I believe that either David Wright or the Wilpons will be gone in 2013.
Wright becomes a free agent in 2013, and the 5-6 year deal he will most likely want will be out of our price range as long as the Wilpons are at the helm, as if there already weren't 246 other reasons to want the Wilpons to sell the team.
When David Wright's contract runs out, I want him to be able to sit down and negotiate with a Mets owner who:
1-isn't broke
2-doesn't daydream about owning the Brooklyn Dodgers instead
3-didn't publicly say that he's "not a superstar"
4-isn't relying on loans and minority shares to scrape together enough money to pay for a winning team
5-that last one was basically a rehash of point 1, but it's worth repeating
It's pretty aggravating to see a competent Sandy Alderson forced to pass on guys like Jose Reyes and perhaps Wright, while Omar Minaya essentially had no leash and used his money in all the wrong ways (if Jason Bay is on this team in 2013 and Wright isn't I may not watch a whole lot of baseball).
With any luck, it will be the Wilpons and not David Wright that will be out in 2013.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Scott Howson makes Glen Sather look smart
On February 26th, it was leaked that the New York Rangers were more or less out of the running in the trade discussions for Rick Nash. I was completely satisfied with this move - borderline proud, even. I was happy that Rangers General Manager Glen Sather wasn't willing to completely mortgage the team's future for Nash.
On February 27th, Sather sent another offer for Nash as the deadline loomed. I was not only expecting this, but hoping for it. I wanted Nash, but only at a reasonable price, and playing hardball at the deadline seemed like a perfect way to lower Columbus' demands. The Blue Jackets lost a lot of leverage when Nash's agent publicly announced that he wanted a deal done, thus removing the "we don't actually have to trade him" card from the hand of Columbus GM Scott Howson. The offer was a serious one; as in, it was a serious overpay. Not that I don't like Nash, but it was exactly the kind of offer I was afraid of.
Inexplicably, Howson declined the offer of Brandon Dubinsky, Tim Erixon, J.T. Miller, Christian Thomas and a first round draft pick. I say "inexplicably" because this is exactly what Howson stated that he wanted in return for Nash, and I don't think he will ever find a better offer.
Nash will almost assuredly be traded this offseason, and almost assuredly for a lower return than the one Howson declined. Nash wants out. Howson personally informed the media that it was Nash who wanted to leave Columbus, essentially throwing him under the bus. Nash also makes a lot of money for a lot of years, and on top of that, is willing to waive his no-trade clause for only a handful of teams. The odds that these teams will be willing to pay top-dollar to a GM with absolutely zero leverage are nonexistent.
Howson turned down likely the biggest haul he could possibly manage for Nash, a move all the more bizarre after he traded Jeff Carter for a very unimpressive return. The Jackets are in for a long, painful rebuild, and because of these moves, Howson may not be around to orchestrate it. I doubt if it will even be him that negotiates Nash's trade this offseason.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
I like being a Giants fan, maybe I should do this more often
I wish I was really hardcore into following pro football, because I would be going ballistic right now. I'm already very happy, but I'm trying to imagine what I would be feeling if I had just witnessed a team that I follow more closely win for the second time, such as the Rangers or (try not to laugh) the Mets.
The game struck me as eerily similar to Superbowl 42. With just minutes left and down on the scoreboard, Eli led the Giants all the way down the field for a dramatic touchdown, a drive immortalized by a miraculous catch, this time by Mario Manningham. And just like 42, the game ended with a Tom Brady Hail Mary hitting the turf.
Speaking of Brady, there will likely be much criticism lobbed his way during the post-mortems conducted on New England talk radio this week. Not to imply that one individual cost the Patriots the game, but if I had to lay the blame at someone's feet it would be the to players who dropped passes on New England's final drive. Wes Welker's was particularly bad (and surprising), and those two plays may very well have sealed the Patriots coffin.
The game struck me as eerily similar to Superbowl 42. With just minutes left and down on the scoreboard, Eli led the Giants all the way down the field for a dramatic touchdown, a drive immortalized by a miraculous catch, this time by Mario Manningham. And just like 42, the game ended with a Tom Brady Hail Mary hitting the turf.
Speaking of Brady, there will likely be much criticism lobbed his way during the post-mortems conducted on New England talk radio this week. Not to imply that one individual cost the Patriots the game, but if I had to lay the blame at someone's feet it would be the to players who dropped passes on New England's final drive. Wes Welker's was particularly bad (and surprising), and those two plays may very well have sealed the Patriots coffin.
My elegant and complex Superbowl plans
Having turned down an invitation to watch the Superbowl in a crowded room with lots of drunk people I don't know, it looks as though I will be watching the game in my dorm room with one or maybe two of my suitemates. All of the big Giants fans in the suite are home for the weekend, which is perhaps just as well, because now I don't have to hear one of them scream "Cruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuz" anytime Victor Cruz does one of the following: gets a first down, receives a pass, is shown on camera, successfully ties his shoes, etc. Should the Giants win, this kid will strip off most of his clothes and run around screaming, as well as likely committing some other unspeakable acts (source: the Giants-Niners game), so it's just as well that he won't be here. This is also the first sporting event of this magnitude I won't be able to watch with my father or brother, which is definitely something of a letdown. I'm not a huge football guy, but I root for the Giants because my dad is a longtime fan. Texting the two of them during the game will have to do.
Thank God that kid in my suite doesn't know about this little blog.
Thank God that kid in my suite doesn't know about this little blog.
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Concussion prevention & Media Day
Media Day for the Superbowl usually consists of vanilla questions being lobbed at players and coaches, who retaliate by drawing from their bottomless reservoir of cliches and cookie-cutter answers. New England running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis, however, arrived with a new toy for NFL Player Safety officials to play with.
Green-Ellis brought with him a special chinstrap called the Impact Indicator, which measures the amount of force at which a player's helmet has just collided. If the chinstrap lights up, the hit was possibly enough to cause a concussion, and trainers know to check the player out before letting him back on the field.
Green-Ellis plans to wear the new chinstrap, designed by Battle Sports Science, during the Superbowl, and stressed the importance of preventing concussions in players while noting the potentially life-altering affects of such injuries. He specifically mentioned how important it is to prevent these injuries in younger players.
Green-Ellis brought with him a special chinstrap called the Impact Indicator, which measures the amount of force at which a player's helmet has just collided. If the chinstrap lights up, the hit was possibly enough to cause a concussion, and trainers know to check the player out before letting him back on the field.
Green-Ellis plans to wear the new chinstrap, designed by Battle Sports Science, during the Superbowl, and stressed the importance of preventing concussions in players while noting the potentially life-altering affects of such injuries. He specifically mentioned how important it is to prevent these injuries in younger players.
Aaron Rodgers is like that one guy at your company softball game who takes it way too seriously
Aaron Rodgers admitted to ESPNMilwaulkee that he was disappointed by the lack of effort put forth by his teammates in the Pro Bowl.
To be fair, I didn't watch the Pro Bowl. I watch the All-Star games for most other sports, however, and they all have their respective flaws. The NHL does perhaps the best job, as the emphasis is clearly on "having fun," though there are still things that need to be changed to make the event all it could be. The MLB All-Star game is just that, an actual game, usually with a realistic score, something that other sports cannot claim. However, this game goes too far in the opposite direction and takes itself way too seriously (i.e. deciding home-field advantage for the World Series).
I didn't watch the Pro Bowl for the same reason as most people, and apparently I didn't miss much. My only information on the event came after a brief chat with my roommate this weekend:
"Hey, did you see the Pro Bowl?"
"No."
"It was a pillow fight."
Of course it was a pillow fight. Of all the sports in the world, football is perhaps the most difficult to design an All-Star game for. In the middle of the season, no one would want to go and risk getting hurt. By the end of the season, everyone's already hurt, and no one wants to make it worse.
Aaron Rodgers, who's job in the Pro Bowl is fairly cushy from a physical standpoint, expressed open disappointment about the lack of effort his teammates put forth in their defeat. No one likes being surrounded by people who aren't taking what they do seriously, but a glorified practice after a grueling season seems hardly the place to get mad over it.
To be fair, I didn't watch the Pro Bowl. I watch the All-Star games for most other sports, however, and they all have their respective flaws. The NHL does perhaps the best job, as the emphasis is clearly on "having fun," though there are still things that need to be changed to make the event all it could be. The MLB All-Star game is just that, an actual game, usually with a realistic score, something that other sports cannot claim. However, this game goes too far in the opposite direction and takes itself way too seriously (i.e. deciding home-field advantage for the World Series).
I didn't watch the Pro Bowl for the same reason as most people, and apparently I didn't miss much. My only information on the event came after a brief chat with my roommate this weekend:
"Hey, did you see the Pro Bowl?"
"No."
"It was a pillow fight."
Of course it was a pillow fight. Of all the sports in the world, football is perhaps the most difficult to design an All-Star game for. In the middle of the season, no one would want to go and risk getting hurt. By the end of the season, everyone's already hurt, and no one wants to make it worse.
Aaron Rodgers, who's job in the Pro Bowl is fairly cushy from a physical standpoint, expressed open disappointment about the lack of effort his teammates put forth in their defeat. No one likes being surrounded by people who aren't taking what they do seriously, but a glorified practice after a grueling season seems hardly the place to get mad over it.
Superbowl Myths
SBNation is an amazing place. Jon Bois, who writes for SBNation, is amazing at his job.
His job, usually, involves writing about baseball and making people laugh, though the order in which those two job descriptions should be places is debatable. It hardly matters, however, since he's so good at both.
Today, he wrote a piece about football. Specifically, the Superbowl. As a casual football fan-so casual it's arguable I barely qualify as a fan-I'm not quite sure how much weight to give to the football "conventional wisdom" that fills my car whenever I turn on sports talk radio.
Does defense actually win championships? That's an adage I've heard applied to every sport more times than I can quantify. When Jon looks at all the Superbowls from this century and compares the regular season defensive prowess of both teams, there is no pattern whatsoever. That's not to say that defense doesn't matter, or that it doesn't help. This just pokes some holes in the belief that defense wins Superbowls as a general rule.
The reason I find the two weeks leading up to the Superbowl to be so agonizing is the relentless scrutiny that every aspect of the upcoming game is subjected to. Nothing makes me turn the radio dial faster, however, than the unending stream of grueling speculation as to whether or not the week off will hurt or help the teams.
This season, teams coming off a bye-week were 16-16. Since 2001, the winning percentage of the Brady/Belichick Patriots after two-week byes is scarily identical to their overall winning percentage. The Manning/Coughlin-era Giants are in more or less the same situation.
This piece taught me a few things about how much I should buy into these Superbowl "myths." I am very skeptical about this kind of speculative conventional wisdom as a general rule, and this knowledge will likely only make hearing the media buildup to Sunday's game all the more insufferable.
His job, usually, involves writing about baseball and making people laugh, though the order in which those two job descriptions should be places is debatable. It hardly matters, however, since he's so good at both.
Today, he wrote a piece about football. Specifically, the Superbowl. As a casual football fan-so casual it's arguable I barely qualify as a fan-I'm not quite sure how much weight to give to the football "conventional wisdom" that fills my car whenever I turn on sports talk radio.
Does defense actually win championships? That's an adage I've heard applied to every sport more times than I can quantify. When Jon looks at all the Superbowls from this century and compares the regular season defensive prowess of both teams, there is no pattern whatsoever. That's not to say that defense doesn't matter, or that it doesn't help. This just pokes some holes in the belief that defense wins Superbowls as a general rule.
The reason I find the two weeks leading up to the Superbowl to be so agonizing is the relentless scrutiny that every aspect of the upcoming game is subjected to. Nothing makes me turn the radio dial faster, however, than the unending stream of grueling speculation as to whether or not the week off will hurt or help the teams.
This season, teams coming off a bye-week were 16-16. Since 2001, the winning percentage of the Brady/Belichick Patriots after two-week byes is scarily identical to their overall winning percentage. The Manning/Coughlin-era Giants are in more or less the same situation.
This piece taught me a few things about how much I should buy into these Superbowl "myths." I am very skeptical about this kind of speculative conventional wisdom as a general rule, and this knowledge will likely only make hearing the media buildup to Sunday's game all the more insufferable.
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