The Basement View

Fresh Start_282: All Rise for the Honorable Aaron Judge Can Aaron Judge really win the MVP? There is a whole argument about giving a pitcher the MVP Award and how it isn’t right because of the Cy Young Award, but does that same criteria apply to a rookie? I was one of the many that were on the “Gary Sanchez for Rookie of the Year” bandwagon last September for the ridiculous month that Sanchez had last year. Judge in two months has brought himself to the top of the homerun leaderboard {18}, 5 th in the American League {35}, a .319 batting average {7 th in the American League}, and second in the American League in OPS {1.106}. The stats people will also love Aaron Judge because of his exist velocity. Judge has the top two exist velo’s in statcasts history {119.4 on a homerun that went 435 feet on April 28 th of this year, and 119.0 on a double on May 5 th of this year}. It is unbelievable to think a rookie can do this in New York with a level head on his shoulders. Ev...

Fresh Start_281: PC Community outrage A good old-fashioned brawl in San Francisco. There will be stories all over the country today about how terrible this brawl is for baseball, and Bryce Harper will face a 5-10 suspension for “going out and getting him” in the words for Harper. Given where Harper was hit (right on the right cheek of his rear end), the 98 MPH fastball could’ve hurt more. This entire story would have been different if Hunter Strickland threw a 98 MPH fastball at Harper’s head. I know I am an old-school thinker here, but I do not have a problem with this whole situation. Harper is the headliner of the “be personal in a game that doesn’t ‘allow’ you to be personal” movement; my thoughts on that movement is there are times for that to happen. The Jose Bautista bat flip situation, why shouldn’t he be allowed to throw his bat in the air after hitting arguably the second biggest homerun in the franchise’s history?  Let the men who are playing the children...

Fresh Start_280: From the top to rock bottom Well I wasn’t expecting to wake up to a gnarly mug shot of Tiger Woods following his DUI arrest early this morning. Woods was arrested at 3 AM Monday morning—producing his flattering mugshot that will certainly make back pages around the country. There is no question that the 14-time Major Champion’s fall from grace is unprecedented. At the peak of Wood’s career, no athlete could come within 100 miles of the magnitude that Woods had on the golf course. Not Michael, Armstrong, Ruth, or Lebron could reach the god-like persona that Woods had on his competition. If Tiger had the lead going into Sunday, it was pretty much money in the bank that we would walk away with the big check after 18 holes. Woods was as sure of thing to win the Major when he went into the final day leading, and looked like the Golden Goose that would break Jack Nicklaus record of 18 Majors before the tailspin his career took in 2009. From crashing his Escalade t...

Fresh Start_279: Underdogs vs. “the Top heavy league” Around this time last year, I wrote a column about underdogs and how a potential matchup of Toronto and Oklahoma City in the NBA Finals and the Tampa Bay Lighting facing off against either San Jose or Nashville. I wrote that column about how underdogs had the potential to ruin the exact thing they represent with a possible matchup of underdogs. Toronto and Oklahoma City were up in both of their series and it was a possible matchup. The Tampa Bay hockey market is a “C” market at best and the way San Jose was last year, I could say the exact same thing. Pittsburgh ended up making the Stanley Cup Final—and winning being the favorite, so the underdogs lived yet another year. Pittsburgh is back in the Stanley Cup Final again this year against the “Smashville” Predators—having the classic David vs. Goliath matchup with two great teams even with Nashville being the underdog in this scenario. In the NBA it is yet again the Ca...

Fresh Start_278: The future of 30 for 30 With the 30 for 30 about Mike Francesa and “The Mad Dog” Christopher Russo coming out on July 13 th of this year, two different conversations arise from this film. The first is what the New York sports radio will do when Francesa retires in December, and what will sports documentaries do after this film? The first question is talked about on my podcast “Grind Hours Podcast” with my good friend Nick Paradies, and you can listen to what we think on that podcast. It will be extremely interesting to see what happens when December rolls around. The second question is interesting for a completely different reason. With the OJ Simpson 30 for 30 winning an Academy Award for Best Documentary this past February, it brings a spotlight back on the ESPN documentary series. With Bill Simmons leaving ESPN, joining HBO and is starting to be involved with sports documentaries again with the announced Andre the Giant documentary. This Mike and the Ma...

Fresh Start_277: 600 This is coming out two days after it is supposed to come out, and there is no real reason. But, this article is my 600 th article on this blog. To date I have just over 17,500 page views, and it is astonishing. Starting this blog in September 2014 with no clear direction, rhyme, or reason it is just incredible to see what has happen in 600 articles in almost 3 years. I can’t wrap my head around both 600 articles and 17,500 page views. It just doesn’t make any sense that I would do something like this in such a short period of time when you really think about it. I am nowhere near the writer I can be, and I have so much more to gain. Doing this “Fresh Start” series I think I can say, I have started to find the voice and style that I have through writing. I am excited for the future and what it holds, but this blog is truly the beginning, and I hope that one day I can look back and say that this was truly the start. Don’t forget to like, comment, subsc...

Fresh Start_276: Second teams in the city grab the headlines Why can’t players keep their mouths shut in New York. Jets Defensive End Sheldon Richardson said “ Let's just say there are 15 reasons why it's better” about former Jets wide out Brandon Marshall. Marshall’s comments about Richardson’s comment was “…I’m a Giant now and I’m so excited for this opportunity. I’m working my butt off to learn the plays… I feel like a rookie again, and I kind of like that feeling.” Marshall took the high road, and was the veteran about this situation, while Richardson seems like the problem in the Jet locker room. Richardson had 62 combined tackles (38 total, 24 assisted) with only 1.5 sacks with 2 pass deflections in 15 games. Richardson got paid $3.1 Million last year and this year is getting $8 Million to hopefully get more than 1.5 sacks. Richardson looked like he could possibly play Outside Linebacker in 2016 after a 5 sack and 35 combine tackle season. Now, trading Richardson ...

Fresh Start_275: Writer's block Being that I have done 275 days now in a row of writing every day, and having subject matter in the sports world to talk about has been a blessing. Some days are more personal, some holidays I just want to express the valuable meaning of family, but I haven’t gotten writer's block yet. That was until today. I couldn’t find anything I wanted to speak on or have a different opinion on. I guess the words I’m looking for here is I am sorry. It’s not like a vlog where I can make something up and just go off a random idea. I have to put words on the page and tell a story.  With writer's block I cannot do that. By no means is the “Fresh Start” series going to come to an end, but today is just a bust. Sorry… Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share on your way out!

Fresh Start_274: Changing things that don’t make sense I’m not that good at math but having less time to score would lead to less ties. The NFL changed the rules in overtime from 15 minutes to 10 minutes. This rule change was supposed to make a change because the amount of ties that the NFL had this year. How is that supposed to work? How does a less amount of time to score lead to less ties? Wouldn’t the amount of ties go up because of the less amount of time. The less amount of time would lead to lesser drives, which means the field goal kicker should just go home when the games go to overtime. If a team goes done the field and uses up 8 minutes and kicks a field goal, the other team has to go done the field in 2 minutes and score a touchdown to avoid a tie. Which means the team that gets the ball second will turn the football field into a NFL Blitz game or a shorten game of Madden. Teams will be more laid back on defense if let’s say the team gets into field goal ran...

Fresh Start_273: Yankees call Torres up to Triple A Can Gleyber Torres be this year’s Gary Sanchez? Not in the sense that Torres will come up in September and hit 20 bombs in 36 games, but that fact that he’ll come up and give the Yankees a needed boost at the end of the season. If Chase Headley continues to struggle (right now his numbers are .241/.317/.386 with 3 homers and 20 RBI’s). Torres in Double A batted .273 with a .367 OBP and a .496 slugging percentage with 5 homers and 18 RBI’s in 32 games. Now, Torres is playing Double A talent, which is nowhere near comparable to Major League talent that Headley is facing, but you never know what can happen. If Torres can hit at Triple A; he’ll do what Greg Bird has done—which is hit at every level that he has played at. I don’t think Torres will keep up a .273 average throughout the remainder of the season in Triple A and potentially the Majors, but Gary Sanchez has broken that “he won’t continue to” barometer last year. Torres i...

Fresh Start_272: STOP IT; right now! Why is the news media (Fox Sports and ESPN) milking every ounce out of the Lavar Ball cow? I don’t understand why the networks have turned into 13-year-old girls and are bringing him on time after time, writing articles about Lavar Ball and his crazy statements and everything surrounding the Ball family like anything Ball says actually matters. As I’ve said when this all started; all of this talk is just noise until each of the ball brothers have a ring on their finger. Nothing matters, absolutely nothing. Not the declaration for the draft seconds after the Elite 8 loss to Kentucky, or the $495 shoes, or the Kristine Leahy fight on The Herd, nothing. I haven’t talked about the “Leahy vs Ball” fiasco because I have physically cannot stand talking about Lavar Ball anymore. The train of crazy has left the station a long time ago. I don’t see what more you can do with Lavar Ball that hasn’t already been done. Sorry FS1, ESPN gotcha when they ...

Fresh Start_271: 65-game NBA season, please! I know people overreact to stuff in sports that they shouldn’t overreact to. But, with the Isaiah Thomas injury, that makes 3 major players in the playoffs with injuries that effect the series they are in. Leonard, Parker, and now Thomas should bring the question of “should the NBA season become shorter” to the forefront again. If you forgot, this question was thrown around about a month ago with the minute discussion. The whole Popovich “were saving players careers” and whatever Lebron’s excuse was. I personally sided with the players and coaches to have the opportunity to take the games off. It’s the NBA’s fault for scheduling so many Nationally Televised games in one week. These injuries are awful to the teams and for the product of the NBA, but all of these factors have to make the NBA question what the scheduling of 82 games does to the players. Even with the high class treatment and medical staffs that the NBA and players ha...

Fresh Start_270: Watching two of the best in one week This past week I have got the privilege to watch two of the best players in all of baseball in Bryce Harper and Mike Trout. I saw Harper on Wednesday night in Pittsburgh as a spur of the moment kind of thing, and Trout tonight. The fact that I got two see in my opinion the best player in baseball (Trout) and the 3 rd best player (Harper) in one week. That is extremely rare and an opportunity that I will cherish forever. They did go 2-7 combined with those two being meaningless singles by Trout in a 3-0 loss tonight. I was all in for a Harper bomb over the right field bleachers into the Allegany. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen and he went 0-4 in a 6-1 tromping in PNC. Having this chance is something that I won’t take for granted because I don’t know how many times I’ll have the chance two see both Harper and Trout in their career—forget about in one week. Trout because the way his contract is set up until 2020, he wil...

Fresh Start_269: No rhyme, reason, or idea for today “Do what you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life.” This quote was said to me about 6 years ago by my grandmother as we were crossing the George Washington Bridge on our way home from the cemetery. I don’t know what the conversation was about, but I can remember her saying those words to me and it got the 14 year me thinking. It got me thinking what I liked to do and what I enjoyed. My mother always said that I would do something in sports, and if I didn’t I wouldn’t be happy. I guess it is true; mom does know best because if it wasn’t for sports, I wouldn’t be happy. But, the 14-year-old me didn’t know how to do it. As I’ve said before, growing up I wanted to work at ESPN and do the morning Sportscenter, at the time I had no idea how that would happen. Why would I, I was a 14-year-old heading into high school. If I knew the answer to that question; I can tell you know, I wouldn’t be here. I would be in a broadcastin...

Fresh Start_268: Fixing Playoff basketball The days of the 86-82 slug fests in the playoffs are over. Late last night I got a notification on my phone and I just laughed and showed my grandmother. What it said was “Warriors:136; Spurs:100.” Honestly I can’t fathom how that can possibly happen in a playoff basketball game, but it happened and will continue to happy. The Warriors last night went 18/37 from behind the arc, while San Antonio went 8/23. I’m not a mathematician, but that’s 60 three-point attempts in one game last night. 26 of them fell which turns into 78 points. Basketball is truly a game of math and attempting more three’s with the high volume shooters like the one’s Golden State has {Curry, Klay, and KD} is a recipe to play the “run & gun” style of offense. 236 points sound like a total that you would see as the over/under number for a 90’s NBA All-Star game, and now is the total for a Western Conference Finals game (it doesn’t make any sense). Personally, I h...

Fresh Start_267: The Boston Massacre I was waiting for the lottery to get over and done with to right the article I feared I would have to write when I say the Brooklyn Net roster. The Boston Celtics are continuing their fleecing of the Brooklyn Nets. The nightmare of the Billy King trade that has been the downfall of the Net organization. The trade was a total “Win now” mentality that was so one sided that should have got rejected by the NBA itself. I’m not going to be screaming at the NBA for allowing this trade to happen, but Billy King is the Bambino or the Billy Goat in the curse scenario for the Nets. There is no question that this Nets team will be one of the worst teams in the NBA for years to come, because even with the ability to have our own first round pick in next year’s draft, there isn’t a Lebron James in next year’s draft, and just like the Jets—the Nets have so many holes in the roster that one player won’t fix the problems that Brooklyn has. The current manag...

Fresh Start_266: The legend of Derek Jeter Growing up in New York, close to New York City and being a sports fan, in specific a Yankee fan, I got the fortune to watch one of the greatest baseball players to ever play the game. In fact, one of the greatest Yankees to ever play in a Yankee uniform, and well you just imagine what that says about Derek Jeter. Put aside the 3,465 hits, a career .310 batting average, 5 World Series rings, and being the captain of the most prestige organization in all of sports. When Jeter announced his retirement, it took me back and it was like hearing a friend that you grew up with is moving to another country and you won’t see him again. The question arose “What will life be like without Derek Jeter?” Yankee fans had to go through this the year before with Marino Rivera and his whole walk-off tour. Mo was my co-favorite player for my entire fandom of the Yankees. Seeing both retire and move on, is just saddening but it is the end of an era. It trul...

Fresh Start_265: Just a small update 100 days from 365 100 more days away… just over 3 months until I will have written an article for an entire year. It is crazy because this doesn’t seem like a challenge to the extent that I thought it would be when I started this whole journey. Creating the idea and challenging myself to write everyday has made me a better writer; which is something I wanted to accomplish when I first started. I think I am a better writer every day that I write. I find my voice more and more throughout each article. The challenge now is staying true to that promise. The routine of sitting done, finding time to read and research and write the article isn’t hard, and has become more and more enjoyable with the more I do it. I have hit some road bumps with posting times every now and again, but if you aren’t late or a little off schedule—you aren’t human. Today will be late, and the past couple days I haven’t been putting out a “In Between the Pinstripes,” and ...

Fresh Start_264: Play by Play Network Announcement Video Here is the huge announcement video that my co-host of Play by Play {Nick Paradies} have made today. I am happy to announce that we are creating a podcast and media network, with the Play by Play YouTube channel taking on a different role. The two podcasts that are on the Network are my “Grind Hours Podcast” and Nick’s new “The Hard Truth Podcast.” Check out the video for more information. Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share on your way out! 

Fresh Start_263: Junior year, here we come At my time in Cobleskill I have learned a lot and not just in the classroom. But after some time thinking I have come to conclusion that I’d rather just say thank you to the people and leave it at that. I am thank you that I went because of the people, and if it wasn’t for them I wouldn’t have stayed the two years. I am happy that I am done and excited to move forward with my college career. I am excited to expand my writing career in the biggest news market in the country. I am beyond relieved that I am done, so I can relax and record a podcast. I look forward to the summer for the expansion of the podcast and this blog to boot, great things are coming. Don’t forget to like, comment, subscribe, and share on your way out!

Fresh Start_262: To the people of Coby Nation, Thank you With today being my last final of sophomore year of college, I want to take some time to say thank you to the college and people in it. Tomorrow I give my thank you to the college, but today is specifically for the people that have made my two years so special. So, here it goes: First of all I would like to coach Nicki for coming and recruiting at my high school 2 years ago. If it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have applied and I wouldn’t have come to meet the amazing people that have helped me through my two years here. I wouldn’t have met Nicki’s replacement Coach Chris Brown. Coach, I cannot thank you enough for everything you have done for me in and out of the pool. For making me the swimmer that I am and for making me an essential part of the team and for giving me the responsibility to have to preform every day in practice and every meet. Even though we won a championship this year, I will not forgive myself for not ...

Fresh Start_261: An old gem As I am finishing up this semester, I have put a fair share on papers on a single flash drive, and with the amount of files I have on that single drive, sometimes you click the wrong file. Well, that happened to me today as I was printing out a draft of one of my journalism papers, and I found this gem on Tommy John surgery. This paper is about a year and half old, and I love this paper, so I will just leave it here with the work cited and all, enjoy: Many people don’t really know what Tommy John Surgery, and its significance to the game of baseball. It all started when John tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm while playing for the Los Angeles Dodgers. John had thirteen wins and three losses that year with a 2.59 earned run average. His surgery was done by Dr. Frank Jobe on September 25 th 1974. After John came back he won more than half of his two hundred and eighty eight wins. Many pitchers would follow suit with the surgery and ...