New York Jets 2012 Draft

Now that the NFL Draft is over we can look back and evaluate how we think each team did.  The New York Jets had eight picks total in the draft with their first pick number 16 in the first round the selected Quinton Coples.  With this pick the Jets fill a spot of need improving their pass rush from the edge and getting a player who can move around the field and create havoc.  This pick is some what questionable as he had a good senior bowl and a good junior season but did not show up most of his senior year.  Some have also question his work ethic.  In the Second Round the Jets traded up to select another player at a needed position with pick 43 overall the Jets selected Wide Receiver Stephen Hill from Georgia Tech.  Hill is a tall and fast receiver who will be a valuable deep threat for Mark Sanchez who has not had much help on the outside.  The Jets once again went to defense to improve their pass rush by selecting Outside Linebacker Demario Davis Davis is said to have extremely good speed and be a valuable pass rusher but needs to improve his skills.  After that the Jets went to defense selecting an safety an another need position in the 6th round.  The Jets also had two other picks in the 6th round selecting two players from Baylor an offensive guard and a running back. With two picks in the 7th round the Jets went back to safety and then back to wide receiver.  Overall the Jets seemed to fill many needs and improve their team but their are also still some question marks.

Junior Seau Dead

Junior Seau the Former NFL player has passed away.  Police responded to a call finding Seau on the floor shot in the chest with the gun not far away.  The police are ruling this as a suicide.  Seau played 13 seasons for the San Diego Chargers and was found dead at the age of 43 today.  Seau was the fifth pick in the 1990 draft and played a total of 2o seasons in the league.  Seau mom who had spoke to him earlier this  week said she did not think anything was wrong based on their conversation.  This incident follows a similar situation that happened last year with former Chicago Bear Dave Duerson.  Many recalled on Seau's career saying he was the type of guy you wanted to have on the team he was always playing his hardest and had only one speed.  With more and more case like these occurring in the NFL with retired players and the law suites from injuries and concussions what can the NFL do and do they need to take action.

Red Sox Struggles

The Red Sox have started the 2012 season very slow and the weather bought them some time to rest yesterday when the Yankees had a chance to go for the sweep of the series.  The Yankees had dominated the series wining the first game easily and coming back from down 9 to win 15-9 the next day.  The Yankees were looking like they were going to sweep the sox having their ace CC Sabathia pitching the next game.  The Red Sox have started slow with a record of 4-10 and they do not look like themselves recently.  They have been losing to teams that they would usually beat and they are getting killed by the Yankees a team they are usually close with.  As of now they need some pitch and they are in last place in thew tough AL East with the Yankees at the top showing no sign of slowing down.

NHL Playoffs

The Pittsburg Penguins have now won two games in a row.  This makes the series with the Flyers now 3-2 in favor of the Flyer.  Now that the Penguins have made the series interesting again many may feel they have a good change now that they have the momentum.  The Penguins were favor by multiple sources to win the Stanley Cup this year.  With the way the series started many may not think this anymore.  Do you think the Penguins should still be favored?  The rest of the NHL playoffs has also been interesting so far, The series have been close and competitive and it seems like many different teams have a chance to win the cup.  

NFL Draft

 The NFL Draft is next week and everyone is wondering who will  be picked by who.  It seems as though the Colt will be picking Andrew Luck and the Redskins will be picking Robert Griffin III but who will the rest of the teams pick?  Where does everyone think players like Justin Blackmon will go who will be picked earlier than everyone though.  This draft could be interesting as the draft goes on.

Yankees Home Opener

The Yankees had their home opener today against the Los Angeles Angels and and showed that they are starting to play better as a team.  Coming into this game the Yankees were at .500 after being swept by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays and then sweeping the Baltimore Orioles in the next series.  With the Yankees playing better coming out of the series with the Orioles they showed what they were capable of with a quality win over the Angles who now have a better pitching and have added Albert Pujols.  The Angles have had a rough start to their season and that continued today with a 5-0 loss to the Yankees.  The Angels have upgraded in many areas this of season and look to be playoff contenders.  It does not look like anyone has started to panic as it is still early and there are a lot of games left to play.  With the Yankees having won there last four games to improve there record to 4-3 the veterans on the team seem to be starting to warm up and play well at the same time.  The addition of Raul Ibanez looks like it may pay off as he has come up big at the plat for the Yankees in some important situations.  With a bunch of veterans on the Yankees it looks like they have the experience and ability to be serious playoff contenders and possibly make a run at a world series title.  While it is still early the Yankees have got off to a decent start and started to heat up wining their last four games.

  

Is This Mariano Rivera's Last Season

Many would consider Mariano Rivera the best closer in the history of baseball, and if not he is certainly on of the best ever.  With over 600 saves and really only using on pitch Mariano Rivera has proven he is as dominant as they can be.  But as he got older his production has started to decrease as with the majority of professional baseball players.  Many people have speculated that this could be his last season.  If so does Mariano Rivera go down in the books as the best closer to play the game. In my book he would, when you look at all the numbers and situations that Mariano has faced it is clear to me that while some may have come close no one has closed game as effectively as Mariano Rivera. After the first game of the season yesterday where Rivera was brought in in the ninth inning of a one run game and gave up two runs and the Yankees lost the first game of the season.  Does Mariano have more than a season or two left in him his production seems to have declined and become less consistent.  While that may be the case Mariano is still among the most effective closers in the game finishing near the top in saves each season.  I think Mariano has one or two years left before he is done but who knows when your as good as Mariano is he could be around longer.

  

Its Baseball Season

It is now the beginning of April and baseball season is starting again.  Yesterday the Miami Marlins and the St. Louis Cardinals opened the season and also opened Miami's new stadium.  Other games to open the season this week include The Pittsburgh Pirates played the Philadelphia Phillies to open their season at home and the New York Yankees play the Tampa Bay Rays in Tampa bay to open their season.  With all this baseball starting now who will be the team to win the World Series.  Will the Yankees win their 28 World Series or will it be some one else.  Will the Pirates have a season above .500 this year for the first time in a long time.  How will the new playoff system work for the teams who have just missed the playoffs the last few years.  Their is a lot to look forward to this year in the MLB and how will a lot of these situations work out.  As the season gets started and we get to see the true talent of all these teams who will be a disappointment this year and who will surprise everyone at the end of 162 games.  Who will make a run i the playoffs and who will be the last to teams playing for the World Series.  With all these questions and possibilities  It should make for an interesting and exciting season of baseball for the fans.      

networking 3/26/12

My name is Connor Dodd a I am a freshman at Slippery Rock and i am majoring in sport management.  My career interest area is either being a general manager or a sport agent.  I am also somewhat interested in sport broadcasting.

Saints Bounty Penalties

The Saints have been punished for there involvement in a bounty program created by former defensive coordinator Greg Williams.  The penalties handed down by Roger Goodell included a year suspension for head coach Sean Peyton defensive coordinator Greg Williams who is now with the the Rams has been suspended indefinitely and it will be looked at again after the season is over.  Other penalties include a six game suspension for assistant coach Joe Vitt and an eight game suspension for general manager Mickey Loomis.  The team is being fined 500k and the league is taking two second round draft picks on this year and one in 2013.  Many have said that these are fair and that Roger Goodell is setting an example for the rest of the league.  What does this mean for the Saints this year and in the future?  It doesn't look like the Saints will have an easy time this year with a new coach and the penalties they have been handed. But with a quarterback like Drew Brees who knows what the Saints many be capable of this year.

      

Tebowmania in New York

With the Denver Broncos signing Peyton Manning it didn't really leave a spot for Tim Tebow on the team. From the minute Peyton Manning became a Bronco it was made apparent that the Broncos were looking to move Tim Tebow.  Teams such as the Miami Dolphins and the jacksonville Jaguars were said to be interested in Tebow.  A day or two later the New York Jets jumped into the conversation within a day or to the deal was made with the Jets.  With Tebow on his way to New York many people question why the Jets did this and if the Jets were really committed to Mark Sanchez.  The Jets made it clear to everyone that the starting Quarterback is Mark Sanchez and that that wasn't going to change and that Tim Tebow was going to have his own package and run the wildcat for offensive coordinator Tony Sparano.  Many people have said that this is a bad idea that you can't lead from the bench.  That the huge fan base of Tebow's will be calling for him to start after Mark Sanchez has one bad game.  Teammates have also said why are we getting another quarterback when what we need is more threats for Mark Sanchez.  While this is true Tebow is also a threat to defenses in a different way.  While all of this could be true these are all just the negative things that could come out of this move.  Tebow could help with the locker room problems the Jets are experiencing and could significantly help the Jets around the goal line and on third down and short. While this trade could back fire on the Jets it also has the potential to work for them.  I think this is a good move by the Jets to get a good football player who could potentially help this team.

Big NFL Moves

Now that teams know that Peyton Manning is up for grabs it looks like teams are starting to make their moves to give themselves the best opportunity to compete for a championship now and down the road.  As of tonight the Redskins look to be picking up the second overall pick in the upcoming draft from the Rams with will likely be used to pick QB Robert Griffin III or Andrew Luck.  Many teams have been in contact with Peyton Manning looking to instantly put themselves into championship contention.  One of the teams that was in the talks of picking up Peyton Manning has now looked to drop out of contention having extended their quarterbacks contract.  This team being the New York Jets they have extended Mark Sanchez's contract to now be five years and around the area of 50 million dollars with about 20 million guaranteed.  How will the two big moves that just happened effect other teams in this conversation for Peyton Manning and how does it effect the chances of these two teams winning a championship.  With the Jets having extended Mark Sanchez's contract it is apparent they are staying with him for the long run and while having gone to the playoffs and the AFC Championship game two of the three years he has been their quarterback their still seem to be a lot of questions.  Their have been growing pains and while Mark has consistently improved is the team around him good enough to get to the Super Bowl?  While his leadership skills have obviously improved he isn't a Peyton Manning who can almost single handedly put the team on his back when needed.  With the Redskins looking to rebuild in some ways and looking to pick up a young quarterback in the draft is seems to almost take them completely out of the talks for Peyton Manning as well.  With the likely hood of then=m having a young quarterback it may not be expected they have a great year coming up.  With the number of serious contenders for Peyton Manning dwindling it looks like it could be between teams like the Broncos and the the Dolphins.  Going back to the Jets and their option to extend Mark Sanchez's contract if Peyton Manning were to go to Miami this would make the chances of the Jets going to the playoffs and winning a championship smaller.  Not to say that it cant be done as Sanchez has shown he can beat both Manning and Brady at times.  But having to play in an already tough division in the AFC East and then adding you have to play Peyton Manning twice a year as well as Tom Brady twice a year it makes it that much more important to win the other games as the Dolphins record would surely get better.  There is a lot of different situations of how these things can work out still and it will be interesting to see what happens this offseason and in the season to come.  http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:7668403

Is Peyton Manning a Colt in 2012

     With Peyton Manning due to be payed a lot of money on Thursday March 8th will he be staying with the Colts?  If a decision is not made by Thursday the Colts have until Sunday to restructure his contract release him or pay him the money.  With the Colts having the first pick of the draft it is expected they draft Andrew Luck and possibly Robert Griffin III.  It wouldn't make sense for the Colts to be paying $50 million to two players at the same position when only one is going to be playing.  The least likely situation is that they pay Peyton Manning the money people expect that he will be moving on while their is the chance he restructure his contract.  If Peyton Manning is released then he will be the highest profile free agent this offseason and possibly in the history of the league.  If he becomes a free agent where will Peyton Manning be playing next year?  While obviously many teams are interested some teams that have been mentioned are Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, New York Jets, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Oakland Raiders, Washington Redskins, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Seattle Seahawks. While obviously only one team would be able to get Manning some teams would be more interested than others.  Teams like the New York Jets wouldn't necessarily need a starting quarterback but would possibly like an upgrade.  Teams like the Bills, Dolphins, Redskins and others are in need of a quarterback and may show more interest.  Manning has been working out at Duke University throwing the ball hard and looks to be making progress and getting back to the old Peyton Manning.  If Manning were to go to a team in the AFC East it could cause some interesting games having to play Tom Brady two a year every year it would also make it very hard for other teams to succeed.  It has been said that he could end up going to a team like the Redskins with a veteran coach and a established system.  However this situation works out it will no doubt be interesting.

networking 3/5/12

My name is Connor Dodd and I am a Sports Management major at Slippery Rock University.  I am originally from Albany, NY . In high school I ran track and cross country.

MLB Playoff Expansion

     The MLB plans on adding two more playoff teams on each side of the bracket.  The expansion of the playoffs to the 10 team version will add one more set of games before the division series starts.  The two wild card teams on each side will play each other in one game to decide who will move on to the division series.  I think that this is a good idea for the MLB to expand their playoffs because it allows fans to see more games and allows two more teams to experience the playoffs that year.  One thing that i think may confuse people and may not be liked by the players is that it is just a one game series.  Many people and players may feel that it would be more reasonable to have the to wild card teams play a best of three series. Their is a lot of work and planning that goes into traveling for a game and preparing.  MLB teams do not usually play one game series during the season they play them in groups of three or four games.  Why have a one game series where the team that loses goes home when most other games in the season consist of three or for game series.  During the playoffs the are not any one game series so why change that now.  While I think that it is a very good idea of the MLB to expand their playoffs to 10 teams I also think their are things that may work better if they are changed.  We will have to see if the system works this year when the playoffs roll around or if things will need to be changed.

The Yankees Payroll Problems

     The New York Yankees are usually the team with the highest payroll in the MLB.  This year doesn't seem like it will be to much different as the Yankees payroll is said to be in the area of $210 million.  With the additions of Hiroki Kuroda, Raul Ibanez, Eric Chavez and Michael Pineda the payroll doesn't look to be getting any lower. Due to the high payroll the Yankees are subject to the luxury tax imposed by the MLB in 2003 and it doesn't look like Hal Steinbrenner wants to pay as much anymore.  Hal Steinbrenner the managing general partner of the New York Yankees said he would like to get the payroll down to $189 million.  While this seems to be a big gap to close the Yankees may be on their way in 2011 they payed $13.9 million in luxury tax which was the lowest amount since the tax was imposed in 2003.  While that is a step in the right direction there are many other stats that make it hard to believe that this feat is possible.  One of these stats is that between four players Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, CC Sabathia, and Derek Jeter they are committed to $118 million in 2013 alone and in 2014 they are committed to $75 million just between these four players.

With veterans like Jeter and the others it
is hard to see the Yankees at their goal
of $189 million in the next few years.  

 They also have to resign young players like Robinson Cano and Curtis Granderson who based on recent play will be demanding big contracts.

Whit young stars who's contracts
are up in the next few years will
the Yankees be able to achieve
this goal in the near future?

 When you see stats like this it is hard to believe that a team like the New York Yankees are going to be able to keep the payroll under $189 million.  Based o the numbers it sure doesn't look like this a goal that can be achieved next year or maybe even in 2014.  This goal looks like it is possible in the years after 2014 as the team is getting older and some stars may start to retire.  With a young and up and coming team after the veterans depart the Yankees may be able to keep the payroll under $189 million for a while.  As I see it this is a team that has been spending a lot on players throughout the history of the club.  I think its great if they can spend less while still being as successful as everyone expects but this is what some people have come to know them for and why change if you don't need to.    

NFL Combine

With the NFL scouting combine here coaches and the organizations get to do some more evaluation of soon to be NFL players.  Their are always many questions about the athletes at this time and that is no different this year.  While being extremely athletic some question if Robert Griffin III will have problems in the NFL because of his size.  From seeing him perform in college it sure seems like he has the athletic ability to over come any questions of his size.  Drew Brees who is similar in size has been one of the few smaller NFL quarterbacks to succeed in the league.  Robert Griffin has more athletic ability than Drew Brees although it has been said that Drew Brees is more athletic than people think.  Just because you are athletic does not mean you will be successful in the league.  Look at Vince Young one of the best scrambling quarterbacks in college and the best in his draft class has found very little success in the NFL.  But there have also been quarterbacks with success such as Cam Newton who has only been in the league for one year but shows a lot of promise. While everyone expects that Griffin goes early in the first round after Andrew Luck will he have the success and the tools to be a big name quarterback in the NFL.

Braun Cleared in PED Scandal

     Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers won his appeal after being accused of using PED's last season.  Talk of Braun losing his MVP award were building and people were wondering what happened.  This appeal that Braun won got rid of the fifty game suspension that would have incurred had this appeal been lost.  Braun did not win this appeal on the fact that he did not test positive but because the sample was miss handled and he got off on what seems to be a technicality.  This was the first appeal on a case involving a positive test of a person using PED's that was won by the players.  The MLB seemed disappointed in the results and felt as if Braun had still done what he did.
     This is not something the MLB can worry about continuously as their is a bigger issue with this in the sport.  This issue has been on going for years and is not a easy on to get rid of.  The MLB has taken major measures to limit the use of these drugs and has been successful.  The MLB has been given this image due to the stars in the league taking advantage of holes in the system that have now been dealt with.  Players such as Mark Mcgwire and Barry Bonds have done their part in tainting the image of the sport.  Because of these problems in the past the players in the league now are much more scrutinized and the MLB has lost some fans.  The MLB is in the process of correcting these problems and repairing there image.
  The MLB is well on their way to repairing their image and I believe that this is going to happen it is just going to take some time.

Will the Linsanity continue?

   
     Jeremy Lin rushed onto the scene in the NBA in what many consider the biggest sports city in the world in New York City.  With New Yorkers constantly expecting the highest degree of performance from their professional sports teams it was about time the Knicks started winning again.  The Knicks have won their last six games with Jeremy Lin at the point while in five of the six games the Knicks were without their two all-stars in Amare Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony.  Over the last six games Lin has played much more having played over 35 minutes per game in each of the six games and averaging 23.3 points per game in this span.  while this is a brief period of time Lin has given many the impression that their is know sign of slowing down.  After beating the New Jersey Nets, Utah Jazz, Washington Wizards, Los Angeles Lakers, Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Toronto Raptors last night on a 3 pointer with .5 seconds left on the clock Jeremy Lin proved not only can he win but he has the ability clutch as well.

    Many question if his productivity will decrease with the return of Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire.  But after the return of half of the duo Lin didn't seem phase sharing the ball with one more play maker in Amare Stoudemire.  While to this point their is no sign of slowing down I think it is to soon to expect this from Lin every night.  But to this point no one can deny that Jeremy Lin has energized the NBA for the last week or two as well as a tough crowd of New York sports fans.  Fans throughout the NBA Have not only seen the Knicks win but as many have been saying they are Lining.

Career Interest area

My career interest area is in sports agency or in player relations in the front office of an organization doing something such as General Manager.  I would like to work in baseball of football but I am not sure yet.

Burnett To Pittsburgh?

Talks of AJ Burnett leaving the New York Yankees and going to the Pittsburgh Pirates have be going around for a few days now.  While it makes sense for the Yankees to trade Burnett who has not lived up to many peoples expectations after a very good season before entering free agency after the 2008 season, will the Yankees get what they expect for a player like AJ after the last couple of seasons where he has struggled.  After a successful offseason where the Yankees upgraded their pitching staff with the acquisition of Michael Pineda and others they also lost the young and promising bat of Jesus Montero.  Due to the departure of Jesus Montero who is now with the Seattle Mariners, do the Yankees need to add another bat to an already powerful offense? 
With the addition of Michael Pineda and Hiroki Kuroda Behind CC Sabathia and already having young and promising starters such as Ivan Nova and Phil Hughes, and the return of Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon the Yankees find themselves in a position to have a position battle for the spots at the end of the rotation.  Because the Yankees have so many options at the end of the rotation and the fact that AJ Burnett has not lived up to the Yankees expectations it makes sense to aid the offense and trim the pitching staff down.  
The Pittsburgh Pirates have a young and up and coming team that made a surge after the All Star Break last year and was in first place for a short time.  While they have a good team a veteran pitcher like AJ Burnett could be a valuable asset to this tam if they can get the right deal at the right price.  It has been said that the Pirates don't want to get rid of Garret Jones but to get this deal done this may be a player they have to part with.  The Pirates also don't want to have to pick up a large part of the salary of Burnett  who was given a huge contract by the Yankees after the 2008 season.
If both teams really want to get this deal done I think it is possible but compromises will have to be made on both sides as is with most trades.  I don't think AJ Burnett has lived up to standards of the Yankees fans and I thin they are ready to move on and look to improve the team and pitching staff without Burnett.  Burnett has proven that he can pitch at a high level as he did earlier in his career with the Florida Marlins where he won a World Series ring against the team he is on now the New York Yankees and he did the same again with the Toronto Blue Jays where he had a lot of success.  It may be very possible that Burnett has trouble pitching in New York and dealing with all the criticism that comes from playing in New York.  As a person who grew up in New York and who has always been a fan of New York sports and the New York Yankees I think the Yankees will benefit from a new young bat to add to a aging lineup that has a lot of power.  I also think that the Pirates and AJ Burnett  can also benefit from this trade.  All sides can improve their teams if they can agree to the terms of this trade.