Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Test #2

Me? A homer? Perish the thought!

Yah, so I'm a homer... your point is what? I love my city, and my introduction to any major sport was through our home teams. I still remember seeing John Cerutti pitch to a young Pat Borders in Exhibition Stadium in the 80's. I came to hockey late (12 years old), watching the Leafs shake off the Brophy years, but still under the iron fist of Ballard mismanagement. Hell, I paid about zero attention to the NBA until the Raptors came into existence, and even now only pay about 3% attention to the league.

So yup, I'm a homer. No shame in that.

So on the thread - The Jays, having pulled off a four game sweep of the White Sox, are now facing Sox of the red variety. This would be their second test of the year, having achieve a D against the Yankees last week (2-1 series loss, but close in the 3rd game). Boston's 3.5 games back of the Jays for 1st in the AL East, so this is one of those early season "big" series. Opening up a 6.5 game lead on the Sox could go a long way to defining the season, but dropping to just 1/2 game ahead will put some pressure on. Of course, it could all mean nothing by the end.

We've got Tallet, Cecil and Ray vs Wakefield, Penny, and Lester on the mound. Interestingly, Wakefield's the only one who has better stats than his opponent, and then, not by much. Not exactly the heart of our rotation, but then again, I don't know where exactly that is outside of Halladay. This will be a solid test for all three of these guys as starters. Here's hoping they pass.

Looking at those Boston ERAs though, there could be a couple hitting displays from the boys in blue.

Then they're in Atlanta? Interleague already? Wow.

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Conference finals in the NHL have started. Detroit took those kids from Chicago out to the shed for a whuppin' in game 1, and we'll see if the kids learned their lesson tonight. That game played out pretty much as expected - Chicago showed up early, showed their speed, and the Detroit showed them what speed and talent and experience can do.

Pittsburgh got lucky against Carolina. Fleury was solid, and the Penguins defence should be buying him a nice bottle of something for saving their asses in game 1. Sure, with the talent in Pittsburgh, the Penguins could crush the 'Canes, but it's nowhere near its peak, and Carolina ain't a bunch of slouches themselves.

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