Ramblings 06/07/2010
Posted by sportretort in nhl, Sports.Tags: boston celtics, chicago blackhawks, chicago cubs, iowa cubs great cubs, los angeles lakers, mlb, nba, nba playoffs, nhl, nhl playoffs, pcl, philadelphia flyers, ryne sandberg, stanley cup, the finals
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A Monday morning mish-mash….
I spent a BEAUTIFUL Sunday afternoon watching AAA baseball in Des Moines, home of the Iowa Cubs and their current head coach Ryne Sandberg. I grew up a Cub fan, and visited Wrigley Field in most summers growing up. I have seen many Cub greats play in the Friendly Confines. Santo, Banks, Reuschel, Suter, Monday, Jenkins, Beckert, Grace, Maddox. The list goes on and on. I then watched the Cubs when they visited Coors Field when I lived in Colorado for the 90’s and most of the 00’s. I guess I have seen most every Cub great play in person for the past 40+ seasons. To me, the greatest Cub of all during that time was Sandberg. His Hall of Fame Career in Chicago has cemented him as one of the best 2nd baseman to ever play the game. During his career, he combined tremendous range and skill defensively with power at the plate. A rare combination at 2nd at the time. He was a 10 time all-star, won 9 gold gloves and 7 silver slugger awards. He was the NL MVP in 1994 and was elected to the HOF in 2005. In addition, he is still the last 2nd baseman to lead his league in home runs when he topped the NL in ’90 with 40 round trippers. I have been out to the ball yard a few times this season and I must admit it is still a thrill to see old #23 in Cubbie blue. My hope is to see him manage in Wrigley in the future……..
The Flyers allowed 7 pucks into their net in game 5 (photo Jim McIsaac-Getty images)
What a gutsy performance by the Celtics in game 2 of the NBA Finals. After failing to show up in game 1 against the Lakers and getting waxed in LA, Boston
The Celtics rose above the Lakers Sunday, capturing game 2 and sending the series to Boston tied at a game each (photo: Ronald Martinez-Getty Images)
Finally, as I flipped back and forth between the NHL and NBA games on Sunday, I was reminded of an old addage. While the seconds of the last 2 minutes of the basketball game melted slowly away, the final few minutes of the hockey game flew by. It took twice as long to play the final 2 of the Celtics-Lakers than to play the final 5 of the Flyers-Blackhawks, reminding me that if you only have 2 minutes left to live, you want it to be the last 2 minutes of an NBA game.
Wednesday Whimsey 06/10/2009
Posted by sportretort in mlb, NFL, nhl, Sports, Uncategorized.Tags: atlanta braves, crowds, detroit red wings, mark sanchez, nba, new york jets, NFL, nhl, pittsburgh penguins, signing, stanley cup, the finals, tom glavine
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Some random thoughts and observations…..
Flipping between game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals and game 3 of The Finals of the NBA reinforced my long held opinion that there is more crowd energy at a hockey playoff game than at an NBA playoff game. I will admit that I have attended many more NHL playoff games than NBA playoff games, but that building in Pittsburgh rocked from the first puck drop.
The raucous "white out" fans in Pittsburgh raised the roof all game Tuesday
What a game between the Red Wings and Penguins. Game seven on Saturday should be quite a battle. I know this series has been all about home ice and the last six game sevens in a finals series went to the home team. That’s why I’m picking the visiting Penguins to win the Cup in Detroit. They had more energy in game six.
No such luck in the NBA Finals. The underdog Orlando Magic won game 3 (their first at home) to make the series 2-1 Lakers. But If I were a Magic fan, I would be concerned that Orlando shot 62% from the field and still only won by 4 points. Sure, they sped the game up as they needed to do, and they broke the century mark for the first time in the series, but they can not continue to shoot at this rate. The Series is in the bag for the Lakers, probably in 6 games.
The way that the MLB Atlanta Braves treated future hall of fame pitcher Tom Glavine last week was disgraceful.
Tom Glavine deserved better treatment from the Braves
I have no problem that he was given his release. Baseball is a business. But all Glavine did for the Braves in his 17 seasons with them was to record 244 of his 305 career wins with them, make 8 all star games and win 2 Cy Young Awards. (He also had 2 All Star appearances during his 4 seasons with the New York Mets.) This guy gave his heart and soul to the Braves. He deserved better than to have been released after a rehab stint in A ball. The Braves organization showed a complete lack of class.
While we are on baseball, has anyone noticed that the hottest team in baseball currently is the Colorado Rockies with 6 straight wins? ……. No, I didn’t think so! Hey, 6 more and the Rocks will find the .500 mark.
Word out of New York is that the Jets and their first round (#5 overall) pick QB Mark Sanchez have reached a contract agreement. Sanchez was already in camp learning the system and is battling Kellen Clemens for the starting job. How refreshing to see a high skill position draft pick actually show that he wants to play, and not miss part of camp for a contract holdout.
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