The Fast Break

2008-01-13T01:35:00.000-08:00

From Across the Pond..

I definitly viewed getting to watch last nights games with some skepticism when I heard, " We found an American sports bar thats going to play the Pats and Packers games through the night." As it turned out it was about half accurate. I got to see the entire Packers game in a bar in which about everyone was cheering for Farve and Co. but this all ended at about 2:15 local time when the bar owner finally realized he had made enough off the 90 American college students, and didn't want the garda (irish police) shutting down his establishement for serving late 13 days into the new year. Some observations on my first NFL experience in Europe.

-Casual European sports fans know 3 players Farve, Manning and Brady. I was guessing the man next to me wasn't to familiar with Hasselbeck, when i heard, "Is that bald man actually playing". Back to knowing only 3 American football players, I thought this was more stange until i noticed I only know about 8 epl players, Gerrard, Rinaldo, Rooney, Owen, Crouch, Van Nisterooy, and two or three more guys id probably recognize from Fifa.

- The two studio guys were Ian Allen ( a five year NFL lineman, who I think was SKY Sports version of funny ex-NFL player who never says anything relevant , a la Shannon Sharpe), and the host who looked exactly like Bill Belichick.

- I liked the whole "we need collumns, so lets write about how the Jags are going to the beat the Patriots angle," but it came down to one simple thing who do you trust to make plays in a Playoff game David Garrard (1-0 postseason) or Tom Brady (14-2 postseason). Garrard has a chance to be very good, and I think hes a step above a game manager, but he was expected to go into New England and beat a 16-0 team with the greatest quarterback and coach of the generation. I was expecting an even bigger blowout, which is why I might change my name to Sam from texas, to avoid 'V. Doherty bookmaking.'

Some predictions for Today..
Indy beats San Diego - I feel like everybody is sleeping on this colts team a little bit. I mean they did go 13-3 with losses to..
- SD: when Manning threw 38 interceptions and they still should have won.
- Pats: were leading in the 4th quarter, and looked every bit as good as them for 60 minutes
- titans- When Jim Sorgi played for a half.
They are playing unbelievable which would probably be getting a lot more press if not for a man named Brady. Take the points, and get ready for armagedon in Foxboro next week.
Dallas over NYG- I love how everybodys starting to trust ELI Manning. You'll see what I am talking about when Terence Newman becomes his favorite third down reciever. Take the points, and throughly enjoy the meltdown.

2007-01-06T11:49:00.000-08:00

Saturdays Picks

Every year public opinion seems to back a team that has played terrible down the stretch, and think they will surely come together in the first round of the playoffs. This years addition the 2006 Dallas Cowboys. Was I the only person to watch this team lose to the Detroit Lions when they were in a must-win game for the division title. Tony Romo has 4 touchdowns 6 INts and a completetion percentage of 54.3% in his last three games. Now everybody expects the him to turn it on in his first playoff game at one of the hardest places to play in the NFL. Im sorry I just dont see it.
Seattle 35 Dallas 17

Somehow getting lost in how are the Colts going to stop Larry Johnson, is how the Cheifs defense will stop Peyton Manning. Manning has been on a tear of late, and the Chiefs defense is th Chiefs defense. If the Colts get up early which is highly probable, it absolutely terrfies me to have Trent Green down 14, and going to have to throw the ball at least 40 times.
Indy 31 Chiefs 20

2007-01-03T22:29:00.000-08:00

The Coaching Carousel

Surfing the internet and cable today, most journalists and commentators have been completely tearing into former Dolphins coach Nick Saban. Believe it or not, he actually lied to reporters while his team still had a chance to make the playoffs and told the media he wasnt interested in another job. He actually left a job where he had two years remaining for a job where he had 8 guaranteed years. What is this guy a moron?

Pat Forde had an interesting argument on espn.com where he labeled the entire coaching fraternity of college football as liars. Although, I am preety sure the college football God himself Joe Paterno was excluded. Although even JoePa himself toyed with leaving for Michigan in 1969 and the New England Patriots in 1979. The bottom line is college football coaches are like any other profession. As a writer I am sure that nearly all collumnists would jump to a job at a newspaper or website where more money is guaranteed over a longer period of time. There is even a chance that they might deny some of the rumors if asked.

Lou Holtz summed it up very well when he stated, "If you liked Nick Saban before this doesn't bother you, but if you didnt he;s a traitor.

Well Said Lou.

2006-06-27T17:48:00.000-07:00

Dear Mr. Gillick,

I write this letter to you to please ask for a dramtic shakeup of your ball club as the trade deadline approaches.

It is not that often that fans of a team ask for a firesale, but we have had to watch four years of a dysfunctional underachieveing team. A roster that looks good on paper has not been able to advance to capture the division or the wild card. The same players routlinely look at called third stikes, and dont hit in clutch situations. There is in ingredient to this current cast of players that cannot be changed with a few tweaks, but rather needs a comeplete blow up.

Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Cole Hamels, Brett Myers, and Shane Victorino can be the cornerstones for a franchise that can leave half a decade of medioctiry behind with a facelift.

Mr. Gillick your are the General Manager of a team that has not made the postseason since 1993. You inherited a team where the General Manager and Manager had already been made scapegoats. You have a fan base that was plagued by owner ineptitude that bumbled an entire generation of fans after the 1994 strike. The people who are left know baseball as well as any fans in the country, and we know that this current cast of players wont be the ones playing in October.

While some of your offseason moves of signing pitching machine Ryan Franklin and .150 hitter Abraham Nunez have been questionable at best, you can put the onus on the players something your predecessor Ed Wade did not.

When the Boston Red Sox won their first world series in 86 years in 2004, they traded Nomar Garciaparra who had been the face of their franchise. Although Nomar was the face of the resurgence of the franchise management came to the conlusion they hadnt won anything with Nomar so why not try a new approach. Your team hasnt even made a a playoff appearance with Bobby Abreu, Jimmy Rollins, John Lieber, Cory Lidle, Mike Lieberthal, and Pat Burrell? Couldn't all of these parts with the exception of Lieberthal all bring value in return as well as a different chemistry and approach that has led to disappointing finishes the past five years.

Bobby Abreu is owed 15 million next year. By trading him couldnt some of that money be used to bring in a catcher and third baseman in the off season who could be significant upgrades. Reserve Shan Victorino could fill Abreu's hole in right field, and be the every day leadoff hitter something Jimmy Rollins is not. David Dellucci is more then a capable backup for Burrel having slugged 29 homeruns last year, and hitting .316 as a reverve this year.

While Philadelphia cannot compare as a baseball city to New York, Boston and St. Louis, the fans of the Phillies are loyal to a fault. People in my generation became hooked on baseball with Rico Bronga and Gregg Jefferies as our cleanup hitters and Mark Grace and Chad Ogea as our number 2 starters. . As the team treads water in mediocrity only selling out to the Yankees, Red Sox, and Ryan Howard bobble head night, please do something that will bring a new vested interest in our Phillies.

Sincerly,

A fan whos barely hanging on

2006-05-21T21:50:00.000-07:00

Back from Europe.
Just got in from Europe after a two week sint touring. more on that in an upcoming post.

The Alex Gonzalez era ended today in Philadelphia. Ill say the infield single against Milwaukee will be my favorite moment, as a city bids farewell to a beloved .113 hitter.

Enough about Cleveland being a great basketball city. Lets see thay havet he best basketball player of a generation, and almost took out a number one seed whos the favorite to win the championship. I think Anchorage could draw 25.000 ballistic fans for that series.

2006-05-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

The Translator
What they said. What they are thinking.

What He Said : It's always tough to lose 7-1," . "Losing like that at home is just very tough on all of us." Ken Hitchcock
What Hes Thinking : "But really especially on me, considering I work for a GM who dispenses coaches like gin rummy cards"

WHS.."Overall, we just didn't play good enough." Peter Forsberg
WHT.. Does anybody on another line feel like scoring a freakin goal.

WHS.."I can tell you one thing. I've done this my way. I don't have anybody to blame for this win but me, and I love it." John Daly
WHT. "That 60 million, yea unfortunately thats my fault too."

WHS.. "Charlie Manuel has my vote of confidence" Pat Gillick
WHT.. " Hes got until June"

2006-05-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

A salute to IZZY....

Izzy Alcantara had six career homeruns in 115 at bats. Not exactly numbers that elicit any thought of Cooperstown. However, he was the central figure in perhaps the greatest minor league brawl of all-time. To avoid being tackled by the catcher Izzy diposed of him in a flying kick that would have made Chuch Norris proud.

Heres the clip of his 2001 charge..
http://www.dmsjr.com/couchmedia/izzyfight.mpg

2006-05-01T00:53:00.000-07:00

Happenings..
Just switched to this site. I included some stuff from this month. Look to have another post by wednesday..

2006-04-30T23:21:00.000-07:00

The Season that may or may not be happening.

The sad part is we really used to care. Had this team of played any year in the 1990's the sixers would have been the talk of the town, Our Wachovia center heroes headed towards the playoffs. Instead it's second page news behind the struggling Phils, and the draft preparing Eagles. I dont know exactly where it went wrong either. Larry Brown leaving? A.I's practice rant? Maybe having to watch Big Dog or Van Horn? But whatever it was the fact remains the Sixers mean very little in Philadelphia right now.

Watching the Sixers is like watching a movie you already know the ending too. If its good and well done with a solid cast there exists a possibility for multiple views eventhough you know whats going to happen. Well the sixers cast has become not exciting and game plots never changing. Ive come to expect a few Iverson scoring outbursts, no defense, or ball movement. Maybe if this squad was a scrappy underachieveing bunch there'd be some interests, but the quality of defense dispels that theory right there. The bottom line is we know we are headed nowhere, a first round upset against the Heat or Pistons ( Pleaseee) a total blowup like the Knicks (not as long as A.I is here). Whether or not you think Iverson is the problem his desire and scoring is what is saving us from a 22 win season.

Being in NBA limbo team isnt even as fun as being the worst team in the league. At least then the lottery and the draft was exciting. Now sixers fans are regulated to watching 5 game playoff seasons, or being one of the last lottery teams getting the 10-14th player in the draft where maybe another Johnny Salmons is available.Last years acquisistion of Chris Webber was suppose to give a jolt to a team headed nowhere. It ended up like adding a guest star to a doomed sitcom. So, now the sixers are in salary cap hell with 60 million in Samuel Dalembert (Yep you read that right), 40 million in Webber, and 86 million in Iverson. How can a team possibly rebuild with those contracts. When the current cast of characters is on the court together it is somewhat awkward. All Samuel Dalmbert does is block shots, A.I over plays for steals and shoots too much, Kyle Korver takes threes, Chris Webber is a 6'10 power forward who only shoots jump shots, Johnn Salmons does nothing, and Andre Iguodola dunks the ball and plays defense. How in the world is the group supposed to mesh together?

So while the great debate lingers of whether it is better to miss the playoffs and head to the lottery or lose in 5 to the Pistons. I offer this humble solution to fix the repeat performance. Create an identity. Establish a way you want to play basketball. Larry Brown got this, and got the Sixers to the NBA finals. Either become a team that is trying to outscore everybody and run a fast break game, or do what worked in 2001 and add all hard nosed defenders and rebounders around Iverson.

With four games remaining there is another sublot in the script of the last 5 years, but in case your busy just checkout last seasons DVD.

2006-04-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

Jro's hit streak over.
I guess I was right with there is no way in hell this goes past April 10th. Jimmy is a fantastic player who got very hot last year, but if you thought this was getting past 45 your nuts. There was some discussion about if he passed Dimaggio if it should count as a different record. Well Jimmy took 5 months off from hitting in August and September and came into a 40 degree and windy day in Philly. Had he of reeled of 20 straight the record should have been all his.Dissapointed about the Phils start.

The one thing everybody said before the year, was they cant get off to a bad start. So now there catching up from the start, and even 2/3 from the Dodgers and their still 2 games under .500. Oh well i guess that annual 5-16 stat vs. the marlins will probably be a little more slanted in our favor this year.

Interested to see how the young guns pitch this weekend. Madson and Floyd both have a chance to be very good, and for the bold prediction of the week I say they win a combined 30 games this year. Madson is one of those guys who wont over power Jim from Marketing at the company softball game, but just knows how to get guys out. Everything coming out about Floyd has been positive from switching back to his high school and minor league mechanics to his mental make up being where it should be (whatever the hell that means). Apparently he tried to increase his velocity last year, so he started throwing like Billy Wagner and burned his arm out. Which makes me wonder why they even have pitching coaches. You think Rich Dubee couldnt have said last year, "Ehh Gav thats not your usual mechanics and maybe you should stop throwing first pitch fastballs 90% of the time."

The back 9 at Augusta and the Phightins at home, should be a good weekend.