Sunday, September 09, 2007

Yanks Sweep; Extend Wild Card Lead

It appears that all systems are a go right now for the Bombers.

A-Rod is starting September as if it were April all over again. Wang continues to be in the hunt for his first Cy Young as he is leading the league for the 2nd straight season in wins. The series in Boston will determine who gets that hardware. Heck, even Kyle Farnsworth is gaming right now.

Matsui and Giambi are slumping, Moose is set to get another start, and I'd like to see Duncan get more time. Other than that, I can't find too much to gripe about.

You Can Quote Me On That: From the mouth of Old Prof. in April, May, June, July, and 7 times in August: "The Yankees are not making the playoffs". With a 4 game lead in the Wild Card and less than 20 games to go, the Yanks are saying otherwise.

Off on Monday, then 3 games in Toronto.


NY Football Giants: Look, I'm not going to kid myself with this season, the Giants were mathematically eliminated the instant they opted to extend Tom Coughlin's coaching contract instead of giving him the boot like he deserved. I sense I'm going to be repeating myself quite a bit as the season goes on so here's the first time I'm saying it for the '07 season: Coughlin should be fired right now. Period end of story. Evidence for week 1, a game they should have won is as follows: injuries, missed tackles, missed reads, suggest ineffective preseason, which is entirely on the coaches. Due to a continuation of piss poor playing calling, he put the franchise player at risk several times, finally coming home to roost on a bad 2pt conversion call (Manning by the way was excellent). Finally, he has ruined the career of a bright young NFL prospect in Mathias Kiwanuka by moving him to LB from D-Line. Anyone who knows football knows you can move players forward (safety to backer, backer to line, etc.), you cannot move them backward. Kiwanuka now plays with reserve and pause and allowed the TE from Dallas to have a career game. Bottom line, Couglin has to go, the sooner the better.


So here I am, one of my team's is surging, the other, not so much. Things could be worse, and at the end of the day, I have a feeling that all will be good come October.

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yanks called up:

Karstens! Henn, DeSalvo, and Kei Igawa.

Mid

Anonymous said...

Looks like the Tigers will have to shut down Bonderman for the rest of the season.


And my Patriots are ready to reel off a nice little 14-2 season.

Bills will go 6-10.

Cower or Parcells to the Giants in '08.

old professor said...

Mid,

Glad you seem ready to quote me regarding statements made in April regarding Yankees making the post season. Season is not over. Yankees have a very tough schedule ahead of them. Toronto will not be a cake walk, Baltimore has a winning record against the Yankees and for some reason, Tampa Bay plays the Yankees like it is the post-season. Oh and yes they have a series with Boston coming up as well.

Fact, the Yankees have only two starters that have put on CONSISTENTLY good starts and that would be Petitte and Wang. Clemens gives them five innings and has been anything, but lights outs, Mussina has been anything but consistent and Hughes is still 21 and pitching into a month where he normally is at home or headed to an instructional league.

The three pitchers recently called up are not going to be the Godsend they need.

Also since you are so ready to quote others, I believe in several of your blogs you questioned keeping Farsnworth, now you seem ready to jump on the Farnsworth bandwagon.

Regarding the Giants, it is the first game. Yes the linebackers looked pathetic in coverage. And if memory serves me right You resisted moving from linebacker to defensive end for an entire year, then you saw the light. Kiwanuka was drafted as a defensive end, but it turns out he is too small to play the position so they decided to move him to linebacker. (It isn't like he was a slow plodding linebacker who had to move to defensive end).

Offensive play calling was not bad. The Giants had a good running game and Eli played well. Injuries are a part of the game and will always happen. Uminora was hurt by being hit on the knee from the side, and Jacobs hurt a knee because of the number of people bringing him down. Neither of those injuries were because of the coach.

Anonymous said...

Wait just a !@##% minute Scooter - you like the Patriots???!! a team in the New England area?

A nation weeps..

Anonymous said...

Yea I thought I'd be able to slip that Patriots thing past you guys.

Hey, I do live in Connecticut ya know.

For the record:

MLB: Yankees
NFL: Pats
NHL: Rangers
NCAA Hoops: Uconn
NCAA Grid: Rutgers
NBA: Have not watched a minute of the NBA in 5 years.

old professor said...

Mid,

Just a follow-up to your feelings the Yankees are a lock for the playoffs with a four game lead - since Boston is up by 5.5 are you conceding the division to them?

On a different note, Russ Olendorf had his contract purchased from S-W. In order to put him on the 40 man roster, Andy Phillips was put on the 60 day DL. It definately eliminates him from further consideration this year. However, next year, if he his activated, someone else goes or Phillips gets released (same holds true for Pavano, Sanchez, and Rasner).

After the season he put in, Phillips should be the number 1 candidate for first next year.

By the way mid. The October 7 game for the Giants was sold out, now opting for the game in late October with the 49ers. Never a bad seat in the house.

Anonymous said...

I think both the Patriots and the Colts have a legit shot at 16-0.

If Coughlin gets fired, then I would consider going to the game.

Am I conceeding the division - no, I am saying worst case is WC.

old professor said...

Sorry Mid, the 49ers are also sold out. Looks like next year for the giants or Yankee playoffs this year.

As for future coaches for the Giants, Parcells won't come out of retirement. Besides, he now has a nice house near the National Golf course in Saratoga to relax at. Cowers would be a good choice, but would be a reincarnation of the Coughlin approach.

57 said...

Let's see how well A-Rod does in the playoffs if the Yanks actually get in.... the pressure will be on three fold, and 52+ homers wont give a damn with 2 on two out in the 9th against the K-Rod... or Billy Wagner!!

Mets are starting to peak for the first time this year. Who is worred and WHO IS YOUR DADDY???? 2-0!!!! That's right... the illusion has become real (a once famous Wall Street icon said).

The Buffalo Bills will be, at least, 8-8.

Scooter get off of the New England bandwagon.. Tuna left there years ago... The Jets are your team

Greg Sciano will be the Giants head coach next year! Mark it down.

The Giants are going to be 6-10 and Coughlin will be fired by mid-year.

57 said...

Oh, and Charlie Weis will realize, for once, that ND is a school that will always choose the grades over the gridiron... that is why they hired Weis; they thought he could take chicken shit and turn it into chicken...well, Weis has been around excellence his whole carrier and his patience will run thin very quickly. Look for a move LONG before the contract expiration date.

As much of a ND fan that I am, I am sorry to say that they will never ever compete for a national championship if they keep screwing up their priorities. NBC must love the fact that no one will give a damn about watching the Irish this year after their past two performances... Dick Ebersol has his work cut out for him.

You can take your $40 million dollar coach and sprinkle in a national TV contract, but I'll see your TV contract and raise you a shutdown corner and running back both with an SAT score of 900.... i'll take a bunch of those kids and ND wont have to worry about national exposure for networks will come to THEM!!!

Aggravated....

Anonymous said...

Eli Manning is out for what looks to be two weeks.

old professor said...

It is obvious our beloved Muts fan must have stopped at a local watering hole prior to writing in the blog.

First let me poke some holes in your balloon. The Muts play in the National League East which is probably the weakest of all of the divisions in baseball. Second, they are playing in the National League which is probably equal to Triple A, and third, they are relying on more age to get them through the post season than the Yankees. Hernandez, Martinez and Glavine are all over 40 (and only Glavine can document his real age). There will be a breakdown in that rotation.

The Yankees faced Wagner when it didn't matter and with no pressure on either team and the Yanks seemed to be okay. There is only one sandman in NY and he can be found in the Bronx not Queens (and from a scientific stantpoint, apply enough heat to sand or fake sand (as Wagner is) and it turns to glass.

And now Notre Dame - The school has its priorities right. They believe in recruiting players that can read, write and speak as well as finish with a degree. This is something that Miami, Florida State, Florida, Oklahoma and Texas have yet to learn. In the long run, more of the players from Notre Dame will be productive community minded individuals versus dog hanging dog burning idiots.

Anonymous said...

AMEN, Prof.....Finally some sanity around here.

Anonymous said...

20 games over .500

over under on Moose earned runs tonight: 4
Mid

Anonymous said...

I'll sign up for six innings; four runs, right now.

old professor said...

Clemens revealed the MRI showed damage to his elbow. Two shots and he indicates he is ready to go. For how long (both game wise and for the season is anyone's guess.

I would have thought they would go with Kennedy versus Mussina.

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