Stephen Strasburg's journey to be the savior of professional baseball in DC seems over before it ever truly started. After an abbreviated rookie season that saw unbelievable numbers both on the diamond (92 strikeouts in 68 innings) and at the ticket counters, Strasburg will have season (this and next) ending Tommy John surgery.
With this kid in the fold and this year's number 1 pick as well, things were starting to look up for the former Montreal Expos. A franchise which has been largely a joke since the strike-shortened 1994 season where they had the best record in baseball when the season was called off. But Strasburg was supposed to be the start of a real turnaround in DC.
I'm not trying to say that all is lost. But with a 12-18 month rehab staring him in the face, Strasburg will not suit up again for Washington until at least 2012. And it will take him some time to get his rhythm back so we may even be looking at 2013. But let's face facts, rarely is a pitcher as good as he was prior to the surgery. Those 100 mph fastballs may simply be gone along with the ligament in his elbow.
One has to wonder if the weight of the expectation got too much for the kid and he was out there overthrowing every day, trying to prove to everyone that he was the next great thing. There must have been no injury indicators in his pre-draft workouts otherwise he never would have been the number 1 pick. So it begs the question of how a kid who seemed to have no injury issues suddenly get a worn shoulder (which earlier landed him on the DL) and now a blow elbow. I'm reminded of Pedro Martinez from the 1999 All-Star game. He was so hyped pitching at Fenway and striking out all 6 batter he faced (almost on 18 pitches) that he was damaged for the rest of the season.
For the sake of the Nationals, baseball fans, and Stephen Strasburg himself, I hope that he will recover and come back to fulfill the promise he showed this season. Unfortunately for him, his performance this season has shown what he is capable of when he is at his best. Anything less will be considered a disappointment whenever he retakes an MLB field in the future to the DC faithful. More pressure on a kid who already had too much.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Monday, August 16, 2010
Christmas in August
Who knew Christmas came in the summer? Got my confirmation the other day that I have won tickets to the Frozen Four in Minneapolis/St. Paul in 2011 through the regular NCAA lottery. This came as quite a surprise to me. I thought maybe next year when it was in Tampa and there are no college hockey schools in driving distance so there would be fewer entries. With the plethora (Si, El Guapo, I know what a plethora is) of schools close to Minneapolis, I assumed the flood would be such that I would not have a chance this year. Apparently my ticket luck is holding out lately.
I'm in (and now have preference for future years).
Minneapolis, here I come! Go Eagles!
I'm in (and now have preference for future years).
Minneapolis, here I come! Go Eagles!
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Face of the Franchise
As we approach the start of football season (which means hockey season isn't too far away either), the number one question that seems to be floating around Patriots camp is, "When will they sign Brady to an extension?" If he didn't sign (which I highly doubt as Belichick and Bob Kraft know how much Brady means to the franchise), that would a drastic change in what we have all come to know and love about the Patriots since their magical run through the 2001 playoffs to their first Super Bowl win. It got me thinking, if you look around the Boston sports landscape, many seen as the "face of the franchise" may be on their way out.
Celtics - Paul Pierce. Pierce recently re-signed with the team for 4 more years which will almost certainly take him to the end of his career. But in the past couple years, there has been a definite downturn in his abilities leaving some to even argue that it is now Rajon Rondo's team. I won't quite go that far but it is clear Pierce is on the downside and his time as the centerpiece of the Celtics are numbered. Add in the aging bodies of Ray Allen & Kevin Garnett and you see the whole make up of the men in green in serious flux.
Bruins - Zdeno Chara. This one is tough. Some will claim that it is Milan Lucic - but how can someone who barely even played last year be the face of the franchise. You could make a case for Marc Savard but his contract may soon be voided so his time with the Bruins is limited at best. Quite frankly, if the Bruins do lose him one might argue its a good outcome as they have been trying to unload Savard and his heavy contract all off-season, though I bet they would rather trade him than lose him to free agency. Which leaves us with Big Z, Zdeno Chara, who's contract is up at the end of the season. The Bruins are notorious for not giving big time free agents their due but that seemed to change when they signed Chara and Savard before the 2006-07 season. Whether they will be willing to part with big money to keep the Norris trophy winning blueliner remains to be seen. What is not a mystery is that if they don't, the Bruins would be parting with or actively looking to part with what was once considered the Big Three in Chara, Savard, and expensive goaltender Tim Thomas. That would certainly be a change.
Red Sox - David Ortiz. He has come to epitomize the attitude and the heart that Bostonians have come to love about their Sox since 2003. His smile, his size, and his production have made him a fan favorite. When David is on the DL or when he is in a slump, something about the team just doesn't seem right. The Sox have a $12.5 million option on Big Papi for the 2011 season. Will exercise or not? They almost certainly will part ways with Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek, and Tim Wakefield at the end of this season. Losing Ortiz as well will give this team a very different feel and no matter how loyal Red Sox Nation may be, losing that many local heroes in one year is a lot to absorb and the Sox may feel it in the worst place of all, their wallets. Personally, I think it is time to let him go and begin a new era. If that includes a guy like Adrien Gonzalez to make up the difference, so be it.
Any way you slice it - change is coming to Boston sports. Tom Brady will almost certainly re-sign (for more money than even he probably deserves but that is a discussion for another day). But for the other three major sports teams in Boston, the old guard are on the way out. This is the time when franchises either sink or swim. How do you replace the face of the franchise? We're going to find out.
Celtics - Paul Pierce. Pierce recently re-signed with the team for 4 more years which will almost certainly take him to the end of his career. But in the past couple years, there has been a definite downturn in his abilities leaving some to even argue that it is now Rajon Rondo's team. I won't quite go that far but it is clear Pierce is on the downside and his time as the centerpiece of the Celtics are numbered. Add in the aging bodies of Ray Allen & Kevin Garnett and you see the whole make up of the men in green in serious flux.
Bruins - Zdeno Chara. This one is tough. Some will claim that it is Milan Lucic - but how can someone who barely even played last year be the face of the franchise. You could make a case for Marc Savard but his contract may soon be voided so his time with the Bruins is limited at best. Quite frankly, if the Bruins do lose him one might argue its a good outcome as they have been trying to unload Savard and his heavy contract all off-season, though I bet they would rather trade him than lose him to free agency. Which leaves us with Big Z, Zdeno Chara, who's contract is up at the end of the season. The Bruins are notorious for not giving big time free agents their due but that seemed to change when they signed Chara and Savard before the 2006-07 season. Whether they will be willing to part with big money to keep the Norris trophy winning blueliner remains to be seen. What is not a mystery is that if they don't, the Bruins would be parting with or actively looking to part with what was once considered the Big Three in Chara, Savard, and expensive goaltender Tim Thomas. That would certainly be a change.
Red Sox - David Ortiz. He has come to epitomize the attitude and the heart that Bostonians have come to love about their Sox since 2003. His smile, his size, and his production have made him a fan favorite. When David is on the DL or when he is in a slump, something about the team just doesn't seem right. The Sox have a $12.5 million option on Big Papi for the 2011 season. Will exercise or not? They almost certainly will part ways with Mike Lowell, Jason Varitek, and Tim Wakefield at the end of this season. Losing Ortiz as well will give this team a very different feel and no matter how loyal Red Sox Nation may be, losing that many local heroes in one year is a lot to absorb and the Sox may feel it in the worst place of all, their wallets. Personally, I think it is time to let him go and begin a new era. If that includes a guy like Adrien Gonzalez to make up the difference, so be it.
Any way you slice it - change is coming to Boston sports. Tom Brady will almost certainly re-sign (for more money than even he probably deserves but that is a discussion for another day). But for the other three major sports teams in Boston, the old guard are on the way out. This is the time when franchises either sink or swim. How do you replace the face of the franchise? We're going to find out.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
In Perpetuity
Being a lawyer (by training if not actual practice) I have an affinity for contract terminology. Part of me would love to look at some player contracts and see what types of protections and conditions are affiliated with their contracts. How they decide to structure payment, etc. Lately, it's NHL contracts that have become increasingly interesting, mostly because they have become increasingly long.
A few years back when Rick DiPietro signed a 12 year contract everyone thought that the Islanders were crazy to sign an injury-prone, though young, goaltender to such a long deal. In this day and age few players ever stick with a club for that long. But since then multiple stars have signed these long term deals as they help the clubs manage payroll in the salary cap era. This has gone on right up to Ilya Kovalchuk signing a 17 year deal with the Devils yesterday. 17 years?? To quote WWE star the Miz, "Really?? Really??"
Forget the fact that there is zero chance that Kovy stays with New Jersey for 17 years, is he even going to be playing in 17 years? He'll be 44. Granted there are guys that play into their 40's (Mark Recchi will be 42 when we laces up for the Bruins next season) but they are few and far between. All it takes is one serious injury and 27 years old becomes retirement. Now should Kovalchuk start of a downward slide in 5 years, trying to trade him may become problematic if there are still 7 years left on his deal whether he's owed a lot of money or not.
It seems absurd to me to make these time commitments to players from a team perspective. I know that the Devils don't intend for Kovalchuk to be around for 17 years. They can't be that stupid but I wonder if the threat of the KHL doesn't play in here because now Kovy is stuck in the NHL for the rest of his playing days and I know some KHL teams were making offers to him while he was mulling deals from LA and NJ. I think teams are losing flexibility with these long deals and paying players on performance they have not earned. Look at Chicago who is saddled with long deals to Toews, Kane, and Hossa and had to jettison some major pieces to their Stanley Cup winning team in order to stay within the cap. It had an almost Florida Marlins feel to it watching Byfuglien and Ladd (and Patrick Sharp probably going as well) getting traded so quickly after the season was over.
I know that the cap and the collective bargaining agreement make the owners sign these contracts but you have to wonder who will be hurting the most 5 or even 10 years from now when some of these guys are playing out contracts they ceased to be worthy of years before and teams are stuck putting them on the ice night after night because they can't trade them and don't have the money for a buy-out. Only time will tell.
A few years back when Rick DiPietro signed a 12 year contract everyone thought that the Islanders were crazy to sign an injury-prone, though young, goaltender to such a long deal. In this day and age few players ever stick with a club for that long. But since then multiple stars have signed these long term deals as they help the clubs manage payroll in the salary cap era. This has gone on right up to Ilya Kovalchuk signing a 17 year deal with the Devils yesterday. 17 years?? To quote WWE star the Miz, "Really?? Really??"
Forget the fact that there is zero chance that Kovy stays with New Jersey for 17 years, is he even going to be playing in 17 years? He'll be 44. Granted there are guys that play into their 40's (Mark Recchi will be 42 when we laces up for the Bruins next season) but they are few and far between. All it takes is one serious injury and 27 years old becomes retirement. Now should Kovalchuk start of a downward slide in 5 years, trying to trade him may become problematic if there are still 7 years left on his deal whether he's owed a lot of money or not.
It seems absurd to me to make these time commitments to players from a team perspective. I know that the Devils don't intend for Kovalchuk to be around for 17 years. They can't be that stupid but I wonder if the threat of the KHL doesn't play in here because now Kovy is stuck in the NHL for the rest of his playing days and I know some KHL teams were making offers to him while he was mulling deals from LA and NJ. I think teams are losing flexibility with these long deals and paying players on performance they have not earned. Look at Chicago who is saddled with long deals to Toews, Kane, and Hossa and had to jettison some major pieces to their Stanley Cup winning team in order to stay within the cap. It had an almost Florida Marlins feel to it watching Byfuglien and Ladd (and Patrick Sharp probably going as well) getting traded so quickly after the season was over.
I know that the cap and the collective bargaining agreement make the owners sign these contracts but you have to wonder who will be hurting the most 5 or even 10 years from now when some of these guys are playing out contracts they ceased to be worthy of years before and teams are stuck putting them on the ice night after night because they can't trade them and don't have the money for a buy-out. Only time will tell.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
My Cup Runneth Over
One finds it very difficult to watch the World Cup when there is a 6 hours time difference between where the games are being played and where I am. About a year ago I would have been able to actually watch the games on the work TV (located conveniently close to my cube) but recently the bosses decided to switch carriers and for some reason ESPN was removed from the channel list. CBS College Sports and the Golf Channel made the cuts but ESPN did not. Makes sense, right?
Anyway, because of this I have been prompted to only viewing things via the ESPN Gamecast and catching what I can on weekends and the brief half hour I could see before I left the house for the 7:30am start times. Over the course of the past week and a half I have however become the "go-to" guy around the office for the latest score updates and US scenario updates. But alas, Gamecast does leave a lot to be desired from watching it live. Somehow I managed to resist the temptation to just say to hell with work and just watch lots of soccer. Though I admit I will be taking tomorrow off with the explicit purpose of watching Portugal v. Brazil. I know that Brazil is already through and is basically playing for pride (especially without Kaka on the pitch) but I'm still hoping that Cristiano Renaldo and the boys can put Brazil away and maybe even win the group.
The real downside to watching Gamecast is that I can't even speak with authority no how a team has looked on the pitch. Though I did watch US v. England, I did not see the Slovenia game or the Algeria game today (Landon Donovan!!) and have to trust in other observers for their impressions of what transpired. From what I have seen online and what I have watched, the US has had ample opportunities to win all three games that they have played but have lacked finish (referee takeaways not withstanding). If things stay as they are at this minute the US will be looking at a date with a very good German team on Saturday and Klose will be back in the line-up after sitting today with a red card. The Germans do not lack finish and will destroy the US if they can't find the back of the net. If they want to prove the Confederation Cup win against Spain wasn't a fluke, they need to pull it together within the box and put some goals on the board.
Anyway, because of this I have been prompted to only viewing things via the ESPN Gamecast and catching what I can on weekends and the brief half hour I could see before I left the house for the 7:30am start times. Over the course of the past week and a half I have however become the "go-to" guy around the office for the latest score updates and US scenario updates. But alas, Gamecast does leave a lot to be desired from watching it live. Somehow I managed to resist the temptation to just say to hell with work and just watch lots of soccer. Though I admit I will be taking tomorrow off with the explicit purpose of watching Portugal v. Brazil. I know that Brazil is already through and is basically playing for pride (especially without Kaka on the pitch) but I'm still hoping that Cristiano Renaldo and the boys can put Brazil away and maybe even win the group.
The real downside to watching Gamecast is that I can't even speak with authority no how a team has looked on the pitch. Though I did watch US v. England, I did not see the Slovenia game or the Algeria game today (Landon Donovan!!) and have to trust in other observers for their impressions of what transpired. From what I have seen online and what I have watched, the US has had ample opportunities to win all three games that they have played but have lacked finish (referee takeaways not withstanding). If things stay as they are at this minute the US will be looking at a date with a very good German team on Saturday and Klose will be back in the line-up after sitting today with a red card. The Germans do not lack finish and will destroy the US if they can't find the back of the net. If they want to prove the Confederation Cup win against Spain wasn't a fluke, they need to pull it together within the box and put some goals on the board.
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