There Are Limits to Your Expansion NHL

I am very much in favor of marketing the NHL and the game of hockey in general to as many places as possible. On the other hand, I think it is important to know the limits of the NHL’s potential. In my opinion it is not necessarily about trying to make the game compete with other professional sports in North America but about trying to maximize the potential of the league in and of itself. That said I understand the desire to place teams in the southern tier of the United States. Testing the waters is always a good thing and in the case of the Dallas Stars it has been quite successful. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Atlanta (for the second time), Miami, Phoenix, Nashville and Carolina. Miami and Phoenix are terrible sports markets where not even football does all that well. The people seem to either have other interests or have moved from cold weather cities that have teams to which people keep their allegiances with. The time has come to again consider and ultimately place teams in old NHL markets like Winnipeg and Quebec City or exploring new options in places like Kansas City, Milwaukee, Halifax, Hamilton or perhaps putting another team in Toronto proper. I know Gary Bettman and company have a lot on their plates but in this day of expansive cable/satellite TV, the internet, and various other media outlets that can help grow the game it is time to rethink their strategy.

The New York Met’s “Tres Grande”

Tres Grande

by The Boinger

Lately, I have heard a lot of talk about breaking up the “Big 3″ or as one local sports icon calls them the “troika”. Jose Reyes, David Wright and Carlos Beltran are hardly “big” these days. However, I am not going to get on them for the Mets woes this year. The Mets lost their sub par 13 million dollar closer and have been piecing together a run at the division with nothing short of smoke and mirrors since. This team was much better than they played before Willie Randolph was fired and proved that they had quit on him since then.
“Breaking up the big 3″ I must say it is an interesting proposition. Yet, this is not Milwaukee. The likelihood of that happening is close to nil if not less. There is no foreseeable fire sale ala Florida Marlins. Oh and there is no way Omar Menaya is going to ever give in to letting anyone think anything he did was not “genius”. Let’s think about this though. All the talk about “breaking them up” suggests that only one of them must go. That somehow some way all that is wrong with the NY Mets falls squarely on the shoulders of one of if not all three of these young men. Almost to suggest that they are somehow in it together, conspiring to fail. That just is not the case.

David Wright goes out every night, parks his lunch pail at third base and gives you everything he has got. Then, win or lose, goes back in the clubhouse and takes it on the chin in front of the cameras and the dingo dog NY media. In the midst of all this “pressure” he quietly and without ceremony puts up MVP like numbers and delivers his share of game winning hits. Trade Wright? No way! This guy is the face of the franchise. This is the guy that Yankees fans wish they had at 3rd base most nights. Heck the Jets wish he could play QB. Bottom line this guy could get you back big dividends but its hard to replace the guy that leads the team in rbi’s every year in hopes of fixing what’s wrong with everyone and everything else. He is not going to be your three hitter or clean up hitter. Leave that to Omar’s next high priced prima donna. Any team would welcome a guy they could roll out there every single day in the 5th spot and not have to think twice about it.
Carlos Beltran goes out every night and gets as close to Citi field as he can. Either he is really excited to play there next year or he is intent on scaling the wall and escaping into the hat with the big apple. Perhaps he will pull another rabbit out of is ass and start hitting again like he did when he “earned” himself his current contract. Now he just may be able to do that if the Mets can get over the hump and into the playoffs. Are you willing to wait for that? Can you find someone to eat his contract? Maybe you can work out a deal with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim for Gary Matthews Jr. When the Mets are down to their last strike and need a base hit who do you want up in that spot? Carlos: “SWING THE BAT MARY”

Jose Reyes. Jose Reyes. Jose Reyes. Jose Reyes goes out there every day and I just don’t know what he’s doing. People say “he’s exciting”. Why because he’s fast? Those are the same people that love to hate the Yankees and kill Derek Jeter any chance they get. The same ones who used to say “the Yankees are boring”. Well if losing is exciting I would rather be bored to death! If throwing a tantrum on the field, acting like a baby and laughing at your teammate when he makes an error in your stead are “exciting” then I surely would rather have died from boredom then to have had witnessed that from a Major Leaguer. I know what you are thinking. That I want the Mets to trade Jose Reyes. Not the case. Could they? Yes. Could they get anything back for him? Yes. In fact they could get a lot. Though I do not think this is the right move. Trading Reyes must yield a star in return. A guy that can lead off, set the table, steal bases, score runs etc. Nate Mclouth?