By: Jon Morrill
The Gajillion dollar contract. The fight with Varitek. The Ball Slap. Not being a “true” Yankee. His Image. The signing yet not really with Boston, then ending up in New York. The A-Rod Curse. Controversy and brouhaha has seemed to follow Alex Rodriguez around the past 5 years like stink on a dog.
By Jon Morrill
Dear Dodger Fans,
Rejoice! Your ball club, led by newly appointed GM Ned Coletti, has taken two big steps towards getting back in the ring for the rematch against your cross-town brethren, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, whom you once had stuck in a headlock for so, so long. Not only have your beloved boys in blue signed one of the most underrated free agents on the market this off-season (how A.J. Burnett all of a sudden became the savior of baseball is beyond me) in 2003 AL Batting Champ 3B Bill Mueller; but you also picked up the first real leadoff threat to come to DodgerTown since Brett Butler in SS Rafael Furcal. So not only have you added some real pop to your lineup with the switch hitting antics of Mueller and the dynamic Furcal, but you’ve also upgraded the left side of your infield considerably. Add that to the fact that once Cesar Izturis comes back from Tommy John elbow surgery after the All-Star Break, he’ll probably take over at second base, shuffling Jeff Kent over to first; you’ll have 4 All-Star caliber players patrolling your infield. In addition to all of that going on, the Dodgers are also said to be in the running for landing Nomar Garciaparra, who apparently now can play any position on the baseball diamond–any position but shortstop.
Remember to read other sports commentary and Articles by John Toth on
WWW.FOURTHNGOAL.COM
and visit out Forums
Larry Brown said after a practice last Thursday that “this was much harder than I thought it would be” concerning his pitiful 6-16 New York Knicks. Brown, who last year was sitting pretty with this years most dominant team the Detroit Pistons, decided that even though he had told reporters and interviewees numerous times that Detroit was his last head coaching job that he would change his mind and “stab” Detroit fans in the back.
Months after the devastation of Hurricane Katrina much of New Orleans is still in rubble. This will be the case for the foreseeable future as the mammoth task of reconstructing the Big Easy begins. With that said it is hard to imagine how anyone can believe constant discussion of and attention to the New Orleans Saints is beneficial to anyone. Let them move!
By Jon Morrill
We all know, or at least should know, by now that Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane is one of the best, if not the best, in baseball. The only argument one would have against him is that he hasn’t won anything yet; and sure, winning is the biggest criteria when judging the performance of just about anything in sports. Whether it be playing the game, coaching, managing, anything–the first thing people look at are the wins and the championships. While Beane obviously doesn’t have any rings or trophies just yet, the one thing Beane can claim is the fact that he’s perennially put together a young, exciting team that has finished no worse than second in the AL West since 1999, Beane’s second year on the job; winning the division 3 times in 4 years. What’s more is that Beane has done this with a payroll of practically peanuts; forcing Beane to try and squeeze what he can out of all his players in the 3 to 4, sometimes 5 year timeframe–often having to either trade away his prized superstars for younger, more raw talent or just let it walk when the time comes for the respective player’s big payday (see: Jason Giambi, Miguel Tejada, Tim
Hudson, Mark Mulder, Keith Foulke, Johnny Damon).
Looking down at the list of free agents that have signed with teams so far this winter and even at some of the trades that have gone through, we see that very few would have made much sense for the Yankees. B.J. Ryan, and Tom Gordon wanted to close. Brian Giles and Paul Konerko wanted to remain with their former teams. The Yankees did not need to acquire any starting pitchers with injury histories: Beckett, Burnett, Byrd or have a void to fill behind the plate. With Torri Hunter and Andrew Jones free agents next year it makes little sense to overpay for 4 years of centerfielder Johnny Damon, and ruin the chance to pick up a real stud next winter. Juan Peirre would have been a good one year option, but the Cubs likely gave away too much for a one year fill-in. A case could be made that 1B Lyle Overbay would have been a good fit, but the Yankees did not have the pieces for that deal. When looking at all of these moves, LHP Demaso Marte looks like the only guy who the Yankees could have acquired, for say Andy Phillips, that would have made sense for the team. For whatever the reasons, this year’s free agent class did not cater very well to the needs of the Yankees, but one man would be a perfect fit: Nomar Garciaparra.
`Tis the season to be merry, with Santa Claus, reindeer, a lot of booze, and, of course, the college football bowl season making it a Holiday season to remember. So here’s what we think the seven best Bowls will be to end what has been a wonderful 2005-6 season.
For other Sports commentary join me at
www.FourthNgoal.com
This week finally brings the Colts up against a legitamate oppenent, along with matching up the Minnesota Vikings that actually has a winning record. This week is also crucial to so many teams chances to attain a Playoff Berth; here is how I see them ending up.
Note: Do not use the spreads if you wouldnt like to.
Some great games last week made the weekly picks more interesting. A respectable 70% correct last week (Dolphins over Chargers?!) but we’re looking to do better this week. Ryan is still running away with it and barring a monumental collapse like the ’64 Phillies, he will win the overall pick title. However, everyone else is tied for 2nd place at a .668 percentage.
Listen to the Week 15 NFL Picks podcast or subscribe via xml.
Haven’t we crossed this bridge already? Haven’t we passed over from raw ignorance and racial typecasting into a sophisticated understanding of individual talent? Haven’t we answered the questions about Donovan McNabb’s effectiveness, and about black quarterbacks’ abilities? Haven’t we erased the myth of non-athleticism in white quarterbacks? Apparently, and sadly, we may not have done any of the above.
The president of the Philadelphia branch of the NAACP recently wrote a column criticizing Donovan McNabb for not running, and for poor team leadership. He basically said that McNabb’s play, and leadership regarding his teammates contract disputes, relegates him to being the black, athletic equivalent of Benedict Arnold.