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RANT
OF THE DAY
GIBBY WILL GO FIRST BUT THIS IS JP’S MESS.
HOPEFULLY SOMEBODY ELSE GETS TO CLEAN IT UP
We
are solidly into this season’s version of the Blue Jay game of
hope. Hopefully everyone can stay healthy, and hopefully everyone can
produce at their normal levels, and hopefully a couple of the young guys
will come up and contribute, and hopefully the Yankees and the Red Sox
will have down years and come back to the pack.
So,
hopefully Scott Rolen can come back and provide the expected boost to the
line-up, play at an MVP calibre pace and is able to—through maturity,
leadership and, more importantly, timely hitting—lead the club into
contention for the first time since JP took control of the franchise.
And hopefully Matt Stairs will assume the mantle of veteran hitter that
Thomas could not hold, and hopefully Overbay and Lind can provide some
left handed power, and hopefully everyone can stay healthy (redux).
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YES JACKIE WAS CRUCIAL BUT TWO OTHERS SHOULD
BE RECOGNIZED AS WELL
I don’t need to expound
on the importance of Jackie Robinson to the game of baseball. Anybody who
has any knowledge of the history of the game knows about Jackie and what
he represented. As such this week baseball celebrated Jackie Robinson
Day. There they were–ballplayers on every team showing respect for the
legend by wearing his number. While I certainly believe it is necessary
for his mission to be remembered I also believe there are others who had
an effect on the game who are not being recognized.
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SAME OLD SLOW STARTING RAPS—AND GOODBYE TO THE BIG WET NOODLE
You would
think after a regular season that saw them consistently put out mediocre first
quarter efforts that the Raptors would begin the playoffs with the proper amount
of intensity and fortitude. But a leopard doesn’t change its spots just because
the season changes. A first quarter of abysmal defense caused by lacklustre
effort and, to put it simply, out and out stupidity cost the club game one.
I can see in game
35 of the season how the club could begin games with a modicum of effort. I
certainly don’t agree that professional athletes should be so laissez-faire when
it comes to their job–but with such a long season I can see how it occurs. But
this is the playoffs where 48 minutes of intensity is called for–isn’t it? So,
how do they think that to casually slide over to shooters rather than close hard
on them is playoff defense I don’t understand. This club has supposedly been
waiting for the playoffs since they were ousted last year by the Nets–but
nothing has changed. The club can’t work their way into games–it’s too late by
then.
Orlando plays a
very simply game–they penetrate and kick out to their shooters. The Raptor wing
players need to avoid the desire to help out on the penetration and feel
confident that their bigs will protect the basket. Trust is something that this
club has in short supply however, and those perimeter players just kept getting
sucked inside leaving shooters wide open. The club was killed by the three
pointer in the opening quarter. Cut those out of the Magic arsenal and the Raps
will win the series. Otherwise it will be a short series.
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