November 5, 2009
From Derek Jeter to Mariano Rivera to Alex Rodriguez to CC Sabathia, the Yankees’ Universe is filled with one bright star after another. That makes it easier for players that, while they could be the best player on other teams, who are complimentary parts in the Yankee machine to fade into the background.
Throughout his time with the Yankees, Hideki Matsui has been one of those players. Nicknamed “Godzilla”, Matsui was the king of Japanese baseball when he chose to come to the United States in to play for the Yankees in December 2002. Such was his fame in Japan, and the level of their excitement for their greatest power hitter going to play for the world’s most famous baseball team, a parade was held in downtown Tokyo to celebrate the occasion.
Imagine the pressure that would be hanging over someone’s head in that situation. Is there anything remotely like it in America? It seems very unlikely. Yet that was the situation Matsui found himself in when he arrived in spring training with the Yankees in 2003.
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MLB | Tagged: Alex Rodriguez, CC Sabathia, Derek Jeter, HIdeki Matsui, Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, Pedro Martinez, Philadelphia Phillies | 
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Posted by tbontemps1
November 4, 2009
The NFL has turned into a sport that, according to the people in the business, the average fan isn’t supposed to understand. Teams have playbooks for their offenses and defenses that are hundreds of pages thick, and coaches work 14-hour days dissecting film and game-planning for their opponents.
But despite all of that complexity, some things are still pretty easy to comprehend. One of those things was that despite all of their best intentions, there was little chance that Eric Mangini’s tenure in Cleveland was going to be a successful one. Although we’re only eight weeks into his first (and possibly only) season with the Browns, Mangini’s time at the bottom of Lake Erie is looking like nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.
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Posted by tbontemps1
November 2, 2009
I must admit I’ve been quite baffled by the way Rajon Rondo’s future with the Celtics has been debated and questioned over the past six months. After the way he performed in the playoffs, when he was, without question, Boston’s best player when they pushed the eventual Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic to seven games (without Kevin Garnett), it looked like the 23-year-old point guard was becoming the face of the team, and the man who would become the team’s best player in the coming years as he became this generations Jason Kidd, with his incredible ability to churn out triple-doubles (after averaging 17 points, nine rebounds and nine assists in the playoffs).
But then, bizarrely, Rondo’s name began being bandied about in trade rumors, and there were questions about whether or not he would be signed to a contract extension by tonight’s midnight deadline, or else he would become a restricted free agent as part of next summer’s free agency bonanza. A quick look at the list of point guards in the NBA, however, proves that Rondo is more than deserving of the five-year, $55 million contract extension he agreed to with the Celtics earlier today, a contract that locks him in as the franchise’s headlining young player.
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Leave a Comment » | NBA | Tagged: Boston Celtics, Chris Paul, Danny Ainge, Deron Williams, Gilbert Arenas, Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett, Mo Williams, Rajon Rondo, Tony Parker | Permalink
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