A decent weekend for my favortie sports programs.
Let's start with S-U Lacrosse. They easily handled ACC foe Maryland this weekend in the NCAA Quarterfinals 11 to 6 at Hofstra University. Al Cavalieri turned in a sensational performance for a food-poisoned John Galloway, and Stephen Keough did what he's done all year-finish the rock. Next up for the Orange is a date with another ACC foe, the three seed Duke Blue Devils. This time, the Orange may have it's hands full, with Tewaraaton Finalist Ned Crotty and skilled attacker Max Quinzani leading the way. I think if Joel White and Sid Smith can keep these guys contained, and Galloway can avoid digesting whatever it is he ate, the Cuse may once again find itself playing for a National Title in Foxborough-a nation-leading 11th Title I may add.
Let's go to my pride and passion, baseball. Now, the Braves split a pair of games with the Diamondacks over the weekend, then fell to the Rockies last night, spoiling a great start by new-found ace Derek Lowe. Now for the first time in three years, I am not worried about Brave pitching. They have one of the best ERA's in the leagues as a staff, but it's the offense that's been inconsistent. With the abscence of Mark Texeira, it's been up to Garret Anderson, Brian McCann and Casey Kotchman to carry the load. Non of those guys are 40 homer players, but I expect more RBI's at least, especially with Kelly Johnson, Yunel Escobar and Chipper Jones getting on base in front of them. But not to worry. Tonight, Jair Jurrjens takes the hill, and Lowe labeled him as, "the best pitcher we have." I'm confident that, once we get Tim Hudson back, this team will be complete. Non of our middle of the order guys are 100% and if there is one thing I've learned, it's that Bobby Cox knows what he's doing come mid-summer. With the addition of Hudson, the rotation looks as follows (roughly):
Derek Lowe
Jair Jurrjens
Tim Hudson
Javier Vazquez
Kenshin Kawakami
Not too bad, considering Vazquez is top's in the NL in strikeouts. Hopefully Frank Wren can land a bigger bat to protect Chipper, and we can reclaim our spot atop the NL East.
Anyone want to chatter up the Bronx Bombers?
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Mosc,
ReplyDeleteI love it bro... but yea I'll do a little chatter on the Bronx Bombers... 7 in a row and playing really well. Tex's bat has finally come around thanks to A-Rod coming back. He's batting .371, 5 home runs and 13 rbis over his last 9 games. Pretty solid seeing that he was batting under .200 before arod came back.
I know, I know... it's about time. The Yanks have their own stimulus plan: AJ, CC, Tex and its finally showing results. Everyone down here in the big apple is loving this 7 game winning streak, so hopefully we can keep riding it.
I'm telling you Mosc, teams better watch out for the BBs. I have not seen a Yankees team so loosy-goosy in a very long time... i.e. AJ starting the shaving cream to the face during the 3 walk-offs. George is probably cringing in his wheel chair, but by now, he's only a figure behind everything that's going on.
To your Braves: I wish them the best of luck. They need another bat to go with Chipper, but as you said they have a solid pitching staff. Atleast that's something the Yanks have struggled with for years.
I'm gonna keep following you blogs. Looking forward to some interesting posts!
Till next time...
JHop
The Braves...an interesting team this year. On paper, it would look as though they should compete in the NL. On paper, their rotation looks pretty solid; however, as Coach George Bacalles once said, "Baseball games aren't played on paper, they're played on a baseball field!"
ReplyDeleteI personally think the "Bravos" are one big-bag, and one dominant pitcher away from being a competitive playoff team. In a league that has the Dodgers, the defending WS Champ Phillies, and a Mets team that is due to start coming around, I just cannot see them getting much more than a Wild Card spot. Ever since the departure of Maddux, Glavine, Smoltz and the like, the Braves haven't been the same type of team. Cox is a great manager - one of the best - but in this era of baseball, the Braves seem to be perpetually just on the brink of being a very good team.
As for my Yanks...things are going well, and in reality, it's how things SHOULD be going. You don't spend the equivalent of some small country's GDP on baseball talent, and expect to win a few series' a month. You expect to win them all.
A-rod coming back as clearly helped. He has helped the team offensively and defensively on his own, but more importantly he has given Big Tex a better situation in the batter's box. As a pitcher, having to face a scorching Damon, Jeter, Tex, and Arod as the first 4 guys through...it has to be exhausting. Who do you really go after? Girardi has a great lineup to play with, even withought the #1 and 2 catchers, Nady, and Bullpen injuries. Any lineup that has a resurgent Matsui and Cano in the back-half of it is a luxury to have.
My favorite part about this year though has been the role-players and good situational baseball. Girardi has been using the bunt more often, as well as the hit-and-run..and that's the stuff good teams are made of. Having Gardner come off the bench to play or run is a great tool to have. Pena, for a young guy, has demonstrated he can play any infield position, and Cervelli reminds me of the types who played on the mid 90's teams. He's passionate, a great defensive player, and has done well in clutch moments thus far. It just feels like this team has finally found a rythm, and everyone knows their role.
Unless serious injury problems creep in the starting pitching, I don't see how this team can't be a deep playoff contender. They've done well so far this year playing without ARod, Nady, Bruney, Posada, Molina, Wang...why can't they keep going?