My Interview With Tina Cervasio

Knicks sideline reporter Tina Cervasio came on my tv show last night. Everybody check it out!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqNtTMISsNw

View from the Seats: Falcons at Giants Wild Card Game

The view from the seats comes from 336, row 17 right before Eli Manning hits Mario Manningham for a TD to make it 24-2 Giants. The Giants defense has pitched a shutout with the only points scored for the Dirty Birds so far coming from an awful safety. The Giants are 9:48 from meeting the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round.

Giants Saints Preview

Here is the preview of the Monday Night Game I did for 89.5 FM

Can Jets Stop Jackson?

The Jets worst defensive performance of the year was week 3 against Oakland. They allowed Darren Mc Fadden to rush for 171 yards on 19 attempts and 2 touchdowns. Fast forward to today’s game against the Bills and Gang Green is facing another physical back, who brings the same level of physicality McFadden does, as well as breakaway speed. This player is Fred Jackson, and the similarities to McFadden are striking. McFadden is 6 foot 2 210 lbs. Jackson is 6 foot 1 215 lbs. Both have breakaway speed, and run a majority of their plays up the middle with Jackson specifically garnering 284 yards and 30 touchdowns on 45 attempts.

While the Jets have always been good against the run, this year at least the stats have been somewhat misleading. The Jets have handled the short versatile backs, Ray Rice and Maurice Jones Drew fine but struggled against McFadden and Ben-Jarvus Green Ellis. In terms of running back style Jackson fits into the latter group, which is not good. Today represents a chance for the Jets defense to bring back their old swagger and physicality that they had in the second half against the Chargers. If the Jets defense bottles up Fred Jackson, the Bills won’t be able to establish a tone offensively, and without a fair balance between run and pass plays the Jets can key in on Fitzpatrick, once they stop Jackson.

Today is the day where we see how good the Jets defense is. In a must win game (even though I say every game is a must win game) the Jets have to rekindle the defense of last season, and dominate Buffalo on the line of scrimmage. In the Bills loss against the Bengals and their luck win against the Patriots Jackson struggled held under 75 yards in both games. If the Jets can hold Jackson to that type of game they will win, and in a season with 3 AFC East contenders a win today could make all the difference.

25 years a go today..........

October 25th, 1986 Game Six of the World Series. I still remember the Mookie commentary from a video on the 86 Mets "The ball shall not pass without offering." The famous/infamous squibber through Bill Buckner's wickets on a 3-2 count from Bob Stanley. The drama was pretty nuts if you remember 25 years a go. This 1986 Mets team may be my favorite sports team of all-time. I was reminiscing about them a little yesterday after having seen Doc Gooden on TV talk about missing the ticker tape parade because he was in the projects somewhere in Long Island whacked out on drugs.

Here is the full details of game six from baseballreference:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYN/NYN198610250.shtml

They won 108 games that year, many with suspense and drama in come from behind wins. They had a great starting rotation of : Gooden, Darling, Sid Fernandez (one of the game 7 heros in relief), Bob Ojeda (who they got in a package from Boston --- Mets sent Cal Schiraldi and others)

Gooden went 0-3 in the World Series as did Schiraldi. Can you believe the Sawx brought Schiraldi back out there in game 7 even after he threw 55 pitches in game 6? Perhaps it was because besides Bob Stanley their pen had guys like Al Nipper and Joe Sambito.

One thing I loved about this team besides having one of my favorite all time players Gary Carter (the biggest reason I started watching the Mets [I was an Expo fan b/c of Carter]), was the fact that they had stars(Carter, Hernandez, Strawberry), and they had characters like Mookie, Dykstra, Wally Backman, HoJo. I liked that they had 3 platoons going on, and it seemed like there was continually unlikely heros.

I might have to watch some youtube clips of the '86 Mets tonight to bring back the fond memories, or better yet maybe I can find that old VHS I have!

Fall Television Review

It's that time of year again: it's time to take a look at all the best shows on television. During the summer I ranked the shows and last year I just wrote my feelings on each one. This year? We go with superlatives like we're in our Senior year of High School. I have to admit: I don't watch every show on TV and I'm not a big fan of reality television. But here's what I got:

Claire Daines' Homeland is the Best New Show on TV (Showtime)

Best Show: Breaking Bad

This wasn't Breaking's best season (Season 3 certainly was), and there were some flaws to this season, but there is still no doubt this is the best show on television. Things with Walter White started out pretty poor when the season started and the show wasn't at its best for much of the season, but the leadup to the finale and then the finale itself were edge-of-your-seat awesomeness. I don't think I breathed for about 5 weeks as I watched the three-way showdown between Gus, Walter, and Jesse unfold. Mr. White and Mr. Pink (what else should I call Mr. Pink-man?) started out facing the blade of a boxcutter, but ended the season with their faces still in tact--which is much more than we can say for some characters (most brilliantly gif'ed here). Fabulous show that I miss already and cannot wait to see how they end it. Bonus Thought: It took me a week to be convinced that Walter White was responsible for a kid being poisoned. I don't know why, but it took me forever to feel like that was actually his doing despite the end of the episode. And I, like everyone else, should have realized what was going to happen in the episode as LOST's Damon Lindelof wrote on Twitter: "@DamonLindelof: The true brilliance of what happened last night is that we should have been spoiled by the TITLE OF THE SHOW ITSELF... and yet? Shocker."

Best New Show: Homeland

If 24 has to be off the air, at least I now have Homeland. It's gripping, engaging and all-too-real. And I have to agree with the critics who love this show. And we're three freaking episodes in! If I told you Claire Daines was going to star in a hit a thriller of a television show, you would have probably thought I was as bat-shit crazy as she seems to be on the show (and while she is great, she's nowhere near the top actor as Damian Lewis has stolen the show so far). But the writing is fantastic, the background stories have been engaging and, in true 24 fashion, I have no clue whatsoever where this show is going. I have my theories, of course, and I've read theories on line, but like Season 1 of 24, I don't feel like I can trust anyone (damn you, Nina Myers--you've ruined my TV innocence). I've really enjoyed it so far and, for bonus points, the people behind the show really love boobs. Bonus Thought: Saul=Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride. Thank you IMDB for helping me make that connection!

Funniest Show: It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia
 

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View From the Seats: Bills at Giants

The view today is from Section 143, row 15 as the New York Giants get ready to host the upstart Buffalo Bills. The view is of the G-men running in for their pregame introduction. It's a beautiful day for football and the seats are great, 15 rows off of the goalline.

The Giants have a must-win game here in Week 6 as they need to make sure to keep their lead in the division. The Bills have been the surprise team of 2011 and are looking to keep up their success against the G-men. The key will be avoiding the big turnovers and to stop the Buffalo running game.

Let's go Big Blue!

-Andrew

In a pickle..........

I think they summed it all up pretty good over at itsaboutthemoney.net :

http://itsaboutthemoney.net/archives/2011/10/04/so-its-come-to-this/

Don't bother even checking, I already did, and there is no rain in the forecast for Detroit tonight.All we can do is hope we can get to Porcello early and often!

Taking a Stab at the Yankees Playoff Roster

When your magic number is zero for anything you can play for, the two things to do is avoid injury and try to sort out a playoff roster. The Yankees have some interesting decisions to make this year, starting with who the heck is in the rotation. As we whittle down from 40 here's my thoughts about who should be the 25 guys the Yankees head into the first round of the playoffs with (hint: I will not be picking Scott Proctor):

This awesome picture (which you have to enlarge) is from @CreatureTV

The Starting Pitching:
CC Sabathia is their number 1 starter and although he didn't reach 20 wins this season, this was his best season in Pinstripes--and it's not even close. He had his best K/9, BB/9, HR/9, LOB%, ERA, FIP, xFIP, and has really taken the Yankees on his big back this year. I know Justin Verlander is a lock for the Cy Young, but there is a case to be made that Sabathia has actually had a better season. I won't make it, though. He's their numbers 1. And, for that division series, he should be going twice in the first four games. Yup, that means a 3-man rotation for the Division Series. I was a little worried about CC since his numbers have been pretty abnormal since that no-hitter start which kept on getting delayed because of rain, but if injury is not a concern, he should be going in Games 1 and 4 of the ALDS.

If Ivan Nova hadn't spent a decent amount of time in the minors this year, I think he runs away with Rookie of the Year. He's a very similar pitcher as Chien-Ming Wang--a groundball pitcher who gets a few strikeouts and relies on his fielders to make the plays around him. The difference may be that Nova has a chance to keep this up long-term as he has flashed the ability to finish off people with the strikeout. Now he just needs to stay healthy. Either way, he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down this season (unlike Hughes last year) and he's my pick to go in Games 2 and 5.

At any time this season (before probably two weeks ago) I told you that Freddy Garcia would be my pick for the number three starter, I would have even told myself I was crazy. But Phil Hughes has been dealing with back spasms, Bartolo Colon has been dealing with slowing down, and A.J. Burnett has been dealing with being himself. Colon has had the much better season overall, Hughes has the brighter future, and Burnett has the best chance of being dominant, but Garcia gives you consistency which is what the Yankees desperately need in Game 3. Colon hasn't won a game since July and since is 0-4 with a 5.58 ERA, .845 OPS, and 9 HR allowed in 50 innings. Garcia is nothing special and has had some injury issues but he's gone at least 6 innings in 17 of his 26 starts which is what the Yankees need out of their playoff starter with the bullpen they'll put out there. If Colon rocks it tomorrow, I may change my mind, but right now I go with Garcia.

Starting Lineups:
Against righties:
1. Brett Gardner
2. Derek Jeter
3. Curtis Granderson
4. Robinson Cano
5. Alex Rodriguez
6. Mark Teixeira
7. Nick Swisher
8. Eric Chavez/Jorge Posada/Jesus Montero
9. Russell Martin

Against lefties:
1. Derek Jeter
2. Curtis Granderson
3. Mark Teixeira
4. Robinson Cano
5. Alex Rodriguez
6. Nick Swisher
7. Jesus Montero/Andruw Jones
8. Russell Martin
9. Brett Gardner

Before you get all in a huff, let me explain position-by-position.

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View From The Seats: Yankees vs. The Team That Will Knock The Red Sox Out Of The Playoffs

The Yankees look pretty hung over from their champagne celebration last night: it's 7-0 Rays in the bottom of the 3rd. Tampa didn't waste any time, either, recording three runs before the Yankees recorded an out in the top of the first. Either the Rays have come back with a renewed sense of determination after losing the first three games of this series with their season on the line, or the Yankees' quadruple-A lineup is just overmatched and the team in general is tired and complacent after securing the AL East title last night. I'm going a bit more with the latter. The Yanks just look a little bit unfocused, which is more or less expected and, frankly, not a huge concern right now.

The upside is that a Rays win (assuming they hold on) would keep the pressure on the Red Sox, who seem intent on outdoing the 2007 Mets for the biggest September collapse in MLB history. So at least there's that.

Special H/T to Sonak for the primo seats!