I woke up at 8:30, and had no room for breakfast after Mama's filled me up. After winning 6 straight painted Yahtzee games, we headed to Metuchen, right next to my old church. I am amazed Bob Beringer has just retired again! Good to see he is doing well.
We got to Shea Stadium around 11:45 and I brought a Jose Reyes laser jersey. I happen to think it's looks excellent. And they're not being made anymore, so I was lucky to get one. Once on the park, I brought a program and ate a footlong Hebrew National dog, the hot dog that answers to a higher authority. Good job with the warm roll. I wolfed it down just before Johan Santana's opening pitch so I could keep score. It's hard to eat a foot long hot dog and write simultaneously.
Santana threw a complete game even after the rain started falling in the seventh as the Mets won 9-1. And the catch Carlos Beltran made was one of the best I have ever seen. And the best part of the day happened during the fifth inning. From behind and to my left, I started hearing a roar. I dimissed it at first, but I kept hearing it, so I turned my head. I saw a guy with a big yellow sign and the back was facing me so I couldn't tell what it said. Then I looked next to the guy and saw someone wearing a tight red dress. Looking at the hair, I could tell this was not a woman. Then I heard the chant. "Yankees Suck! Yankees Suck!" So my guess is this guy was a Yankee fan who lost a bet and the deal was he had to wear a dress to a Mets game and walk around the whole stadium. Take that Wrigley Field purists! And no, I did not take a picture. By the way, the promotion that day was Kids' Day. I'm glad I was not a parent having to explain that to my son or daughter.
Then it was to the Macaroni Grill. Why Mom soured on this place, I don't know. I guess she told me that it wasn't like Little Italy. No kidding. What place is? Anyway, I'm doing all I cna to help Dad with his diet. After some meddling, I convinced him to get rigatoni with oil and garlic, tomatoes, artichokes, and broccoli. As upset he was to order it, he was that more thrilled when he ate it. So we get in the car and drive home. We hear on WFAN the Braves trailed Philly 12-10, allowing 12 straight runs at one point. He ranted for 3 solid minutes like I have never heard him rant. And Tara timed it perfectly, calling not even ten seconds after he finished.
And what better way to wrap up a great day than watching an hour of Urkel?
Wegman's may be the best grocery store in the world. Kudos for the bagel sticks, peach muffins, grilled shrimp, and Italian scallops. We then ate with Brian and Danielle at Harold's. Now I never saw Brian in the hospital, but I am amazed how good he looks considering his condition. He ate a huge plate of French Toast, Danielle ate a less than stellar veggie burger, while Dad and I split a corned beef and pastrami sandwich. The mustard in particular was excellent. And the pickle bar with the sliced rye bread! Awesome stuff. As we left, Brian brought two containers of mustard and gave one to Dad. I snapped a photo of them posing with the mustards. Yeah, it's a good photo. I slept most of the afternoon before making dinner (steaks, shrimp, scallops, sweet potato fries, and grilled asparagus). After winning 2 more painted Yahtzee matches (8 for 9 for the weekend) and watrching the Braves get killed in the first inning, the Mets blow a late lead, and Mike Adamle somehow get announced as the new GM of Raw, the night was over.
The changes I wish I could make, but I know I shouldn't.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
21 hours straight
A number of people have hinted to me they know once food is introduced into a conversation, they dread it. They know I will get on a roll about where I've been and what my opinion is. Well kids, roll your eyes because I will be getting on a roll several times in this post. Just like olive oil or butter.
After another rousing CT party, I was in bed at 12 am and awake three hours later. I packed and took a 6:50 flight. Nice to have a whole row to myself. I was tempted to stretch out over the whole row, but I could never quite get comfortable. After landing, Dad and I went to the jewelry store so he could get a new battery for his watch. When the dealer told him, it would take 20 minutes, Dad got that "Are you kidding me?" look and I knew this was going to get ugly. The dealer acted surprised at his disappointment and explained he wanted to be thorough and that kind of thing.
We drove to Bertucci's for lunch. Now why did this company pull out of the Midwest, I'll never know. The chicken margherita pizza was as good as ever with the crispy crust, rustic tomato sauce, and fresh mozzarella. I added some roasted peppers for an extra kick. I could have used fresh basil, but... And the rolls are still hot and crispy.
After a stop by the house, it was off to Metropark to catch the train. By the way, driving past the Woodbridge Mall, they opened a Bonefish Grill. To get there you have drive off Route 1 and onto Gill Lane. Coincidence? I think not. Big news here. The Metropark platform is being re-constructed again! It amazes me how much congestion is at this train station. It's like a suburban Grand Central.
After an hour ride to Penn Station (where we stopped in Houlihan's for an Amstel Light/Diet Coke that cost us 12 dollars) and a 20 minute ride on the LIRR, the legendary dump known as Shea Stadium appeared to my left. The walk on the platform from the station to the stadiums was a little sad. But Citifield stood to the right of Shea, a sign of great things to come (of they could only add 10,000 more seats...). We sat in the mezzanine (green level), second row, one section toward the third base side. Great seats as long as the peole right in front of you weigh less than 250 pounds. Not the case. We instead had a family from South America. Nice people for sure. But this one 50 year old guy with long shaggy hair was in front of me and he kept leaning back basically in my lap. He did it so much, I could have given him a perm. My advice for him would be shave the whole thing.
In the third inning, I mentioned I hadn't seen the Mets hit a homer live in 10 years. As Carlos Delgado stepped in to the batter's box, I said "Watch, this is going off the scoreboard." Two pitches later, it was outta here! Off the right field scoreboard! So then I said, I should try saying before Sunday's game that I'd never seen the Mets pitch a no-hitter... So the game went 14 innings, but we left after 9 because we had to catch the train back to New Jersey. I saw the Mets hit four homers. But that wasn't the best part. (Roll your eyes!) Mama's of Corona. A huge semolina roll, peppered ham, Genoa salami, fresh mozzarella, with a side of roasted peppers and mushrooms. For $9.75 (basically the price of two hot dogs), I would say this is the best ballpark food I have had, second only to the Boog Powell's BBQ sandwiches. When Citifield opens next year, Mama's had better be there too.
But with the game in the 12th inning, I ran back to Houlihan's, to check out the game. There must have been 30 of us watching the game in the bar. With two outs, the Mets loaded the bases before Tatis grounded out to the pitcher. We hopped on the train and they wound up losing. We wound up getting an 11:45 train and got home at 1 am. So time wise, not counting a few cat naps, I stayed awake for 21 hours.
And I must say, women in New York have got style. They really know how to dress.
After another rousing CT party, I was in bed at 12 am and awake three hours later. I packed and took a 6:50 flight. Nice to have a whole row to myself. I was tempted to stretch out over the whole row, but I could never quite get comfortable. After landing, Dad and I went to the jewelry store so he could get a new battery for his watch. When the dealer told him, it would take 20 minutes, Dad got that "Are you kidding me?" look and I knew this was going to get ugly. The dealer acted surprised at his disappointment and explained he wanted to be thorough and that kind of thing.
We drove to Bertucci's for lunch. Now why did this company pull out of the Midwest, I'll never know. The chicken margherita pizza was as good as ever with the crispy crust, rustic tomato sauce, and fresh mozzarella. I added some roasted peppers for an extra kick. I could have used fresh basil, but... And the rolls are still hot and crispy.
After a stop by the house, it was off to Metropark to catch the train. By the way, driving past the Woodbridge Mall, they opened a Bonefish Grill. To get there you have drive off Route 1 and onto Gill Lane. Coincidence? I think not. Big news here. The Metropark platform is being re-constructed again! It amazes me how much congestion is at this train station. It's like a suburban Grand Central.
After an hour ride to Penn Station (where we stopped in Houlihan's for an Amstel Light/Diet Coke that cost us 12 dollars) and a 20 minute ride on the LIRR, the legendary dump known as Shea Stadium appeared to my left. The walk on the platform from the station to the stadiums was a little sad. But Citifield stood to the right of Shea, a sign of great things to come (of they could only add 10,000 more seats...). We sat in the mezzanine (green level), second row, one section toward the third base side. Great seats as long as the peole right in front of you weigh less than 250 pounds. Not the case. We instead had a family from South America. Nice people for sure. But this one 50 year old guy with long shaggy hair was in front of me and he kept leaning back basically in my lap. He did it so much, I could have given him a perm. My advice for him would be shave the whole thing.
In the third inning, I mentioned I hadn't seen the Mets hit a homer live in 10 years. As Carlos Delgado stepped in to the batter's box, I said "Watch, this is going off the scoreboard." Two pitches later, it was outta here! Off the right field scoreboard! So then I said, I should try saying before Sunday's game that I'd never seen the Mets pitch a no-hitter... So the game went 14 innings, but we left after 9 because we had to catch the train back to New Jersey. I saw the Mets hit four homers. But that wasn't the best part. (Roll your eyes!) Mama's of Corona. A huge semolina roll, peppered ham, Genoa salami, fresh mozzarella, with a side of roasted peppers and mushrooms. For $9.75 (basically the price of two hot dogs), I would say this is the best ballpark food I have had, second only to the Boog Powell's BBQ sandwiches. When Citifield opens next year, Mama's had better be there too.
But with the game in the 12th inning, I ran back to Houlihan's, to check out the game. There must have been 30 of us watching the game in the bar. With two outs, the Mets loaded the bases before Tatis grounded out to the pitcher. We hopped on the train and they wound up losing. We wound up getting an 11:45 train and got home at 1 am. So time wise, not counting a few cat naps, I stayed awake for 21 hours.
And I must say, women in New York have got style. They really know how to dress.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Business as usual
The heat wave was up for Game #6. We faced Galvan/Terrell, who we know from years past. They have a lot of slow guys, very little power, but they know how to place their hits. But two weeks ago, they beat one of the top two teams in the league before allowing 23 runs in their loss
last week.
They opened with a run thanks to an opposite field triple. We came back with a zero in the first. I didn't help matters when I fouled out, batting sixth. I went on to walk twice (scoring once) in my next two at bats. By my final at bat, we were up by about 10. So with a 3-1 count, I lined shot in to left center for a single. Joe then singled to left center, but they tried to force me at second. They threw the ball away and I kept running all the way home. Actually, I may have missed third base, but the ump missed it! Speaking of which, that ump called the tightest strike zone I can remember.
Not much to be said for defense. I played short center and I was the only one who did not even get to touch a ball in the field. It's funny how Dan wants to utilize my speed in the short outfield, yet I have had so few opportunities this season.
We wound up winning 16-9; we're tied for second with a 5-2 mark. I'm out this week, we then have a bye, and we finish the regular season with a doubleheader. If we can go 2-1, we clinch at worst a third seed in the playoffs.
last week.
They opened with a run thanks to an opposite field triple. We came back with a zero in the first. I didn't help matters when I fouled out, batting sixth. I went on to walk twice (scoring once) in my next two at bats. By my final at bat, we were up by about 10. So with a 3-1 count, I lined shot in to left center for a single. Joe then singled to left center, but they tried to force me at second. They threw the ball away and I kept running all the way home. Actually, I may have missed third base, but the ump missed it! Speaking of which, that ump called the tightest strike zone I can remember.
Not much to be said for defense. I played short center and I was the only one who did not even get to touch a ball in the field. It's funny how Dan wants to utilize my speed in the short outfield, yet I have had so few opportunities this season.
We wound up winning 16-9; we're tied for second with a 5-2 mark. I'm out this week, we then have a bye, and we finish the regular season with a doubleheader. If we can go 2-1, we clinch at worst a third seed in the playoffs.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Weekend time
I can't believe I'm writing these words in the 21st century. Greg Norman leads the British Open after three rounds. I have had as bad a fantasy golf season as I could have envisioned. I don't believe I've predicted one tournament correctly this year. But I decided to take a flyer on the Shark this week. And it has paid off. I never would have imagined he would be in second after Rounds 1 and 2 and then leading the field by two shots after Round 3. I actually woke up up at 9:30 this morning and turned ABC on. First of all, as dark and gloomy as England looks on TV, I can't tell the difference between standard definition and high definition TV. And early in this rounds, the winds picked up to 45 mph. I believe the best round of the day was -2. Guys who were in 60th place going into today could shoot even par and finish in the top 15. Norman was making solid contact all day on his approach shots. But his putts weren't dropping. After shooting 4-over through 10, he birdied 14 and 17, breaking out of a 4-way tie for first. 53 years old, I'm not expecting him to win this, but what a moment it will be if he does.
TNA does not know how to book. Samoa Joe has been in this company for three years. Finally wins the world title. His first one-on-one PPV title match is against Booker T. Doesn't seem bad. Booker has a great resume. Five time Five time Five time Five time Five time WCW champion. And he's somewhat new to TNA and a win by Joe would certainly give him more credibility. So TNA books this match in Houston Texas, Booker's hometown. And Joe is the babyface while Booker is supposed to be the heel. Booker hs home ring advantage and the office expects him to get booed? Or are they not willing to embrace Joe as champion? As it goes, after Joe has booker pinned countless times, but the referee is out the whole time. Sting interferes and Booker wins when Sharmell counts the pin. Pitiful decision making. Has Jim Herd taken over the office?
Rangers open at home against the Blackhawks! I can't wait!
For the love of God, can Wright or Beltran hit Mike Lincoln with the bases loaded and down one run? Who the hell is Mike Lincoln?
Omar, MAKE A TRADE FOR A BAT!!!! WE STINK!!!
TNA does not know how to book. Samoa Joe has been in this company for three years. Finally wins the world title. His first one-on-one PPV title match is against Booker T. Doesn't seem bad. Booker has a great resume. Five time Five time Five time Five time Five time WCW champion. And he's somewhat new to TNA and a win by Joe would certainly give him more credibility. So TNA books this match in Houston Texas, Booker's hometown. And Joe is the babyface while Booker is supposed to be the heel. Booker hs home ring advantage and the office expects him to get booed? Or are they not willing to embrace Joe as champion? As it goes, after Joe has booker pinned countless times, but the referee is out the whole time. Sting interferes and Booker wins when Sharmell counts the pin. Pitiful decision making. Has Jim Herd taken over the office?
Rangers open at home against the Blackhawks! I can't wait!
For the love of God, can Wright or Beltran hit Mike Lincoln with the bases loaded and down one run? Who the hell is Mike Lincoln?
Omar, MAKE A TRADE FOR A BAT!!!! WE STINK!!!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
4th place
Well the Four Horsemen styled and profiled all night long (NWA reference) as we fell 17-13 to the first place team in the league. Since it was our first night game, we decided to amp up our energy level, so we all drank Red Bull. We should have mixed it with Jaeger. They hit Dan all over the park, knocking eight runs in the top of the first. We came back with three in the first and for the most part we traded runs with them back and forth.
I led off with a foul out and grounded out to third my next time up. I think I beat the throw, but whatever. I finished the day with a single, a walk, and scored twice. As for defense, I made one catch in short center. Then, I was coaching first base in the third inning. One of our guys gets a base hit. He tells me "Adam, you re going to short." I thought I was getting ribbed. Turns out, Paul injured his wrist and wanted to go to the outfield. So Roger shifted to short and I took third.
Second batter. The guy smashes a shot off my left chest. Somehow I trapped the ball against my body for the out. I didn't even know if I had the ball, just that I was bruised. I later missed a sharp grounder and threw low to first. I kind of redeemed myself on the next batter as I forced the runner at second.
So we are 4-2, in fourth place. All in all, I liked the offense. We scored 13 against an unbeaten team. Our defense was just not sharp though. And considering how good we are at defense, that was disappointing.
I led off with a foul out and grounded out to third my next time up. I think I beat the throw, but whatever. I finished the day with a single, a walk, and scored twice. As for defense, I made one catch in short center. Then, I was coaching first base in the third inning. One of our guys gets a base hit. He tells me "Adam, you re going to short." I thought I was getting ribbed. Turns out, Paul injured his wrist and wanted to go to the outfield. So Roger shifted to short and I took third.
Second batter. The guy smashes a shot off my left chest. Somehow I trapped the ball against my body for the out. I didn't even know if I had the ball, just that I was bruised. I later missed a sharp grounder and threw low to first. I kind of redeemed myself on the next batter as I forced the runner at second.
So we are 4-2, in fourth place. All in all, I liked the offense. We scored 13 against an unbeaten team. Our defense was just not sharp though. And considering how good we are at defense, that was disappointing.
Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Wednesday night musings
Well the Fourth has come and gone rather quickly. Not much going on, except for a visit to Ribfest on Sunday afternoon. I was there for about 7 hours and evidently, there were people I know who were there. But in the midst of 50,000 people, it's hard to recognize anyone. My first stop was Uncle Bub's. I thought I would give it one more chance. The meat was very tender, but the sauce was fair. The thing is I didn't taste enough seasoning on the meat to get me excited. It was better, but still not good enough to where I would drive to Westmont and order a slab. Then I went to Desperado's, one of the veteran vendors of the festival. I think what drew me was two things. By the second music stage, they have always have two vendors, usually the two most popular. Texas Outlaws was one and Desperado's was the other. And the other thing was they were selling two big pieces of cornbread for only a dollar. I liked the flavor of the meat. But the sauce was weak. It was almost pink in color and had no boldness whatsoever.
After some roasted corn and a big root beer, I noticed something new. At the stand where they serve the freshly fried potato chips, onion flowers, and mixed veggies, they now have sweet potato fries with cinnamon sugar. If someone was with me, I definitely would have gotten those. In the end I got a fresh lemonade and a half slab of Texas Outlaws. Still the best and it's not even close. So I went over to the stage and listened to Janesville and Heartsfield. I only had myself and my backpack, so I didn't want to leave my spot. I just knew it was going to get snatched. I did leave for a minute to get a drink and when I came back, well, space-hunting I went. Two old dudes took my space. So I found a new spot, did a lot of Sudoku and waited for Trace Adkins to perform. It was a great show, and Honky Tonk Badonkadonk was awesome live.
So we have hit the midpoint of the week. I'm happy to see the Mets take 3 of 4 in Philly and then beat up Tim Lincecum last night. Only one game back in the loss column. And Billy Beane is a joke. As great as a GM as he has always been, for him to get so little back for trading Rich Harden, that is pathetic. Matt Murton is hideous, Eric Patterson can't field and even worse, he's related to Corey, who knows about this catcher, and Sean Gallagher is a decent pitcher with power, but can't locate his fastball most of the time. I'm dreading October baseball in Chicago.
Chris Duhon to the Knicks. That's a fair signing for two years. I think it could be a fine pickup, provided he plays defense.
CM Punk is the world champ! I'm really happy for him. Now his first PPV match is against Batista. I really hope becomes a great champion, not one of those two month transitional guys and then gets relegated back to the mid-card. He's just kind of counter-cultural, so I don't know if WWE would want to push Punk as a cornerstone of their company.
I just ate half an 18 inch pizza from Pi. And I feel great...
After some roasted corn and a big root beer, I noticed something new. At the stand where they serve the freshly fried potato chips, onion flowers, and mixed veggies, they now have sweet potato fries with cinnamon sugar. If someone was with me, I definitely would have gotten those. In the end I got a fresh lemonade and a half slab of Texas Outlaws. Still the best and it's not even close. So I went over to the stage and listened to Janesville and Heartsfield. I only had myself and my backpack, so I didn't want to leave my spot. I just knew it was going to get snatched. I did leave for a minute to get a drink and when I came back, well, space-hunting I went. Two old dudes took my space. So I found a new spot, did a lot of Sudoku and waited for Trace Adkins to perform. It was a great show, and Honky Tonk Badonkadonk was awesome live.
So we have hit the midpoint of the week. I'm happy to see the Mets take 3 of 4 in Philly and then beat up Tim Lincecum last night. Only one game back in the loss column. And Billy Beane is a joke. As great as a GM as he has always been, for him to get so little back for trading Rich Harden, that is pathetic. Matt Murton is hideous, Eric Patterson can't field and even worse, he's related to Corey, who knows about this catcher, and Sean Gallagher is a decent pitcher with power, but can't locate his fastball most of the time. I'm dreading October baseball in Chicago.
Chris Duhon to the Knicks. That's a fair signing for two years. I think it could be a fine pickup, provided he plays defense.
CM Punk is the world champ! I'm really happy for him. Now his first PPV match is against Batista. I really hope becomes a great champion, not one of those two month transitional guys and then gets relegated back to the mid-card. He's just kind of counter-cultural, so I don't know if WWE would want to push Punk as a cornerstone of their company.
I just ate half an 18 inch pizza from Pi. And I feel great...
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Analyzing the Rangers
Well, after five days of NHL free agency, I think it's a good time to sit back and examine the New York Rangers moves to this point.
We lost Martin Straka, good riddance. We're likely to lose Marek Malik, thanks for the shootout goal, but see ya. And we're likely to lose Brendan Shanahan. Great leader, but 38 is a little too old for a team that wants to play an uptempo style of hockey. We lost Sean Avery. I dreaded it happening, but I was expecting it to happen. People talk about what a pest he is, how his presence can wear thin in a locker room. I know this. The kid can play hockey. And more that that, he scored several goals in big sports, particularly in the New Jersey series. And on a team that lacks go-to goal scorers, they will miss him. More than that, Sean, who really wanted to come back to New York, will miss the Rangers when he is playing his home games in Dallas. We lost Jaromir Jagr, one of the game's all-time greats and he will now play in Russia. Jagr is 35, and he did a great job helping restore the Rangers to respectability after being a laughingstock for so many years. But I don't mind losing him, expecially since he's out of the Eastern Conference.
Now who did we add? We re-signed d-man Michael Rozsival to a 4-year deal. I would not have minded letting him to go, but he desperately wanted to stay in New york and avoid uprooting his family. He's a decent 2-way d-man in my mind. Not a great puck rusher, not a power play QB, not a hard hitter. Just a fairly good player. I'm fine with that. We signed Pat Rissmiller and Aaron Voros, who I know little about, other than they are two tough forwards. Call this a TBA.
I don't really know about the signing of Wade Redden to shore up the defense. We have two young offensive-minded d-men in the minors, Sanguinetti and Del Zotto. So I really wanted a defensive-minded player who could clear the crease in front of Henrik Lundqvist and one capable of knocking a Zach Parise, a Sidney Crosby, or a Mike Richards, or a Alex Kovalev right on his rear end. But they go with Redden, a good offensive d-man who has really underachieved the last two years. And for 6 years, 39 million! I'm not thrilled with it, but if he improves the power play and can play at a high level for 4 years or so, it will be fine.
I love the trade of Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to Columbus for Dan Fritsche and Nikolai Zherdev. Tyutin was our best prospect for a few years, but really didn't improve in 070-8 like I was hoping. Wtahcing him try to play the point on the power playwas like a tooth extraction. And Backman was not too good, really just a penalty waiting to happen. I would have been ok with him as a spare d-man, but nothing else. Fritsche, 22, is a developing 2-way center, with speed and a hard shot. I think will become a very solid 2nd or 3rd liner in New York. And Zherdev, who I didn't know much about, is one of the finest stickhandlers and one-on-one players I've seen. He is 24 years old, and can be that dynamic scorer we lose with Jagr's departure. As good as Scott Gomez and Chris Drury are, they are not goal scorers. Zherdev needs to fill that role.
We then added Markus Naslund to add more scoring and leadership. He is on the wrong side of 35. But he wanted to play in New York, and it's only a 2-year deal so while I could see this failing, I could see it becoming productive. I think a line of Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev can work really well. And we signed Dmitri Kalinin from Buffalo who's a tough d-man and I'm very pleased they re-signed Paul Mara. I actually would have given Mara two years instead of one. He's good on the power play, blocks shots on defense, and played very intensely in the playoffs last year. So kudos to the Boston kid for wanting to stay in Gotham. Throw those guys with very promising Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, this could be an excellent defense, provided they are physical enough. And we kept Stephen Valiquette as our backup goalie. I can hear the Flyer fans quivering already.
The roster look something like this.
Left wings
Markus Naslund, Nigel Dawes, Frederik Sjostrom, Pat Rissmiller, Aaron Voros, Lauri Korpikoski
Centers
Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Gomez, Blair Betts, Greg Moore
Right Wings
Nikolai Zherdev, Petr Prucha, Ryan Callahan, Dan Fritsche, Colton Orr, Ryan Hollweg
Defensemen
Wade Redden, Michael Rozsival, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Dmitri Kalinan, Paul Mara, Corey Potter, Thomas Pock, Bobby Sanguinetti, Ivan Baranka
Goalies
Henrik Lundqvist, Stephen Valiquette
All of a sudden, the Rangers are the fourth youngest team in the NHL. Only one player is over 35 and 5 are 30 or older. Funny thing for a team with a reputation for signing aging veterans. I definitely thing we need more grit in the top 2 forward lines. And a few of these young wingers, Callahan, Prucha, or Dawes, need to emerge as a 25-30 goal scorer. I feel pretty confident Brandon Dubinsky will do that as a center. I like the defense, though again, I question their physicality. Staal and Girardi are still filling out, so maybe one of them can do that. And there's no goalie in the NHL I want more than King Henrik.
Now they have lost some veteran leadership from Jagr and Shanahan. So I'm counting on Drury and Gomez, who are entering their second years in New York, and have four Stanley Cup rings between them, to lead this team to the next level. I certainly think this is a team that should make the playoffs. I don't know if they are a team that can win the Stanley Cup. If they had kept Avery, I might think they would be capable. Right now, I don't think they can beat a Pittsburgh or a Montreal in a 7-game series. But it's about letting these kids develop. and see if any of them can become big-time clutch hockey players.
Song pick: In honor of this upcoming week, I have to go with "Silver Wings" by Merle Haggard
We lost Martin Straka, good riddance. We're likely to lose Marek Malik, thanks for the shootout goal, but see ya. And we're likely to lose Brendan Shanahan. Great leader, but 38 is a little too old for a team that wants to play an uptempo style of hockey. We lost Sean Avery. I dreaded it happening, but I was expecting it to happen. People talk about what a pest he is, how his presence can wear thin in a locker room. I know this. The kid can play hockey. And more that that, he scored several goals in big sports, particularly in the New Jersey series. And on a team that lacks go-to goal scorers, they will miss him. More than that, Sean, who really wanted to come back to New York, will miss the Rangers when he is playing his home games in Dallas. We lost Jaromir Jagr, one of the game's all-time greats and he will now play in Russia. Jagr is 35, and he did a great job helping restore the Rangers to respectability after being a laughingstock for so many years. But I don't mind losing him, expecially since he's out of the Eastern Conference.
Now who did we add? We re-signed d-man Michael Rozsival to a 4-year deal. I would not have minded letting him to go, but he desperately wanted to stay in New york and avoid uprooting his family. He's a decent 2-way d-man in my mind. Not a great puck rusher, not a power play QB, not a hard hitter. Just a fairly good player. I'm fine with that. We signed Pat Rissmiller and Aaron Voros, who I know little about, other than they are two tough forwards. Call this a TBA.
I don't really know about the signing of Wade Redden to shore up the defense. We have two young offensive-minded d-men in the minors, Sanguinetti and Del Zotto. So I really wanted a defensive-minded player who could clear the crease in front of Henrik Lundqvist and one capable of knocking a Zach Parise, a Sidney Crosby, or a Mike Richards, or a Alex Kovalev right on his rear end. But they go with Redden, a good offensive d-man who has really underachieved the last two years. And for 6 years, 39 million! I'm not thrilled with it, but if he improves the power play and can play at a high level for 4 years or so, it will be fine.
I love the trade of Fedor Tyutin and Christian Backman to Columbus for Dan Fritsche and Nikolai Zherdev. Tyutin was our best prospect for a few years, but really didn't improve in 070-8 like I was hoping. Wtahcing him try to play the point on the power playwas like a tooth extraction. And Backman was not too good, really just a penalty waiting to happen. I would have been ok with him as a spare d-man, but nothing else. Fritsche, 22, is a developing 2-way center, with speed and a hard shot. I think will become a very solid 2nd or 3rd liner in New York. And Zherdev, who I didn't know much about, is one of the finest stickhandlers and one-on-one players I've seen. He is 24 years old, and can be that dynamic scorer we lose with Jagr's departure. As good as Scott Gomez and Chris Drury are, they are not goal scorers. Zherdev needs to fill that role.
We then added Markus Naslund to add more scoring and leadership. He is on the wrong side of 35. But he wanted to play in New York, and it's only a 2-year deal so while I could see this failing, I could see it becoming productive. I think a line of Naslund-Gomez-Zherdev can work really well. And we signed Dmitri Kalinin from Buffalo who's a tough d-man and I'm very pleased they re-signed Paul Mara. I actually would have given Mara two years instead of one. He's good on the power play, blocks shots on defense, and played very intensely in the playoffs last year. So kudos to the Boston kid for wanting to stay in Gotham. Throw those guys with very promising Dan Girardi and Marc Staal, this could be an excellent defense, provided they are physical enough. And we kept Stephen Valiquette as our backup goalie. I can hear the Flyer fans quivering already.
The roster look something like this.
Left wings
Markus Naslund, Nigel Dawes, Frederik Sjostrom, Pat Rissmiller, Aaron Voros, Lauri Korpikoski
Centers
Chris Drury, Brandon Dubinsky, Scott Gomez, Blair Betts, Greg Moore
Right Wings
Nikolai Zherdev, Petr Prucha, Ryan Callahan, Dan Fritsche, Colton Orr, Ryan Hollweg
Defensemen
Wade Redden, Michael Rozsival, Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Dmitri Kalinan, Paul Mara, Corey Potter, Thomas Pock, Bobby Sanguinetti, Ivan Baranka
Goalies
Henrik Lundqvist, Stephen Valiquette
All of a sudden, the Rangers are the fourth youngest team in the NHL. Only one player is over 35 and 5 are 30 or older. Funny thing for a team with a reputation for signing aging veterans. I definitely thing we need more grit in the top 2 forward lines. And a few of these young wingers, Callahan, Prucha, or Dawes, need to emerge as a 25-30 goal scorer. I feel pretty confident Brandon Dubinsky will do that as a center. I like the defense, though again, I question their physicality. Staal and Girardi are still filling out, so maybe one of them can do that. And there's no goalie in the NHL I want more than King Henrik.
Now they have lost some veteran leadership from Jagr and Shanahan. So I'm counting on Drury and Gomez, who are entering their second years in New York, and have four Stanley Cup rings between them, to lead this team to the next level. I certainly think this is a team that should make the playoffs. I don't know if they are a team that can win the Stanley Cup. If they had kept Avery, I might think they would be capable. Right now, I don't think they can beat a Pittsburgh or a Montreal in a 7-game series. But it's about letting these kids develop. and see if any of them can become big-time clutch hockey players.
Song pick: In honor of this upcoming week, I have to go with "Silver Wings" by Merle Haggard
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Message boards
With so many of my allegiances tied to the east coast and to people throughout this country, I have appreciated message boards. Whether it be for a team, for a common interest, a social topic, or anything of the like, I welcome the opportunity to present different sides of an issue. But more and more often, this is getting abused.
The worst is the NY Rangers bulletin board. When I first joined three years ago, it was a great place for hockey talk and sharing opinions and posting during the games. Now it's filled with people who think they can talk big because they're sitting alone behind a keyboard. They feel the can say whatever they want and not suffer any consequences. They want to sound tough so they try to grow some balls when they're showing themselves to be complete cowards. The problem is people like me see insult other posters personally and that vibe spreads around. And people drift away. The same goes for myspace and facebook as well.
And I hate the argument of free speech, the first amendment. With that freedom comes responsibility. And that responsibility is to respect one another and their opinions, even if we disagree with them. No wonder there's such a lack of community in this country. How self-absorbed are we?
As for a solution, that's a tough one. I don't know if there is any way to solve this aside from stricter moderators, but that reeks of some socialist system. I don't want to avoid the boards completely. I hate enjoying the things I enjoy alone. But the bigger challenge is starting to become staying on the boards rather than remaining isolated.
The worst is the NY Rangers bulletin board. When I first joined three years ago, it was a great place for hockey talk and sharing opinions and posting during the games. Now it's filled with people who think they can talk big because they're sitting alone behind a keyboard. They feel the can say whatever they want and not suffer any consequences. They want to sound tough so they try to grow some balls when they're showing themselves to be complete cowards. The problem is people like me see insult other posters personally and that vibe spreads around. And people drift away. The same goes for myspace and facebook as well.
And I hate the argument of free speech, the first amendment. With that freedom comes responsibility. And that responsibility is to respect one another and their opinions, even if we disagree with them. No wonder there's such a lack of community in this country. How self-absorbed are we?
As for a solution, that's a tough one. I don't know if there is any way to solve this aside from stricter moderators, but that reeks of some socialist system. I don't want to avoid the boards completely. I hate enjoying the things I enjoy alone. But the bigger challenge is starting to become staying on the boards rather than remaining isolated.
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