So this morning, I saw the Knicks Team Van on my way to work, and it got me thinking… What would it take to fix them as a team? I mean, there’s a lot going on there that needs some serious attention, and hopefully some fresh blood.

Well, I think I may be lucky… According to Gothamist, there is hope for us long-suffering Knicks fans…

Indiana Pacers chief executive Donnie Walsh will leave the team after this season and a source told ESPN late Monday that he will land with the New York Knicks.

Walsh is expected to sign a three-year, $15 million contract with New York at the end of this season to oversee their basketball operations division. The source did not know what would become of current Knicks president of basketball operations and head coach Isiah Thomas once Walsh joined the Knicks.

Walsh only said Monday he will finish the season with Indiana and will not comment on his plans. Pacers team president Larry Bird will take over many of Walsh’s duties.

The final year of Donnie Walsh’s 24 with the Pacers has been rife with off-court turmoil.

“I’m completing what was my dream job,” the 67-year-old Walsh said at a news conference on Monday afternoon. “I have loved every single moment of this job, including the last few years when things have been more difficult.”

It was reported last week that Walsh had discussions with the Knicks about possibly replacing Thomas as team president.

God, could it be? Could someone come in that would fire the inept Thomas?

One can pray…

If this isn’t classic “it ain’t my fault” bullshit, I don’t know what is…

“It’s real hard. I ain’t never been in a situation like that and I don’t understand,” Randolph said. “I guess they say it’s New York fans, but you know it’s real tough. Honestly. Especially for me, because I’ve never experienced every time a player walks off the court you’re booing.

“Everywhere else, in Portland, fans were a big part of our team. Fans are a big part of every team everywhere you go. We need the fans to be supportive with us, even when we’re down.”

Thomas and Crawford say fans don’t come to the Garden planning to boo, although the jeering starts when the coach is announced during pregame introductions. Thomas thinks that’s contributing to the Knicks’ poor starts.

Luckily Randolphi is one of the few semi-bright spots on a barely mediocre team or I’d really lay into him for this asinine remark. I have to wonder, though, if the Knicks have actually taken to just blaming the fans for their crap performance this season?

If you think about it, they’d have a great model to work with.

Dolan says that he’s happy with the job Isiah’s doing this year. What, specifically, I don’t know. The team has nothing to show for all that pride uncle Jimbo is showing in his team.

The coach of the team also sees progress in the team. Where? Well, who the hell knows. Maybe Eddie Curry is going to actually run up and down the court once or twice. That would be amazing progress from where they are now with Curry acting like he’s glued to the floor.

So if Dolan doesn’t think the Coach is the problem, and the Coach doesn’t think the team is the problem, then the team has to blame someone, so it might as well be the fans.

The Knicks have given up on the city, the team and the legacy of people like Patrick Ewing, Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Earl Monroe, and Bernard King. It’s time the city returned the favor.

Ho.

Lee.

Crap.

via Liana

So since I’m in a basebally mood, and I had intended to write this post before Jeff reminded me anyway, it’s time for my not-worth-a-damn opinion on how the Mets can be better next year. Mind you, this isn’t something I came up with today, but rather something I pretty much had laid out the day they lost it all in spectacular fashion.

1. Lose Carlos Beltran, Paul Lo Duca, and Carlos Delgado.
There’s no reason these folks have to stay. I never trust Beltran in a big spot. EVER. Want proof? Start with the last pitch of last year’s NLCS and work from there. Carlos Delgado? Can’t seem to find the ball, and can’t seem to stay healthy. Deadly mix. Paul Lo Duca? Not worth it. Ramon Castro is easily an every day starter, and Mike DeFelice did quite a good job as a fill-in this year. Castro and DeFelice would make a fine platoon at #2. Obviously, contractual obligations apply, but if I’m improving the team, this is where I look to do it.

2. Hold on for dear life to Alou, Wright, Martinez, Maine, Perez, Castillo, Green, Gomez, Reyes (see #6, though), Maine, and Schoenweiss. Everyone else is fair game.
Nuff said. Everyone else is expendable and should be treated as such. That’s not to say you run out and get rid of everyone else, but these folks stay no matter what happens and no matter who else comes and goes.

3. Stop with the 100 pitch bullshit already…
Willie Randolph is obsessed with 100 pitches, the mythical limit that pitchers cannot past lest they die. The problem with this is that even a good pitcher with a good game going hits that in the 6th inning, leaving you bringing in long relief night after night after night. By the end of the season, your bullpen has dead arms. That bullpen had nothing left at the end of the season, and it showed in every game they appeared in.

4. …And while you’re at it, take your pitchers out sooner…
The other problem Willie seems to have is when to leave a pitcher in and when to take a pitcher out. His management of the staff when it comes to a pitcher that doesn’t have his good stuff seems suspect. While he loves the 100 pitch limit, he also seems unwilling to pull the trigger and let a guy off the hook when he’s not pitching well. Oliver Perez on the Friday before the end of the season hit two batters in one inning. If that doesn’t demonstrate control problems, nothing does. He later went on to hit a third batter and Willie still left him in. His instincts need to develop. Hopefully that’ll come in due time.

5. Drill into their heads that they need to take more pitches.
This is one of those fundamental things that the Mets got wrong many times this year. Often the opposing pitcher would be struggling. I saw numerous multiple walk innings go by, with the next Mets batter to the plate swinging at the first pitch even when it’s obviously not sound. Free-swinging is fine, but when the other guy walks the two hitters in front of you, why the hell would you not make that same guy work a few pitches before you swing? When I was in little league, we would run laps if we passed on the “take” sign unless we got a hit. If we struck out, two laps. If we swung and missed, one lap. Eventually, we learned, and we ended up being one of the better teams in the league because of it.

6. Get Jose Reyes smiling again.
Up until September, Jose Reyes was the smiliest man on the team. After a dreadful September where he couldn’t hit a beach ball with a tennis racket (and actually, at some point during the middle of the month), Reyes lost his smile and, it seemed, his passion for the game altogether. He’s a sparkplug, and to be a sparkplug, you have to have passion, a smile on your face, and you have to ignite your team. While his base running has never been in question, if you don’t get the hit that puts you on base, you’re not going to steal a whole lot of ‘em.

And that, simply put, is how you improve the Mets. Not a lot of tinkering, really. I would’ve also liked to see Willie go altogether after last season’s crushing end, but I’m willing to give him one more year. He’s a good manager with some learning to do. While he wasn’t the one on the field, there is plenty of blame to be laid at the manager’s desk. When you come out that flat in a pivotal season game like the one on September 30th and you get your ass handed to you that badly, your team is flat, and it’s your fault.

Yes, they’re pros. Yes you shouldn’t have to motivate pros, but sometimes you have to light a fire under their ass and not just say “let the chips fall where they may,” particularly when your season is on the line and in your own hands.

Willie is going to be back. Minaya already said so.

Let’s hope the old habits don’t come back with him.

When the Mets lost the division, John Gruber was all over it. On Twitter, and briefly on his own blog he threw cheapshots at Mets fans and the team. He was proud of something. Apparently, and I didn’t know this, he actually plays for the team because only someone involved physically in the game could be that arrogant over something.

Fast forward a mere few days later. As I write this, the speculation has started that Saint Joseph Torre of New York might actually be out of a job (guess the team not managing itself has proven to be Joe’s downfall just like it was in New York in the ’80s and with the Cardinals in the ’90s.) and the Yankees will be cleaning out their locker room not knowing which of them will be back and failing, yet again, at spending their way to a championship.

The Phillies are also on their way home. Swept away and outplayed in every aspect of the game by the Colorado Rockies. They may have won the division, but most Phillies fans were smart enough to know that they would do what they do best every year: find a way to lose. In this case, the team to beat was beaten yet again, and they thus maintain their record as the losingest team in professional sports history.

All in all, I’m not jumping for joy that the Yankees are out. The Phillies? Oh hell’s yeah. I’m glad they fell flat on their shit-talking faces, but the Yankees… Well, I have a lot of friends who are fans, and they don’t root against the Mets, so I don’t root against the Yankees.

That being said, Gruber did root against the Mets and was quite the typical loud-mouthed Yankees fan about it, too. He “HATES” the Mets and loves the Phillies and the Yankees, and his head was going to explode because his two teams could be in the World Series.

Guess not, Gruber, and for your arrogance, I hereby dub you Jackass of the Week.

Better luck next year, jackass.

Technorati Tags: gruber, john gruber, jackass

I was lucky enough to be at the game yesterday. The Mets beat the crap out of the Marlins 13-0 and John Maine pitched one of the finest games a Mets pitcher has ever pitched.

The game wasn’t without its drama though. After hitting two doubles and driving in three, the Marlins pitched at Luis Castillo’s head in a Roger Clemensesque scumbag move. The next pitch went soaring past Castillo’s back. In other words, he was being thrown at. Castillo wasn’t happy and approached the mound. Words were shouted and both benches and bullpens cleared. After the dust cleared, the shot I took above happened. Miguel Olivo, catcher for the Marlins had wandered all the way up to third base and taunted Reyes (Olivo’s account makes no sense; if it was Reyes doing the taunting, that’s fine, but what was Olivo doing close enough to third base to hear it?) and then took a few swings at him.

I couldn’t believe what was happening, honestly, but I loved that the Mets were fired up. They decimated the Marlins pitching staff, and John Maine pitched a gem of a game which means today’s matchup between the Mets and Marlins is another must-win.

After a mere 24 hours in first place, the Phillies choked out of it, losing 4-2 to the Nats, and now with the season on the line, both teams face a win and in situation.

I know what I’ll be watching today. The Mets control their own destiny. Seeing them fired up and killing the ball yesterday gave me hope that the season won’t end as bad today as I thought it was going to on Friday night.

Technorati Tags: mets, baseball, marlins, phillies, choke

After getting caught redhanded cheating, the NFL handed down a fine totalling $750,000 and a loss of its draft picks next year. No suspensions. No bans. Roger Goodell, the spineless commissioner, comments on why he didn’t suspend the best coach in the league…

“I specifically considered whether to impose a suspension on Coach Belichick,” Goodell wrote in a letter to the team. “I have determined not to do so, largely because I believe that the discipline I am imposing of a maximum fine and forfeiture of a first-round draft choice, or multiple draft choices, is in fact more significant and long-lasting, and therefore more effective, than a suspension.”

Why did it have to be either or, Roger? Why not do all that and suspend his ass for a few games?

Both the NFL and Belichick stressed that the camera was seized before the end of the first quarter and had no impact on the game, which the Patriots won 38-14.

Oh good. So cheating is okay as long as it doesn’t do too much damage? That’s a great message to send, Roger.

In a statement issued two hours after the punishment was announced, Belichick said he misinterpreted the league’s rules but acknowledged that “part of my job as head coach is to ensure that our football operations are conducted in compliance of the league rules and all accepted interpretations of them.”

“I accept full responsibility for the actions that led to tonight’s ruling,” the statement said. “Once again, I apologize to the Kraft family and every person directly or indirectly associated with the New England Patriots for the embarrassment, distraction and penalty my mistake caused. I also apologize to Patriots fans and would like to thank them for their support during the past few days and throughout my career.”

Apparently, Belichick’s ability to read is suspect. Here’s the rule:

NFL rules state, in part: “no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches’ booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game.” That was re-emphasized in a memo sent Sept. 6 to NFL head coaches and general managers in which the league said: “Videotaping of any type, including but not limited to taping of an opponent’s offensive or defensive signals, is prohibited on the sidelines, in the coaches’ booth, in the locker room, or at any other locations accessible to club staff members during the game.”

Okay… So the obvious question, coach, is what part of that rule did you misinterpret that said you were allowed to tape the signals from the defense? Was it the specific part about no video recording devices on the field? Or was it the followup memo that says you can’t use it to tape signals?

I’m confused. What about that rule is so vague to allow an interpretation of “I can do this?”

Either Belichick is an illiterate schmuck or a complete and total liar. I’ll leave it up to you, my readers, to determine which, but considering for years and years the league has drilled into our heads how brilliant the man is, I find it hard to believe he “misinterpreted” anything.

You cheated.

You got caught.

Game over.

What amazes me is that both Pacman Jones and Michael Vick were suspended for something that happened off the field. Belichick’s staff blatantly cheats and gets caught and no one is suspended. That oppression complex having idiot Bob Kraft, who dismissed the controversy as people trying to drag down his team, should stand up and suspend either Estrella or Belichick or both.

That would be appropriate.

That would show you’re serious about running a clean team and organization.

And that will never happen.

What a disgrace.

Technorati Tags: nfl, patriots, new england, cheaters, cheat, cheat, bill belichick, estrella

The Patriots utterly destroyed the Jets defense on Sunday. I found this quite surprising. Not so much because the Jets are a great defensive team, but they don’t usually get routed like that. I merely chalked it up to Tom Brady being a great QB and doing what great QB’s do: win games.

Now, however, we have solid proof that the reason the Patriots were able to pick apart the defense is because they cheated, and that isn’t some cooky theory coming down from a web site; it’s the official word from the NFL.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has determined that the New England Patriots violated league rules Sunday when they videotaped defensive signals by the New York Jets’ coaches, according to league sources.

NFL security officials confiscated a camera and videotape from Patriots video assistant Matt Estrella on the New England sidelines when it was suspected he was recording the Jets’ defensive signals. Sources say the visual evidence confirmed the suspicion.

Goodell is considering severe sanctions, including the possibility of docking the Patriots “multiple draft picks” because it is the competitive violation in the wake of a stern warning to all teams since he became commissioner, the sources said. The Patriots have been suspected in previous incidents.

The NFL is now faced with a tough call. How do you punish a team when you catch them cheating red-handed?

Here are two ways you can make it right:

1. Give the Jets the win. Seeing as the Patriots cheated, they don’t deserve to have that win.

2. Replay the game. This should be the minimum remedy, seeing as anything else still leaves the Jets with a loss and the cheating Patriots with a win.

Bob Kraft, owner of the Patriots, was quick to dismiss the charges:

“There is an investigation going on now, and perhaps an adjudication of it, and I think it would be inappropriate at this time to make any comment,” Kraft told reporters at a charity appearance Tuesday. “When you’re successful in anything, a lot of people like to try to take you down and do different things. We understand that.

Wait, the league found you out Bobbo. This isn’t some grand conspiracy by some homebody writing a blog. This is the NFL saying, definitively, that your team cheated. Let’s not play the oppression card, okay?

It’ll be interesting to see how the NFL does react, simply because they spend a lot of time trying to level the playing field and keep the competition equal (they’re the only sport with a tiered schedule), and now one of the “faces” of the league has been busted. Badly.

Here’s to hoping that the NFL does the right thing about it.

Technorati Tags: patriots, cheater, cheaters, cheating, jets

Patches and I watched the Home Run Derby last night.

Technorati Tags: patches, cat, kitten, cute, baseball

Wow… Wow wow wow wow wow…

Kim posted this over at Wizbang:

Wow.

Technorati Tags: belmont stakes, horse racing, rags to riches

On February 20th, Jimmy Rollins of Philadelphia made the following boneheaded remarks:

“Bottom line, we’re the team to beat,” the shortstop said. “I can’t put it any other way.”

There you have it David Wright & Co. The gauntlet is thrown down.

Rollins isn’t the only one talking this way. Manager Charlie Manuel’s message to his team on the first day of full-squad workouts was simple: “We’re here to win,” Manuel said. “We’ve got to win. Losing is not an option.”

Even though the Mets ran away with the division last year, Rollins said he thinks the Phillies are the better club now.

“Look at our team,” he said, mentioning star first baseman Ryan Howard, the addition of pitcher Freddy Garcia, and the continued development of Cole Hamels and Brett Myers. “Look at what we’re bringing. Look at the improvements we’ve made.”

What if his words upset the Mets?

“If they needed motivation to play this game,” Rollins said, “then they are playing the wrong game. They had a chance last year to go to the World Series. They made it to the playoffs.

“They won a division. Congratulations, but last year is over.

“They can take it any way they want; I’m just merely stating the facts.”

Let’s state some facts.

The Phillies are a mere 2 games over .500, and a fulll 6 1/2 games back of the first-place Mets, and two games behind the second place Braves. Yeah… Last year is definitely over, Mr. Rollins, but it seems like the Mets and the Phillies picked right up where they left off. The Mets are a few percentage points behind Boston in the race for the best team in the league and the Phillies, much like they finished last year, are at .525 (they finished at .520 last year).

It’s nice to see lots of teams taking Rollins’ advice, though. They’re the team to beat and it seems like everyone in the league is doing just that.

Technorati Tags: mets, phillies, major league baseball, mlb, jimmy rollins

A pat on the back to Curt Schilling for saying what very few people in baseball have the balls to say in public…

Schilling, in his weekly appearance on sports radio WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan” show, was asked if baseball fans should hold their noses while watching Barry Bonds’s pursuit of Hank Aaron’s all-time Major League home run record.

“Oh yeah. I would think so. I mean, he admitted that he used steroids,” said Schilling. “I mean, there’s no gray area. He admitted to cheating on his wife, cheating on his taxes, and cheating on the game, so I think the reaction around the league, the game, being what it is, in the case of what people think. Hank Aaron not being there. The commissioner [Bud Selig] trying to figure out where to be. It’s sad.

Indeed it is.

And yet he gets a pass.

Has anyone noticed that the Mets have been just dominating their competition? First the World Champion Cardinals in St. Louis, and last night, the Atlanta Braves in Atlanta. In their first 4 games, the Mets have outscored their opponents 30-3, so they aren’t just crushing the ball, they’re pitching the hell out of it.

It’s astonishing.

I know it’s only the start of the season, but I can’t imagine anyone would’ve thought they’d come into the season and have everything clicking, particularly after the mediocre spring they had, but man, they’re just rocking it right now. Even guys like John Maine and Oliver Perez (AP photo above) who were supposed to be question marks in a shaky rotation have dominated the league allowing a combined run (that’s right, one run) in two combined starts.

Wow.

As of right now, there are only two undefeated teams in baseball; the Twins and the Mets. I never expected each team to have a loss by now, either. What a season this is going to be.

Technorati Tags: mets, baseball, dominance

Turning the birds into their bitches, the Mets continued their opening day dominance. In 46 official “Opening Day” games, the Mets are 29 and 17 for a .630 percentage which is the best in Major League Baseball.

“As good as Opening Day game as you’re probably going to see,” is how Tom Glavine assessed it. “I don’t recall seeing so many quality defensive plays in a first game. We made some special plays, didn’t we?”

Glavine was the beneficiary. He gained the 291st victory of his career, on the strength of four double plays — two turned in his six innings — a brilliant throw to the plate by Carlos Beltran and a sprawling catch by Moises Alou, both in the sixth. Take your pick.

Manager Willie Randolph made his mark as a player turning double plays. So, to him, the score of this one read like something borrowed from Wimbledon — Mets won 5-4-3, 6-4-3, 6-4-3, 4-6-3.

“Love those twin killings,” the old second baseman said.

But the Mets did more “good stuff” as Aaron Heilman called it.

“We played a very good game all-around,” he said.

4 double-bangers? Wow… That really hurts ya…

via NYMets.com

Technorati Tags: mets, ny mets, baseball

Found on HotAir

Someone, quick. Go wake up the Devils!

Seriously, I haven’t seen the team come out that flat in a long time. They were too passive in the defensive end and let the play come to them way too often. Brodeur didn’t look as invincible as he has all year, not only allowing 4 goals, but also looking like every puck was one thousand degrees and he couldn’t hold it.

It’s only one loss, but man was it an ugly one.

I expect more from my team. They’re not the Rangers and shouldn’t be playing like them.

Technorati Tags: devils, nhl, hockey

I have to say that the third period was some of the best end to end hockey I’ve ever seen in my life. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are amazing and when they’re on the same line, it’s even scarier. When they play together, they’re probably the youngest line in the NHL, and on their line all three forwards are under age 20.

As amazing as their age is the level of talent.

Oh, and the Devils won. Martin Brodeur scored shutout 92 in his career (11 off the all-time lead). With another 9 wins, he will set the record for the most wins in a single NHL season. Considering there’s about 2 months left in the season, I’d say he’s well on his way.

Martin Brodeur is the best goalie in the league. Anyone who argues with me (and doesn’t try to make a case for Dominik Hasek) is an idiot.

Technorati Tags: nhl, devils, brodeur

Mark today on the calendar. It’s the first time I’ve ever disagreed with Artie MacStrawman!

Here’s what I particularly disagree with. In a post about Women getting paid the same at Wimby as the men, Artie writes the following:

It’s just a pity that it took them so long to get around to doing what should have been done long ago.

Women’s tennis has been exiting to watch for a very long time, and has produced great rivalries and countless classic battles over the years, some more intense than in the men’s game, and it’s about time that they are equally rewarded for their contribution.

Sounds like some touchy feely PC stuff if you ask me.

Men’s tennis is still the big draw. The men’s final is still the biggest event at Wimbledon. It’s just the way it is. Women getting paid equal prize money seems to create an air of equality that isn’t really there. I’m not against them getting paid more, per se, but I would rather they got paid a porportional amount of what they draw.

Secondly, women don’t play the same game the men do. Best 2 out of 3 is not Best 3 out of 5. Mens games are (in general of course) more grueling, go longer, and so on. In other words, if women are to be paid equally, they should have to play equally. No more different standards. Let them play a 3 out of 5 game. Frankly, I think they can handle it. Someone like Venus or Serena Williams is probably in better shape than half the men on the tour anyway.

It doesn’t matter one way or the other to me, to be honest. I just think it’s funny that a lesser draw that plays a shortened game is going to earn the women the same prize money as the men. If they were all drawing equally and playing the same game, I’d probably think differently.

Sorry Artie. I love ya anyway.

Technorati Tags: tennis, wimbledon

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Whether the Mets’ reactions were genuine or couched to avoid a cross-state he-said, he-said, the defending National League East champions essentially dismissed challenging comments made on Tuesday by Phillies shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who repeated his assertion that the Phillies are “the team to beat” in the division.

“I can’t put it any other way,” Rollins said on Tuesday in Clearwater, Fla.

But the Mets had different — and less confrontational — ways of looking at the race when they were made aware of Rollins’ assertions. Their reactions were mostly benign.

“The Phillies probably were the most active team in our division,” Mets left-hander Tom Glavine said, “but what you do in the winter — it looks good and it’s a nice to talk about — but it doesn’t equate to anything. You bring in pieces of the puzzle and hope they mesh. You hope you have a good year. But nobody’s going to know that until the year starts.

“I think we’re more worried about our own business.”

Heh… Way to handle the trashtalker, Tom. Truth is, the Mets are the team to beat in the division. Just the way it is. Philly was good, but Philly never produces down the stretch and never does well in the playoffs. If that’s the team to beat, then so be it, but I think Rollins is a bit on the delusional side.

Billy Wagner, a former Philly himself, wasn’t to worried about Rollins’ remarks either:

“Our motivation,” Wagner said, “isn’t to beat the Phillies. Our motivation is to win the World Series.”

Oh, and don’t forget David Wright:

“We’re not going to come out and talk,” Mets third baseman David Wright said. “We don’t need to do that. Until somebody dethrones us, we’re the defending NL East champs, and we’re going to act like it. As far as predictions and talking about it, talk is very cheap.

“Our mind-set going into every year when the Braves won was, ‘To be the best, you’ve got to beat the best.’ We found a way to dethrone the Braves. The Phillies can talk as much as they want, but until they prove it on the field, it’s just talk.”

It sure is… Carlos Beltran wins best comment, though:

“Good for him,” Mets center fielder Carlos Beltran said of Rollins. “What did they win last year?

“I don’t take it personally. That’s him making a comment. We’re the ones who won last year, and we got better. We will show it in the field. I don’t need to say anything. People say crazy things. I’m not surprised by anything.”

‘Nuff said.

Technorati Tags: philly, philadelphia phillies, mets, ny mets, new york mets

After watching this video you learn a few things…

1. The Devils are a significantly more together team.
2. Martin Brodeur is the best goaltender on the planet.
3. The Rangers without Henrik Lundqvist would be down 10 goals in every game.
4. Joe Avery is a piece of garbage.
5. There’s a reason why the Devils have won as many cups in 10 years as the Rangers have won in 65.

I don’t think it’s hopeless for the Rangers, though. Seriously. There are some bright spots on the team. Lundqvist is shaping up to be the best goaltender in the league somewhere in the future. Martin Straka is just fantastic and has a way of being everywhere on the ice (almost as if by magic). Petr Prucha is very good, and Hossa was exciting to watch. Jan Ortmeyer is good and Colton Orr has a big future, I’m sure.

Jagr is useless. Shanahan might be the best player overall, but he’s a hundred years old at this point.

Now the question is… Why can’t this team get some winning going?

Despite all the talent, that team seriously lacks leadership both on the bench and on the ice. There’s no Messier type to get them motivated and it really shows when they lose a game like this one that they controlled. The difference is that the Devils have tons of leadership, starting with the guy in the net, Martin Brodeur.

How far do you think the Rangers will try to ride the Lundqvist train before they realize it has to stop at a station and it might not be a bad idea to get a few other trains to make the trip easier?

Thursday night these two teams meet again at Madison Square Garden. Should be interesting to see how the Rangers rebound from this slap in the face loss, particularly when they’re a few points out of the last playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.

Technorati Tags: rangers, devils, hockey, nhl