Sum-mmerin' it up
From the end of the high school playoffs to Labor Day weekend is the dead time here in the SC sports department. So when the Deutsche Bank Championship comes to Norton, the Patriots start playing for real and the high schools start fall practice, the sports staff begins to shake off the remaining summer rust and get back into our hectic schedules.
In the lazy weeks from late June to late August, we've tried to squeeze about 20 weeks’ worth of staff vacation time in. But we, or at least I, haven't been totally disembodied from the sports world. So here's a few musings that I've been storing away in the memory banks.
-- As much as I love the Red Sox and hate the Yankees, It doesn't seem like the Sox match up very well with the new edition of the Bronx Bombers. The starting pitching staff is operating at about 1/5th proficiency. Terry Francona keeps insisting that there isn't anything physically wrong with Josh Beckett, but results say otherwise; Jon Lester has been pretty good, but he seems to fall apart in one inning per game and he must hate seeing Josh Bard come on in relief because it seems as if the fireballing rookie has blown about three of his wins. Clay Buchholz is still an enigma and the Nos. 4 and 5 starters are anyone's guess on any given day. I know you really only basically need three starters for the playoffs, but CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte/Joba Chamberlain are better. The bullpens are comparable, but the Yankees everyday lineup is awesome while the Sox tend to live or die with Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.
-- If Tom Brady is really OK, I can see the Patriots running away with the division and making a serious Super Bowl run. It's not as if I think this is one of their better teams, but not even defending NFL champion Pittsburgh inspires awe from anyone -- The Colts seem on the way down, San Diego is the little team that can't, the Ravens still have no offense and I think the defending AFC East champion Dolphins were a fluke. The NFC? Well all you have to know is that the Cardinals are the reigning conference champs.
-- On the subject of the NFL, if you haven't followed the HBO series Hard Knocks, you're missing a great inside look at the inner workings of a pro football team. The overly long focus on diva receivers is tedious, but the profiles of marginal prospects and peeks into coach's meetings are fascinating.
-- The AAGA Open is a great, and unique, local happening, but until there is actually some drama from Day 1 to Day 4, it's hard to stay interested. When Marc Forbes was dominating, it still had some kind of appeal that I can't really describe, maybe it was because Forbes seemed more like one of us -- a guy who loves the game, goes out on the weekends with his buddies, but hits the crap out of the ball instead of posting triple digits. Forbes is one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet, on or off the course, and I guess that helps explain why it was so easy to root for him. And from everything I've heard, Jim Renner and Ryan Riley are good guys too, but they're both golf pros and that leaves the rest of the field just trying to get in the full four days of teeing it up. This year, there was no doubt as soon as he stepped to the first tee that Riley was going to win the tournament; the question was only by how much.
-- I have to admit, that although I'm a little bit uncomfortable with the attention paid to the Little Leaguers, I tuned in to the World Series and watched the championship game from beginning to end. It was unbelievable how the Calif. team could hammer the ball. But where in the world do you find a 6-foot, 212-pound 13-year-old kid that didn't look as if he spent the last 12 years eating cheese curls in front of the TV?
-- For just about the last 10 years, my family has spent one week of the summer on the Cape, but this year was the first time we've ever ventured over to Mayflower Beach. What a hidden treasure; except for the water temperature, it was the closest to the Fla. beaches I grew up on that I’ve found in New England. The rockless and seaweed-free beach was nice and clean and there were enough critters (snails, crabs, sand dollars) to keep my kids busy for hours. My one complaint: It was disheartening to see kids and adults alike walking away with trash bags full of sand dollars. I won't go all PETA and say leave all of them alone, I did allow my kids to keep a couple each, but to see people with what had to be close to 100 of them leaving the beach was sad.
In the lazy weeks from late June to late August, we've tried to squeeze about 20 weeks’ worth of staff vacation time in. But we, or at least I, haven't been totally disembodied from the sports world. So here's a few musings that I've been storing away in the memory banks.
-- As much as I love the Red Sox and hate the Yankees, It doesn't seem like the Sox match up very well with the new edition of the Bronx Bombers. The starting pitching staff is operating at about 1/5th proficiency. Terry Francona keeps insisting that there isn't anything physically wrong with Josh Beckett, but results say otherwise; Jon Lester has been pretty good, but he seems to fall apart in one inning per game and he must hate seeing Josh Bard come on in relief because it seems as if the fireballing rookie has blown about three of his wins. Clay Buchholz is still an enigma and the Nos. 4 and 5 starters are anyone's guess on any given day. I know you really only basically need three starters for the playoffs, but CC Sabathia, AJ Burnett and Andy Pettitte/Joba Chamberlain are better. The bullpens are comparable, but the Yankees everyday lineup is awesome while the Sox tend to live or die with Dustin Pedroia and Kevin Youkilis.
-- If Tom Brady is really OK, I can see the Patriots running away with the division and making a serious Super Bowl run. It's not as if I think this is one of their better teams, but not even defending NFL champion Pittsburgh inspires awe from anyone -- The Colts seem on the way down, San Diego is the little team that can't, the Ravens still have no offense and I think the defending AFC East champion Dolphins were a fluke. The NFC? Well all you have to know is that the Cardinals are the reigning conference champs.
-- On the subject of the NFL, if you haven't followed the HBO series Hard Knocks, you're missing a great inside look at the inner workings of a pro football team. The overly long focus on diva receivers is tedious, but the profiles of marginal prospects and peeks into coach's meetings are fascinating.
-- The AAGA Open is a great, and unique, local happening, but until there is actually some drama from Day 1 to Day 4, it's hard to stay interested. When Marc Forbes was dominating, it still had some kind of appeal that I can't really describe, maybe it was because Forbes seemed more like one of us -- a guy who loves the game, goes out on the weekends with his buddies, but hits the crap out of the ball instead of posting triple digits. Forbes is one of the nicest guys you'd ever want to meet, on or off the course, and I guess that helps explain why it was so easy to root for him. And from everything I've heard, Jim Renner and Ryan Riley are good guys too, but they're both golf pros and that leaves the rest of the field just trying to get in the full four days of teeing it up. This year, there was no doubt as soon as he stepped to the first tee that Riley was going to win the tournament; the question was only by how much.
-- I have to admit, that although I'm a little bit uncomfortable with the attention paid to the Little Leaguers, I tuned in to the World Series and watched the championship game from beginning to end. It was unbelievable how the Calif. team could hammer the ball. But where in the world do you find a 6-foot, 212-pound 13-year-old kid that didn't look as if he spent the last 12 years eating cheese curls in front of the TV?
-- For just about the last 10 years, my family has spent one week of the summer on the Cape, but this year was the first time we've ever ventured over to Mayflower Beach. What a hidden treasure; except for the water temperature, it was the closest to the Fla. beaches I grew up on that I’ve found in New England. The rockless and seaweed-free beach was nice and clean and there were enough critters (snails, crabs, sand dollars) to keep my kids busy for hours. My one complaint: It was disheartening to see kids and adults alike walking away with trash bags full of sand dollars. I won't go all PETA and say leave all of them alone, I did allow my kids to keep a couple each, but to see people with what had to be close to 100 of them leaving the beach was sad.
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