On July 18, the Yankees lead the American League East by 10 games. Another postseason was all but guaranteed in the Bronx. Writers, bloggers, sportstalk loudmouths, and fans alike began prognosticating about the postseason pitching rotation, if Soriano can play the role of Mariano in the postseason, blah blah blah.
Then came the disastrous west coast trip. The Yankees were swept in four games by Oakland, then a King Felix changeup broke A-Rod's hand.
A mediocre homestand against Boston, Baltimore, and Seattle followed, and the division lead shrunk to 6.5 games. Even then, you still felt good about the Yankees' chances.
An injury to CC Sabathia here, a trade for Ichiro there, and a tease of a series win against two-time AL Champion Texas followed. The lead shrunk to 5 games.
Now, after a sweep at the hands of the Central leading White Sox, injuries to Mark Teixeira and Ivan Nova, and the annual waiver deadline splash deal for Steve Pearce, and the lead is down to three games.
Over labor day weekend and the ensuing week, the Yankees will face their closest pursuers in the divisional race, the Orioles and Rays. They play the Orioles for three games at home, then go to the house of horrors in both play and aesthetics in St. Pete for three, then up to Camden Yards for four.
The Orioles enter today three games back in the loss column, the Rays four. With one month to play, these games take on enormous meaning.
The Orioles are gunning for their first playoff apperance since 1997, while the Rays make their annual late season run with no offense and a heck of a lot of pitching.
The Yankees, however, continue to play mediocre baseball at the worst time.
Their hitting with runners in scoring position continues to be an epidemic. Just look at the middle game of the recent three game set against the dead-in-the-water Indians. They continue to rely too much on the home run and the big inning to muster runs.
They have dealt with two disabled list stints by their ace, CC Sabathia. Their young guns, Phil Hughes and Ivan Nova, have had mediocre years. Hiroki Kuroda has been their saving grace. He can't pitch brilliantly on his own.
As any baseball fan, broadcaster, or writer will tell you, this formula will not win games in October, when teams face the best pitching.
Well, September 1st is Friday, the beginning of the first Orioles series, but it may as well be October 1st.
The Orioles are shocking the baseball world by remaining in the postseason hunt this long. They have a minus-45 run differential. They have scored the fewest runs in the AL East. They have missed their most effective pitcher, Jason Hammel for the entire second half.
And they are still in it.
They recently picked up veteran pitchers Joe Saunders and Randy Wolf to solidify their rotation, which is nothing to fear.
And they are still in it.
Why? For one, their closer, Jim Johnson, leads the majors in saves with 40. Their best player, Adam Jones, is having a breakout season, leading the team in HRs with 24, RBI's with 65, and OPS at .837.
Oh, and they have one of the best managers in the game, Buck Showalter. How badly will he want these games?
Then there's the pesky, small market Rays. Since Evan Longoria returned from the DL, they have been the hottest team in baseball. Their starting rotation, led by Cy Young award favorite David Price, has staked its claim as the best in baseball. Closer Fernando Rodney is having the best season of his career with 39 saves.
And the Yankees are 1-9 in their past ten games at Tropicana Field. If they are to break this hex, the time is now.
The Rays and Orioles are young and hungry. The Yankees are aging and fragile.
If the Yankees have any aspirations of winning World Series #28, this ten game stretch will prove it.
One month ago, these games were meaningless.
And now, the Yankees are engaged in a true pennant race for the first time in years. It's time to prove they are true championship contenders.
Play ball, folks!
***Next week: my full NFL preview!!!***
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Why Another NHL Lockout Will Cripple the League. Permanently.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman knows how to create publicity for his league. Since taking office in 1993, Bettman has taken his league to both the penthouse and basement of popularity. Twice.
And now, it seems the league may reach the abyss for a third time.
Yes, Bettman knows how to create publicity for his league. For all the wrong reasons.
The NHL enjoyed unprecedented popularity after the New York Rangers won the 1994 Stanley Cup. The cover of Sports Illustrated read "Why the NHL's Hot and Why the NBA's Not". Despite not having a national TV package, hockey enjoyed its highest American television ratings in history. After the 1994 playoffs, it secured a deal with FOX. Hockey appeared to be skyrocketing beyond the penthouse of popularity and into the sports stratosphere.
Then came a lockout, resulting in the cancellation of half the 1994-95 season. The league survived it. However, over the next few years, the league failed to maintain the attention of the casual fan it attracted after the '94 season. The era of neutral zone traps, dumping and chasing, and little to no goal scoring ensured these fans would stay away. By the early 2000s, it appeared all casual fans were gone, and only the diehards remained.
Each year between 1995 and 2004, ESPN's coverage of the NHL became half hearted and indifferent. Ratings slipped to the levels of late night C-Span programming and the TV Guide Channel. Sportstalk loud mouths denounced hockey as irrelevant, and the term "Who Cares About Hockey" was gospel for pundits and broadcasters alike.
Bettman did little to alleviate the problem. His solution was to expand his league into apathetic, non-traditional hockey markets. Just ask Atlanta how great hockey is.
Then, armageddon happened.
The cancellation of the 2004-05 season due to another lockout not only rendered the casual NHL fan extinct, but many die hards as well. After the lockout ended, where could you find a nationally televised NHL game except on some obscure cable channel known as OLN? Hockey coverage in national and local media was confined to little blurbs in newspapers and brief ten second spots on TV. In lieu of hockey news, ESPN decided poker was more important.
Depending on your perspective, hockey was dead.
To Bettman's credit, he did attempt to revive the game after the 2005 lockout, for better and for worse. The purpose was to reattract the casual fan.
Rules were changed to foster more scoring, and the shootout came to be. Slowly but surely, hockey's popularity grew back to mid 90s levels. The arrival of young superstars such as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin gave the league marketable faces. OLN evolved into Versus and eventually, the NBC Sports Network, which provided wall-to-wall hockey coverage. Coupled with the inception of the NHL Network, hockey ratings grew to unprecedented levels. Bouyed by the excitement and drama of the 2010 Winter Olympics, hockey regained a place in the consciousness of the American sports fan. This past season, the NHL's ratings on NBC and NBCSN were the highest of all time.
And now, another armageddon looms.
Should the NHL go into another lockout on September 15, will the casual fan be driven away for good? Will the majority of or all die hards follow suit? If you follow any form of social media, it certainly appears so. The hockey fan is very angry right now, and rightfully so.
Gary Bettman and the NHL owners are preparing for another labor war against the NHLPA.
The hockey fan just wants to see goals, saves, checks, and fights.
With the economy the way it is and with only the 1% being able to afford hockey tickets, what die hard fan will want to support this greed and madness? We know for a fact the casual fan won't.
The NHL is enjoying unprecedented popularity right now. Another lockout will destroy it.
Will the NHL die on September 15th?
In the opinion of this die hard fan and others, should a lockout occur, yes.
Mr. Bettman, please keep our sport out of the abyss and in the penthouse. It will mean good publicity for your and for your league.
Do the right thing. Get a deal done. Do not destroy this wonderful sport we call hockey.
And now, it seems the league may reach the abyss for a third time.
Yes, Bettman knows how to create publicity for his league. For all the wrong reasons.
The NHL enjoyed unprecedented popularity after the New York Rangers won the 1994 Stanley Cup. The cover of Sports Illustrated read "Why the NHL's Hot and Why the NBA's Not". Despite not having a national TV package, hockey enjoyed its highest American television ratings in history. After the 1994 playoffs, it secured a deal with FOX. Hockey appeared to be skyrocketing beyond the penthouse of popularity and into the sports stratosphere.
Then came a lockout, resulting in the cancellation of half the 1994-95 season. The league survived it. However, over the next few years, the league failed to maintain the attention of the casual fan it attracted after the '94 season. The era of neutral zone traps, dumping and chasing, and little to no goal scoring ensured these fans would stay away. By the early 2000s, it appeared all casual fans were gone, and only the diehards remained.
Each year between 1995 and 2004, ESPN's coverage of the NHL became half hearted and indifferent. Ratings slipped to the levels of late night C-Span programming and the TV Guide Channel. Sportstalk loud mouths denounced hockey as irrelevant, and the term "Who Cares About Hockey" was gospel for pundits and broadcasters alike.
Bettman did little to alleviate the problem. His solution was to expand his league into apathetic, non-traditional hockey markets. Just ask Atlanta how great hockey is.
Then, armageddon happened.
The cancellation of the 2004-05 season due to another lockout not only rendered the casual NHL fan extinct, but many die hards as well. After the lockout ended, where could you find a nationally televised NHL game except on some obscure cable channel known as OLN? Hockey coverage in national and local media was confined to little blurbs in newspapers and brief ten second spots on TV. In lieu of hockey news, ESPN decided poker was more important.
Depending on your perspective, hockey was dead.
To Bettman's credit, he did attempt to revive the game after the 2005 lockout, for better and for worse. The purpose was to reattract the casual fan.
Rules were changed to foster more scoring, and the shootout came to be. Slowly but surely, hockey's popularity grew back to mid 90s levels. The arrival of young superstars such as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin gave the league marketable faces. OLN evolved into Versus and eventually, the NBC Sports Network, which provided wall-to-wall hockey coverage. Coupled with the inception of the NHL Network, hockey ratings grew to unprecedented levels. Bouyed by the excitement and drama of the 2010 Winter Olympics, hockey regained a place in the consciousness of the American sports fan. This past season, the NHL's ratings on NBC and NBCSN were the highest of all time.
And now, another armageddon looms.
Should the NHL go into another lockout on September 15, will the casual fan be driven away for good? Will the majority of or all die hards follow suit? If you follow any form of social media, it certainly appears so. The hockey fan is very angry right now, and rightfully so.
Gary Bettman and the NHL owners are preparing for another labor war against the NHLPA.
The hockey fan just wants to see goals, saves, checks, and fights.
With the economy the way it is and with only the 1% being able to afford hockey tickets, what die hard fan will want to support this greed and madness? We know for a fact the casual fan won't.
The NHL is enjoying unprecedented popularity right now. Another lockout will destroy it.
Will the NHL die on September 15th?
In the opinion of this die hard fan and others, should a lockout occur, yes.
Mr. Bettman, please keep our sport out of the abyss and in the penthouse. It will mean good publicity for your and for your league.
Do the right thing. Get a deal done. Do not destroy this wonderful sport we call hockey.
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