May 2009 Archives

Major League Baseball is soon going to come to a point where each team will schedule two pitchers to pitch in a game. With starting pitchers going fewer and fewer innings, the game is headed to a point where teams will need one pitcher to pitch the first four innings and a second pitcher to pitch the next four innings, leaving the remaining inning for a closer or one of the two pitchers if they are pitching well. The pitchers for a Mets game may be announced as Johan Santana and Tim Redding. Santana will pitch innings 1-4 (maybe 5) and Redding pitches the next 4 innings. Bullpens will still be needed to close games and in case one of the two pitchers can't even get through 4 innings.

The roster issues will work themselves out, either by expanding or simply rotating the second pitchers to the minors on the days they are not pitching (they wouldn't actually go to the minors, it would just be a technicality to fit 5 extra pitchers on the rosters).

There are numerous reasons why this type of 10 man rotation seems more and more like a real possibility, and I neither attempt to list or explain the reasons here. Rather I simply mean to observe and speculate about the direction the game of baseball is headed.

The Redskins were fortunate the best player available with the 13th overall pick in the draft happened to be someone that could fill a major need. The Redskins have lacked a legitimate edge pass rusher for years. They filled the void at defensive end through the years by substituting linebackers coming off the edge, but haven't had a true presence at the position since Fred Stokes, Charles Mann, and Dexter Manley.

The addition of Brian Orakpo (DE) should finally provide the Redskins with the help they've been looking for along the defensive line. Orakpo's athleticism along the line and ability to get to the quarterback in pressure situations when his team needs it the most will be welcomed, so why have him also learn how to play the "sam" linebacker position?

The Redskins have successfully duplicated failed strategies (their own, as well as others) time and time again. Last season the Redskins touted 3rd Round Draft Pick Chad Rinehart (OL) as an athletic, intelligent, and versatile lineman that could become a starter. They soon shuffled him from one position to another (OG & OT) and by the end of training camp soon realized that by throwing two different positions at him so soon he mastered neither.

If indeed Orakpo's destiny resides in becoming the edge pass rusher that can put constant pressure on the quarterback and make the big play at the end of the game when needed, then why jeopardize the future to solidify a weakness at linebacker due to a management decision? It's a simple decision. Allow Orakpo to fill out his physique as he matures and allow him to completely understand the role as he begins to dominate at the defensive end position before layering additional responsibilities, techniques, and defensive schemes from other positions onto his plate.

Placing Orakpo in the best possible position to succeed helps him and the team in the long term rather than minimize the weakness created by releasing Marcus Washington without first having his replacement on the roster. His speed and size may have the Skins thinking that he can improve the linebacking play, but if he's "The Guy" destined to play the edge in the mode of Mann and Manley then much like these two predecessors he should be given the opportunity to play at this position. The Redskins should work to solidify the linebacking play elsewhere.

Steroids are back in the news and not because Jose Canseco got beat badly in an MMA fight. No, this time it involves the Washington Nationals and Washington Capitals.

Richard Thomas, of Florida, was arrested Tuesday and apparently ranted that Nats and Caps were some of his customers. The Capitals and the NHL responded this afternoon and refutes the claims.

It is a wonder why Thomas would specifically name Washington teams and no others. No Florida Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, or Florida Panthers. The details are sparse at this time, so only further investigation will do. These accusations cast a small shadow over the Caps great season. However, this places another level of distraction on the Nationals. Already reeling from poor pitching resulting in a pretty bad season, steroids accusations just pile it on. Testing is not perfect, but there has not been any public notification of steroid accusations for either team.

Now comes the hard part...proving a negative. Both teams need to prove that they didn't take steroids. For the Nationals, it is almost easy to believe, given the bad season they are having. However for the Capitals, it is an image they'll have to fight after a fairly successful season in a very physical game.

"Have you ever danced with the devil in the pale moonlight?" - Batman. Michael Vick may not be the "devil" as the waterboy's mother aka Kathy Bates referred to just about everything, but after completing a two year prison sentence, Michael Vick is once again ready to resume his NFL career.

Should Michael Vick be given a second chance? Absolutely he should be given a chance to return to his career in the NFL, it's a job that doesn't involve animals and the cruelty to them that caused his incarceration. He's nowhere near close to being in a position to test his judgment with regards to animals, but at what point does a team want to subject itself to the cavalcade of the media circus and the constant scrutiny day in and day out pertaining to Vick?

In case you missed it, Spike Lee was seen courtside at game 1 of the NBA Western Conference Finals rooting for the Lakers and cheering for Kobe Bryant. Yes, I've heard that Spike has made some sort of documentary about Kobe, but this still seems like a big slap in the face to Knicks fans. What could be worse for New York sports fans? I just hope that we never see Rudy Giuliani in the front row of Fenway Park cheering for Big Papi to hit more than one home run every two months.

Tony Kornheiser has stepped down from the Monday Night Football telecast. He will be replaced by Jon "Chucky" Gruden, former Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach. Kornheiser stated his fear of flying as the major reason for giving up the spot.

Gruden appears to be a great choice. As the third man in a three man booth, he will have to fight for time against Mike Tirico and Ron Jaworski. One thing Gruden has over Kornheiser is that since he is a recent coach, he can bring insight that Mr. Tony could not. Kornheiser had previously stated his struggle for voice/face time in the MNF booth against the seasoned ESPN veteran Tirico and analyst and former player Jaworski.

Still yet to be determined is Kornheiser's future plans. While he will continue doing Pardon the Interruption daily on ESPN, he did give up his daily radio show a couple of years ago. He cited that his MNF duties would consistently conflict with radio. Coincidentally, Kornheiser and the Washington Post separated "permanantly". For the past year or so, he had been doing video for the website and rarely penning a short column. Only one I really remember is his annual March Madness bracket breakdown.

Left only with PTI, will he return to radio? He had mentioned in the past that radio was his favorite gig. That would be very interesting to see how this would work out. There is no obvious choice in AM/FM radio in the DC area for late morning drive, which is the only schedule that he would take and not conflict with PTI. What's left may be satellite radio, since he famously had a "vacation" from ESPN radio years ago. Besides, their schedule is packed too.

Thanks Mr. Tony, for MNF. It was short lived, but let's say you were so much better than Dennis Miller.

On both Saturday and Sunday night’s editions of Baseball Tonight, they had a segment where the analysts were asked who they thought the next 300 game winner might be after Randy Johnson most likely gets 2 more wins this season. Everyone said that no current players will get 300 wins. I think they overlooked someone: C.C. Sabathia. The key is that Sabathia is only 28 years old. He has 120 wins right now, which means he needs 180 more. If he pitches until he is 40 years old, that’s 15 wins a season for the next 12 years. Sure that’s a tall order, but he has the best chance of anyone pitching right now. Signing a big contract with the Yankees won’t hurt him getting run support, which goes a long way towards earning the W.

While the key to getting 300 wins is what you do after the age of 36, out of all of today’s active players, C.C. Sabathia has the best chance of anyone.

The Washington Capitals continue to fight for the Stanley Cup, by staving off elimination in Game 6. The Caps beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4 in overtime. This marks the first OT playoff win for the team in 7 tries.

While Simeon Varlamov gave up 4 goals, he fought off many including a very busy first period where it appeared that Pittsburgh controlled the puck and stayed on his doorstep all period. Names non-Caps fans would not recognize like Viktor Kozlov and David Steckel provided some of the offense. Kozlov put 2 in to help keep the Caps in the game and helped them take a 4-3 lead. Steckel tipped in the game winner by re-directing Brooks Laich's shot to get past Marc-Andre Fleury.

The win keeps the Caps in the hunt for the Cup and headed toward a Eastern Conference showdown. Game 7 is Wednesday night at Verizon Center. The Caps were lucky in Game 6 and benefited from Varlamov's great goaltending in Period 1 holding them to only one score. Defense needs to step up at home for Game 7. Also power play efficiency needs to improve. The Caps have the momentum and experts say home ice is important for Game 7's.

The Caps now find themselves down 3-2 in the series and face elimination with a loss vs. the Penguins. Washington can no longer wait for a momentum changing moment in their favor. This is not the same Capitals team that has faced the Penguins in the past and especially in OT. Caps/Penguins OT Playoff History looks pretty bleak, but unlike the Caps team's in the past the current roster boasts plenty of talented scorers and finishers.

This team can win face offs and now has a stopper in the net. Previous Caps teams lacked the bonafide scorer other then say Bonrdra or Ciccarelli. Those teams had to rely on great defense and gritty play to help augment scoring and try to keep the scoring low to be competitive. They basically had to play as perfect as possible to steal a game from Super Mario, Jagr, and Stevens.

The current Caps team is as talented if not more so then their counterparts. The constant web through the history is the hard work demonstrated by the role players for the Penguins. They've fought and won loose pucks to provide their skill players more possessions, shots, and scoring chances. The Caps will need to follow suit to allow their stars to shine bright. There's no reason that after being up 2-0 in the series that the Caps couldn't close it out and there's no reason the Caps with the better goaltending and scorers still can't wrestle the series away from Pittsburgh.

The question has really been since the end of the season, how bad do the Caps want it? The level of effort for a full 60 Minute game waned towards the end of the season and into the playoffs. The Caps played well enough to battle back to eliminate the Rangers in 7 Games in Round 1 after falling behind early in the series.

The Capitals scored enough goals in a period of sustained effort in each of the two games, but haven't put it all together. What are the Caps waiting for? The Caps can't wait for Ovechkin to carry them on their shoulders and can't wait more shut out victories by their sensational rookie goaltender. Time is running out. As Apollo Creed said in Rocky III, "There is no tomorrow."

The role players must do a better job of carrying out their assignments for the Capitals along with some of their defensemen holding onto the puck in the corners of their own zone. It's well known that great players skate to the open ice and the puck naturally finds them, but if the Caps can't win more possessions it makes it increasingly difficult for their top players to get quality scoring chances.

The Washington Post reported that Jay Beagle was recalled. The Caps have the opportunity to press Penguins fans to must win games with a Caps win tonight.

Adding a stronger interior presence can only help Washington. Nothing is worse then knowing that you had something left to give no matter what type of competition you're involved. That being said if the Caps come out to play with the passion they've shown most of the year, the Penguins will be down three games to one after tonight. As JW,jr said, if the game is called evenly regarding penalties then the Caps should be able to win the game. The Penguins haven't beaten the Caps at all this season in regulation.

The DC Sports Page will be at RFD's tonight to cheer on the Caps. LET'S GO CAPS!

Manny is Manny, except when he's not. So what is he now that he has been suspended from playing in MLB for 50 games? From Alex Rodriguez to now Manny Ramirez, baseball has been jolted further by the performance enhancing drugs scandal. In prior seasons, the revelations have been largely taken by stars who have retired or no longer playing, like Mark McGwire and Roger Clemens. Or they were players unknown to even the average baseball fan. With A-Rod and Manny, we've now hit the players around their peak.

While A-Rod is arguably the best player in baseball, his positive result was during the so called "safe time" when steroid testing was merely a phase to see if regular testing was needed. The revelation was an act either intentional or not, of leaked information, that Bud Selig has no grounds to act on.

Manny, however, is to have taken a drug that is on the published ban list. If his doctor really prescribed something in error, then it's a sad mistake. Yet it was one that could still have been avoided. Time and time again, those that blame the prescribers, like Barry Bonds and Manny, all have the option to take the drug to MLB to have it tested.

It is disappointing to see this occur for Manny. A-Rod is hated by much of baseball fandom including some Yankees fans. Manny on the other hand, while irritating, is only hated by the Boston area, and probably New York. It was also interesting timing as A-Rod makes his return to the field tonight and Manny starts his suspension only a day earlier. We'll have to see if these next two months can win back the fans.

After the dismal 3-2 overtime loss on Wednesday night, the Capitals look to regain momentum in the series. Varlamov has been brilliant since entering the net for the playoffs. He kept the Capitals in Game two when the game could have become completely out of hand. The Caps lead the series two games to one, but have only really won a couple of periods through the first two games. It's been the superb play of Varlamov to allow the Caps stars to shine. Game three could have been a double digit blow out had it not been for Varlamov.

The main ingredients missing in this series has been hustle and intensity. It appears for a fleeting moment only to retreat back into the depths of the aggressive Penguins offensive attack.

The puck naturally finds the talented players on the roster, If the Caps focus on their assignments. In this series, too many battles for loose pucks, battles in the corners, and defensemen being knocked off the puck have been lost. Without maintaining possession of the puck with precise passing through the neutral zone, it becomes increasingly more difficult for Ovechkin, Semin, and Green to score.

The defense has steadily eroded in this series to the point of swiss cheese leaving only Varlamov to come between a deficit and a winnable game. The Penguins have been able to attack the Caps defensemen in way the Rangers weren't able to do. Morrison has been victimized the most in this series. With Morrison losing more of his one-on-one battles Green becomes forced to maintain his defensive assignments instead of establishing his offensive dominance from the regular season.

At 7:00 PM tonight, the puck hits the ice in the Igloo for Game 3 of the Capitals-Penguins series. But what can we expect tonight that could possibly top Game 2?

How about a Crosby-Malkin line?

As of today, the NHL could not have scripted the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs any better if, you know, all those conspiracies floating around the Interwebs were actually true.

Even the players concur. "It was amazing. Two of the star-power players in the league and each getting hat tricks in the same game - you couldn't have scripted it better," Capitals forward Chris Clark told reporters after the game Monday.

Turns out truth is often stranger (or at least more jump-on-the-couch/shake the arena exciting) than fiction. Especially with the Capitals and Penguins, who have already created two instant classics.

Malkin and Crosby on the same line could come close to matching the intensity of Monday’s hat trick fest, at least if that “two-headed monster” can live up to the hype. Malkin would move to wing and Crosby would center the line if Pittsburgh Coach Dan Bylsma sends out the pair that is its own whatifsports.com dream package.

While nothing is confirmed, Bylsma hinted to NHL.com that playing the Pens top forwards on the same line was a possibility, adding, “It’s something I do in different games and different situations.”

Tossing a slumping Malkin out with Crosby, who leads NHL skaters with 8 playoff goals, could be the spark of energy the Penguins need to climb out of their 0-2 hole going into tonight’s tilt. The possibility is certainly worthy of note by the Caps.

Sid vs. Ovi

The obvious story line thus far has been the Crosby vs. Ovechkin showdown that has the two MVP’s facing off in the postseason for the first time to prove who really is King of Hockey.

From the moment the matchup became a reality last Tuesday night after the Rangers and Devils were both eliminated with Game 7 losses, there have been countless prognosticators surmising who would wind up on top and why.

As I watched Carolina score goals 3 and 4 to bury Marty and the Devils post Caps victory at the Verizon Center, the sea of red in D.C. erupted in chants of “Crosby Sucks” and buzzed with conversation about how the Capitals would defeat Sid and the rest of the Pens. The deluge of blogs, columns, stat comparisons and embedded polls have continued to burst forth.

Much like how the Bachelor tries to out-do the last emotionally twisted season with each new series, Game 2 more than upped the ante of Crosby and Ovechkin both putting up tallies in Game 1, which was certainly noteworthy enough on its own.

Dueling hat tricks from Sid the Kid and Ovi in the Stanley Cup Semi-Finals? I’m not sure how exactly to quantify the anti-uppage; a thousand-fold? Maybe a googleplex-fold?

In addition to Alexander the Great getting his first playoff hat trick, it was the first time in 13 years players from both teams had hat tricks and it was the first time ever back-to-back MVP’s were the scorers.

The third man in the equation, Evgeni Malkin, has yet to light the lamp this series despite stealing the scoring title from Ovechkin in the regular season.

Ovechkin seems to have turned the tables and knocked Malkin off his game. Despite the so-called rivalry supposedly dissipated, it certainly seems as if Ovi has a bit of a proverbial bulls-eye on Malkin’s back every time they share the ice and he has leveled some hits on Geno that were hard to ignore.

All of the elements leading up to tonight create the opportunity for a perfect storm leading to a breakout night from Malkin. Or, should I say, Hurricane Geno.

Tell me if you have heard this before. Sidney Crosby whines. Live in attendance at the Verizon Center, the Sports Freak and I witnessed hat tricks by both Alex Ovechkin and Crosby. Ovie got his first and the shower of caps (pardon the pun) came flying down. Apparently to Crosby's dislike.

I may be a Caps fan, but I am aware there are great players not on the Capitals. Crosby and Malkin are two such players. I felt that Crosby might have been misunderstood prior to Game 2. His style is very different from Ovechkin's. Crosby is the quiet player who is out to do his job efficiently. Such as he did last night with the hat trick. But to complain about the hats flying down is just unbelievable. Crybaby is an understatement. Your team is now losing the game 4-2, so shut up and play. You had 7 minutes left. You got one on a 6-4 advantage. Good for you.

I wonder if one day Crosby collects a hat trick in Pittsburgh, he'll ask an announcement be made to stop the rain of hats. Or maybe the arenas should be emptied like some football matches in Europe. No fans, no hat trick celebration. Perfect in the Crosby world. Really, you don't understand why the Caps fans were excited by a hat trick by their star player, in the playoffs, leading to a win and the 2-0 advantage in the series? Really?

Not Ronaldo who contributed to 2 World Cup wins for Brazil, but rather Cristiano Ronaldo from Portugal, who plays for Manchester United. If you haven’t been paying attention to European soccer over the past two years, you’ve missed some brilliant performances from Cristiano Ronaldo. While he did get off to a slow start this season amidst rumors of his displeasure at United and his desire for a move to Real Madrid, Ronaldo returned to form and has only gotten better as the season progressed. That progression was capped off by tonight’s performance in a 3-1 victory over Arsenal that saw United advance to the Champions League final. Ronaldo was all over the pitch and always in the center of the action in addition to scoring on a rocket of a free kick.

If you haven’t had the chance to see Ronaldo yet, set your DVR to ESPN on May 27 for the final of what has become one of the world’s best sporting events, the Champions League.

Varlamov's highlight reel save in Game 1 was showcased in just about every sports medium over the weekend. Yet, some small post game comments by Ovechkin yielded some insight into the locker room. Ovechkin expressed in an interview that Varlamov let in a soft goal and bounced back. He continued to say that even if Varlamov allows one soft goal a game that the team can overcome such a setback.

It can now be implied that the team lost confidence in Theo as he allowed two soft goals early in the Rangers series. That coupled with his inconsistent performance during the regular season and Theo may not be wearing a Caps uniform next season. This is now Varlamov's team as it's his job to be the last defender and the safety net for the Caps.

Crosby and Ovechkin will both get their opportunities, but the Caps will need another strong performance from Varlamov to go up by two games. Will the Caps role players outshine the Malkin line in game two? We'll find out Monday night, but the Caps will need to stay out of the penalty box and make the most of their power play opportunities to ease the pressure off the team. Its one thing for Crosby to get his shots, but the Caps can ill afford having both Crosby and Malkin roaming free with prime scoring chances on Varlamov.

Fans should get ready for another exciting game and be prepared to cast off the Monday "blues" shirts only to be replaced with something to "Rock the Red!"

The Washington Capitals overcame a lackluster 1st Period effort and an early one goal deficit to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 on Sat. The game built up by NBC, the rest of the media, and fans as Crosby vs. Ovechkin actually showcased the different styles of team play from the most unlikely of players. Crosby and Ovechkin each tallied one goal during the game, but it was Steckel's goal & play all game long and a goal from the Tomas Fleischmann that helped the Caps take a 1-0 game lead in the series.

The Caps appeared to start the game well carrying the puck up ice for what would be a normal game, but the Penguins had other ideas. Pittsburgh rushed out onto the ice with an extra wave of energy as they aggressively moved up ice, won the battles for the puck, and maintained much of the 1st Period possession in the Caps end of the ice.

I knew it! Something was so fundamentally wrong with the Bowl Championship Series. It was un-American or something. Rep Joe Barton (TX-R) put it together for all of us at a meeting of the House Energy & Commerce Committee. "It's like Communism. You can't fix it."

Those of you who know me and know of my hatred for the BCS know I agree with Rep Barton, to an extent. Those that don't know, here's a primer, my rant earlier this year and my plan to fix it. I don't know Joe Barton from Bartolo Colon. While I appreciate his passion for changing the system, comparing it to Communism is crazy. After all the reason the BCS and it's predecessor, the Bowl System, exist is because it's all about the money. Surprisingly John Swofford, the BCS coordinator and ACC commissioner, said that very thing in the same meeting.

While many of us do not prefer the BCS, it's here to stay for awhile. Really, Barton and his bill co-sponsor, Rep Bobby Rush (IL-D), should be concentrating their efforts on something more important. Like how the new Yankee Stadium could have been built so poorly for wind management.