HIGH AND TIGHT
MLB Omissioner Bud Selig officially announced yesterday what was one of the worst kept secrets in recent memory, the inclusion of an additional Wild Card team in each league and an added round of playoffs.
Of all the post-strike ideas, the Wild Card and Inter-league play, while wildly praised, were not my two favorites. For the first 35 years of my life -- and time immemorial -- baseball was always the game that rewarded its winners by allowing only 1st place teams to play for its championship. With the premise of the Wild Card being that additional cities would play host to significant September games, the bottom line has certainly been good.
As for Inter-league play, the idea of the Mets and Yankees playing 3 games in June had appeal to me, but of course, nothing exceeds like excess, so let's play 6! I realize they sell out, but that would justify that they played each other in all 162 for 162 sellouts, right? To me, seeing the real thing in the 2000 World Series pretty much ruined the June games. Fortunately.
And how about those KC-Houston games? Pretty excitin', eh?
However, what is considered by many to be the most important benefit -- the number of Wild Card teams that have won the World Series -- to me is proof of its flaws. Home field aside, there is no real benefit today for playing the whole season to win, only to be ousted by a 2nd place team that may have only had to play hard after the All Star break. It has also has created the feeding frenzy that is the July 31 trade deadline, and watered down pennant races where both teams have locked up a playoff spot early, a frequent occurrence in the AL East.
In my opinion, the Wild Card has inadvertently turned the MLB season into the NHL.
But here's the thing: if done correctly, the 2nd Wild Card offers a chance to fix its flaws. Here's how:
1. A Single Play-in Game- To me this is the key, because, it would accomplish 2 things. It would provide a true disadvantage to both Wild Card teams, as they would need to use their respective Aces to advance, and would not force the Division winners to sit around for a week. A best of 5 Wild Card series or even a 2 of 3 would in fact be a farce, destroying any momentum the 1st Place teams had. And adding a week to the end of the season at this point would be insane. How about both the Tigers hosting the World Series and the Lions at home on Thanksgiving?
2. "True" seeding after the Wild Card Round- Today, a division winner cannot play a Wild Card from their own division until the LCS. However, in this scenario, the team with the best record in their respective league would play any Wild Card regardless of Division, as a reward.
3. Rebalance the Schedule- The most unfair aspect of both the Wild Card and Inter-league play is that fact that there is 1 Wild Card team in each league, yet disparate schedules. While the 2007 Mets only went 6-12 against Philadelphia, perhaps the 6 games against the Yankees took more out of them than the 6 the Phillies played against the Orioles. The current schedule also clearly favors the teams in the weaker West and Central Divisions.
I have no confidence whatsoever that Bud Selig will do any of this.
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Friday, April 22, 2011
The Ranger curse is m.e.d.i.o.c.r.i.t.y.
HIGH AND TIGHT
I've been a fan of the New York Rangers since I was in the 2nd grade in the Fall of 1965. As a young lad, I was treated to an up and coming team - probably the most significant beneficiary of the NHL going from 6 to 12 teams following the 1966-67 season - and coming oh-so-close to winning a Stanley Cup at a time when hockey was becoming a national TV sport.
Believe me, I've seen it all. My Dad and I would typically go to a game or two each season, and we hit the big score in a ticket lottery to attend all of the run to the Stanley Cup finals in 1979. I was later a season ticket holder for 6 seasons, and thus would attend 20 games in the regular season followed by our annual playoff ouster.
As an aside, when I was a kid, my Dad and I were the only 2 hockey fans in my circle until he played softball with a K of C brother who was a security guard at Channel 5. He got us into their studios in 1971 to see 3 games on "Teleprompter" cable, including Pete Stemkowski's 2 OT goal versus Chicago. This is why it always galled me to hear '1940' chants from Islander and Devil fans who were my age, and didn't know hockey existed until a bandwagon conveniently appeared.
My greatest memory is obviously the 1994 playoff run to the Stanley Cup, and the relief and euphoria I felt. The sign that read "Now I Can Die In Peace" was very poignant for me, as I lost my Dad in 1998. I've since had the opportunity to thank Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish and Glenn Anderson for winning it while he was alive, and will do the same for any other coach or player from that squad that I have the chance to meet.
Now, to the "curse". Much was made of the "vow" by New York Americans owner Red Dutton, who when the Garden management squeezed him out of the building, swore that they wouldn't win the Cup again while he was alive. This actually happened, but more to the point, the Rangers as 1940 Stanley Cup Champions were the team most affected by Canada's entry into World War II as part of the British Empire. They took a very long time to recover.
After the War, Canada took great pains to repair "their" game and heal their country, and quite frankly, began to treat the Rangers like an ugly stepchild. This is an area of some dispute, but legend has it that there was a territorial "preference" after the War, giving first "dibs" on the Province of Quebec to Montreal, Ontario to Toronto and Detroit" (on the Canadian border), and left the Rangers, Bruins and Blackhawks to fend for themselves. While there is no "official" record of this, a look at the names on the rosters and Stanley Cups in the 1950's makes it very hard to question.
The point of all this is that while the Rangers were scraping bottom after the War until the mid-1960's, not only were they not getting first shot at the high end talent, it was, in fact, the opposite. The entry draft feeding top talent to the worst teams didn't exist until 6 expansion teams were placed into the league when the Rangers had already begun to improve. It's a historical fact that the New York Rangers have never picked first, including post-lockout when the had the worst record in the league.
Somehow, that "lottery" was held in a closed room, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had openly tanked in the 80's to secure the services of Mario Lemieux, ended up with Sidney Crosby, the Rangers picking 5th. Go figure.
So this finally brings me to my point. The New York Rangers, in a league where the stars win the title, are actually cursed by chronic mediocrity. Right now, the Rangers have exactly 3 players possessing elite or potentially elite skills: Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik and Marc Staal. As much as everyone likes Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan, they are actually 2nd line talent, the kind you need to win, but not the main guys. Think Walt Tkachuk and Bill Fairbairn playing behind Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert, or Messier's line playing behind Gretzky's in Edmonton.
And why is this the case? Because a typical Ranger season is a struggle to make the playoffs, ending with a meh draft position, looking at middling talent, and no chance at a top 5 player. It's self-perpetuating.
My advice to Ranger fans is this: this is not the team you always wanted. What you really want to see is a truly talented team that has a strong work ethic. Missing one or the other is not going to get it done. The 1994 team had both. We need to be really bad, or really good.
One last thing: John Totorella tried a carrot and stick with Marian Gaborik all season to get him to backcheck. Wednesday night, you saw the result when the winger did get back, but got crossed up with Lundqvist to set up the winning goal.
N.B. Islanders coach Al Arbour never asked Mike Bossy to backcheck. He always let him play his own game.
I've been a fan of the New York Rangers since I was in the 2nd grade in the Fall of 1965. As a young lad, I was treated to an up and coming team - probably the most significant beneficiary of the NHL going from 6 to 12 teams following the 1966-67 season - and coming oh-so-close to winning a Stanley Cup at a time when hockey was becoming a national TV sport.
Believe me, I've seen it all. My Dad and I would typically go to a game or two each season, and we hit the big score in a ticket lottery to attend all of the run to the Stanley Cup finals in 1979. I was later a season ticket holder for 6 seasons, and thus would attend 20 games in the regular season followed by our annual playoff ouster.
As an aside, when I was a kid, my Dad and I were the only 2 hockey fans in my circle until he played softball with a K of C brother who was a security guard at Channel 5. He got us into their studios in 1971 to see 3 games on "Teleprompter" cable, including Pete Stemkowski's 2 OT goal versus Chicago. This is why it always galled me to hear '1940' chants from Islander and Devil fans who were my age, and didn't know hockey existed until a bandwagon conveniently appeared.
My greatest memory is obviously the 1994 playoff run to the Stanley Cup, and the relief and euphoria I felt. The sign that read "Now I Can Die In Peace" was very poignant for me, as I lost my Dad in 1998. I've since had the opportunity to thank Kevin Lowe, Craig MacTavish and Glenn Anderson for winning it while he was alive, and will do the same for any other coach or player from that squad that I have the chance to meet.
Now, to the "curse". Much was made of the "vow" by New York Americans owner Red Dutton, who when the Garden management squeezed him out of the building, swore that they wouldn't win the Cup again while he was alive. This actually happened, but more to the point, the Rangers as 1940 Stanley Cup Champions were the team most affected by Canada's entry into World War II as part of the British Empire. They took a very long time to recover.
After the War, Canada took great pains to repair "their" game and heal their country, and quite frankly, began to treat the Rangers like an ugly stepchild. This is an area of some dispute, but legend has it that there was a territorial "preference" after the War, giving first "dibs" on the Province of Quebec to Montreal, Ontario to Toronto and Detroit" (on the Canadian border), and left the Rangers, Bruins and Blackhawks to fend for themselves. While there is no "official" record of this, a look at the names on the rosters and Stanley Cups in the 1950's makes it very hard to question.
The point of all this is that while the Rangers were scraping bottom after the War until the mid-1960's, not only were they not getting first shot at the high end talent, it was, in fact, the opposite. The entry draft feeding top talent to the worst teams didn't exist until 6 expansion teams were placed into the league when the Rangers had already begun to improve. It's a historical fact that the New York Rangers have never picked first, including post-lockout when the had the worst record in the league.
Somehow, that "lottery" was held in a closed room, and the Pittsburgh Penguins, who had openly tanked in the 80's to secure the services of Mario Lemieux, ended up with Sidney Crosby, the Rangers picking 5th. Go figure.
So this finally brings me to my point. The New York Rangers, in a league where the stars win the title, are actually cursed by chronic mediocrity. Right now, the Rangers have exactly 3 players possessing elite or potentially elite skills: Henrik Lundqvist, Marian Gaborik and Marc Staal. As much as everyone likes Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Callahan, they are actually 2nd line talent, the kind you need to win, but not the main guys. Think Walt Tkachuk and Bill Fairbairn playing behind Jean Ratelle and Rod Gilbert, or Messier's line playing behind Gretzky's in Edmonton.
And why is this the case? Because a typical Ranger season is a struggle to make the playoffs, ending with a meh draft position, looking at middling talent, and no chance at a top 5 player. It's self-perpetuating.
My advice to Ranger fans is this: this is not the team you always wanted. What you really want to see is a truly talented team that has a strong work ethic. Missing one or the other is not going to get it done. The 1994 team had both. We need to be really bad, or really good.
One last thing: John Totorella tried a carrot and stick with Marian Gaborik all season to get him to backcheck. Wednesday night, you saw the result when the winger did get back, but got crossed up with Lundqvist to set up the winning goal.
N.B. Islanders coach Al Arbour never asked Mike Bossy to backcheck. He always let him play his own game.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Down In Front! Episode 2 - 4/20/11
The second installment of my local cable show with Eddie Mayrose, "Down In Front!", will be shown on CTV 34 (Time Warner in Staten Island, Fios in Staten Island, Brooklyn and Manhattan) on the next 3 Wednesday and Saturday mornings at 7:00 AM EDT beginning April 20, 2011.
In this episode, we cover The Masters, some hockey, and give an MLB update.
Set those DVR's!
In this episode, we cover The Masters, some hockey, and give an MLB update.
Set those DVR's!
Weekend Round-Up
HIGH AND TIGHT
While both residents of MSG are a little behind the 8-ball in their respective playoff series, it's great to see the Garden alive again in April for a change.
My hockey prediction of the Rangers in 6 is on shaky ground, but the Blueshirts hung tough yesterday, on the hard work of Vinny Prospal, Brandon Dubinsky and especially "The King", Henrik Lundqvist. Dubinsky's goal may have been a little bit of a fortunate bounce, but goals from in close like that are the result of the hard work it takes getting to that spot. That's what the Rangers will need to take this Series.
Somehow, my Section yesterday at the Garden, 132 behind the home net, was completely filled with fans in Caps regalia. The disputed goal at the end of the 2nd was right in front of us, and I have a question for NBC: this is 2011, why doesn't your TV clock match the official game clock? The picture you sent us in the arena indicated 'goal'. It was close, but clearly it wasn't in the net before the green light.
As for the Knicks, last night's loss was a heartbreaker. Carmelo Anthony was not at his best last night, and the loss of Chauncey Billups will be critical. But I have 2 questions on this one: Mike D'Antoni, how did you run out of timeouts with a lead? And to the Ref, I will believe that the Offensive Foul on Melo was a good call when you make the same call in the last minute of a tight game against the Celtics, in Boston.
The Yankees wrapped a series win versus the Rangers, albeit without Josh Hamilton. The Bombers currently have the only winning record in the AL East. What I said last week still stands: don't dwell on the little problems, and wake me up around Memorial Day.
The Mets broke a 7-game losing streak yesterday in Atlanta, and now come home to Flushing. Ownership is in disarray, and Terry Collins is in the unenviable position of stating that his team is a couple of bounces from 9-2. No Terry, not this team.
You see, the Wilpons offer "lightning in a bottle", which translated means "we can't tell our fans we have absolutely no chance."
Here is my advice to Met fans: follow the lead of Yankee fans and be more demanding. The reason the Cubs haven't won in over a century is because their fans support them no matter what, i.e. as long as beer is cheap. Losers aren't "lovable". Raise the bar!
Sandy Alderson is going to proceed with a scorched earth policy on anyone Omar Minaya left behind, and that includes Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, and may eventually reach all the way to David Wright. What I am going to tell you is going to be hard, and is going to take strength:
You need to turn on the Franchise until the Wilpons are gone, any way you can: low attendance, bad TV ratings, even paper bags over your heads. You need to root for the Madoff arbitrator, hurt their bottom line with impugnity, and completely embrace the rebuilding program to come. Best yet, threaten to root for the Yankees.
You did it before when M. Donald Grant traded Tom Seaver, and got Frank Cashen to build the 1986 World Champions.
With the right trades of their better pieces for decent prospects and smart free agent signings, this could turn around in 2 or 3 years. Reject this idea, and you are looking at what happened for 10 years at the Garden.
Why did the Wilpons build a "pitchers' park" with 42,000 seats? Was it to inhibit higher priced stars from coming here? I first said this 2 years ago, but it doesn't sound crazy today, does it? They thought nothing of taking away David Wright's gap power like Samson after a crew cut.
By using a "small market" model, the Wilpons are showing that they're small time. Do whatever you can to get them out of here.
While both residents of MSG are a little behind the 8-ball in their respective playoff series, it's great to see the Garden alive again in April for a change.
My hockey prediction of the Rangers in 6 is on shaky ground, but the Blueshirts hung tough yesterday, on the hard work of Vinny Prospal, Brandon Dubinsky and especially "The King", Henrik Lundqvist. Dubinsky's goal may have been a little bit of a fortunate bounce, but goals from in close like that are the result of the hard work it takes getting to that spot. That's what the Rangers will need to take this Series.
Somehow, my Section yesterday at the Garden, 132 behind the home net, was completely filled with fans in Caps regalia. The disputed goal at the end of the 2nd was right in front of us, and I have a question for NBC: this is 2011, why doesn't your TV clock match the official game clock? The picture you sent us in the arena indicated 'goal'. It was close, but clearly it wasn't in the net before the green light.
As for the Knicks, last night's loss was a heartbreaker. Carmelo Anthony was not at his best last night, and the loss of Chauncey Billups will be critical. But I have 2 questions on this one: Mike D'Antoni, how did you run out of timeouts with a lead? And to the Ref, I will believe that the Offensive Foul on Melo was a good call when you make the same call in the last minute of a tight game against the Celtics, in Boston.
The Yankees wrapped a series win versus the Rangers, albeit without Josh Hamilton. The Bombers currently have the only winning record in the AL East. What I said last week still stands: don't dwell on the little problems, and wake me up around Memorial Day.
The Mets broke a 7-game losing streak yesterday in Atlanta, and now come home to Flushing. Ownership is in disarray, and Terry Collins is in the unenviable position of stating that his team is a couple of bounces from 9-2. No Terry, not this team.
You see, the Wilpons offer "lightning in a bottle", which translated means "we can't tell our fans we have absolutely no chance."
Here is my advice to Met fans: follow the lead of Yankee fans and be more demanding. The reason the Cubs haven't won in over a century is because their fans support them no matter what, i.e. as long as beer is cheap. Losers aren't "lovable". Raise the bar!
Sandy Alderson is going to proceed with a scorched earth policy on anyone Omar Minaya left behind, and that includes Carlos Beltran and Jose Reyes, and may eventually reach all the way to David Wright. What I am going to tell you is going to be hard, and is going to take strength:
You need to turn on the Franchise until the Wilpons are gone, any way you can: low attendance, bad TV ratings, even paper bags over your heads. You need to root for the Madoff arbitrator, hurt their bottom line with impugnity, and completely embrace the rebuilding program to come. Best yet, threaten to root for the Yankees.
You did it before when M. Donald Grant traded Tom Seaver, and got Frank Cashen to build the 1986 World Champions.
With the right trades of their better pieces for decent prospects and smart free agent signings, this could turn around in 2 or 3 years. Reject this idea, and you are looking at what happened for 10 years at the Garden.
Why did the Wilpons build a "pitchers' park" with 42,000 seats? Was it to inhibit higher priced stars from coming here? I first said this 2 years ago, but it doesn't sound crazy today, does it? They thought nothing of taking away David Wright's gap power like Samson after a crew cut.
By using a "small market" model, the Wilpons are showing that they're small time. Do whatever you can to get them out of here.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Does Brian Cashman Read This Blog?
HIGH AND TIGHT
So now Brian Cashman, in an effort to deflect attention on his comments regarding the Mets and their use of Pedro Feliciano, has directed that fire at Joe Torre, specifically naming relievers Scott Proctor and Ron Villone as Torre victims.
I was lucky enough to sit in the primo "Giuliani" seats once, and I remember Ron Villone walking off the field looking completely gassed. You could see it in his face. In addition, the GM stated that he personally tried to intervene on Proctor's behalf, as it was Torre's habit to ask the pitcher if he could go, as if he would decline.
Based on the story related by David Wells and Game 5 of the 2003 World Series, it seems that it doesn't even matter if the pitched did say he couldn't go.
I'll bet he could confirm my theory on "The Joba Rules".
So now Brian Cashman, in an effort to deflect attention on his comments regarding the Mets and their use of Pedro Feliciano, has directed that fire at Joe Torre, specifically naming relievers Scott Proctor and Ron Villone as Torre victims.
I was lucky enough to sit in the primo "Giuliani" seats once, and I remember Ron Villone walking off the field looking completely gassed. You could see it in his face. In addition, the GM stated that he personally tried to intervene on Proctor's behalf, as it was Torre's habit to ask the pitcher if he could go, as if he would decline.
Based on the story related by David Wells and Game 5 of the 2003 World Series, it seems that it doesn't even matter if the pitched did say he couldn't go.
I'll bet he could confirm my theory on "The Joba Rules".
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
Bonds convicted of...obstruction of justice?
HIGH AND TIGHT
So let me get this straight: after 9 years and millions of dollars spent, the Feds could only convict Barry Bonds of not helping them prove their case? Nice job!
Note to self: always take the 5th!
So let me get this straight: after 9 years and millions of dollars spent, the Feds could only convict Barry Bonds of not helping them prove their case? Nice job!
Note to self: always take the 5th!
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