The Good, the Bad, and the Indifferent

The good: Chien-Ming Wang allows 2 hits (a bunt and a home run, which Abreu could have made the catch on).
The bad: The Devils go down 2-0 to the Rangers, losing 2-1. Absolutely no offense, but give Lundqvist credit.
The indifferent: The Nets are eliminated from playoff competition. Should I care?

Wang was fantastic. Is he an ace now in the mind of his detractors? Probably not, and I still don't know if he's a true #1 pitcher, but if he keeps pitching like this, he will prove them all wrong. Great job.

And how about Jose Molina and even the Attorney General himself, Alberto Gonzalez? Molina has been the Yankees' best hitter since he's been in the lineup, with 9 hits in his 26 at bats (.346 average). Even more impressive is that 6 of his 9 hits have been doubles. That's called getting bang for your buck. Even Gonzalez has stepped up with a steady glove and 3 hits in his 8 at bats.


As for the Devils and the Rangers, it's depressing, but it looks like the Rangers are just a better team than the Devils, and they will advance. Brodeur shut out the Rangers for 2 periods, but then 2 goals in under 30 seconds by New York all but ended the game and probably the series. The Devils have their work cut out for them. If they can win the next two at MSG, they will be right back in the series, but it appears like that may be too tall an order.


The Nets' season has been over for months, but now they are officially eliminated from playoff competition. How pathetic is the Eastern Conference outside of Boston and Detroit? Orlando is decent, then every other team is very average or worse. Golden State, who might not even make the playoffs in the West, would be a 4 seed based on record, but they would probably be a 3 if they were playing Eastern Conference teams more. Atlanta is 37-42 and in the 8th spot right now. Sacramento has that same record, and they are 13 games out of the playoffs. Boston is a fantastic team, and Detroit would also compete in the West, but other than that, the West is dominant again. If I had to put my money on it today, I'd pick Boston to win it all, but that's mainly because they will likely only face one good team maximum on the way to the NBA Finals. Every series in the West will be a dogfight.

Oh, and right now, I'll pick Snedeker to win the Masters.

Introduction

Hello, everyone, my name is Mackenzie Kraemer, and welcome to my blog. Here, I will talk about sports, music, and anything else that interests me, as the title says. I don't have a whole lot to talk about now, but in the coming days, I'll have updates on the upcoming NFL draft (and what I think and hope the Jets will do), baseball, basketball, college basketball, maybe some hockey or golf here and there, and on whatever else pops into my head. I'm a Villanova student, so they are my college basketball team. I'm also a diehard Jets, Yankees, Nets, and Devils fan. I play a little guitar and I play some video games, so I might update some of that for my personal posts. We'll see where this blog goes, maybe I'll turn it into a bit of a public journal.

But for now, let's stick to the issues: Yankees-Red Sox tonight. Wang-Bucholz. The first trip of the year to Boston, always fun. Bucholz is a very young pitcher, but as Yankees fans have seen with Phil Hughes, it takes time. Sure Chamberlain spoils us, but it's easier to have an instant impact in the bullpen (not normally to that extent though). Wang often struggles against Boston, but in his first two starts, he's struck out 8 batters, an improvement over the last two seasons. The slider has really helped out his arsenal, as he quieted the Blue Jay and Ray bats pretty easily in his first two outings. The key for Wang, as always, is to keep the ball down. If he can do that, he should be able to build on his first two starts. If not, the Red Sox bats will be ready, even if they haven't played up to their full potential so far. Mike Lowell was placed on the 15 day DL, so he won't be available.

By the way, can the Yankees ever start off a season hot? Every year the offense starts off slowly. 10 games is nothing to panic about, but one time, you'd like the team to get off to a good start. Obviously, injuries have been a concern the last two seasons with Jeter and Posada already banged up, but that shouldn't be an excuse. Last year, Carla Pavano was the opening day starter, so last year's slow start made sense.

Also, Devils vs Rangers tonight. Must win for New Jersey, they can't go back to New York down 2-0. Previous Devils teams, sure. This team just does not have the firepower offensively, and Brodeur looks tired. He's going to be starting his 43rd consecutive game, so it makes sense, but Brodeur never wants to be taken out of the net. If Scott Clemmensen could play a game here and there, so can Kevin Weekes. Brodeur needs to realize he's getting older and take a few games off. I expect him to come up with a big effort tonight after being embarrassed by allowing Ryan Callahan to score right in front of him, rather than just covering the puck.

Well, my body is dead from playing basketball earlier, but now I'm going to play some tennis. When did I get so much energy?