Monday Morning Mehta 8/14/06
Edition # 172
August 14, 2006
Next MMM is August 28 which will be our 4th annual AFC Preview. Or maybe it's the 3rd annual, I forget.
Anyway, quick week here this week.
The Phils play decent baseball since we last talked going 7-4, until losing two games in a row to the Reds which would've put them right into the thick of the action. As it turns out, they're still in it by default.
- Phils now sit 4 games back of the Wild Card, which doesn't sound bad, but have 4 teams in front of them and the leading Reds.
- The Phillies just don't change. When the pressure is off they play well. Going into this weekend's series, the pressure was "on" so to speak. They had a chance to really make some noise. Instead, they
- I just have one added observation to the laundry list of Phils issues: The double switching that Manuel does (especially for Burrell) late in games has gotten out of hand. Too many times this year has he left himself with the pitchers spot batting behind Ryan Howard (or somewhere in the middle of the order) late in extra innings with nobody left off the bench.
- I hate to be the one who piles on since everyone knows this, but Abraham Nunez has been just awful. The good news is he only makes one out per at bat not two like David Bell.
- 2006 NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year....Hank Baskett! (OK maybe he'll finish 2nd behind that Bush guy).
- There was over 118,000 fans for this weekend's series vs. the Reds. This team better keep up the payroll in the offseason.
- It's a shame the Phillies won't win the Wild Card. If they make the playoffs Ryan Howard would be almost a shoe-in for MVP. As it turns out, he's probably still in the top 3. Carlos Beltran seems to be the hot choice right now with Albert Pujols close (more of the Cards later).
- Mets and Nationals continue the homestand this week. Expect another 3-4 or 4-3 week to delay the inevitable.
Around the League
- The American League playoff picture is changing daily. A week ago the Tigers were looking to cruise to the Central title and now suddenly their division hopes aren't as easy. The lead is down to 5 in the loss column and the White Sox have really buried the Twins the last week.
- Speaking of the Twins, every Twin fan (out of the 6 people that actually read this rag I don't think we have a Twin fan) is holding their breath hoping for good news from Francisco Liriano's injury.
- Will the Dodgers ever lose again?? They are playing about as good as you can play right now. This would be the team to watch for in September and August. They certainly have enough pitching to get it done (Derek Lowe has shown he's a clutch post season pitcher and Greg Maddux's last 4 starts have been awesome). The Mets have been awesome this year, but I just don't know about those 5 and 6 inning pitchers come October (Sorry Frank).
- The Cards have been awful the last month. Pitching is completely falling apart at the seams and Izzy has 8 blown saves.
- The dangerous team in the whole NL to me is the Astros once again. They're only 5 games out of the Cards in the pathetic NL Central. But just like the Phillies, just when Houston could have made some noise, they go and lose two in a row to the struggling Padres.
NHL Week In Review By : Ed Wasser
- CONSPIRACY THEORY ALERT!!! CONSPIRACY THEORY ALERT!!! OK, I'm going to write about this even though I'm pretty sure the C.I.A. has installed a hidden camera in my apartment and they may pass along this information to the assassination department in the NHL offices. (I'm going to tell you this with my hand over my mouth so nobody can read my lips....just in case) So I came home from work on Tuesday, August 1 and when I turned on my TV I noticed that all my TV stations have been rearranged. MTV used to be channel 37, now it's 72. The Fox Network used to be channel 5, now it's 9. But now get this....the home of NHL hockey, the Outdoor Life Network, used to be channel 96. That's right, channel 96, up there with the Soap Opera Network, American Movie Classics, and The Style Network. But now OLN is channel 37, just one click away from Comcast Sportsnet (channel 38), and only a few clicks away from ESPN (channel 34) and ESPN II (channel 35). Me thinks that Comcast, who owns the Flyers, may have moved OLN so that people will be able to find it and may click on it while channel surfing from ESPN to Comcast Sportsnet. At this stage, with the NHL ratings in the crapper, the owners have to rely on people turning on hockey by accident.
Boring week in the NHL.....Harry Sinden quit as president of the Bruins after completing his job of running them into the ground.... Flyers defenseman Eric Desjardins called it a career. He was the last remaining player from the biggest heist in Flyers history. Desjardins, John LeClair, and the Marcel Dionne's younger, crappy brother came to the Flyers from Montréal for Mark Recchi. I'd say Desjardin will eventually make the Hall of Fame but he's not a first ballot player. And he certainly belongs in the Flyers Hall of Fame. Number retired? That's a little much, I'd say no.....The LA Times announced that they will no longer send writers on Duck and King road trips.....If you haven't seen the first episode of "Flavor of Love" make sure you see it by any means necessary. Quit your job, drive to the VH-1 offices in New York, I can not emphasize this enough, ANY MEANS NECESSARY!!!! It's that good.....The Flyers dumped Gary Dornhoefer as color commentator and replaced him with Keith Jones.....The Flyers get Kyle Calder from the Blackhawks for Michael Handzus
August 14, 2006
Next MMM is August 28 which will be our 4th annual AFC Preview. Or maybe it's the 3rd annual, I forget.
Anyway, quick week here this week.
The Phils play decent baseball since we last talked going 7-4, until losing two games in a row to the Reds which would've put them right into the thick of the action. As it turns out, they're still in it by default.
- Phils now sit 4 games back of the Wild Card, which doesn't sound bad, but have 4 teams in front of them and the leading Reds.
- The Phillies just don't change. When the pressure is off they play well. Going into this weekend's series, the pressure was "on" so to speak. They had a chance to really make some noise. Instead, they
- I just have one added observation to the laundry list of Phils issues: The double switching that Manuel does (especially for Burrell) late in games has gotten out of hand. Too many times this year has he left himself with the pitchers spot batting behind Ryan Howard (or somewhere in the middle of the order) late in extra innings with nobody left off the bench.
- I hate to be the one who piles on since everyone knows this, but Abraham Nunez has been just awful. The good news is he only makes one out per at bat not two like David Bell.
- 2006 NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year....Hank Baskett! (OK maybe he'll finish 2nd behind that Bush guy).
- There was over 118,000 fans for this weekend's series vs. the Reds. This team better keep up the payroll in the offseason.
- It's a shame the Phillies won't win the Wild Card. If they make the playoffs Ryan Howard would be almost a shoe-in for MVP. As it turns out, he's probably still in the top 3. Carlos Beltran seems to be the hot choice right now with Albert Pujols close (more of the Cards later).
- Mets and Nationals continue the homestand this week. Expect another 3-4 or 4-3 week to delay the inevitable.
Around the League
- The American League playoff picture is changing daily. A week ago the Tigers were looking to cruise to the Central title and now suddenly their division hopes aren't as easy. The lead is down to 5 in the loss column and the White Sox have really buried the Twins the last week.
- Speaking of the Twins, every Twin fan (out of the 6 people that actually read this rag I don't think we have a Twin fan) is holding their breath hoping for good news from Francisco Liriano's injury.
- Will the Dodgers ever lose again?? They are playing about as good as you can play right now. This would be the team to watch for in September and August. They certainly have enough pitching to get it done (Derek Lowe has shown he's a clutch post season pitcher and Greg Maddux's last 4 starts have been awesome). The Mets have been awesome this year, but I just don't know about those 5 and 6 inning pitchers come October (Sorry Frank).
- The Cards have been awful the last month. Pitching is completely falling apart at the seams and Izzy has 8 blown saves.
- The dangerous team in the whole NL to me is the Astros once again. They're only 5 games out of the Cards in the pathetic NL Central. But just like the Phillies, just when Houston could have made some noise, they go and lose two in a row to the struggling Padres.
NHL Week In Review By : Ed Wasser
- CONSPIRACY THEORY ALERT!!! CONSPIRACY THEORY ALERT!!! OK, I'm going to write about this even though I'm pretty sure the C.I.A. has installed a hidden camera in my apartment and they may pass along this information to the assassination department in the NHL offices. (I'm going to tell you this with my hand over my mouth so nobody can read my lips....just in case) So I came home from work on Tuesday, August 1 and when I turned on my TV I noticed that all my TV stations have been rearranged. MTV used to be channel 37, now it's 72. The Fox Network used to be channel 5, now it's 9. But now get this....the home of NHL hockey, the Outdoor Life Network, used to be channel 96. That's right, channel 96, up there with the Soap Opera Network, American Movie Classics, and The Style Network. But now OLN is channel 37, just one click away from Comcast Sportsnet (channel 38), and only a few clicks away from ESPN (channel 34) and ESPN II (channel 35). Me thinks that Comcast, who owns the Flyers, may have moved OLN so that people will be able to find it and may click on it while channel surfing from ESPN to Comcast Sportsnet. At this stage, with the NHL ratings in the crapper, the owners have to rely on people turning on hockey by accident.
Boring week in the NHL.....Harry Sinden quit as president of the Bruins after completing his job of running them into the ground.... Flyers defenseman Eric Desjardins called it a career. He was the last remaining player from the biggest heist in Flyers history. Desjardins, John LeClair, and the Marcel Dionne's younger, crappy brother came to the Flyers from Montréal for Mark Recchi. I'd say Desjardin will eventually make the Hall of Fame but he's not a first ballot player. And he certainly belongs in the Flyers Hall of Fame. Number retired? That's a little much, I'd say no.....The LA Times announced that they will no longer send writers on Duck and King road trips.....If you haven't seen the first episode of "Flavor of Love" make sure you see it by any means necessary. Quit your job, drive to the VH-1 offices in New York, I can not emphasize this enough, ANY MEANS NECESSARY!!!! It's that good.....The Flyers dumped Gary Dornhoefer as color commentator and replaced him with Keith Jones.....The Flyers get Kyle Calder from the Blackhawks for Michael Handzus
posted by Monday Morning Mehta at 10:40 AM
5 Comments:
This blog has been lacking without Sura's contributions.
Hockey is a tough enough beat, writing a about something most people don't give a crud about. Cycling could have have guys as big as Andre The Giant doped up on everything known to man and nobody would care about it.
E.W.
BTW - MMM's unofficial official non-Tiger Woods pick for the PGA Championship is Chris Dimarco and David Toms. (If you don't pick Phil or Tiger you get two picks, those are the rules).
And I also like Jim Furyk's chances.
If Phil wins the PGA, the Woods/Mick battle is officially on. If Woods wins, he'll pass Jack Nicklaus sometime around 2009 - 2010. He'll probably get to 18 majors before he turns 35. Amazing.
Micheal Peca just signed with the Leafs. He also played with the Sabres, Islanders, in the Stanley Cup Finals last year with the Oilers.
He was never a Penguin as far as I know. Of course it would be easy enough for me to verify that but, you know, I'm lazy.
E.W.
Mets are playing great baseball boy they're a good team.
(Just testing Frank's theory that I'm a Met jinx)
Phils need all the help they can get this weekend...
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