Friday Fryer (June 8, 2007)

A no hitter is one of the hardest things to accomplish in professional sports. Actually, for a pitcher, the only thing harder than throwing a no hitter is throwing a perfect game. These accomplishments simply do not occur very often.

For Schilling, a no hitter may have punched his ticker to the Baseball Hall of Fame. As it stands now, Schilling will be a close call. He will have the strikeouts and two World Series rings. Yet, his win total will be very low. A no hitter would have iced the cake for him, though. Therefore, Curt gets a Friday Fryer nomination for coming close to a no hitter.

This is Lebron James’ first NBA Finals. In a few years, he will be the best player in basketball. This honor, however, currently resides with Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs. To make matters worse, Lebron, aka King James, is a one-man team, while Duncan has a strong supporting cast. The good news is that even though this series is going to be painful to watch, it will be quickly over.

The NBA and David Stern must already be in agony for what this series will do, ratings wise. A short series will only make things worse for the NBA. Hence, the NBA gets a Friday Fryer nomination for a short Finals that will be ugly to watch.

But did anyone see it? Games one and two of the Stanley Cup Finals were on Versus, a cable television station that few people receive. Games three through five were on NBC. According to the ratings, a repeat of the West Wing and some awful movie on the Sci-Fi Channel had higher ratings than Game three of the Finals. Oh my, how the NHL has fallen!

I am still a fan of the sport. I also still believe that hockey is the most exciting sport around, if it is played right. NHL hockey, pre-lockout, was awful. These days, however, the play has been very good. Nonetheless, the NHL is still feeling the tremendous effect of bad hockey for a decade followed by a season long lockout. This is, my friends, rock bottom for hockey. Things will slowly begin to improve for the NHL after this. But for now, the NHL gets what it deserves, a Friday Fryer nomination.

The Phillies are leaving today.
The Phillies will start a new series today.
And I want the Mets to be a part of it, New York, New York

This week’s Friday Fryer Chair winner is dedicated to one of ArmchairGM.com’s godfathers, DNL.

To the surprise of pretty much every baseball fan around, the Philadelphia Phillies went to New York and swept a three-game series from the first place New York Mets. The Phillies, who entered the series under .500 and eight games out of first, were on the verge of packing it in. So what happens? The Phils go into the Big Apple and took a big time bite out of the Mets.

The Mets are looking more and more like a team that is on the verge of a free-fall. I guess that is what happens when the organization is always admiring the actions of their cross-town rivals, the New York Yankees. The Yanks free-fall began on opening day. The Mets free-fall began in June. Which is worse? I do not know.

The Mets are still in first place in the NL East. The team, however is quite flawed. The starting pitching is beginning to fray on the edges and the bullpen is banged up. Injuries are beginning to take a toll on the club. The only saving grace for the Mets is the fact that they play in the NL East. Yes, the Phils did sweep them, but don’t worry, the Phils will likely lose two of three to the Kansas City Royals. The Atlanta Braves are still in the hunt, but injuries to Chipper Jones and their bullpen has crippled them. The Florida Marlins and Washington Nationals are great Triple A teams that happen to be in the NL East as well.

The Mets earned the Friday Fryer Chair this week for getting swept by the Phillies at home. Congratulations, and keep up the good work.

As always, until next Friday, AMF!