September 2008 Archives
After years of dominance and a top of the NFC, the rams have taken a turn for the worse the past two years. Ending the season last year with a dismal 3 wins last year was just the start. This season they are off to 0-4 start and allowing 35 or more points in each of those games. Head management called for action, they ordered the firing of head coach Scott Linehan. Although the team lost games, Linehan lost a lot more out of his players, he lost all respect and all youth out of his offense that was once dubbed "the greatest show on turf." Although there were injuries that dismantled them last year, there were no excuses this year.
Many thought that Linehan was too much of a nice guy because he never punished players for acting out of line, and many believe that this was a big reason why they never had success. However, I believe that the team had reached its peak and many of the veteran players had past their primes. When players have had success in past seasons they never take losing very well, they aren't used to the atmosphere and feeling of not winning. This probably explains the frustration of some of the main core of players for the rams that had been so successful. Who knows if anyone will be able to fix this mess of an organization right now? But as of now it seems like the city of St. Louis is in desperate need of a miracle, and maybe a new coach will provide it.
Probably everyone who has played an organized sport has at some point been victimized to a blown call by a referee or an official. Well just recently Jerry Jones, the owner of the Dallas Cowboys heavily disagreed with referee Ed Hochuli's calls and had negative comments toward that referee on a local Dallas radio show. It just so happens that being the owner of a professional organization you must hold back your remarks of these kinds and this one cost Jones big time. It cost him $25,000 to be exact just for stating his opinion and saying this: "Maybe the answer is to tell people like that, 'Keep that whistle out of your mouth. "My gut here is the emphasis is going to have to be taking officials like that and getting somebody else if they're going to be penalty prone." It was a similar remark that got New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton a $15,000 fine which is now in appeal. All it took for Roger Goodell to fine the Saint's head coach $15,000 was the word "unacceptable" which was how he described the officiating at the end of the Saints 32-34 loss against the Broncos in week 2.
If you ask me that's quite a penalty for one or a few words in which these team representatives were
only displaying their opinions. I believe the two men were just standing up for their team. On the other hand NFL commissioner Roger Goodell was standing up for his officials as well, making sure to make an example out of Jones and Payton so that players, coaches, and owners do not continue to make negative remarks towards game officials. I'm sure that those will not be the last negative remarks toward officials this early in the year and I'm wondering if Roger will continue to carry on fining in this manner for the remainder of the season.
The New York Mets once again heart broke their fans yesterday, losing 4-2 to the Florida Marlins on the last day of the season and once again missing out on the playoffs for the second straight year to the Milwaukee Brewers who defeated the National League Central champion and number 1 seed Chicago Cubs 3-1 on a dominating complete game pitching performance by C.C Sabathia. The loss means a little bit more than missing out on the playoffs though. Since there will be no postseason baseball in flushing, Shea Stadium has hosted its last game ever. Next year the Mets are moving into brand new Citi Field which is right across the street from Shea. That's not all! Unlike Yankee Stadium which will be completely demolished, pieces of Shea will be sold, almost every significant item from the stadium is up for sale.
On September 11th, 2008, the New York Mets website reported they would be selling 2000 pieces of official Shea memorabilia, and have a deal with the MeiGray group to sell all the memorabilia. Prices range from 35 dollars for a napkin holder (I think it would be cool to have one) to $100,000 for the entire Mets Home Dugout!, now that would be quite a souvenir albeit the price. Other noteworthy items for sale are the individual letters from the "Shea Stadium" sign for 5 grand each; to both foul poles for 25,000 bones and the 1986 World Championship flag for $ 50,000. I'm surprised the Mets are willing to sell away so much of their prominent things from their only stadium they have ever had, but hey, if you're rich and a Mets fan, you can buy a souvenir way better than a Jersey or Hat!
The official story:
The Shea Stadium memorabilia pricelist:
http://www.loge13.com/pricelist.php
At the begging of the 2008-2009 season four National Hockey League four teams will begin their season in Europe. The Tampa Bay Lightning will play the New York Rangers, while the Ottawa Senators will faceoff against the Pittsburgh Penguins. This is the second year the NHL has done this. Last season the Anaheim Ducks and Los Angeles Kings faced off in London. With the NHL's growing popularity in Europe, the head of the NHL's Player's Association hopes that as many as eight teams will begin their run for the cup in the 2009-2010 season in as many as three different cities. With all this going on there is now talk of bringing back the World Cup of Hockey.
From: http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=3614334
Hockey has always been a big hit in Europe, as many of today's NHL stars started their careers there. Some players even now are leaving the NHL to play in the leagues there. With the NHL lockout in 2004 Europe hosted many of the NHL's top players. It is a very exciting thing to have the NHL grow since its popularity here in the states was badly damaged due to the lockout. Hopefully its popularity overseas will brush off on us here in the states and the NHL can have the same feeling it had in the 80's and 90's.
The Football Association has suggested it will support any moves to introduce goal-line technology into the sport.
There have been widespread calls for new technology after Spurs were denied a winner against Manchester Utd despite Pedro Mendes' effort crossing the line. But the FA stressed it was against any wider use of video replays. "The FA is willing to consider any goal-line technology that would improve decision-making while not disrupting the game," said the FA's statement. "The key factor is whether a message can be transmitted immediately to the referee allowing him to take an immediate decision without interrupting play." Mendes' speculative strike from the halfway line comfortably crossed the goal-line after an error from United keeper Roy Carroll. But with the referee and assistant referee unable to get a proper view of the incident, the 'goal' was not given. Both Spurs boss Martin Jol and his United counterpart Sir Alex Ferguson have called for the introduction of technology.
Technology in the European footballing community is becoming more and more desired. The most desired after technology is Goal-line technology which would be used when the referee or assistant referees fail to notice a goal scored due to poor positioning. If the referee was given about 30 seconds after the goal to review it, then it would make calling a goal quite a bit easier. Problems arose after Tottenham Hotspur were denied an obvious goal because the referees were out of position and could not make the proper call. Pedro Mendes, a midfielder from Tottenham, shot, and the ball subsequently crossed the line. Due to the referees poor positioning, Tottenham were left to rue their opportunities.
For many fans, including me, the proposed goal-line technology takes away the pace and beauty of the football matches. The matches would lose their intensity. The human officiating though has to change for the better and goal-line technology is something for the future.
The Alabama Crimson Tide shocked viewers who watched their nationally televised meeting with the Georgia Bulldogs. Coming in as eight-seeded underdogs, Alabama met up with three-seeded Georgia in a hostile atmosphere in Athens, Georgia. The game was extremely hyped and Georgia decided to go with the blackout theme. The Bulldogs wore their alternate black uniforms. They only bring these out for the most important games. However, Alabama wasn't intimidated by the higher-seeded Bulldogs. Surprisingly, the Crimson Tide jumped of f to a 31-0 lead. Georgia made a valiant second half effort only to fall short 41-30. John Parker Wilson, of Alabama, threw for 200 yards and tailback Glen Coffee added two rushing touchdowns.
Alabama seems to be extremely well-coached and versed to play in big games. This past win over Georgia was not the first game in which Alabama beat a top-ten team on the road. Wins like this over major nationally recognized competition only leads to more publicity for Alabama. This nationally televised competition brings the Alabama program a lot of positive attention. After his controversial exit from the NFL, Nick Saban appears to be doing a great job in the college game. Saban gives the Crimson Tide a confident and recognizable face to represent the Alabama brand. The sky seems to be the limit for this unflappable Alabama team.
For a lot of people, like me, lacrosse in the spring is too far away to wait and for those people there's fallball. According to October's Magazine article "Quint Kessenich's Fallball: what to watch for", this upcoming spring season of NCAA Men's Lacrosse should be nothing but unbelievable. The article talks about some of the teams to keep an eye on and to look out for. Some of the teams mentioned are Virginia, Syracuse, Johns Hopkins, and Maryland. For Virginia, the author of this article, Quint Kessenich, believes that as long as some of the older players step up, they should have little to no trouble making it to the Championship weekend. Syracuse lost some seniors but the coach hopes that won't have to much of an impact on the team. Of course they're going to be hard to replace but the team should be able to stay on the track they ended on. The author doesn't really say much about Johns Hopkins besides all the questions that have risen from last season. The author believes that this team will rise to all the challenges it may run across. Maryland's amazing freshman are now sophomores and everyone should expect great things from these guys- Ryan Young, Grant Catalino, Travis Reed.
I personally cannot wait for the spring season to start. After reading this article I learned how some of the teams are responding to the past season. Quint Kessenich did a very good job at giving us an early look at some of the teams and now we all know what to look out for. The 2009 NCAA Men's Lacrosse season should be nothing short of spectacular!
If I can make it there
I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York.
New York City is one of the populated cities in the United States with a population of 21,961,994 as of 2007. This city has two different football teams. They are of course the New York Giants and the New York Jets. When the 2010 season opens kicks off these two teams will be playing in a new stadium that will have an increased 82,500 seats, which also includes 10,000 club seats and 200 luxury seats making this new stadium the second largest stadium next to FedEx Field in Washington, D.C. However, there will be a new stadium built for the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. This stadium will have an additional 20,000 seats more then the previous Cowboy's Stadium.
I believe that this new stadium will have a big impact on how these teams play theri game. The rush will be greater because more seats may equal more fans if these teams are doing superb during the 2010 season. However there have also been pricing problems for these new stadiums. With the addition of the stadium that's being built in New Jersey there has been an addition of personal seat licenses. These can cost between $1,000-20,000.
In mid-June Jerry Manuel was called to duty as the Mets new manager upon the firing of Willie Randolph. Not much was expected of him or his team, being below five hundred and nearly at the All-Star Break. However, Manuel took over and completely turned the Mets around. He gained the respect of his players and coaches as well as the fans. The Met s surged ahead throughout the summer and a fall classic seemed possible. Although the Mets failed to make the playoffs, Manuel may still go with the Mets to Citi Field. That decision lies with Mets General Manager, Omar Minaya, as well as the owner, Fred Wilpon and his son Jeff Wilpon, chief operating officer.
The Mets had plenty of chances to be great this season. When Jerry Manual took over as interim manager, it shed a new light on the team. The players seemed to be more relaxed and ready to play. As fans, we felt better about our team. However, the team just wasn't strong enough, failing once again on the last day of the regular season. Our only hope is to have a fresh start in the spring of 2009, with Manuel at the helm.
By Justin Carter September 29,2008 
I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York.
New York City is one of the populated cities in the United States with a population of 21,961,994 as of 2007. This city has two different football teams. They are of course the New York Giants and the New York Jets. When the 2010 season opens kicks off these two teams will be playing in a new stadium that will have an increased 82,500 seats, which also includes 10,000 club seats and 200 luxury seats making this new stadium the second largest stadium next to FedEx Field in Washington, D.C. However, there will be a new stadium built for the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. This stadium will have an additional 20,000 seats more then the previous Cowboy's Stadium.
I believe that this new stadium will have a big impact on how these teams play theri game. The rush will be greater because more seats may equal more fans if these teams are doing superb during the 2010 season. However there have also been pricing problems for these new stadiums. With the addition of the stadium that's being built in New Jersey there has been an addition of personal seat licenses. These can cost between $1,000-20,000.
Brandon Jennings may be setting the precedent for future high school phenoms with his decision to play for Vitmas Rome of the Italian League rather than go to college. Can Europe's team first mentality shape Jennings into being one of the best point guards in the NBA? According to Yahoo! Sports, one Western Conference general manager said, "To me, this is the best path to get ready for the NBA." Jennings is signed to a three-year $1 million dollar contract but has an out to enter the NBA draft after either the 1st or 2nd year of his contract. He has also signed a four-year contract with Under Armour, who will pay him comparably to the top 3 picks in the 2008 NBA draft according to Yahoo! Sports.
This path will not be easy for Jennings. No one is going to hold his hand. Brandon Jennings is the first high school player to ever make this move and if successful then European franchises will be hungry to invest in next years High School class. He is taking a huge risk and the repercussions can be fatal, but if all goes well, then the rewards will be well worth it.
As a 19 year old female sports fan watching Michael Phelps walk and swim around in close to nothing wasn't a hard thing to do during the Olympics. After a rating jumped NBC discovered that there had been a rise in male viewing. Over the past few Olympic Games the large portion of viewer had been women, mostly watching women's gymnastics', due to the overwhelming buzz about Michael Phelps winning 8 gold medals male viewers flocked in.
Normally most viewers are female during the Olympics, while this year there was a decrease in the younger female demographic (12-17 and 18-34). This dropped along with the increase in overall male viewing split the viewing audience almost in half roughly 50% male 50% female. While the number and gender of the people watching changed so did the events being watched. Michael Phelps 8 world record breaking swims were for high demand, but it was the women's AND men's US gymnastics teams that pulled in the viewers.
If I can make it there
I'll make it anywhere
It's up to you, New York, New York.
New York City is one of the populated cities in the United States with a population of 21,961,994 as of 2007. This city has two different football teams. They are of course the New York Giants and the New York Jets. When the 2010 season opens kicks off these two teams will be playing in a new stadium that will have an increased 82,500 seats, which also includes 10,000 club seats and 200 luxury seats making this new stadium the second largest stadium next to FedEx Field in Washington, D.C. However, there will be a new stadium built for the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. This stadium will have an additional 20,000 seats more then the previous Cowboy's Stadium.
I believe that this new stadium will have a big impact on how these teams play theri game. The rush will be greater because more seats may equal more fans if these teams are doing superb during the 2010 season. However there have also been pricing problems for these new stadiums. With the addition of the stadium that's being built in New Jersey there has been an addition of personal seat licenses. These can cost between $1,000-20,000.
After a 0-4 start to the season, the St. Louis Rams have released head coach Scott Linehan. In these four games, they have managed to lose by an astounding, league-high average of 26 points per game. When the Rams lost their week three game to the Seahawks 37-13, Linehan went into panic mode, naming 6 new starters for the following week. Perhaps the most criticized change was benching former starting quarterback Marc Bulger in favor of 38 year old veteran Trent Green.
Another blowout loss for the Rams in week four showed that Linehan's changes were only made in a panic, and really failed to improve the team. One could argue that it was a success, because this was the only time they have lost this season by less than twenty points; the fact that this could be brought up as a bright side however, demonstrates the depressing state of the franchise.
With Linehan out, the Rams are expected to promote defensive coordinator Jim Haslett to be the interim head coach. Haslett has head coaching experience in the league, coaching the New Orleans Saints from 2000-2005.
According to Sports Business Journal, NBA administration is looking to widen the viewing pleasure for the 2008-2009 NBA season. The contracts the NBA's NBA TV formed with the major video providers, such as DirecTV, Time Warner Cable, and others, expire this fall. The NBA is aiming towards a more productive season through the media by using NBA League Pass as a basic program with cable and satellite companies. The push for digital basic by the NBA is not being overlooked by the major video providers. One cable operator executive stated, "It's going to happen," about the NBA push towards digital basic. In order to gain the 6 to 10 million additional subscribers, NBA TV plans on lowering the license fee by about 40 percent.
With a lower price, and a more available program, NBA TV should be easily reaching their goal of 6 to 10 million extra subscribers for the upcoming season. Most people that watch the NBA watch it on a daily basis. Cheaper prices will influence those crazy fans to subscribe to NBA TV, and possibly subscribe to the NBA League Pass. It would be great for the NBA to reach their goal and allow so many more people to see their favorite teams every day.
As the 2010 approaches, another World Cup is on the way. Qualifying rounds for the prestige's soccer tournament has started and David Beckham is being seen sitting on the bench. In his comments, his new-role as a bench player does not bother him as long as he is "part of the squad, part of these qualifiers and, hopefully, part of the team to the World Cup."(www.espn.com 9-28-08) Beckham really has no choice but to accept his fate as a bench player, especially with his new replacement, Theo Walcott, scoring a hat-trick against Croatia. He has clearly stated that he supports Fabio Capello, the England manager, in his choice to bench the international superstar.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=576776&sec=worldcup2010&cc=5901
Once David Beckham relocated himself to the Los Angeles Galaxy, his soccer career was clearly on the backend. After playing for powerhouses in Spain and England, Real Madrid and Manchester United, coming to America to play in the MLS was a clear sign of a downfall. Although he is on the bench, I believe that Beckham's presence will still make an impact. Knowing that there is such a highly respected player sitting on the bench can be an intimidating thing for many international teams that face England. You also can't forget that his backup, Theo Walcott, is still a teenager and is already scoring hat-tricks in international play. Although England is sitting their once "big superstar", they now might be grooming a new, better captain for their highly respected squad.
Under Armour has decided to launch a new basketball campaign and the first face of this campaign is 19 year old Brandon Jennings. Jennings has recently decided not to play college basketball and instead he will be playing in the Italian pro league. Under Armour has signed Jennings to a multi-year deal making this young man the first person to sign a basketball endorsement deal with Under Armour.
From www.bizjournals.com
Jennings decision to surpass college and go to Italy is seen as a way of getting around the NBA's ban on taking players out of High School. I believe that this isn't the best move for the young man but it seems to be paying off. Being able to ignore sports giants such as Nike and Adidas shows that this move will definitely pay off for him in the long run. It is uncertain whether or not Jennings will return to America and play in the NBA when he is eligible in the 2009-2010 season. As of now whether or not this young man made the right decision remains to be seen but what is certain is that he will be the face of the Under Armour basketball campaign.
http://www.sportsbusinessnews.com/
Bill Plaschke wrote this article stating that the Los Angeles Dodgers should not re-sign Manny Ramirez. He wrote, "But if the Dodgers allow these two months to sucker them into signing him to the rich long-term deal he will demand, the trade will be one of their worst." The article talks about the financial costs of keeping Manny as well as the character problems that come along with him.
After Manny railed the team into the playoffs, why would the dodgers let him go? Of course Manny will want money as he always has, but shouldn't the franchise player get the money they want. After arriving in L.A. Manny was nothing short of excellent. In 53 games with L.A. Manny hit 17 home-runs and had 53 RBI. How can you possibly let production like this leave. Yes, Manny is getting old. However, he has shown no signs of slowing down. He is a great veteran that will teach the young players around him. His services will go far beyond his playing days because the young players around him will learn about the game and grow from the experience of playing with him. With the talk of World Series going around L.A. Manny has convinced me that he belongs in L.A. and if the Dodgers organization is smart enough they will pay him his millions. In doing so, they will keep Manny happy and they will keep fans happy which will bring in larger revenues on the business side of things.
I think that I have seen it all. I woke up this morning and realized that I needed an article for my 8AM class to write this blog about and came across this one. Apparently the University of North Carolina wants to start a football team. A football team that will cost the $45 million to start. Most people would say "what is the problem?" A-rod makes around $30million a year and there is a caviar covered pizza that only costs $1000 per a pie, but I think that this just sounds ridiculous. $45million to start a college football team? The University has only raised $25.3 million through athletic-related campaigns in the last 15 years, and now they want to raise $45 million in 5 years... something doesn't add up. To raise this money some of the ideas that the university has come up with is raising students dues by $200. Also apparently it costs $10 million a year just for the upkeep of the program. Where would all of this money be going?
I think if the school is really serious that they can cut costs by signing a deal with the Carolina Panthers to use their stadium as their home field. I just can't get past the fact that the projected cost is $45 million dollars. I looked at the schools tuition on their website and the most that a student pays in tuition is $8702.25 per a semester as an student at the college of business as a non resident. http://studentaccounts.uncc.edu/TuitionAndFees.html .
Donna Orender, The WNBA league president has declares this season the leagues "best year ever". Attendance was up this year by 2.2 percent overall with the help of the new expansion franchise the Atlanta Dream. The overall attendance this year will be more than 1.89 million fans. Even with the economy the way it is, the league was able to sell out 47 games, triple the amount that they sold out during the 2007 season. The national TV audience increased as well this year going up 19 percent in both ratings (0.32) and total viewership (413,000) from the 2007 season. Almost 13 million fans accessed the WNBA website, a jump of 35 percent from last season. Merchandise sales were also up 36 percent from last season.
This is all good news for a league that seemed to be struggling to survive a few years ago. As the game continues to grow and the talent continues to improve more people will become attracted to the game. Orender believes that the women's game is already appealing to all demographics. The league looks like it is going to survive. Talent like rookie sensation Candice Parker will bring more eyes and more business to the league. This season was called the "best year ever" and I have a feeling that the league will continue to grow and have even better seasons in the upcoming years.
The City of Las Vegas, Nevada is in talks with a real estate development company to build a 20,000 seat multi-purpose arena in downtown Las Vegas. Mayor Oscar Goodman of Las Vegas wants this arena built to try to lure a NBA or NHL team to the city. There has been talk in years past of the Sacramento Kings moving to Las Vegas to try to lure in big spenders in the Las Vegas market. The owners of the Kings, the Maloof family, already own two casinos in Las Vegas and an NBA team there would not hurt business. If built this arena could host an NBA or NHL team and multiple shows and concerts a month. It would not be a waste for the city of Las Vegas, already known as one of the "Entertainment Capitals of the World."
I believe that if the NBA, which already has a gambling problem with the referees point shaving scandal, will not hold up in Las Vegas. Las Vegas allows sports betting in its multiple casinos and this is not a good image for David Stern and the NBA. They will be thought of as a crooked league who just wants to make as much money as possible.
The other side of this story is the potential loss to Sacramento, or another NBA or NHL city. If the Kings leave Sacramento there will be no "Big 4" team in that city and their arena will lose their anchor tenant. They will lose money and the owners will rip the hearts out of their many fans. I believe that this new arena in Las Vegas is not good news for Sacramento. However, it has the possibility of making so much money for the city and business people of Las Vegas.
Mike Mussina is a thirty-nine year old pitcher for the New York Yankees. Until yesterday, he had never accomplished a twenty win season. He got that twentieth win after six scoreless innings against the Boston Red Sox in Fenway Park. The Yankees' offense helped him out by scoring six runs for him. Moose was pulled after six innings due to a sore elbow and he had faith in his bullpen. "Having waited until my last year, with all these years in New York and 39 years-old and I have been close other times, It's worth being close all those times to do it this late in your career.", said Mussina. He has come close before in his career. He has won nineteen games two other times and eighteen games twice as well. The quote was taken from nypost.com.
Plaxico Burress, the "standout" wide receiver for the New York Giants, has been suspended for two weeks after missing a practice without communicating with the team. Plaxico and his agent Drew Rosenhaus did state that the absence of practice was due to an undisclosed family emergency. With this two week suspension, Burress will be losing $235,294.12 of his $2 million annual base salary. All though Burress' agent did think there should be repercussions of his players actions, he stated "Again we're acknowledging that there should be some repercussion, but not to the extent where he is denied his right to perform his livelihood to play. We think it is very serious and not very common, but there are things that do take place in the NFL that you could say are worse and have not led to suspension." Burress and his agent are trying to file an appeal to the NFLPA or National Football League Players Association in order to be in the lineup against the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday. Burress' teammates did not scrutinize Plaxico but rather looked past the incident and focused on their next game.
From http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3606150
As an avid New York Giants fan, I do believe that Plaxico is a stubborn and irresponsible NFL player. There is no reason for a seasoned player of his caliber to miss a simple practice and refuse to make any type of communication with his team. Yes, family emergencies are important and do need notice, but a simple text, call, or even and email would do. However, as Plaxico Burress' Agent Drew Rosenhaus exclaimed, the repercussion of his actions should not have been as strong as a two week suspension. There have been many more cases in which similar events have taken place in the NFL and the player was simply fined and returned to practice. In 2005, Burress was benched during the opening quarter against the San Diego Chargers because he was late to a meeting. Even this repercussion is acceptable compared to any suspension. And when it comes to the NFC East division, and its greatest rivalry in years, to take out a crucial factor in the mix of a playoff berth or wild card is not tolerable. A fine is completely necessary, but a two week suspension is utterly extreme and I believe the New York Giants are going to deeply regret this decision.
With the end of September comes the beginning of a new season. You may be thinking of course its fall, but this season is not weather related. I am talking about the start of the Major League Baseball playoff season. Divisional races have almost come to a close and both wild card teams are set. The National league picture has the NL West champion Dodgers facing the Cubs who were victorious in the Central, and the wild card Brewers battling the team who ended up on top of the NL East in come from behind fashion, the Phillies. The American League is still partially cloudy. There are three teams already in and the fourth is up for grabs. Wild card winner Boston will be faced with the daunting task of facing the team with the most wins in the MLB the Angels. The other matchup includes the surprise AL east champion the Rays and whoever takes control over the AL Central division. Right now the Minnesota Twins are a half game ahead of the White Sox, but the Sox have a makeup game where if they win they could end up deadlocked with the Twins. If this happens the Sox and Twins will play at US Cellular Field on the south side on Tuesday.
A couple of important storylines coming into the playoffs include the storybook Rays, the Dodgers and their new manager and deadline day acquisition, the Brewers and their controversial decisions, and the Cubs goal to end the curse. Perhaps one of the most intriguing stories has come out of New York where for the first time since 1993 the Yanks are not in the playoffs. In addition, the Mets choked once again and could not keep their NL East lead on the Phillies again, blowing a 3 and a half game lead in the month of September. Whatever happens these next few weeks will be fun to watch, there is nothing better than playoff baseball. Will the Red Sox repeat, or will the Cubs turn the curse around, watch and see.
Go White Sox
One of the biggest marketing types is the name of sporting arenas. Madison Square Garden has a separate theatre from the sporting arena where the New York Knicks, New York Rangers, and New York Liberty call home. This theatre was sponsored by Washington Mutual. Washington Mutual eventually filed for bankruptcy. There were nervous people because MSG would be losing money because of the broken sponsorship. This was a
cause for great concern because if one part of MSG was affected than this could carry over to the three main sporting franchises that play there. Also if MSG started to lose money, it could lead to a problem with the new plan to renovate MSG. Fortunately, a spokesperson for Madison Square Garden said that ``Today's news will have no
impact on the operation of the WaMu Theater at Madison Square Garden or on our customers, We empathize with our business partner and its employees and, at the appropriate time, will speak with the proper people regarding the future'' (Sportsbusinessnews.com 9/29/08). As of
now MSG will not be affected by the recent collapse of one of its main sponsorships. In the future, when companies fold, some sporting teams may not be a lucky as Madison Square Garden and their representatives.
With another collapse of the New York Mets season, The Milwaukee Brewers took advantage and walked away at the end of the day with the national league wild card. The Brewers came from behind and beat the Cubs yesterday 3-1 while the Mets fell to the Marlins 4-2. This is the first time since 1982 the Brewers are playing in the postseason. C.C Sabathia on 3 days rest for the third straight start pitched a complete game four hitter to help move the Brewers into the postseason. New interim manager Dale Sveum, and a lot of young talent, the Brewers will be facing the Phillies in the first round of the NLDS.
The Milwaukee Brewers sent a message to their players that this was there year. At the trading deadline, the acquisition of C.C Sabathia was a key player that helped the Brewers move to the top of the wild card standings. The Brewers showed this year that their young talented hitters like Prince Fielder, and Ryan Braun were ready to take on the role of leading the team to success on their backs. This season is snapping their 26 longs seasons of no postseason baseball.
The St. Louis Rams did not waste any time getting rid of head coach Scott Linehan after a 0-4 start to the season. Two team sources reported the firing Monday morning, and an official statement from the team is expected around 9:30 AM. With yet another loss to the Bills on Sunday, the team is looking for new life and hoping to inject some fuel into a team which disappointed last year and has thus far disappointed this year.
Last week, owner Chip Rosenbloom told Linehan to make immediate improvements to the team. Linehan then responded this week by replacing starting quarterback Marc Bulger in favor of 38-year old Trent Green. Overall, Linehan had benched six starters this week in a hope to save the season and his job.
Linehan's firing has brought up some speculation on who the next head coach in St. Louis will be. Many sources have reported that defensive coordinator Jim Haslett is expected to take over the reins of the Rams, but details have not yet been finalized.