May 19, 2013

The 5-Hole, CBJ News and Notes- 8/26/08

Every Tuesday, Dan Parker presents WFNY’s The 5-Hole, bringing you up to date with the goings-on of the CBJ…

The Week That Was
Just after last week’s 5-Hole published, a bomb was dropped: in shocking news, prospect right-winger Stefan Legein announced that he is going to quit playing hockey. According to GM Scott Howson, [Read more...]

The 5-Hole, CBJ News and Notes- 8/19/08

With roughly four weeks to go until the start of training camp, the Blue Jackets are laying low until camp begins. That is not to say the team is completely devoid of news, however. Every Tuesday, Dan Parker presents WFNY’s The 5-Hole, bringing you up to date with the goings-on of the CBJ…

The Week That Was
The Dispatch’s Aaron Portzline reports, from a conversation with the agent for #1 draft pick Nikita Filatov, that-

“We’re getting fairly close to getting clearance, in terms of him getting his visa,’ Meehan said. ‘I would think by the end of the next week, he’ll get it. That’s the last conversation I had with a contract (at the U.S. Embassy).” [Read more...]

The 5-Hole, CBJ News and Notes…

With roughly five weeks to go until the start of training camp (rookies 9/12, veterans 9/19), the Blue Jackets are in many ways simply playing the waiting game until camp begins with their new roster additions. That is not to say the team is completely devoid of news, however. Every Tuesday, Dan Parker will bring WFNY’s readers The 5-Hole, keeping you up to date with the goings-on of the CBJ…

The Week That Was
The Jackets are still awaiting word about top draft pick Nikita Filatov’s US Work Visa application. According to his agent, Filatov had hoped to have the visa by the end of last week. Though The 5-Hole thinks Filatov would be better served by actually not making the club out of camp (more playing time in Syracuse, the CBJ’s high-level minor league affiliate), it would be beneficial for him to be in Columbus [Read more...]

Could Next Year Be Close in Columbus?

We admit it. We don’t really cover the Blue Jackets. Not sure anyone noticed. Frequent commenter and part time blogger Dan Parker called us on it. Ok then Dan, be our guest…

WFNY Readers: are you fans of the Blue Jackets? It’s OK if you’re not… though I would submit that the Jackets are a team you could very easily fall in love with:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wk_wuWmJRs&feature=related[/youtube]

Browns Fan: After their sixth consecutive season at or near the bottom of the standings, the Jackets hired a new GM in 2007, [Read more...]

What’s a Matta with Buckeye Basketball fans?

We haven’t addressed the Ohio State basketball team very often here at WFNY, an oversight we hope to correct. I asked good friend Danny Holbrook to get us up to speed with the new Buckeye basketball recruits…

Recently some friends and I were discussing the one and done of a lot of prep stars in the game today, a friend stated to me ” how can Matta keep bringing in guys who only stay a year and bolt for the cash and fame of the league? Are you kidding me? Has it been that long ago that we had to sit through Jim O’Brien’s great recruiting of such buckeye legends as Will Dudley, or Zack Williams’s maybe the worst shooting form since the Iraqi Navy? How about before that when Randy Ayers would hand out scholarships to everyone with at least two felonies on his resume. Go back even farther to Eldon Miller who took Troy Taylor and Ronnie Stokes over Gary Grant, uuuugh. [Read more...]

Someone Has to Win the Central…Part 3

I came up with this idea for a series of guest blogger spots over a week ago. When it first came to me the Indians were in second place behind the Twins. Then they swept the A’s to take over first. Now, it’s the White Sox turn at the top. With all these teams bunched together the A.L. Central is wide open, with no team out of it. We asked bloggers from each team to tell us why their team WILL WIN the A.L. Central. Most of them replied reluctantly, because the baseball in the Central just hasn’t been that good this year. Up next is the White Sox, with Ricky from Tremendous Upside Potential

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So. Any team can win the American League Central Division. That’s what we’re doing here, right? Well, I suppose it’s true. Sure, any team can win this surprisingly underwhelming division. They are playing baseball, which is, of course, completely crazy. Two years ago Josh Hamilton was probably blowing coke off of strippers, now he has 53 RBI in 48 games. The Diamondbacks allowed more runs than they scored last year and won more games than any team in the National League. The Cardinals haven’t had anyone charged with a DUI in months. Baseball hardly ever makes sense. [Read more...]

Someone Has to Win the Central Part 2…

I came up with this idea for a series of guest blogger spots over a week ago. When it first came to me the Indians were in second place behind the Twins. Then they swept the A’s to take over first. Now, it’s the White Sox turn at the top. With all these teams bunched together the A.L. Central is wide open, with no team out of it. We asked bloggers from each team to tell us why their team WILL WIN the A.L. Central. Most of them replied reluctantly, because the baseball in the Central just hasn’t been that good this year. Up next is Clark from Royals Authority. (Part 1 was the Tigers.)

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I know, even as a lifelong Kansas City Royals fan, that headline makes me smirk. Next year, I might really think that and definitely expect to believe the Royals will win in 2010, but this year?  C’mon. 

Well, what was supposed to be a juggernaut A.L. Central division has spent the first six weeks of the season doing its best impression of the usually mediocre N.L. Central. The Royals, despite being two games under .500, find themselves just two and on-half games out of first place. So, it really does beg the question:  can Kansas City win the Central? Here’s some reason why it could happen.  [Read more...]

Someone Has to Win the Central…

I came up with this idea for a series of guest blogger spots over a week ago. When it first came to me the Indians were in second place behind the Twins. Then they swept the A’s to take over first. Now, it’s the White Sox turn at the top. With all these teams bunched together the A.L. Central is wide open, with no team out of it. We asked bloggers from each team to tell us why their team WILL WIN the A.L. Central. Most of them replied reluctantly, because the baseball in the Central just hasn’t been that good this year. Up first is Kurt from Mack Avenue Tigers. (Check out the site, they are doing us a favor by helping out here!)

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Any team can still win the American League Central. That’s the thesis anyway. I was asked by Rick to explain to fans of the Indians why I think the Tigers can pop the corks on the Champagne this September. Talk about leading a sheep to slaughter! Or maybe Mission: Impossible is the better way of putting it. But I shall fulfill my duty. The Tigers can still win the division. My apologies if this article is short, but I’ve watched this team more than you have.

There are three main reasons to think the season is not over for Tigers fans.

1) The Indianapolis 500 has not yet run. Hey, we’re from Motown. You think we measure the unofficial state of summer based on Memorial Day? The baseball season does not even begin until June. You cannot be deciding who is a playoff team and who isn’t this early in the year. Sure, you’re pretty sure a team like the Texas Rangers or the Washington Nationals is probably safely out of the running. [Read more...]