NBA and NHL Free Agency 2009 (Live Blog)

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Christian Chiavetta

Update  Thursday @2:25PM by Tim Sharobem

From the New York Daily News

Making their annual splash on the opening day of free agency, the Rangers signed Marian Gaborik to a five-year deal worth $7.5 million annually – eating up every last dollar that had been earmarked for [Scott] Gomez. The Rangers’ hope is that this season they will get a few goals for that money – Gaborik is a former 42-goal scorer for the Minnesota Wild and “certainly one of the top 10″ forwards in hockey, in Sather’s words.

I love the idea of having Marian Gaborik, as he is a genuine goal scorer, but at $7.5 M/yr, I am not as enthusiastic as I would be.

My guess is he’ll team up with Chris Drury and Ryan Callahan on the first line.

With the Gaborik signing, word from Atlanta is that the Thrashers have signed Nik Antropov.  I liked Antropov as he actually thrived in the  John Tortorella system-albeit in a short sample. Then again, at a reported $4 M/yr-the terms Antropov is receiving, I understand why NYR stayed away.

Update 2:25PM by Christian Chiavetta

Goaltender Dwayne Roloson has signed a two year 5 million dollar contract with the New York Islanders. He will serve as insurance for Rick DiPietro, who spent last year injured.

Strong move by the Islanders. It will be interesting to see what they do, because they are nowhere near the floor of the salary cap.

Update 2:10PM by Christian Chiavetta

Apparently goon Donald Brashear has signed with the New York Rangers. I’m assuming this means that Blair Betts will not be coming back. He most likely is coming in to replace Colton Orr, who earlier today signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Marian Hossa is also off the table now, signing a 12-year contract with the Chicago Blackhawks. Glad the Rangers stayed away from this one, even if the 5.2 million dollar cap hit isn’t that bad.

Filed under: NBA - Knicks, NBA - Nets, NHL - Devils, NHL - Islanders, NHL - Rangers, Writer - Christian Chiavetta, Writer - Tim Sharobem | 1 Comment »

NHL and NBA Free Agency 2009

Posted on July 1, 2009 by Christian Chiavetta

Today is a huge day in sports, in that both NBA and NHL free agency begin. NBA free agency began at 12:01 this morning, and NHL free agency begins at 12PM today. All of the local sports teams will look to be active, but none more so than the New York Rangers and the New York Knicks. The Knicks have two big time restricted free agents in Nate Robinson and David Lee, and are hoping to resign both without sacrificing cap space for next year’s free agent class. The word on the street thus far is that the Knicks will probably not be able to resign either. Look for the Knicks to be players on Jason Kidd and Ramon Sessions if either Lee or Robinson falls through.

As for the Rangers, they kicked things off in a big way yesterday by dealing away number 1 centerman Scott Gomez, who interesting enough came to the Rangers almost two years ago to the day. Gomez’s tenure in New York was spotty at best, although he did earn an All-Star nod in 2007-2008. Brought in to be the playmaker that fed the puck to players such as Jaromir Jagr and Nik Zherdev, Gomez became more of a turnover machine who didn’t seem to mesh with any of the Rangers’ snipers. Coupled with questions about his conditioning, inability to dig deep in the corners, and overall lack of production, he heads to Montreal in exchange for Chris Higgins, Canadiens top prospect Ryan McDonagh, and Russian prospect Pavel Valentenko. Heading with Gomez are low level prospects Tom Pyatt and Mike Busto. To be frank, I have no idea how Glen Sather pulled this one off, but it was a great move in that it pulls the Rangers out of the salary cap hell that they were in. With Dany Heatley rumors abound, and stars such as Marian Hossa and Marion Gaborik on the market, today is going to be yet another active day for the Rangers. It will be interesting to see what they come up with.

Keep it tuned here to Big Apple Sports, where we will have a running blog going complete with commentary about today’s pick ups!

Filed under: NBA - Knicks, NBA - Nets, NHL - Devils, NHL - Islanders, NHL - Rangers, Writer - Christian Chiavetta | Leave a Comment »

The Window Is Closing Omar

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Christian Chiavetta

The window to win with a certain core of players only lasts for an finite amount of time. The best of dynasties come to an end, just ask the Yankees of the 90’s and the Mets of the late 80’s. For the Mets of the middle to late 2000’s, the window to win with this group of talent is closing and it is closing fast. In the wake of Carlos Beltran’s possible microfracture surgery, which could potentially end his career like it did for NBA players Jamal Mashburn and Terrell Brandon, it may be time for GM Omar Minaya to rebuild this team.

I’m not saying he needs to do a dramatic overhaul like the Florida Marlins seem to do every ten or so years, where they trade off every single player on their team. Obviously David Wright and Jose Reyes are going to stay on this team for at least ten years to come, but I don’t know if it is safe to depend on a guy like Beltran or Carlos Delgado to return to form anymore. Thankfully, the Mets have a prospect in Fernando Martinez, who right now can’t seem to hit, but seems adept at playing a strong center field for years to come. If the slide continues, I think the Mets need to run him out there every day and see what they have in him. The Mets also have two B-prospects in Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans who also should be playing every day. Why not see what we have in them, this way we can either move past them, or phase them into our lineup for this year and years to come. I’m sick of seeing Jerry Manuel run out Fernando Tatis on a daily basis when he hasn’t gotten the job done in the least. Tatis is a bench player and nothing more.

Also, with the word out that the Blue Jays are fed up with the lack of production from Vernon Wells and Alex Rios, why not try to explore a trade for Rios. He is relatively cheap at 12 million dollars per year, has plenty of upside (which I’m pretty sure you cannot say about Vernon), and would be a terrific fit for Citi Field. He has great gap power and is tremendous on defense, not to mention the fact that he has a cannon for an arm. He can also play centerfield, which is a help for this year if Beltran is out.

This type of thinking always seems to elude the Mets. They rely too much on aging veterans and not enough on youthful, agile players. I know you can’t turn over the roster in one fell swoop, but I honestly think the time has come for these changes. It’s not like the Double-A roster that we are churning out there right now is getting the job done now anyway. Do some on the fly evaluation until we get some players back Omar. The window is barely open for this group of Mets right now, so start thinking about the future while also thinking about the present.

http://www.paragonsports.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=75486&storeId=10551&catalogId=10051&langId=-1 tp

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2009 NBA Draft Blog

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Tim Sharobem

UPDATE 8:38 PM

The Nets select Terrence Williams, a forward, at 11th overall.

T-Will’s former coach Ricky Pitino has gone on record to say he will be “a better pro than a college player.”

UPDATE 8:27 PM

Say it with me Knicks fans: JORDAN HILL

After Sacramento drafted Tyreke Evans at 4th overall, I think lots of fans were looking towards a Ricky Rubio or Steph Curry pick at 8. Minnesota proceeded to draft 2 guards with Rubio and Syracuse PG Jonny Flynn.

Then with the Garden a buzz, the Golden State Warriors played Garden Villain by locking up Curry.

Hill is no slouch. At 6-10 with a wingspan of 7-1, Hill has the potential to fill an Amare Stoudmire-esque role in New York.

Welcome to NY Jordan. Sorry Steph.

UPDATE  5:15 PM (Tim)


According to the NJ Star Ledger, the Nets have agreed in principle with the Orlando Magic on the rumored Vince Carter trade. The rumor that was previously broken  by Chad Ford ESPN.com is the following

Magic Get:

Vince Carter

Ryan Anderson

Nets Get:

Courtney Lee

Rafer Alston

Tony Battie

Another draft night, another salary dump.

Vince Carter is heading home, to central Florida – and he’s bringing Ryan Anderson with him.

The Nets have agreed in principle to trade their most dynamic player and top gate attraction to the Orlando Magic in exchange for three players, which will effectively help them clear roughly $18 million off their 2010-11 salary cap.

Coming to New Jersey are point guard Rafer Alston, power forward Tony Battie, and rookie shooting guard Courtney Lee.

Anderson will be sent to Orlando in a separate deal for the Magic’s trade exception.

It is now likely that the Nets will lean toward drafting a two-guard to take Carter’s place, such as Terrence Williams. If that isn’t the case, Lee — a very promising player who was otherwise abused by Kobe Bryant in the NBA Finals — will fight Chris Douglas-Roberts for the starting job.

Equally plausible is that the Nets have opened the door for another power forward, with Anderson heading south. That could provide the necessary impetus to draft Tyler Hansbrough.

One year after shipping out Richard Jefferson for Yi Jianlian and Bobby Simmons – a controversial deal that has not exactly yielded dividends – the Nets are now parting with the player who helped saved the franchise from oblivion during the cold winter of ‘04-05.

Carter had some brilliant years in New Jersey, though at 32, he is quickly running out of prime years. But Orlando is betting that the Daytona Beach native has just enough left in his tank to help the Magic get back to the NBA Finals, which is a solid bet.

From the Nets’ perspective, however, this deal — as was the case last year — is primarily for salary cap purposes as they continue to rebuild with youth.

Both Alston ($5.25M) and Battie ($6.2M) are in the final seasons of their contract, while Carter carries a salary of $16.1 million this year and $17.5 million for 2010-11.

Considering that salaries of Lee and Anderson basically cancel each other out, that means the Nets are shaving $17.5 million from their cap in 2010-11. Put another way, they have earmarked a scant $29 million for seven players heading into the historic free agent market of 2010.

Well, there ya have it. Good trade for Orlando as they sorely needed someone to pick up the scoring pace with Hedo Turkoglu (if they keep him) and Rashard Lewis when Dwight Howard’s struggling offensively. People saw in the finals how young and inexperienced Howard really is offensively.

As for New Jersey, this is purely a salary dump. Add the Nets as another big contender for the free agency summer of 2010 with New York, Detroit, and Phoenix among others.

Original post 4:10 PM (Tim)

We are only a few hours away from the start of the 2009 NBA Draft. As you know, both the Knicks and Nets have lottery picks, the 8th and 11th respectively.

This post will be used to reflect on observations made watching/reading other blogs.

Here’s what we know so far:

1. Blake Griffin (Univ. of Oklahoma) will go number one to the LA Clippers. He “will try to act surprised” as he said in a recent interview with Dan Patrick of SI.

2. There is a cloud of mystery over who will draft Ricky Rubio, the teenage Spanish point guard with loads of potential. However, teams have been put off because of a buyout from his previous contract.

3.  The Knicks have acquired the 29th pick from the Lakers for $3 million.

4. The Nets are in serious talks to send Vince Carter to the Magic.

More on #4 in a few minutes.

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Knicks Looking To “Point Guard Up” At Draft

Posted on June 24, 2009 by Christian Chiavetta

Both the NBA and NFL drafts have to be two of the most exciting days in their respective leagues. The pomp and circumstance that surround these two events is uncanny in my eyes. While I am not a huge NBA fan, I do enjoy watching a game from time to time. But year in and year out, I constantly find myself following all of the draft prospects and eagerly watching the draft live on television, hoping for dynamic trades, shocking picks, and the booing that usually results when the Knicks make their selection.

Since Isiah Thomas was fired however, the Knicks have been making logical and shrewd decisions with Donnie Walsh at the helm. For me, there was nothing like Knicks basketball during the 90’s, when it seemed as if along with the Rangers, they owned this city. Let’s not forget, in the early 90’s, both the Mets and Yankees were horrible, and the Giants and Jets were certainly not any better. I feel like Donnie is finally restoring the life to this franchise.

Keeping this in mind, this year’s draft is a critical component in the rebuilding of the Knicks as a franchise. Last year they took some serious steps by airing out their dirty laundry, bringing in Mike D’Antoni and his high-octane offense to liven up the Garden. They also got rid of a ton of horrendous contracts, thus setting them up to be in contention during the critical Summer of 2010. This year, the Knicks have a ton of holes to be filled in their offense, none more glaring than their need at point guard. Thankfully, this year’s draft is as deep with point guards as any draft that I can remember.

The prize is Ricky Rubio. I had a hunch for a while that the Knicks would find a way to get Rubio, but after last night’s Timberwolves/Wizards trade, I think that has become more of a pipe dream. With the ascension of Steph Curry and Tyreke Evans, it also doesn’t seem like the Knicks will be able to get their Plan B or Plan C either. This leaves them in a precarious position. Do they roll the dice on a guy like Jrue Holliday, who is a freakish athlete, but played shooting guard last year at UCLA, and still hasn’t put it all together? Do they take the best player available instead, going with a guy like Jordan Hill of Arizona, who draft-stock has taken a Brook Lopezian drop in recent week? The uncertaintly of the way the draft is going to play out has to be making Donnie’s life very difficult.

If I was him, I would do one of two things. If Curry or Evans miraculously are available at 8, then you take them. If Hill is available at 8, then you take him, and look to find a way to buy a pick from the Timberwolves, who now have four (!) picks in the first round, and get a lesser regarded point guard like  Ty Lawson, who has a winning pedigree and can slide right in and take the load off of Chris Duhon’s shoulders. This would also be good, because then you can trade David Lee to the highest bidder, and maybe even find a way to pawn off Eddy Curry’s mammoth contract.

The options are out there, and given Donnie Walsh’s pedigree, I’m sure he will make some great decisions. I’m pretty stoked to see how tomorrow night plays out, and even more anxious to finally see the Knicks turn yet another corner. The city needs its basketball team back in the spotlight.

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Showing Some Moxie

Posted on June 23, 2009 by Christian Chiavetta

Merriam-Webster define the word moxie as the following:

1 : energy, pep 2 : courage, determination 3 : know-how

Our very own Tim Sharobem has been known to overuse this word as badly as Barney from How I Met Your Mother overuses the phrase “legendary”. Tonight however, the New York Mets showed a heck of a lot of moxie by overcoming the adversity of a devastating injury to CF Carlos Beltran to defeat the first place St. Louis Cardinals. So Timmy Ballgame, go ahead and revel in your favorite word.

If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that we would have been without Carlos Delgado, Jose Reyes, Beltran, Oliver Perez, JJ Putz, and John Maine for extended periods of time, and yet would still be within striking distance of first place, I wouldn’t have been pleased, but I would have signed on the dotted line. Think of the boost these players are going to give us when they come back, ala the equivalent of a couple of trading deadline halls without having to give up any players.

Something about this team is completely different from last season. In a way, they almost remind me of the 2006 team that took whatever was thrown at them (injuries to Pedro Martinez and El Duque), kept up their swagger and heart, and went with it regardless. They also slighly remind me of the 2000 World Series squad, who featured only one superstar in Mike Piazza, and some quality pitchers in Mike Hampton and Al Leiter. Every player on that team knew what their role was, and played it to perfection. Looking back at the starting line up for that team makes me chuckle, because you almost wonder if this line up would even beat the Washington Nationals. Take a look for yourself:

C- Piazza

1B- Todd Zeile

2B- Edgardo Alfonzo

SS- Mike Bordick

3B- Robin Ventura

LF- Benny Agbayani

CF- Jay Payton

RF- Derek Bell

The 2009 Mets, until their core players come back, can take a few lessons from these guys. I know they fell short in the World Series, but with the team they are putting out their now, I would take that in a second. I really believe guys like Alex Cora and David Wright are going to step it up. I also believe that our pitching staff is going to bring it as well. My reasons? None are logical, but for the first time, I feel like the team has finally put the past behind them and are ready to make a run for the playoffs, at any cost.

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Brandon Marshall?

Posted on June 17, 2009 by Christian Chiavetta

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As many of you have already heard, the word out of Denver is that WR Brandon Marshall has demanded to be traded. He informed owner Pat Bowlen sometime last week, and met with Bowlen on Monday, saying that he would accommodate his request. This marks the second franchise player that has demanded a trade from Denver in the past four months. The well publicized trade demands of former Broncos QB Jay Cutler resulted in a move to Chicago for him.

You gotta think that the Giants are making a phone call to Denver as I write this article to at least kick the tires and see what it will take to get Marshall. He is a tremendous talent who has caught more than 100 passes over the past two seasons. However, he is probably just as big a malcontent as former Giants wide-out Plaxico Burress, which you have to think will be a factor in the Giants decision making. Let’s also factor in that Marshall, much like Braylon Edwards and Anquan Boldin, is also in the market for a new contract. Can the Giants really afford to spend 10 million dollars on a guy who will most likely be a headache for them? I’d say yes, but you never know.

With all of this in mind though, I have really started to anticipate the Giants not making any moves and just hedging on the fact that someone out of the group of Domenik Hixon, Steve Smith, Mario Manningham, and Sinorice Moss will step up and be that big play receiver that the Giants so badly missed at the end of last season. I also think that they feel as if Hakeem Nicks has the ability to do so as well, but to place that much emphasis on him as a rookie receiver is foolish, especially in the NFL these days. This puts a ton of pressure on Eli Manning to channel his inner Tom Brady and make the receivers around him better instead of having his receivers making him look good much like Burress did throughout his time with the Giants. I think Eli is up to the challenge, especially after the strides he made last season as a quarterback.

You also have to think that the Jets are  front and center getting ready0 to pounce on Marshall. They are already in serious discussions with Drew Rosenhaus about Plax, so why wouldn’t they at least find out what it would take to get Marshall. At least you can count on Marshall playing this season. It would allow them to slide Jerricho Cotchery to the second receiver’s spot, where he is much better suited, and then they can also use a guy like Chansi Stuckey or David Clowney as the third receiver. This would also considerably ease the burden on Mark Sanchez to dominate out of the gate. Remember what Plax and Marshall did for Eli, Ben Rothlisberger, and Cutler.

My bet is on the Jets to pick up Marshall, especially with Plax’s legal situation, but as a Giants fan, I hope that they at least make an attempt. They are only one great receiver away from being the odds on favorite to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl.

Filed under: NFL - Giants, NFL - Jets, Writer - Christian Chiavetta | 2 Comments »

FML

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Tim Sharobem

Joe Buck, pictured below, is the lead baseball and football play-by-play man for Fox Sports.

Last night, Buck debuted a new show on HBO called Joe Buck Live. While watching the show, I discovered that Joe Buck is 40 years old. Now, that might not seem like a shock, except that this means Joe Buck was 27 years old when he called the 1996 World Series!

“In the air to left field, BACK…AT THE TRACK….AT THE WALL…WE ARE TIED!!”

Calling the 1996 World Series on National Television at 27 years old? Are you kidding me?

Meanwhile, I’m 24 years old, writing a blog post that I hope is seen by 150 people today.

Even if the show fails, Joe Buck,  your life is pretty sweet.

For sure a FML moment.

Filed under: Other, Writer - Tim Sharobem | Tagged: , , , | 3 Comments »

US Open 2009

Posted on June 16, 2009 by Tim Sharobem

For all you golfers and golf fans out there, the New York Daily News has a terrific guide to this year’s US Open at Bethpage Black in Nassau County, LI.

You can check it out here.

The US Open will begin action Thursday, with televsion coverage on ESPN starting at 10 AM.

Thanks to Jennifer Mauer at NYDN for the info.

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HAPPY BIRTHDAY WADE BOGGS!!!

Posted on June 15, 2009 by Bill Slattery

The Man, the Myth, the Legend celebrates 51 glorious years on this earth today. The legendary third baseman was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005, his first year on the ballot with 91.9% of the vote. However, if people could make the Hall of Fame for being characters, Boggs would have been elected with 100% of the vote. The 12-time All-Star and 1996 World Champion was known almost as much for his superstitions and quirks as he was for his 3,010 career hits.

  • He ate chicken before every single game of his career. I have picked up this habit myself, with softball. I absolutely have to eat chicken before every single softball game I play. Crazy, but it just feels right.
  • He woke up at the same time every day, took exactly 150 ground balls in practice, took batting practice at 5:17 and ran sprints at 7:17. One time the Toronto Blue Jays tried to mess with this by freezing the scoreboard clock at 5:16 for an extra minute, and then skipping directly to 5:18.
  • Before each at-bat, he would write the Hebrew word “Chai” – meaning life – into the dirt of the batter’s box.
  • He would take the exact same route from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box before every at-bat, footstep for footstep. By the end of the year, his footprints were embedded into the ground at his home stadium.

But Wade’s quirks weren’t limited solely to his superstitions. He once missed 7 games after injuring his back while putting on a pair of cowboy boots. He is also deathly afraid of horses. He is the reason that the Hall of Fame now decides what cap player will wear, because he was going to select his cap based on what team would be willing to pay him the most. He struck out for the final out of Dave Righetti’s no-hitter on July 4, 1983. He claims that he struck out intentionally because he was afraid that he would get killed at Yankee Stadium for breaking up a no-hitter. He also maintains a bitter relationship with Red Sox managment, despite having his best years as a member of the Red Sox.

All of those personality traits pale in comparison to Wade Boggs’ greatest accomplishment: drinking 64 beers on a cross-country flight. This started out as a bit of an urban legend fueled by Pardon the Interruption. I was fascinated by this tale and believed it from the very beginning. I was ridiculed by everyone for believing in something so outrageous, and for years people told me I was a gullible moron. But I never lost faith in Wade Boggs and his golden liver. Finally, I was rewarded for my faith when I came across this classic story on Tasty Booze, where Wade’s former teammates confirm that he did in fact drink 64 beers on a cross-country flight. Not only did he put down 64, but he did it on a regular basis. And for all I know, he may have drank more than 64 beers. Read the entire story here, and I guarantee that you will become a believer too.

We’ve had a few questions come up about Boggs, and why we refer to tasty Miller Lites as Boggs. Well my friends, open your ears and I’ll pour in a tale.

I heard the legendary story over my car radio as I was heading down I-5 to work about a year ago, listening to Mitch in the Morning on 950 KJR, as usual. For some reason or another, Mitch was gone that day so Steve Sandmeyer was hosting the show, and former Mariners and Yankees pitcher Jeff Nelson was sitting in as his sidekick.

Sandmeyer was killing some time by making small talk about baseball and about Nelly’s career and exploits as a major leaguer. The conversation turned to some of the funniest things Nelly had seen in his career when Sandy asked something like “who was the best with the ladies out of everyone you were around in baseball?” Nelson said that it was tough to say for sure, but that he figured it was probably Andre Dawson, the former Expos, Cubs, Red Sox, and Marlins slugger.

The two shared a laugh about the Hawk’s game, and then Sandmeyer stumbled upon the most compelling question ever articulated in an interview: “who would you say drank the most beer out of everyone you ever played with?” The following colloquy sheds some light on one of drinking’s biggest stars and on one of the greatest drinking feats of all time.

Sandy: Who would you say drank the most beer out of everyone you ever played with?

Nelson: Easy, Wade Boggs…..easy

Sandy: (laughing) Really!? Wade Boggs?

Nelson: Oh, yeah, without a doubt. I’ve never seen anyone drink as much beer as he did in my life:

Sandy: (laughing) Get outta here, alright, give me an example, like how much did he drink?

Nelson: Oh, I’d say, on a typical road trip, east coast to west coast [Nelly played with Boggs on the Yankees], say a road game to Seattle……Wade would drink anywhere between 50 and 60 beers.

Sandy: NO WAY!! 50 or 60 beers. That is impossible.

Nelson: No, I know…I know how crazy that sounds, and I wouldn’t believe it myself unless I saw him do it…..numerous times. And he drank nothing but Miller Lite.

Sandy: How in the hell did he have time to drink that many beers. For God’s sake, how many times did he have to go to the bathroom?

Nelson: I’m not kidding you Steve. Seriously. Wade was the kind of guy who was always the first one at the club house. So he’d get to the clubhouse, and he’d bring a six pack with him. He’d be there drinking a beer when someone showed up, and as we were all packing our stuff up out of our lockers and getting our bags ready for the trip, Wade would sit there and drink that whole six pack.

Now, at the time, we were flying out of New Jersey, so it was somewhat of a drive from Yankee stadium to the airport in New Jersey. Wade would drink another couple of beers on the bus to the airport. At the time, we were flying this older airplane, it couldn’t make it across the country without refueling, and it wasn’t the fastest airplane in the sky. So we would stop in North Dakota or something. Wade would drink about a half rack between New Jersey and North Dakota, and it would take about a half-hour to an hour to refuel once we got there, so he’d have a few more beers while we were grounded in North Dakota.

Once we got back up in the air, Wade would drink another 10, 11, 12 beers on the way out to the west coast. The whole flight from coast to coast ususally took us well over 7 hours. We’d touch down at Sea-Tac, hop on the bus headed to the Kingdome, and Wade would have another beer or two on the bus. Then, all of us would get to the Kingdome and unpack our bags and sit around and BS with eachother, and Wade would have a beer in his hand the entire time. He was always one of the last people to leave the club house too. So I’d say that all in all, he drank over 50 beers on the trip, and this wasn’t just an isolated incident, he did that almost every time.

Sandy: Unbelievable. That’s absolutely unbelieveable.

Nelson: Yeah, I know, I’m not kidding though, let’s call up somebody and they’ll tell you man, they’ll tell you I’m not lying.

Sandy: Alright, who should we call up. Let’s take a commercial break, and then we’ll call up somebody and see if we can’t get to the bottom of this….This is absolutely amazing.

[commercial break: When the commercial end, Paul Sorrento, a former Mariner and Devil Ray, and Boggs’s and Nelly’s former teammate, is on the phone]

Nelly: Hey Paul, good to hear from you man, I haven’t talked to you in a while.

Sorrento: Yeah, what’s it been like, two, three years?

Nelly: Yeah. Hey, Paul, just to clarify now, I didn’t speak to you over the commercial break, and I haven’t talked to you about anything since we last talked a few years ago right?

Sorrento: Yeah, right.

Nelly: Alright Paul, we’ve been talking about Wade Boggs up here today in Seattle.

Sorrento: (laughing) Yeah, ole Wade huh.

Nelly: Yeah, alright Paul, I need you to answer one question for me, truthfully now….How many beers would Wade Boggs drink on an east coast to west coast road trip?

Sorrento: Oh, jeez, (exhaling like a flat tire) I don’t know, like 70.

Nelly, Sandberg, Sorrento, Hank: (Rolling on the ground laughing)

So there you have it, that’s the wonderful tale of Wade Boggs’ incredible drinking feats. So one day when a few of us at tasty booze were hanging around crushing some ice cold Miller Lites, and after I told them the story of Wade Boggs, we decided from then on that we would call a Miller Lite a Boggs in honor of the man who drank ‘em the best.

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