Monthly Archives: January 2009
Logie confirms that it is Bailey centering Comeau and Okposo, Frans between Hunter and Park, Hilbert-Thompson-Jackman and Comrie-Weight-Guerin. Considering the Tavheduchian magnitude of tonight’s game, they could be talking about tonight’s game for months.
You can talk about it right now. In Comments. Guidelines.
Allow me a moment to sing about some of the members of the supporting cast of one of my all-time favorite shows, “The Sopranos.” I saw something the other day on “CenterStage,” the Michael Kay interview show on YES, that made my jaw drop in recognition.
Steve Schirripa, who played Bobby Baccala on “The Sopranos,” was Michael’s guest. The actor was asked about how he was a longtime Mets fan but in recent years switched to the Yankees. Okay, kinda unheard of for real sports fans in New York, but certainly Schirripa had good reasons. Right?
Not really. Talk about someone losing their way. With dead seriousness, Schirripa told Kay why he dropped his beloved Metsies. He said that when “The Sopranos” debuted, he contacted the Mets and asked for tickets to Opening Day. “I even offered to give them my credit card and pay for them,” he said. What a guy!
The Mets’ crime? “They put me in seats all the way in right field.” Who does this guy think he is – DeNiro?
Imagine that. While fans are sleeping overnight at Shea in March to get tickets to the home opener, an unknown actor who blessedly became part of a cultural phenomenom figured not only would the Mets hook him up with tickets, but that they’d put him in the best seats in the house. We’re not talking Jerry Seinfeld here. Schirripa was, cautiously, the 11th lead on “The Sopranos.” (My list: Tony, Carmela, Christopher, Dr. Melfi, Paulie, Meadow, A.J., Silvio, Junior, Janice, Adriana-even-when-dead).
He’s a 50-year old man from Bensonhurst who you’d think would understand what it’s like to be a real sports fan in New York. To be honest, before I saw him on the Kay show, Steve Schirripa always seemed like such a good, honorable, knows-where-he-comes-from guy. I want to hope he was kidding.
Unfortunately, there is a pattern here. I won’t put the gentleman’s name and photo in this blog because he has my email address, knows where to find me and is a pretty big man. But I had a similar situation at the Islanders, even worse because it got personally ugly.
Another “Sopranos” cast member – somewhere in the 12-18 rank of leads – once drove me completely up the wall with freeloading. Like Schirripa, this was another local guy who acted like a sweetheart before he completely lost his way. And it’s not like I didn’t know he was a huge Rangers fan! Not that there’s anything wrong with that. What started off as a press pass request turned into demands for comp tickets and a whole lot more.
Let me cut to the David chase. It got so bad with this fellow, I was called by my Islanders colleagues at home and asked to come back to a private event and tell the man and his friends to leave.
I’ll never forget the look the mobster-on-TV shot me. The man was not acting.
Speaking of Italians: Scott Gordon seemed to want to make a point of declaring it’s time for Chris Campoli to step it up. The coach told a trio of reporters at yesterday’s practice that he met with the struggling 24-year old defenseman. “Chris has a lot of untouched potential,” said Gordon. “I want him to change his mindset. I’d like to see him really push himself and start elevating his play. You don’t always have to beat the opponent one-on-one,” said Gordon. “Sometimes it’s better to distribute the puck and go.”
In making his point about Campoli’s two-way play within a system, the coach praised a blog item by Greg Logan of a month ago on former Islanders defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron. This may have been the paragraph from Logie that Scott was referring to:
What does all this have to do with the Islanders? Well, considering how many of the Islanders are struggling on defense while trying to change to fit new coach Scott Gordon’s system, it shows a couple of things. One, the same player performs differently in different systems, suggesting they are a product of the system. Two, a player can change his spots when the coach succeeds in connecting with him and communicating his message.
Gordon will have at least another season and likely beyond to get his message across – in many cases with new players.
ETC: Peter Mannino has been recalled on an emergency basis to back up Yann Danis for tonight’s 4-pointer in Atlanta. Don’t forget to check Greg’s blog for all the latest from Atlanta on the kids vs. vets line combinations. Greg should have final details later in the afternoon on who’s centering Kyle Okposo and Blake Comeau.
Comments. The Point Blank Poll continues in the next thread. Go there to participate. Some of the responses – positive and negative – are hilarious. Below the Poll thread is a chance for us to continue to get to know you. Some hysterical stuff there, too.
Seriously. Not kidding. Really, is it so crazily out of the realm of possibility?
(I can hear Baumbach and Rieber: YESSSSSSS!)
The Islanders have 35 games left. It’s garbage time. The team can play loose. Historically in the NHL, teams like this are dangerous down the home stretch. Teams sell off players at the deadline, everyone thinks they’ll only get worse – they only get better. Remember the March when Yashin centered Nilsson and Bergenheim and those guys were money?
I want a percentage. 80%. 50%. 33%. 0%. Whatever. None of this 9/2 or 5/1 odds stuff.
After you say what’s the percentage chance of the Islanders playing .500 hockey the rest of the way, give your prediction for their record the final 35 games.
I say the Islanders have a 33% chance of playing .500 for the remainder of the season. But if I had to guess their record in these last 35 games, I’m predicting 13-17-5. (You’d think 26-46-10 would get them the shot at Tavares or Hedman with the first or second pick).
That’s correct: I’m predicting that the team that has won 13 of its first 47 will now win 13 of its final 35. I really don’t think that’s such a high bar to set.
Do you?
Your % and 35-game prediction in Comments. Only one post per reader.
8:25 pm, The Panera in RVC - I’m sitting across the table from Kevin Schultz, the young blogger who will contribute when I’m away on assignment for most of next week. I haven’t done a background check on Kevin, but what I know is that when he writes vile and wicked stuff at least it’s under his own name on his own blog, Barry Melrose Rocks. Like today, when he called Brad May a Duchene.
No doubt he’s probably even carved up Point Blank. But I do not care. Thought it would be good to get a younger look in the lineup. If I’m Guerin, he’s Bailey.
Kevin is a 22 years old Islanders fan from the County of Nassau. He is also a regular contributor to AOL Fanhouse while trying to graduate from the University of South Carolina.
Meeting at Panera for the free wireless, I figured we’d take a look at how far apart we are generationally. So here goes.
All-Time Favorite Islander
Botta - John Tonelli
Schultz - Ziggy Palffy
Favorite Musician/Band
Botta - Bruce Springsteen
Schultz - Dave Grohl/Foo Fighters
Prediction: NYI wins in final 35 games of season
Botta - 13
Schultz - 5
Favorite Movies
Botta - The Godfather, (current) Slumdog Millionaire
Schultz - Super Troopers, Ocean’s 11
Store
Botta – The Gap
Schultz – PacSun
Favorite ’90s Islander
Botta - Kenny Jonsson
Schultz - Pierre Turgeon (after Palffy)
Favorite Websites
Botta: rogerebert.com, Puck Daddy, Watchdog by Neil Best
Schultz: FanHouse, Puck Daddy, Deadspin
All-Time Favorite Athletes (non-NHL)
Botta - Don Mattingly, John McEnroe, Lawrence Taylor, Tiger Woods
Schultz - Chad Johnson (pre-name change), Wayne Chrebet
Prediction: NYI leading scorer still with team at end of season
Botta – Mark Streit
Schultz – Mark Streit
Favorite Video Game
Botta - The one in the arcade at the old Mid-Island Plaza where the monkey swung from rope to rope and other hijinks
Schultz - NHL ’93 for Sega. That one is still fun.
We invite you to play along. In Comments.
1:15 pm - The divide between in-coming and out-going is now clearer than ever. Look at these two lines at Islanders practice today:
Mike Comrie – Doug Weight – Bill Guerin
Blake Comeau – *Josh Bailey – Kyle Okposo
(*Revised, 2:45: Mark Herrmann of Newsday is reporting that it is Frans Nielsen and not Bailey in the center spot. I heard Bailey but I would not bet against Mark. Either way, it’s a kid line).
On one hand, you can say, What have the Islanders got to lose? On the other, it’s fair to wonder, What if it doesn’t work out?
The shuffle adds intrigue to tomorrow night’s giant 4-point game in Atlanta. In Comrie, Weight and Guerin you have a trio of veterans quite possibly in their final 5 weeks with their franchise – almost certainly their final 10 weeks. But they still have plenty to play for.
In Comeau, Bailey/Nielsen and Okposo, let’s not go crazy and call it the Islanders’ top line of the future. It is not. But by putting them together in the first game after the All-Star break, the Islanders are sending a message. We wonder about the move back-firing, about it coming at least a month too early. If Bailey (19 years old), Okposo (20) and Comeau (22) aren’t productive - quite a challenge for three kids who are still prospects - the Islanders don’t have anywhere else to go.
Either way, should be a fun watch.
ETC: Dan Fritsche not coming to the Islanders, who did not consider picking up another third or fourth-line player from another team off the waiver wire…Joey MacDonald has yet to return to practice, so figure on Yann Danis against the Thrashers with another emergency recall as the backup…Trent Hunter back in the lineup Thursday.
Comments.
(Kevin Lynch - Baghdad, 2005)
The Point Blank Inbox gets some of the most incredible emails, most we can’t run. But we received this letter today and are grateful to have permission to publish it. The email is from a returning veteran of the war, a young man from Lido Beach. He has some very passionate – at times incendiary – words regarding the political football known as the Lighthouse Project.
Kevin Lynch was a commissioned officer in the United States Army Infantry. Before the end of his duty, he rose to the rank of captain. Kevin served with the 10th Mountain Division and the 2nd Ranger Battalion in his four combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. We salute him for his service to our country, and thank him for sharing his feelings on the Coliseum property issue.
****
Chris,
I am a recently returned Iraq/Afghan war vet. I have been away from Long Island for a while, but I am no stranger to the Islanders or the Coliseum. My father has worked at the Coliseum as a part-time job since it opened and I also worked there while I was in high school before I left for college.
Your Blog has been awesome in allowing me to catch up with my Islanders and figure out where things went wrong. When one is overseas, the Armed Forces Network tries to play teams from all of the country, but I did not get to see my Isles much at all. So when I returned this summer I was a little lost in my knowledge of the state of the Isles. Your blog has helped me catch up.
I am a supporter of the Lighthouse Project. I recently listened to your interview on WFAN via the Lighthouse Project web site. I thought it was an excellent piece. The part that intrigued me is when you explained the minimal public funding that Charles Wang and his associates are asking for the project.
This brings me to my next point. Since Kate Murray does not have to foot the bill, Kate is being driven by some force to block this project. As an officer in the United States Military I unfortunately know all too well the intentions of U.S. politicians. Politicians are elected on contributions first, then votes – one of the ramifications of democracy mixed with capitalism. For better or worse, that is our democracy. I believe in it, and I fought for it.
The businesspeople who stand to lose from the Lighthouse Project are the owners of the land of Roosevelt Field. The retail space of the Lighthouse Project would take away business or at least compete with that Mall.
They are pulling Kate Murray’s chain: all of her claims that she is looking out for the people of Uniondale are bogus. The voters of Uniondale do not get Kate Murray elected. Any reasonable person knows that. The only way to get Kate Murray is to attack her where it hurts: bad press and the potential loss of contributions and then votes. The media needs to expose the owners of Roosevelt Field or whomever is pulling Kate Murray’s chain to block this project.
Kate Murray is getting the rap that Sheldon Silver of the New York State Legislature received from the failure of the Jets’ West-side stadium project. The force behind Silver was the Dolan family, owners of MSG, who stood to lose the most from a larger venue blocks away in midtown Manhattan.
Kate Murray and her intentions need to be exposed. The softballs thrown at her by the media must stop. Pick up the pace. Expose why she really does not want the project. It is all about the money.
I look forward to meeting you at the Point Blank event in RVC coming up on March 10th.
Kevin Lynch
Reaction.
6:15 pm - The Islanders have just announced that Mike Sillinger is out for the season after undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in New York yesterday, his second hip surgery in the last year.
On January 2, knowing his season – and quite possibly his NHL career – was done, we wrote this ode to the man they call Silli. He could be in Saskatoon for Islanders training camp in September, but whether it’s as a 38-year old member of the roster would seem to be very much in question.
Comments.
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