| Welcome to Northernskies, You're currently viewing our forum as a guest. This means you are limited to certain areas of the board and there are some features you can't use. If you join our community, you'll be able to access member-only sections, and use many member-only features such as customizing your profile, sending personal messages, and voting in polls. Registration is simple, fast, and completely free. Join our community! If you're already a member please log in to your account to access all of our features: |
| s loss in the NBA Finals starts against Dallas -- | |
|---|---|
| Tweet Topic Started: Aug 19 2016, 06:47 PM (201 Views) | |
| fangxu0220 | Aug 19 2016, 06:47 PM Post #1 |
![]()
|
NEW YORK, N. Johnny Cueto Jersey .Y. - Next January the Hall of Fame focus will turn to Ken Griffey Jr., Trevor Hoffman and Billy Wagner after an unprecedented dominance by starting pitchers over a two-year span.When Griffey left the Seattle Mariners in 2010, there was no farewell tour. The 40-year-old outfielder pretty much drove off into the night: Griffey got in his car, headed out of Seattle in the middle of a series against Minnesota and telephoned the Mariners with his retirement decision while en route to his home in Orlando, Florida.He started to get a feeling for ceremonies when he was inducted into the Mariners Hall of Fame in 2013 and then joined his father, Ken Griffey Sr., in the Cincinnati Reds Hall last year.The ultimate goal as an individual player is to be in the Hall of Fame when you grow up, Junior said then. This is no different. To be in the Hall of Fame with my dad is special.Hoffman and Wagner will seek to join Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Bruce Sutter and Hoyt Wilhelm as the only pitchers in the Hall who were primarily relievers. The top holdover on the 2016 ballot will be catcher Mike Piazza, who received 69.9 per cent support on his third try this year, 28 votes shy of the 75 per cent needed.Hoffman held the career saves record with 601 before Mariano Rivera topped him with 652. While Wagner had 422 saves, his 2.31 ERA was far better than Hoffmans 2.87. Both were seven-time All-Stars.Gossage spent years arguing relievers were underappreciated — especially in his era, before closers were limited mainly to the final three outs.The bullpen was kind of a junk pile where starters went that couldnt start anymore. It wasnt a glamorous place to be like it is today, he said prior to his election. Now it takes three guys to do kind of what I used to do.Before Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine last year, the only starting pitcher voted in by the writers since Nolan Ryan in 1999 had been Bert Blyleven, elected on his 14th try in 2011. Following the election of Randy Johnson, Pedro Martinez and John Smoltz on Tuesday, five pitchers who were for the most part starters were voted in during a two-year span, joined by offensive stars Frank Thomas in 2014 and Craig Biggio this year.The only other pitchers elected since Ryan had been a trio who made it for bullpen success: Eckersley (2004), Sutter (2006) and Gossage (2008).And the five pitchers in the last two elections all made it on their first try. Before that only starting pitchers elected on the first ballot since Warren Spahn in 1973 had been Bob Gibson (1981), Jim Palmer (1990), Tom Seaver (1992), Steve Carlton (1994) and Ryan.After this year, no starting pitcher figures to get substantial support until Roy Halladay in 2019, when Rivera also will be eligible for the first time.Lee Smith, who received 30 per cent support this year, maintains the evolution of baseball has put the priority on the bullpen over the rotation.You see of any team in the last 10 years, if they dont have a good closer, they dont go anywhere, he said in 2006. If I was going to start a ballclub, I think I would start with a closer and go back. Santiago Casilla Jersey . In the Winter Classic they played in front of 105,491 fans, many of whom drove several hours to Michigan Stadium to watch the spectacle amid frigid temperatures. Denard Span Giants Jersey . Switzerland is an overwhelming favourite against Serbia, last years finalist and the 2010 Davis Cup champion, which will be without Novak Djokovic and two other of its top players. The second-ranked Djokovic decided to rest after losing to Wawrinka in the Australian Open quarterfinals, while Janko Tipsarevic is nursing a heel injury and Viktor Troicki is serving a 12-month doping suspension for failing to appear at a test. http://www.sfgiantsprostore.com/Buster-Posey-giants-jersey/ . Subban has started off his season strong, ranking sixth in the NHL in assists with 20 and 23rd in points with 24. Yet the question remains, should Subban be on Canadas Olympic roster? Subbans skill-set as an offensive defenceman limits his competition for a position on the team, but it also restricts his chances.MIAMI -- Before the season started, a poll suggested that the Miami Heat were the overwhelming favourite to win the NBA title, collecting a whopping 76 per cent of ballots cast. The voters werent some know-nothings, either. No, this was a polling of NBA general managers. Things seem quite a bit different now. The Heat dont seem like locks for a third straight title anymore. San Antonio and Indiana are top seeds. Brooklyn, Chicago, the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City, Golden State, Houston, Portland and the Heat all figure to have a legitimate chance at being the club to hoist the Larry OBrien Trophy in a couple of months. Usually, the NBA playoffs arent so wide open. Things might change over the next couple of months. "There are 16 teams that have a chance to win it," said Oklahoma City coach Scott Brooks, whose team is seeded No. 2 in the West. "If youre in the playoffs, you have a chance. There are some good teams. Any team can beat each other. The West is deep. There are two teams that are really good that didnt make it and had great years. Its definitely open. Theres a lot of good basketball teams that are fighting for the championship." For as good as San Antonio and Indiana were all year -- well, for most of the year in Indianas case, before the Pacers faltered down the stretch -- its never a certainty that the No. 1 seeds reach the NBA Finals. Its happened that way only 11 times in the last 35 years. Then again, the last time that there wasnt either a No. 1 or a No. 2 in the title series was 1978. So while upsets can happen, its not all that common to see bracket craziness -- akin to a No. 7 and No. 8 seeds Connecticut and Kentucky playing for the NCAA title earlier this month -- happening in the same NBA playoff season. "It is going to be tremendous from a fans standpoint, watching," Golden State coach Mark Jackson said. "It going to be a lot of fun." Brooklyns Jason Kidd has plenty of post-season experience as a player. He believes the NBA championship is up for grabs, but also probably knows history doesnt favour his sixth-seeded club. Since 1979, only five teams seeded No. 4 or lower in their conference have reached the finals. Sergio Romo Jersey. But Kidd sees reason for hope. "Its always wide open," said Kidd, the first-year coach of the Nets -- a veteran-laden team put together to win a title this season. "You guys sometimes limit it to just two teams but guys that are playing on a daily basis in the Western Conference and the Eastern Conference feel like theyve got a chance." This year, that doesnt just seem like coach speak. Take the East. On paper, the biggest mismatch is No. 1 Indiana against No. 8 Atlanta, especially because the Hawks are the only sub-.500 team in the playoffs. And just a couple weeks ago, the Hawks went to Indianapolis and absolutely embarrassed the Pacers, running out to a 32-point halftime lead in one of the more stunning games of the entire NBA season. "Theres some good teams out there," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "Every team in the playoffs have given us some problems. Weve been able to win against them as well. But its certainly shaped out to be a good conference." No. 5 Washington won the season series over No. 4 Chicago. Out West, the third-seeded Clippers and sixth-seeded Golden State split four meetings. Memphis ousted Oklahoma City a year ago and those clubs meet in the first round. And San Antonios quest to avenge last years loss in the NBA Finals starts against Dallas -- the last team to beat Miami in a seven-game series, winning the title in 2011. So there are some good stories, and theres intrigue with every first-round series. That doesnt mean everyone in the league thinks itll be a year laden with surprises. Philadelphia coach Brett Brown put it simply -- to him, the game changes in the playoffs, period. "The regular season and the playoffs are like two different sports," Brown said. "If you put me in a bubble and you drag me out in May, I can say this is different than the game Im seeing in November. Its just entirely different." Thats why Brown, a former Spurs assistant, thinks theres a very small number of teams capable of winning it all. "To be the last man standing is so ridiculously hard," Brown said. "People have no idea what its like to play in June." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China ' ' ' |
![]() |
|
| 1 user reading this topic (1 Guest and 0 Anonymous) | |
| « Previous Topic · Games · Next Topic » |








12:11 PM Jul 11