We Want Instant Replay! (Or Do We?)

Throughout these MLB playoffs, there have been a high number of bad calls. Joe Mauer's fly ball down the left field line in New Yankee Stadium, Johnny Damon's sinking line drive yesterday that was "caught" and turned into a double play, etc. The question in everyone's head right now is if the MLB should institute a replay system beyond homerun calls. As much as everybody would like to think otherwise, the answer here is a simple "No, thank you".

A widespread replay review system in baseball would be a bad idea. I agree with homerun replays because of all the weird setups of the ballpark fences, but a replay system within the first 300 feet of home plate is unnecessary. How often do bad calls happen every game, on average? Maybe two? Of course in the playoffs these mistakes are blown up and put under a microscope, but baseball has been around for nearly 150 years with no replay and I think it is operating pretty well. Bringing a machine in to do a human's job in baseball would not work.

If there were a replay system in the MLB, how would it work? Would it be like the NFL where each manager could choose only two plays per game to "challenge"? Baseball is so rich in history, it would be almost a disgrace for little red flags to start flying out of the dugout during the game. Could you imagine Lou Piniella stepping one foot out of the dugout to throw a dinky red flag onto the field of play instead of going up to a base umpire to kick dirt on his shoes? Ridiculous.

How would the fans be notified of each challenge? Would the umpires start wearing microphones so they can talk over the loudspeaker? No one wants to hear C.B. Bucknor yelling in their ears. Anyways, baseball games are too long and slow paced as it is to just stop play for a decently close call. I am not even going to get into instant replay or machines making ball and strike calls.

In football, the play is going on so fast and there are so many different actions that occur within each game, let alone every drive down the field, that referees make mistakes all the time. Not because they are poor officials, just because missed calls happen all the time because of the nature of the game. In football, every play is dynamic. In baseball, there are only a few close calls per game. There are routine fly balls and routine ground balls that beat out runners by ten feet.

Every running play in the NFL could be a fumble, every thrown ball could be caught close to the out of bounds markers, and that is why they had to institute a replay system in football. I completely disagree with the NCAA's version of challenging anything and everything, as opposed to the NFL's red flag system, but that is another argument.

Back to Philly for games 3-5, should be some good baseball.

Fleury for Olympics

The 2010 Winter Olympics taking place in Vancouver are quickly approaching all of us. Now, most of us are probably reading this article in anticipation of one kick-ass article chronicling the favorites for the Curling Silver medal. Unfortunately, that is not the case. The focus here is the hockey and more specifically team Canada. Originally, an article about the plight of Team USA was in production, but what chance do they really have with Chris Chelios logging 30 minutes every game against Team Russia and the line of Kovalchuk-Malkin-Ovechkin. The focus here is on Team Canada, a squad that actually has a shot at the gold. The key for Canada, as in any crucial tournament in hockey is goaltending. Marc-Andre Fleury should be the starting goaltender representing the red maple leaf.

It seems to be a foregone conclusion that Martin Brodeur is going to be the starter for Team Canada unless he loses a leg from now until February. This basis is simply going on reputation and not actual performance. Since winning his third Stanley Cup in 2003, Brodeur has posted less than stellar marks in the postseason. In that time frame, the Devils have not gotten out of the 2nd round and it's hard to forget their collapse in the final minute of Game 7 against Eric Staal and the Hurricanes last year. Brodeur is past his prime and there is some suspicion that he never recovered from his shoulder injury that kept him out for six months last year. Choosing Brodeur to lead Team Canada would be a decision made out of pure nostalgia for his once dominant play. It's not 1995 anymore folks. Steve Yzerman needs to be smart and avoid the mistakes that Wayne Gretzky made in 2006. This is a hockey team, not an old folks home/retirement community for players that were once great.

After Brodeur, Roberto Luongo is the most commonly talked about choice for starting goaltender. This decision would most likely lead to Canada not even medaling at the Winter games. To say the least, Luongo has a less than stellar track record in the postseason. For one, he never made the playoffs with the Islanders and Panthers. In his two postseason appearances with the Canucks, he hasn't made it past the second round. Who can forget the shelling that Chicago put on him last year in Game 6 of their second round series, culminating in a Patrick Kane hat trick. Luongo has no track record of success when it matters most.

The only man who comes close in contention with Fleury is Cam Ward. But the decision making-process should go by "What have you done for me lately?" Fleury won a Stanley Cup last year and was in solid contention for the Conn Smythe trophy. Statisticians are still trying to average Ward's GAA in the Eastern Conference Finals last year. Fleury is a winner. He has a certain Grant Fuhr quality about him. He may not have the best regular seasons are set records in save percentage and GAA, but when it matters most, he's going to make the saves. To beat Russia and their unbelievably talented cast of forwards, Canada is going to need a goaltender that has the ability to stand on his head when it matters most. The man they commonly call "Flower" is the one to do it.

Where Have You Gonechar?

Settle down ladies and gentlemen. Sergei Gonchar will be out 4-6 weeks (most likely the latter), but we will be okay.

Remember when Crosby tried to commit suicide when we were getting shut out by the Lightning? We were okay for those two-ish months. Remember when Fleury tripped on the crease and landed wrongly? We were okay for those two-ish months. I think we can survive without Gonchar for one-ish month.

Skudra— I mean Skoula—will not be a Gonchar, but he will do enough. Thank goodness we have Goligoski to quarterback the power play, rather than the Ryan Shitney and Co. we had last year.

As long as Fleury is healthy, Pittsburgh will win the Atlantic. As long as Gonchar comes back when his time is up, we will be fine. I am not going to be a dick (Smizik) and say it is a good thing that Gonchar is injured, because THAT is good journalism. This is shitty journalism (a blog), so we have compassion for other human beings. Sorry.

Florida tomorrow. New Jersey saturday. 4-point weekend.

Cut the BS!

Besides the Phillies' 11-0 win this past sunday, every baseball game I can remember watching in October has been close, including the AL Central tiebreaker. And other than that 11-0 victory, I believe there has been a blown save in every single game as well.

Franklin blew a save for the Cardinals, aided by a Matt Holliday drop (seen below).

"Do I has it?"

Street blew a save for the Rockies, because Ryan Howard is raking and Jim Tracy is a dunce. Ol' Reliable, Joe Nathan, also struggled vs. the Yankees and barely escaped a jam in the tiebreaker game. Papelbon choked up a two-run lead for the Sox at Fenway to be swept by the Angels. We all saw Broxton heat up the dead center of the plate last night facing Jimmy Rollins (on a related note, how shallow were Kemp and Ethier playing in the outfield? You CANNOT let that ball get to the wall in that situation) and got walked-off on.

And Fuentes blew a save for LA(ofA) when A-Rod knocked his weak 0-2 fastball to the homerun suction section to right in the Bronx.

We do not expect Mariano Rivera to choke because it has been his job since 1970 and he never blows saves in October.

That was in November, smart ass.

The only guy keeping it together in the postseason has been Blidge. He seems to have reinvented himself after his poor performance during the regular season. He is 3-3 in save opportunities, and got the W yesterday when he struck out two after coming in with an inherited runner on base in the top of the ninth.

All of these blown saves brings up the question: Are the pitchers losing it, or are the hitters winning it? I believe the hitters are winning it.

As much as I joke, Rollins turned around a 99mph fastball yesterday. Any 99mph heat is going to be hard to make good contact with, even if it is right down the middle. I have watched Pirates baseball all year, but I have never seen so much clutch hitting late in games, in any previous postseason. These pitchers are making some pretty quality pitches, and the hitters are just returning them to open space.

Randy Wolf had only given up one homerun all season to lefties, and Ryan Howard hit number two last night. I am sure Wolf has made mistake pitches to lefties more than once in the regular season and had only allowed one homerun, but this time Howard made him pay for it.

This has been a postseason of mistakes on the defensive side of the ball, and the team with the bats has been taking advantage.

Yanks vs. Phils, DO IT.

Why Cindy Crysby is the Best Player in the NHL: Part I

I recently read an article in The Triangle, the independent student newspaper at Drexel University, about how Alexander Ovechkin is better than Sidney Crosby. Okay, that's fine for you to think that, I mean, it is one of the great debates in sports today. Well, maybe not all of sports because no one cares about hockey. But it is at least the most heated debate in the NHL. The beef I have with this kid is that he has no real proof that Ovechkin is better. I can tell he just watches Sportscenter's bi-weekly NHL coverage and agrees with whatever Barry Melrose says. I'm not going to go into citing this article because, honestly, it sucks. He contradicts himself throughout and barely makes any strong points. In almost every paragraph he makes a generalization based on his personal bias... I'll go into how Crosby is better than any other player in the NHL, including Evgeni Malkin and Alexander Ovechkin.

Myth #1: Sidney Crosby has Evgeni Malkin, and that is why he is good. Alexander Ovechkin has no support, and has to do it all himself.

Okay look, Crosby and Malkin have played on the Penguins for 3+ years now, and the only time they are consistently on the ice together is on the power play, which is when you put your best players, regardless of chemistry, on the ice together. DUH!

Penguins' fans have wished that Crosby and Malkin could generate some kind of even-strength chemistry together, but other than a few goals here and there, that has not happened. Probably because they are both centermen. DUH!

Let's look at Crosby's linemates over the years, shall we? Colby Armstrong, Mark Recchi, John LeClair, Michel Ouellet, Erik Christensen, Ryan Malone, Max Talbot, Petr Sykora, and now Chris Kunitz and Bill Guerin. Looks like a load of mediocre Wilkes-Barre players and some washed up old timers to me. Crosby has still put up 402 points in 296 games (as of 10/13/09).

I am not saying Ovechkin has had a better supporting cast, Dainius Zubrus, Chris Clark, Matt Pettinger, Viktor Vozlov, Michael Nylander, etc. I believe it is harder for a centerman to put up points without good linemates because he depends on them to put the puck in the net. A winger, like Ovechkin, can just shoot the puck a shit-load of times and get some goals, especially if you are as skilled as Ovechkin is and shoot it as many times as Ovechkin does.

To be honest, Ovechkin now has more talent wearing the Capitals' sweaters than Pittsburgh suits up with Crosby. Backstrom and Semin are stars in this league. Anybody who denies that is insane. Backstrom just emerged last season, and is already one of the best playmaking centermen in the league. Semin is similar to Malkin, in that he will roam around the ice and will make shots not many others can make (except Malkin is better, but we will not get into that).

It is clear that the Penguins are built around three solid centermen while the Capitals are built around their top line and hopefully they can score more than the other team can, and the only reason the Penguins can do this and still win is because Crosby, Malkin and Staal are good enough centermen that they make mediocre wingers into decent players.

Why Cindy Crysby is the best player in the NHL: Part II. Coming soon!