Archive for June 2008
Red Bulls Maintain Unbeaten Streak
30. June 2008 by critter.
On Saturday evening the Red Bulls hosted Chivas USA. I didn’t get to watch the match as naturally the overall unpopularity of soccer and MLS especially, leaves the Red Bulls with only most of their games being shown on MSG, while the others fall to either FSC or HDNet. Plus I was working anyway, but the lack of the HD left me unable to tape it, oh well guess this will be short and sweet then.
The Red Bulls started out strong with Dane Richards stepping up with his speed and making several strong rushes. When he got pulled down on a play, Dave van den Bergh came in and chipped a free kick that most thought would be redirected or stopped, but somehow curved its way into the net.
Just before the end of the half, Kevin Goldthwaite gave up a horrible turnover at the edge of the penalty box that Chivas’ Ante Razov snatched up and drilled it into the net.
The 2nd half saw Chivas dominate the play and posession, but once again stellar goalkeeping from Jon Conway kept the Red Bulls safe to capture a 1-1 draw.
Red Bulls were ONCE AGAIN without stars Claudio Reyna and Juan Pablo Angel. No timeframe for Reyna’s return has been set yet, however hints of Angel returning to the practice squad soon have been popping up left and right. The team could’ve been drowning in the league but reserve players have stepped up to really keep them in the playoff hunt.
Luckily they have made it through this recent gauntlet of matches against good teams and now have a couple of matches against the East’s last place, Kansas City and the West’s 2nd to last, Colorado. Hopefully the Red Bulls will get atleast one of their two missing stars come the middle of July when they face the juggernaut that is LA Galaxy. And hopefully the Red Bulls will some day strike a full deal with MSG or FSC to broadcast all of their games so I don’t get all cranky. I mean c’mon every wannabe guido in the US (and Westchester County especially) acts like they love and know everything about soccer since Italy won the World Cup. So why not offer them the most viewable games possible? Sure their tweezed eye brow, fist-pumping, blown out hairstyles will once again become their priority as their interest starts to fade realizing they have 2 more years before they can pretend to be a fan again….you might as well strike while the iron’s hot. Hell there’s atleast 30 or 40 of us that would certainly appreciate it.
Mets head to St. Louis
30. June 2008 by Glendo.
The Mets spilt the 4 game weekend series with the Yankees, winning the season series 4 to 2. It is only the second time the Mets won the season series with the Yanks, the Yankees now lead 37-29. The Mets played well against the crosstown rivals with maybe the exception of Friday night’s game. They got decent starting pitching, the bullpen looked good, and with the offensive explosion on Friday afternoon showed they can hit. All in all its a good way to start off this important 12 game stretch where they play good teams.
The Mets now travel to St. Louis to take on the wild card leading Cardinals. The Cards are 6 games ahead of the Mets in the wild card standings so this is a great opportunity to make up some ground and show that they are a playoff contender. The Mets will get the series started off tonight with John Maine, who will be followed by Tony Armas Jr. making his first start for the Mets. Hopefully Pedro can rebound from his poor performance against the Yanks. Pelfrey will look to continue his good pitching of late. The Met bats seem to be hitting a little better. David Wright is in a groove right now, he is 5th in the NL with 64 RBIs. Jose Reyes is 8th in the Majors with 99 hits. Also having Ryan Church back in the lineup and feeling good is only a plus and should help the Mets has they start the second half of the season.
MATCHUP
New York Mets (40-41, 3rd Place NL East/3 GB) at St. Louis Cardinals (47-36, 2nd Place NL Central/2.5 GB)
Tonight: Mets (John Maine, 8-5, 3.73) at Cardinals (Kyle Lohse, 9-2, 3.94) 7:05 pm ET
Tuesday: Mets (Tony Armas Jr., 0-0, -.–) at Cardinals (Todd Wellemeyer, 7-2, 3.46) 8:15 pm ET
Wednesday: Mets (Pedro Martinez, 2-2, 7.12) at Cardinals (TBA) 8:15 pm ET
Thursday: Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 5-6, 4.47) at Cardinals (Joel Pineiro, 2-3, 4.33) 8:15 pm ET
Notes: The Mets finished their inter-league schedule with a 9-6 mark. The best record in the NL along with Cincy. Atlanta was the only other NL team with a winning record versus the AL.
Walsh, D’Antoni, Gallinari
30. June 2008 by gchacko.
Danilo Gallinari has arrived and Donnie Walsh’s resume as President of Basketball Operations has begun to take shape. Regardless of your individual take on Gallinari, he is now a significant part of the future of Knicks basketball.
Gallinari’s preference for playing in New York along with his father’s relationship with D’Antoni have been well documented. There is no question that Walsh made this choice to appease his new head coach. Walsh - who admitted to not seeing Gallinari play in person - relied heavily on his scouting staff for direction. Reportedly, Isiah Thomas was one of the individuals who influenced Walsh to make the selection. Walsh would go on to say Thomas told him “this kid won’t back down”. For fans who thought the days of Thomas having a say in current affairs had come to an end, sadly this is not the case.
According to scouts who have watched Gallinari play in the Euroleague, he is touted as a point-forward with a polished jump shot. Scouts say he is a competitive & intense athlete. Scouts cite his lack of lateral quickness, reliance on the three-point shot and struggles on the defensive-end as areas for improvement.
The level of skepticism around Walsh’s selection is not without reason. Just two years ago, fellow Italian forward Andrea Bargnani was selected 1st overall by the Toronto Raptors. Known as “Il Mago” (the Magician), Bargnani was hailed as a revolutionary seven foot talent who would take the league by storm with his dazzling array of offensive ability, which included a “lights out” touch from outside. Like Gallinari, Bargnani won the Euroleague Rising Star Award and was seen as the next Dirk Nowitzki. Two years later, he’s been publicly criticized by teammate Chris Bosh and mentioned in trade rumors. Moreover, the Raptors decision to acquire Jermaine O’Neal to pair with Bosh speak volumes about their view of the former top pick.
Gallinari will ultimately end David Lee’s tenure in New York. Trading Lee for Raymond Felton may fill the need for a pass-first PG, but this trade rumor may not have legs. With Larry Brown on the bench for Charlotte, he may advise the team to look for another trading partner should they deal Felton. Hopefully the hype around Gallinari will pan out and lead to more wins for a playoff-starved organization. At a minimum, Gallinari needs to silence his critics and show he was worthy of the 6th pick. If not, Walsh will find himself in this position again next year debating on whether to take California’s Brandon Jennings or Spain’s Ricky Rubio as his point guard of the future.
Knicked?
28. June 2008 by gchacko.
The selection of Italian forward Danilo Gallinari could mean the end of David Lee’s Knicks
career.The Knicks could be working on a deal with the Charlotte Bobcats to acquire point guard Raymond Felton for Lee, who played for Bobcats coach Larry Brown.
Coincidentally, the Bobcats selected Texas point guard D.J. Augustin with the ninth overall pick. Charlotte’s second point was French center Alexis Ajinca.
When Mike D’Antoni coached the Phoenix Suns he gave the front office a the thumbs-down to drafting Lee because he felt that Lee wasn’t a good enough shooter.
The Knicks had spoken to the Memphis Grizzlies about trading Lee and Malik Rose before the draft to acquire the fifth pick.
I really like Lee, he is the only one thats showed hustle all last season… but reality is we desperately need a PG and Felton would be a step in the right direction… only if we can figure out a way to get rid of Steph, Curry and Randolph…
The Road to the Euro 2008 Championship Match
27. June 2008 by sid.
Well… It’s here… The match that everyone who’s been following this wonderful tournament has been waiting for… the 
match for all the marbles… the match that separates the winners, from those soon forgot in the years to come… Germany versus Spain for the 2008 European Championship.
The two teams involved in this championship final took two very different paths to reach here. Germany (a member of group B) played its first game to a 2-0 victory against the Poles. Its second game was the one that was supposed to determine what the German’s were made of. They were favorite (along with Croatia) to advance through their group. The other group’s favorite however came up victorious with a 2-1 victory over the Germans. The third game would be decisive for the Germans. They were facing the tournament co-hosts, Austria. The Germans would have to play, in Austria, in front of an away crowd, and would have to win. The game itself featured the worst officiating of the tournament…{cont}
Click here to read the rest of the story…
SUBWAY SERIES
27. June 2008 by Glendo.
The Mets and Yankees finish off the 2008 Subway Series this weekend starting with a two stadium doubleheader today. These will be the last Subway Series games in Yankee and Shea Stadium barring some kind of miracle where both teams make the World Series.
The Mets are coming off a horrible series with the Mariners were they dropped 2 of 3 games. They hope to come out and play well against the Yanks, which they usually do. The day off yesterday should help them in today’s two games. The Mets are now just 2 games back in the lost column despite going 8-7 in their last 15 games. They have actually picked up 4.5 games on the Phillies, who continue to struggle. The Mets look to get the season win with the Yankees as they lead 2-0.
The Yankees are coming off a shortened series split with the Pittsburgh Pirates after last nights rain out.
THE MATCHUP
NEW YORK YANKEES (42-36, 3rd Place AL East/5.5GB) at NEW YORK METS (38-39, 3rd Place NL East/3.5GB)
Today’s Doubleheader:
Game 1 at Yankee Stadium: Mets (Mike Pelfrey, 4-6, 4.30) at Yankees (Dan Giese, 1-2, 0.64) 2:05pm ET
Game 2 at Shea Stadium: Yankees (Sidney Ponson, 4-1, 3.88) at Mets (Pedro Martinez, 2-1, 6.57) 8:10pm ET
Saturday: Yankees (Andy Pettitte, 8-5, 4.04) at Mets (Johan Santana, 7-6, 2.93) 3:55pm ET
Sunday: Yankees (Darrell Rasner, 4-5, 4.50) at Mets (Oliver Perez, 5-5, 5.29) 1:10pm ET
Knicks Draft Gallinari
27. June 2008 by JJK.
The New York Knicks drafted Italy’s Danilo Gallinari with the 6th pick in the 2008 NBA draft.
Gallinari was greeted with boos at The WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden. The Knicks needed to address their point gaurd issue but they drafted another foward. Whoever the Knicks were going to draft, if their last name wasnt Rose, Beasley or Mayo, the crowd was going to boo the pick.
Danilo Gallinari impressed most people with his honesty on the boos he received. “It’s part of the game,” he said. “All players hear this. You can’t always hear good things. So it’s normal. It will be up to me to earn the applauses. I’m extremely happy nevertheless. New York reminds me of Milan, this for me is the best solution.”
Gallinari has a lot of upsides that people are not familiar with. Gallinari wowed the Knicks at his pre-draft workout. He did not play college basketball like the top four picks so people do not know what to expect. He has played pro basketball in Italy. He is regarded by scouts as the best pure shooter in Europe. At 19 years old he has been the leader of his Italian team, Armani Jeans Milano. Walsh called Gallinari a “unique package, with his size 6′-9″ frame (6-10 with shoes) and shooting ability, his ball-handling ability. We think he is going to grow. And we think he has the kind of game that can bring people together and make people better.”
As for the booing of Gallinari on draft night, D’Antoni had the last word. “I’ll be more worried about their booing him next year,” he said. “And that won’t happen because they’ll appreciate his intelligence and the way he plays the game and how hard he works. They’ll see his potential.” Even if they didn’t Thursday night.
For more on Gallinari, CBS Sports has indepth player profile on him: http://www.sportsline.com/nba/players/draft/1619315
Happy Birthday George!!!!
26. June 2008 by rich.
Happy Birthday to George! The Big 2-8! Wooo!
Nets and Bucks Complete Deal: RJ for Yi
26. June 2008 by rich.
The Buck have agreed in principle to trade Yi Jianlian to the Nets for Richard Jefferson, two league sources told SI.com.
The Bucks also are sending Bobby Simmons to the Nets.
Pre draft chatter…
26. June 2008 by gchacko.
- Jermaine O’Neal is very close to becoming the newest member of the Raptors 
as Indiana and Toronto have agreed in principle to a blockbuster trade, according to Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports.
The Pacers will reportedly send O’Neal to the Raptors in exchange for T.J. Ford, Rasho Nesterovic and the 17th pick in Thursday night’s draft.
- In an attempt to revamp the Knick roster and create salary cap flexibility, Walsh has been shopping the three Knicks with the largest contracts: Zach Randolph, Eddy Curry, and Jamal Crawford.
- With it being unlikely that O.J. Mayo will fall to New York at pick six, Knicks’ President Donnie Walsh is believed to be exploring ways to move up to either third or fifth with Mayo the primary target, the New York Post is reporting. According ESPN.com, the Knicks even discussed a trade with Memphis about acquiring the fifth pick altogether, in dealing David Lee and Malik Rose for Brian Cardinal, who has two years left on his pact.
-While no trade demand has been issued, dissatisfaction from Shawn Marion over his long-term outlook in Phoenix contributed to the Feb. 6 trade that sent him along with guard Marcus Banks to the Heat for center Shaquille O’Neal. Marion had been off-limits for a trade, by league rule, until his opt-out window closed. At 6 p.m. Tuesday that changed. Now options with Marion can be explored, possibly those including picks in Thursday’s draft. One permutation would be the Knicks‘ No. 6 pick and guard Stephon Marbury, who holds an expiring contract, for Marion and center Mark Blount.
