It’s still amazing to me that a player draft draws as much attention as the NFL Draft does. It’s probably just more tangible evidence that the NFL is indeed more popular than MLB. I go back to it often, but I quote Howie Long from his HOF-induction speech, “Baseball is America’s Pasttime - but football is America’s Passion.”
Julian Tavarez secured his first win of the season - which will quite possibly be the only win he secures as a starter this season… and it came against the Yankees… in Yankee Stadium. Now I *know* the Yankees are struggling.
Can we please cease and desist with the reports of Randy Moss being traded to the Patriots? Again this NFL Draft weekend, “reports have surfaced” that the Patriots will be trading for Randy Moss. Enough. In the words of Roberto Duran, “No mas (and No Moss).”
Schilling’s bloody sock from the fall of 2004 has gotten renewed attention of late because Gary Thorne can’t detect sarcasm in a clubhouse. I actually like Thorne on hockey telecasts. He does a nice job. I didn’t realize he did Oriole telecasts, apparently with Jim Palmer - but earlier in the week when Schilling was pitching (lights out) against the Orioles, Palmer and Thorne took to badmouthing Curt… including Thorne’s assertion that Mirabelli told him the sock was paint, not blood, and Curt only did it for PR.
In the aftermath, ESPN came up with the following poll - the results of which I found interesting:
Um… yeah, Gonzo - why exactly would ESPN choose to air the Sox-Yanks?
“Ratings bonanza
Sunday night’s Yankees-Red Sox game was ESPN’s most-viewed Sunday
night game ever with 5.48 million viewers, surpassing the 5.29
million for a Yankees-Red Sox game on July 25, 2004.
It was the most-viewed regular-season ESPN game since Mark McGwire
hit his 61st home run Sept. 7, 1998.”
Right now, when I look at Alex Rodriguez, its almost like I’m looking at Dave Winfield, in a way. And when I look at the Yankees as a team, it’s almost like I’m looking at the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. To wit:
This is positively the worst sports time of the year. Sure, the NFL is trotting out anything they can. And I’m a new NASCAR fan. But NHL playoffs aren’t started yet (okay, there’s one Game 7 tonite and the 2nd round starts next), and baseball is, well, in April. NBA? Puh-leeezzze… If a basketball hits a wooden floor and nobody is around to hear it, did it really happen?
(more…)
Sunday night, the Sox were the fifth team in MLB history to hit four home runs in a row - and only the second to do it off the same pitcher for all four. This from Bob Ryan in the Boston Globe, the details on the others:
I hope we’re all well past the point of thinking that “win” totals are a good way of evaluating starting pitchers. But for anyone who’s still not sure, here’s yet another example (consider it Gonzo’s famed Example #642):
From the “we all saw this coming” department comes this tidbit:
Carl Pavano tossed lightly with Ron Guidry yesterday and told the
pitching coach he still feels something in his right elbow area.
“He played catch at 60 feet and still feels it,” Torre said of
Pavano, who is on the shelf with what’s being called a strained
muscle. “We will do it again [tomorrow], and when he doesn’t feel
anything we will send him up on a mound.”
Translated: Don’t look for Pavano in action for a while.