Game Face

The Yankees have an offer of $140 million on the table for 290-pound CC Sabathia. (Getty Images)

By Kyle Stack
Special to amNewYork
The Mets and the Yankees entered the off-season in search of solutions to the problems that denied them postseason appearances in 2008.
Each team went a respectable 89-73 last season, but injuries, overpriced veterans and depleted farm systems created nightmarish problems for squads with title aspirations.
Both clubs need major roster adjustments to remain contenders next year, and their deep-pocketed owners intend to make most of those upgrades through free agency. Here are some players each team could target:

Mets seek No. 2 starter and closer
Even after the trade for Johan Santana last winter shored up the top of the Mets’ starting rotation, other roster areas sprung leaks, including left field, second base and, yet again, the bullpen.
With Oliver Perez and Pedro Martinez hitting free agency, starting pitching depth could be another glaring hole for the Mets.
Fortunately for the Mets, starters such as Derek Lowe, A.J. Burnett and even Ben Sheets would serve as outstanding No. 2 or No. 3 pitchers behind Santana. Lowe is the most reliable option among the three, both durable (seven straight seasons of at least 182 innings) and accustomed to high-pressure environments (seven seasons in Boston). Burnett and Sheets are near-dominant when healthy, but both have been wracked with injury concerns throughout their careers.
Perez and Martinez (whose agent has said Martinez wants to play for the Mets next year) are possibilities to return.
Francisco Rodriguez, who saved a record 62 games in 2008, has been the popular choice to become the Mets’ closer now that Billy Wagner is likely out for all next year after elbow surgery.
However, a deal with K-Rod would probably require $10-$12 million per year. More pressing concerns revolve around the Venezuelan’s decreased velocity last season, evidenced by his 10.14 strikeouts-per-nine-innings rate in 2008 following a 12.4 K/9 figure from 2004-07.
Another option is Brian Fuentes, whose asking price could be more reasonable. The three-time All-Star posted a career-best 1.10 WHIP last season and posted his third 30-save season in four years.
Left field, second base and bullpen depth are also question marks, although the bullpen probably draws top priority after two disastrous seasons. Jeremy Affeldt already signed with the Giants, but the Mets could target relievers Juan Cruz, David Weather and Brandon Lyon as valuable seventh- and eighth-inning options.

Yankees go all-out for starters, big bat
Much like the Mets, the Yankees are prioritizing starting pitching. Last week, the team offered a six-year, $140 million deal to CC Sabathia, perhaps the biggest free-agent prize on this market.
That signing would give the Yankees a true No. 1 starter, pushing Chien-Ming Wang to the No. 2 role — or possibly lower if the Yanks also sign Lowe or Burnett (the Yankees are reportedly preparing a five-year, $80 million offer for Burnett).
Both starters loom large on the Yanks’ radar, although Lowe seems again to be the safer option given Burnett’s health risk and his questionable temperament in pressure-packed games. San Diego ace Jake Peavy is also a trade option, but the Yanks would need to give up at least two of their few remaining big-time prospects.
Damaso Marte, signed to a three-year, $12 million deal, provides a steady, if unspectacular, left-handed option in the ’pen. If the Yanks do sign two of the Sabathia/Lowe/Burnett triumvirate, they could have enough starting depth to use Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes in the bullpen.
Nick Swisher’s acquisition from the White Sox last week cost little, and his defensive versatility and outstanding ability to reach base are valuable. With Bobby Abreu expected to go unsigned, Swisher can play all three outfield spots and serves as first-base insurance in case superstar free agent Mark Teixeira remains an Angel or signs elsewhere.
The 28-year-old Teixeira is a true No. 3 batter who offers stellar defense and a powerful bat that the Yankees could combine with Alex Rodriguez to form a devastating 3-4 combo. However, Teixeira’s price tag of $150-$200 million may be too high for a team looking to invest so much in starting pitching.
Catcher and center field are other question marks, but Jorge Posada’s healthy return to the backstop and a Brett Gardner/Melky Cabrera center-field duo might have to suffice.
The Yankees, like the Mets, ultimately view upgrading their starting rotation as their best shot at returning to the playoffs.

By Pete Catapano
The Yankees are throwing a ton of money at CC Sabathia to be the next ace of their rotation. It's still too early to tell if he'll accept the offer.

However, if the Yanks are really dying to have someone with the name "CC" on the team, here's another, not so viable, option:

C.C. Deville, guitarist from hair band Poison.
So, yeah he was in a cheesy 80s band, and played out-of-tune crazy guitar solos that didn't fit the song - he'll fit the team just fine. Also. he's a local boy from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn. (Yeah, surprised us too)
Here's some stats:
First band was called Lace
First guitar cost him $27
Hair stands about 10 inches high, requiring a can of aqua-net per day
Possible position on Yankees: First base. (he's 46 and not very mobile)

By Max J. Dickstein

Everyone’s favorite British superspy has always been an accomplished martial artist, marksman, skiier, fencer and scuba diver. In Daniel Craig’s 2006 debut as James Bond, “Casino Royale,” the actor added parkour, the sport of free running that originated in the concrete landscapes of suburban Paris.
In action scenes that pulsate with climbing and scaling of rooftops, Craig’s Bond proves to be an exceptional athlete — and believably so, since Craig, the youngest actor to play the classic role, does many of his own stunts. As of this writing, I anticipated reconfirming this view by watching “Quantum of Solace” early Friday morning — at 12:01 a.m.
What I mean to suggest is that James Bond, a 40-something spy, could be a winning addition to any professional roster. While his efforts are truly best left to the realm of espionage, this character might be equally effective as a lethal Rangers defenseman, or as the hard-nosed point guard for whom Knicks fans have long pined.
At the same time, Bond is a loner, a prowling assassin who works best solo. Perhaps Bond would be better at an individual sport, such as tennis, rifling groundstrokes croos-court and bringing Britain its first Wimbledon champion since Fred Perry in 1932.
Chemistry would also be a consideration when mixing a world-class assassin onto a roster of millionaires athletes. But winning is the bottom line in any sport, and Bond is certainly well-adjusted to a bottom-line business: Kill or be killed.
Excellent as they are this season, the Giants could use Bond to The British superagent is well known for his card-playing prowess and his skiing ability, and he dabbled in parkour, or free running, in his last film, “Casino Royale,”

Juan Carlos Osorio (Getty Images)

By Andrew Keh
Special to amNewYork

Somewhere along the line, probably about the time it appeared the Red Bulls would miss the playoffs and spend another off-season pondering their chronic mediocrity, the image we had of Juan Carlos Osorio, the cerebral tactician, transmogrified into Juan Carlos Osorio, the over-thinking tinkerer.
But over the course of two weeks and one playoff series win — only the second in team history — the Red Bulls coach has once again revealed the magic touch that made him so coveted by management last winter. He has his team on the doorstep of its first-ever trip to an MLS Cup final.
This week, much of the credit for Sunday’s gigantic 3-0 upset over the Houston Dynamo justifiably went to midfielder Dane Richards, who spent his 84 minutes on the field buzzing up and down the right wing, weaving and accelerating like a motorbike in traffic. He had a hand in every goal: scoring the first himself on a seam-splitting solo run, forcing a hand ball from Houston’s Ricardo Clark that resulted in a penalty kick for the second, and assisting John Wolyniec on the third after humiliating the entire left side of the Dynamo defense by dribbling 60 yards down the length of the field.
But Richards’ theatrics barely overshadowed the brave moves from Osorio that have helped earn the Red Bulls a date with Real Salt Lake in the Western Conference championship game on Saturday night (9:30 p.m. on FSC and HDNet).
Osorio swallowed his pride and benched the trio of Gabriel Cichero, Juan Pietravallo and Jorge Rojas — the mid-season pickups who were so highly touted over the summer but so ineffective during the team’s unlikely run to the playoffs — for both games of the series.
In their stead, Osorio opted for Luke Sassano, a rookie out of University of California, Berkley, and Sinisa Ubiparipovic, a second-year player. The two combined for only 20 starts this regular season, but both were rock-solid in central midfield over 180 minutes of play.
Then there was Wolyniec, the journeyman striker from Staten Island, currently in the midst of his third stint with the Red Bulls, who earned starts from Osorio in both matches despite going scoreless in 19 regular-season appearances. There is a reason, it seems, that the playoffs are called the “second season,” and it was Wolyniec, as if on cue, who provided the final dagger in Sunday’s match.
In celebration, Wolyniec did a horrifying rendition of Michael Jackson’s famous “Thriller” dance. But it was an appropriate choice, in a way, considering how Osorio has revived a team previously left for dead.

Michael Turner of the Atlanta Falcons (Photo by Getty Images)

By Ryan Chatelain

No one wants to see their fantasy football team cruise through the regular season only to bow out in the first round of the playoffs.

To avoid going one-and-done in the postseason, it’s important to look ahead to your players’ matchups in weeks 15 and 16, the fantasy playoffs in most leagues.

If any of your players have especially brutal games those weeks, you might want to think of a Plan B -- either trade him for someone with a more promising postseason slate or make sure you have a reliable option on your bench.

Here are five players with particularly unfavorable matchups in the fantasy playoffs:

Michael Turner, RB, Atlanta
The Falcons’ breakout star will meet Tampa Bay (11th in the NFL against the run) in Week 15 and Minnesota (third) in Week 16. That’s particularly bad news for Turner owners considering he has been superb against poor defenses but unimpressive against quality defenses. The Buccaneers, for example, held Turner to 42 yards rushing earlier this season.

Continue reading "Look ahead to fantasy playoff matchups" »

By Pete Catapano

Former Met Mike Piazza, the face of the team from 1998-05, is penning a still-unnamed autobiography that will give some insight on his days at Shea, Newsday's Jim Baumbach reports.

"He will also talk about the personalities and players from his days with the Mets, including Bobby Valentine, Pedro Martinez, and Rickey Henderson and many others," a news release for the book said.

Bobby V in disguise

Here's some other books by sports athletes that have made headlines in the past:

Jim Bouton – “Ball Four” (1970)
One of the first tell-all baseball books, Bouton was blacklisted after he wrote of drinking and drug use in the sport. It was the first to reveal Mickey Mantle’s alcohol abuse.

Jose Canseco – “Juiced” (2005)
Canseco gave specifics on steroid use in baseball and named names, including Jason Giambi and Mark McGwire.

Wilt Chamberlain “A View From Above” (1991)
The NBA star confessed to having sex with more than 20,000 women.

Sparky Lyle “The Bronx Zoo” (1979)
The Yankees pitcher gives day-to-day detail of the chaos of the team’s 1978 season, including commentary on Billy Martin and Reggie Jackson.

There's a some high-priced talent out there for the taking this winter, whether it be CC Sabathia, Mark Teixiera or Francisco Rodriguez.
While it's unclear which pricey free agent the Yanks will target (although we know there's no need to go after K-Rod with Mariano Rivera in the pen), co-chairman Hal Steinbrenner reaffirmed to fans today that the team is ready to spend bucks.

Steinbrenner told MLB.com: "We know that we've got some weaknesses, and we're going to fix the problems as best we can. If that means spending money, obviously that means spending money. The philosophy has not changed."

— Pete Catapano

"Three flies." The Berkshires of Massachussetts, Nov. 23, 2007

By Max J. DIckstein

Call me a sentimental softie, but this chilly New York evening has stirred the coals of autumn meaning in me. The summer months, plus mild parts of October and November, call for the NBA Finals and other meaningless frivolity. In the winter, life out-of-doors is colder and more meaningful. Ask the Phillies.

And I didn't mean to disparage the NBA's championship series in June, but that league should cut its playoff bracket back down to 8 teams. I mean, 16 teams make the postseason in a league of 30? That's more than half the teams. This gives teams like the Knicks playoff hopes at 4-2 and creates holding patterns of mediocrity.

Anyway, with temperatures declining as they are, I offer this paean to the fall season:

Fall's bite
By Your O. Paean

You rise from nature's hearth,
Overhead shining our way over ice,
Dear season of fall.

Your divinity inspires the zealous vigor of champions.
Sister Winter blessed the New York Giants, let them laugh sleeveless
at Lambeau Field hypothermia last February,
champions a game later.

Sweet goodness
!!!
Kindle your Thanksgiving fires, but let them toss their football,
warm their arms, and maybe catch the thing if they dare play.

By Max J. Dickstein

Roger Federer (Getty)

A fabulous men’s tennis season is heading toward an inconclusive end.

The Tennis Masters Cup, a season-ending round-robin tournament among the world’s top eight men, begins Sunday in Shanghai. When the top eight are intact, this event offers the year’s best performers the chance to fight for the best finish.
But top-ranked Rafael Nadal, who won Wimbledon, the French Open and Olympic gold this year, has bowed out of this ranking-points-rich event with knee tendonitis.

Roger Federer, who lost his top ranking to Nadal in August but went on to win his fifth straight U.S. Open, took over Nadal’s top seed at the circuit finale, where the 27-year-old has won five times. Federer, too, has been feeling the effects of a long season and the increased competitiveness of the game’s second tier of top players.

The other defending Grand Slam winner, third-ranked Novak Djokovic, has played well but not superbly since he won the Australian Open, his first major, in January.
That leaves the door open next week for the most in-form player in the Masters Cup draw, fourth-ranked Andy Murray, who beat Nadal in Flushing to reach his first major final and has won two tournaments since.

Continue reading "Tennis season's end incomplete" »

By Pete Catapano

Maybe this is a good thing.
It was rumored that the Yanks were interested in signing veteran Mike Cameron to fill their void in centerfield. But, that option is off the table now, the he's be resigned by the Brewers, who picked up his $10 million option for 2009.

Gameface thinks in the long run that the Yanks are better off without another underachieving, overpaid, aging player taking a roster spot.

Stephon Marbury, October 2008 (Image from Getty Images)

By Kevin Garrity
Special to amNewYork

His rise from Coney Island high school All-American to NBA star was a swift one. There was so much promise for Stephon Marbury after he led the Lincoln High Railsplitters to the city title in 1995. After one year at Georgia Tech, the point guard was chosen fourth overall by the Milwaukee Bucks in the 1996 NBA draft, then traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Three teams and 12 years later, as his tenure with the Knicks winds down, do we look back at Marbury’s career and say what if? Or do we give him a pat on the back for a very solid NBA tour?
In a recent Snap Poll on Sports on 1, we asked our viewers how they would characterize Marbury’s career. Fifty-three percent of those polled felt that Marbury “never lived up to expectations.” But one can argue his career has been above average. Marbury is a two-time All-Star and 2004 Olympian who, until 2003, was the only player in NBA history other than Oscar Robertson with career averages of 20 points and 8 assists. (The 31-year-old’s career averages now stand at 19.7 points and 7.8 assists.)
Marbury is a complex figure, from his run-ins with coaches to his admission in federal court during the Anucha Browne Sanders trial last year that he had a relationship with a Knicks intern. Such episodes speak to a questionable character.
But Marbury also put his name on a sneaker that sells for just 15 dollars, cried uncontrollably at an NBA press conference for Hurricane Katrina relief (to which he donated hundreds of thousands of dollars) and, after he was traded from the Nets to the Phoenix Suns in 2001, held a press conference on his front lawn in Alpine, N.J., where he made sure to shake the hand of every reporter and photographer who gathered there to record his goodbye.
Will the Knicks be better off without Marbury when his contract runs out after this season — or if Knicks president Donnie Walsh can jettison him sooner than that? Absolutely.
But coach Mike D’Antoni can’t convince me that Mardy Collins, Jerome James and Anthony Roberson deserve to suit up while Marbury, the most talented player on a bad team, collects his millions from the bench.

Dr. Benjamin Dickstein, 93, receives a late-evening congratulatory phone call for the Phillies' success. (Photo by Max J. Dickstein)

By Max J. Dickstein

The Phillies’ run to a World Series title — in which they dropped just three games in three series — showed how far ahead of the absent Mets their NL East rivals were this season.
More importantly, Philadelphia’s first major sports title in 25 years — and just the second crown in Phillies history — warmed the heart of my grandfather, Benjamin Dickstein, a retired doctor who lives with my grandmother, his wife of 68 years, in Jenkintown, Pa.
On Thursday, the day after the Phillies won the decisive Game 5 against the Tampa Bay Rays, I spoke to my grandfather about the good news.

You must be in a good mood.

Boy, I’m in a good mood! And it’s been a long time since I’ve had the opportunity to be in a good mood. It’s years since I have seen as exciting an ending as we had in this game.

No, I didn’t. I didn’t think that they would end up the way they did.

They came on very strong. I think they had an excellent manager. He managed well at the end, [Charlie] Manuel. They were guided into this win.

They had an unusual closing player (Brad Lidge). They had to bring him in [the ninth inning of Game 5]. They knew he probably would carry on and take the game under control and win it. The percentage of games he won is unusual. Just stepping in cold at the end of the game and the odds being that he was probably going to continue to do it.

Saves, yeah. Well, saves end up to be wins.

A lot of people have been calling me. They knew they could cheer the victory with me. Also, it happened to be my [93rd] birthday the day before. So they kind of wished me a happy birthday and shared with me the pleasure of the victory.

I thought the fact that the game was stretched out a little bit would take the excitement away from the Phillies winning — and that it might deprive them of a win. It didn’t work out that way. It would not be as enjoyable to see this thing end up in St. Petersburg, Fla., as it would if they were fortunate enough to win and have it end up in Philadelphia.
The Broad Street parade is a very important thing. We always end up great athletic events that we win with a parade down Broad Street. This time, the parade was in action about 10 minutes after the game ended.

It made me feel kind of warm and good inside.

Hand cyclist Nadine McNeil will race in the marathon on Sunday. Her son, Tyler, will make his debut. (Tiffany L. Clark)

By Amanda Magnus
Special to amNewYork
When Nadine McNeil runs the New York City Marathon on Sunday, her biggest challenge won’t be her paralyzed right side, or the fact that she uses a hand cycle to complete the 26.2-mile course. Her biggest worry is her son.

“I’m more nervous for him than I am for myself,” said McNeil, a resident of the Bronx.
This will be McNeil’s fourth marathon in the past two years, but her 18-year-old son Tyler, who has autism will be running in his first marathon, with a guide.

“I’m hoping that I’m not too distracted when I get out there,” McNeil said. “Tyler will be out there and I won’t know where he is.”

Paralyzed on the right side from a childhood stroke, McNeil uses a hand cycle to compete in marathons, but she has upper body limitations. Because she has limited use of her right arm, she powers herself mostly with her left. She said she tapes her right arm to the handle to keep herself balanced.

Continue reading "Racing against the odds" »

Kara Goucher competes in her first marathon Sunday. (Photo by Getty)

By Ryan Chatelain

Kara Goucher fought back tears at a news conference this week when she talked about her connection with her native New York City.

“It’s just as a little girl, you want your family to be together,” said Goucher, 30. “And this is where my family was together.

Days before her 4th birthday, Goucher’s family was torn apart when her father, Mirko Grgas of Queens, was killed in a car accident by a drunken driver. Shortly after, Goucher’s family moved to Duluth, Minn., where she grew up.

Twenty-six years later, Goucher — a top-10 finisher in the 5,000 and 10,000 meters in Beijing this summer — will make an emotional return to the Big Apple for her 26.2-mile debut in Sunday’s New York City Marathon.

Continue reading "Emotional return to New York for Olympian Kara Goucher" »

Five women to watch at the New York City Marathon:

Paula Radcliffe, 34, Great Britain
The world marathon record holder, Radcliffe (pictured) is a two-time NYC Marathon champion (2004 and 2007). She has won seven of nine career marathons.

Dire Tune, 23, Ethiopia
Tune was an Olympian in Beijing this summer as well as the 2008 London Marathon champ.

Gete Wami, 33, Ethiopia
Wami won the Berlin Marathon last year, and then a month later, finished second to Radcliffe in New York.

Catherine Ndereba, 36, Kenya
A four-time winner in Boston and two-time champ in Chicago, Ndereba has finished on the podium in 16 of 17 career marathons.

Kara Goucher, 30, United States
A Queens native, Goucher is making her marathon debut. She finished in the top 10 in the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters in the Beijing games.

Continue reading "10 to watch at New York City Marathon" »

By Alexander Nazaryan
Special to amNewYork

When outspoken Detroit Pistons forward Rasheed Wallace called professional basketball “fake” last season, he was only saying what we already knew: Players are overpaid, rivalries are staged and skills take a backseat to showboating.
And yet there are those who love the NBA, not the least among them the FreeDarko collective, rascally authors of the “Macrophenomenal Pro Basketball Almanac.” This lushly illustrated compendium — to be released Nov. 11by Bloomsbury (224 pages, $23) — infuses joy into a game that is now far more concerned with corporate branding than picking and rolling.
Writing under pseudonyms such as Dr. Lawyer IndianChief and Big Baby Belafonte, the authors open with a manifesto that has guided the principles of their irreverent blog: “In rejecting the old NBA, we seek not to spite our forbears but to silence those who proclaim the league’s decrepitude.” True to the authors’ word, the “Almanac” is a technicolor yearbook of the best the NBA has to offer.
Player profiles are divided into such categories as Master Builders (Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett), Uncanny Peacocks (Gilbert Arenas, who also penned a foreword to the book, and Leandro Barbosa) and Destiny’s Kids (LeBron James, Chris Paul). The smart commentary is accompanied by hilarious illustrations that are as telling as the textual analysis: Arenas as a carnival performer, Tim Duncan as an ancient statue, Lamar Odom wandering the basketball world like Job.
Each profile also features the player’s favorite moves meticulously diagrammed and sidebars that detail, for example, corresponding “spirit animals” (Amare Stoudemire: piranha; Ron Artest: dingo), which only furthers the book’s pleasantly whimsical quality.
Colorful statistical charts masterfully avoid the drudgery of reducing sports performances to numbers on a page. The stats, such as a point-by-point analysis of Bryant’s 81-point performance, suggest that, behind the humor, FreeDarko knows its stuff. And there are many surprising findings, too: Despite his off-court troubles, Carmelo Anthony is among the most generous sports philanthropists, having donated more than $4 million in 2006, while Rasheed Wallace’s output improves in nearly every category after a technical foul.
Most wonderful are the humorous asides that have little to do with by-the-numbers performance analysis but go a long way in promulgating FreeDarko’s celebration of individual players. A Rorschach blot for Bryant alludes to his troubled public image; erstwhile UNC philosophy major Wallace is compared to major Western thinkers, in what is surely the first attempt to link Arthur Schopenhauer with a motion offense.
“More personality, more trash-talking, more fights, less coaching” is what IndianChief, in a recent interview with amNewYork, said he’d like to see from his beloved league. The officious David Stern and his coterie of arbitration lawyers may disagree, but opening this paean to professional basketball offers hopeful intimations that the clock hasn’t quite run out on the NBA.

On FreeDarko.com:
“The NBA right now just isn’t a game ‘for the people,’ ” says Dr. Lawyer IndianChief, one of the founders of the FreeDarko.com basketball blog. The site’s name refers to Darko Milicic, the overhyped and overpaid Serbian journeyman whose disappointing career is an apt symbol of the league’s misguided priorities. For this quirky and intelligent blog, taking back the league involves features such as a review of every single game of the 2008-09 season, with irreverent projections, such as this one, for Portland at Oklahoma City (Feb. 6): “Desperate for a rivalry, OKC fans load up on coffee and wear flannel.” This site is not for the humorless fan who wants his assist-to-turnover ratios and little else.
(Alexander Nazaryan)