AFR Sports » Kids Game http://afrsports.com Mon, 08 Aug 2016 17:16:46 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.2 Pitcher This! http://afrsports.com/pitcher-this/ http://afrsports.com/pitcher-this/#comments Tue, 04 Dec 2012 18:23:14 +0000 AFR http://afrsports.com/?p=180 by: Ethan Messina
I am one of the biggest Yankee fans in New York.  Yet, even I have to admit that they make a lot of mistakes.  Mostly with their pitching staff.  Last week they did something smart.  The Yankees re-signed 40 year old, veteran pitcher Andy Pettitte to a one year contract.  It’ll be Pettite’s 18th season in the big leagues, 15 of those 18 years have been spent with the Yankees and it’s about to become his 16th.  Even though he is 40, losing velocity and fighting injuries, he is a much needed left arm in the rotation, and could possibly be their most reliable pitcher, when healthy.

Of course, they have CC Sabathia who has pitched well.  He is not as dominant as he once was but he is still their ace.  The rest of the rotation could be a question mark going into the 2013 season. Ivan Nova’s career is slowly ending because of repeated injuries.  Phil Hughes hasn’t been consistent as a starting pitcher.  He’s just in the rotation because they do not have any better options.  He would be better used in the bullpen.  David Phelps has some potential but he is too young to be a spectacular starting pitcher just yet.  Hiroki Kuroda is good but not very consistent either. Freddy Garcia is likely coming to the end of his career and cannot be counted on as a starter.  In the ALCS against the Tigers, the Yankees scored a total of 6 runs in 4 games and they gave up 19 runs.  That’s not good enough to get it done.

Once again, we face another winter and the conversation is still the same: They Yankees don’t have enough pitching.  Now they need a catcher also. They should bring in a veteran catcher like A.J. Pierzynski. He’s a good hitter and good behind the plate. They are one of the richest teams in MLB, they can afford to bring in another decent pitcher and a catcher.  In fact, it’s something they must do.
I’m 10 years old and I know that!  They are a bunch of grown men and they can’t figure it out?!
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]]> http://afrsports.com/pitcher-this/feed/ 6 Johnny Heisman http://afrsports.com/johnny-heisman/ http://afrsports.com/johnny-heisman/#comments Sun, 25 Nov 2012 05:52:39 +0000 AFR http://afrsports.com/?p=132 By Ethan Messina
 
The Heisman Trophy is the MVP (most valuable player) award for college football. It has been around since 1935. The Heisman has been won by some of the best football players of all time, like Barry Sanders, Bo Jackson, OJ Simpson and Marcus Allen. This year the Heisman race is very close with great candidates, such as Kansas State’s Collin Klein, Texas A&M’s Johnny (Johnny Football) Manziel, Ohio State’s Braxton Miller, Notre Dame’s Manti Te’o, Stanford’s Stepfan Taylor, USC’s Marqise Lee, Clemson’s Tajh Boyd, Oregon’s Kenjon Barner, Georgia’s Jarvis Jones, Arizona’s Ke’Deem Casey, and Northern Illinois’ Jordan Lynch. Of all these possible Heisman winners there are 2 of them who really stand out, making this essentially a two player race between Collin Klein and Johnny Manziel.

On November 10th, Johnny Manziel led his #15 Texas A&M Aggiespast then #1 ranked Alabama 29-24. Texas A&M is currently ranked #9 in the BCS poll. Collin Klein’s Kansas State Wildcats’team was ranked #1 for one week this season and then suffered a lopsided loss to unranked Baylor 52-24. Now Kansas State is ranked #6. Against Alabama Manziel ran for 92 yards and threw for 253 yards and 3 touchdowns with no interceptions. In Kansas State’s loss to Baylor, Klein threw for 286 yards and 2 touchdowns but had 3 interceptions.

Johnny Manziel should be the Heisman Trophy winner this year because he has more touchdowns, more completions and more total yards than Collin Klein. Texas A&M’s win against Alabama completely changed the overall BCS rankings this season. Manziel’s performance in the game against Alabama was the most important one of the year because it knocked Alabama out of the #1 ranking and created a revolving door atop the BCS rankings for weeks to come.
 
So in addition to being the best quarterback in college football, Manziel also had the biggest impact on the season with his play against Alabama.
 
His nickname should be changed from Johnny Football to Johnny Heisman!
 
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]]> http://afrsports.com/johnny-heisman/feed/ 0 Mike ‘Antoni, No D http://afrsports.com/mike-antoni-no-d/ http://afrsports.com/mike-antoni-no-d/#comments Sun, 18 Nov 2012 00:28:50 +0000 AFR http://afrsports.com/?p=86 by Ethan Messina

The Los Angeles Lakers hired coach Mike D’Antoni. They hired him instead of their former coach Phil Jackson, an 11 time NBA champion. Do you know how many championships Mike D’Antoni has? I’ll give you a hint: Not 1, not 2, not 3, not 4, not 5…NONE!!!

I think that Lakers owner Jim Buss doesn’t like Phil Jackson and that had something to do with the final decision. Phil Jackson has coached the best player ever, Michael Jordan, to six NBA titles. I think he can coach Dwight Howard, Steve Nash and Kobe Bryant. Mike D’Antoni coached Nash and the Phoenix Suns and he had a decent run there. Then he coached the NY Knicks and they played terrible under him. They never made it past the first round of the playoffs while he was a coach. In the 2008-2011 seasons, when D’Antoni was coach, they didn’t even make the playoffs! D’Antoni coached two star players on the Knicks (Carmelo Anthony and Amare Stoudemire) and he completely failed, so how can we expect him to do coaching three stars for one of the biggest franchises in NBA history?

Mike D’Antoni isn’t the right fit for the Lakers because their problem is defense and he is an offensive coach. The Lakers have two 7 footers in Pao Gasol and Dwight Howard. They can use their size on offense, but on defense the more athletic teams in the league will run right past them. Lakers’ fans expect to see their team win championships and Phil Jackson has a record 11 rings, 5 of those with the Lakers. Mike D’Antoni has none and has never even been to an an NBA championship. He lacks the experience to coach this team. Phil Jackson has been a head coach for 19 1/2 years! D’Antoni has been a coach for 10 years but also coached 8 years in Italy. The best choice for the Lakers and for Lakers’ fans was Phil Jackson. Apparently that was obvious to everyone but the Lakers’ ownership.

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