If It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix it

.....not yet at least.

OK, so the Yankees are off to their usual slow start (12-11 as of 4/24), but they actually look better this April than some recent years. And for the most part, their slow start this year was due to their batting - or lack thereof - not their pitching.

Now Hank Steinbrenner, who, with his brother Hal has been handling most of the day-to-day responsibilities in running the Yanks since 2005, recently expressed strong conviction that he wants to move middle-reliever Joba Chamberlain into the starting rotation.

When I first heard this, I was gung ho; Joba has shown that his young arm and 100 mph fastball has a lot of potential. But then I did some reading.

Mike Mussina aside, who's had a slow 2-3 start thus far, New York's starting pitchers have been performing pretty well through April. Chien-Ming Wang is a perfect 4-0 after five starts and the veteran Andy Pettitte is 3-1 after four starts. If the Moose picks things up like I know he will, that gives the Yanks a solid starting rotation after you throw in the up-and-coming Phil Hughes and other youngsters like Ross Ohlendorf and Ian Kennedy.

Not to mention the Sandman Mariano Rivera who still lurks in the Yankees' bullpen, already with six saves under his belt this season in only eight tries.

Joba has consistently proven that he is very effective as a middle-relief pitcher and a great set-up man for Rivera. In 2007, Joba gave up only one hit for every two innings he pitched, posting an anemic 0.38 ERA through 24 innings pitched.

However, if Steinbrenner - who also expressed the notion that it is not just him who wants Joba as a starter, but the whole of the Yankees brass - does put Chamberlain into the rotation, there will be consequences. That 100 mph fastball will likely drop to an average of 94/95, which is still impressive, but not as untouchable as if he were only pitching two or three innings. Also, Joba can be much more effective for the Bombers when he pitches three times a week, rather than once every five games.

But I think what changed my mind the most is realizing what Joba can do for the Yankees a little further down the line if he remains a relief pitcher. Rivera, who has had an amazing career with the Yankees, is unfortunately, not getting any younger. When it comes time for him to hang it up, which is inevitably soon considering this is his 14th season in pinstripes, Joba could turn into a perfect replacement. Instead of rushing him into the starting rotation, the Yanks should keep him as middle-relief, and focus their efforts on improving the other young-guns already in the rotation.

Althought I disagree with Hank on this issue, I'm excited for the future of the Yankees organization with him at the helm and Girardi taking the reigns as manager. I'll leave you all with a quote from Hank, one which will hopefully culminate by season's end:

"Red Sox Nation? What a bunch of bullshit that is...That was a creation of the Red Sox and ESPN, which is filled with Red Sox fans...Go anywhere in America and you won't see Red Sox hats and jackets, you'll see Yankee hats and jackets. This is a Yankee country. We're going to put the Yankees back on top and restore the universe to order."
- Steinbrenner in March 2008.

The Splendor, The Tradition.....The Masters

It began with a dream in 1931.

After his career ended, the legendary Bobby Jones, one of the greatest golfers the game has ever seen, began looking for land to develop a course that would truly highlight the ultimate golf experience. He found that available plot in Augusta, Georgia in 1931.

Teamed up with one of the great golf architects of the time, Dr. Alister Mackenzie, Jones designed and completed what would become the Augusta National Golf Club in 1933. A year later, the first Augusta National Invitation Tournament was held - later to become known as The Masters, despite protests by Mr. Jones.

One of the PGA TOUR's four annual Major championships, The Masters is the only tournament to be held at the same club each year. (The PGA Championship, The British Open and the U.S. Open all change venues from year to year.)

Being one of the most revered and tradition-filled tournaments in all of sports, The Masters embodies numerous annual traditions that players and past champions take part in.

The first, and most notable of these traditions, is the coveted Green Jacket. Members of the ultra-exclusive Augusta National have worn green jackets to the tournament since 1937, purchasing their jackets from the Brooks Uniform Company in New York. Starting with Sam Snead in 1949, winners of The Masters are awarded with a Green Jacket, and signifies membership to the club for one year. Although the jackets must be returned to Augusta after a year, they are made available to players when they visit the club.

Another tradition of The Masters is the Champions Dinner, started by Ben Hogan in 1952. Usually held on the Tuesday preceding each year's Masters tourney, the previous year's winner hosts a dinner for past champions. The winner chooses the meal, and pays for it.

Then there's the Par-3 Contest, held the Wednesday of Masters week each year. Started in 1960 and played on a smaller version of Augusta, which contains only par-3's, it is a fun and relaxing day for the players involved, who often bring their young children out on the course to caddy for them and even take some of their putts. Thought to be a curse if you win the Par-3 Contest - no one in the 48-year history of the event has ever won that year's Masters - players often spoil their rounds purposely to avoid becoming part of the curse.

Since it's impossible to talk about golf without mentioning Tiger Woods, he's on the hunt this year for his fifth Masters victory, having won the Green Jacket previously in 1997, 2001, 2002 and 2005. Tiger set a barrage of records when he first won the tournament in 1997, including youngest player ever to win (21 years, 104 days), widest winning margin (12 strokes) and lowest total score with a 270 (18-under par).

As of Friday at 2:50 p.m. the leaderboard is as follows:
1 T. Immelman -8 (68, 68)
2 B. Snedeker -7 (69, 68)
3 S. Flesch -5 (72, 67)
T4 S. Ames -4 (70, 70)
T4 P. Mickelson -4 (71, 3-under through 14)
T4 J. Rose -4 (68, even through 2)

Notables:
T20 T. Woods E (72, even through 3)
T31 E. Els +2 (74, even through 14)

2009 - New Homes for New York Baseball

So I was sitting in one of my television production classes last night, and we were having a roundtable discussion of story ideas for our next show. I, of course, had the brilliant idea of a piece about this year’s farewell to both Yankee AND Shea Stadium. Although some chick decided to steal my idea when it came time to assign stories, I got to thinkin’ about how monumental this is for the state of New York.

Since we’re all living on Long Island, if only temporarily, I guess I’ll start in our backyard. Shea Stadium, home to the 2007 Choke Artists of the year....I mean the Mets....is located in Flushing, Queens - a chip shot from Hofstra’s campus. Formally known as William A. Shea Municipal Stadium, it has been the home of the Mets since April of 1964, and has since hosted some pretty exciting happenings other than the blunders of the Mets.

Shea hosted one of the most significant concerts in music history back in August of ’65, when The Beatles began their North American tour, playing to a record crowd of 55,600. In addition to the Fab 4, other notable concerts at Shea include: Jethro Tull, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, The Who, Simon & Garfunkel, The Police, Elton John, Eric Clapton and the Rolling Stones, among many others. But most importantly for this writer, my hero Billy Joel will be playing the final show at Shea this July in a concert series aptly titled “The Last Play at Shea.”

Citi Field, the soon-to-be new home for the Mets, is already under construction in Willets Point, Queens, and is set to open for the 2009 season.

Now lets head over to the Boogey-Down Bronx, home of the greatest sports team EVER. Located at East 161st Street and River Avenue, Yankee Stadium has been home to the Bronx Bombers since 1923, with exception to 1974-75 seasons, when the stadium was under construction.

“The House that Ruth Built” as it came to be known, thanks to this guy named Babe Ruth, has hosted a record-26 championship seasons for the Yanks, by far the best by any franchise ever in the MLB, and a total of 37 out of the 84 World Series played since the opening of the stadium. However, after the 2008 season, the vast majority of this history-filled stadium will be demolished to make way for parking for the new stadium, which will also be named Yankee Stadium.

My man Billy Joel has a historic tie with Yankee Stadium too, having played the first rock concert ever in the venue in June of 1990, leading the way for other great acts such as Pink Floyd.

New Yankee Stadium, which has been under construction since 2006 in a lot adjacent to old Yankee Stadium, is also set to open up in 2009. I wonder how much tickets will cost come September and October if the Yanks overcome the adversity at hand and take a stab at the Fall Classic....

THE BEATLES - LIVE AT SHEA, "Twist and Shout" - August 1965: (listen to that crowd! and I wish I could make girls cry like that.)


BILLY JOEL - LIVE AT YANKEE STADIUM, "Miami 2017" - July 1990: (one of his best)

Twenty and Counting....

Well I'll be damned, T-Mac and the Rockets have made it all the way to 20-straight victories over the course of the last month and a half. Their 20th win, which came Wednesday night on the road against the Atlanta Hawks, puts them in a tie with the 1970-71 Milwaukee Bucks for the second-longest win streak ever recorded in the NBA.

One of the more interesting facets of Houston's streak is the fact that they've maintained their momentum despite losing their 7-foot-6 superstar Yao Ming to a season-ending foot injury in late February. Not to mention the fact that this is Head Coach Rick Adelman's first year with the Rockets.

But perhaps one of the craziest things about this streak is the fact that, despite Houston's domination since late-January, it hasn't even been enough to put them in first place. The Western Conference as a whole has been so wet this year, that the Rockets (44-20), who have gone from 10th to 2nd during their streak, are still a full game behind the Lakers (45-19) for the top spot in the west.

Another tasty tidbit for you statisticians out there - only three teams other than the 2007-08 Rockets have mustered up 19- or more game win streaks in NBA history, the 1999-2000 Los Angeles Lakers (19), the 1970-71 Bucks (20), and the 1971-72 Lakers, who set the NBA all-time record with an astounding 33-game win streak. And not only did these teams make it their respective year's Finals.....all three won. Looks like the Rockets have a lot to live up to....

Houston will have a chance to stretch their streak to 21 games Friday night against the Charlotte Bobcats.


Houston Rockets 4th Quarter Highlights (3/12):

BrettCenter

Brett Favre. Brett Favre. Brett Favre.

It's hard to turn on ESPN these past couple days without hearing that name at least once every minute or two.

OK, so I understand that he's one of the best quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen, but enough already with the round-the-clock coverage of all things Brett Favre.

Please note: the key clause in the above paragraph is one of the best. I know it has a lot to do with the offense you're playing behind, but for me, Favre isn't even top 5 all-time.

Sure, he was the iron man of football, much like Cal Ripken Jr. was for baseball, going an amazing 15 some-odd seasons without missing a game, but to me, a legendary quarterback is one who leads their team all the way to the big show consistently; and more importantly, brings the Lombardi trophy home. Unfortunately, earning only one championship on two trips to the Super Bowl, Favre lacks that leadership success that many other QB greats have enjoyed; i.e. - Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana at a whopping four Super Bowl Rings each, and Troy Aikmen and - as much as this PAINS me to write - Tom Brady are right behind with three each.

I watched the majority of Sportscenter the night #4 announced his retirement - at least as much Favre-facts as I could handle - and I would have to say about 40 of the 60 minutes was devoted to his coverage.

But despite their overkill, at least ESPN found the time to make fun of itself by opening up their 11 p.m. broadcast of Sportscenter with "Welcome to Brettcenter."

Finally, out of all the coverage and opinion and analysis that I've seen so far about Favre's career, I think the best job was done by Stephen Colbert last night on his eponymously titled fake news program. "Just to give you an idea of the impact of this man's career, OK, 61,655.......Wow. That is a lot.....of something.....very impressive."


Farewell to Brett Favre on Comedy Central's The Colbert Report:

Agudiooo!

After three and a half great seasons - and a handful of other records already under his belt - Hofstra basketball star Antoine Agudio became the Pride's newest all-time career-scoring leader last night in Delaware. He chalked up 24 points against the Blue Hens, leaving him with 2,236 for his career, passing the previous record of 2,222 set by Steve Nisenson, but the Pride lost the battle 74-69 after a bogus shot clock violation no-call.

And despite the team being on the skids, Agudio's been picking up steam. Each of his four years playing for Hofstra, his scoring averages have increased annually - 15.1 ppg freshman year; 17.2 sophomore year; 19.9 last year; and he's been droppin' dimes this year for 22.9 per game after 25 games played.

Not only does Agudio now stand as the Pride's all-time leading scorer, he's also their career 3-point leader with 273 and is third in the nation among active players in career scoring.

It's a shame Agudio, who's gotten better as he's matured here at Hofstra, and the rest of the Pride don't have the excitement of a winning season to accompany the senior's record-breaking season like they did earlier in his career. Hofstra's dismal 11-17 (7-10) record puts them at 8th in the CAA rankings, and their loss last night ended their last chance at finishing with a .500 record for the season.

I only wish Agudio was leading Hofstra to another exciting March and a run at the Big Dance, but we'll all have to settle for a sub-par season from the Pride this year. And who knows what's gonna happen next year; our lions will have lost their best two players (the legendary Loren Stokes said so long after last season) to this big thing everyone likes to call "graduation."

Being a senior myself, it's been a treat watching Agudio these four years, and I'm glad I'll be able to say I saw him all four years he was setting the record. Hopefully good things happen to him after graduation, and hopefully we haven't seen the end of this kid's basketball career.



Antoine Agudio Bio & Career Stats:
http://www.hofstra.edu/PDF/sports_mbb_08agudioflyer3.pdf

See ya, Kidd

After weeks of negotiations between the Dallas Mavericks and the New Jersey Nets, a trade agreement was met this Wednesday which, among other things, sent Nets veteran Jason Kidd back to his draft team.

Way back in 1994, Kidd was picked up by the Mavericks as the second overall pick in the NBA Draft, but traded just two years later to the Phoenix Suns. Four productive seasons later, during which Phoenix reached the off-season consistently to their 13^th playoff berth in a row, Kidd was traded again, this time to the New Jersey Nets, where he remained until Wednesday.

Already a league-leading player, it was New Jersey where Kidd made a home for himself and matured into one of the best guards the NBA has ever seen. Upon arriving in Jersey in 2001, following a dismal 26-56 record for the Nets, marking their third losing season in a row and sixth out of their last eight, Kidd vowed to turn them around and lead them to playoffs.

Kidd made good on that promise, leading the Nets to a terrific 52-30 record in the ’01-’02 season, earning them only their second playoff berth in the last eight seasons.

But the Nets didn’t just make the playoffs…they battled all the way to their first-ever NBA Finals appearance. Despite losing in four straight games to the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers, featuring the unstoppable duo of Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, it was a franchise-changing year for the Nets, mostly thanks to Kidd’s leadership.

So after five seasons at .500 or better, including back-to-back NBA Finals appearances, the New Jersey Nets have finally struck a deal with the Dallas Mavericks, and Jason Kidd is back to where he started.

As a fan myself, I'm a New Yorker at heart, but I've attended countless Nets games over the past two decades, and I've certainly seen them struggle through some rough times. But when Kidd came in 2001, I remember it was like watching a whole new team. All of a sudden, he used to make the two or three games I would see every year more about the Nets than the visiting team, and for that, he will be missed.

Kidd began his tenure with the Mavs last night in New Orleans, posting eight points, six rebounds and five assists in a 104-93 loss to the Hornets.