Hughes Important Bridge to Yankees' Title Hopes

The 2009 edition of the World Series is now knotted at one game apiece after the Yankees disposed of the Phillies, 3-1 Thursday night in New York. The series moved down I-95 about 90 miles for the next three games on Saturday, Sunday and Monday.

The first two games have been dominated by starting pitching. Cliff Lee operated with surgeon-like precision in the Phillies opening game, 6-1 win. His counter-part, CC Sabathia, pitched well enough to win, but his offense couldn't’ solve Lee and once he departed the back end of the bullpen allowed the Phils to extend their 2-0 lead.. In game two, AJ Burnett, more volatile than the 2008 stock market, rose to the occasion for NY by striking out nine and allowing just one run in seven strong innings. For the Phils, love’em or hate’em Pedro Martinez kept Yankee hitters off-balance with his effective mix of change-ups, curve balls, and tailing fastballs before getting the hook in the sixth inning.

A most revealing move for the Yankees was when manager Joe Girardi, desperately needing a win so as to not head to Philly down two games to none, decided to bring in the most trusted name in post-season relief, Mariano Rivera, to pitch both the eight and ninth innings. Rivera, the most heralded closer in baseball post-season history, usually specializes in getting just the last three outs. There have been occasions when he was asked to pitch part of the eighth and perhaps close it out with the last four or five outs. But, usually managers give the ball to their “set-up man”, an eighth inning guy, who then turns the game’s fortunes over to the closer in hopes of wrapping up the win.

The set-up man is commonly called a bridge to the closer. Girardi must have felt that by risking having to wait for Rivera to pitch the ninth, the bridge for the eighth might prove to be a bridge over troubled waters—why else would he by-pass set-up man Phil Hughes, or even Joba Chamberlain? This was a must win, plain and simple.

In Game 1 the previous night, Hughes continued his pattern of poor post-season pitching by walking the only two batters he faced. Hughes was very solid the second half of the season showing the way to Rivera to the tune of a 3.04 ERA. But, this post-season Hughes looks like a bad impersonation of himself. He has retired only 14 of the 27 hitters he has faced.

According to a recent story on the official Yankees MLB website, Hughes' five post-season runs allowed over just 4-2/3 innings are more than he allowed in 38 eighth-inning appearances during the season. It's also the equivalent to his combined earned run total in June, July and August -- a stretch of 30 games. In seven postseason appearances Hughes has allowed nine hits and four walks, leading to a bloated 9.64 ERA. Troubled waters indeed.

The Yankees’ faithful hope that Hughes’ post-season jitters have worked their way out of his system. With more close ballgames sure to come on three consecutive days in Philly, Girardi will certainly not be able to spend two innings of Rivera relief in one game again. In order for the Yankees to win their 27^th world championship Hughes needs to be able to recapture the form that allowed him to be that very solid bridge to Rivera. If not, the water that lies beneath the bridge could be troubled again.

TELEVISED GAMES STRETCH TO NEW, RECORD LENGTHS

Long before there were a zillion cable TV stations and pure movie channels, three networks existed. They would occasionally run a movie which was categorized as a “made for TV movie.”

That was the beginning. That was when TV executives sensed that, to a large degree, they could manufacture and control something that was originally intended for a certain live audience and display it over the airwaves.

Obviously, that spilled into our world of sports. For the most part, the way it started off was good. It got even better throughout the years with advanced technology and more outlets to show the games. But, like lessons learned from ancient wealthy societies--over-doing it, greed, gluttony, you name it—can ruin a good thing.

How many of us can actually we enjoy watching all that goes into a modern day baseball play-off game or big-time college football game on TV? Broadcasts have gotten w-a-a-a-a-y too long, bordering on 3:30 – 4 hours. Though I don’t have even a touch of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD), I do have HD (high definition). Yet, even that can’t always keep me fully engaged. In no particular order, here are some things that make me want to just fire a 90 m.p.h. fastball at the TV with my remote control.

Officials/Umpire Reviews—again, what started out as a good idea now stinks. In college football, unfortunately every play is reviewable. What it has done is take away far too much of the human element and added a whole lot of commercials to be run while “the previous play is under review.” It’s sad that the officials on the field have lost their self-confidence and are now running scared. They will often not make a call because they figure the replay official will cover for them. What are they getting paid for anyway, to be second guessed by the booth? The time factor is absurd and completely takes away from any flow of the game. Baseball has only a limited number of situations that allow for official replay/review to intervene. Let’s keep it that way. Lord knows we don’t need to slow baseball down any more than it’s already chilled-out, natural mosey-along pace.

Too Much Production—because we have such great technology in TV studios, production people have to show their stuff. That adds more time to the games. No matter what sport it is, as the sleep-inducing run of commercials end, now we have to endure some kind of rock or rap music playing over the top of highlights from earlier in the broadcast. The music & sports industries are in bed together. You notice that they are promoting these “artists” by having their name and the name of the song on the lower left of the screen, like a rock video. What happened to end of a commercial, a live shot of next play, and the announcer saying, “Welcome back. 1^st and 10 for the Bombers at their own 20 yard line” and the play begins. We don’t need to waste another minute promoting music sales. Let’s remember, it’s supposed to be about the game, what’s happening on the field, not what has been created in the production studio.

Everything is Sponsored—I always chuckle remembering the original “Rocky” movie when Sylvester Stallone’s title character entered the ring wearing his robe which proudly carried his sponsor, “Shamrock Meats”, on his back. I used to laugh at race car drivers, who despite spending hours cooped up in their cars, once out of the vehicle they are walking billboards for sponsors. Ah…everyone has their price. Well, we have all of that and more today in the so-called traditional sports on TV.

In both football and baseball there are major sponsors’ logos super-imposed on the viewers’ TV screen to make it look like it’s actually on the field. The yellow first-down line that TV produces on the football field for viewers is sponsored. The time-outs are sponsored. The net behind the goalpost that catches every field goal or extra point is sponsored. The paper cups that players drink out of on the sidelines are sponsored. There is more, but my time is not sponsored, so I won’t go any farther. You get the idea. Again, what is important is the game itself. But we have so much other stuff going on during the game that you can easily get lost and begin to question if you do, in fact, have a touch of A.D.D.

Commercials, Commercials, Commercials—we all understand that commercials are necessary to pay the bills (and make money, too). But, can we do something to NOT take away from the momentum and flow of a game, in particular a game as emotional as football? This is situation is not uncommon. A team is driving for a score and one of the two teams calls a timeout. Commercial break. A play is run, then “officials’ review of previous play.” Commercials. The offense scores and kicks the extra point. Commercial break. Ensuing kickoff and return. Commercial break. Finally, we get the start of next offensive series. Unbelievable.

Injury. Hey, a chance for MORE commercials. It used to be when a player was injured the medical training staff hustled out, administered to the fallen player, propped him up on the shoulders of two assistant trainers and the idea was to escort him to the bench as quickly as possible—game continues. Now, every player that goes down, for whatever reason, must be getting instruction to just lie there so the networks can break for commercial. I have never seen so many players flat on their backs for multiple minutes, then a commercial break, then we come back to see them walking off under their own power! Are you kidding me? Did they bring in one of those Sunday morning faith healers? As they used to say back in the day—“tape an aspirin to it and keep moving.” This is not to slight those who are legitimately hurt, but we are way too cautious and treat every injury as though these players are (cue the eerie angelic music) going toward the light. It’s football, people. Keep the broadcast on the field. This is not an automatic commercial break. Get the player off and get his sub in the game. Sheesh!

As stated earlier, once the “made for TV movie” was born it led to a whole new world of TV execs manufacturing and controlling shows. For us sports devotees, at times it seems like we have sold our souls to the devil. We will put up with whatever they want to throw at us. For the teams playing in the game, as well as the viewers, TV says, “You will all play by OUR rules.” We all pay some kind of price for free TV.

Plenty of Football Yet To Be Played Before Settling Who Is No. 1

One thing is apparent after this past week's college football games. No matter what the polls say, there is no apparent, lead pipe lock for a #1 team. There are several really good teams that have a chance to be national champs, there are some teams that often look good but are not terribly impressive in doing so, and there are some who put up wins and good stats, but the perception of their overall body of work is jaded because they lack strong weekly competition.

What makes college football so much fun is its unpredictability each weekend. What makes college football so maddening is attempting to interpret the value placed on wins and losses, and the effect that value has on rankings.

The first BCS rankings of '09 came out today and the top five are Florida, Alabama, Texas, Boise St., and Cincinnati. The defending national champion Florida Gators were afforded the top spot in all polls all the way from pre-season right through this weekend while SEC counter-part Alabama continued to gain ground in votes for the top spot.

By virtue of a late fourth quarter FG Saturday afternoon, Florida narrowly escaped defeat, 23-20 at home against an improving Arkansas team. A week ago the Gators went into the hostile environment of LSU to pass their biggest test of the season vs. the Tigers. But, sloppy turnovers in the red zone by their offense and an uncustomary yielding of a couple of big plays with their defense, the Gators provided a shadow of a doubt for BCS voters to allow Alabama to be within shouting distance. Over the last two years Florida's offensive production looked like video game numbers. With two key skilled offensive players (Louis Murphy & Percy Harvin) from last year's team now playing for pay in the NFL, the Gators offense has not had that "point a minute" potential like last year. The defense returns everyone from last year and expectations are extremely high for that unit.

'Bama does not have a player who already owns a Heisman Trophy like the Gators' Tim Tebow, but they do have a running back who is beginning to get enough national attention to enter the conversation for this year's award. Mark Ingram rambled for 246 yards against South Carolina last night. Ingram, his offensive line, and a talented defensive unit helped lift their team to a 20-6 win. The Crimson Tide overcame four turnovers and 10 penalties against the #22 ranked Gamecocks. An oddity is that in this age of inflated passing stats and the game geared to offenses throwing the ball, the Tide passed for just 90 yards on a beautiful, dry night against South Carolina. The question is, can Alabama throw it effectively if they are forced to do it? There's nothing wrong with winning with a strong running game, a stingy defense and a solid kicking game, it just doesn't get you those style points--it just allows you to win! But, if needed, can the Tide move it through the air?

Third-ranked Texas managed to get by a depleted Oklahoma team in the Red River Rivalry, 16-13. The 2008 Heisman Award winner, OU QB Sam Bradford, was knocked out of the game with another throwing shoulder injury, leaving after just eight plays. Longhorns QB Colt McCoy, who was a Heisman finalist last year, is having a good, but not great year, to date. Can the Longhorns continue their quest for an undefeated season and a Big 12 title? Only time will tell. But, if the 'Horns don't pick it up right away, it won't be a shock if they stub their toe with so much conference football yet to be played.

The general concensus is that #4 Boise St., because of their weak confernce schedule, would not be granted a ride in Cinderella's coach to the championship game. Cincinnati, also on a magic carpet ride of their own, still has a couple of challenges in the not-so-intimidating Big East. Unless they pour on a ton of style points and some teams above the Bearcats get toppled, Cincinnati's place in the top five is just a nice story like Boise's.

Iowa appears to be the best in the Big Ten at this point, but what does that mean when pre-season favorite Ohio State loses to a 1-5 Purdue team? Even though they suffered an upset on the road at Washington, USC is still lurking at #7 . By beating a solid Notre Dame team in South Bend Saturday, USC showed that if they finish strong and someone above them takes a hit, they could step right into the championship picture.

One thing to keep in mind is that some of the bigger "super conferences" have a 13th game which pits their two divisional champs against each other for the outright conference title--i.e. the ACC, the Big 12 and the SEC. Teams like USC of the PAC 10 and undefeated Iowa of the Big Ten would not have to prove themselves in a 13th game like a Florida, Alabama or Texas.

Whereas last year Florida was the wire to wire winner, the excitement this year is really just beginning to simmer. There are clearly some very good teams, but there is not a great deal of separation between those teams and some of their better conference rivals. The top teams all wear a big target on their back each week. Every one of their opponents zeroes in on their preparation in order to give their best effort and performance when they play the top-ranked teams. A lesser school from within the same conference as these top schools can make their entire season with a big upset victory. Let's stay tuned the next 5-6 weeks and see how it all develops.

The Term"Professional" Can Be a Stretch for Some NFL Teams

There’s an old saying that “even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while.”

The Cleveland Browns, the blind squirrel of the NFL, went into Buffalo over the weekend and managed to find just six points. As it turned out, it was three more than the home-standing Bills, thus providing loyal, suffering fans of the Pumpkin Heads their first win of the year. The Browns are now 1-4 under Eric Mangini, who is in his first year on the shores of Lake Erie after being relieved of similar duties the previous three seasons with the NY Jets.

A couple of interesting notes: the Blind Squirrels or, excuse me, the Browns have failed to score a touchdown in three of their five games this season. Clevelanders know that with their baseball Indians having packed up their belongings a couple of weeks ago, it had to have been the Browns who won Sunday’s game 6-3. Mangini was hired by the Jets in 2006 and, at age 35, became the youngest head coach in the NFL. He wowed them in that rookie season with a 10-6 record and was tabbed “Mangenius” for his work. But, the Jets flight path took a 180-degree turn in 2007 to a 4-12 mark. Last season “Gang Green” started off 8-3, but suffered a late season swoon to the tune of 9-7, which kept them out of the play-offs. Mangenius was dismissed. But, Cleveland said, ‘Hey, we want that guy.” Well, now you’ve got him.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 0-5 and often times look even worse than that. They are a great example of having people within their organization empowered with decision-making responsibilities, but they don’t know how to do just that—make good decisions. Here are just some samplings from the Bucs sad song book.

At the end of last season long-time defensive coordinator Monte Kiffin left to join his son who had become the head coach at the University of Tennessee. Early thirty-something defensive backfield coach Raheem Morris was elevated to defensive coordinator replacing Kiffin. About a month later Bucs ownership fired Jon Gruden and decided to give Morris an elevator ride all the way to the top by naming him head coach. Keep in mind his only significant coaching assignment with any degree of advanced responsibility was one season (2006) as defensive coordinator at Kansas State University.

So, the Bucs handed the keys to the car to their kid, who was just 32 at the time of the promotion. The Bucs head coach and administration proceeded to hire a new offensive coordinator last winter, former successful Boston College head coach Jeff Jagodzinski. But, later, much later, they decided that wasn’t going to work and they fired him one week before the season’s first game! Was it case of being hood-winked by Coach Jags in the thorough interview process conducted by the Bucs, or was there a philosophical difference? It doesn’t matter. This doesn’t happen to well-run organizations. What’s even funnier is that Tampa Bay replaced him with a guy who was on staff with Gruden, Morris, and the Bucs last year, and he interviewed for the very same job Jagodzinski was given. Huh? Why wasn't he hired the first time around? Did he become smarter or more qualified between his February interview and the start of the season in September?

After releasing last year’s starting QB Jeff Garcia, the Bucs brought in veteran free agent Byron Leftwich to compete with back-up QB Luke McCown for the top job. They also drafted Josh Freeman with their valuable first-round pick, paid him millions in signing bonuses, and tabbed him as their “future of the franchise player." Succession planning was that either Leftwich or McCown would keep the seat warm until Freeman is ready.

Pay close attention now. McCown was traded to Jacksonville right at the end of the pre-season and Leftwich was given the starting job. With little talent among his supporting cast, and Leftwich having even less pocket mobility to go along with his slow passing delivery, he was benched after three games. Your guess is that first-round pick Josh Freeman will get the ball, right? No. The Bucs named another Josh (Johnson), who was a rookie on the practice squad a year ago, as their starting QB. With Leftwich, McCown and Freeman around all of the pre-season Johnson got very little work in the practices. How could he when he was the fourth-string QB? And, he got minimal playing time in late fourth-quarter mop-up duty.

Further demonstrating their business acumen, the Bucs are still paying off both Gruden and their former general manager Bruce Allen. They added to that debit list the fallen Jagodzinski, who never made it to his first regular season game. The latest decision with financial repercussions was cutting place-kicker Mike Nugent. Nugent had been signed away from the Jets in the off-season to come in and compete with veteran Matt Bryant and, hopefully, provide a stronger, longer leg when it came to kickoffs and field goals. Nugent won the job by default because Bryant never got to kick in the pre-season, as he nursed a muscle pull in his kicking leg. Nugent, in the Bucs’s eyes, was ineffective enough in four games to warrant dismissal, yet still be paid his $2 million salary. It’s not hard to see the calculator totals lighting up.

The Bucs are 0-5. Do you wonder why? If this real-life drama continues, don't be surprised if the Glazer family, owners of the team, begin entertaining offers from reality TV show producers.