On the Yankees beat

I'd like to see what kind of shape Cano is in when he comes to spring training this year and maybe that's what worries the Yanks. As you may recall, last year he wasn't exactly in great shape when he showed up in Florida and he got off to a slow start. I assume the Yankees think a long term deal might take away his incentive to stay in shape. I'd ban him from going out to dinner w/ Chris Britton and Brian Bruney.

The maturity level of the younger players comes at different speeds. Cano's shape was an issue last year. Hopefully, his friendship with Arod has help in this manner. But signing him to a long term contract is a no brainer, add incentive clauses with shape and performance and the contact will offer stability to the player and may be a bit less expensive to the team.

I would love for the Yanks to ink Cano and Wang to long term deals, hell do it for Melk as well since we would get him on the super cheap. However I dont see the Yanks doing this. In recent years they rode out the contracts of Bernie, Mo and Posada. Last spring the popular perception was that they could have signed Mo and Jorge to multiyear contracts that were cheaper and shorter than the ones they signed this offseason. Now I cant verify that information, who knows what they were asking for before last year? I think both players wanted 3 years min, so the Yanks figured, lets ride it out. Situations like this are what make the Yanks different from every other team in the league. 29 out of 30 teams NEED to take the risk of signing these players before they hit the open market, if not they will lose them. Since the Yanks blow money on crap players all the time, its not a big deal to pay top FA dollars to good players. This is where that league leading payroll really comes into play. The Yanks dont need to risk giving out large extensions when they dont need to. They can sit back and if the player performs the way they hope, he gets rewarded with a fat new contract. Its in the Yanks best interest to wait it out and see how healthy the player is 2-3 years from now, like they will do for Cano and Wang.

I agree with Dru on waiting it out. I would love to sign Cano as middle infielders with that kind of power and plate coverage are hard to find. Plus of all positions 2b seems to carry minimal injury risk for whatever reasons. However, Wang is a different story. I don't like the idea of giving pitchers (especially hard throwers with injury history) long term deals. That being said I think it would send a wrong message to CMW to sign Cano and not him. The two will always be linked to the turnaround in organizational philosophy. With only 3 pitchers under contract for 2009 and a host of bad long term deals coming off the books there will be plenty of cash over the next few years to pay these guys when the time is right.

Great article from USA Today =

Yankees Organizational Report

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/al/yankees/2008-01-23-organizational-report_N.htm

Its kind of long so I didnt post it, but its a great read on what an unbiased 3rd party thinks about the team this year and in the future.

My favorite part =

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Now Girardi finds himself comparing the first Yankees team under his control to the one Torre took over in 1996, another team that was counting on a trio of young players.

"You can compare a little bit to 1996," Girardi says. "Obviously, the pieces were spread out a little bit, but you had a rookie shortstop (Jeter), you basically had a rookie pitcher in Andy Pettitte and Mariano Rivera (both in their second season), and think about the roles they played that year for the New York Yankees in winning the championship. I'd like to parallel it to that."

All homegrown players, Jeter hit .314 that season, Pettitte won 21 games and Rivera was the key setup man for John Wetteland on a team that won the World Series.

Girardi's three key youngsters are pitchers —Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain and Ian Kennedy— and their emergence is especially important given that Pettitte (35) and Mike Mussina (39) are at the back end of their careers. That's why the late-season performances of Chamberlain and Kennedy — a combined five earned runs allowed in 43 innings — plus Hughes' 13 starts as a rookie has the Yankees excited. Remember, none of the three had reached his 23rd birthday by season's end.
=================

21 days..23 hrs..14 min..2 seconds...until Pitchers & Catchers Report.

CANT WAIT!!!!!!

I found this email from Jim Kaat to Buster Olney, regarding (ugh!) PED's to be very interesting. I have to post the message in it's entirety because it's an "Insider" column only accessible via paid subscription so most of us wouldn't have access to it, but as I said, it's an interesting take on the whole PED mess, and coincidentally, it is exactly how I feel when we talk about the definition of cheating.

Here goes, again sorry for the length:

The players have been tagged as the most culpable, and I would suggest that they are not culpable at all.

Baseball, on the major league level, has been never a "great game of honor," like golf is reputed to be. My job as a pitcher was to do all I could to help my team win, and from a selfish standpoint, to perform well enough to earn as much money as I could during a limited number of years to earn it. In 25 seasons in the major leagues, I averaged about $80,000 a year and thought, for many of those years, that I was overpaid.

I cringe when I hear or see a former player speak out about erasing records set during this era. Here is my own example of a "performance-enhancing method." Pitching outdoors in Minnesota, a pitcher needed something to help him grip the ball without having it slip out of his hand. Games were played in temperatures in the high 30s and low 40s, and the ball was slick like a frozen snowball. I used pine tar and later a solution my pitching coach, Johnny Sain, concocted by boiling resin and adding a little turpentine and a few other ingredients. It was against the rules. "No foreign substance is to be applied to the ball." No punishment was ever noted. Veteran umpire Jim Honochick, known later for his role in the Miller Lite commercials with Boog Powell, approached me on the mound from his position at second base one day and said, "Lefty, you're putting a foreign substance on the ball. That's illegal." I quickly replied, "Jim, that's not a foreign substance. It's made in North Carolina." He chuckled and went back to his position.

My point is that there were plenty of "tricks" to help you enhance your performance. Baseball never had a set punishment in place. Hall of Fame pitchers have written in books about scuffing the ball with a filed ring worn like a wedding ring that had a sharp edge. Players put Vaseline on the balls. Sandpaper rings were used that you could quickly flip off if an umpire came out to question the unusual movement of the pitch. One well-known pitcher who has been very outspoken about the records achieved with the use of performance-enhancing drugs used to file a sharp edge on his belt buckle to scuff the ball -- which helps a pitcher to get it to sink and dive different ways. Infielders had sharp objects hidden in their gloves and as the ball was tossed around the infield after an out, they could scuff it up. Hitters corked their bats.

Owners, general managers, umpires, and the commissioner and his staff knew these things went on and did very little about it. Occasionally, a pitcher might be warned about "doctoring" the ball or a hitter might be caught corking a bat. The Graig Nettles incident has been well-documented: "Puff," Graig's nickname, hit a ball off the end of his bat, and the hollowed-out end came loose and a golf ball, two superballs and a dowel of cork went rolling down the third-base line. It was looked upon as a funny incident. "Corking" is meant to increase the "coefficient of restitution" -- the speed with which the ball bounces back off the bat. Pretty heady terminology for a former left-handed pitcher!

As a pitcher who gave up a lot of home runs, I could recognize when a ball carried an unusual distance, particularly to the opposite field. I was always the curious type and one night, when I saw a ball fly into the upper deck to the opposite field off the bat of a hitter known for his batting titles and not his home runs, I investigated. Over the years, I became friendly with most of the clubhouse attendants; you see more of them during the season than you do your teammates or family. I would stop in to visit them well before games on occasion, and have, as we used to say, a cup of "big league coffee." (Just an expression, not a special brew.) I would notice the bags that held the bats and see where the ends had been hollowed out on some and a noticeable circle where cork or some other objects had been inserted. It confirmed what I thought about the bat of the hitter who hit the opposite-field home run. Because I was visiting a friend in the visiting clubhouse, I would never report anything like that and jeopardize my friendship with the clubhouse guys.

My reason for pointing out these examples of "performance enhancements" or cheating is that it has been going on as long as the game itself. Steroids that help you perform better are no different except they can affect your health. I didn't suffer any illness or debilitating condition from using pine tar. Athletes have died from using anabolic steroids.

The non-uniformed personnel are all hiding behind the doors and going nameless while players' reputations are tarnished forever.

The blame should be shared by the administration and the union. Since baseball took a public-interest hit after the 1994 strike and home runs began flying out of parks in record numbers, they turned their back on what they knew to be the reason for it. Being in clubhouses and around players with their torsos exposed, you don't have to be exceptionally intelligent to see body changes that would be impossible to achieve with normal weight and strength training.

I did the normal training to make my career last as long as possible. It lasted until I was 45 years old. Regular, normal training wouldn't help achieve the "spike" in players' performances that we have witnessed in recent years from hitters and pitchers.

Anyone have an answer to this question: Why hasn't any player hit 60 or more home runs since drug testing began?

I have a simple solution (and I have made this known to the current commissioner during a telecast of a game I was doing on YES). When the administration and the union realized what was going on -- and they knew ever since the Canseco era, which was about 1990 to a few years ago when testing began -- two things should have been presented to the players, privately, in meetings with each individual team …

A spokesman from the commissioner's office and the Players Association could have made it clear that they knew what was going on and that the players could:

1. Take anything and everything available to them to help their performance, and as a result, their team's performance, while understanding that there are potential health issues and legal issues if they are obtained without prescription.

2. Enter into an agreement between the union and Major League Baseball whereby any player caught in the authorized testing program using illegal performance-enhancing drugs (listed in clubhouses and training rooms) will be banned for life.

In other words, a level field for everyone.

If a lifetime ban was the punishment for using pine tar, do you think I would have taken a chance and used it? I would hope not.

I grew up studying baseball history. Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis was appointed commissioner in the early part of last century to rid the game of players involved in fixing games by cooperating with gamblers. We will never have a dictatorial commissioner like him again. However, we need some leadership that will protect the integrity of the game, and it should come from the administration and union leaders. They should have been more interested in serious issues like this instead of record-setting revenues and benefits for players. Unfortunately, that's all they have ever been interested in, and they probably always will be. It's too late to repair what damage has been done in the past, but an agreement with some teeth in it could be crafted immediately.

You may have lost whatever respect you had for players who were your heroes, but don't blame them for the current problem.

Jim A, great read. Love me some Kitty Kaat, I really miss him on YES.

A friend of mine sent me an aritcle by Jon Heyman / SI. Its the same old BS on the Johan drama. There was a part however that made me stop and smile..

===========

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/writers/jon_heyman/01/23/scoop.Jan23/

In any case, it is understandable that the Twins are taking their time. They know what they can get from the Red Sox, who don't appear to have set a deadline, and probably remain hopeful that Hank Steinbrenner overrules both his brother and Cashman and adds top young pitcher Ian Kennedy to the mix. "Kennedy's as good as Hughes,'' opines one scout, "They shouldn't do that.'' Still, some are surprised at the restraint being showed by the Yankees, considering the threat of Santana going to the rival Red Sox. "If Boston gets Santana, they lock up the division the next three or four years,'' one competing executive says.

===========

I could care less about the last part since the Yanks have locked up the division every year from 2001-2006, it did nothing for us. The part I care about is the scout's take on Kennedy. Im really surprised that they are so high on IPK....or are they just down on Phil??? Maybe its not as good as I first thought.

; )

If you are reading this....all the posts Ive made for the past 2-3 days have gone through. I think we are back up and running, good job Kat!

Jim Kaat as usual intelligent, knowledgable, straightforward, believable, and with no personal axe to grind.

There was really only one bad thing about having him as a broadcaster: every time he opened his mouth he made the tawdriness of most of his colleagues' work unavoidably plain.

Thanks, Jim A.

And thanks Dru for the link to the very thorough Paul White article, I don't ordinarily read USA Today and I would have missed it.

Nice reminder that there is something to say that does not involve Clemens or, except briefly in passing, Santana!

I hesitate to jinx this, but if it goes through it will be a recently unprecedented two posts through without problems in one day...

Great to have you back in action Diane!

To everyone....check out this clip of Wilson Betemit at 1B.

http://web.yesnetwork.com/media/archive.jsp?cat=media&oid=36019&y=2007&m=08

Go to =

8/21/2007 | 8/20: Betemit's Defense
Wilson Betemit cuts down the go-ahead run late in the game.
Watch: Watch

That's a hell of a play for a guy that just learned the position this season.

While you are there...

8/19/2007 | 8/19: Wilson's Double
Wilson Betemit's 3-run double breaks open the game in the eighth.
Watch: Watch

2 outs bases loaded.

COME ON WILSON!! TAKE THAT 1ST BASE JOB BABY!!!!!

Dru
A few weeks ago, on this blog I think, I had mentioned IPK as being better than most people had any reason to think. As I am retired...40 some years, army...I have had the opportunity of traveling around the country watching some of these guys play. Guys like; IPK, Gardner, Horne, Marquez even David Robertson and many others. I am not a scout, but I do know sports. Being as I was an Eddie Lopat type pitcher and 2nd baseman (and other sports) in my younger days, I do know a little (just a little) bit about pitching. So, I study the pitchers and infielders a little more than I would the outfielders. Some of these guys are very good ball players, you will be impressed with a few of them.

Dru
A few weeks ago, on this blog I think, I had mentioned IPK as being better than most people had any reason to think. As I am retired...40 some years, army...I have had the opportunity of traveling around the country watching some of these guys play. Guys like; IPK, Gardner, Horne, Marquez even David Robertson and many others. I am not a scout, but I do know sports. Being as I was an Eddie Lopat type pitcher and 2nd baseman (and other sports) in my younger days, I do know a little (just a little) bit about pitching. So, I study the pitchers and infielders a little more than I would the outfielders. Some of these guys are very good ball players, you will be impressed with a few of them.27/08

Nice Ranger! I wish I could travel around and see some of these guys. I wanted to go out to Scranton since its only a 90 minute or so ride, just never got around to it. Hopefully I can make it out there this year to see a Horne start or two. I havent been this excited/interested in the Yankee farm system....well, ever.

I try to contain my wild expectations, but these three kids seem like the goods to me. I can remember each time Kennedy, Phil or Joba toed the rubber. One of my favorite games was when Phil pitched against Cleveland in the regular season, threw 6 strong innings, Joba came in and dominated for 2 innings, then Mo closed it out. I couldnt stop smiling = ) I loved the poise of Ian at the end of September. The way he works the ball in and out, up and down...changes speed and location. He looked like a 10 year vet mixing up pitches...I was blown away that a 22 year old could be so polished and precise with his pitches. What Ian lacks in giddyup on his fastball, he more than makes up for with location and intelligence. His secondary pitches are so well refined and can throw each one over for a strike.

Sure all three with have ups and downs this season, growing pains and real pain. Those are to be expected from any pitcher. I think the coaching staff understands this, signing Eiland on to the staff was a major score in my mind. Also having Jorge and Molina showing them the finer points is huge. I hope the NY fans and media are patient and give these kids a real shot at becoming what some of us already believe they are.....special.

Dru and Diane,
I feel the same way about Jim Kaat, he's a class act all the way.

With Justice and Girardi not coming back to the Yankees booth and studio shows, I wonder the telecasts will be set up this season. I guess (hope) Bobby Murcer will be back full time, along w/ Caffeine Kay, Paulie, Ken Singleton and John Flaherty.

By the way, I tried to post this once, this is my second attempt. It ended my streak of 8 in a row going back to yesterday.

Jim..my last post failed too,,we probably failed at the same time...hmmmm. I wonder if that has anything to do with it? Maybe we’ve been getting through due to the reduced traffic? Maybe two people posting simultaneously has something to do with it?

I think you nailed the lineup in the booth. I would like to maybe see some fresh blood. I hate Kay since he left Sterling on the radio. Flash is subpar as an announcer.

Murcer
Oneil
Kenny
Kay ( I know he's not going anywhere )
How about Bernie????
Or Reggie????
Someone to add a little something to the booth is needed.

Kaat left a HUGE void, that guy knew every little detail about the game and was very enjoyable to listen to.

Don't forget Al Leiter. Very underrated in my opinion.

I think he and Singleton make the best duo right now - with Murcer as the third party. Flaherty and O'Neill are serviceable.

Maybe Santa will deliver Michael Kay's pink slip one day because the guy just sucks and I can't stand to hear his voice.

Until his retirement, Jim Katt was the best announcer they had. He and Singleton were outstanding together.

Agree on all counts Viper and Dru.
I don't like Kay because he has a coronary over the the most routine plays, Flaherty often sounds like he'd rather be reading the Yellow pages and Jim Kaat was great.
Al Leiter was not as good as I expected, but still pretty good. I think he'll be better now that he's a little farther removed from his playing days as everything he said last season seemed to start with "when I was playing...." or "what we did last year was.....". He'll improve in my opinion.

Wouldn't Goose be fun in the booth? How about Chili Davis? I always thought he'd do great on TV.

My favorite announcer was Katt.

Before that I liked Murcer/Rizz. Now days I like to see; Murcer/ Kenny/Al or Kay/O'Neil/Al teamed up. Kay is ok, I guess, but the other guys seem to be having fun being around the game that they played and loved. Plus, they know the game and they know the players. Katt was one tough pitcher. Had his front teeth knocked out in a game, and never missed a start. 27/08

O'Neill says "I mean" every other sentence - he is HORRIBLE.

Al Leiter...missed on purpose??? lol

Leiter knows his stuff from a pitching standpoint and Paul knows this stuff from a hitting standpoint...both have the personalities of wet mops. I did love when Oneil 1st went to the booth he would KILL Kay. "What do you know about Baseball Michael, you got cut from your little league team" or "What do you know about playing with injuries Michael, you'd be in a cast for a week if you stubbed your toe." Ahhh I miss those exchanges, hardly happens anymore.

Kenny has the best overall game. but is a horrible play by play guy, same thing with Murcer. Thats why you need Kay, he's the only true play by play guy YES has.

Kenny/Bobby/and Kay is the best combo YES has.

My favorite play by play guy for any broadcast these days is John Sterling, even if he messes up all the time. The games seem more exciting and interesting. I think games on radio in general are more enjoyable. The radio announcers have to give you every detail which fills up the time between pitches.

Radio….there’s a strike. Farnsworth working out of the stretch. Its a hot August night, the wind is blowing in from left. The crowd is starting to get restless. I can see movement in the Yankees bullpen. Farnsworth in the windup, the pitch…ball.

TV….strike one…………………………………………………………………….ball. Then the TV guys start talking about some BS that has nothing to do with the game. Kay, “so on my radio show the other day”…..ZZZZZZZZ
Bobby, “I used to room with this guy back in the minors”….ZZZZZZZZZ

The Radio program needs some tweaking as well since Susan’s voice is like rusty nails on a chalkboard to me.

These guys are all a far cry from Scooter/White and Mel Allen.

New form of failure to go through. I got a return message that my post is being held for approval by the blog owner.

I will not make another attempt to send it. If it goes through, it goes.

Really, just when I thought this blog was getting its act together...

Damn those stinkin' IT people!

Diane, when I 1st came onto this blog I got the same message. I think there are certain words being blocked. Usually it was profanity, other times I couldnt figure it out. For the record though, I believe that was here before the new security system.

2 for 2 today.

Dru,
John Sterling? Oh man, I just can't stand the fact that his "shtick" is more important to him than the game. Every time someone hits a homer he is so busy with his "it is high, it is far...." you usually hear the crowd erupt way before he is done. He has a great radio voice though, I'll give him that and I like the narration on the "Yankeeography's".

I'll take it there aren't too many Suzyn Waldman fans out there? I really, really don't like her on the radio. She was much better as a clubhouse reporter.

First try today....

KAY is NEEDED

sorry to bust many bubbles but he is the BASEBALL for DUMMIES announcer when you mostly have EX players they are anal in their deliveries therefor making the game a complete BORE! kay institutes character in the Booth you creates RESPONSE wether positive or negative.

he is like the arm chair pitcher who quotes are what an average joe would ask. and if he is critical of a player then so what that is the nature of the business.

Suzy is ok to me pretty fair reporting view on radio. Intelligent voice

Hub new king of the hill
N.Y’s. inferiority complex on display as Boston’s little town blues melt away

[quote] http://bostonherald.com/sports/football/patriots/view.bg?articleid=1068664

A lot of people are going to work very hard over the next 10 days to turn Super Bowl XLII into yet another exercise in which pint-sized, self-conscious Boston dares to step into the ring with powerful, glitzy New York.

Somebody will truck out the old story about the Red Sox [team stats] selling Babe to the Yankees. It will be noted that New York gets the smashmouth, blockbuster Broadway shows, while Boston must settle for tryouts and national tours. New York’s superiority in deli, pizza and Irish bars will be trumpeted.

But while it’s true Boston sports fans used to be jumping up and down and hollering, “Pick me! Pick me!” whenever they were in the same classroom with their peers from New York, a change in centuries brought about a change in attitude.

[b] Boston sports fans just don’t give a damn what New Yorkers think any more.[/b]

Sorry, New York, but Boston sports fans have too much going on to pay attention to whatever it is you happen to be whining about this week, last week or next week. And while this may read as though it were cleared first with the Greater Boston Convention and Visitors Bureau, it’s not hometown boosterism.

It’s fact.

Having just watched the Red Sox win their second World Series in four years, the Boston sports fans now are watching to see if the Patriots [team stats] can complete their perfect season with a victory over the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII. And the day after the Super Bowl ends, or, the day after the latest rolling rally through the streets of Boston ends, bleary-eyed fans will turn their attention to the rebuilt Celtics [team stats], who happen to own the best record in the NBA.

And New York? Where once the Red Sox owned the East Coast distribution rights in choking, that industry now belongs to New York. The Yankees, absent of a World Series championship this century, are the owners of the biggest postseason choke in sports history, what with their collapse against the Red Sox in the 2004 American League Championship Series.

The Mets, not to be outdone, are coming off one of the biggest regular-season chokes in history.

Manhattan’s NBA franchise, the Knicks, has become the biggest laughingstock in professional sports. And New York can’t even prop up its hockey club, the Rangers, in an attempt to outshine the Bruins [team stats]. While both teams play ugly, the Rangers are just a little uglier.

Football? I guess the Jets would be preparing for the Super Bowl this very moment had it not been for Bill Belichick’s video camera way back in Week 1. That’s why the New York Post, week after week, after week, after week, after . . . week, after zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, has been putting the (* caught cheating) next to the Patriots in the NFL standings.

Look, Belichick did something stupid, got caught doing something stupid, and now has to write a fat check to the NFL and, oh, yeah, forfeit the Pats’ first-round pick in the next draft. But Belichick’s camera boy was carted off the field some eight minutes into that season-opener against the Jets. Since then, the Pats are 18-0. The Jets went 4-12, and their coach, Eric Mangini, now spends his time Googling his name and “dime dropper.”

Now it’s the Pats vs. the plucky Giants in the Super Bowl, and the Post noticed a limp in Pats quarterback Tom Brady [stats]’s step. Was that some kind of walking cast Brady was wearing the other day as he exited the crib he shares with Gisele?

“Girlie man limps home,” harrumphed the Post.

And so it will continue, right through Super Bowl XLII. Only nobody in Boston will be listening, or reading.

It’s not Boston vs. New York. It’s the Patriots vs. the Giants

[img]http://multimedia.heraldinteractive.com/images/ce9a4aace8_THIS_MEANS_WAR.jpg[/img]

New York crybabies rip Brady and Pats and we fire back.[/quote]

Its so funny how Boston always has NY in its crosshairs. No matter what the sport or event, the red headed step child to the north always feels that he needs to prove himself. If NY has an indoor women’s lacrosse team, Boston would form a team the next day. Its very laughable and a little sad.

Im not a Giants fan...I actually have money on the Pats..GO PATS!

I am a Knicks fan, the Celtics are the last thing on my mind. I also find it comical that the Celtics were actually worse than the Knicks for the past decade ( very hard to do ). Now that they bring in some vets, its another "we're better than you" ???

I am a Rangers fan, dont really follow the sport like I did before the strike. Honestly I forgot the Bruins even existed.

I'm obviously a Yankee fan. Ive been alive for 6 WS wins, the Sox win 2 and now they own the Yanks??? Last season was the 1st year the Yanks didnt win the division in over a decade. We have made the playoffs 13 straight years. Everyone is in panic mode because the Yanks havent won the WS in 7 years. WOW, what a dry spell. I wonder how Dodger fans, Mets fans, Tiger fans, Indian fans...well, basically 24 other teams feel about their franchises.

I agree that this whole NY vs Boston thing is just a lot of media fertilizer. Some people make this out to be Israel vs Palestine. Im not saying NY fans are innocent, both sides have their characters; however it seems like it is more prevalent in Boston’s culture. I can guarantee that if the Pats win the Super Bowl, during their parade you will hear “Yankees suck”. If the Giants win the Super Bowl you would be hard pressed to hear anyone say “Red Sox suck”. Again, pretty funny to me.

Just goes to show how much of an inferiority complex Boston fans still have. They have 2 successful teams that have recently won championships (Red Sox and Patriots), a basketball team that's had a resurgence, and instead of enjoying their success, they STILL have to come here and other NY sports teams blogs to show that they have become more and more like the "fans" that they have hated all of these years. You give guys like Sully and CO who root hard for their Boston teams, hate the Yanks, but still show the respect that good teams like the Yanks and Giants deserve.

So let me the first person to crown Boston Sports fans the new "Kings of Arrogance". You have now become the sports fans that the rest of us can hate.

Let me ask you this: If the Patriots lose, and granted, that's a BIG IF, are you going to come here and take it, or are you going to pull a disappearing act?

As far as the Celtics go, the regular season doesn't mean squat in the NBA and NHL except for seeding. Let's see what the Celtics do when they have to play Lebron and the Cavs, and/or Detroit. If by some miracle they get out of the east, I can think of 2,3 teams from the west that will smoke them in the finals. But, we have a ways to go before that happens.

That's my one and only comment on this subject.