Can’t believe January is almost over. It’s flying by. Well, the Patriots and Eagles are playing in the Super Bowl (can I say that? Is Roger and the NFL going to sue me?) and I could not be less excited. I’ve watched one full quarter of the NFL this year and I am not even sure I’m going to watch the game. Seeing the Patriots in the Super Bowl is like the Yankees in the 40’s thru 60’s. I don’t like Philly sports teams at all and while I was happy for the Phillies and their fans when they won the World Series in 08 I just kept thinking as a Pirates fan when would it be my turn. I go to Philly a few times a year and the slobbering over everything Eagles just turns me off. So, I don’t know if I am going to watch.
The other big news is that a pitch clock seems to be coming to Major League Baseball. All I can say is Hooray! The pace of the game has slowed down dramatically and it drives me nuts. There is no reason that a pitcher needs to give himself the grand tour of the mound after each pitch. There is no reason a hitter needs to get out of the batters box once they are in and readjust their implements after every pitch. I know some people don’t like the idea of a pitch clock. I live in an Atlantic League market where it was common for a 1-0 or 2-1 game to exceed 3 hours to play. That is too long. When the pitch clock was implemented (along with a few other rules) it sped the game up dramatically and made the game much more enjoyable for me the fan. The same thing has worked in AA and AAA as well. Look, World Series games that take 3 1/2 to 4 hours to play are ridiculous. I have a DVD copy of Game 7 of the 1960 World Series that was a 10-9 game and it took a little over 2 hours to play. When watching it I was struck by the fact that the batters remained in the box and the pitcher was ready to throw when they got the ball back. It can be done! Games ending after 10:00 on a weeknight are not good for people who have to get up to go to work the next day or kids who have to go to school. If this can chop 10 minutes off of a game it is worth it for me and it might be able to chop more off.
In other baseball news the Pirates and Marlins were targeted by the MLBPA for not spending enough. It seems Rob Manfred just tossed out those complaints. I wonder where those complaints came from? Scott Boras….cough….cough. If the Pirates want to slash payroll and tank why can’t they? Just like there is no salary cap there is no floor. I’ve wanted a cap and floor for years but it hasn’t happened. The Pirates this year have a lot of pre-arbitration players so their payroll will be lower. It worked for the Astros and the Cubs and may work for the Phillies as well. Where was Mr. Super Agent when that was happening? Oh that’s right, he knew when those teams got better they would be prime destinations for his clients so he didn’t want to piss them off. But now the lowly Pirates are prime targets for him. And the Marlins? C’mon, the previous owner screwed that team up. It is only logical that there is going to be some hard decisions that need to be made, not that I agree with some of the moves that Jeter has made, but it takes time to right the ship. Here’s my wish Scott Boras: Become the GM of the Pirates since you are sooooo much smarter than everyone else and you have all of the answers.
The sports week started on Tuesday. In a it’s a shame someone has to win this game York High held off Dallastown in overtime. That was hard to watch. They played Central on Friday and lost. Got down big and came roaring back, even taking the lead, but a lack of rebounding killed them. The crowd was pretty into the game which was nice to see. They then played Chester on Saturday. I didn’t go but they took the Clippers to OT but lost at the Clip Joint. That was a shock.
Saturday took me over to York College to take in the game with Marymount. They had fallen at Frostburg State on Wednesday. I wound up at the Hershey Bears game that night. Stopped in at Troegs before heading in to get my Garrett Mitchell Bobblehead. Hey, the Bears do one bobblehead a year so sue me. The Bears looked like crap and lost 4-0. York got off their 2-game losing streak Saturday and blew Marymount away. The bench played most of the second half and one player did score his 1,000th point. Congrats to Blayde Reich.
Oh, I did not watch the Pro Bowl. I have better things to do with my time. It did get played didn’t it?
