Monthly Archives: May 2012
Conference Realignment In the Cards for Locals
Article By James O’Hara
Just a few months ago everyone was writing about the demise of the Big 12 and the rise of the four new super-conferences the Pac 12, Big 10, SEC, and ACC. After the moves of Pittsburgh and Syracuse to the ACC and two more teams, Texas A&M and Missouri, leaving the Big 12 this seemed like an easy conclusion. However now, while the rise of the super-conferences still seems to be on track, the ACC no longer seems to be a part of the party. First the Big 12 moved quickly to shore up the conference by adding solid schools in West Virginia and TCU. Then in what was a bit of a surprise, they tied themselves to the most stable conference in the SEC with the creation of the Champions’ bowl. These moves signaled that that the Big 12 was in it for the long haul, while at the same time the ACC made a horrendous TV deal for their football broadcast rights angering their football first members. Now there are heavy rumors that Florida State and Clemson will take their business to the Big 12, meaning the ACC is in serious trouble for staying relevant on the college football scene and staying together as a conference. If these moves come to pass there will be a variety of effects on the local schools Virginia Tech, Virginia, and Maryland, so let’s go through the best and worst options for each school.
Note: I do not have any magical insiders, I know only what has been made public and these are my best guesses based on the information available.
Virginia Tech:
VT has a huge football fan base that spans most of Virginia and a majority of the D.C. area which any league will likely covet for maximizing TV deals. In addition out of the remaining ACC schools Tech is far and away the best in football. Their only issue is that the academics may not be up to snuff for a league like the Big 10, and the multiple reports that say they must move together with Virginia.
Best Case: In terms of a money and competition standpoint the best case for Tech is that they are able to split away from UVa and move into the SEC. While they will no longer be able to walk through the conference like they do in the ACC, they will still be able to bring in huge money and go to a solid bowl as the SEC has perhaps the best bowl tie-ins.
Worst Case: VT is forced to stay together with UVa and the Big 10 feels they are not good enough academically to join, forcing them to try to finagle their way into the Big 12, or more likely stay in whatever is left of the ACC. While they would be able to dominate the even weaker ACC, they would most likely be shut out of any big bowls or National Championships. As well as earning a lot less than they could in any of the other three conferences.
Virginia:
UVa has a decent program that can be competitive in any conference, but will never seriously compete for any sort of championship. They do have the sort of academic prestige that the Big 10 covets, but do not have the sort of fan base that would garner much interest from either the SEC or Big 12.
Best Case: UVa splits up from VT, while still keeping them as an out-of-conference game, and makes their way up north to the Big 10. They are a natural fit into a conference that values academics and old-school prestige nearly as much as they do competitive football. Like Tech in the SEC they could run in the middle of the pack and go to some great bowls, earning much more money than they do now.
Worst Case: VT splits away from them and heads to the SEC, but the Big 10 still holds out stubbornly on expansion leaving UVa stuck in a conference that is completely irrelevant in football and part of some weird salvage project from the leftovers of the Big East. While UVa is not the best team ever, they still earn a lot from football and losing that revenue would certainly hamper their ability to field competitive teams in other favored sports like lacrosse and baseball.
Maryland:
Maryland has been rumored to be getting interest from the Big 10 for the last two years, but I suspect that this talk is coming more from Terp Nation than it is anyone with the Big 10. From a football standpoint this could not come at a worst time as the Terps are coming off one of the worst years in all of college football. And from a TV standpoint it’s not much better, as despite being right outside D.C. both UVa and VT have bigger footprints in the D.C. market.
Best Case: The rumors of the Big Ten’s interest in them are true and they are able to make an easy transition to their new conference. While they will likely struggle to compete at first, there are still plenty of opportunities to do well in the Big Ten, while the Big Ten Network means they will rake in the money, helping a cash-strapped athletic department.
Worst Case: The Big Ten takes one look at the middling on and off field performance and immediately looks elsewhere for new members, leaving the Terps stuck with the also-rans in the ACC. Already swimming in debt, the loss of football revenue drives the athletic department over the edge and a majority of the athletics department is cut to save money.
For each of the best and worst cases above, there are about a million other things that could happen, but one thing is for sure that college football is not done shifting around yet. Hopefully all three of the local teams will have found nice homes before it’s all over.
James is a student at Virginia Tech studying Computer Science and Math. Baseball is his favorite sport as he has been playing it since the age of three. However he has a passion for nearly every other sport one can imagine as well and this has led him to attempting to contribute to a sports blog despite average writing grades in school. He is the main person tweeting behind the name @nextyeardc and gets way too excited whenever he sees he has a new mention.
Nats Enter Important Stretch
Michael Morse targets June 1st return.
(Image Credit SI
Article By James O’Hara
You will probably hear a lot about the coming stretch for the Nationals, but it’s just so important we cannot let it go by without comment.
The next 15 games, nine away, six at home, all come against teams within the NL East. A division that is currently shaping up to be the toughest in baseball; where every single team currently stands above .500 and there is only a 4 game difference between the first place Braves and last place Phillies (boy is that fun to say). So far the Nats have been excellent against their inner division foes with a 6-2 record, but nothing compares to the brutal back-to-back stretch they are about to embark on.
If the Nationals really want to be contenders they need to come out of this stretch at least 8-7 and probably need to do even better than that. To do well the rotation needs to be on the top of their game, which is worrying since, outside of Jackson and Gio, they had what was probably their worst run through the rotation so far this season. The starting staff needs to step up and cover for an offense riddled with injuries, they cannot get discouraged by the lack of run support they are currently getting.
Speaking of that offense, while the injuries to key contributors Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos hurt there is still room for optimism. Ryan Zimmerman has not been as good at the plate as he usually is, having been outslugged by Desmond, Ankiel, Bernadina, and Lombardozzi so far this season. Zimmerman is not going to hit like this all season, and if he can step up during this stretch that would be a huge boon to a struggling offense. In addition, Michael Morse has stated that he might be able to come back a week early, right smack in the middle of this 15 game stretch, which would instantly make this line up a lot more formidable.
Finally this stretch of games should provide some good feedback on some tough decisions between Wang and Detwiler, and Espinosa and Lombardozzi, as the Nats need guys who can stand up to the tough competition they have. At the end of these five series we should have a pretty good idea of exactly what to expect from this Nationals team for the rest of 2012.
James is a student at Virginia Tech studying Computer Science and Math. Baseball is his favorite sport as he has been playing it since the age of three. However he has a passion for nearly every other sport one can imagine as well and this has led him to attempting to contribute to a sports blog despite average writing grades in school. He is the main person tweeting behind the name @nextyeardc and gets way too excited whenever he sees he has a new mention.
What If the Nationals Injured Players Played the Healthy Ones?
Article By James O’Hara
Looking over the numerous players the Nats have had on the DL so far this season, I noticed something: they all play a separate position and together, you could field an entire lineup just from these injured players. So then I had an idea – in a hypothetical one-game scrimmage where everyone was healthy between Nats who have been injured and Nats who have not, who would win? To form the DL team I had two rules: the players must be a part of the 40 man roster and they must either be currently on the DL or have been on the DL at some point this season. Without further ado, here are the lineups:
Team DL Team Healthy
Rendon SS Desmond SS
Ankiel CF Lombardozzi 3B
Zimmerman 3B Harper RF
Morse LF LaRoche 1B
Werth RF Espinosa 2B
Ramos C Bernadina CF
Marrero 1B Flores C
DeRosa 2B Nady LF
Wang P Strasburg P
Bullpen: Kimball, Lidge, Storen Bullpen: Burnett, Clippard, HRod, etc.
The first thing that stands out is how much better Team DL’s lineup is than Team Healthy’s. The 3-6 spots are incredible while the other four guys are as good if not better hitters than their counterparts on Team Healthy. The three-man bullpen of Kimball, Lidge, and Storen for Team DL is quite excellent and should be more than enough for a one-game scrimmage. However, they are missing a left hander which could come back to hurt them against Team Healthy’s two lefty power hitters LaRoche and Harper. Really the only thing that Team Healthy has going for it is Stephen Strasburg, who is light-years ahead of Chien Ming Wang in the pitching department, but Strasburg still struggles to get deep into games and Team DL should be able to hit well against Team Healthy’s bullpen. Defensively Team DL has a significantly better outfield, while Team Healthy is a bit better in the infield despite not having Zimmerman. As Rendon is out of position and LaRoche is one of best defensive first baseman in the game. All in all, in spite of having Strasburg on the mound for Team Healthy, Team DL should be a heavy favorite because you need to score runs to win and Team Healthy just is not going to be able to do that.
In my opinion the game will start with a classic pitcher’s duel. As Strasburg will go out for Team Healthy and give them seven strong innings scattering three hits and giving up one run on a Michael Morse bomb while striking out 7 and walking none. While Wang will induce grounder after grounder from Team Healthy finishing with a bend but don’t break six innings, giving up seven hits but only one run on 4 strikeouts and a walk as Team Healthy just doesn’t get the clutch hitting needed to push more runs across. As the game turns to the bullpens Team DL’s Cole Kimball is able to craft a perfect bottom of the 7th shutting down the 9-1-2 hitters of Team Healthy’s order. In the 8th the bottom of Team DL’s order is helpless against All-Star reliever Tyler Clippard, while Brad Lidge uses his wealth of experience to hold down Bryce Harper and Adam LaRoche in the bottom of the inning, sending the game to the 9th tied 1-1. In the 9th the lack of an experienced closer comes back to bite Team Healthy as Henry Rodriguez is unable to escape without giving up two runs on Mr. Clutch Ryan Zimmerman’s two run homer making it 3-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth where Drew Storen shuts the door with little drama. Chien Ming Wang is the winning pitcher, while Henry Rodriguez gets the loss and Drew Storen the save. Player of the game is Team DL’s Ryan Zimmerman who drove in the game winning run in the top of the ninth.
James is a student at Virginia Tech studying Computer Science and Math. Baseball is his favorite sport as he has been playing it since the age of three. However he has a passion for nearly every other sport one can imagine as well and this has led him to attempting to contribute to a sports blog despite average writing grades in school. He is the main person tweeting behind the name @nextyeardc and gets way too excited whenever he sees he has a new mention.
Nationals Face the Prospect of the Dreaded “What If” Season
The Washington Nationals are like autumn leaves – they look pretty good, but are fragile to even the slightest touch. I know that’s an awful comparison (I’ve never been one for similes, and I never will be), but it’s a pretty good personification of a baseball team that simply can’t catch a single break.
That the Nationals are 21-13 is almost hard to believe. They’ve lost so many players to injuries, it’s entirely conceivable that they could field a winning team with their DL (tune in later for an interesting perspective on that). Among the names gracing the list of the fallen are C Wilson Ramos (torn ACL, out for the year), OF Jayson Werth (broken left wrist, 6-12 weeks), OF/1B Michael Morse (strained right lat), Closer Drew Storen (elbow), and SP Chien-Ming Wang (hamstring, close to return).
One can only imagine how good this baseball team could end up being when it’s entirely healthy. But until that glorious day arrives, we are faced with the question: Will this season turn into a “what if” year?
Photo Courtesy of buzzbox.com
How depressing would it be to see a Nationals team done in at the end of the year by one injury too many? In a game of inches, one injury could be the difference between making the playoffs and failing to do so. For all we know, Jesus Flores could be at the plate in the bottom of the ninth with two on and two out in a 4-3 game – the 162nd game to be precise, a win-or-go-home situation – and strike out in a situation where Wilson Ramos could have brought home the winning runs. What if Drew Storen re-injures his elbow in September and Henry Rodriguez blows the save that could have won the division?
Injuries are something that every team has to deal with, but a team like the Nationals really can’t afford to have too many. Even with Werth, Ramos and Morse in the lineup last season, this was a below average offense at best. Without those players, the Nats have to be thankful for guys like Adam LaRoche, who has basically put the team on his back and is carrying it offensively.
One thing the Nationals have going for them is that their pitching is so dominant, they will be in almost every game no matter how banged up the batting order is. A heavily injured lineup should still be able to score 3 runs in a game (ironically, about what a healthy Nats lineup might average), and the pitching is so good that the Nats could probably get a win in a game like that.
But the fact remains: injuries are heavily impacting the Nats through 34 games. There are 127 games left. That’s plenty of time to either get healthy or to crowd the D.L. even more. At the end of the year, we will be faced with two possibilities – a team that used all it had to make the playoffs, or a team that missed the postseason simply because it was too banged up to be consistently competitive.
Top 10 Reasons Why It’s Awesome to Be Bryce Harper
1. He’s Bryce Harper, he can wear his hair however the hell he wants.
Photo courtesy of yahoo.com
2. He could have made the Nationals starting lineup in the inaugural season of 2005 at age 12.
3. You have to take final exams this week. HE DOESN’T.
4. He ignites Natitude simply by existing.5. Because nobody’s Sharper than Harper.
6. And it’s Nice to be Bryce.
7. He made more money at age 17 than you will for the rest of your life.
8. He plays softball on the Mall and makes national news.
9. The entire Nationals team has Ebola – except Harper, he is immune to all human plagues. (@JackoBeam)
10. He doesn’t have to live in Syracuse anymore.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: The Nationals’ Offense
It’s no secret that the Washington Nationals have struggled to hit the baseball in 2012. The team ranks near the bottom of the N.L. in nearly every offensive category, spoiling a legendary start to the season by the unflappable pitching staff they score for. Below are some interesting statistics chronicling what the Nats do well, what they don’t do well, and what they really suck at.
THE GOOD
4.6: Jayson Werth averages an excellent 4.6 pitches per plate appearance.
.314: Adam LaRoche has a batting average of .314.
And that’s about the extent of the good. Not much, is there? Just wait until you read the bad and the ugly:
THE BAD
3.8 %: Danny Espinosa, Xavier Nady, Mark DeRosa, and Rick Ankiel have combined to score 5 out of 131 possible base runners. That’s a success rate of 3.8%.
13: The Nats have 13 home runs. Matt Kemp of the L.A. Dodgers has 12 by himself.
.166: Opposing pitchers hold the Nats to a .166 batting average the first time through the lineup.
Slugging .323: The Nationals’ slugging percentage is 62 points lower than the league average, good for last in the league.
59.9: The Nationals hit one home run every 59.9 at bats. The league average is 40.4.
26: The Nats can’t score at the beginning of games. In 115 innings that encompass innings 1-5 this season, the Nats have scored a grand total of 26 runs.
2: Along the same lines, the Nats have scored 2 runs in the 1st inning this season. They have more runs in extra innings (3) than they do in the first.
.182: Batters in the three-hole for the Nats this season have a dismal batting average of .182. That’s the spot in the order that’s supposed to have the best hitting, people.
WTF: Batters in the 3rd, 6th, and 7th spots in the Nats’ lineup have struck out more times than they’ve gotten a hit.
45:15: This season, the Nats have a 45:15 strikeout to walk ratio when leading off an inning.
The Nationals rank last in all of the MLB in Slugging Percentage, and Total Bases.
If you want more information on the Nats’ offensive struggles, check out this piece by The Nats Blog.
Overmatched on Paper, Caps Take It To The Rangers
If I were a G.M., I would attempt to model my team very simliar to how the New York Rangers have constructed theirs.
I would start by trying to find a tough, no-nonsense, defense-oriented coach like John Totorella.
I would stock up on capable offensive players like Marian Gaborik and Brad Richards.
I’d make sure to have a solid defensive corps, like the McDonagh/Girardi/Del Zotto trio, and institute a team-wide philosophy of defense over offense.
And of course, I’d try to get an ideal goaltender such as Henrik Lundqvist to back my team up on those rare occasions when things break down horribly.
Yes, the New York Rangers of 2012 harken back to the tougher, grittier days of the NHL and the Blueshirts are deserving and capable of being a No. 1 seed. They are as well-rounded as any team in the NHL.
But in battling the Washington Capitals to a 1-1 series tie in the Eastern Conference semifinals of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Rangers have found that nothing ever comes easy in hockey.
Make no mistake: the Rangers are supremely talented and have a leg up on Washington at nearly every position. The Caps simply refuse to see it that way.
In two games, the Capitals have played as well as – if not better than – the Rangers. Game 1 started as a Ranger clinic, but morphed into a slugfest which was ultimately decided by some poor officiating and at least four pucks off the iron behind Lundqvist.
Photo courtesy of calgaryherald.com
Game 2 was a seesaw battle in which the Caps tried and failed to score multiple times, but locked down on defense and beat the Rangers at their own game. Caps coach Dale Hunter has convinced his players that operating with a defensive mentality creates a marvelous scenario – it evens the playing field. The Rangers may have the talent on paper, but the Caps see them as another team that they can grind down to a pulp.
It happened in Round 1, as well. The Caps went up against a superior Boston team and beat them with hard work and defense. In hockey, more than almost any other sport, the bounces go your way if you outwork the other team. Hustle stats like blocked shots and hits go a long way in determining the outcome of a game. No matter how talented the opposition is, masterful play at the defensive end will always make a game close.
Ultimately, it’s allowed the Caps to go deeper in 2012 than they did in 2011. The formerly high-flying, goal-a-minute gunners have transformed into a group of hard-working, passionate grinders. Most importantly, Washington has become a team that is very hard to play against. More than anything, it is this quality that makes them so dangerous. Their style is such that no matter who they play, they will always be in the game.
The Rangers and Bruins and clearly better than the Washington Capitals.
The boys from D.C. don’t think that it matters one bit.
