Tag Archives: colorado-rockies

The Professor in the USA #2

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday (and for that matter every day since I have been in Denver), was sunny and warm leaving my Melbourne friends full of envy with their temperatures in single digits. Contrast that with overnight and this morning…..rain, hail, snow and everything that Colorado is known for. If the temperature gets past 5C today we’ll all be very happy!

The ball game between the New York Mets and Colorado Rockies that Dan Butterly and I are slated to attend today is in jeopardy at this stage. Hoping for the weather to clear but it would appear to be a forlorn hope at this stage. Fingers crossed.

Yesterday, I caught up with Dan and another friend, Russ Laney for lunch. A great time with plenty of stories being exchanged especially about the first time Russ and I met at the US Air Force Academy when I was a member of the visiting Western Bulldogs study tour led by the incomparable Murray Herron. Needless to say that led to stories of Murray and the visit to the Indianapolis Colts (& Peyton Manning’s car), Murray and the visit to Colorado State, Murray and the visit to the Colorado Rockies, Murray and the first class seats on Air Canada, Murray and the Quality Hotel…..the list goes on with each one a gem. I really should complete that TV sports/comedy series script!

Purchase of the day – the Miller Lite baseball cap with the bottle opener under the brim for just $3.00 at Wal-Mart.

The Professor in the USA #1

First stop on the Professor’s USA tour sees me touching down in Denver to visit with Dan Butterly from the Mountain West Conference (our regular Sportzfan Radio contributor) and also take a look at baseball and the New York Mets at Colorado Rockies series played at Coors Field.

The weather has been simply stunning with the sun shining in a cloudless sky and temperatures being in the mid to high 20’s (that’s centigrade) during the day but down to a cool around 5C at night.

After watching game 1 of the series last night (from the Club seats), the Mets were truly unlucky not to have come away with the ‘w’.  On two occasions they left bases loaded, managed to strand a total of 10 base runners for the night and were 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position.  You won’t win too many games of baseball with those figures, no matter how good the pitching is.

Mets pitcher Chris Capuano did admirably after escaping from a bases loaded jam in the first to make only one further mistake in the 7th inning allowing a line drive home run to left field by the Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta. In pitching 6 2/3 innings, he allowed only 5 hits and in my opinion did enough for a win if the Mets bats had come through for him.

Unfortunately for the Mets, the usually hitter friendly confines of Coors Field were affected by a swirling cross breeze which reduced two sure home run hits from Jason Bay and David Wright to catches made on the warning track.  The Mets certainly lack a quality hitter to take the game by the scruff of the neck.  I can only hope that in the final two games of the series, the Mets hitters find some pop and can hit a winning score.

Sportzfan Radio #191.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!27 February 2011 191.2 – The Panel discusses cricket and Ricky Ponting’s thrown cricket protector that damages a television. They then have a discussion whether Shane Warne should have been selected as Australian captain. Mark Fiorenti talks soccer and Daniel wants to know whether teams actually train to score goals. Mark doesn’t believe Gold Coast can beat Adelaide. Given Melbourne Victory came fifth and is now out of the finals, Sportzfan Stan says coach Ernie Merrick has been there long enough and should go. There is also a discussion of the Asian Champions League matches involving Victory and Sydney this week. Daniel predicts a 2-0 win to Adelaide using his own tipster method. Mark tips Arsenal to beat Birmingham City 2-0 in the League Cup and agrees with Daniel on the Adelaide game. Paul Dalligan, on the golf course again, reports on the developments in NRL during the week. The redemption story of 2010, Todd Carney back in the headlines again for drink driving.  Ivan Henjak sacked as coach of Brisbane Broncos two weeks out from the start of the season. Paul also reviews the World Club Challenge between St George and Wigan.  He thinks the Dragons will be too strong. The Professor awards the second ‘Benny Hill’ award for 2011 to Nathan Tinkler – when is a deal not a deal? Paul says Newcastle and Tinkler are still working through a deal. Dan Butterly comes on the show to bat clean up with his US sport report.  He talks NBA and Carmelo Anthony’s trade to the Knicks and also the trade by the Clippers (supposedly building for the future) of their 2011 #1 pick and Baron Davis for Mo Williams and Jamario Moon.  At Detroit, there are discipline problems with players missing the shoot around.  Dan says at this time of the year all eyes are on College basketball with March madness on the horizon.  He thinks BYU will be seeded high by the NCAA tournament committee.  Finally Dan looks at baseball and he believes the Colorado Rockies will do well this season, the Mets won’t make the playoffs, the Kansas City will be Kansas City and the New York Yankees are getting old.