I’ve stayed away from talking about the Rangers’ 4-1 series loss to the Penguins till this point… and I’m going to keep on refraining because, quite frankly, swearing uncontrollably may make for good comedy, but it won’t make for a good blog. Though there are some other things I’m willing to talk about on this relatively slow news day…
– Joba’s blown save: Yeah, that’s exactly what they call it when you come in to hold a lead in the late innings and blow it, regardless of whether Mo is actually the guy who would eventually come in to close it out (it only becomes a “hold” when Mo notches the save). The thing that worries me the most about this (Aside from the fact that he continually went to his 2nd (slider) and 3rd best (curveball) pitches instead of going after guys with his 95+-mph-heatseaker… and oh yeah, the fact that he gave up that bomb to Dave freakin’ Dellucci. I could live with it if it was Travis Hafner, but Dave Dellucci??? The guy isn’t exactly Kirk Gibson.) is that there were visible tears in his eyes when he retreated to the dugout… and despite all the sarcasm this blog is rife with, that’s not an exaggeration by any means. In fact, I’m surprised his waterworks (no, not that kind, you pervert) didn’t land him on every Red Sox blog from here to farthest reaches of Sox Nation. The Great Mariano had to endure tougher defeats before he became the G.O.A.T.– cough-cough Game 4 of the ‘97 ALDS cough-cough– and yet you never saw any tears well up in his eyelids, ever. I hate to say this ’cause I love Joba to death, but if he’s having a nervous breakdown over blowing a game in early May, I don’t want to be there for his reaction when he gives one up in October without an assist from a million swarming bugs. My gut tells me he’ll bounce back from this… but he better, otherwise the Yanks’ problems will be a lot bigger than any of us could have imagined.
- The Knicks’ coaching search: can this thing just end already? I know Donnie’s trying to do his due-diligence, but seriously, there’s really no other way to go here but Mark Jax. I hear ya, I hear ya, I like Mike D’Antoni too, but the guy walked into an ideal situation in Phoenix and now wants to leave when the going gets tough, which leads me to believe he’s not into the whole “franchise building” thing like Larry Brown. Plus, Donnie Walsh should be charged with murder if D’Antoni gets the gig ’cause his shortened rotation and break-neck style will put Eddie Curry six feet under by mid-November. And alright, Avery Johnson ain’t bad either. But he’s been the coach of a team that quit on him in the playoffs 3 years in a row (basically from Game 3 of ‘06 Finals on). Considering all that, how long would it be before the Knicks quit on him? Maybe the second week of training camp? Let’s just end the charade and hold the Jax press conference. I know he has zero experience and so-on and so-forth, but the guy’s gotta get his start somewhere, doesn’t he? Might as well be with a team that’s starting over from scratch, not to mention the one that plays in his hometown. The expectations will be low and he’ll get a fair amount of leeway– well at least as much leeway as you can get in NYC– which will be good for a rookie coach coming into a rebuilding situation. Seems like a no-brainer to me. Then again, these are the Knicks, Donnie Walsh or no Donnie Walsh running the show.
Alright, I promise you’ll hear from me about the Blueshirts in the near future… just as soon as I’m done constructing an effigy of Gary Bettman to light my bonfire this weekend.
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