GAME ONE APRIL 6, 2010

NO SPORTZINE FOR A COUPLE WEEKS

In the 5^th inning of the first baseball game of the season, the Red Sox looked dead in the water versus their arch rivals the Yankees. Oh yeah, the World Series winning Yankees, who for some reason did not open at home and receive their rings at Yankee Stadium.

Down 5-1, Josh Beckett was knocked out early, and the Sox were struggling against CC Sabathia who looked like he was wearing his PJs, and putting Boston bats to sleep.

Then in the 5^th Don Orsillo said “Another hit for the Red Sox” on JD Drew’s single, which was actually only their second hit of the game. Then Mike Cameron got a hit and Marco Scutaro ripped a single for the Sox second run.

One inning later CC Sabathia was going beddie byes, thanks to Youk’s 2-run triple and CC’s 104 pitches. What followed was a comparison of the Red Sox and Yankees’ bullpens and defense. After Adrian Beltre singled in Youk to tie the game, Ramon S. Martinez gave up a walk and a double to A-Rod. With no outs, Hideki Okajima tried to contain the damage, but allowed the 2 inherited runners to score (a sore point last year).

Against Chan Ho Park in the 7^th, the Sox used Mighty Mouse Pedroia’s 2-run HR to tie. Last year, the Yankees might have used Phil Hughes in the 7^th but he’s now a starter. Too many performances like that and Park will be moving his vehicle.

Then Youk doubled and with the score tied, lefty Damaso Marte was brought in to face Big Papi. A wild pitch got Youk to 3^rd and a passed ball by Jorge Posada (who the Yankees reportedly hope to catch 100+ games!) allowed the winning run to score.

The BoSox bullpen with Daniel Bard and Jonathon Papelbon did their job and the Yankee bullpen faltered again giving up a pad run in the 9^th by Joba Chamberlain. And the only error of the game was committed by NY’s left fielder Brett Gardiner.

Only 161 games left. 17 more versus the Yankees. Welcome back to baseball. Play ball.

ERRATA

In last week’s Sportzine I mentioned all the sports that were going on over the Easter weekend. I included the Masters golf tournament, which actually starts this week. So I really am losing my mind. And once in a while, I retrieve it. As Dan Quayle once noted, a mind is a terrible thing to lose.

Sportzine is also available at jimdawsonsports.com (Thanks Buffalo Steve)

	PUT SOME SOUTH IN YOUR MOUTH

BULLETS

BULLETS

• Bill Reynolds (ProJo – 4/5) ranted about ESPN having the MLB season opener on Easter Sunday night at 8 as a ‘money grab’. Kids (and some adults) couldn’t watch the game to conclusion because of the start time. The ex-car salesman turned over the keys to the car to ESPN for the maximum money. Fans be damned! The Wise Man is nodding.

• Boston Sports Media Watch reported (bostonsportsmedia.com - 4/5) that NESN had its highest ever season opener rating with a 19.7 (475,000 households). NESN is the crown jewel in the Red Sox franchise and a major reason John Henry bought the Red Sox.

• Good to have Jerry Remy back for his NESN game analysis. Remy called the Yankees’ double steal before it happened. You wonder if Tito didn’t warn Victor Martinez who threw through to 2^nd on Jeter’s steal.

• It was great (if late) to see Dennis Johnson inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. Larry Bird considered DJ the best he’d ever played with as a teammate. My dad (RIP 4/6/94) drew a picture of Dennis Johnson and presented it to him in the Celtics locker room. Reggie Lewis told my dad that he didn’t give DJ enough freckles.

• The Butler – Duke game was as good as it gets. I thought Butler (like URI) might have won had they hit a few more free throws. When I checked, Butler was 13 of 18 and Duke was 10 for 16. Duke won by playing great defense and rebounding better in the 2^nd half.

• Tiger now gets to worry more about his performance on the course rather than off. Many will watch to see if he still has it. Tiger must be in ecstasy.

• Dale and Holley (WEEI) reported today that Manny once lost a diamond earring in the dirt at McCoy Stadium while playing for the PawSox. Never heard of that one.

• Jim Donaldson (Pro Jo – 4/6) finally wrote a positive column (shocking, I know). It saluted the (Ben) Mondor way with the PawSox and their fans. Donaldson does reveal that Mondor admitted knowing nothing about baseball when he bought the team in 1977.

• Peter Abraham now writes for the Boston Globe. Abraham is the author of the LoHud (Lower Hudson) Yankees blog. Ironically Abraham is the only Globe staff writer to pick the Red Sox to win the AL East in 2010. None of the Globies have the Sox in the Series!

• A WEEI texter noted that Rasheed Wallace screamed “I’m not a child” at Doc Rivers. And then Doc gave Rasheed a timeout.

E-MAIL

URI and UCONN were both charter members of the Yankee Conference, which formed in 1938 as the New England Conference and became the Yankee Conference in 1947. It dropped support of all sports except football in 1975.  I remember Gus telling me about a URI-UCONN game at Keaney Gym when, trailing by a point in the closing seconds, URI star Steve Chubin stole the ball and headed for the winning basket, only to dribble the ball off his foot.  The rivalry was strong between the two schools in several sports.
Duelin’ Glenn

Thanks, Glenn. There you have it – Bags was right, for once. - Z

And a correction from Chuck D Computer:

You only put the link for the first one in, not the scripture it actually refers to.

Rather than give the link http://bible.cc/psalms/137-9.htm (which no one can click on in the printed version anyway) you should just put the scripture itself:

Psalm 137:9 - Happy is the one who takes your babies and smashes them against the rocks!

And Ezekiel 23:20:  There she lusted after her lovers, whose genitals were like those of donkeys and whose emission was like that of horses.

I stand (or sit) corrected. - Z

A checklist for you….
http://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/bk94d/reddit_i_need_your_disturbing_movie/
Computer Mike

Thanks CM, who sent me a site asking readers to name some disturbing movies that they’ve seen. I dropped everything and went there right away to leave my picks. - Z

Yes, URI and Connecticut were in the Yankee Conference together. I had the pleasure of attending a UConn/RI battle at Keaney Gym in the late 60’s. I remember (slightly) that URI won in a real barnburner. UConn’s star at that time was Wes Balisuknia an All-American candidate and URI was led by Steve Chubin. Every time Balisuknia got the ball, the URI fans (mostly inebriated frat boys) would chant “Wesssssssssssssss, Wessssssssssss, Wessssssssss…”
I was at Bryant during that time where Tom Smile was the star and leading the nation in scoring for Div III, I believe.

NCAA dirt—Reportedly 2 Villanova stars Corey Fisher and Scotty Reynolds spent much of Wednesday night practicing at the Foxy Lady. They had to be forcibly removed by members of the coaching staff. Their coach (he of the Armani Suits) was irate. Considering that neither one started the game, I believe this accurate. They certainly played like they were hung-over. In any case, Robert Morris got jobbed by the refs.

Tricky Ricky

And this follow-up:

I did a little research - Wes Bialosuknia is the correct spelling. After graduating from UConn in 1967, he played 70 games for the Oakland Oaks of the ABA in 1967-68. He was also drafted by St. Louis of the NBA.

Tricky Ricky

Regarding the NCAAs, this came in:

Many colorful T-shirts worn by the crowd.  The best was ”I hate Peyton Manning” on the front “and Eli sucks too” on the back.

The Trickster