the way they wanted to, the other reason is that if you have never been around one of these people, you will absolutely never, and i mean never, understand where in the blue hell they are coming from.
Many people would think that this is an insane way to live, and it may well be, but from my experience it is pretty common among New Englanders, and as a man from Connecticut, I fit right in.
For most people who simply do not know how to find that golden mean, living life and watching sports is a double edged sword. The best way to describe the upside of one of these (well, let's call them benders because that is what they truly are) benders is the realistic description that as a life long Red Sox fan, I will always have in my back pocket the pure euphoria of watching Keith Foulke underhand a ball to Doug Mientkeiwidshjfhdkshldkjhc for the final out of the 2004 World Series...
The opposite would be from the year before when it took a whole fifteen minutes for me to move after Aaron "Bleepin'" Boone took Tim Wakefield deep to end the Red Sox World Series Hope (phew sentence over).
Today was a Bleepin' Boone day...
It was shaping up to be a wonderful day, Uconn vs. Louisville and USA vs. Canada for the gold in men's ice hockey. I was hoping for a split (realistically Uconn).
Uconn outplayed Louisville in the first half, but the Cardinals were able to bank in a prayer at the end of the first half and the old-school Red Sox fan inside me kept saying, "thats the kind of stuff that happens when three points at the end of the game will kill us, this is not good, this is not good." (It was not good).
Sarnardo Samuels made a campsite in the lane and did not get called once, and to ease the pain, Uconn blew a winnable game (they are no 0-6 in games decided by 5 or less) and now are resting very cautiously on the bubble against a suddenly red hot Notre Dame team.
To describe what Uconn sports means to the good Nutmeg people is hard to do; many do not realize that it is our only team. When the Whalers left in 1997 (leaving behind a rabid fanbase, but it's ok Gary Bettman, sure overexpand, take teams out of Canada and the Northeast and send them south and to warm climates where hockey is not played, makes great sense) they took with them Connecticut's only professional sports team. Who was there to help us through this transition*? The University of Connecticut Huskies *Transition means moving on to something, we were left with nothing and still do not have anything.
Uconn (both men and women, and thankfully recently the football team) is that conservative and pretty rebound girlfriend that you got after breaking up with that cazy, but smokin' hot girlfriend; sure, she may not be as good looking as the last girl, but she will always be there and she will never hurt you (and inside you are saying, "true, but crazy girl was smoking hot, and it was kinda fun not knowing if she would stab me or up and leave in the middle of the night..." always forgetting that she did in fact up and leave in the middle of the night.
Uconn made the pain of losing the Whalers go away slightly. When you go to bed at night you are thinking about Emeka and Rip and Ricky Moore, but every once in a while you have that sex dream of Sean Burke and Pat Verbeek (by the way, gross line right there) and you wake up sweating and on the verge of tears.
Back to the point, Uconn lost a winnable game, ok...ok... USA can do this, we got the momentum...
CRAP down 2-0... there is no way we can come back against this team that reads like the who's who of hockey, I should've known things would turn out like this, my Red Sox sense have been tingling all day....but ya know, Luongo IS looking kinda shaky....
GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL.... Ok ok, we're in this and Miller is playing like a beast, but damn are we getting crushed here in the third...fast forward.
Pulled goalie, we are dominant with the extra man, holy crap...... ... ........ GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAL. I LOVE YOU RYAN KESLER I WABT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!!!! Ok, overtime....
Has JR been doing lines? He is literally just as tense as I am JEREMY ROENICK YOU ARE NOT HELPING... Pucked drop (oh no, it's four on four we are so screwed....)
Yup, Igilna, don't let him pass it, no...wait WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!? He scored? I didn't even see it (neither did Miller apparently)...
Dear NBC,
I hated every single method you used to over the olympics and thanks to you, I didn't even see the overtime goal in one of the best games ever...EVER... in hockey. Please do the Mama Cass and choke and die. That is all.
Sincerely,
He who should've seen it coming
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Media Representation
How to Get Noticed By the Media?
Many children growing up think of one thing; stardom. It does not matter the path they choose to achieve it, but at one point or another, everyone has thought to him or herself, "I wonder what it would be like to be famous?"
Once Upon a Time
For the lucky few that get to achieve this level of notoriety, it is not always a pleasant achievement. I was fortunate enough to be a part of one of, if not the, best statistical collegiate baseball team to ever; The Trinity College Division-III 2008 National Championship Team. That team was an astounding 45-1, setting multiple records throughout the year, most notably wins to start a season (44). Outside of New England there was very little fanfare even though a baseball team, never EVER wins 44 games in a row. As a team, we were fine with the lack of publicity and teams brushed off our win-streak as having played inferior opponents or brought any number of excuses to the table.
When we ran the table at the New England Regional all of a sudden the press started to jump in on the story; 40 wins in a row up to that point, and about a 45 minute drive from ESPN may have had something to do with it. The highlight of the year up to that point was a "First Take" segment where Dana Jacobson interviewed "Mike Decker" as she called him (real name Bill), and our captain Sean Killeen. It was about a five minute segment highlighting our season up to that point with a little Q&A for our coach and captain (Coach Decker handled himself well, Sean, he needs some work in front of the camera). It was fun, maybe something to write home about, but nothing earth shattering.
To make a long story, well, it's still long, but at least a little shorter, we won our first four games at the D-III College World Series and would face Johns Hopkins in the D-III National Championship Game where one win would give us an unprecedented undefeated season in Baseball and an unprecedented NCAA national championship for the school.
We had our ace Tim Kiely pitching and it seemed like sure thing that we would win the game, and we played like we thought it was, but Johns Hopkins put up an amazing fight and clipped us 4-3, scoring on a passed ball strike three (a rarity in general, but even more so considering the stellar play of our catcher/captain Sean Killeen). Johns Hopkins made a great comeback in the first game and so (leaving out many, many details) we decided to pay them back and scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth in the second game to take home the walnut and bronze.
Jubilation is an understatement, but we were literally, ecstatic and the party carried from the field back to the hotel. At the hotel we were all celebrating our win when all of a sudden ESPNews decided to show what we thought would be a highlight of our win. We all thought, "cool, a legit sportscenter highlight of our season." So about 35 very happy scholar athletes are standing, arms clasped around shoulders waiting for the highlight, when it pops us on the screen...
To display the passed ball strike three and Johns Hopkins beating us in the first game with a bottom third graphic saying "Trinity College Record Win Streak Snapped by Johns Hopkins," and then as an afterthought the anchor said, "Trinity College would come back to beat Johns Hopkins 5-4 in the second game to win their first ever NCAA Championship."
Well thanks ESPN for the plug, but, damnit all, maybe give us a little credit here for putting up the most amazing season in collegiate baseball history; the entire team was stunned and yelling at the TV, "Oh COME ON!!!," and "you got to be ****** me." That lasted for about ten seconds until one wise senior yelled, "To the National Champions!!!" and all was forgotten.
It seems that in order to get media exposure, one must toil and sweat and make all the right moves, AND THEN, do something drastic, or else the media and the viewers/readers will brush the story aside.
Trinity in the News Again
The Trinity College Men's Squash Team just sealed their 12th National Championship in a row and 224th victory in a row. However, all you will hear from the media outlets is how Baset Chaudhry, one of the best collegiate players in squash history, yelled in the face of his Yale opponent after the match and "took a run at him."
The Trinity Squash team has been detailed before by ESPN in a very positive light, and even as a cover story in Sports Illustrated, but to anyone outside of Trinity College or the squash world, that news has been brushed aside. But now, Trinity is getting more press than ever because of Baset's actions (which may have been provoked, a point that is routinely forgotten in most reports); the video is on the verge of going viral, there have been debates on "Outside the Lines," "Pardon the Interruption," and "Around the Horn."
I just think it is a sad state of media and viewership that a story about a team winning their 12th consecutive national championship would be hardly newsworthy, but a story about one guy getting in the grill of another is not only newsworthy, but forces people like Merril Hoge (not kidding) to start talking about squash. We as a culture are obsessed with the taboo, of the forbidden, of the unusual, but in this pursuit, which is only rational human behavior, we lose our perspectives and miss the true story.
Were Baset Chaudhry's actions reprehensible? According to a Hartford Courant poll, yes (my own opinion, forged from long years of ultracompetive sports, would be that if the Yalie did not want him to yell in his face, (a) do NOT let him beat you (b) you probably should not have tried an intimidation factor earlier on in the match knowing that your chances of beating him were slim).
Baset's actions are deplorable in regards to sportsmanlike conduct on and off of the athletic arena, but were his actions any more despicable than a basketball player screaming after a tough "and-1" or a football player yelling at his opponent? No. They were simply the actions of a scholar-athlete releasing four years of tension and anxiety that had been growing cause he had the pressure of a 200+/decade+ winning streak on his 6'5 frame.
Should he have acted better? Yes. Are his actions reasonable given the circumstances? Maybe, maybe not. But did he act in any way different than the hundreds and hundreds of athletes that we see on T.V and that many children look up to as role models? No.
In this day and age of media that only clutches on and highlights the evil and unfortunate, does Baset Chaudhry wish right now that he was still living in his (relative) obscurity that he was before the ten seconds after his national championship title clinching match against Yale's Kenneth Chan? That's a good question....
Many children growing up think of one thing; stardom. It does not matter the path they choose to achieve it, but at one point or another, everyone has thought to him or herself, "I wonder what it would be like to be famous?"
Once Upon a Time
For the lucky few that get to achieve this level of notoriety, it is not always a pleasant achievement. I was fortunate enough to be a part of one of, if not the, best statistical collegiate baseball team to ever; The Trinity College Division-III 2008 National Championship Team. That team was an astounding 45-1, setting multiple records throughout the year, most notably wins to start a season (44). Outside of New England there was very little fanfare even though a baseball team, never EVER wins 44 games in a row. As a team, we were fine with the lack of publicity and teams brushed off our win-streak as having played inferior opponents or brought any number of excuses to the table.
When we ran the table at the New England Regional all of a sudden the press started to jump in on the story; 40 wins in a row up to that point, and about a 45 minute drive from ESPN may have had something to do with it. The highlight of the year up to that point was a "First Take" segment where Dana Jacobson interviewed "Mike Decker" as she called him (real name Bill), and our captain Sean Killeen. It was about a five minute segment highlighting our season up to that point with a little Q&A for our coach and captain (Coach Decker handled himself well, Sean, he needs some work in front of the camera). It was fun, maybe something to write home about, but nothing earth shattering.
To make a long story, well, it's still long, but at least a little shorter, we won our first four games at the D-III College World Series and would face Johns Hopkins in the D-III National Championship Game where one win would give us an unprecedented undefeated season in Baseball and an unprecedented NCAA national championship for the school.
We had our ace Tim Kiely pitching and it seemed like sure thing that we would win the game, and we played like we thought it was, but Johns Hopkins put up an amazing fight and clipped us 4-3, scoring on a passed ball strike three (a rarity in general, but even more so considering the stellar play of our catcher/captain Sean Killeen). Johns Hopkins made a great comeback in the first game and so (leaving out many, many details) we decided to pay them back and scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth in the second game to take home the walnut and bronze.
Jubilation is an understatement, but we were literally, ecstatic and the party carried from the field back to the hotel. At the hotel we were all celebrating our win when all of a sudden ESPNews decided to show what we thought would be a highlight of our win. We all thought, "cool, a legit sportscenter highlight of our season." So about 35 very happy scholar athletes are standing, arms clasped around shoulders waiting for the highlight, when it pops us on the screen...
To display the passed ball strike three and Johns Hopkins beating us in the first game with a bottom third graphic saying "Trinity College Record Win Streak Snapped by Johns Hopkins," and then as an afterthought the anchor said, "Trinity College would come back to beat Johns Hopkins 5-4 in the second game to win their first ever NCAA Championship."
Well thanks ESPN for the plug, but, damnit all, maybe give us a little credit here for putting up the most amazing season in collegiate baseball history; the entire team was stunned and yelling at the TV, "Oh COME ON!!!," and "you got to be ****** me." That lasted for about ten seconds until one wise senior yelled, "To the National Champions!!!" and all was forgotten.
It seems that in order to get media exposure, one must toil and sweat and make all the right moves, AND THEN, do something drastic, or else the media and the viewers/readers will brush the story aside.
Trinity in the News Again
The Trinity College Men's Squash Team just sealed their 12th National Championship in a row and 224th victory in a row. However, all you will hear from the media outlets is how Baset Chaudhry, one of the best collegiate players in squash history, yelled in the face of his Yale opponent after the match and "took a run at him."
The Trinity Squash team has been detailed before by ESPN in a very positive light, and even as a cover story in Sports Illustrated, but to anyone outside of Trinity College or the squash world, that news has been brushed aside. But now, Trinity is getting more press than ever because of Baset's actions (which may have been provoked, a point that is routinely forgotten in most reports); the video is on the verge of going viral, there have been debates on "Outside the Lines," "Pardon the Interruption," and "Around the Horn."
I just think it is a sad state of media and viewership that a story about a team winning their 12th consecutive national championship would be hardly newsworthy, but a story about one guy getting in the grill of another is not only newsworthy, but forces people like Merril Hoge (not kidding) to start talking about squash. We as a culture are obsessed with the taboo, of the forbidden, of the unusual, but in this pursuit, which is only rational human behavior, we lose our perspectives and miss the true story.
Were Baset Chaudhry's actions reprehensible? According to a Hartford Courant poll, yes (my own opinion, forged from long years of ultracompetive sports, would be that if the Yalie did not want him to yell in his face, (a) do NOT let him beat you (b) you probably should not have tried an intimidation factor earlier on in the match knowing that your chances of beating him were slim).
Baset's actions are deplorable in regards to sportsmanlike conduct on and off of the athletic arena, but were his actions any more despicable than a basketball player screaming after a tough "and-1" or a football player yelling at his opponent? No. They were simply the actions of a scholar-athlete releasing four years of tension and anxiety that had been growing cause he had the pressure of a 200+/decade+ winning streak on his 6'5 frame.
Should he have acted better? Yes. Are his actions reasonable given the circumstances? Maybe, maybe not. But did he act in any way different than the hundreds and hundreds of athletes that we see on T.V and that many children look up to as role models? No.
In this day and age of media that only clutches on and highlights the evil and unfortunate, does Baset Chaudhry wish right now that he was still living in his (relative) obscurity that he was before the ten seconds after his national championship title clinching match against Yale's Kenneth Chan? That's a good question....
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