Author Danny Vinik

Alfredsson Deserves a Suspension

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Though I’m not an NHL fan, the Red Sox did not play until late last night and the NBA Finals don’t start until Thursday, so I was left watching Game 4 between the Ottawa Senators and the Anaheim Ducks. The Ducks thoroughly dominated the second period and were leading by a goal with about two minutes remaining. The Senators got a late goal from Dany Heatley and found themselves going into the third period tied. Unfortunately, an idiotic play by Ottawa captain Daniel Alfredsson  gave much of the momentum to the Ducks. With mere seconds left to play in the period, Alfredsson held the puck in the neutral zone with no chance of scoring. Instead of taking a last second shot like most players would, Alfredsson turned toward Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer and drilled the puck directly at him. The puck ricocheted off Niedermayer’s leg. Anaheim players immediately noticed this and started going after the Ottawa captain. My questions is: What in the world would make Alfredsson that? His team had been dominated throughout the period, yet they had managed a late goal to even the score. They had all the momentum. All the Senators had to do was finish the period strong and get off the ice. Alfredsson couldn’t do that. To make matters worse, he is the Senators captain and is the last player anyone would expect to do such a thing. Alfredsson deserves a one game suspension for this ridiculous, unsportsmanlike act. Duck player Chris Pronger was suspended for the game for an elbow to Dean McAmmond in Game 3 and if Pronger’s play deserved a suspension, so does Alfredsson. Enough said. Cheap shots do not belong in sports in any way and I cannot think of a worse time for Alfredssson to pull one.

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Donovan Flip Flopping

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Billy Donovan needs to make up his mind. After agreeing to a five year, twenty seven million dollar contract to coach the Orlando Magic, Billy Donovan wants out. As much as I hate players and coaches who try to void their contracts, this is the right move for Donovan. Signing the contract was a mistake to begin with and Donovan just realized this. Though the money cannot be overlooked, Donovan was due to sign a seven year deal worth 3.75 million dollars a year. He had won back to back national championships at Florida and had built a legacy for himself. Every year your hear about the same coaches who spend over twenty five years on the bench and collect over eight hundred wins durng that time. I think Donovan has an opportunity to make the list. He is still extremely young, but has shown the skill and composure necessary to become a truly great coach. Leaving Florida would have been a mistake that he would have regretted his entire life. Luckily, he noticed before it was to late and, though the money at Orlando is tempting, the possibility of becoming an all-time legendary coach should be more enticing.

Welcome!

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Hey guys! This is my first post, so we will see how it goes. Basically, I created this blog, because so many things in sports infuriate me and I wanted somewhere to express my opinions. Feel free to post a comment against my opinions, but know that I don’t post without facts and statistics behind me! So to kick off my first post, how about we talk about the Sox stomping on the Yanks yesterday.

Friday night’s game was a tough loss to handle. The Sox left men on base nearly every inning and the pitching was not better, hitting batters and walking players left and right. Painful to watch in many ways. Today seemed to be heading the same way, with the Sox leaving many men on base in the first few innings, but our offense finally came through and the bullpen held strong.

A side note to the game, Kevin Youkilis’s hitting streak came to an end, but he had 3 walks in the game, including one in the eighth inning when it was clear that it was going to be his final at bat. That really shows what Youk is all about. I know that I’d be swinging in the eight no matter the count, but Youkilis stuck to his game and sacrificed his hitting streak. In a big situation I can see taking the walk, but up by five runs in the bottom of the eighth, I think you should be swinging.

Enough of the Sox and Yanks. On to a different topic. I’m not sure how many of you saw the video of the Double-A manager’s tantrum and theatrics yesterday, but it was one of the best ejections from a baseball game ever. The video can be found below and it will make you laugh. As the video heading says on ESPN, the guy did exit in style (especially with the grenade).

On a final note, what a great day for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Just a remarkable performance last night, even when Lebron was clearly exhausted from his heroic performance in game 5. Most people are not giving him a shot vs. the Spurs, but they showed last night that they can win when Lebron has an off night. If I am a Spurs fan, that scares me and I better not take this team for granted, because they will do the same thing to Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili as they did to Rip Hamilton, Chauncy Billups, and Rasheed Wallace. After saying that, I do not think Cleveland has an answer for Duncan and the Spurs will take the series in six. Hope you all enjoyed my first post and check back in the next few days for another one!