How The New Major League Baseball Network Affects New York Baseball Fans

The Major League Baseball Network will launch across the United States at 6ET on January 1, 2009. This is a huge step for the league, as they have never previously had their own TV channel. The question most people are asking is, how will this new channel affect me as a New York baseball fan? The network will be broadcasted in complete high definition so you will see games at its highest quality. The Major League Baseball Network will be on channel 149 for Cablevision customers, channel 213 for DirecTV and channel 86 for Verizon Fios. The first problem I find with the network is that they will only being showing a total of twenty-six live games throughout the lengthy MLB season. To make matters worse there will only be one live game on every Thursday night. In my opinion Thursday is a very undesirable day to be showing an MLB game compared to the very popular Sunday Night Baseball as shown on ESPN. From my point of view, after a long day of school or work I doubt I would remember to watch Thursday night baseball. I am definitely more likely to watch Sunday Night Baseball after I relaxed the entire day leading up to the game. A key upside to the channel is that you can follow this year’s World Baseball Classic in depth. They will be showing many of these games when hardly any other networks will be broadcasting them. If you are a Mets or Yankees fan this network will have hardly any value to you because you can see all of your team’s games on either the YES Network or SNY. The channel is a positive if you live in New York and you are a fan of an out of market team. Then you have the possibility once per week to see your team play live instead of just reading about it in your local newspaper. On another note, the network features an average set of analysts and show hosts. The most notable studio analysts are former pitcher Al Leiter; past Cincinnati Reds star Barry Larkin and former ESPN analyst Harold Reynolds. A well-known show host for the network is Matt Vasgersian whose voice has been made famous on multiple video games and as the play-by-play man for the San Diego Padres and Milwaukee Brewers. Overall the Major League Baseball Network will be a work in progress. I’m sure throughout the year changes will be to improve the channel but for it to compete with ESPN it has to show more games. Over the next few years they will begin to show more games but for this year as either a Mets or Yankees fan stick to the basics with YES or SNY.

Daniel Weberman
NYchalktalk.com

Ravens Vs. Dolphins Wild Card Weekend

Ravens Vs. Dolphins: With one of the most improbable seasons in the history of the NFL, the Miami Dolphins will host the Baltimore Ravens in this wild card matchup. Last year the Miami Dolphins were 1-15 and held the title of being the worst team in football. This year with a new coach, Tony Sparano, and a new quarterback, Chad Pennington, the Dolphins have had the largest turnaround in NFL history. Also, they have won the AFC East with a record of 11-5. The Dolphins have won five games in a row and beat out both the New England Patriots and New York Jets to win the division. The Ravens have a rookie quarterback, Joe flacco, and three great running backs in Willis McGahee, Le’ron McClain, and rookie Ray Rice. They have won five out of their last six games and have taken the last wild card in the AFC with a record of 11-5. When these teams last met in week seven, Chad Pennington threw for 295 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception for the Dolphins. Willis McGahee led the way for the Ravens as he rushed for 105 yards and 1 touchdown. In this game the Ravens defense shut down both Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. As a result the Ravens won 27-13.

Prediction: Unlike in week seven, the Ravens are not going to be able to control the Dolphins running game and wildcat offense. Experience will be a problem for the Ravens on offense and the surging Dolphins will win this game 26-14.

Josh Jakers
NYchalktalk.com

Colts Vs. Chargers Wild Card Weekend

This is easily the most intriguing of the Wild Card matchups features the AFC West winning San Diego Chargers hosting The Indianapolis Colts in a rematch of last year’s divisional round. The Chargers finished their season 8-8, they have won their last 4 games to beat the Denver Broncos in the AFC west. The Colts on the other hand have won 9 games in a row and are the hottest team heading into the playoffs with a 12-4 record. In week 12 the Colts and Chargers matched up in an excellent game which featured Philip Rivers throwing for 288 yards and 2 touchdowns and Peyton Manning throwing for 255 yards 2 touchdown and 1 interception. But in the end the colts were too much for the Chargers as they beat San Diego 23-20.

Prediction: With LaDainian Tomlinson’s health in question this week it’s hard to bet against Peyton Manning and the Colts in this one. The Colts will win 30-24.

Josh Jakers
NYchalktalk.com

Rose Bowl Game Preview

This years Rose Bowl Game is going to be one for the ages. The match up, like always is the Pac10 vs. the Big10. The game features the #8 ranked Penn State Nittany Lions against the #5 ranked University of Southern California (USC) Trojans. The Rose Bowl’s motto is, “The granddaddy of them all” and it will certainly live up to its slogan this year. Both teams come into the game with 11-1 records. The Nittany Lions one loss came against Iowa, which was a very winnable Big10 game. The Trojans loss was against Oregon State; this was a huge upset in the college football world. These two outstanding teams could have easily been playing for the BCS National Championship if not for getting upset earlier in the season. I feel as though this game will come to down to coaching as it features arguably the two best coaches in the nation, the legend Joe Paterno and the excellent recruiter Pete Carroll. Joe Paterno has a bowl record of 23 wins and 12 losses. Pete Carroll comes into the game with a bowl record of 5 wins and 2 losses. Both coaches are proven winners and this season has been no exception. Each team has a great offense and defense. USC has only let up 7.8 points per game this year and Penn State has only let up 12.4 points. I feel as though the USC offense lead by junior quarterback Mark Sanchez will be too much for the Penn State defense to handle. Don’t get me wrong though, it will be a close game throughout but my feeling is that USC will be victorious for their third consecutive bowl game win. One key advantage that USC has playing in the Rose Bowl Game is that it is basically a home game for them; as per the stadium is a few minutes away from where they play their home games. Home field advantage is always important in college football so it is good for them that they will have all of their fans in attendance. With that said I expect the Rose Bowl to be a great game with plenty of excitement. It showcases two great teams that want to prove that they are in the top class of the college football world. The game will be shown 5pm Eastern Time on ABC and I hope that everyone will watch this excellent game.

Daniel Weberman
NYchalktalk.com

NBA Season Review

The NBA season has been quite a good one. As always it is in the shadows of the NFL but as a follower of the NBA I can assure you that it has been excellent. The eastern conference is lead by the defending champion Boston Celtics who have an outstanding record of 28-4. The top of the western conference is held by the Los Angles Lakers who are 25-5. Both teams have brought back generally the same players and are picking up just where they left off from last years finals. One team that has really disappointed me so far is the Chicago Bulls. They have a talented team with rookie scoring sensation Derrick Rose and veterans such as Drew Gooden and Larry Hughes. Their team cannot seem to play together and win games under coach Vinny Del Negro. The rookies from this years NBA draft have been superb, Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, O.J. Mayo, Russell Westbrook and D.J. Augustin just to name a few. These men have lived up to their college hype and more. They are all averaging double digits in scoring and are helping their teams to win games. What I find very interesting in the NBA is the huge drop off in different teams quality. You have very good teams such as the Cleveland Cavaliers and then you have terrible teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Washington Wizards. The reason I think this is because the higher quality teams player as one and the lesser opponents play as individuals. Even the Cavaliers, who rely heavily on Lebron James, still have other players with excellent numbers. Every night their team plays hard and they are rewarded by getting win after win. The lower teams always hope to improve through the draft but one player cannot turn their team around in one season. It takes great coaches and a core group of players that can play together to win games and be successful in the NBA. Recently the game has been less individual and has leaned towards team play which makes much more enjoyable entertainment on TV or in person. As a basketball player myself I can greatly appreciate this. The NBA is headed in the right direction to get back to the glory days of Michael Jordan and Larry Bird that they once had. They continue to put great match ups on prime time TV and I look forward to seeing how the rest of the season plays out.

Daniel Weberman
NYchalktalk.com