Burning the Leafs and Biting the Sharks

Lots of parallels in the two victories for the New Jersey Devils.
Both wins by a 2-1 score,both wins were of the come from behind nature and both game winners were scored by the suddenly red hot Ilya Kovalchuk.
The only difference was the win in Toronto came in overtime,while last night's win over San Jose,Kovalchuk's game winner was with under four minutes to go in the third period.
Johan Hedberg picked up the win in both games in the absence of Martin Brodeur.
Devils goals against Toronto to Kovalchuk (18) and Dainius Zubrus (11),while the goals versus the Sharks to Kovalchuk (19) and Brian Rolston (8 power play).
The Devils return to action on Wednesday for the first of two game in four days against the Carolina Hurricanes with a game against the Rangers sandwiched in between....

Hell Raisers

1) The win over Toronto was the 600th for Jacques Lemaire as a head coach.

It doesn't seem like Lemaire had been around that long until I really started thinking about it and yep,I guess he has.

2) Ilya Kovalchuk is finally starting to put things together and not just because he is scoring goals either.
His pass to Brian Rolston in a 4 on 3 situation in the third period was a thing of beauty.
Kovalchuk's all round game is shaping up quite nicely,my only worry is that if Jacques Lemaire does not return as coach for next season,as he has claimed-will Kovalchuk regress???

3) As pretty as that was,the game winner against Toronto was even better!
Watch this one!


4) I also liked Anssi Salmela's play (He assists on the above goal) in the two wins.
Salmela is maligned by many Devil fans,but to me,he has the potential to be a solid puck moving defenseman.
Sometimes,it just takes more time than others....

5) As I suspected Anton Volchenkov was suspended for his dumb elbowing penalty against Carolina.
Volchenkov sat out both wins and will miss the Carolina game on Wednesday before being eligible to return....

6) Because of the suspension,the Devils had veteran Jay Leach in the arena in case of a need.
Leach was scratched shortly after being obtained from San Jose along with center Steve Zalewski for Patrick Davis and Mike Swift in a trade that was made to help the Albany defensive corps that has been hit so hard as part of the trickle down on the big club.

7) Fire and Ice had a post on Leach,who is married to blog favorite Kathryn Tappen of NESN.
I didnt know that and I'll have to find a card of Leach for his visit to Hershey when I go up later this season for my yearly trip to see the AHL Devils...

Photo Credits-AP

Time to act is now for Frederick Baseball

I was going to discuss the Devils 2-1 win over Toronto in overtime,but this subject takes precedence.

Take the Frederick Keys rumors of losing the market to the Independent Atlantic League VERY seriously.
I didn't when I saw the Ballpark Digest note on the unprecedented bidding process for the lease to Harry Grove Stadium,I still didn't when I read the Frederick councils words on the affiliated team having an advantage in the bidding and even when I read the open letter to the fans from the Keys management,I still saw it as posturing and that a deal would be worked out.
Battlin' Bob wrote about this last night in his blog and I was hesitant to write about it because I was not sure this was a viable threat.
I have spent this morning digging around in various capacities both on and off line and trust me-this is not only possible,but from what I have deduced,the city of Frederick may very well shift from Affiliated baseball to Independent league play.

I have nothing against Indy ball and you will see some famous players come through as managers and coaches and some players playing that were former big leaguers as well.
However,you will not be seeing Matt Wieters,Bryce Harper and Eric Hosmer type prospects  in Independent baseball.
Would you rather see a developing Jason Heyward or a washed up Carl Everett?
Because that is the choice that the city of Frederick is about to make for YOU!

The Frederick Keys are not totally blameless in this for reasons that I cannot write about right now,but Atlantic League kingpin Peter Kirk is more than experienced in selling his product to cities,sponsors and whoever else that it takes to achieve his goals.
Keep in mind that I still hold Peter Kirk accountable for his moves that started with a thriving Hagerstown market that was good enough for AA baseball and then threw it in the dirt in order to make more money in Bowie,so please keep in mind that I am far from trusting in Peter Kirk's word.
The Keys are for sale and likely will not have the funds to match a possible large bid for the lease that may not only take affiliated baseball from Frederick,but also lead into a lame duck few months for the Carolina League as the bidding will take place in May.

The Atlantic League would gain an excellent market in Frederick,but one that already has teams in their radius in Waldorf MD,York and Lancaster PA and coming in 2012 Loudon VA,which to me smacks of overkill,but it isn't my money or business.
To many people,that enjoy baseball,a switch would not be a large deal.
After all,they still watch a game,take the kids,allow them to ride the carousel and grab a 8 dollar brew and to some,the league wouldn't matter much.
For the game,it would make a huge deal down the road.
I am a firm believer that fans in the minors become bigger Major League fans down the road when players they have seen,met and grabbed an autograph from become the stars that they see every night on television,particularly with Frederick being an Oriole affiliate.
You will get none of that with Independent baseball,which is fine in its niche',but is not a replacement for what Frederick fans have had since the arrival of the Keys.

So in that vein,I will do something for the first time on the blog-post emails and phone numbers for people to contact in Frederick to help the Carolina League and the Orioles stay in Frederick.
Contact these people and tell them that you need them to make the right decision and back the franchise that put the town on the map in the sport.

Take this seriously and not an unnecessary worry,this isn't just a ploy.
I recall the words of the Kinston Indians GM recently when their team left town which were roughly these-once word of a deal hits the media,it is usually a done deal.
I hope this isn't the case for Frederick and affiliated baseball......

I would have lost a lot of money taking the bet that Frederick would not have minor league baseball and Hagerstown would-Lets hope it doesn't come to that...

Mayor
Randy McClement      rmcclement@cityoffrederick.com 301-600-1380

Board of Aldermen
Shelley Aloi                saloi@cityoffrederick.com 301-600-1632
Carol Krimm               ckrimm@cityoffrederick.com 301-600-1863
Michael O’Connor      moconnor@cityoffrederick.com 301-600-1386
Kelly Russell               krussell@cityoffrederick.com 301-600-2966
Karen Young              kyoung@cityoffrederick.com 301-600-1382


If I have time,I'll be back later with Devils hockey...

Browns cut six including Shaun Rogers

With the labor agreement in everyone's mind,the Cleveland Browns released six players with some of them being players that were liabilities in their stints in a Browns uniform.

The biggest (literally) and best player to be released was Shaun Rogers.
The mammoth lineman from Texas spent three years in Cleveland with the best being his first under Romeo Crennel.
Rogers was a force during that season,which is noted for the "Phil Savage Panic" in which Savage traded his first three picks for players that did not produce (Brady Quinn),players that were ill suited for the Browns defense (Corey Williams) and Rogers.
However,his time under Eric Mangini was not as productive and last season with Rogers hobbled by injuries saw him play less than forty percent of the time.
Rogers was noted for being an excellent teacher of the game to Ahtyba Rubin,who had a huge season and will be the core of the Browns defensive line.
The loss of Rogers could have been a huge one if not for the presence of Rubin,who is more or less a younger,slimmer version of Rogers.

Two of Mangini's Jets linebackers were handed their walking papers as David Bowens and Eric Barton were released.
Both players were over 30 and neither seem to fit in the 4-3 defense that new defensive coordinator Dick Jauron will be running.
Neither player will be a huge loss,but Bowens will always be remembered by Browns fans for a sensational game in New Orleans this season in the Browns upset win over the Saints.
These moves show that the Browns will have to sign a linebacker or draft one reasonably high as only two linebackers of note (Scott Fujita and Matt Roth) are under contract,although I think Marcus Bernard would be a restricted free agent,but I cannot say that for sure.

Kenyon Coleman,another player that was suited for the 3-4 defense,was also released.
Coleman was one of the various non descript players that Eric Mangini traded for in the Mark Sanchez trade that looks to be one of the worst trades in Cleveland history.
Coleman did start much of last season and finished with two and a half sacks and three forced fumbles but being 31,a Mangini guy and a poor 4-3 end,he was figured to be on the way out.

The other two players were Eric Mangini signings in 2009 and some of the poorest that I can remember recently.
I wish that the Browns would have cut these two before the 2010 season,but better late than never as tackle John St.Clair and tight end Robert Royal.
St,Clair ,as I have noted in the past, was so bad that I thought bringing in large men off the street could have been able to perform at a similar level and was sieve like at tackle.
The rock handed Royal caught five passes last year and seemed to drop ten to me.
One of the puzzling offensive calls that Brian Daboll consistently seemed to call in big situations was passes to Robert Royal,which he would usually drop despite being wide open.
This part of the link covers the importance of Robert Royal as this is what the Cleveland Plain Dealer mentioned as Royal's importance-"One of the team's funniest players, he kept things light in the locker room and on the field."
That is the best thing that you can say about a player?
That says it all right there.




All and all,the Cleveland Browns needed to get younger and all of these players are over 30.
Combined with the Jet defenders being 3-4 guys and St.Clair and Royal being,well terrible these were moves to improve the team,open cap space and get younger-a cannot lose situation.

Photo Credit-John Kuntz-Cleveland Plain Dealer

Forgotten Superstars-Carlos Monzon

We return to the Forgotten Superstars universe with the man, who in my opinion, is the greatest Middleweight of all time.
Sugar Ray Robinson? Nope, not at Middleweight anyway.
The Welterweight Robinson might have been the greatest fighting machine ever, but the 160-pound version lost to Gene Fullmer, Randy Turpin, and Carmen Basilio.
A great fighter, most definitely, but not the best.

Marvin Hagler? Nope.
Hagler was great, but he seemed to be intimidated against fighters that exuded greatness like Roberto Duran and Ray Leonard and I think against this man, he would be no different.

Bernard Hopkins? Not quite.
Hopkins has kept his skills far longer than most, but despite his long reign, name me one great fighter that he beat at 160?
Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya were natural welters and his record shows good, not great fighters and not one true great win over a natural middleweight...

So, who does that leave?
I bet that one person (if he is reading this) knows the answer and vehemently disagrees and the rest of you are wondering who Carlos Monzon is.
Carlos Monzon is my pick for the greatest middleweight of all time.
"Escopeta" (Spanish for Shotgun) Monzon cleaned out an entire division during a seven-year reign that saw him defeat Hall of Famers Nino Benvenuti (twice) and Emile Griffith (twice), Hall of Famer, and the reigning Welterweight champion Jose Napoles, Bennie Briscoe, who we mentioned as maybe the best fighter never to win a title and the excellent Rodrigo Valdes to unify the part of the title that had been stripped from Monzon for taking a bigger money bout against Napoles and then beat Valdes again in a rematch.
Seven other contenders fell at the hands of the cocky Argentine.
Check this YouTube complete with a really cool Johnny Cash song over the Monzon pics...



Monzon looks ordinary upon first glance in his youtube appearances until you look closer.
Using the long left to set up his crunching right, Monzon is never out of balance and rarely fights the other fighter's fight, yet evolves to counter the strategy of the opponent.
Box him and stay on the outside and the long left pops you until the right is set up for the kill.
Charge him and try to bully him on the inside and fight yourself hammered with the harder shots until inevitably you are the bullied and backed away for one's own safety.
The 6-2 Monzon was able to use his height and power to lean away from punches and avoid heavy shots and never took the beatings that so many boxers took.



Why was this man, who along with Roberto Duran were the fighters of the '70s not as well known in America?
Well, only one of his title defenses was in the USA, a tenth round KO of Tony Licata at Madison Square Garden in 1975, and as the Klitschko brothers are showing now, it is tough for Americans to care about fighters that don't fight on these shores very often, despite most of Monzon's bouts being shown on American television.

Carlos Monzon also earns credit for leaving on top of his game after his rematch win over Rodrigo Valdes that saw Monzon dropped in round two in what was the only knockdown of his reign.
Monzon got up and won a clear decision, but retired after that win saying that he saw his skills beginning to slip.
Monzon would never fight again and the result was just missing by a year or so a potential bout against Marvin Hagler.

Monzon was a character out of the ring as well and often not an amusing one.
Monzon was known for his chain-smoking, which made his amazing stamina even more amazing, his dating of famous actresses in his home country, his abuse of women, working as a pimp before becoming a contender and his murder of his second wife by throwing her over the balcony at their condo.
Monzon was sentenced in 1988 to eleven years in prison, but after a weekend furlough in 1995, Monzon overturned his car on the way back to prison and was killed.

No matter the outside issues and keeping things in the ring-Carlos Monzon was truly a Forgotten Champion and the best Middleweight ever.....

Bullpen Notes

A quick nod to Tom Noe over at Exploring Food My Way as Tom finally hits White House chicken to finish his Barberton Chicken experience.
A great article and Tom makes his final call on his best Barberton Chicken restaurant.

So what game at Wrigley Field did Ferris Bueller actually see on his day off?
Baseball Prospectus does the digging and figures out the answers.
That's right-answerS.
Check the link to find out more about the filming of this 80's classic...

Tedenby terrorizes Canes!

Mattias Tedenby scored first and last for the New Jersey Devils last night and the last one ended the contest as the Devils defeated the Carolina Hurricanes 3-2 in overtime at the Rock.
Tedenby's goals (6 and 7) were sandwiched around a late third period goal by Nick Palmeiri (5) that tied the contest and forced the overtime.
The Devils are today before back to back games against Toronto and San Jose....

Hell Raisers

1) The overtime was exciting with both teams flying up and down the ice,but the rest of the game was pretty slow paced.Not one of the most fun games that I have covered until later in the game.

2) Mattias Tedenby scored his two goals,but did that in under nine minutes of playing time.
Tedenby still doesn't play the defensive game to Jacques Lemaire's liking,but many scorers don't.

3) Nick Palmeiri is playing super hockey offensively as the compliment on the Ilya Kovalchuk line.
Palmieri's rugged style plays well with Kovalchuk and his play thus far since moving on that line shows signs of a Devil mainstay for the future...

4) Johan Hedberg earned the win with twenty saves replacing Martin Brodeur.
Both Carolina goals were scored on the power play by rookie Jeff Skinner,who is VERY impressive.

5) Anton Volchenkov handed Carolina one of the man advantages with a dumb elbowing penalty that will get him a fine for sure and possibly a suspension.
Jacques Lemaire would give Volchenkov only two more shifts for the remainder of the game and rightfully so.
One doesn't expect that type of ridiculous play from a veteran....

6) Both Tedenby goals were set by strong passes.The first with a beautiful behind the back dish from 
Jason Arnott and the game winner was a excellent pass from Travis Zajac.
Both were the type that good teams make and bad teams miss...

Photo Credit-Paul Bereswhill-Getty Images

Danny Rosenbaum Interview-Part 5

We conclude our interview with Danny Rosenbaum with part five below.

Thanks to Danny for taking the time to do this and best wishes for him this season.
As always,if you see someone that took the time to do an interview with us,tell them how much you enjoyed it and thank them for taking the time to help us.
A new interview will start next week....

TRS:Who were your roommates/buddies off the field with the Suns/Nats?

 

DR: I enjoyed being around everyone.

When I was with the Suns I roomed with Trevor Holder, Dean Weaver, Kyle Morrison, and Brett Newsome. Including these guys,I have become close with Steven Souza, Shane McCatty, Mitch Clegg, Rob Wort and others.

In Potomac I roomed with Pat Lehman, Derek Norris, and Evan Bronson. Like my roommates while I was up there I became close with a lot of guys like Nick Moresi, Tyler Moore, Chris Curran, Pat McCoy, and others as well.

It seemed like being apart of both of these teams it was so easy to get along with everyone. I want to name a lot more because there are some guys at other levels that you become good buddies with. I really enjoyed being a part of these teams.

TRS: Tell us a bit about your faith with so few Jewish players in the game?
Is this an important part of your life?

 

DR: Yeah its nice being apart of a select group of guys that are viewed like this. It is important to me, my family is very reform. Every once in awhile I'll get some kid or someone send me a letter saying they I am a role model for them being a Jewish baseball player just like they have always wanted to be. And same for me, I want to be the next Sandy Koufax, Jason Marquis, Kevin Youkilis or Shawn Green. All of those guys that are already up there serve as role models for our religion. I just need to make sure next year I don't pitch on Rosh Hashanah again like I did this past year, because that 1st playoff game didn't go to well.

 

TRS: Does the baseball lifestyle offer any difficulties with persons of any faith?

 

DR: I don't think so, all of these guys that are playing this game use faith in their game. You see many guys praying or doing something before, during and after games.

 

TRS: Have you had a special project that you worked on to add to your game for 2011 during the off season?
If so,what?

 

DR:Not really, I just want to try and improve every year whether its mental, being in better shape than the previous year or refining all my pitches. There is always something that you can do to get better. 

TRS:Finally.you had just one baseball card released before the 2010 season.
Did the Donruss company approach you,did you sign cards for them,how much did you make off the cards and what was it like the first time someone asked you to sign that card?

 

DR:I have a Topps card now, it came out this off season. I signed 1000 of them and got $1000. The first time some one asked me to sign their card was an awesome feeling. I didn't find many people that had one with my Xavier uniform on but there were a few.

Thanks again for the time and effort,Danny-it was appreciated.....

Super Bowl Thoughts and the return of Bullpen Notes

Last Sunday's Super Bowl was the most enjoyable title game that I have watched in years and not just because the team that I wanted to win did so,which gave me an all time high of two in a row of winning teams doing so.
More because it was well played,but had enough mistakes by both teams to keep it close and never reach decided status until it truly was decided,the game was fun to watch.
Here are some of my thoughts on the games...

Case for Green Bay to have won going away?
A drop for both James Jones and Jordy Nelson on patterns that saw them have a clear path to the end zone kept the Steelers close as the Packers would score on neither drive that could have seen 14 points to the Green Bay side.
Click those two up and this game isn't as close (or as fun to watch).

Case for Pittsburgh to have won?
Their case to have overwhelmed Green Bay comes down to the Rasheed Mendenhall fumble to start the fourth quarter.
Pittsburgh was slamming the ball right at the Pack down just four points and moving the ball down the field inside the Packers forty.
With all the momentum and the Green Bay offense having little offense in the second half to that point,the Mendenhall fumble swung things back to the Green Bay side and just eight plays later,Aaron Rodgers hit Greg Jennings with what proved to be the game winner.
Pittsburgh scores on that drive,I wager we would have seen a different winner...

I had told Ryan earlier in the week that I thought this was a pickem game and didn't feel strongly about a winner,but that I did think of all the NFC teams,Green Bay was the one that the Steelers didn't want any part of for two reasons.
Both played key parts in the win in my opinion.
The first is the Packer passing game,which is not built around one receiver and by having several threats that play allowed the one Pittsburgh weakness to be preyed upon-the secondary and their coverage skills.
The Steelers corners and safeties were exposed by their lack of man to man coverage and that played a huge role in the Packer win.

The other difference?
Aaron Rodgers wasn't going to be intimidated by Dick LeBeau's vaunted zone blitz scheme out of the 3-4 because he sees in every day in practice from Green Bay defensive coordinator Dom Capers,who runs a VERY similar defense to that of the Steelers.
The Steelers often run over teams that aren't used to seeing the elaborate blitz schemes and formations by the brilliant LeBeau,but on this day they could not do their usual harm because the Packers were the one team that looked at the Pittsburgh defense as an routine defense.
Do not underrate that fact.
Look at it this way-How often do you see teams score on Pittsburgh as much as they did and could have been more with some better handed pass catchers...

Give both teams credit for deserving to be there and both got a little luck,which everyone needs.
Both teams managed to dodge the one team in their conference that matched up best with them.Green Bay dodged New Orleans when Atlanta won their final game to make the Falcons the top seed and not the Saints.
I don't think Green Bay beats the Saints in the Superdome.
Pittsburgh got around New England when the Jets upset the Pats.
New England would have done to the Steeler defense what Green Bay did and the game would have been on the road.
There are always teams that match up with you better than others and part of getting to the big game sometimes is avoiding the one team that has your Kryptonite.....

Both teams have solid chances to return next season.
Green Bay should be even better with all of their players out with injuries returning most notably star in the making Jermichael Finley at tight end and running back Ryan Grant.
Pittsburgh will always have a shot as long as Dick LeBeau is running their defense and Ben Rothlisberger is under center.

I am not a fan of either of these players,but the game showed why of the two eventual Hall of Fame safeties from the same division,if I was playing a pickup game,I would draft Baltimore's Ed Reed over Pittsburgh's Troy Polamalu.
Polamalu is a great hitter and tackler,but he has coverage issues at times as was shown on two Packers touchdowns with Polamalu unable to get to the ball...
Reed isnt quite the hitter of Polamalu,but he is a big play maker and needs to be accounted for on every play.
All too often,the biggest mistake opponents make against Baltimore is figuring that "Murderin" Ray Lewis is the player that needs to be accounted for,when the truth is that they have picked the wrong player.
Both are great and headed for the Hall of Fame,but if pressed to choose,I'll take Reed.

Underrated loss for the Steelers was losing Emmanuel Sanders in the first half.
Most of the attention was given to the Packers losing Charles Woodson and deservedly so.
Sanders had a huge playoff run and losing him meant the pressure went solely on Mike Wallace for any pass longer than ten yards.
The aging Hines Ward just isn't that type of player anymore and the Sanders loss changed the game plan for Pittsburgh.
If Sanders isn't lost,the loss of Charles Woodson would have been more glaring for the Packers....

Bullpen Notes

Two quick notes from the bullpen.
Looks like Keith Olbermann's future will be announced today as he is rumored to be headed to Current TV which is run and partially owned by Al Gore.
The struggling network could use a big name and they have one in Olbermann.
The problem for KO is Current isn't exactly available everywhere and it will take time to get their status improved with cable companies.
I have it on DirectTV,but I don't even have it on my channel chart because when I tried Current,it didn't impress me.
With the signing of Olbermann,I suppose it gets upgraded with me...

Finally,a link to Battlin' Bob,who in typical hilarious form goes after the Steeler haters on Facebook.
No,none of his quotes are from me, folks,but the Battler' goes after them with both hams flying without abandon.
Note for language,but funny stuff.....