MLB:  “at the Beginning;” 2011 comparsions; 2012 & The Colorado Rockies.       

For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

                “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

            SPECIAL OLYMPICS SUMMER GAMES, COLORADO: for more information: specialolympicsco.org

MLB:       NO-one is absolutely certain who invented the game as we know it today, or when it showed up as America’s gift to itself, but there’s evidence that it started long before the Civil War, sometime in the mid-1820’s, and that it evolved from a game played other side of the Atlantic by Brits who wanted something other than kicking a leather ball up, down and sideways across a muddy field. There’s a letter from famous American writer, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, written to his father, that underscores the early existence of the game, and there’s later evidence of early baseball from a rule book established by “The New York Knickerbockers Base Ball Club,” published in 1848. By the time baseball greats Ty Cobb (Detroit), Babe Ruth (NYY), Lou Gehrig (NYY), Rogers Hornsby (STL), Honus Wagner (Pitts), Christy Mathewson (NYG) and Grover Alexander (Phila) were playing the game in the first half of the 20^th Century, it had been around as a professional activity for more than twice the age of the oldest among them.

More than a dozen players inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame began their careers in the 1800’s, and more than a dozen no-hit games were recorded by 1900 (one of the earlier official statistics). Another early-on statistic is this: the longest hitting streak that Joe DiMaggio (NYY) surpassed with his 56 straight hits in 1941 belonged to Willie Keeler (Baltimore), who punched out 44 in 1897. Too, unassisted triple plays have been 100 years apart, the first in 1909, the last in 2009 by Philadelphia against a New York Mets batter.

In the National League, no hitter has achieved an annual batting average higher than Hornsby’s .424, as far back as 1924, with the highest in the American League belonging to Nap Lajoie (Phila), 422, achieved in 1901, with Cobb being close with .420, earned in 1911 (Cobb is the only batter in MLB history to lead his league in batting average for 11 years, five of them straight, 1911-1915.)

In 1931, Gehrig produced the most RBI’s ever for a given year, 184. Discounting what batters have accomplished while using performance enhancement drugs, the most home runs in a single year were delivered by Roger Maris (NYY), 61, in 1961, surpassing Ruth’s 1921 achievement---59, the longest held home run record. To date, less than 20 hitters have provided more than 50 home runs per year.  .  .  And, the most games won by a pitcher during a single season were by Washington D.C.’s Walter Johnson, 36, in 1913, and the best ERA achieved by a NL pitcher for a given year belongs to Mordecai "Three Fingers" Brown (he had missing fingers from an accident), 1.04, in 1906. Mathewson followed with a 1.14 ERA, in 1909. The best ERA by an AL hurler belongs to Boston’s Dutch Leonard, 1.01, in 1914. The most strikeouts achieved in a year by any pitcher in either league were by Philadelphia’s Rube Waddell, 349, in 1904.

Fast forward now to 2011, the year that the Cardinals took the 100+ year-old World Series away from the Texas Rangers, in seven games. It was a year proving, like most years in baseball since the late 1800’s, how difficult it is to surpass records established by the great players of an earlier era, for instance, the highest NL batting average achieved in 2011 was .337, developed by Jose Reyes, N.Y. Mets, and the most 2011 home runs from a NL batter came from Matt Kemp of the L.A. Dodgers, 39, then by Milwaukee’s Prince Fielder and STL’s Albert Pujols being close with 38 and 37 respectively.

The highest 2011 AL batting average belonged to Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera, .344, and the best number of AL home runs evolved from Toronto’s Jose Bautista, 43. Kemp also produced the most RBI’s in 2011, 126. And, the most hits achieved in 2011 were by the Texas Rangers Mike Young and by Boston’s Adrian Gonzalez, each with 213. Indicative of who may be the better hitters in 2012, and best contributors for runs for their teams, are the On Base Percentages achieved by Cincinnati’s Joey Votto, .416, Fielder, .415, STL’s Lance Berkman, .412, and Kemp’s .399 .  .  .  2011’s best pitcher-ERA’s belonged to the Dodgers Clayton Kershaw, 2.28, and to Detroit’s Justin Verlander, 2.40. Kershaw won the most games in 2011---21, as did Arizona’s Ian Kennedy. Verlander led the AL in games won during 2011---24.

Look now, if you will, to a ball club reflective of most MLB teams above the margin and that is a possible playoff contender for 2012---the Colorado Rockies, which, in 2011, finished poorly, yet when it comes to team batting average, to hits, to RBI’s, home runs, OBP and slugging percentage, the Rockies are definitely in the top half of the NL’s 16 teams, in fact, they are, “across all categories,” in fourth place within the NL, and in first place within their division, the NL-West. Too, the Rockies team batting average, .258, is fourth highest in the NL. While the 2011 WS and NL championship team produced 765 runs, the Rockies provided 735, along with the Cincinnati Reds the most of any NL team back of the WS Cards.

The Rockies were also number two in the NL regarding number of hits provided in 2011, 1,477, behind STL’s 1,513. And, the Rockies had one more home run than the Cards produced in 2011---163. But, the irony of baseball is that which belongs to most team sports: the number of games won remains that which keeps a franchise out front, no matter what else has happened or will happen. In baseball, wins come from avoiding “outs” and having the time, the power and skills to put “runs” on the board, which needs players with high OBP’s and lots of RBI’s, and pitchers who can maintain low ERA’s, hold hits to a minimum and develop the strikeouts that keep the opposition from scoring (number of strikeouts isn’t as important as when they happen, e.g., a strikeout when the other team has loaded the bases and it’s a three-and-two count).

Well, the 2011 figures imply that the Rockies can reconfigure for more wins, as do the roster changes, and that playoff contention is possible. Here’s what the lineup could look like for the Rockies as the new season commences: Lead-off batter, CF Dexter Fowler, followed by 2B Marco Scutaro (newcomer), then by LF Carlos Gonzalez; SS Troy Tulowitzki; 1B Todd Helton; RF Michael Cuddyer (new); C Ramon Hernandez (newcomer); 3B Casey Blake (new). Is there power here? Gonzalez hit 26 home runs in 2011, plus 54 RBI’s. Tulowitzki delivered 30 home runs and 105 RBI’s, Cuddyer, 20 home runs and 70 RBI’s, Helton 14 home runs and 69 RBI’s, and then there’s the still powerful Jason Giambi, 13 home runs and 32 RBI’s as a DH in 2011.

As for the Rockies pitching staff, last year’s best ERA belonged to right hand starter, Jhoulys Chacin---3.62, and to a right hand reliever who in 2012 will be the Rockies primary closer, Rafael Betancourt---2.89. The left hand starter to be counted on will be rookie, Drew Pomeranz. Neither of these pitchers need to be a Kershaw or Verlander, but they’ll have to uptick their skills in order to keep the Rockies from giving back runs that the team can accrue in their half-innings.

     

END/ml

NBA: DENVER NUGGETS, FINAL STRETCH // MLB: COLORADO ROCKIES, THE INITIAL SERIES.

 For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

                “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

            SPECIAL OLYMPICS SUMMER GAMES, COLORADO: for more information: specialolympicsco.org

NBA:   WERE the current NBA season to end this week, there’d be reasons for analysts and fans to label the Denver Nuggets a better professional basketball team than most others. Since the NBA season began last year, the Nuggets have been a winning team, usually second in the NBA Western Conference’s Northwest Division behind the Oklahoma City Thunder, scoring 100 or more points in almost every won game, while achieving a total points per game average that’s been around four points higher than the total ppg averages of nearly all teams that the Nuggets have confronted since early January.

Also, eight of the Nuggets usual starters and reserve have been averaging double digit ppg. Too, the Nuggets have maintained a field goal percentage higher than .465 and high totals of assists and steals, more than 1,025 and 40 respectively. Presently, the Nuggets are 27-23, tied with Houston for eighth place in the Western Conference and holding third place in its division behind the Utah Jazz, also 27-23 (The Nuggets are back of the Jazz for having a 5-5 record for its last 10 games versus Utah’s 8-2 record.).

But it’s almost April, and there are 16 games left to play before the playoffs. Moreover, the Nuggets have lost too many of its recent away from home contests, largely due to “defense posturing,” which continues to allow opposing teams to score higher than they in three digits, for example, the trouncing that the Nuggets took on Friday from the Jazz, losing 121-102. In those and other recent away from home games, the Nuggets have averaged an allowance of more than 112 points to opponents, raising the team’s overall season allowance above the 102 ppg that existed throughout February and into mid-March.

Right now, with Nene gone, with players returning from injuries, and with new acquisitions, there’s need of a period of adjustment regarding defense applications. Yet the Nuggets have proved to be a most coachable team, good at finding solutions, at applying fixes over a short period of time, to wit: taking down the Chicago Bulls on Monday, 108-91.

In other words, perfecting the big D “ASAP” is an imperative if the Nuggets are to stay in contention for post-season play.  

Only three of the Nuggets 16 games left will be against Northwest Division teams, two versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, the other vs. Oklahoma City. Of these two, Minnesota has a weaker record than the Nuggets, 24-26. Nine of the 16 are against Western Conference teams, two of the nine having better records than the Nuggets and that are considered more formidable than the Denver franchise---the Los Angeles Lakers, now 30-19, and the L.A. Clippers, 28-21. The remaining seven games include five vs. franchises that are close to par with the Nuggets, two vs. teams that have continued to perform poorly---the New Orleans Hornets (12-37), and the Golden State Warriors (20-27). Only one of the 16 challenges will be against an Eastern Conference team, the Orlando Magic, now 32-18.

So, if we go by the numbers (not always accurate), the Nuggets can, with an improved defense, have a fair chance of winning nine of its remaining 16 games, enabling a winning record at this season’s finish line, which can guarantee playoff contention for the Nuggets providing, of course, that the Utah Jazz and the two other Northwest Division teams that are now back of the Nuggets fail to accrue winning streaks that would push the Nuggets lower than the Denver team is today.

*   *   *

MLB:     FROM Opening Day of the 2012 MLB season until May 3, there will be eight three-game series testing the Colorado Rockies strength and versatility, a package that can indicate how the team may fare by late September, in that 12 of the games will be against clubs in its own division, the National League-West---the San Francisco Giants, the Arizona Diamondbacks, the San Diego Padres and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Moreover, four of the eight series will occur away from home---versus (sequentially) the Houston Astros, the Milwaukee Brewers, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets.    

Baseball watchers assuming that the Rockies and the above-cited franchises will NOT be very different in skill-sets and power than they were last year, can argue that the Diamondbacks, which led the NL-W, 94-68, and the Giants, which followed in second place at 86-76, will be the tougher April/early May division challenges for the Rockies, and they could add that the Padres, which finished last in the NL-W, 71-91, will be the weakest challenge, with the Dodgers somewhere in the numbers between the Rockies and the Padres.

As for the remaining April/early May series, aforementioned advocates of the status quo might bet that the Rockies will lose its series vs. the Brewers, which won the league’s Central Division last year, finishing 57-24, but could dominate the Astros, the Pirates and the Mets, which had lower home wins than the 38 that the Rockies had last year---31, 36 and 34 respectively, though the Rockies couldn’t muster more than 35 road wins in 2011.  

BUT---those baseball observers who assume that the several line-up and pitching staff changes and also the improvements shown at spring training will make a big difference, they are citing that the Giants will be the top NL-West team in April and thereafter, winning three from the Rockies, April 9-12, adding that the Diamondbacks could win two of three from the Rockies, and that the Dodgers will do the same---all this from some rotation and bull pen advantages over the Rockies, and from belief that the Rockies new line-up and its rotation will need more than a month even after spring training to gather momentum. Also, these observers that cite change and improvements as valid factors for prediction, they have argued that the Rockies could prevent sweeps during most of the season’s first eight series and sweep the Padres, therefore maintain third place in the NL-W, an enhanced possibility if the Giants, DB’s and Dodgers lose enough to other franchises.

Yet a truism in baseball is that while few teams are the same year after year, few match the expectations that changes, improvements and spring training accomplishments seem to set up prior to Opening Day every year.   For instance, it was predicted before and during April of last year that the team to beat would be the Rockies, and that the Colorado franchise would be a World Series contender. Instead, the Rockies finished the season poorly, 73-89.

What’s predictable about baseball is that it’s usually unpredictable before a significant number of games can occur, and even then it’s hard to pin down which team will prevail over others. No-one thought as late as mid-summer of last year that the St. Louis Cardinals could reach the post-season, whip the Texas Rangers and become World Series champions. It shouldn’t surprise anyone, then, if the Rockies see the four other teams in its division off to a bad start, Colorado therefore leading the pack by May 4.

The point attempted here is that MLB predictions before more than 20 season games are underway are usually fodder for the dumpster. So---if you like making rational predictions about the Rockies, or you are a betting person, it’s probably best that you stay inactive in those pursuits until after the Rockies eight April/early May series comprising 24 games.

END  

NFL:  Next Chapter, “the Book of Tebow”  

 For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

                “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

            SPECIAL OLYMPICS SUMMER GAMES, COLORADO: for more information: specialolympicsco.org

NFL:    NO need for tears, it isn’t to Siberia. The nationally popular NFL quarterback, Tim Tebow, is headed from Denver for the world’s most popular of heavily populated regions, metro-New York City, to play for the New York Jets.

The Big Apple, or whatever you want to call it, is possibly the biggest sports market in American history, though it’s where former Denver Nuggets star forward, Carmelo Anthony, hasn’t found his full mojo yet, and from where Denver native and former Nuggets player, Chauncey Billups, was traded “happily” to the L.A. Clippers within less than a year as a Knicks guard.

New York is also where the 2012 Super Bowl winner and MVP, N.Y. Giants Eli Manning, brother of the man who replaced Tebow in Denver, can taunt anyone afield, and that includes current primary Jets quarterback, Mark Sanchez. New York is also where fans are more fickle than a 1950’s movie version of a homecoming queen, and where fans characterize themselves as too sophisticated for affirmative nods when the extremely talented quarterback kneels and talks to God.

Still, New York City loves football as much as it loves the Yankees, the Mets, chomping down on toasted bagels and cream cheese + smoked salmon while reading the sports pages of the New York Times and the Daily News, and Nathan’s hot dogs at either ballpark and at Madison Square Garden (with sauerkraut).

So---Tebow’s headed for a big town that has a big appetite for sports, which means high expectations for victory and for its athletes to be playing “to the hilt.” Even Jeter gets jeered, even Joe Namath got booed in NYC.

For Tebow, the trade to New York may hold more promise than years of only “sideline,” of his having to be dude number two, or three, a deputy chief of the long bench, sitting by the Gatorade barrel. For example, Sanchez had a weak 2011 season, the Jets were behind the competency-curve compared with its main rivals, the New York Giants and the New England Patriots. Jets head coach, Rex Ryan, is therefore being pressured New York-style by the Jets ownership and Jets fans for a winning season and a shot at the next Super Bowl, which could lead to a continuum of Jets shake-ups, leaving Tebow in the position that he found himself in last year, suddenly “a starter” when then Denver Broncos quarterback, Kyle Orton, couldn’t rise above the margins of effectiveness and was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Tebow soon helped pull the Broncos up from a losing record to a playoff slot. There’s no reason to think that Tebow couldn’t turn matters around for the Jets, should a situation similar to the Orton-exit occur in 2012.

Tebow should be happy with what the coming season’s Jets status-quo could be with him aboard, a Sanchez-led 9-7 or 8-8 record that couldn’t exist were Tebow less than proficient as a special situation quarterback, that is, Tebow in for Sanchez when a game is winding down, e.g., under the two minute warning and the Jets are inside the opposition’s 20, a chance for a Tebow rush or the unexpected Tebow wingshot to an outside receiver---boom! TD.

Also, envision the Jets offense needing to initiate a mid-fourth quarter attack requiring what Tebow is best at, “running the football,” even if it’s Tebow pushing the ball by himself three and four yards per play toward that first down (he’s been labeled, “natural running back.”).

Too, Tebow’s speed, strength and quick mind for “the rush” has underscored Rex Ryan thinking that he should have Tebow work the two-point conversion.

So---Tebow could be the Jets two-in-one quarterback for a number of seasons, not just a Sanchez understudy. He could be the unfailing gunslinger in for those special kill moments, a successful closer from behind, the Jets tie-breaker, once again a Sunday hero.

Yet in 2012, Sanchez could unintentionally morph into being New York’s Kyle Orton.

END/ml

     

NFL: PEYTON  MANNING CHOOSES THE BRONCOS

 For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

                “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

            SPECIAL OLYMPICS SUMMER GAMES, COLORADO: for more information: specialolympicsco.org

NFL:      DURING the recent NFL season, Tim Tebow was the nation’s most popular football player, in Denver an icon-in-waiting from quarterbacking enough wins moving the Broncos into the 2011 playoffs. Now, in Denver anyway, Tebow is being upstaged by another quarterback, Peyton Manning, famous nationally for more than a decade, who chose to be a Broncos QB after being courted by several franchises.

Questions abound, e.g., why did Manning select Denver? And, what will be for the younger, and popular, Tim Tebow?

Looking at why Manning chose the Broncos, we can assume that most, if not all of his football wants and important personal needs were met by the Denver franchise, and that other teams may have offered him more in particular categories such as money or location, but they couldn’t deliver for enough of a top quarterback’s areas of concern.

More than likely, Manning’s selection-criteria included being with a team that he could help transform into a multi-year Super Bowl contender, and there’s no reason to believe that the Broncos are not potentially that organization. Specifically, Manning being older would prefer the truly supportive offense, i.e., working with receivers the likes of Broncos Eric Decker and DeMaryius Thomas, and he’d certainly covet the pass protection that he’d receive from Broncos sack-maestro, Elvis Dumervil.

Of course, the talk about Manning’s neck surgery, and that he’s to be 36 years old, will be print, radio, TV, barfly and water cooler buzz into the next NFL season, while there’s no way of knowing what the impact of the neck surgery and aging will mean for Denver’s new quarterback until evidence can be seen from stadium seats and from the couch. Meanwhile, Broncos VP for Operations + football legend, John Elway, and Broncos Head Coach, John Fox, have bet that neither issue will undo that which Manning can contribute to an NFL franchise.

Fact, and as cited here in a previous column, a Peyton Manning limited by surgery and age is still a star quarterback, a serious challenge to QB’s Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, and brother Eli. In other words, the best passer in the NFL taken down some from a neck operation and from being older will remain one of the NFL’s best athletes during the 2012 season and after.

Tebow, where goest thou?  Franchise owners, general managers and head coaches reviewing film of Tebow scoring those last-minute touchdowns that lifted the Broncos from being losers to winners in 2011 will certainly be impressed, and so will owners looking at receipts from last year’s Tebow T-shirts, jerseys and jackets sold. But if these officials look at the rest of the film, at Tebow’s flubs and his just-above-the-margin passing game, they will think twice before deciding to bid for him.

If a decision about the future is up to Tebow, he’ll surely wonder where he could be a “starter” with the support needed for his run-the-ball skills, and still be able to develop deeper and more accurate throws, however to receivers who can adjust quickly and effectively as he transforms into being one of the league’s better passers.

Also, Tebow would be advised to consider reserve QB-ing for the Broncos, a drop in status and popularity but means by which to learn from two masters, Elway and Manning.    

From Jay Cutler to Kyle Orton and Brady Quinn, then on to Tebow and now Manning, in Denver there’s been a long drama titled, “the QB,” a city where fans and a lot of Broncos team-members are hoping that with Manning aboard no-one will be saying next December, “new guy, but the story has stayed the same, that happy ending still out of reach.”

END/ml    

NBA: DENVER NUGGETS DOWN, NOT FOR THE COUNT; N.Y. KNICKS, UNRAVELING OR TRANSITIONING?    

 For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

                “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

            SPECIAL OLYMPICS SUMMER GAMES, COLORADO: for more information: specialolympicsco.org

NBA:       HERE’s a basketball coach speaking to kids at their school, a Bobby Knight-type, think Gene Hackman as the coach in the classic basketball movie, Hoosiers: “You want to be in enemy territory for as many minutes as possible, it’s where the shots for points are and it’s points that win a game, which means you want lots of turnovers and fast breaks, good passing and assists, no wasted shots, although you want to take the shots that seem to guarantee those two or three points, for which you execute your planned plays. And, when in your own territory, you want to protect it like it’s your homeland. You rebound. The ball is yours again. You rush that ball to the enemy’s basket and score. It’s in the basketball bible, check it out!” 

Too bad the Denver Nuggets hadn’t had the above on three-by-five cards so they could read it before the second half of a home game against the mighty Thunder on Thursday night, March 14, when they had obtained a lead at the end of the first half, albeit only 51-50.

In that second half against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Nuggets seemed to come apart, losing by 17 points, 103-90. Among reasons why, perhaps the fact that the Denver team came into the first quarter of the game like caffeinated cops chasing a coke-head burglar, an out-of-the-gate speed that was unusual for the more cautious, more methodical Nuggets starters, as if each decided to be as quick in the offense as teammate and guard Ty Lawson can be, who had scored only three points in the first half, a steep drop for a player who’s been averaging 15 points per game. Anyway, that new and flashy momentum must have had the Nuggets close to exhaustion and error-prone as the second half proceeded.  

Against the Thunder, forward Danilo Gallinari appeared to be the only Nuggets player who could ratchet up the momentum without losing shooting accuracy. Another reason for the loss to the Thunder is that the Nuggets were being challenged by what could be the year’s best NBA team, a team that had brought defense to a nearly perfect art against the Nuggets in that second half. The Thunder has remained in first place of the Northwest Division of the NBA’s Western Conference, now 33-10, ahead of second place team, the Nuggets (24-20).

If you’ve watched enough NBA games, it won’t surprise when a team that has lost a game has also produced some of the more amazing plays and shots seen in a long while. Watching 5’11” Lawson rebounding and stealing, passing and setting up plays, leaping over the Thunder’s bigger men, and Gallinari making a three-pointer after fast evasion from the Thunder’s double-teaming, such tells you that the Nuggets are not about to be the New York Knicks and experience a long losing streak.

That the Nuggets are an above-the-margin NBA team rests with the numbers, for example, the Nuggets have scored 50 and more points in the paint within each of 22 games thus far this season, and they have scored 100 and more points in 24 games and have scored 90 or less points in only four games. Meanwhile, the Nuggets have held opponents to fewer than 100 points, 18 times. More importantly, the Nuggets have outgunned all opposing teams in averages regarding ppg (Nuggets are 104 vs. opponents 101), and have outplayed all opposing 2011/12 teams in field goal percentage and in total number of assists, rebounds and steals.      

In spite of being trounced by the Thunder in last night’s second half, the Nuggets are more than alive and well, a transitional note the departure of forward/center Nene. The Brazilian dynamo helped the Nuggets reach the playoffs during many seasons and was traded yesterday to the Washington Wizards.

NBA, N.Y. KNICKS:   FOR a lot of head coaches and managers in professional sports, it’s not even three strikes and you’re out, it’s more like “One false move, and you are history.” Well, for whatever reason, Mike D’Antoni as a head coach in N.Y. is history after a ride this season that has the Knicks behind the power curve where an easy shot at the playoffs would otherwise be in sight, which in 2011 was touted as a strong possibility with the addition of Carmelo Anthony and Chauncey Billups from the Denver Nuggets. Maybe the Knicks front office acted too quickly, Billups having been sent to the Los Angeles Clippers, where he’s having a good season. Anthony has disappointed, in that he hasn’t surpassed his fine record achieved as a member of the Nuggets (in fact, he hasn’t matched it---yet!).

Also, the Knicks ”Linsanity” episode was not to endure, another turn of the screw for New York. The story is a familiar one: Overblown expectations = Frustration + Anger = Irrational decision-making, a coach grabs his scooter and drives off. So, who’s to be the Knicks next field general? Sorry, Big Apple, Phil Jackson prefers his retirement to at least stay as is in 2012 (who knows, maybe next year), and George Karl continues to enjoy life in the West. Patrick Ewing, again? New York likes the drama of a second chance. Truth of it all, N.Y. is Drama City, more so than L.A. The Knicks are now the only NBA team resembling a reality TV show. The Miami Heat? Who are they?

END/ml     

U.S. BASKETBALL & THE LONDON, U.K. OLYMPICS-2012 // FORMULA ONE GRAND PRIX MOTOR RACING SEASON-2012.

 For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

                “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

            SPECIAL OLYMPICS SUMMER GAMES, COLORADO: for more information: specialolympicsco.org

USOC BASKETBALL---         THE London Olympics (2012) will be from July 27 through August 12, and the U.S. men’s basketball team will be crafted from the below-listed 20 finalists (10 Forwards & 10 Guards) out of 14 NBA teams, four of the 14 with two or more players chosen as finalists:

            Head Coach: Mike Krzyzewski (Duke University)

                  LaMarcus Aldridge, Forward/Center (Portland Trail Blazers)

                  Carmelo Anthony, Forward (New York Knicks)

                  Chauncey Billups, Guard (Los Angeles Clippers)

                  Chris Bosh, F (Miami Heat)

                  Kobe Bryant, G (L.A. Lakers)

                  Tyson Chandler, Center (N.Y. Knicks)

                  Kevin Durant, G (Oklahoma City)

                  Rudy Gay, F (Memphis Grizzlies)

                  Eric Gordon, G (New Orleans Hornets)

                  Blake Griffin, F (L.A. Clippers)

                  Dwight Howard, F/C (Orlando Magic)

                  Andre Iquodala, G/F (Philadelphia 76ers)

                  LeBron James, F (Miami Heat)

                  Kevin Love, F (Minnesota Timberwolves)

                  Lamar Odom, F (Dallas Mavericks)

                  Chris Paul, G (L.A. Clippers)

                  Derrick Rose, G (Chicago Bulls)

                  Dwyane Wade, G (Miami Heat)

                  Russell Westbrook, G (Okla. City)

                  Deron Williams, G (New Jersey Nets)

           

FORMULA ONE  --- THIS month begins the Formula One Grand Prix Motor Racing season for 2012, which will continue into November and include 20 races hosted by 19 countries, starting with this Friday’s Australian Grand Prix. Noteworthy is that Formula One racing is returning to the United States, with a Grand Prix event at Austin, Texas, during weekend, November 16-18. Race number 20 will be the Brazilian Grand Prix, at Sao Paulo, November 23-25.

Key races between the Australian and U.S. events will occur at the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Hungary, China, Japan, Korea, India, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Malaysia, and Singapore. 

Second to world soccer, F1 racing is the world’s richest and most popular sport, but not as popular in the U.S. as is Nascar and the Indy racing circuit. Here’s a quick review: think two amazingly sleek and light racing cars per 12 teams competing upon circuits combining roads + tracks that are indeed maverick in style, that is, the roads are winding and in places narrow, and the tracks only partially elliptical, with most go-rounds for the cars more than 1.5 miles, the state-of-the-art aerodynamically-designed cars capable of reaching 220 mph from 18,000 rpm’s, accepting 5G pull at corners.

Last year's champion driver---Sebastian Vettel, team: "Red Bull-Renault." Here are the 12 teams as they finished last year---

1. (first place, yes, the energy drink:) "Red Bull-Renault" (Renault vehicle + engine)
2. McLaren-Mercedes (Mercedes engine)
3. Ferrari (Farrari + Ferrari engine)
4. Mercedes (Mercedes & Mercedes Engine
5. Renault (Renault Car + engine)
6. Force India-Mercedes (Mercedes + Merc. engine)
7. Sauber-Ferrari (Sauber car, Ferrari engine)
8. STR-Ferrari (Ferrari engine)
9. Williams-Cosworth (Wms car, Cosworth engine)
10. Lotus-Renault (Lts. car, Ren. Engine)
11. HRT-Cosworth (Cosworth engine)
12. Virgin-Cosworth (Cos. Engine)

The first six F1 Grand Prix races are as follows. Several will be shown live or taped on TV’s Speed Channel:

1. Australian Grand Prix, Mar 16-18 (Melbourne)
2. Malaysia GP, Mar 23-25 (Kuala Lumpur)
3. Chinese GP, April 13-15 (Shanghai)
4. Gulf-Bahrain GP, Apr 20-22 (Sakhir)
5. Spain GP, May 11-13 (Catalonia)
6. Monaco GP, May 24-27  

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NFL: MANNING, WHERE GOEST THOU?

 For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

            “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

NFL:    A retired football coach whispers, “Running backs, receivers, tight ends, special team guys, they’re like busses and taxis, there’ll be another one along soon enough.” Before anyone nearby could comment, he adds, “As for good quarterbacks, well, they’re not so easy to find.” And what an amazing find was, well, probably still “is,” QB Peyton Manning, today a free agent after 14 years with the Indianapolis Colts, having led the Colts to seven AFC South championships and two Super Bowl visits in the last five years, plus a Super Bowl win in 2007, when he was selected Super Bowl MVP.

Too, Manning has been an NFL MVP four times and has appeared in 11 Pro Bowls and has had 11 seasons of 4,000+ yards gained, six in a row. He’s also delivered more than 395 touchdown passes for the Colts. Sports Illustrated chose Manning as best QB of the last decade.

Since year 2000, seven QB’s were selected as Super Bowl MVP’s, and since the first Super Bowl in 1967, 24 of the 45 Super Bowls have produced a QB as its MVP. So, it shouldn’t surprise that seven NFL teams showed immediate interest in Manning the moment that he received free agent status.

Could Manning be a liability to whichever franchise he chooses to play for? The downside includes his age; he’ll be 36 before donning another team’s uniform. And, there’s that neck injury that kept Manning from playing in 2011---there’s no guarantee that its healing hasn’t some hidden limitations.

An upside is that while Manning may not be the QB that he was in years past, he can still be a Manning better than most other QB’s in the league anyway, and better than the QB’s on some teams that may keep bidding for him, for example, his being at center for the Washington Redskins means a better choice for them than the QB that led the ‘skins during the 2011 season.

And surely Manning could upstage the Denver Broncos current starting QB, Tim Tebow---but, how wise would it be for the Broncos to bench or trade Tebow for a QB who may only be a post-season hero for a few more seasons, when Tebow’s potential and stats suggest that he could be a contender for post-season play for a decade, or longer? Yet why would Manning want to put up with Tebowmania after 14 years in the NFL? Wouldn’t he want smoother surrounding conditions as he rides that back end of the career pyramid?

Yes, a good QB is an extremely valuable franchise asset. That said, what’s an extremely valuable asset for the good QB? If Manning is still ambitious and yearns to surpass his personal best stats, he’ll be looking at franchises that can give him that more easily than others---he’ll choose to go where the better receivers and running backs are, where the coach that he’d prefer to be working for exists, he’ll want a stand-up support network.

Of course, if money is Manning’s primary concern, he’ll go to the highest bidder. If it’s location that matters most to Manning, then he’ll likely warm to the Dolphins, since he owns a Florida home, or it could be to the Jets in New York, where he’d be close to his brother Eli of the N.Y. Giants during much of the football year, and if there’s something that he needs to prove to himself career-wise it could be to the Dolphins or the Jets, in that still being in the AFC he’d be challenged by New England, Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, teams that have been to the Super Bowl in recent seasons.

Or, Manning could look toward the Redskins, where there’s an owner with enough money to buy a country, where Mike Shanahan is head coach and where there’s an offense that Manning could invigorate for recreating the experience of turning a team around the way that he helped to move the Colts onto a higher and winning plain, an added attraction the close enough proximity to Florida and NYC. However, there’s an issue here, it’s that Peyton Manning would be competing for the same division championship, that of the NFC East, as would his younger brother, Eli Manning.  .  . 

.  .  .  well, just like a TV channel, “the NFL knows drama.”    

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ALL SPORTS: WALKING THE LINE // MLB: SPRING TRAINING & THE COLORADO ROCKIES

 For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

            “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

ALL SPORTS:   Maybe the settings of American sports are "a saint and sinner cycle," no-one knowing when either will downgrade the other, an example of the saint side being Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin taking center stage because of their potential greatness as athletes and that they seem to be centered, uncomplicated, good role models for our kids, men that Dads and Moms hope their daughters would bring home for dinner instead of that skinny sniffler with funny odors floating on his breath.

For a lot of fans, the Tebow promise, or illusion, is that there could still be an American future dominated by right-minded, respectful and responsible persons, and perhaps the Lin story is that there are no limits to performance-skills evolving from hope, patience, hard work and good behavior. Overall, there’s a nice feeling about American sports whenever a Tebow or a Lin leaves the bench and then excels, allowing us to believe that high expectations can be met and that the good won’t fade away.

Then along comes the bad and the ugly, and it's recall time: we no longer deny that there are snakes, rats and broken glass in American sports, the latest scandal that of NFL players paying bounties for actions that have caused the league to seem more seedy than clean and correct, and more dangerous than it needs to be, a league for corruption and for the concept of winning at any price.

Last year, it was the Penn State mess, university recruiting scandals, use of performance-enhancing drugs, and not long ago a study revealed that seven percent of America’s college athletes have criminal records. A few years back, a top NFL quarterback went to jail for having competed his dogs in death-dueling events. It’s hard to remember a year when an American athlete hasn’t been accused of cocaine or heroin use, rape, attempted murder or having beaten a drunk at a bar or been that drunk at a bar, or having received successive DUI’s.

BUT---hard facts about the number of nasty doings among America’s professional athletes lean toward the saint side. Of the more than 20,000 athletes, coaches and staff in the NFL, MLB, the NBA, NHL, USTA, boxing, wrestling, training for the Olympics, and in our schools, "less than one percent comprise the alleged and proven corrupt."

SO---the buttwipes in American sports, those who choose to dance dirty, they are the exception, a small bunch. Of course, the more Internal Affairs-work conducted by our sports leagues and schools, the less crossing over from the good.

*   *   *

MLB:   Spring training isn’t just for determining who will be on that 25-man roster, it’s also to sweat away three sets of problems, One, getting rid of the kinks that developed among players during the off-months, Two, resolving the issues that in the previous year may have held a team from reaching a post-season billet or that allowed the team to be whacked under an October sky, and Three, once the 25-man roster is selected, there's choosing the A team, the top eight + man-on-the-mound out of a chosen rotation, + relievers and a closer. All this is a lot to accomplish in a month’s time, meaning that decisions have to be made hastily, but then, not too hastily.

Some MLB clubs have it easier than others when it comes to organizing for fixes and implementing them, and for building the best possible game-day rosters. The Colorado Rockies are one of those teams, in that the team’s manager, Jim Tracy, is in his third year with the team and several veteran players have his back, among them, first baseman Todd Helton, shortstop Troy Tulowitzki, outfielders Carlos Gonzalez and Dexter Fowler, and designated hitter and alternate infielder, Jason Giambi., neither of these vets of the lone wolf syndrome, that is, each has been coachable in his career and a willing helper when it comes to working with newcomers. And there's Jamie Moyer, now the oldest pitcher in professional baseball (he’s 50), reportedly a willing adviser to the younger hurlers.

Tracy’s big issue will remain the lift that all MLB club managers see as an overarching objective and seek to develop during spring training, knowing that it may not exist until around late May or sometime in June, that of the players selected for his line-up reaching and exploiting favorably their potential as hitters, base-runners, fielders or hurlers, preferably to a max point and it staying there. Now add developing the teamwork component, a player being able to instinctively serve the needs of his team afield, which amounts to “hey, bunt when you’re supposed to.”

Last season, with pitcher Jorge De La Rosa out, and pitchers Jiminez and Huston failing to meet expectations on the mound, also Carlos Gonzalez getting injured, and Chris Iannetta unable to fulfill his promise at the plate, the Rockies couldn’t get to where scoring was easy even against lesser clubs. The team’s poor starts from the mound and its lack of extra-base hitting when such needs to result in "runs," such led to a low end-of-season finish. So, an improved leading hitter (Fowler), and Helton having maneuvered his batting skills for the double and triple, plus Gonzalez and Tulowtizki as the duo-blasters, this has to make the difference starting April, meanwhile the newcomers need to offset the weaknesses of the players that they will be replacing, e.g., Charlie Blackmon in for the traded Seth Smith. And, back in the rotation will be De La Rosa and others for a reportedly improved rotation, and epectations that Rafael Betancourt will be the team’s successful closer.

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NBA: DENVER NUGGETS @ MID-SEASON // MLB: COLORADO ROCKIES, LINING UP (Reprinted from Tuesday’s Posting) 

 For more sports analysis, go to Mile High Sports Radio AM1510 or FM93.7, and to Denver’s best sports blogging team, milehighsports.com

            “SPORTS NOTEBOOK” posts its columns Tuesday and Friday of every week---Ed. & Publ., Marvin Leibstone.

NBA:    STRETCHING a double digit lead isn’t commonplace in the NBA, and so it hasn’t been a frequent occurrence for the Denver Nuggets during the 2011/2012 66-game season. Ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers last night at the half by 18 points, the Nuggets saw its lead diminish considerably, coming out on top anyway as the game ended, 104-95, a victory that at 19 wins and 17 losses put the Nuggets back into second place of the Northwest Division of the NBA’s Western Conference, nine games behind first place team, the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Yet consistency lies elsewhere for the Denver franchise, visible within performance data that has accumulated steadily into mid-season across 36 games. For example, the Nuggets have a points-per-game average at around 103, higher than that achieved by opposing conference teams. The Nuggets are also ahead of its competition in number of assists, rebounds and steals, and while below other NBA teams with regard to field goals, three-pointers and free throws, the difference isn’t by much.

Too, seven Nuggets players have double-digit ppg averages, Danilo Gallinari the highest with 17 ppg, Al Harrington next at 14. Harrington also has the most points accumulated by a Nuggets player since day one of the season, .502 as of Tuesday, and his shooting percentage is the team’s highest, .455 for more than 35 games played. Also as of Tuesday, Harrington has had the highest number of field goals and three-pointers among the Nuggets players, 191 and 49 respectively.

When describing the Nuggets overall consistency, we could say that the team has been above .500 since December, though not by much, it now being .528, which places the Nuggets as eighth best within the Western Conference and 14^th among the NBA’s 30 teams.

And from looking elsewhere at how bad matters could be, the Nuggets appear as if at basketball’s commanding heights, e.g., Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats are feeding at the bottom---the Bobcats are in last place of the Southeast Division of the Eastern Conference, and last within the entire NBA, all from a 4-29 record, thus a .121 average. Directly above the Bobcats are the 7-28 Washington Wizards, at .200.

Yet proportionality, or the lack of it, can be the reckoning. Were the Nuggets in the Western Conference's Southeast Division, they’d be in last place, behind fourth position team, the Memphis Grizzlies, now 20-15, at .571.

On the bright side, the Nuggets can climb upward in division and conference rankings from its mix of star players and emphasis on teamwork. As an example, Ty Lawson may have proved last night that repairing from an injury can bring more agility and strength from where damage had occurred. Lawson’s a 5-11 player, shooting accurately above towering players like the Trail Blazer’s nearly 7-foot forward, LaMarcus Aldridge. Lawson managed this mostly in the fourth Q vs. Portland, scoring 11 of his 18 points of the game, and he had nine assists (this after suffering an ankle injury). Lawson was one of the first of the Nuggets starters to reach double digit ppg this year.

Too, high scorers Gallinari and Nene will soon be returning to the Nuggets from injuries, along with Lawson likely to push the Nuggets further above .500, keeping that second place consistency going.

The next pivotal game for the Nuggets will be against the San Antonio Spurs, leading the Western Conference’s Southwest Division at 24-11, .686---Sunday, March 4, @ San Antonio.

*   *   * 

MLB:     “Who are these guys?” That has to be a common response to the 2012 Colorado Rockies 40-man roster. More than half of the ballplayers listed are “unrecognizable,” to Colorado fans, anyway, the rest being the infielders, outfielders and pitchers who were in multiple games during the 2011 MLB season. 

So, who’s returning? Among infielders, Todd Helton, Jason Giambi, Johnathan Herrera, Troy Tulowitzki and Eric Young, Jr. For the outfield, Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez. Among pitchers, Matt Belisle, Rafael Betancourt, Jhoulys Chacin, Juan Nicasio, Esmil Rogers, Alex White. Regarding a catcher, the three candidates for April’s lineup are new: Ramon Hernandez, Eliezer Alfonso, Jordan Pacheco and Wilin Rosario.

Spring training will, of course, determine who will constitute the starting line-up, and which hurlers will be mid-game relievers and closers. This means that a team with more than 25 new players could in April be mostly “the old Rockies,” a selection from the crew of years before, the new additions a catcher who can hit and field above the margin, likely Ramon Hernandez, obtained from the Cincinnati Reds, and at third base, Marco Scutaro, from the Boston Red Sox, and a third outfielder, Michael Cuddyer, from the Minnesota Twins.

New and promising for the Rockies pitching staff will be RHP Jeremy Guthrie, from the Baltimore Orioles, and RHP Guillermo Moscoso, from the Oakland A’s.

Of much value this year will be the Rockies pre-season schedule of games in March, when 11 of 31 challenges will be against teams within the division that the Colorado team hopes to be leading by late September, starting with a game versus the Arizona Diamondbacks on March 3. There will be two more contests vs. the Diamondbacks before April, and two each vs. the San Diego Padres, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants. That’s roughly around 40 hours of playing time (equal to an average work week) for Rockies manager Jim Tracy to refine the existing roster and settle on an opening day lineup. Given how often most big league managers revise their line-ups during the regular season, maybe spring training isn’t long enough for any baseball team to ever be more than a work in progress.

END/ml