A Thin Line and a High Wire Act

SPRINGFIELD, MA – As the New Year looms near, the NHL and it’s players still have not come to an agreement to end its now 86 day old lockout and have officially cancelled games until December 30. With plans to start games on New Year’s Day, the season would allow for 4o-something games per team to be played. Yes the AHL has been benefiting from this as increased revenue. But if there are no games through January (or the rest of the year), the National Lacrosse League and Arena Football League will also see increased revenue AND attendance.

The NLL in particular will be helped because there are nine teams in the league and two always have near sell out crowds (Buffalo and Colorado) – the best fan atmospheres around. Even Toronto barely gets an average attendance of 10,000 unlike their glory days a decade ago. Between the fans of Banditland at First Niagara Center (or as I say “the Den of Thieves) to the Mammoth in the mountains of Denver you can watch a great game of box lacrosse regardless of whats happening in the game.

Arena Football has changed a bit since the original league folded and had it’s rights acquired by Arena Football One. Most arena games don’t climax over 8,500 attendance unless their team is consistently good or it’s one of the older franchises. playoff games aren’t even a guaranteed draw.  We have to wonder if there will be further expansion as the af2’s goal was to have 100 teams bey it’s fifth season (an bad failure – the NLL has it’s own problems).

Since commissioner George Daniels switched from interim to full time commissioner of the NLL, there has been more contraction than expansion. The Orlando Titans and Boston Blazers (II) franchises have both  suspended operations with no word from Orl-o and a pending 2014 return possibly under new ownership for Boston, whereas the Portland Lumberjax folded after just four seasons.  Expansion has been talked about since Jim Jennings ran league operations. Primarily reactivating the Vancouver Ravens franchise (which have remained inactive since the 2005 season) as will as reintroducing Montreal to the league.

There are also considerations as to who should be the next commissioner of the league if and when Bettman leaves. Many people say David Andrews (AHL commiss) which is a logical answer, however, my personal preference would be Craig Harnett for several lengthy to be discussed later reasons. In the instance of last seasons NBA labor sipute, I am surprised that the NHL -Bettman specifically – isn’t using the NBA guidelines seeing as how Bettman and David Stern (NBA commiss) are such close friends.

If it is at all possible we can manage to scratch out some sort of season, but don’t get your hopes up. I’m actually pleased that this lockout may be full season as it may spell the end of  Gusty Gary even though I was anticipating to see some professional hockey this year. It seems as though only time willl tell now.

-Ricky

Podcast, Ahoy!

Welcome to STwRaB (right-click me, then click “open in new tab”!)

SPRINGFIELD, MA – Our Podcasts are out! The above link is a welcome to our podcast section which will be available in our audio vault. These Podcasts, courtesy of Podomatic, will be simply recaps of the main points regarding the previous week’s, show. As to when we star, we would like to start the next show., which will be on October 27th, subject to change. There may not be a show this week however, there may still be a podcast. So keep your eyes peeled and we look forward to serving you as your Springfield College sports authority – Sports Talk with R&B!

-Ricky

Draft, Hall Induction Held at Westin

TORONTO, ON – Monday and Tuesday was the most important part of the off-season at the Westin Harbour Castle in Toronto as Monday saw the 2012 NLL Entry Draft. The following night, we would see Steve “Chugger” Dietrich inducted into the Hall of Fame, which does not have a physical building.

As far as the draft goes, four of the 10 first round picks went to Minnesota with the several trades between the Swarm and Buffalo being the cause of that. Mark Matthews was selected first overall by the Rush as expected. You can see replays of both the draft and induction through the news archive of NLL.com.

-Ricky

TR to Cherish Victory Until April

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The full story can be seen at the link provided below that I wrote for my post on the Buffalo Nickel Graphics website here. This coming from many firsts this season for the Nationals since the move to the United States. This victory was the final one in the regular season, but this win could be important to begin the postseason at Nationals Park. A fan myself since day one, I thought that after the first few weeks, TR would only win on the patriotic holidays and days significant to TR’s presidency when the Nats are at home. No matter, check the link then scavenge around my daily blog if you so desire!

-Ricky

Scioscia, Angels Management to Remain for 2013

ANAHEIM, CA – Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim general manager Jerry DiPoto announced prior to Tuesday nights game at Safeco Field in Seattle, WA that the current managerial staff will be around for the next season. This include hitting coach Mickey Hatcher’s interim replacement (Jim Eppard) from this past May. This proclamation follows a series of rumors that manager Mike Scioscia which have now been officially been put into the fire – at least for now.

It helps that the Halos had a 27-13 record since August 20th – the best in the majors in that span. It helps even further that Mike Trout has been further along in talks as an MVP candidate. Scioscia has been with the Angels since the 200 season and is the longest tenured manage in the league right now. That is following the retirement of Tony LaRussa after the completion of last season.

Scioscia has had a great staff on board. Along with him and Hatcher, the only other manager for their championship season in 2002 on the staff is first base coach Alfredo Griffin (who himself won two rings with the Blue Jays on ’92 and ’93). The others have since accepted managerial positions other than Bullpen coach Orlando Mercado. who left two seasons after. Bud Black was the first to make the transition, this from pitching coach to manager. After 31 years with the halos coaching staff, Joe Maddon left for Tampa Bay after 2006, having twice been interim manager for a season each. Those were before and after Terry Collins was the skipper and was then replaced by Scioscia the second time.

Finally Ned Yost, who was fired towards the end of the 2008 season, would be replaced by Ken Macha to star 2009. Macha was subsequently fired and Roenicke was chosen to start in 2011 over Bobby Valentine, Joey Cora, and Bob Melvin. Dino Ebel was chosen as Roenicke’s replacement as third base coach. Ebel, know for his aggressive baserunning approach, was called up from managerial duties in AAA Salt Lake prior to Maddon’s departure.

Scioscia’s ability to develop his assistants’ pedigree is  remarkable and has subsequently rewarded most of them, however Griffin has been content with his position in the LA Angels clubhouse. This despite not having been offered contracts by other clubs. With his unique coaching style, Scioscia has become one of the infamous coaches in regards to interacting with the team – especially outside of game-day. This includes one trip by the LA Zoo to the “Big A” by an elephant, an ostrich, and giraffe among other various team bonding experiences.

Fore-though the Halos may be watching the post season from their TV sets, there have been many positives out of this season. Also, the strong finish gives the fans in the seas of red something to look forward to. Albert Pujols, despite his lack of performance, has had the most home runs since the day he hit his first in an Angel uniform (May 6) – but still not enough to catch Miguel Cabrera or Josh Hamilton. At least the last game at Angel Stadium ended with “just another Halo victory” as they got to “light that baby up” in the dawn on of a great evening in Downtown Anaheim on Katella Avenue. Rory Markas always knew what was the story and Victor Rojas follows suit.

-Ricky

A Duel To Skill

 It is very tough to be able to do what we do as talk show hosts, much less in the sports world. You may never master the art of debating over topics at this day in age of technological advancing where every single little bit of information can be accessed on things such as your mobile handheld device. But Barry and I enjoy every minute of it, and at the same time we are learning from it too; not just what we can do better and other information, but rather about our demeanor.

That is to say especially a large portion of listeners off-campus have no idea of who we are. That in itself creates a sort of mystique as to our persona and ego for our audience. We realize that you cannot take yourself seriously in the journalism business, which is why we try to incorporate different things into the show (my Aussie accent during Aus. FL talk – though subconscious, sound effects, etc . . .).

In the grand scheme of things, this has become a regular fixture in our schedules as we have revolved our out-of classroom life around it. We now share a pair of adjoining singles in Alumni Hall next to the RA office in huge part because of the show. The show and our proximity allows us to be able to have discussions similar to those we have on the show on a regular basis and we have taken a lot form them.

With the progress we have made over the past semester or so, I would like to acknowledge that we will be airing our 100th episode later in this semester! I am very proud of our current accomplishments and thank you for your dedication to our programs over the past couple years. As we look to further expand our horizons, we aim to continue the standard of excellence in broadcasting we have set for ourselves coming into the 2012-13 academic year.

With regards,

Ricky

An Encore for BR Telecomm

Welcome to Sports Talk with R&B’s new blog home! We are very pleased to welcome you here and look forward to your visits to our site! Be sure to check back often. Don’t forget to find us on Twitter and soon on Facebook as we continue to build our BRT community.