Tag Archives: rivalry

Is a new rival emerging for New England?

Leave a reply

As the Steelers appear to be a dilapidated, down the pan team, headed for a fiery, violent crash, it is time to question wether they will be considered a rival of ours next year. Of course, the Patriots’ run should come to a close once their older veterans leave, like Brady, Gronk, Belichick. However, different from the Patriots, the Steelers main problem is keeping their younger stars happy. We all know about the Bell debacle that developed over a two year period. Now, the Steelers are considering exploring the trade market for Antonio Brown this offseason. Big Ben is not getting any younger and although he would still have Juju Smith-Schuster as a target, life without Brown for an older quarterback like Roethlisberger would be a painful and embarrassing season for him. Life without Antonio Brown, who holds a spot in every discussion of the best receiver in the league, would almost force Big Ben to hang up the cleats. The locker room in Pittsburgh is toxic and out of control, leadership is flawed, and teammates turn on each other faster than rats abandoning a sinking ship. Tomlin might have his moments as a good football mind but relying on him to control his team’s behavior or even his own is a dangerous risk.


Andrew Luck by Keith Allison on 16 September 2018

Out with the old, In with the new

Meanwhile, watching Andrew Luck pitch to a receiving corps lacking any huge star is scary. TY Hilton is pretty good, but not a guy who scares the living daylights out of defensive coordinators.  The Colts put together fantastic performances versus the Titans and Texans, both divisional opponents with good defenses. The Colts are the future. Their whopping projected 118 million dollar cap space in 2019 is scary for a team that is currently making a playoff run. The Colts may not win it all this year but they will be a daunting force to any team not prepared for them in 2019 and beyond. With their main needs being a running back, defensive linemen and defensive backs, there is no better year to grab one of each through either the draft and or free agency. Discussion and rumors already link Le’Veon Bell to the Colts, which would make a huge difference to their already thriving offense. I will assure you, every running back on the free agent market is salivating at the sight of Indianapolis. A team with a boat load of money, a great offensive line, and an indoor stadium is running back paradise. If the Colts check off all the needs on their shopping list this offseason, that team would be a group no one would want to face. 

So, New England, forget Pittsburgh, they are as dead as a maggot in a freezer. The Colts, who we hated during the Manning years and after the whole Deflategate saga are the guys to hate again. Which is convenient because they already hate us back. A marque matchup of Brady vs Luck is something that Pats fans should be accustomed to over at least the next one or two seasons. 

TNF Preview-Colts At Patriots

Leave a reply

Patriots and Colts kick off week 5

New England welcomes the Colts to Foxborough to start week 5 in a prime time showdown Thursday night. Indianapolis comes into this game following a long 70 minute loss to the Texans. With a 1-3 record the Colts season hangs in the balance just 4 games into the year. New England enters October at 2-2 after a 38-7 win over the Dolphins. Indy is banged up and New England is getting Edelman back, can Luck Win his first game against Brady?

Pats D needs to bring the pressure

(AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

KEYS TO THE GAME

New England has the luxury of playing at home on this short Week, with Julian Edelman making his return. Tom Brady now has Edelman and Gronk on the field together for the first time in 31 games. The Colts are missing T.Y Hilton, and are 0-5 vs the Pats with Luck starting at QB.

James White can do everything

(Staff Photo By Matt Stone/ Boston Herald)

No Need To Show To Much On Offense If Possible

The Patriots will need the offensive line to play well this week, not just for the running game, but to hold off the Colts pass rush. Last week the Offense showed improvement as Tom Brady got everyone involved, resulting in 24 points in the first half.

Finally Julian Edelman is back, he will help the Patriots Offense on third down which has been an issue for this team in 2018. Tonight this Patriots Offense will have all their weapons back, and New England hasn’t forgotten what the Colts started in 2014 about some footballs.

New England will once again get the running game going, they will try to jump out to an early lead and come out of this game unscathed. Expect to see more of the running backs, as I think the Patriots will look to run the ball early and often. This Colts team is coming in tired and banged up.

New England’s Defense Looks Improved

Historically New England has had to take T.Y Hilton out of the game with multiple players. Tonight that won’t be a problem as Hilton is out with a hamstring and chest injury.

The front seven needs to get after Luck, keep him in the pocket and force bad throws. Last week Patrick Chung and Trey Flowers returned and will be factors against Andrew Luck. Without his main target this week, expect the Colts to try to control the clock. Keeping Brady and the offense on the bench is always a smart play if you can do it.

Indianapolis has a speedy running back Nyheim Hines, who’s more of a receiving threat than a rusher. His name could be called a lot tonight on screen passes and wheel routes. New England’s Linebacker’s and safety’s will need to keep an eye on him. Without Hilton playing, the biggest receiving threat would be Eric Ebron who leads the colts in targets and red zone targets. I think tonight’s gameplan for New England is simple, no chunk plays, make Luck uncomfortable all while not showing to much.

Being very vanilla on defense and offense for the Patriots could be part of their plan. Knowing the Colts are coming here banged up, after a long overtime loss, without their best weapon. Keeping as much as they can off game film will benifit them moving forward. To do this, jumping out to a big lead is imperative. With a huge matchup next Sunday, staying healthy and not showing much if possible may be the gameplan. Although there is bad blood between these two teams, and Bill may want to try and make a statement. Belichick never forgets, same goes for Tom Brady.

Patriots vs Colts Prediction

My prediction for tonight’s game is not because I like one team better than the other. I’m looking at the facts, the injuries and history. Tom Brady is coming into this game, remembering what the Colts started which led to his suspension. He is at home, with Gronk, Edelman, Gordon and James White at his disposal. Sony Michel could come out and have a Jonas Gray game. I can’t see this Colts defense being able to keep up.

I believe the Patriots are still angry from “deflategate.” The Colts are coming into this game banged up, off a horrible overtime loss last week. Andrew Luck has never beat the Patriots and that will continue. Adding all of this up I have a big night from New England, winning 42-14.

 

 

 

Ben Simmons adds fuel to the Celtics-76ers Rivalry

Leave a reply

The Celtics-Sixers feud is starting to heat up

The teams faced off against each other four times in the regular season, and again in the Eastern Conference finals. Things got heated, and each game they played became must-see television. Joel Embiid got in a scuffle with Terry Rozier, and also had an altercation with Marcus Morris during the series. He’s been very vocal about his desire to beat the Celtics, and now Ben Simmons has joined the fray.

The Quote

Simmons said during an interview, “We’ve got to get past Boston, those are the guys at the top right now. Beating them, that’s our next goal. Obviously getting further than the second round and winning the Eastern Conference Finals and then moving on to the Finals.”

Via CBS Sports

What It Means

It’s clear that he and the Sixers know who the alpha dog is in the East. Including both the playoffs and regular season, the Celtics were 7-2 against Philadelphia last season. Interestingly, of the three playoff series Boston played, the Sixers were the only team not to take it the full seven games. They have a ways to go to become serious threats to the team.

However, they certainly have the potential to do so. Simmons isn’t even close to his prime yet, and Embiid is just entering his. If Markelle Fultz finally lives up to his number one pick, this team could have the firepower to challenge Boston. Now that Simmons has publicly identified beating the Celtics as the Sixers’ goal, they’re going to be ready to meet the challenge.

Via NBC Sports

It won’t take long to see if Philly can back up their young star’s words. The two teams meet on opening night in the TD Garden. They’ll also see each other again on Christmas Day. Be prepared to grab the popcorn – this rivalry is only getting started.

On This Day In Red Sox History: July 15, 2005 (@TheFrizz87)

Leave a reply

On Friday, July 15, 2005, the Red Sox and Yankees met for the second of a four game series at Fenway Park. This was the first series after the All-Star break and the Yankees had taken the first game to move within 1.5 games of the Sox for first place in the East. Through nine games, the Red Sox had gone 5-4 in their season series. Among the wins was a 17-1 victory at Yankee Stadium in late May.

Taking the Field

The Red Sox sent former Yankee David Wells to the mound. Wells was in his first season with Boston and just a year removed from his second stint with the Yankees. He had pitched twice versus New York already on the season, going 1-1. For New York, newcomer Tim Redding would take the hill. The Yankees had just acquired Redding along with Darrell May from the Padres for Paul Quantrill. Redding was 0-5 with an unsightly 9.10 ERA while pitching in the National League West.

Wells cruised through the top half of the first, striking out Derek Jeter and Robinson Canon before getting Gary Sheffield to fly out. Johnny Damon was the Red Sox leadoff hitter and singled to right to open up the home half of the first. Edgar Renteria walked before Tim Redding surprisingly struck out David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez back-to-back. With two outs, Trot Nixon doubled home both Damon and Renteria to put the Red Sox on the board first. After a Kevin Millar walk, Jason Varitek doubled and the Red Sox were ahead 3-0.

Sox Chase Redding

After another 1-2-3 inning for Wells, the Red Sox offense went back to work. Mark Bellhorn and Johnny Damon walked followed by a single by Edgar Renteria to load the bases. Just like that, Redding’s night was over, as was his Yankees career. Redding never threw another pitch for the Yankees, getting just three outs. In came Darrell May, their other recent acquisition from the Padres. The left-hander fared a little better, if only marginally so. A run came home on a fielder’s choice. Manny Ramirez followed with a double to left to score the Red Sox fifth run of the night. Trot Nixon, in the play of the night, hit a fly ball to center that seemed to tail some. Melky Cabrera, coming in for the play missed the ball as it glanced off his glove. Trot kept running as the ball rolled well past Cabrera and came around to score with a three-run inside-the-park home run! The Red Sox were up 8-0 and it was only the second inning. Tim Redding allowed six runs while only recording three outs in his only appearance for the Yankees.

Melky Cabrera misses Trot Nixon’s fly ball, leading to an inside-the-park home run.

Red Sox Chase Another Yankee Acquisition

The Red Sox got another run in the third when Edgar Renteria drove home Johnny Damon. In the top of the 4th, the Yankees got their first hit off their old buddy on a ground ball into center by Robinson Cano. After a wild pitch moved him to second, Gary Sheffield drove him home with another hit. Wells would get Alex Rodriguez to hit into a double play and Hideki Matsui to ground out to end the inning. The Yankees had scored a run, good for them.

In the bottom of the inning, the Sox got two men on via walk with two outs. Bill Mueller doubled to left to drive home Kevin Millar with the Sox’ 10th run. After another walk, Johnny Damon doubled home two more runs to chase Darrell May from the game. May had equaled Tim Redding’s six runs allowed, although at least he had gotten eight batters out to Redding’s three. This was May’s second outing as a Yankee, having allowed seven runs six days prior against the Indians. Just like Redding, this would be his final outing with the Yankees. The Yankees two recent trade acquisitions pitched a combined three games for the Yankees, allowing 19 runs over eight innings. May never pitched in the big leagues again.

A Grand Slam

The Yankees found some semblance of competency with Jason Anderson, who enjoyed a 1-2-3 fifth inning after recording the final out of the fourth. Meanwhile, David Wells kept cruising along, allowing just one hit between the fifth and sixth.

Anderson did not seem up for another inning of work however. Kevin Millar led off with a double before Anderson walked Varitek. Alex Cora then pinch-hit for Bill Mueller and singled to load the bases. Anderson actually got two outs after that without allowing a run to come in. Close to getting out of the jam, Anderson walked Edgar Renteria to bring home the Red Sox’ 13th run of the game. That was the end of Anderson’s night. With David Ortiz due up, the Yankees brought in long-time lefty specialist Buddy Groom. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ortiz took an 0-1 offering from Groom deep to right and over the fence for a grand slam. So much for the lefty specialist, the Red Sox now led 17-1.

David Ortiz follows through on his grand slam off pitcher Buddy Groom in the sixth inning at Fenway Park on July 15, 2005. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

Yankees Get Embarrassed

The rest of the game was uneventful. Buddy Groom wound up pitching a shutout seventh after allowing the grand slam. For the Red Sox, David Wells went seven innings allowing just one run to improve to 7-5 on the season. John Halama had a perfect eighth followed by Geremi Gonzalez bringing home the huge victory with a perfect ninth. For the second time on the season, the Red Sox had beaten the Yankees by a score of 17-1. Trot Nixon and David Ortiz both drove in five runs on the day, with Nixon hitting the inside-the-park home run and Ortiz the grand slam.

Xander/Didi is Jeter/Nomar: Part Deux

Leave a reply

The Red Sox/Yankees rivalry is a classic that all baseball fans can enjoy. However, in the peak of this rivalry (late 1990s/early 2000s), there was always a rivalry within the rivalry. Both teams were home to two of my generation’s best shortstops (Alex Rodriguez was better than both) in Derek Jeter and Nomar Garciaparra.

ny_g_garciaparra_jeter1x_600

Nomar vs. Jeter

To give the average baseball fan some background on this rivalry, Nomar and Jeter was a closer face-off than their accolades tell. Both being first round draft picks, it seemed that Jeter and Nomar always had something to prove to one another right out of the gate. It didn’t take long, as both won the Rookie of the Year awards in their respective rookie seasons (Jeter in 1996, Nomar in 1997). What followed was another chapter in the storied rivalry.

Both shortstops went on to battle one another throughout many seasons. Nomar had the better stats in an eight year stretch (1996 – 2004). But overall, Jeter was the better player. Maybe Nomar would have taken the bragging rights away from Jeter if he wasn’t plagued by injuries after the 2004 season. However, the latter’s consistency and burning passion to win five World Series would ultimately lead to the victory in the competition. Jeter achieved 14 All-Star appearances, five Gold Gloves, five Silver Sluggers, and a World Series MVP. But fans of the game will never forget how Nomar was, for a moment in time, the better player.

Bogaerts vs. Gregorius

Fast forward to 2013, Xander Bogaerts debuted for the Red Sox in a championship year. Didi Gregorius exceeded his rookie status in the same season with Arizona. After the 2014 season concluded, Derek Jeter decided to walk away from baseball as a player, and the Yankees searched for his replacement. Alex Rodriguez was clearly way past his time to man the position, and Brian Cashman decided to take a shot on the Arizona short stop from the Netherlands.

Gregorius was known for his fielding prowess, but became a gamble when it came to his offensive abilities. Initially, the plan was to platoon with Brendan Ryan and see if Gregorius could distance himself for a consistent spot on the roster. Didi’s numbers weren’t all that great, but over time he has grown into a top five shortstop, and shows no signs of slowing down. Every season, he has improved in every asset of his offensive abilities while maintaining a steady rate defensively. To start off the 2018 season, Didi has been by far and away one of the best players in the majors with a 1.156 OPS, ten homers and 30 RBIs.

Enter Bogey

Xander Bogaerts, however, has had an arguably better career as of now, but it’s insanely close. Born in Oranjestad, Aruba, Bogaerts took the minor leagues by storm in 2009. He ascended through the ranks of the Red Sox farm system and eventually earned his call-up in 2013. He won a World Series ring in the same season, and never really looked back since. Albeit, he had a dip in performance in 2017 that many attribute to an injury that he never recovered fully from. But Xander is on track in 2018 after smashing two grand slams, a slash of .412/.426/.725 with an OPS of 1.171, all in the month of April.

Rivalry Within the Rivalry

Let the record show that I am not comparing Xander and Didi to two of the best short stops I’ve ever seen in my lifetime. However, it’s interesting that Xander and Didi started breaking out in their own way right around the time of a renewed rivalry. One cannot help but to think back to a time when this sort of battle has been prevalent for the position’s sake. With the surplus of talent at the position, these two players can really be compared with the likes of Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager, Manny Machado, and Carlos Correa. This fantastic battle is bound to give fans of the game reason to keep close watch on their careers.

@ELJGON

The Pursuit of Renewing the Rivalry

Leave a reply

On a cold Wednesday night in April, the Red Sox faced off against the Yankees in what seemed to have the hallmarks of an epic clash. Both teams have a long history of mutual hate and a few years of idle feelings. However, things boiled over in Fenway Park, and thus the pursuit of a rekindled rivalry was not hard to find. Rob Manfred wants to push the evolution of baseball further? Not if these two teams have anything to say about it. 

The Yankees and Red Sox rivalry has been quite “cold war-ish” for the last few years. The last incident that I can remember off the top of my head that included these two teams in a heated way was when Ryan Dempster plunked Alex Rodriguez in 2013, after MLB announced their 2014 season long suspension for Rodriguez. Dempster had a reason, I suppose, to hit Alex. But the latter is the one who got the last laugh when he belted a home run later in that game and lead his team to a 9-6 win. After that, the two teams seemed to go their separate ways, but always keeping each other in the back of their minds.

Wednesday night in Fenway proved to be something in the works for a while now. And frankly, nobody is surprised. The Yankees seemed to be seeking revenge after losing the night before to a massive score of 14-1. What really started the fire, however, was a less than textbook slide by Tyler Austin, a 6’2″ first baseman from Georgia.

The Rivalry Renewed

There is speculation between many people as to the intentions of Austin, but it really does not matter his intention. The fact is that he slid into second base with his cleats up, not aiming for the base, and endangered Brock Holt, who was on the receiving end of the first part of a potential double play. Holt shared his displeasure and Austin, (for whatever reason) took exception. An Umpire got between them and all of a sudden everybody lost their minds. Bullpens clear, dugouts clear, people on Twitter are going nuts over something that two ball players were taking care of themselves.

76A471E4-C2D9-41DE-88F4-9484133D48D0

Things Heat Up

On to the top of the seventh inning and Tyler Austin is up to bat. Guess what? Austin gets hit by a fastball square in the back by Joe Kelly for obvious reasons. This was a necessary move by someone on the Sox. Kelly decided that he would be the one to carry on the unwritten rules of the game. To make it short: if you do something wrong to a player on the opposing team, you will be hit by a pitch at your next at bat. That’s just how things go in baseball. The fact that Austin decided that Kelly was out of bounds by doing so is just asinine.

As an example dating back to about 39 years ago when Wayne Gross hit a home run off of reliever Ed Farmer. Gross took his time rounding the bases. Consequently, Farmer was furious and never had the chance for redemption. Four years later he got him back, when they were on the same team. During a batting practice session, Farmer beaned Gross with a fastball in the back with the first pitch.

“What was that for!” Gross screamed.

“That was for four years ago!” Farmer screamed back.

“OK,” Gross said. “We’re even!”

Gross took his lump and life continued. Austin was in the wrong twice on Wednesday night for sliding incorrectly (regardless of intention or not), and charging the mound after what everybody knew what was coming. Except for himself, apparently.

Alas, we have finally reached the point to where baseball can be baseball and boys can be boys again. The Red Sox and Yankees have bad blood towards each other, and the world seems to be normal again. But be forewarned fans of both teams: this is going to be a very long season. The hope for some baseball to break out in between these fights should be high. The sports world has been waiting for this rivalry to renew, and they are about to get their money’s worth.

On “Lonzo Wednesday” Secondary Storylines Carry More Weight

Leave a reply

LONZO WEDNESDAY

Every year, the Celtics-Lakers match up has at least one game nationally televised. Why? Because it is quite possibly the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Together, the Celtics and Lakers have won 33 out of 71 NBA championships. That’s almost half of the history of this league, chalked up to the dominance of these two franchises. Thanks to Lavar Ball and his marketing schemes, all of that history now falls on the shoulders of Lonzo Ball.

ESPN has dubbed tonight “Lonzo Wednesday”. It didn’t matter to them that the Celtics are going for 10 wins in a row and hold the NBA’s best record. It didn’t matter that this might be the moment this rivalry gets renewed, because of BOTH teams having exciting, youthful talent. But most surprisingly, it didn’t matter to the sports giant that Lonzo is not the most captivating rookie playing in this mid-week rivalry game, and perhaps not even on his own team.

TATUM VS KUZMA

For real hoops fans, this is the most exciting storyline of this game. These two rookies have stood out as some of the brightest from what is looking like a strong 2017 class in the early going. Tatum was taken 3rd overall, and brought some hype and expectations, being such a high lottery pick. He has exceeded what anyone thought he would do in his first year. In all of the shuffling of the starting lineup, Tatum has been a constant. Amazingly, he has shown as much trust in the rookie as anyone, giving him 31.6 minutes per game thus far.

Tatum has been a huge surprise defensively, in the top 15 in the NBA in both defensive win shares & defensive rating. Offensively, he has yet to be fully unleashed, but is finding open looks and knocking down shots efficiently. He is shooting 50% from the field and 52.9% from 3, but is only taking 9.3 shots per game. He has had a couple 20 point games, including the last game in Atlanta. Even though Tatum has had some great games already, I would say he has yet to truly have a breakout game. After passing up a few too many open shots against Atlanta, he should be much more aggressive tonight.

STEAL OF THE DRAFT?

Kyle Kuzma was selected 27th overall, and is already considered the steal of the draft by some. It’s a little early, but through ten games he has established himself as a player that is here to stay. The kid nobody knew before the draft, Kuzma is displaying a wide array of offensive moves. Much like Tatum, he is able to dive deep into his arsenal to score from anywhere on the court. Kuzma has been given the starting nod ahead of Julius Randle in the absence of Larry Nance. He is playing well enough to make the Lakers think twice about sending him back to the bench.

Since this is a smaller lineup for the Lakers, it is possible Tatum starts at the 4. This would put him head-to-head with the rookie that most closely resembles his game. Both of these guys have gone above and beyond expectations set for them already this season. It will be fun to watch the two go at it with such similar styles of play. While Lonzo will be the main storyline ahead of the game, I expect to see the narrative shift to these two rookies by post-game.

WIN STREAK ON THE LINE

Perhaps the headline of this game should be the Celtics putting their win streak on the line. No other team in the NBA has reached 9 wins. The Celtics have put up 9 W’s in a row. On the surface, this looks like an easy one for them. They should be hyped for the game, as they make their return to TD Garden coming off a 3-game road trip. The fans should be equally hyped just to be a part of the win streak and watch the C’s go to work at home for the first time in a week. Translation: the Garden is going to be ROCKING.

We can’t discredit the fact that the Lakers are capable of pulling out a win on any given night. They have talented players that can get hot, paired with veterans to lead them to some extra wins. They have had some exciting moments in their season already and definitely have the building blocks for the future. However, on this night I expect the Celtics to feel a little slighted by the headline. While not typically the way a Brad Stevens team operates, it would be fun to see Kyrie and the other guards feed Tatum heavily to show the world that this night should be dubbed “Tatum Wednesday” if they insist on giving the spotlight to a rookie.

My prediction: Celtics win by 5-10 in a high-scoring game. Tatum steals the show on “Lonzo Wednesday” with his first career 30 point performance.

PREVIEW OF THINGS TO COME?

The Celtics are on the come up, and the Lakers are being sure not to fall too far behind their cross-conference rival. Both teams are plentiful in young players, each with an average age of just over 24. Further, they are talented, high draft picks expected to take their teams places in the future. I can’t stress enough that this is a long way down the road. Likely not until the end of the Warriors dominance, but these two teams are destined to meet each other again in the Finals one day.

Will it be with the cores each have put together now? For a Finals showdown, both teams need to keep their young talent and let them grow together. And then, they actually have to turn in to what they were drafted to be. It is going to be a long road until that day comes, but my guess is next time it happens, there will be a few key players left from the current Celtics and Lakers rosters. Hopefully when that time comes, ESPN again gives the Celtics a little extra motivation by leaving them out of the storyline entirely.