Devils goals to Ilya Kovalchuk (30),Patrik Elias (20 empty net),Mattias Tedenby (8) and Henrik Tallinder (5).
New Jersey wraps up a disappointing season this weekend with afternoon games against the Rangers and Bruins.
I have been asked questions about Tuesday's evening with the Hagerstown Suns from three different venues-Email,Facebook and Phone,so I'll try to offer some more opinions on the outing.
Putting Bryce Harper aside,I suppose the one thing that I find fault with is this-The game was cancelled early in the day,so I assume that the autograph/talk to the team session was planned early enough that the team had printed flyers and posted them at the box office as well as around the stadium.
Someone couldn't have thought ahead enough to organize a little bit?
Even if just to have the players sit at the picnic tables down the line for 20 minutes?
Keep the line moving by limiting to one or two items due to time constraints?
The players were gracious enough in signing,but since no roster with names or numbers on the website was available to know who is who,how would you know?
One fan ( not someone I knew) complained to a Suns employee about the lack of any kind of organization or thought to this and the response was "Well,it was a last minute perk".
I took it this way from hearing the tone of voice to be "Take what you get and shut the hell up".
As far as Bryce Harper goes and I don't really have much to say about it,but I would like offer this to those of you that contacted me about being disappointed with his signing habits,especially to those of you that traveled a long way to hopefully have him sign,one of which told me the time was hourS and the multiple was more than two as well as what to do about it.
Bryce Harper has publicly stated that he is signing for kids only,so if you are traveling long distances in the hopes to have him sign something-don't bother.
If you want to see him play,I encourage you to do so soon as a fast start with the bat will likely see him in Potomac,perhaps as quickly as before the Suns second homestand.
The other common thread that I heard from the various talks that I had was about contacting the Suns to complain about Bryce Harper.
Feel free to do so,but I am not and they are pretty much unable to do anything.
The Suns management have no more control on who signs and who doesn't anymore than Potomac will or Harrisburg and on it goes.
If you choose to complain and I still think it will go on deaf ears-write the Nationals.
They are the only people that have a slim chance of getting players to listen.
Tell them how unhappy you are with players that will be Washington Nationals and that gives you a negative opinion of the franchise years down the road when your perception of a player is made from the image of the night that you met them.
The Nationals are still in their infancy compared to the Orioles and they are fighting a battle for fans,both now and for the future,they may listen-I doubt it,but it may be a better chance of changing things....
The Suns have very little that they can do with this matter.
Even with the missteps,it still wasn't a bad evening totally as I was able to see and have Davey Johnson sign two cards.
What a class act,I might have to dig out my book by Johnson that he wrote while managing the Mets to have him sign....
Sorry to say goodbye to Hall of Fame boxing trainer Gil Clancy,who passed at the age of 88.
Clancy was most noted for his handling of welter and middleweight champion Emile Griffith among many,but I'll always remember Gil for his mic work for CBS boxing in the heyday of the seventies and eighties.
Straight spoken,but with class-that was Gil Clancy.
He will be missed.
Ryan sends us this link on former Pirate managers that are looking for a second chance in the bigs as a field boss.
I didn't think much of Lloyd McClendon or John Russell as a manager,although I liked McClendon a lot as a player as I have always had a soft spot for guys that play lots of positions.
The one edge I give McClendon was that he always seemed like he cared,which is more than I could say for Russell,who seemed like he was asleep half the time...
Great article on the 1996 Tournament upset by UCLA by Princeton in Time magazine of all places.
It is written by Time writer Sean Gregory,who was a backup on that Tiger unit.
Gregory also writes a terrific piece on then Princeton coach and noted hoops wizard Pete Carril,which well worth the time,no pun intended....
Battlin' Bob (who really needs to meet Bryce Harper) sends us this note on the invasion of the Emerald Ash Borer into Pennsylvania.
This doesn't seem to be a big deal until woodpeckers go after the EAB,which they love and then the tree weakens and dies.
The EAB loves the Ash tree and to an lesser extent the Oak tree to the point that trees are being devastated by the pest.
This is a baseball note as well,as bat maker Louisville Slugger uses much of its wood from ,you guessed it,-Pennsylvania Ash trees..
Finally,for the wrestling guys (and gals) out there,the always entertaining Scott Bowden at KFR looks at his votes for the five of the greatest matches that the "King of Memphis" Jerry Lawler has ever had.
Worth a watch for those of you that like Lawler and those that know him more as a commentator....
2 comments:
At the STH giveout last night, it was mentioned that Harper will sign for older women, as in folks that can legitimately say "will you sign for my grandson?" Probably not much help, but it does give you an idea that he's not entirely heartless.
No comment on the rumor that my kids are available for rent for signing purposes ;-)
Now that's funny!
I don't think the guy is totally heartless and I think I'll get by if he doesn't sign,but I do think there will be people that will have a negative opinion of him as time goes by and that will not be helpful to the Nationals when they use him as the face of the franchise.
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