No Longer Boy Wonder?
I cannot profess to know the inner workings, behaviorally speaking, of the Boston Red Sox Clubhouse. Some 184.5 miles away from where the players take the field, and from where I drop opinions on a key board in Lyndonville, it’s hard to understand why Dustin Pedroia threw his team under the bus publicly last weekend. Further, he went one step further not being available to even pinch hit in a game one series loss to the New York Yankees. Imagine if Manny Ramirez did that back in the day? It would be front page news. Pedroia is the Sox Golden Boy, and has been my favorite player up til now; now I’m reassessing my position of loyalty-as apparently he has been too. I’m a little taken aback by the last few days. Mouthing to Manny Machado, “it’s not me”, after Matt Barnes ridiculous attempt to drill Machado in the ribs(well at least where he should have been aiming) and it makes me wonder if the rest of the Red Sox dugout is OK with this public form of mutiny. Do you think they are? And if the wheels fall off this season, or they continue to notch just 3 or 4 hits a game, will the pressure mount to a point of implosion?
Has my opinion changed? For now, yes. For the record, I don’t trust Machado and think his slide, by rule, was illegal. Growing up in the 70’s, however, that slide to me really wouldn’t bother me-if it were not for the rule! But, by rule, it’s illegal-simple as that. Hard to believe such a mess could come from this. John Farrell and Matt Barnes stuck up for Dustin Pedroia and he came out looking like a little squirrel.
The NFL Draft
Roger Goodell came out to a chorus of boos in Philadelphia last night as he opened the 2017 NFL Draft. Frankly, I agree with every ticked off New England Patriots fan that Goodell unfairly targeted the Patriots and their Golden Boy, Tom Brady. However, why is Philly so pissed off at him? Why does everyone continue to boo him? Under his guidance the NFL, and its popularity is at an all-time high? Maybe it’s because he comes off as brash, arrogant, et. al, I get that. But still. Enough is enough.
The Picks
Just when I thought the Cleveland Browns were doing a hell of a stroke of business they reverted to, yup you guessed it, the Cleveland Browns. Yes they stockpiled a bunch of picks, including adding a #1 pick next year from Houston, but how can they pass on Deshaun Watson? Their quarterbacks are Brock Osweiler and Cody Kessler? This is a franchise that has sucked worse than a black hole in the Andromeda Galaxy over the past 30 years and they don’t grab a marquee, potential franchise quarterback there? I don’t get it. Houston, meanwhile, got Watson-the quarterback they needed, and will be legit in the AFC going forward. As for Cleveland, wait another 3 or 4 years and see how their draft picks turn out.
As for the Carolina Panters-they got a stud. Christian McCaffrey AND Cam Newton in the backfield at the same time? Hello, NFC South. Good bye, NFC South. Carolina’s offense, already stout with a receiving corps, is going to be ridiculous. Price of poker just went up in the NFC.
The Kansas City Chiefs will have a new quarterback by week 8, if not sooner. Patrick Mahomes II will be handling Andy Reid’s no longer dink and dunk offense. A bold move by KC. A smart move by KC.
The Bears traded everything but the kitchen sink(check on that please) to grab Mitchell Trubisky with the second pick. This is a team that just signed Mike Glennon to a 45 million dollar deal, albeit only 2.8 million is guaranteed if they drop him in 2018, but still. Don’t feel bad for Mike, he has a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management with an emphasis on investments and financial management. He’ll be fine, it just won’t be in Chicago-at least NFL(not for long).
Local Teams
In between every school in the NEK’s shop classes building Noah’s Ark, baseball and softball has finally gotten underway here in the NEK. The Lady Vikings are off to a fine start despite losses to Oxbow and North Country. Brianna Doty, LI’s multi-talented center fielder knocked two inside the park Grand Slams in one inning. I’ve been broadcasting for 31 years and had never seen such a feat. Best part of it is it couldn’t have happened for a better kid!
St. Johnsbury Academy baseball has given up 4 runs in 3 games thus far(well that’s according to the VPA Website). Looks like the defending champs are going to tough to knock off again this year!
Now, as for the VPA standings. Anyone else get irritated when they look at the standings pages and things are up to date? What’s up with coaches and AD’s not getting scores up in a timely manner? And by timely manner, I mean within 24 hours. It literally takes 30-45 seconds to put games up on the site. Don’t give me the, ‘I don’t have time’ stuff. Give the password to your coach and make them do it. Somebody do it! You owe to the kids-from both teams. This is not on the VPA, it’s on the individual school. It’s the right thing to do.
AAU
I went to an AAU tournament this past weekend, and will go to another one next weekend. I used to be all in favor of kids playing out of season to get better. But are they getting better with that stuff? And by stuff, I mean the hack fest that goes on in games? Officials don’t care, they’re getting a check-though not much. They are overworked and probably underpaid. It’s gross negligence on the kids brought on by tournament directors trying to make a quick buck. Whole thing is polluted. Time for a reboot. Imagine if parents spent the money on individual training, while not spending thousands of dollars in hotels, gas, and meals? Wouldn’t that have a better effect on the local teams. Has it become just a social hour for parents and not what it was originally intended for-to get kids better? Hard not to think so.
That’s it for me-stay dry everyone!