Pennsylvania

Marietta Football Schedule Out

We’re still a few months away from football season, but it’s nice to take a look at the road ahead for the Pioneers.  Seniors will be disappointed to see only four home games at Don Drumm.

You can view the full schedule with times over at the Marietta College Athletics site.

Marietta College will start the 2010 season with a trip to Thiel College September 4th.  September 11th will be Sternwheeler weekend, so no football.

Moving up to September 18th is the Muskingum University rivalry game, which will be both the Shrine Game and the River City Bowl.

The Pioneers then go on the road, with games against John Carroll University on September 25th and Baldwin-Wallace College on October 2nd.  There’s a chance that both those games could be televised on Sports Time Ohio in Northeast Ohio (if their television schedule is like last year).

On October 9th, Marietta will be home, but the students will be going home (Fall Break weekend).  Needed fan support may not be available as MC plays the newly-minted Mount Union University.  The Purple Raiders will more than likely be on their way to another trip to the D3 Championship game (hopefully with less than 36 inches of snow this time).

MC begins another two week road swing with games at Wilmington College of Ohio on October 16th, and Heidelberg University on October 23rd.

“Treat Yourself to Homecoming” in 2010 with another match-up against Ohio Northern University on October 30th.  I’ll call it now… students will be tired of drawing polar bears after two straight years of this.  The Pioneers will have their last home game November 6th against the Otterbein University Cardinals.

To finish the season, Marietta will travel to the outside of Columbus to meet the Capital Crusaders, who will probably be fighting for a spot in the D3 playoffs.

Inaugural Null Star Team

With the Midsummer Classic just under two months away, teams are starting to campaign for their players to make the squad. But for the Ohio and Pennsylvania teams, most notably the Pirates and Indians, they will probably each only get one selection…Andrew McCutchen and Shin-Soo Choo. The Reds will most likely send Scott Rolen (who saw this season coming) and Joey Votto, a staple for years to come. The Phillies, well they could pretty much field an All-Star team each night. Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, Roy Halladay, and the list goes on.

Well to celebrate the futility of some of our beloved ball clubs, I thought it would be fun to select the Null Star Team. The criteria: it must be an everyday player…that’s it.

So to get things started, we will open up the debate with left fielders:

Pittsburgh Pirates: Lastings Milledge
Cincinnatti Reds: Jonny Gomes
Cleveland Indians: Matt LaPorta
Philadelphia Phillies: Raul Ibanez

Have at it oh Blokes of the Blog. Soldiers(that’s my new nickname for our followers…it is a war) you too have a say in this.  Remember, only one vote per person and give a justifiable reason as well…

May the worst player win!

Ed’s Note: To comment or vote, you must either create an account or log in using your Facebook or Twitter username and password.  Border War does not get to see that information, so your password is safe.  Fire the comments away!

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Puzzling Pirates Continue to Confuse

17-22. With a 2-1 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies this evening, that is where the Pittsburgh Pirates record stands. Great pitching effort from Zach Duke and the bullpen tonight. That seems like a pretty lousy record by the numbers. And with the track record to go along with it, it would seem the Pirates are right on schedule for where they should be for the remainder of the season: out of contention and shipping off the few productive players they do have.

But hold on, the Pirates just split with the Phillies who are owners of the best record in the National League. Before that they took two of three from the Chicago Cubs in Wrigley Field and were within a few pitches of getting out the brooms. When it was all said and done, they finished the road trip with a 3-2 record. Their first winning record on a road trip since 2007. Yeah, wow.

For some reason that I can’t put my finger on, this 2010 edition of Buccos seems different than usual to me. Worse than usual you ask? Well possibly. Rocco DeMaro, a radio host for the Pirates flag station, even labeled this year’s Pirates as possibly the worst in the losing drought that has seen umpteen consecutive losing seasons

But what gets me thinking that this year could be the year they go over .500? Ask a causal baseball fan to name a player on Pittsburgh and many would struggle. But there is a solid nucleus of players that surround all-star to be Andrew McCutchen. Garret Jones is a power hitter in the making, and Yahoo! Sports hit on that early during the season. The bullpen has been fantastic, and Octavio Dotel is 8 for 10 in save opportunities. His velocity is looking like his days in Houston. But then there is the bad…

It’s really hard to believe Lastings Milledge plays professional baseball. His outfield skills are horrid, awful, ridiculously bad, terrible, and any other negative adjective you can think of. He takes the worst routes to fly balls ever. He has an average arm and can hit in the ,270 era. But nothing he really brings can make up for his defense blunders he creates in left field. Wow. I really feel bad for McCutchen having to patrol the outfield next to him.

There is also the offseason acquisition of Aki Iwamura. Recently he has been sidelined with tightness in his right hamstring, or as we know it, a bruised ego. Through 34 games, he has 20 hits for a .157 average. I don’t care if you made a trade to get this guy, there is absolutely no way he can get constant playing time, especially in the leadoff spot hitting .150, and finally the Pirates realize this by giving him a few days on the pine.

The Pirates have a chance to get things rolling as they travel back to PNC Park for two games against the Milwaukee Brewers and three games against the Atlanta Braves, both of which are somewhat struggling teams. Then again the Brewers defeated the Pirates earlier this season in a three game sweep by the score of 36-1.

Give it time and we’ll see how things will play out for the Pirates. And you can almost count that along the way myself and the few other Bucs fans will be scratching their heads in confusion.

A look at the Pens early offseason

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, their season, to many ended prematurely. That means the players get to enjoy the tropical paradises for a few weeks longer than having to skate on a frozen tundra. However, for member of the Penguins franchise, it means his focus now shifts from the on ice success of the team to figuring out how to keep this team intact. Penguins general manager Ray Shero has the dubious task of determining who to extend a contract to this offseason and who to let test the free agent waters. Last year he let Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill both go, and it came back to bite the Pens on the blue line. Similar decisions await this year. Let’s take a look.

Defense:

It starts and ends with Sergei Gonchar. The Pens brought him in five years ago with an annual salary of five million per year. All he did was quarterback years of successful powerplays while being reliable in his defensive zone. He housed Geno Malkin when he first came into the league and made his transition rather smooth. However, he is 36 and struggled late in the playoffs in his own end. If he wants to stay and finish his Hall of Fame career in Pittsburgh he is going to have to take a considerable pay cut.

Mike’s wants: Why wouldn’t you want this guy back. He is a proven scorer and leader and none of the other young defensemen have proven they can handle his spot on the powerplay. I say sign him to a 2 year deal worth 2.75 mil per.

Mark Eaton: This guy is as solid as they come. He followed Shero to Pittsburgh from Nashville and after being injured through the first part of his tenure in Pittsburgh, he has become a lockdown defenseman. Rarely caught out of position and will block shots at will. After losing Scuderi and Gill and only having Orpik as another lockdown defenseman, he is should be third on Shero’s radar.

Mike’s wants: Sign him for four years at 1.75 per and have a solid stay at home defenseman for some of our younger offensive guys.

Alex Goligoski: This guy is an enigma. He has all of the talent in the world, but it does not produce at the NHL level…yet. Remember this was his first full season in the league. He showed what his potential could bring at the offset of the season, but his play steadily declined and was a defensive liability throughout the playoffs.

Mike’s wants: If we keep him, great. If not, I’m not that upset. It most likely means we have signed Gonchar and with Letang very close to breaking out, Goligoski become expendable. We have a stable of young defenseman waiting in the minors, most noticeable, Ben Lovejoy.

Jordan Leopold: He made 1.75 million this past season and was the best acquisition at the deadline Shero made this year. Until he got knocked the Eff out against Ottawa, he was arguably the Pens best defenseman. He has some scoring ability with a strong defensive presence and makes smart, quick outlet passes out of his own zone. Leopold is 29, meaning he is young enough to sign to a decent length contract.

Mike’s wants: SIGN HIM. ‘Nuff said.

Jay McKee: He’s old. But he was a great 7th defenseman for the Pens. I would love to see them bring him back for that same role. He only made $800,000(note I said only…while that will be hundreds of thousands more than I’ll ever make in a year) last year, but that was because the Blues bought out his contract. When he was an everyday defenseman this year he was amongst the league leaders in blocked shots, so he’ll take one for the team and I never heard him complain to the media about playing time. Solid locker-room guy.

Mike’s wants: I’d like to have him back, but only for the league minimum. Anything else and I say let Derek Engelland compete for the backup defense spot.

Offense:

Matt Cooke: They brought this guy in two years ago to replace Jarkko Ruutu as an instigator. He has filled that role admirable plus some. A grinder on offense, Cooke has established himself as a solid winger with solid play on the boards. He contributed 15 goals this season and along with Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy, this third line needs to be intact for years to come. Oh and he’s like one of our best penalty-killers who will deliver a bone crushing hit too. He also is amongst the team leaders in missing teeth…an absolute must for a hockey team.

Mike’s wants: Behind Gonchar, he is my top player I want signed. He does all of the small things that makes life easier for the superstars. Shero would be foolish to let him walk.

Ruslan Fedotenko: He’s as good as gone. After a trifling regular season, he saw his playoff minutes become nonexistent…and that is the time of the year in which he is supposed to excel. I mean his playoff performance from last year is what earned him a contract this past season.

Mike’s wants: Time to say good-bye to Mr. Rosy Cheeks. I liked Fedotenko and always thought he had the potential to be a top six forward, but it never panned out. He helped us raise Lord Stanley’s cup and for that I am grateful and have no spite towards him. Good luck Ruslan.

Bill Guerin: Like McKee, even more so, he’s old. He has stones for feet and is now over the hill. However, Sid seems to like having him as a winger and he still can snipe. I just don’t see how he can continue to put his body through the rigors of an 82 + game season. Shero might not have a decision to make on Billy G as he might just decide to retire.

Mike’s wants: I’d like to say he’s too old and he’s blocking some of our younger guys from cracking the lineup, but it’s not the case. Right now, he is still a top six forward for the Pens and unless they can find someone in free agency or via trade, I say sign him to a one year deal.

Alexei Ponikarovsky: I loved when Shero sent Luca Caputi to Toronto for the Poni Express, except he needed a new pair of horseshoes. Brought in to be that scoring winger for Malkin, things never materialized and he found himself riding the pine in the playoffs while Mark Letestu and Chris Conner saw ice ahead of him. Needless to say, Ponikarovsky will probably receive a contract above market price, thus making the Penguins a non-player for his services…which isn’t a bad thing.

Mike’s wants: Let him walk. I’m as big of an advocate for Ponikarovsky as you’ll find in Pittsburgh, but he just didn’t gel with Geno. Pittsburgh isn’t exactly in a good financial situation either, so save the money, try to find a serviceable player to replace him. Watch the Poni ride out of town.

2010-2011 Lineup as of 5/18/2010
Line 1: Kunitz Crosby Guerin
Line 2: Tangradi Malkin Dupuis
Line 3: Cooke Staal Kennedy
Line 4: Rupp Adams Letestu
Extras: Godard, Conner

D1: Gonchar Orpik
D2: Leopold Lovejoy
D3: Letang Eaton
Extra: Engelland

Goalie: Fleury
Backup: Johnson

Border War: Habs Rebound? Indians over Rays?

NHL: Philadelphia Flyers VS Montreal Canadiens

Chris – Philadelphia Flyers (3-1)

I think the Flyers need to take a 2-0 lead because it will be tough to win a game when they go up to Montreal.

C.J. – Philadelphia Flyers (4-3)

For once the home team won a game in the Stanley Cup playoffs. This series I’m not paying full attention to just because I’m more interested in the Blackhawks series (I love their jerseys). But nothing in this series so far made sense. Halak been the best goaltender in the playoffs got destroyed in game one and the Flyers being the home team actually won. Right now it’s hard to go against the Flyers, ever since Simon Gagne came back this team has been something else with five straight. I don’t think the Flyers are going to stop. I say game 2 go to the home team.

Mickey – Montreal Canadiens (5-2)

Montreal is my Lord Stanley favorites. Expect Halak to come back stronger than ever and him and the boys take that loss to heart. Cammaleri needs to have a big game as well.

Mike – Montreal Canadiens (3-1)

Montreal can’t fall behind 2-0 in the series

Patrick – Philadelphia Flyers (4-2)

This series is looking to be the opposite of the rest of the NHL.  Look for the home team to win again, and force the Habs to “Protect Their House” at the Bell Centre to at least force things back to Philly and try to steal an away victory.

MLB: Cleveland Indians VS Tampa Bay Rays

Chris – Tampa Bay Rays (6-3)

C.J. – Tampa Bay Rays (8-1)

Cleveland will be forced to try there luck against the Tampa Bay Rays. I almost want to pick the Indians because of the reverse lock theory but as much as a Redsox fan that I am I’m actually pulling for the Rays. As long as the Yankees don’t win the division or World Series I’m O.K with the Rays. Look for Pena, Crawford, and Barlett to tear up the Indians like they’ve been doing this year. I’m thinking all of them will be all stars again.

Mickey – Tampa Bay Rays (6-4)

No way Cleveland takes down the Rays. Just not happening

Mike – Tampa Bay Rays (5-3)

Until the Indians prove they can beat the first place Rays, Tampa Bay will win

Patrick – Tampa Bay Rays (6-3)

The artists formally known as the Devil Rays will buck their trend of losing to the Indians.  The Tribe is going to have to shake up their line-up now that the dazzling Cabrera sits with a broken forearm for 4-6 weeks (depends on whether surgery is needed or not).  While the Rays normally cannot buy a win against the Indians, they will win today.

NCAA DI Baseball – Ohio State Buckeyes VS Pittsburgh Panthers

Chris – Ohio State Buckeyes (8-3)

Pitt is ranked and I want to say for like the first time ever in their history. Too bad that doesn’t help them in the scoring category.

C.J. – Pittsburgh Panthers (14-6)

In division one college baseball I give the edge to Pittsburgh. They are ranked 33rd in division one and I don’t see how they will lose in this battle against OSU. Let’s just say I got a feeling on this one.

Mickey – Ohio State University (8-0)

Pitt has a baseball team? Point proven.

Mike – Ohio State University (6-4)

As much as I would like to say Pitt will win, I must go with O-H

Patrick – Pittsburgh Panthers (10-5)

Panthers are just on the outside of some national polls, and play a struggling Ohio State.  They’re just trying to keep above .500 in the Big 10.  Look for the  Panthers to pounce early.

Two Game Sevens in Eastern Conference

Two game sevens in the Eastern Conference Semi’s. The Canadians already claimed on spot in the ECF, now its up to the Flyers or the Bruins to serve as their opponent. There might not be any better games in sports than game 7’s in hockey. Lets see how these two teams break down.

Bruins: Got off to a hot start going up 3-0, but when David Krejci went down, so did the entire team. Boston has gone ice cold offensively, only scoring one goal in the last two games. Miro Satan has disappeared as of late after being a huge contributor in the first round and the first three games of this round. If Boston is going to win, look for Marc Savard and Satan to be factors.

Flyers: They are fighting against history, looking to become the first team in professional sports since the 04 Red Sox to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the playoffs. Everything seems to be clicking. Danny Briere is scoring and Philly hasn’t lost since the return of Simon Gagne. Despite using three goalies, the Flyers have all the momentum going into game 7.

Outcome: Flyers 4 Bruins 2

Both home teams lose in game 7s and the Flyers advance to face Halakamania

BORDER WAR – Bruins/Flyers, MLB, Pioneers/Princes

Well, the Cavs fans went for the Homer win…and lost big time.  Mike picked the Celtics, and ties things up with C.J. and Mickey at three points apiece.  For Friday’s edition of Border War, we asked the bloggers who would win game seven of the Bruins/Flyers series, Reds/Cardinals, Pirates/Cubs, and Marietta Pioneers/Heidelberg Princes.  Who will take the lead?  Plenty of chances today.

The Blame Game

The Montreal Canadians? Wait, the same Montreal Canadians that finished six games above .500 in the regular season?

Yup.

The defending Stanley Cup Champions took an early exit from this year’s playoffs courtesy of the Habs and many feel the need to throw some Pens under the bus for their play. Since I’ve been MIA at work, and am still supposed to be working while typing this, I’ll tell you why putting the fault on one player is ridiculous.

I, like many others thought the Pens would methodically go through this series on their way to the ECF. But as the series went on, I gained more respect for Les Habitants and even felt uneasy about the series. I would have a lot more respect for them now if it wasn’t for that whole French thing.

The end result?

A 5-2 series ending loss that left a terrible taste in your mouth. Kinda like the one you get from drinking orange juice right after brushing your teeth.

So where did it all fall apart?

Marc-Andre Fleury’s inconstant play in the net?
No. Championship performance last year.

Geno’s ability to return to last year’s playoff style?
No. Almost impossible to reproduce those gaudy numbers.

Dan Potash being too awesome?
No. That’s not even possible.

Sidney Crosby not playing like he did in the first round against the Senators?
No. See Geno.

The lack of production from the power play?
No. Even strength play didn’t do much either.

Then what?

I don’t really see this series as one the Penguins “lost” as I see this as a series the Canadians “won”. Sure on paper the Penguins have the stars. The only player with pretty good offensive production on Canadians is Cammalleri, and I’m not just saying that ‘cause he light the Pens up or because he’s on my NHL ’09 fantasy team. He can get it done. However, it really looked like they were the ones who played together as a team better. The way they prevented the Penguins from entering their own zone was crazy. So I really say hats off to them for their play.

Hey, you can’t win the cup every year. Even though the Penguins’ season is over, it doesn’t mean that it didn’t have any good moments in it.

Remember Billy G scoring with .04 left against the Bruins and the Igloo going crazy?
How about that game where they beat Ottawa like 100-2?
And my personal favorite is when the Pens beat the Rangers in New York and Mike Rupp had a hat trick.

See, even though the season is over, aren’t you smiling just a little bit thinking of big ole’ Rupper slide down the ice to make an empty-net goal to give him his first career hat trick on his son’s birthday?

So I guess we wait until next season when the Consol Energy Center is unveiled. That is, unless you’re going to go see Lady GaGa when she comes to the CEC in September. Next year it is!

C-Mill

Welcome to sports Hell

Welcome to sports Hell

If you’re a Pittsburgh fan, the Penguins loss last night was extra hard. Not only are your beloved Pens out of the playoffs, thus ending any chance for another massive parade through downtown, but it marks the beginning of that dead period between the end of the hockey season and the beginning of football season.

Some foreign readers might be thinking, but what about baseball season? Ha. Seriously? Let’s see, today is May 13th, that means the Pirates have now been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs for about two weeks. Obviously that’s not the case. In fact, they’re only six games under .500 which for them is quite the feat. However, so far this season, and it’s only been about a month and a half mind you, them battlin’ Buccos have endured a seven game losing streak in which the Brewers beat them 20-0 and they followed that paltry loss with a 17-3 loss to the Brewers four days later. Talk about getting revenge. Way to show em Pirates! They just got swept by the Reds being outscored 16-1 and managing a mere five hits in the past two games. And they wonder why people don’t come to watch this team. They don’t even lose well. They get blown out. They don’t hit. Who in their right mind would want to sit through that even if you did get a Lastings Milledge bobblehead?

By the way, why did bobbleheads go out of style. Tell me a Milledge bobblehead wouldn’t attract a crowd. The dreads and the gold spikes. Dude’s a balla!

Anyway, back to my rant. Their biggest acquisition this past off season is hitting below the Mendoza line. Come on Aki! You’re making Pirates fans (if there is such a thing) miss the great Luis Rivas!

Normally the MLB trade deadline is something to look forward too, but they traded everyone away last year. This year they’ll trade Brandon Donnelly (never heard of him, no worries, join the other 99%) for the best low A ball prospect in the Orioles system. For some reason unbeknown to me, Brad Lincoln (their top pitching prospect) is still hurling in Triple-A. And why shouldn’t he be when Brian Bass is his roadblock to the majors.

The NHL free agency period and Entry Draft will begin shortly after the Finals end and that will provide some entertainment until August when Steelers Training Camp begins.
*I will break down what the Pens should do in a near future post*

But until that time comes, we get to be entertained by Andy Laroche and Garrett “The Legend” Jones. I know I’ll be there. I’ll root for the Bucs til the day I die. I’ll wear my jersey around in hopes that this’ll be the year, but much like last and the 16 years before that, they’ll crash and burn leaving Pittsburgh sports fans hoping that Hell has to be better than these three months.

MW

Oh Canada

The Pens had two games to finish out the Habs and continue to have the chance to defend their Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, the Pens found themselves short handed early in the game and Brian Gionta put the Habs up 1-0. They extended their lead to 4-0 before the Pens struck twice and were awarded a powerplay late in the 2nd. However, they couldn’t capitalize and Jaroslav Halak continued   to ech his name in playoff lure. Montreal won 5-2.

Everyone one has seen the commercials: “What if Lemieux wasn’t great” or the “What if Orr didn’t fly”. The NHL playoffs is where legends are made. When you shut down Ovechkin, Crosby, and Malkin, there is no debate, you become legendary.

The Habs will beat the Flyers or the Bruins and advance to the Stanley Cup finals. If Chicago represents the West, I’m takin the Habs because of the Hossa factor, if its San Jose, I’m still takin the Habs because of the Halak factor. This is a stingy defensive team that knows when to pick their spots to attack offensively. It went seven games and as much as it pains me to say, the better team won.

On a side note, the Civic/Mellon Arena has seen its last hockey players skate on its hallowed ice. It opened its door to the NHL in 1967 and saw the Penguins lose 2-1 to the Montreal Canadians.

Koo koo ka choo Civic/Mellon Arena