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Giants Victims of Their Own Success

Jun 15

Posted by admin in AFC, Baseball, Basketball, Chargers, College Sports, Defensive End, ERA, Eagles, Eastern Conference, Fantasy Sports, Football, Hall of Fame, Hall of Famer, Jacksonville Jaguars, Kansas CIty Chiefs, Major Championship, Miami Dolphins, NBC, NFC, NFL, NY Jets, Sports, Sports Event, Sports Events, Sports Star, Sports Stars, Sports Tragedies, batter, betting, cheating, defense, disputed calls, fantasy football, manager, online sports community | No Comments

By Matt Valentine

The New York Giants should be the happiest bunch of guys in the NFL right now after scoring one of the most unlikely Super Bowl victories in the history of the NFL. Their miraculous run to Super Bowl XLII and their victory over the undefeated New England Patriots left every player, coach, and front office worker within the Giants franchise with big smiles on their faces. Now the smiles are slowly turning into frowns as the Giants have suffered a number of significant loses and some unhappy players in their locker room.

After losing key members of their Super Bowl roster Kawika Mitchell and Gibril Wilson to free agency the Giants suffered another blow when Michael Strahan announced his retirement earlier this week.

Now they’re facing some daunting tasks in getting two disgruntled players back onto the field, and off the sidelines. Plaxico Burress and Jeremy Shockey have both decided to sit-out the Giants mandatory mini-camp and are threatening to hold-out until training camp.

Burress is sitting out because he feels that contract negotiations between his agent Drew Rosenhaus and the team are not progressing the way they should. Buress has three years remaining on his six-year, $25 million deal he inked after leaving the Pittsburgh Steelers. He is due to earn $3.25 million this year, $3.5 million in 2009 and $3.75 million in 2010.

After hauling in the game winning touchdown catch in the Super Bowl and leading the Giants with 70 catches for 1,025 yards and a career best 12 TD’s, Burress is seeking a more lucrative deal from the franchise. Burress told reporters, “Me and my agent are trying to get a deal done so I can stay a New York Giant for a long time, I personally, don’t like the way they’re going and I am not happy about it. I am choosing not to participate.” Burress also said that he believes has at least another four or five years left in his career.

By current standards Burress is underpaid. Terrell Owens, and Randy Moss both just signed three-year contacts for $27 million and Larry Fitzgerald received a $40 million contract with $30 million guaranteed.

Meanwhile, in the midst of all thats going on with Plax, the Giants also have to deal with another disgruntled player in Jeremy Shockey. Shockey who is still rehabbing from the broken leg he suffered last season has also not participated in any of the mandatory mini-camps drawing criticism from team captain Shaun O’Hara, “You’re either with us or against us, I think there’s a right way to do things,” O’Hara said. “I’ve always felt that as a player you go out there and you put your best forward and as long as you’re giving 100 percent effort every time, you’ll be taken care of.”

The rift between Shockey and the Giants has been growing since he went down with the injury and was not present on the sidelines to watch his team capture the Lombardi Trophy. Shockey did not attend the Super Bowl parade held in New York City and was also not present when the Giants were presented with their Super Bowl rings.

The Giants need to retain the services of Burress who has really clicked with Eli Manning since joining the team in 2005. The tandem have combined for 29 touchdowns the most by any QB/WR combo in the league during that span. As evidenced by their Super Bowl run, Shockey does not seem to be an integral part to the Giants offense, and many believe that removing him from the offense allowed Manning to blossom into a more steady QB as he did not have to constantly worry about pleasing the tight end.

How the Giants handle the Burress situation could play a major factor in their success this season, but getting rid of an already disgruntled Shockey may be the best thing for both parties.


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Big Brown Falls Short of Triple Crown

Jun 8

Posted by admin in Belmont, Big Brown, Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Pro Sports, Sports, Sports Events, Sports Stars, Sports Tragedies, animal rights, animals, barn, betting, colt, gambling, horse, jockey, racing, trainer, triple crown | No Comments

It’s been 30 years since the “sport of kings” has seen a triple crown winner, and at this rate it may take another 30 years for a horse to accomplish that goal.

That’s because Big Brown the horse chasing after the first triple crown bid Since Affirmed did it in 1978 fell well short of his goal, finishing in last place at the Belmont stakes today, with 38-1 long shot Da’ Tara taking the pole.

(Big Brown on his way to victory at the Kentucky Derby.)

Big Brown just did not have the stuff he needed to complete the 1 1/2 mile track at Belmont being pulled up by jockey Kent Desormeaux before reaching the finish line. Desormeaux speaking to reporters after the race simply said, “He was empty. He didn’t have anything left. There’s no popped tires. He’s just out of gas.”

Da’ Tara on the other hand had plenty of gas. Leading the race from wire to wire and finishing with a time of 2:29.65. He defeated second place finisher Denis of Cork by 5 lengths , with Anak Nakal and Ready’s Echo in a virtual dead heat for third place.

Prior to the race the only real perceived threat to Big Brown’s Triple Crown victory was Casino Drive an undefeated colt who was scratched before the race because of a bruise to his left hind hoof. Big Brown was also undefeated heading into this race having won all of his previous 5 starts by a combined 39 lengths.

Big Brown’s surprising defeat will certainly spark discussion about the horse’s health. He went into the race with a quarter crack in his left front hoof, which caused the colt to miss three days of training between the Preakness and the Belmont. The colts outspoken and controversial trainer, Rick Dutrow Jr. had stated that victory at Belmont and the subsuquent Triple Crown victory were a, “foregone conclusion”. Now he is left to ponder what went wrong.

Big Brown has run third for most of the race, but when jockey Kent Desormeaux asked the horse for more when he had a clear path on the backstretch the colt didn’t respond. At that moment Desormeaux decided that the race was over for Big Brown and held the horse back to avoid causing any injury.

At the conclusion of the race Big Brown was taken to a detention barn for observation and will undergo a series of tests to affirm that the colt is still in good health. Meanwhile, the world and the racing community will have to wait for another colt to emerge and capture the elusive Triple Crown.

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Sykora Calls His Shot and Forces a Game 6

Jun 3

Posted by admin in High School Sports, Hockey, Pro Sports, Sports, Sports Events, Sports Stars, Sports Tragedies, Uncategorized, online sports community | No Comments

By Matt Valentine

Move over Babe Ruth, you have some company in the form of Penguins forward Petr Sykora. And while, Ruth’s mythic called shot at Wrigley Field has become the thing of legend and much speculation there can be no doubt about Petr Sykora’s overtime heroics in Game 5 of the Stanley Cup Finals.

Before overtime began Sykora told NHL ice-side reporter Pierre McGuire that he would be the one to score the game winning goal and he lived up to his proclamation.

For a long while though, the game and the Stanley Cup, seemed to be firmly in the grasp of the Detroit Red Wings. They controlled the play in all 3 overtime periods and dominated the third period in which Pittsburgh saw its 2-1 lead quickly vanish into a 3-2 deficit.

The game started out well for the Penguins as they controlled play in the first period and held a 2-0 lead heading into the second. Pittsburgh took a 1-0 lead on Marian Hossa’s goal at 8:37 in the first off a feed from linemate Sidney Crosby. They expanded on that lead when forward Adam Hall scored an unassisted goal at 14:41 in the first period his third of the playoffs, and seemed to have Detroit on its heels.

Detroit emerged from the locker room with a renewed determination to capture the Stanley Cup on home ice and quickly tallied their first goal of the game when forward David Helm took a feed from Kirk Maltby and slipped a shot by Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. The rest of the period remained scoreless and ended with the Penguins leading 2-1.

In the third period Detroit seemed to put any notion that they would not be hoisting the Cup to rest, dictating the pace of play from the start. At 6:43 of the third, Pavel Datsyuk took a pass from Henrik Zetterberg and notched his tenth goal of the playoffs, tying the game at 2. Less then 3 minutes letter Brian Rafalski found some open space in Pittsburgh’s zone, secured a pass from Johan Franzen and gave Detroit its first lead of the night.

With about a minute remaining and time quickly running out on Pittsburgh’s seasons, they pulled goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to gain a man advantage. The crowd at Joe Louis Arena was on its feet chanting “We Want the cup!”, and they were just 35 seconds from receiving their wish. That is until Penguins forward Max Talbot jammed a puck from the side of the net past goalie Chris Osgood saving his teams season and sending the game to overtime.

(Penguins bench erupts in celebration after Max Talbot ties Game 5 with just 35 seconds remaining.)

In all 3 overtime periods Detroit seemed to be the fresher team out-skating and out-shooting a tired Pittsburgh squad. And then Pittsburgh received the biggest break of the game when Detroit forward Juri Hudler sent an errant stick check into the lip of Pens defensman Ryan Whitney giving Pittsburgh a 4 minute power play.

It took just 36 seconds for the Penguins to take advantage of the power play. Sergei Gonchar returning to the ice after being injured in the second period sent a pass to Evgeni Malkin who found an open Petr Sykora near the right face off dot he fired a shot over the shoulder of Chris Osgood and sent the series back to Mellon Arena for a Game 6.

This could be the shift in momentum that Pittsburgh has been seeking since dropping the first two games at Joe Louis Arena, before taking one game at home and losing their first game of the playoffs at the Igloo in Game 4.

After a much needed rest the two teams will square off again for Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals, 8 o’clock at Mellon Arena.

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Maple Bats Should Become Thing of the Past

May 31

Posted by admin in Baseball, College Sports, High School Sports, Pro Sports, Sports, Sports Events, Sports Stars, Sports Tragedies, Uncategorized, online sports community | 1 Comment

Maple bats may be the most dangerous object on the baseball field. they have cause some significant injuries, some sustained by fans, others sustained by coaches, and still others sustained by players. But, now more then ever, it seems clear that maple bats should go the way of the dinosaur.

Just ask Susan Rhodes, a fan who was struck in the face by a maple bat that shattered when the Rockies Todd Helton made contact with a pitch at Dodger Stadium. The shattered bat slammed into Rhodes’ face breaking her jaw in two places. Rhodes lost consciousness and could not recollect what had happened to her when she regained consciousness.

Rhodes told reporters, “I figured I got hit by a ball. I was very conscious of one flying and thought we aren’t in a very safe area. I don’t know if I was looking at the ball. I can’t remember anything except for the smash and total memory loss”. Rhodes had to undergo surgery in which doctors inserted four screws and a titanium plate on the right side of her jaw. Not exactly the fun outing she was anticipating when heading to the game.

Ash bats were the standard in Major League Baseball until Barry Bonds went on his record breaking season with a maple bat in his hands, and about 50% of the players switched to maple bats.

In a study conducted in conjunction by the league and players union in 2005 they found that ash and maple bats hit equally well, but ash bats tended to break harmlessly while maple bats tended to explode sending pieces of the bat flying in every direction.

The toughest battle the league will face is convincing the players to switch back to the ash bats as many firmly believe the maple bats contain more “pop”. (Heltons bat breaking.)

Meanwhile, Susan Rhodes is still struggling with the injury she sustained May 25th at Dodger Stadium and feels she may never fully recovery. “I had perfect teeth before,” Rhodes told reporters. “They’ve shifted. My bite is off. The jaw on the left side has atrophied. I don’t have the same energy”. That is not the only problem Rhodes is facing, the financial aspect of sustaining such an injury is starting to take it toll as well, with over $7,000 worth of medical bills pouring in.

Rhodes contacted a lawyer who made an inquiry with the Dodgers to ask if they would assist in covering some of the costs, the Dodgers flatly refused. Now Rhodes is considering lawsuits against the bats manufacturer and the Dodgers, but is most likely fighting a losing battle as signs and warnings about flying bats and balls are posted on tickets and around the stadium.

Either way the injury sustained by Rhodes because of the explosive maple bats should be a warning that MLB needs to heed. It may only be a matter of time before one of these injuries results in a fatality to a fan, player, or a coach and that is something no one wants to see happen.

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Super Bowl Champion NY Giants Receive Rings

May 31

Posted by admin in College Sports, Football, High School Sports, Pro Sports, Sports, Sports Events, Sports Stars, Sports Tragedies, online sports community | No Comments

By Matt Valentine

It seems like ages ago that the world stood still and marveled at the Giants thrilling 17-14 victory over the then undefeated New England Patriots.

Much has happened since that stunning upset on January 3rd. The Patriots have continued to be embroiled by the Spy Gate controversy with former video assistant Matt Walsh finally speaking out. The Giants meanwhile, have lost some key contributors to their Super Bowl roster with Girbirl Wilson and Kawika Mitchell both signing on to new teams.

But, Thursday was a day of celebration albeit a short celebration, for every Giants player on the team as they have finally received their Super Bowl rings. As each player approached the podium and was given their ring they were congratulated by Coach Tom Coughlin and quickly reminded that last season is behind them and the new season is rapidly approaching.

“Lets go back to work, lets do this again”, was the greeting each player received from Coughlin and the Giants players seemed to take the coaches direction to heart.

Almost all of the Giants players current and former were in attendance for the ring ceremony with some notable excpetions. TE Jeremy Shockey did not attend the ceremony fueling speculation that the rift between himself and the team has grown even wider. Antonio Pierce was also not in attendance, because he was with his wife on their honeymoon. Both Gibril Wilson and Kawika Mitchell were in attendance to accept their rings, as well as former GM Ernie Acorsi who may be the man most responsible for the Super Bowl roster.

(Giants players Derrick Ward, Kevin Dockery and Aaron Ross show off their Super Bowl bling).

Strahan has called the rings “ten table stunners” meaning they could be seen from ten tables away, and indeed they are quite a piece of jewelery.

The rings were fashioned by Tiffany & Co. and are made of white gold, with approximately 1.5 diamond carats and feature the teams three Super Bowl trophies. The NY logo is set in diamonds with the word World Champions also appearing on the ring in raised bold lettering.

The ring also notes the Giants historic road run stating ,”Eleven Straight on the Road” and has each players name and number, along with the date and final score of the game.

Now, all that is on the Giants players mind is adding another ring to one of their other fingers.

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Let’s See That in Instant Replay!

May 23

Posted by admin in Baseball, Basketball, College Sports, Fantasy, Fantasy Sports, Football, High School Sports, Pro Sports, Sports, Sports Events, Sports Stars, Sports Tragedies, Uncategorized, ice hockey, instant replay, online sports community | No Comments

BY Matt Valentine

I really don’t know what Major League Baseball is thinking, but I am pretty sure it’s a thought process that is stuck somewhere in the 1900’s.

MLB needs to face the facts and realize that we are living in a fairly technologically advanced society. Every other major sport including the NFL, NHL, and NBA all employ the modern marvel that is instant replay, and the MLB should follow suit.

We’ve all seen games turn on important calls made by officials after they have taken a good long look at instant replay. Instant replay allows us to see whether or not Crosby kicked that puck in with a skate, or if Randy Moss had both feet in for that game winning catch, or if Carlos Delgado really just hit that three run homer. Oh wait…instant replay didn’t do too much for that last one.

(Delgado’s “foul ball” glances off the foul pole at Yankee Stadium nearly killing a fan…just kidding. )

And this is what I don’t understand. If you have the technology that would allow you to make the right call a helluva lot more often then you would without it, then why not use it? I don’t buy into that whole integrity of the game argument, what integrity is there in getting a call wrong and possibly changing the outcome of a game?

Fortunately for the NY Mets taking away Delgado’s home run didn’t really matter as they went on to trounce the Yanks anyway, but what if it had mattered? And how many times could instant replay have changed the outcome of other baseball games? Home plate Umpire Bob Davidson took the blame for having blown the call telling reporters, ” I —-ed it up. I’m the one who thought it was a —- foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I’m the one who —-ed it up so you can put that in your paper,”.

I for one agree Bob, you definetely F’d it up, but you also said the key words “I saw it on the replay”. Um…hello, if MLB had replay you could have overturned your own bad call right then and there, and you wouldn’t have to feel so bad about it Bob.

I’m not suggesting that instant replay should be used for every play in baseball, but for certain plays it could be incredibly useful. It could have been really useful for Delgado fantasy owners I’ll tell you that much.

So heres my criteria for how instant replay should be used in MLB.

  1. Boundary Calls- Use instant replay to see if balls really cleared the fence, if a fan interfered, or if the ball was fair or foul. Umps are only human they’re bound to make mistakes especially considering the speed of the plays. Instant replay could help eliminate a vast majority of these mistakes.
  2. Plays at the plate- a play at the plate can really change the outcome of a game, that should go without saying, but sometimes even the home plate umpire doesn’t have a clear view, or the play just happens too quickly. Let the ump take a look at replay to see if he made the right call.
  3. Stolen bases- We’ve all seen it, a player slides into second base seemingly way ahead of the tag or way behind the tag and the call goes the opposite way. Stolen bases help lead to runs, look at what happened in Game 4 of the 2004 ALCS, Roberts steal of second helped force the game to extra innings and the rest is history. Not that, that particular steal was a close call, but in the case of close calls instant replay would help.

Using instant replay for any other means such as deciding strikes or balls would just slow an already slowly paced game and is truly unnecessary. So, heres to hoping that sometime in the very near future the players, the fans, and the umps will all reap the benefits of instant replay.

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2008 NHL Stanley Cup Playoff Predictions:Round 2

Apr 24

Posted by admin in Baseball, Basketball, College Sports, Facebook, Hockey, Pro Sports, Sports, Sports Events, Sports Stars, Sports Tragedies, USCHO.com, Uncategorized, eteamz | 2 Comments

Eastern Conference-

(1) Montreal Canadiens vs. (4) Philadelphia Flyers

Both of these teams played tough 7 game series. Montreal went on a roller coaster ride of inconsistency against their opening round foe the Boston Bruins. Young goaltender Carey Price has demonstrated that he can handle the playoff heat and played well against the Bruins in the opening round. The strong play from Captain Saku Koivu, and Alex Kovalev are all good omens for the Canadiens entering the second round. But if they want to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals they are going to have to demonstrate that they can consistently play at a high level, and not go into periodic lulls.

(Canadiens Hamrlik and Flyers Eager battle for a puck)

The Flyers are having an offensive explosion in the playoffs leading the NHL in goals scored (23) after their opening round triumph over the Capitals. Daniel Briere played outstanding hockey in the opening round, becoming the playoff scoring leader with 11 total points. The Flyers also have to be extremely happy with the play of goaltender Martin Biron, and veteran defenseman Derian Hatcher who may have saved the Flyers seasons by blocking some key passes late in Game 7. If Briere can continue his rate of offensive production and if role player like Hatcher keep chipping in Philly could be a dangerous opponent for Montreal.

My Prediction: The Canadians are the more talented team, but must play a more consistent brand of hockey if they want to beat a hungry Philly team who has to be coming off an emotional high after their thrilling overtime victory. With that said, it’s hard not to pick the more talented team and that is Montreal. But don’t underestimate the power of desire when it comes to playoff hockey. Canadians in 6.

(2) Pittsburgh Penguins vs. (4) New York Rangers

Both of these teams are coming off relatively short series so neither has a rest advantage. In my opinion the Penguins are the more talented team up front and on the blue line. Like I said in earlier posts they have a great mix of young talent and grizzled veterans. The most important development for the Penguins though, is not the play of Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, or any of its young super stars, but rather the fantastic play of goalie Marc-Andre Fluery who has really stepped up his game in the playoffs posting a 1.26 GAA in their opening round sweep of the Senators.

(Sydney Crosby nets a goal against the Rangers Lundqvist)

The Rangers are a talented team as well, and seem to be hitting on all cylinders at the perfect time. After a disappointing regular season Jaromir Jagr has amped it up in the playoffs posting 8 points against the Devils. Scott Gomez also proved his worth putting up 7 points against his former team and scoring some key goals in the series. The Ranger’s defense also showed a penchant for blocking shooting lanes and aggressively attacking the puck in their own end, a theme they will need to continue to stop the skill of the Penguins forwards. I hate to say this but the so called X-factor in this series could be Sean Avery. He knows how to get under his opponents skin and put up some good offensive numbers against the Devils as well.

My Prediction: The Penguins seem to be the more talented team especially up front. The Rangers have played strong defensive hockey and are getting production from their key offensive players. If the Penguins can plug their ears and drown out the constant bickering of Avery as well as maintain their offensive production they should be the team moving on to the Eastern Conference Finals. Penguins in 6.

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