Bayonne, NJ girl throws a no-hitter

Twelve year old Mackenzie Brown is the first girl in Bayonne Little League history to throw a perfect game. She retired all eighteen opposing male batters. She got to throw out the first pitch at Citi Field this Saturday past when the New York Mets hosted the Washington Nationals. Read the heartwarming story here. Thanks to one of our loyal Durham readers for the heads up on this item.

Yanks do a partial cave on ticket prices

Thanks to Reuters for this shot of the empty premium seats at Yankee Stadium.

The Clarion Content has been banging on about the ridiculously overpriced tickets at the new Yankee Stadium since the day they announced the pricing plan. It was and is an outrage. They have gotten their comeuppance, though, with Wall Street and the bankers fubar, the highest priced tickets have had major sales issues. This has led to the ugly spectacle of sold-out cheap seats in Yankee Stadium, while whole sections of the best seats sit empty.

Yesterday the Yankees, who have been taking a beating on sports talk radio over the issue announced an attempt to save some public relations face. Fans who bought $2,500 first-row season tickets in sections 16-24A will receive an equal number of free first-row seats for each of this season's remaining regular-season games. According the Wall Street Journal there are also complimentary-ticket plans for fans who purchased season tickets at $1,250, $850, $600, $500, and $325 per game.

The Wall Street Journal quoted a Long Island lawyer and Yankee season ticket holder who cuts to the heart of the chase about the pricing issues of Yankee tickets, "The starting price is so high they've killed our opportunities in the secondary market," said Mr. Dinhofer, who, like many season-ticket holders, has struggled to sell tickets he can't use. "We can't move our tickets."

Read the who article here.

Tortorella

King Henrik reigns in the Garden

One game after the Rangers other worldly goalie, King Henrik stood on his head to win the Rangers a three games to one first round series lead, the Rangers Coach John Tortorella lost his head. First he overreacted and benched superpest and raconteur Sean Avery for committing a couple of dumb penalties at the end of Game 4. Tortorella has never been in Avery's corner. He derided Avery when he was still an announcer, before he became the Rangers head man. Our impression at the Clarion Content is that Tortorella has the small man complex. He is the sort who is threatened by a loose cannon like Avery.

His short-sighted scratching of Avery had the Rangers off step from the get go in Game 5. Scotty Gomez clearly missed the pesky Avery on his wing. Then Tortorella compounded the Rangers woes by losing his head, first squirting water on a fan behind the Rangers bench, then flinging a water bottle that hit a spectator in the head. He has been suspended for Game 6. No loss. Hopefully somebody orders him to put Avery back in the line-up. Of course, it is ultimately going to come back to Henrik Lundqvist and his ability to stand on his head, when all about him are losing theirs.

In a rich irony, the Rangers will be coached by assistant Jim Schoenfield the last coach to be suspended by the NHL for a playoff game.

Joe Smith, underground rapper?

Did you know that Joe Smith of the Cleveland Cavaliers, he of the nineteen points and ten boards in only nineteen minutes last night in a victory against the Pistons, was also an underground rapper? Joe Smith who was once the first pick in the NBA Draft. Joe Smith of Norfolk, VA.

Straight. LeBron and the other players call him by his hip-hop aka, "Joe Beast." Smith has apparently been at it for more than ten years. He says he has written hundreds of songs. His new album The Beginning features an appearance by Desmond Mason, a swingman who was Smith's teammate in Milwaukee from 2003-05. According to ESPN's Chris Broussard his hip-hop ode to the Cavs, "One Goal," has become the club's playoff anthem this spring. The song blared through The Q's sound system as the players warmed up before the first two games of this series.

Interesting work. Are there some gang influence issues that we should be questioning? Money laundering concerns perhaps?

Natinals

Whoops we knew Major League Baseball was having revenue issues, but we didn't know things had gotten this bad. Apparently the Washington Nationals uniform provider, Majestic, decided to save bucks in this economy by shorting the "Nationals" a letter. They printed a couple of jerseys missing the letter "o" and arrived at, "Natinals." Nice, very Major League of them. It doesn't help the image that it was the team with the worse record in baseball that had these bad new bears jerseys.

Rondo has a Triple Double

The Boston Celtics won a must win game last night over the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the NBA playoffs. A 2-0 series hole minus Kevin Garnett would have been untenable. It was a tight game. Ray Allen hit the game winning shot and scored 30 points. However, as the Boston Herald chronicles, even Allen knew the guy that got them through the night was Rajan Rondo.

Rondo had a sick triple-double, 19 points, the 16 assists, the 12 boards. He led the team in rebounding. Repeat a six foot one inch, 171 pound guard led his team, a Celtics team missing its inside mojo, in rebounding. The Herald article has all the good quotes, including the pre-game talk Celtics Coach Doc Rivers had with Rondo. Bill Simmons also wrote a piece on the series and the Rondo vs. Rose battle.

The playoffs saw another excellent performance in Denver. Chauncey Billups led the Nuggets crushing of the New Orleans Hornets. Billups was 8-for-9 from beyond the arc and thirty-six points. The trade of the season was the Mr. Big Shot for Allen Iverson swap. We totally miscalled it here at the Clarion Content somehow imagining that A.I. would blend in a team concept with the Pistons. Whoops! Furthermore, we wildly underestimated Billups impact in Denver. He has the offense so much more organized. He is the lead dog, but he doesn't have to take all or even most of the shots. Even better when it comes down to a last shot he is willing and able to take it.

Put Joba back in the bullpen!

Haven't the Yankees ever heard the old axiom, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Clearly not, as they have still not seen the error of their ways. They have yet to recognize and accept mistake they made in removing Joba Chamberlain from the Yankees bullpen, and turning a relative strength into a glaring weakness. Not only did they weaken their bullpen, but they did it to move Joba to the 5th spot in the rotation. The last starter, in the spot which periodically gets skipped, in the spot which isn't even used come playoff time. Instead of having Joba affect 65 to 75 games a year, they are going to hold down his innings and starts again, so that he might effect 25 to 27 games this year. It is crazy.

The Yankees are obviously wrong and unfortunately, they appear to be digging in their heels as if this has become a battle of pride with the New York media. Dumb. Compounding their mistake. Already this season the Yankees middle relief has imploded in three of their six losses, including Joba's first start where Joba needed himself to be the bridge to Mariano Rivera and he couldn't last. Furthermore, as unbelievable as Rivera has been in his Hall of Fame career, he is 39 and the Yankees definitely need to be grooming a successor.

The final straw for the Clarion Content has been Joba's persona and demeanor. As Mike Francesa keeps hammering home on WFAN, New York's sports radio, Joba is like a declawed cat as a starter. He was vicious, fierce and intimidating out of the pen. Now he is tentative, pitching like he is feeling his way, conserving his energy. The Yankees braintrust is killing Joba's mojo! If this ludicrous Joba as a starter experiment goes on much longer, we wouldn't be shocked to see his whole career flameout. WFAN radio has had such luminaries of New York relief pitching as Sparky Lyle, Goose Gossage and John Franco weigh-in with opinions in the last week, all agree Joba should be in the pen.

NBA Playoff quick hits

The NBA playoffs are upon us after a season of much anticipation. The Clarion Content can only say you should have been grateful for how wonderful last season's playoffs were. It is a rarity. Hope you were watching, because after much hype this season's playoffs took a dramatic turn towards dullesville with two big injuries in recent weeks. The Clarion Content agrees with the widely held notion that injuries to the Spurs Manu Ginobili and the Celtics Kevin Garnett (both out for the duration of the playoffs) have taken the number of legitimate contenders down from four teams to two. The Spurs and the Celts may win a round or even two, despite the injuries, but the Finals is likely Lakers-Cavs. It would take a monstrously shocking upset to derail the Kobe vs. LeBron match-up that the league and Commissioner Stern so desperately desire.

On to Round 1 in brief...

Boston Celtics vs. Chicago Bulls

Even without Garnett the Celtics should have just enough to win this series. Vinny del Negro is an awful coach. The Bulls however have been hot down the stretch, at one point winning 11 of 14 with the Bobcats nipping at their heels for the final playoff spot. The Celtics were extended to seven by the Hawks in the first round last year, don't be surprised if it happens again.


Detroit Pistons vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

How far the Pistons have fallen? When they dismissed Larry Brown we never anticipated they would fall this far this fast. After the Chauncey Billups trade they barely scratched their way into the playoffs. A.I. left the team on a self-imposed exile. They likely won't even take a game from the Cavs.


Dallas Mavericks vs. San Antonio Spurs

This had to be the match-up the Spurs wanted the least. The Mavs who have lost in the first round each of the last two years and have to be burning to do better. They played the Spurs even 2-2 in the regular season. Will the Spurs again bench contribute enough to get them through this series? Duncan has looked tired down the stretch. Tony Parker should kill J.Kidd on the offensive end, but will it be enough? The Spurs will need seven, weakening them for the next round's opponent. They could even very well lose this series.


New Orleans Hornets vs. Denver Nuggets

The Clarion Content's sports editor is bummed that this series had to happen in the first round. It surely feels like a second round series. We don't want to believe that Melo is going to get knocked out in the first round again, but facing Chris Paul, whew. Is there a better player in the Western Conference not named Kobe? The Hornets are defensive minded and the Nuggets like to run. Mr. Big Shot, Chauncey Billups has turned out to be a tremendous pick up. The Nuggets look organized and lethal. A hard series to call? Denver has the homecourt in game seven, says here Chris Paul finds a way to win anyway.


Houston Rockets vs. Portland Trailblazers

This another series where it is a shame that the teams are meeting in the first round. In the Clarion Content's eyes the Rockets are the team with the best chance to take out the Lakers. (We root heartily against the Lakers.) Other folks think the Trail Blazers because of their superb home record against Phil Jackson's crew have the best chance to beat LA. Against each other it is a clash of match-ups. Brendon Roy and Blazers would prefer to push the ball. The Rockets have the defenders for Roy in Artest and Battier. The Rockets would like to get the ball into Yao in the post. The Blazers have Joel Przybilla and Greg Oden. Advantage Rockets, says here they win it in six. (Yep, they are better without McGrady.)


Los Angeles Lakers vs. Utah Jazz

The Lakers should crush. Despite the fades at the end of the season by the aging Derek Fisher and the youthful Jordan Farmar at point guard, Kobe and Gasol will be too much for the Jazz. Jerry Sloan is a great coach, so it is puzzling that this crew has underachieved. Is it all Carlos Boozer's karma?


Philadelphia 76ers vs. Orlando Magic

The Clarion Content would be very surprised if the 76ers had anything to offer in the way of resistance here. Orlando has too many weapons. Starting with Dwight Howard, their super solid big man, the best player on the court in this series. Orlando also offers a cast of three point shooters, Rashard Lewis, the versatile Hedo Turkoglu, the dynamic rookie Courtney Lee and even J.J. Reddick has been in the mix off the bench down the stretch. It will be more than enough against the Elton Brand-less 76ers. Andre Miller is a good point guard, but Philly just doesn't have enough cats who can put the bisquit in the basket. Orlando's Stan Van Gundy is a huge coaching edge over Philly's relative unknown Tony DiLeo.


Miami Heat vs. Atlanta Hawks

Perhaps the most intriguing first round series in the East. Can D-Wade alone get by the Hawks? Joe Johnson and the gang pushed the champion Celtics to seven games in the first round last year. One has to figure that experience will benefit them this year. Still Wade, has been there and done that, and then some. A tough draw for the emerging Hawks. If they can keep their emerging corps, Josh Smith, Marvin Williams and Al Horford together their 'wait 'til next year' will really mean something.

Annual Baseball Predictions: American League

Welcome to our annual baseball predictions! Here at the Clarion Content if faithful readers know anything, it is to take our predictions with boulders of salt.

American League West...

If it wasn't for the lowly A.L. Central this would be the worst division in baseball. The Angels, the defending champs, have gotten older. Tori Hunter and Vlad Guerrero are terrific, but not what they once were. They added subpar defensive outfielder, Bobby Abreu, a steady hitter with limited power, definitely not the Manny they needed. They lost their closer Francisco Rodriguez. Lucky for them the rest of the division is atrocious. The A's brought back the aging Jason Giambi and are counting on numbers from the frequently injured Eric Chavez at 3rd base. Their starting rotation was decimated by trades last year. Newly acquired Matt Holiday's numbers will no longer have Coors Field inflation. The Texas Rangers are all offense, no pitching. Their ace Kevin Milwood, wouldn't be most teams number #4 starter. The Seattle Mariners, coming off a 100 loss season, have a new manager and a new G.M. They brought back Ken Griffey Jr. for nostalgia purposes, but he won't match the departed Raul Ibanez's offensive numbers.

Order of Finish

1. LA Angels (over 89.5 wins)
2. Oakland A's (under 81.5 wins)
3. Texas Rangers (under 73.5 wins)
4. Seattle Mariners (under 72.5 wins)


American League Central...

The Minnesota Twins always seem to find a way. Last year minus Johan Santana, minus Tori Hunter, minus Carlos Silva they battled through 162 games to force a one game playoff for the division crown. They still have Mauer and Morneau. And the Clarion Content is crazy about their young arms. Francisco Liriano is a Cy Young candidate. We told you about former minor league ERA champ, Kevin Slowey, eons ago. Scott Baker, Nick Blackburn and Glen Perkins look great rounding out the rotation. Joe Nathan anchors a solid bullpen. The Cleveland Indians are expecting a bounce back year. Here at the Clarion Content we could see it from their offense, Victor Martinez was hurt, Grady Sizemore underperformed. But their pitching is hugely suspect, Carl Pavano #3?!? Can Cliff Lee repeat his miraculous '08 campaign, we doubt it. The Chicago White Sox under the feisty Ozzie Guillen and crusty Kenny Williams always manage to hang around. We are concerned that their stars are aging; Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome, Paul Konerko. Even with the departure of solid starter Javier Vazquez, they should have enough pitching to be competitive until the All-Star break, then it will depend on whether Williams and the Sox braintrust decide to unload stars for prospects or add pitching for a post-season run this year. The Kansas City Royals are everybody's trendy off-season pick. And they are probably better, but remember that getting to .500 would be six game improvement. Is it really reasonable to expect more than that? There are a lot of young kids in the mix. Finally the Detroit Tigers, we have them booked for fire sale mid-summer. The Dontrelle Willis acquisition has been a disaster and the rest of their pitching staff has fallen apart along with it. Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Guillen could be on the market.

Order of Finish

1. Minnesota Twins (over 83.5 wins)
2. Chicago White Sox (over 79.5 wins)
3. Cleveland Indians (under 85.5 wins)
4. Kansas City Royals (over 75.5 wins)
5. Detroit Tigers (under 89.5 wins)


American League East...

There is however one division of quality in the American League, the A.L. East. Last year's defending American League champs, the Tampa Bay Rays figure to have a fight on their hands from the Boston Red Sox and the free spending New York Yankees. The Yankees, of course, made the splashiest acquisitions, the fat, fat man C.C. Sabathia, the injury-prone, coming off of a career year A.J. Burnett and an All-Star with a great glove, switch-hitter Mark Teixiera. Yet the Curse of the A-Rod still looms. Will the Yankees play great without Alex, only to have him come in and ruin the vibe? Or will they play lousy without him, putting so much pressure on Rodriguez to perform that he starts his annual big game wilting a couple months earlier? Either way, it just doesn't feel like the Yankees year. Volatile skipper Joe Girardi is wound tighter than steel cable. G.M. Brian Cashman is also under the gun. Says here, not enough healthy pitching, too much pressure on Teixiera and Rodriguez, drag the Yanks down to third place, behind both the Red Sox and the Rays. The Red Sox are loaded even without Manny. The rightside of their infield sports two homegrown MVP caliber talents Kevin Youkilis and Dustin Pedroia. They have more pitching than one can shake a stick at, Beckett, Dice-K, Lester, Penny and Wakefield, with Smoltz, Buchholz and Justin Masterson waiting in the wings, not to mention Jonathan Papelbon to close. The Rays have pitching and young talent too. Led by B.J. Upton, Evan Longoria and Carl Crawford, their offense will be potent. They added Pat Burrell to D.H. He should be productive. Their real strength might be the bullpen, which has lots of good set-up men and David Price in Durham waiting in the wings. The Baltimore Orioles have a passel of promising young talent from outfielders Nick Markakis and Adam Jones to second baseman Brian Roberts. That and a smidgen of pitching probably won't get them to .500 in the toughest division in the league. The Toronto Blue Jays have spent the last several years underperforming expectations. This year their one phenomenal pitcher Roy Halladay will truly have to go it alone. A.J. Burnett split via free agency. Young arms Dustin McGowan and Shaun Marcum are hurt. This could be the year the bottom really falls out.

Order of Finish

1. Boston Red Sox (over 94.5 wins)
2. Tampa Bay Rays (over 87.5 wins)
3. New York Yankees (under 97.5 wins)
4. Baltimore Orioles (over 73.5 wins)
5. Toronto Blue Jays (under 80.5 wins)

Tomorrow the National League preview...

Broncos-Bears trade QBs

Swapped!

Okay, okay, we know the Denver Broncos got a bevy of draft picks for their young, tempestuous quarterback, Jake Cutler, in addition to Bears starter Kyle Orton. The Broncos received the Bears first round pick, this year and next, as well as a third rounder this year. The Broncos now have five picks in the top 85 for the 2009 draft, that is something to build around. The way their defense looked last year they'll need them.

The Clarion Content has been a vocal critique of Jay Cutler and his braggadocio. Who cares if you think you can throw farther than Elway, Jay, if you can't beat Phillip Rivers when it counts? We were not surprised to read that Cutler has the same agent as Brett Favre. He was a reportedly an arrogant pain at Vanderbilt and his NFL career has been no different, despite his Pro Bowl status. Cutler strikes us as cut in the mold of Jeff George.

The guy the Broncos got back couldn't be more different. We have been an Orton supporter since back to his days at Purdue where he followed Drew Brees through Joe Tiller's sophisticated passing offense. The Denver Post is already writing about Orton's positive attitude and work ethic. (Cutler was known for his lackadaisical practice habits.) They also note for the record that, "Orton was 21-12 as a starter with the Bears, including a 15-2 record at home. Cutler was 17-20 for the Broncos, 10-9 at home. "

The Bears are heading in the opposite direction from the Broncos with this trade, mortgaging their future for the now. It makes some sense, their vaunted defense, anchored by Tommie Harris and Brian Urlacher, isn't getting any younger. They are going with their win-now plan in a comprehensive manner, too. They signed recently released Ram veteran left tackle, Orlando Pace. Word is they have talked about bringing in former St. Louis wideout, and aging star, Tory Holt. They need the help there too, a converted DB/punt returner, Devin Hester, led the team in receiving last year with a measly 665 yards.

NBA homecourt

The Los Angeles Lakers have endured a little stumble over the last week, they lost in Atlanta to the Hawks. Then they followed that up with another defeat at the hands of the Charlotte Bobcats. The lowly 'Cats are on the outside looking in the race for the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. They are only a game back of the Bulls and their defeat of the Lakers, capping a season series sweep of the LA, may have changed the course of the NBA championship this season.

The reason why we say that is that the Bobcats put a capper on a week where the Lakers may have ceded homecourt advantage in the NBA to the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James should both squads reach the Finals. If LeBron and Cleveland have homecourt, that could be enough to tip the balance in a tight series.

When analyzing the Lakers prospects, there has to be the question of whether or not Kobe Bryant is fatigued, having gone all the way the Finals last year, some twenty-odd playoff games, and then the Olympic run on top of it. Also, the enigmatic Lamar Odom has also cooled off from a scorching February where he averaged 16.5 points and 13.4 rebounds per game. In March he is back to a more human 11 pts and 9.2 boards per game. Coterminously and perhaps not coincidentally, the Lakers have likewise cooled from playing .817 ball year-to-date to playing .667 ball in March.

There has been some seeding scuffling just before the NBA playoffs. The Clarion Content does not believe the champion will come from outside the "big four" Celtics, Lakers, Cavs, Spurs. However, there are seeding things happening, beyond the Lakers mini-slump, that could effect which of those four teams wins the title. The Spurs have gone 5 up and 5 down in their last ten, sliding dangerously toward the middle of the playoff pack where many Western Conference contenders might threaten them in the second round, if they have homecourt advantage. Similarly in the Eastern Conference, the Celtics and the Magic are in a tight battle for second and third place in the conference where the winner will have homecourt advantage in a second round confrontation. It is not unfathomable that with homecourt and a healthy Dwight Howard versus a gimpy K.G. that Orlando could work a little Magic on the Leprechauns from Beantown.