Results tagged “makingthecall”

They are a lot of issues that Allen Iverson brings to the table. He sulked his way out of Memphis and he has never been a great distributor of the basketball. But, he is still a great scorer and a great defender and for a team lacking both of those attributes, the Knicks were foolish not to sign him.

No one was expecting the Knicks to be good this year, but their 1-9 start has exceeded even the most pessimistic projections. They don’t play defense, allowing opponents to shoot 50.7% from the field and they don’t look like they are even trying for long stretches of the game. Yet somehow, Mike D’Antoni escapes criticism.

You know that the Yankees are thrilled to be in the World Series, but the Knicks should be equally thrilled that the Yankees made it. The World Series is distracting attention from their miserable start. Last night may have included a great fourth quarter comeback, but the fact remains that the Knicks allowed Philadelphia to shoot an astounding 61% from the field. Even the most optimistic Knicks’ fan has to realize the bitter truth- LeBron isn’t going to come to this team unless something radical changes.

Joe Girardi has managed the ALCS erratically from pulling relievers at odd times to leaving starters in too long. But one thing he got right was starting CC Sabathia on three-days rest for Game 4, a move that worked out perfectly and put the Yankees in control of this series. And that is why he should turn to a fully rested Sabathia tonight to try and put the Yankees back into the World Series for the first time in six years.

The Rangers have jumped out to a 7-1 start which is evoking comparisons to last year’s squad which won it’s first five games, but then faltered through the rest of the season before blowing a 3-1 lead in the playoffs. And while it is too early to predict that the 2009-10 Rangers will avoid walking the path that the 2008-09 Rangers did, some important differences have emerged.

Our long nightmare is over, thanks to his dramatic two-run home run in the ninth on Friday, we can finally say that A-Rod is a “real Yankee”. And kudos to Mark Teixeira, who won the game with a home run and therefore is immediately promoted to “real Yankee” in his first Yankee postseason.

The Yankees have won 102 games and apart from their slow start, dominated the American League. But none of that matters now as Wednesday as they will begin their quest for a championship against either Minnesota or Detroit.

The NFL showed again this week that they don’t get it. In the midst of the worst recession in decades, the NFL is stubbornly sticking to its policy of blacking out home games in areas where they don’t sell all the tickets. But generously, the NFL will allow fans who have a game blacked out to watch the game online, AFTER midnight- are you excited yet?

In 1996 Derek Jeter was named the shortstop of the Yankees out of spring training. He rewarded the team’s faith in him by homering in his first game that year and hitting .314 on the season. Ten divisional titles, six pennants and four championships later, Jeter is still at short and hitting over .300. And probably sometime this week, Derek Jeter will pass Lou Gehrig and become the Yankees’ leader in career hits.

Unlike most preseason football games, last night’s 27-25 win by the Jets over the Giants was worth the price of admission. The game was close throughout and the Giants came close to tying things up at the end. More importantly, both teams emerged from the game without suffering any significant injuries and that is the problem with the preseason.

Eli Manning is now the highest-paid player in the NFL. Earlier this week, Manning signed a deal that will pay him $97.5 million over six years, ensuring that he will remain a Giant though 2015, while making more per season than more accomplished quarterbacks like Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.

At minimum, the Yankees will finish this weekend with a 4-1/2 game lead on the Red Sox. In the process of building that lead this weekend, they have answered the biggest question hanging over them since the last time they played Boston: can the beat a good team?

Thirty years ago today, the Yankees lost their captain, Thurman Munson, in a plane crash. Munson, the fiery but respected leader of the club, had been piloting his own plane back to Ohio on a day off when he made a series of pilot errors that caused the plane to crash and cost him his own life. He was only 32-years old.

It’s deadline time and while the Mets and Yankees are going in very different directions, it is clear that they both need to do something at the deadline. For the Yankees, currently in first place, they have one clear and pressing need, adding another starter to the rotation. C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett are a formidable tandem, but behind them are serious questions. Joba Chamberlain has been great his last two times out, but his overall work this season has been inconsistent. Andy Pettitte has a 4.67 ERA, a slightly below-average number in 2009. And with Chien-Ming Wang most likely gone for the season, the Yankees are using Sergio Mitre as the fifth starter. Mitre may have won his first start, but he has a 5.35 in over 300 innings in the National League. Brian Cashman doesn’t have to get Roy Holliday, but he needs to find someone who can give the Yankees some innings while keeping them in the game.

What Tom Watson did this week at the British Open was remind everyone what is great about sports. For four days we got to sit and watch as a 59-year-old man battled and bettered the best golfers in the world. While his quest ultimately fell short to Stewart Cink in a four-hole playoff, Watson’s performance will resonate loudly throughout the sports world for some time to come.

For almost 24 hours, he fooled you. You could almost believe that Glen Sather finally had a plan for building a championship hockey team in New York. Somehow, he had managed to trade a seemingly untradeable contract in Scott Gomez, creating cap room and getting a nice prospect in addition.

They couldn’t pull of a second miracle this week, but the U.S. Soccer team has nothing to be ashamed about. They beat the #1 team in the World, Spain, and led another soccer powerhouse, Brazil, for most of their game today. In the end though, Brazil had too much firepower and they prevailed 3-2. While a win today would have captured the World’s attention, today’s loss should capture the attention of this country. We have a soccer team that can compete with the best in the World and it is time for the U.S. to give it some attention.

Between the weather and the crowds, the USGA may decide not to return the U.S. Open to Bethpage Black in the future and that would be a huge mistake.

Happy Anniversary Rangers’ fans! It was on this very day 15 years ago that 54 years of misery ended and the team captured its first Stanley Cup since 1940. As our spiritual leader, Sam Rosen, exclaimed that night, “This one will last a lifetime.” And it seems like it had better because the Rangers have spent these intervening 15 years never doing the serious work of rebuilding another championship contender.

Start with the offense. The loss of Carlos Delgado was huge and it exposed a mediocre squad. Beltran and Wright are having great years, Gary Sheffield has been a nice addition, but everyone else disappointed this year. Jose Reyes was having a bad year before he got hurt. Daniel Murphy looks like a player who played only one game in AAA before coming to the majors. Luis Castillo is Luis Castillo. There are too many dead spots in the lineup. And don’t blame the ballpark, the Mets actually hit better at Citi Field than on the road.

The NHL is doing something they haven’t done since 1956, scheduling games of the Stanley Cup back-to-back. The reason for this almost historic event is the demands of television. NBC does not want hockey games, with their potential for multiple overtimes, running into the first week of the new Tonight Show hosted by Conan O’Brien. Yet, NBC doesn’t pay the NHL to carry it’s product, instead they have a deal where both parties split the profits after all production costs have been covered.

In Boston they have the “Green Monster.” In New York we now have “The Moat.” We have that wide concourse which separates the ridiculously expensive seats from the seats that are just expensive at the new Yankee Stadium. You are not allowed past the moat unless you pay the exorbitant prices, no exceptions. The NYU class of 2009 was not allowed past the moat and ordinary fans seeking autographs during batting practice will not be allowed past the moat.

For months they waited and waited. They read the stories, they watched the awkward press conference, and they cursed the fact that A-Rod will be a Yankee for nine more years. Yet, when Alex finally took the field Friday night and deposited the first pitch he saw this season into the seats, Yankee fans cheered. Sure, a lot of it was simply relief. The team hadn’t had a lead in a game for almost a week and was on a five-game losing streak, but it was also the natural reaction of a Yankee fan, like every other sports fan—you root for your team.

It’s May and for New York sports fans that means our attention is fixed to baseball, baseball and more baseball. It wasn’t always this way as May was once a time to watch the Knicks and Rangers make deep runs into the playoffs. It was a time when MSG was the place to be in May, but those times are a distant memory.

We have two new and amazing baseball stadiums here in New York. The comforts and amenities they provide are world class, but there is one thing they don’t have; the passion of their predecessors. With exorbitant ticket prices close to the field, Citi Field and the new Yankee Stadium have prevented the real fans from being near the action. The seats closest to the action seem empty on most nights, probably a reflection of the economic downturn, perhaps a function of the cold weather. It’s too late for the Mets and Yankees to do anything about it, the stadiums are built and they will have to live with the consequences, but hopefully Cablevision is paying attention.

Chien-Ming Wang has set a dubious record; no other Yankees’ pitcher has ever allowed so many earned runs in his first three starts of the season. The numbers are hideous: three starts, six innings of pitching, 23 hits and 23 earned runs allowed. Best of all, Wang’s next start is scheduled for Friday at Fenway Park.

You may have missed it, but the UConn women’s basketball team just completed what may be the greatest season ever. Not only did they go undefeated, but they destroyed their opponents winning every game by 10 points or more. It’s really nothing new for UConn. The 2009 championship is the sixth they have won in the last 15 seasons and it was their third perfect season.

John Calipari just left Memphis for Kentucky and will receive over $4 million a year to coach basketball there. Jim Calhoun is the highest-paid employee of the state of Connecticut, something you better not ask him about. Roy Williams, the coach at North Carolina, makes around $1.5 million a year. The NCAA itself earns over $500 million a year from its TV contract with CBS. Everyone is making a killing from March Madness except for the people who make it all possible, the players. Why don’t they get a cut of all the profits they generate?

Thankfully, the Knicks are losing again which means they will miss the playoffs and qualify for the draft lottery. That’s very important for a team trying to rebuild because it is the last first round pick the Knicks will have before the vital summer of 2010. Think of it as the final blow of the Stephon Marbury trade. As part of that deal, Isiah Thomas sent the Knicks first round pick in 2006 to Phoenix, but he protected it, allowing the Knicks to keep the pick if it was a top-25 selection in that draft. The protection went down to top-24 in 2007 and is now top-22, but there is no protection in 2010 and the Utah Jazz, who acquired the pick from Phoenix, will have it, no matter how high the pick is.

Two of New York’s favorite baseball players are currently representing their country in the World Baseball Classic and nobody seems to notice or care. David Wright and Derek Jeter are followed by legions of fans, but apparently only when they play for the Mets and Yankees respectively. It was Wright who delivered the biggest hit of the tournament for Team USA, a game-winning single that capped a thrilling comeback in the ninth against Puerto Rico. Wright was mobbed by his teammates, who celebrated like they had won the World Series, but his heroics garnered little attention in the New York area.