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Jack Healey’s Blog September 3rd, 2010

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 13:37:30 +0000

Did you notice Manny Delcarmen’s line in his Colorado debut last night? In getting a blown save and in taking the loss, Delcarmen gave up 4 earned runs on 4 hits including a home run in a third of an inning.
The high school fall season is underway with football starting up this weekend.
Here are the games to be videocast on NSN;
High school football tonight as St. Johnsbury will be at North Country at 7.
Tomorrow college football Plymouth State at Castleton at 1PM also to be televised live on public access channel 20 in Rutland. Also Western New England at Norwich at 1:30PM.
In high school football tomorrow Middlebury at Lyndon at 1PM.
College field hockey tomorrow at 6PM University of New England at Castleton .
A mens soccer, womens soccer doubleheader on Sunday as the Castleton men will host Colby-Sawyer at 1PM and the Castleton women will host Johnson & Wales at 3:30.

George Commo’’s Blog - Friday 9-3-10

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 12:15:17 +0000

Football season is here … the high school schedule kicks off tonight with eight games … then there is more high school action tomorrow while Norwich and Castleton State open their college seasons as well.
One of the more interesting games of opening night is scheduled in Colchester where defending the Division Two state champion Lakers play host to Hartford. The Hurricanes are one of the pre-season favorites in D-1 and they should give the Lakers are good opening night test. Also tonight feature games include Rutland at South Burlington, Brattleboro at Burlington and Mt. Anthony at BFA-St. Albans.

College ball gets going tomorrow with both Norwich and Castleton playing at home. The defending Eastern Colegiate Football Conference champion Cadets will play host to Western New England while the second year varsity Spartans will be at home to Plymouth State … both games can be seen on NSN Sports.

It is all over but the crying for the Vermont Lake Monsters. Vermont lost 8-1 at Brooklyn last night to fall two and a half games off the NYP League’s Stedler Division lead with just four games remaining. So a team that started the season 14-3 and once held a SEVEN game division lead will become yet another Vermont team to fall short of the playoffs. The franchise has not been to the post season since they won it all in 1996.

George Commo’s Blog - Thursday 9-2-10

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:02:43 +0000

There is nothing like making a major statement in the first game of a new season … the University of Vermont men’s soccer team did exactly that yesterday.
After suffering through a 1-10-5 season in 2009 the Catamounts put that all in the rear view mirror yesterday afternoon with an impressive 2-1 overtime win over #13 Stanford at sizzling Centennial Field. Vermont spotted the Cardinal a one goal lead before surging back on goals by Juan Peralta and Nick O’Neill to claim a very impressive win.
And make no mistake about it, this was no fluke … Vermont played right with Stanford the whole way and deserved the result. It is a long season and Coach Jesse Cormier was right afterward in saying he didn’t want to get too excited, that there is a long way to go … but with fifteen newcomers and a healthy contingent of Vermonters on the roster, this is going to be a very interesting side to keep an eye on this fall.

The Norwich men and the Lyndon State women also opened their soccer seasons with wins yesterday, while the Castleton State men and women and the Johnson State women suffered defeats. Now we gear up for high school and college football kicking off this weekend.

In fact big-time college football kicks off tonight with several games including Marshall at Ohio State (MARSHALL at OHIO STATE?), USC at Hawaii and Pitt at Utah.

Jack Healey’s Blog September 2nd, 2010

admin — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:12:52 +0000

High school fall sports is underway now and it’s the opener of high school and college football this weekend. We’ll talk about it with Tom Haley of the Rutland Herald at 8 this morning. Also Castleton head football coach Rich Alercio will be our guest this morning and every Thursday morning at 8:30 on nsnsports.net

George Commo’s Blog - Wednesday 9-1-10

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:51:50 +0000

I’m back from an all too brief vacation … and yes, I’ll probably talk about it on this morning’s Big Sports Show on NSN Radio, but hey, look at it this way, it’s radio … at least you won’t have to look at the pictures!

Not that much happened while I was away. The Red Sox fell out of playoff contention, but let’s face it, they were already pretty much out of it before I left. Does dealing Manny DelCarmen to Colorado on the last day of August constitute a last second playoff drive upgrade? I guess if you believe in addition by subtraction …
Actually I always kind of liked DelCarmen … it will be interesting to see if he can recycle himself in a new location.
Prepare yourselves Sox fans … the team is out of the playoff race and sometime later this month their 600 game plus sellout streak at Fenway will end.

The Vermont Lake Monsters fell out of first place last night for only the second day all season … considering they are a game under 500 now that is pretty amazing but that is the way it is. As to the chances of a playoff game at Centennial Field next week … well with three games left in Brooklyn folowed by four at Staten Island I wouldn’t bet your kids school lunch money on it.

So that will leave Centennial to UVM occer … the Catamount women have already opened their season and the men kick it off this afternoon against 13th ranked Stanford … a game we will have for you on NSN Sports.

Jack Healey’s Blog September 1st, 2010

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:25:14 +0000

I have two questions today. Why is JD Drew playing against lefthanders? Why is David Ortiz playing against lefthanders? Granted the Sox are somewhat in a bind because of injures, but still.
I thought about that again last night as I saw both of them flailing away like little leaguers against Baltimore lefthander Brian Matusz. Listen I think Matusz is better than his record, but he’s no Cy Young. His record is 7-12 with an ERA of 4.72. Drew was 0-2 against him with 2 strike-outs and Ortiz was 0-3 against him with 3 strike-outs.
Before you think I’m just whistling dixie here are the facts: This year against lefthanders Drew is batting .189 with 4 homers and 17RBI’s. Ortiz is batting .211 with 2 homers and 18 RBI’s.
Again I ask you why are Drew and Ortiz playing against lefthanders?

Jack Healey’s Blog August 31st, 2010

admin — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 10:13:01 +0000

I couldn’t care less about the World Basketball Championships. Alright already we’ve made our point about using pros in every single world tournament plus the Olympics. I don’t care if other countries use pros or not.
I hope Roger Clemens knows what he’s doing. I know he wants to clear his name, but what if the jury finds him guilty? Jury selection doesn’t start until April.

Jack Healey’s Blog August 30th, 2010

admin — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:22:27 +0000

Coulda, shoulda and had da. That sums up the Red Sox weekend in Tampa Bay. They really needed to take all three games, but two would’ve been ok. Instead they lost two and it will take a miracle for the Sox to make the playoffs.
The disappointing thing is that they were in a position to win all three games, but didn’t get the job done.
This year’s team, injuries not withstanding couldn’t win the close ones and couldn’t win games in extra innings either especially on the road.
By the way John Lackey spit the bit again.
Going back to Saturday night’s game put me down as one of the people who thinks that JD Drew should’ve let the ball drop in foul territory with the tying run on third and one out. The way I look at it is your’re conceding a run there. You take your chances that the batter would’ve struck out or possibly hit to one of the drawn in infielders. If he hits a home run or gets a basehit so be it. By catching the foul ball, Drew was allowing the tying run to score. I think it was late enough in the game to letthe ball drop. In the Division 1 state championship softball game between Essex and Brattleboro in a similar situation the Brattleboro right fielder let the ball drop in foul territory. If she caught it the tying run would’ve scored. Brattleboro went on to win the game 1-0. If Essex had tied it up who knows what would’ve happened. I know you can say it’s apples and oranges, but my point is a Vermont high school softball player had the sense to do something that a major league ballplayer did not. By the way the player from Brattleboro did let the ball drop on purpose. She told me so after the game.
It was all a moot point anyway because the Sox went up 2-1 after that before Tampa Bay came back to win it.
Two more things. The Red Sox better fix that bullpen for next year and in case you missed it earlier in this column, John Lackey spit the bit again.

George Commo’s Blog - Saturday 8-28-10

admin — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 04:20:45 +0000

For one magical night it was just like the good old days … except for the result on the field. The Vermont Lake Monsters played what was likely their final home game of 2010 last night at Centennial Field … what MIGHT have been their final home game ever at their decaying old ballyard. And they lost for the 23rd time in their last 33 games, falling 7-2 to Connecticut, a loss that dropped them into a tie with the Tigers for the NYP League’s Stedler Division lead.
But none of that mattered last night … what mattered was the 4,217 fans who packed the old grandstands off Colchester and East Avenues … the hundreds others who were turned away after all the tickets were sold. For those of us who lived through the glory days of the Vermont Expos in the late 90’s, this night was deja vu … a packed house spending a beautiful late summer night enjoying the greatest game on earth.
The fact that it all may be about to go away hung in the air like an evil spirit … but for the most part it was pushed aside by the pure joy of the moment.
And while no one knows for sure what the fall and winter may bring last night proved like nothing else could that we simply CANNOT let this all go away!

George Commo’s Blog - Friday 8-27-10

admin — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 12:15:37 +0000

Tonight is the final night of the 2010 regular home season for the Vermont Lake Monsters … they play host to the Connecticut Tigers in a 7:05 starter at Centennial Field.
I’ve spent a lot of time this season harping on the need to keep baseball in Burlington … not today. Today I want to talk about this ballclub. In 17 years of baseball for the Vermont Expos/Lake Monsters franchise no team ever got off to the start this team did … and no team has ever then done such an el-foldo. This is a club that started 14-3 and later ran that record to 21-8. But since then they are 10-22! The fact that they are STILL in first place in the Stedler Division has to be one of the major miracles of the sports year. Will they somehow hold on to the lead and give Vermont fans their first playoff game since 1996? With an eleven game road trip to Aberdeen, Brooklyn and Staten Island following tonight’s home finale I’m not holding my breath. Let’s just say Vermont fans had best get out to the yard tonight!
As to future seasons? Well, that whole process begins after tonight.

If you are heading out to the ballgame tonight be prepared for potential parking problems … UVM opens the fall sports season today with the TD Bank Women’s Soccer Classic at Centennial this afternoon with the Catamoounts playing Rider in a 4:00 pm starter.
The overlap of game times could lead to chaos in the parking lots!
The UVM women’s game will be first game of some 100 Vermont events to be video steamed on NSN Sports this fall and winter.

Meanwhile down in Northfield the Norwich football team will host Plymouth State in a pre-season scrimmage that gets underway at 2:00 pm.