Forbes should avoid sports

So I realize sports is not Forbes' forte, but what is this? Any list that includes "Garth Snow" and "Best" should also include "at being a terrible GM" or "driving a franchise into the ground." Shockingly, this list considers Garth the 9th best at being a bang for your buck. Allow me to let that sink in. There are 30 GMs in the NHL, and Garth is ranked higher than 21 of them according to Forbes. Yeah, that doesn't make sense to me either. I can't argue with Dave Poile at #1 because the Preds are consistently competitive without having a large payroll, but how does Doug Wilson rank ahead of Ken Holland? Holland has 3 cups as a GM, one as an assistant GM, and the Wings are the hallmark franchise in the league. I'd say that is a good bang for my buck. Wilson? 0 cups, but 6 years of playoff disappointment... Ouch. I could nit pick every GM on this list, except Brian Burke, because he can do no wrong, but I will refrain from that diatribe. At least Don Waddell and his 1 playoff performance made the list. Dude had Heatley and Kovalchuk on his roster and couldn't build a team around them.

Scoring In Your Own Net

The on-ice play of the New York Islanders is just depressing. As Chris Botta recently pointed out, one day it’s a couple bad bounces, next day is bad goaltending, and next day is no offense. The Islanders are continuing a historic slump, which simply cannot be explained beyond, “simply being outmatched and outplayed.” It is safe to say that this meager blogger cannot begin to confront how to turn around this struggling team. What I can say is the New York Islanders have had more than their fair share of blunders off-the-ice that should never have happened.

The Isles 13 game losing streak has been eclipsed by their recent treatment of writer Chris Botta. As Misconduct noted below, Botta’s press credentials were revoked from the Islanders for being overly critical of the team. In an interview on WFAN, Botta explained that the team accused him of centering the story around himself and not the Islanders. This was a reference to a comment he made during the draft last summer when Garth Snow denied Botta an invitation to hear his comments about the draft class, while other reporters were granted access. Botta, dutifully reported, that Snow refused to comment to him.

The fact is hockey is not what it was in the United States, and most certainly, the New York Islanders are not the team they once were. This certainly put the organization in a tenuous position for fans. Diehards (yes, we are still out there) cry themselves to sleep each night, while the casual fans get driven farther and farther away. If the Isles PR continues on the track it has right now, they will literally not have enough people in Islander country to fill the NHL’s smallest arena – which is incidentally the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The excommunication of Christ Botta may seem like a fleeting PR problem, but it really is indicative of a much deeper problem:

1. Losing an Ally - First, and most importantly, the Islanders lost an enormous ally in Botta. Botta had been with the organization prior to becoming a national sports writer. His passion for the Islanders was reflected in his blog www.islanderspointblank.com, which gave more analysis and reporting on the Isles in the last two years than ESPN has done in the last decade. It was nice to know that there were a national sportswriter looking out for our team.

2. Shortening the Bench – The Isles beat writing staff is down to one. With the revocation of Botta’s credentials, Newsday’s Katie Strang remains the last beat-writer standing. This is particularly troublesome since Newsday limits its content, even access to Strang’s blog, to Newsday and Optimum subscribers. If the Islanders are hoping to better reach out to fans this is not a good way to do it. Especially when beat-writer blogs have become the best way to get up-close access to your favorite teams. I get plenty of insight from the 3 Yankee Blogs and 2 Giants Blogs that I read. As for the Isles? Botta really was the only/best game in town. We can only hope that he continues to post despite this diminished access.

3. Driving Away Talent – The current organization does not discriminate when it drives talented people away from the team. We have lost free agents (Ryan Smyth), coaches (Peter Laviolette, Ted Nolan, and Scott Gorden), front office staff (Neil Smith and Pat Lafontaine), and now they have turned on the members of the media. In the off-season, we saw the Islanders interceding on contract negotiations between MSG and Billy Jaffe. Sources said that Jaffe had been overly critical of the team and asked that his contract not be extended. I thought Jaffe was a gifted commentator and so did Versus and NBC who picked him up for national telecasts. Now Botta. Let’s hope Howie Rose is not next after his comments, which, frustration aside, I tend to agree with. With this circumstances, how can the Islanders expect to attract quality writers and commentators? It's hard enough to find the Isles on MSG+, MSG+2, or The Ocho or wherever they are for TV and Hofstra University Radio!

4. Troubling Fans – Fans are and should be concerned with the way the Islanders handle these situations because it is indicative of how the franchise is run. Fans, before even wins, want to know the franchise is stable and not say…moving to Kansas City. They want to know the team is more than just a bargaining chip for owner Charles Wang’s Lighthouse Project. Who else but the Isles’ enemy #1, Chris Botta, defended Wang as an involved owner who genuinely cares about the team. But we need to hear it from Wang, Snow, and the organization. Good PR goes a long way on this front.

5. Appearances Help – We know the team is sucking money – like many NHL franchises. But come on! There is a dirty little secret about the Isles’ payroll that we should acknowledge. Without the buy-outs of Alexei Yashin and Brandon Witt (over $5M), the Islanders would be under the league minimum. Similarly, the Isles continue to pay injured players Kyle Okposo and Mark Streit instead of putting them on the injured list in order to stay above the salary floor. This may make good business sense, but let’s at least try to make it look like the Isles are focused on winning. Coughing a few extra bucks on players certainly is better than firing a talented Scott Gordon and talking about making the playoffs in the midst of a historic losing streak.

Have fun with unemployment Howie Rose

I apologize to our Islander fan readers, but this team is so bad even the announcers don't want to watch anymore. In fact, Howie Rose would prefer watching the Mets... in spring training. Yes, those same Mets that have been ridiculed in Family Guy multiple times. Considering Chris Botta had his press credentials revoked for being too critical of the team, this does not bode well for Mr. Rose.

Movember Madness – First Round, Yosemite Sam Bracket

#1 Lanny McDonald

versus

#8 Bobby Valentine

Outlook: Hall of Famer whose 'stache dominated the NHL for two decades. But did it have more utility than Bobby V's?

#2 Dennis Eckersley

versus

#7 Steve Prefontaine

Outlook: Eck's world-famous 'stache has taken him to the Hall and to the TBS Baseball Studio. It faces a tough competitor in Prefontaine's clearly aerodynamic look, which sent him to the 1972 Olympics.


#3 Mike Ditka

versus

#6 Jeff Fisher

Outlook: The most tenured coach in the NFL presently takes on "The Coach" whose legacy and 'stache have won Superbowl, made movies, and a studio job on ESPN.

#4 Randy Johnson

versus

#5 Don Mattingly

Outlook: The 'stache tells the story here. Mattingly's classic and consistent look was a metaphor for his on-field play. Johnson's look could often be entirely dominant, but not always what it used to be, he also killed a bird.

Remember to place your votes in the comments section! Let's get it on!

Movember Madness – First Round, Fu Manchu Bracket

#1 Keith Hernandez

Versus

#8 Adam Morrison

Outlook: Look for a 30 point beat down and Hernandez to pull his starters, the reigning AMI champion takes on the college hoops phenom's trash 'stache.

#2 Hulk Hogan

Versus

#7 Mark Spitz

Outlook: A tricky match-up in the first round for the Hulk-'stache. Spitz is among the most dominant Olympians in history and his 'stache is a lasting image of him swimming dominance. Few 'staches on this list have endured the limelight as long as Hulk Hogan. Can Spitz stand up to Thunder Lips?

#3 Goose Gossage

Versus

#6 Mike Gartner

Outlook: The Battle of Recent Hall of Famers. Gossage's 'stache has become an icon, while Gartner's no-frills image is no different from his playing style.

#4 George Parros

Versus

#5 David Babych

Outlook: A compelling 4-5 in which both 'staches are more notable than the scoring ability of each player.

Movember Madness!!!

Now this is a cause I can get behind! Men (and perhaps some women?) around the world are growing mustaches for the month of November to support prostate cancer awareness. Athletes such as Nick Swisher and George Parros have shaved and a growing fresh ‘staches in support of the cause. So, in that spirit, we here at the blog would like to introduce Movember Madness! A NCAA tournament style competition the puts the top 32 mustaches in sports against one another.

A brief mention off methodology. We deferred to the experts at the American Mustache Institute to come up with our top 6 mustaches: Keith Hernandez, Rollie Fingers, Al Hrabosky, Lanny McDonald, Dale Earnhardt, Hulk Hogan. These were the top six seeds in the tournament. The rest were chosen by a blue ribbon panel here at The View Through Your Earpiece. They were seeded and placed into four brackets: Fu Manchu, Tom Selleck, Groucho Marx, and Yosemite Sam.

We need your help, noble reader. In the comments section, please tell us who should win each match-up and why. We will tally the results and come back with the Sweet 16.

Night is Always Darkest Before the Dawn

According to ESPN's Mark Kreidler, The Oakland Raiders are now America's Team, being handed the mantle from the now totally inept, Dallas Cowboys. For fear of our nation, I only read the tagline: Despite being a sloppy mess, the Raiders forge ahead. What's more American than that? Move over, Dallas. Oakland is now America's Team.

Frightening times indeed. Much like in The Dark Knight, we really have no idea how long the night will last. I believe Eli Manning is the hero America needs, but also the hero it deserves!

TELL IT GOODBYE! Joe Morgan Out at Sunday Night Baseball

As reported by ESPN last night, Joe Morgan will not be returning to ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball. Of course, the blogsphere has already blown up with a resounding “good riddance.” Before getting into my own reflections, I point you attention to a great posting by NBC’s Craig Calcaterra that really put things in perspective. Calcattera certainly does not disagree with the criticism of Morgan - particularly the issue of being unprepared for games. He points to two interesting points: (1) Morgan’s performance, while less than stellar, did not overly detract from the game. That is, he did not over-analyze and his commentary could easily be ignored and rejected. (2) Morgan often rejected the importance of the very same statistics that demonstrated he was an excellent player. Check it out.

I certainly agree with Calcattera to a point. While I agree his flawed commentary could often be ignored, it was like getting punched in the stomach when you heard it. I swear, every Sunday Night game I watched, I would feel the need to call someone and yell, “He could not watch one other game this week!?” Occasionally, Morgan would allude to being at the ballpark on Saturday and catching the previous game but even that was far from a sure thing. My major gripe with him was that he would re-state these misconceptions that fans of the game knew to be false. There are few things more insulting than Morgan saying something like, “You know Derek Jeter is always so clutch, I think he gets a hit here.” When you, the fan, who had watched, Jeter go 0 for his last 8 with runners in scoring position over the last week, just want to cover your eyes and ears with your Mariano Duncan “we play today, we win today” shirt. The point is that the watching public wants more from commentators than what they hear from that guy at the water cooler who watches five minutes of SportsCenter while on the elliptical. Morgan had one game to prepare for every week, which gave him the potential to provide his viewers with insightful commentary that, at the very least, was rooted in recent events. This is compounded by the fact that ESPN Sunday Night Baseball is no ordinary telecast. It is the only nation-wide, exclusive telecast each week. That means fans are deprived of their regular hometown announcers who clearly have more experience and knowledge about the day-to-day performance of a team. Morgan need to at least attempt to match that.

It seems ESPN finally made the right call. Many blogs, especially the late great Fire Joe Morgan, reported that ESPN employees were insulted by Morgan’s lack of preparation for games, but of course, I have no basis beyond these unknown sources to believe that. Still, that fact should not matter. ESPN is a national network that should command the highest quality from their on-the-air personalities. This should be especially true for its primetime, national broadcast of its game of the week.

We are not going to belabor the point here. All the criticisms of Joe Morgan are well-known, and it seems to have taken ESPN a little too long to make the move. But, it has been made. Hopefully, ESPN will continue to use John Miller and Orel Hershiser who I think are well-suited for their national telecast.

Welcome my son, welcome to the machine.

Are we to believe that this is the actual Machine or is it a Tonight SHow hoax?

Guest Bloggers Galore!

Today we have a special guest blogger, JD. JD goes way back with TYRE, so we trust him, even if he is another Islander fans. Let's see what he has to say:

I'm still furious the Islanders sent Nino Niederreiter back to juniors.

As a season ticket holder and someone who will watch almost all 82-games this season, the Isles product was better with Niederreiter on the ice.

Since the Isles sent Niederreiter back to juniors after his nine game test run, the Isles have gone 0-3, losing a combined 16 to 4 in those three games. Sure, the Isles have lost the last five games they’ve played, but with El Nino in the lineup for the first two losses of this Islanders’ five-game losing streak, the team lost a one-goal game to Florida on October 23rd and a close one in Montreal, 5-3 on October 27th. Andrei Kostitsyn scored an empty net goal for the Habs, otherwise it would have been a one-goal game, as well.

I’m not saying El Nino would have made an overwhelming offensive impact. He scored a goal and an assist in his first 9 NHL games, but you could see him progressing with each game. One of the last images I have of El Nino playing was watching him back-check and breaking up a play with a diving attempt. I miss that. I want to see more of that hustle and defensive responsibility from the rest of the team.

The Isles talked about depth at forward as a reason it made sense not to rush El Nino along. Well, Bruno Gervais played forward against Montreal on Saturday night (as a 7th defenseman) and last night, Rob Schremp, centered the third line. Schremp's contribution: a -4 rating, a bad boarding penalty, and a secondary assist on a play Blake Comeau and PA Parenteau did all the work.

Yes, I'm aware Kyle Okposo will be back, but then sit Hunter, send Sim to the minors, and only dress Gillies for games you know you need the muscle, such as the Flyers v. Isles game this coming Saturday.

The most important thing people who believed sending El Nino back to Portland was the best decision are missing: team chemistry. There’s no stat for a player’s chemistry on and off the ice other than looking at wins and losses. The first nine games of the season, the Islanders were 4-3-2.

Talent wise, let’s compare El Nino to the Isles beloved Trent Hunter. In 9 games this season, Hunter also has 2 points with no goals. Well, Hunter is a physical presence you say? Hunter has 13 hits in nine games, that’s three less than Niederreiter. Hunter has also taken careless penalties and has 21 total penalty minutes so far this season. At least Niederreiter has drawn two penalties this season to go with his PIMs.

For those who ripped on El Nino’s .083 shooting percentage, it beats Comeau’s .081 and Frans Nielsen’s .071, as well as Hunter and Jon Sim’s .000.

If Coach Gordon has to “baby” Niederreiter, that’s fine. His nickname El Nino means “the boy” in Spanish, not the man. So, if bringing Niederreiter along means starting him off on offensive zone face-offs, which in turns leads to Isles “W’s” I’m all for it. Baby him all you want. Maybe the strategy was actually working.

For those who say, “try thinking long term,” I am. A day in the NHL is better than a day in juniors. Even if he’s not lighting up other teenagers, he’s gaining invaluable experience at the NHL level. If you want to talk about helping his confidence level, how does sending him back to Portland do that? It had to make him think his play wasn’t worthwhile on the current Isles team, which it was.

Lighhousehockey.com posted an interview Niederreiter did with a Swiss newspaper, 20 Minuten, with the emphasis being on Niederreiter saying, “I don’t belong there.” “There” meaning the “NHL.” Talk about a loss of confidence from a guy who proved he could play in the NHL.

To me, the most telling part of the interview is his answer to this question:

Question: Can you learn (how to be an NHL regular) in a junior league like the WHL?

Niederreiter’s Answer: This question is justified. Usually, you always play at your opponent's level and in the WHL the level is lower than in the NHL. Therefore, despite weaker opponents, I am seeking to play like I did in the NHL. It's the only way to grow my play.

He admits that the only way to become better is to play in the NHL, but has a great attitude, anyway. He appears to be a team player, not someone who should be living with a host family in Portland. Now, that’s really “babying” the guy.

What I know: I wish Niederreiter was still playing for the big club. He showed early signs of his ability as a power forward and played a complete, solid two-way game. He fit in nicely on the Doug Weight and Michael Grabner line. It’s a shame he’s gone. I’ll be looking forward to El Nino’s return, next year.

Ominous beginnings?

How did we NOT see this one coming? Heaven Bless the New York Knicks. Possibly the most dysfunctional organization in sports.

The Dallas Cowboys: Truly America's Team

If America were a bunch of quitters! Good thing we're not. According to ESPN's Matt Mosley, David Garrad called out the Cowboys for their dispassionate play.

They have a bajillion dollar stadium, talented players out the wazoo, and a respectable tradition to play for, and they get called out by David Garrard? Not exactly a pro-bowler accustomed to making headlines with his mouth and his play. David Garrard! What the hell is wrong with this team? Where's the pride? Where's the passion? Where is Herb Brooks when you need him? The Cowboys have won our first ever Richard Nixon Early Quitter Award sponsored by Philip Morris. (Philip Morris, please don't sue us.) My bet on our next recipient of this award being the New Jersey Devils, but none of you care about hockey, so it doesn't matter to you punks.

It's Good to Be Back

Oh, so much to talk about! Randy Moss waived after someone ordered some bad Chinese food!Mike Shanahan benches McNabb for the final drive of the game in favor of Rex Grossman!Tiger Woods finally loses his number one spot! The Islanders still suck! We will get into all of it right here at the Second Coming....

But most importantly, I wanna rage...right now.

Getting the word out

Ok, so this was supposed to be a sports blog, but we're just going to write about whatever we want. That being the case, I need to get the word out on the best show on TV right now. The cast of characters is the most interesting since Seinfeld. Fact. Watch Community. Trust me.

Just like us, they're back!

Simon Pegg and Nick Frost are back. Their movies remind me a little bit of the Broken Lizard guys; whenever they get together their movies are hilarious even if their reviews pan. Sure there are only two movies to base this argument off of (Shaun of the Dead and Hott Fuzz), but those are two pretty funny movies. They've brought in Seth Rogen to do the voice of the titular character, Paul, which is a pretty good start, see Kung Fu Panda. If you haven't seen that movie, you probably shouldn't be reading this blog.

Brett Brett go night night

I'm not sure how I feel about this being the first post of the Through Your Earpiece Revival (TYRE), but this is too good to pass up. I know, I know, everyone writes about Brett Favre and we're supposed to be better than everyone else, but this is hilarious. He's curled up in the fetal position just takin' naps on the medical cart. On another note I think TYRE could pass for a CCR tribute band name.

We came, we saw, we kicked its ass!

After a long hiatus, look for the return of Game Misconduct and the Net Crasher! Coming November 2010.