Archive for October, 2007

The Spurs won the title? Says who?

Published on October 31, 2007 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Here’s what happened on The 620 SportsLine with Dave Burns:

* Steve Kerr and Mike D’Antoni joined Burnsy on The 620 Sportsline for their weekly shows. D’Antoni talked about the Sonics and Kevin Durant, whom he coached with Team USA this summer.

* On the subject of the Spurs ring ceremony last night, D’Antoni said he didn’t watch after San Antonio won their series and, “didn’t realize they won (the title).” Joking of course, but there was an interesting comment about competing with the Spurs this year and how last year, “was left unanswered.”

* Steve Kerr talked about the butterflies he had before games as a player returning now that he’s the Suns General Manager. He also discussed how last year was a natural progression for the Suns - ala the Pistons beating the Celtics, the Bulls beating the Pistons, etc.

620 SportsLine Guarantees

Published on October 31, 2007 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Rod’s Sports Guarantees:

• I guarantee the Suns will win the Pacific Division

• I guarantee Charles Barkley will rip the Suns at some point for their style of play.

• I guarantee that Alex Rodriguez will not be wearing a Diamondbacks uniform next year.

• I guarantee that Kurt Warner will not play every snap at quarterback for the Cardinals the rest of the year.

• I guarantee that ASU will beat the Arizona Wildcats in football this year.

• I guarantee that Steve Nash will be an All-Star.

 

• I guarantee that Shawn Marion will not be wearing a Suns uniform next year.

• I guarantee this is not the last we’ve heard of Curt Schilling in regards to his contract this offseason.

• I guarantee that no NFL team will go undefeated this year.

• I guarantee that the Coyotes will not make the playoffs, and I guarantee that even if they did, no one would care.

• I guarantee that ASU will NOT go undefeated this year.

• I guarantee that Kobe will not be a Laker by seasons end.

• I guarantee that the winner of Super Bowl 42 will either be the Colts or the Patriots.

• I guarantee that we’ll have a playoff system in college football in the next three years.

• I guarantee that the Boston Celtics will be the most improved team in the NBA this year.

• I guarantee that the pick the Suns get from the Atlanta Hawks in this year’s draft will not be as good as the one they ALMOST got last year.

• I guarantee that Bret Favre will be the Sunday Conversation on SportsCenter at some point again this season. (He was this week).

• I guarantee that Roger Clemens retirement status will become an issue this spring.

Burnsy’s Sports Guarantees:

• I guarantee Dennis Erickson will be ASU’s coach next year, but beyond that is anyone’s guess.

• I guarantee that the AFC representative will beat the NFC representative by AT LEAST 2 touchdowns in Super Bowl 42.

 • I guarantee that the Fiesta Bowl will end up with the best BCS game. (They always do).

• I guarantee if you put a gun to my head, I could still not name 4 Coyotes players.

The 620 Sportsline: October 23, 2007

Published on October 24, 2007 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Here’s what happened today on The 620 SportsLine on Sports 620 KTAR.

* Suns guard/forward Grant Hill: Hill, despite suffering some back spasms over the weekend in Los Angeles, practiced and reported no problems.

* Suns forward Amare Stoudemire: Stoudemire had two dunks, including one over Brian Skinner. He also missed his one and only three-point attempt. Stoudemire plans on playing both Thursday and Friday and by the season opener he’s hoping his conditioning is to the point where he can play regular minutes.

* Suns GM Steve Kerr: Kerr discusses being evacuated due to the wildfires that have spread throughout California. Kerr’s house isn’t in immediate danger, but the Suns GM said the fire was less than a mile from his house as of Monday night.

The 620 Sportsline: October 19, 2007

Published on October 23, 2007 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

Tim Healey filled in for Dave Burns for a Sun Devil special edition of The 620 SportsLine.

* Jeff Metcalfe and Dan Zieger had a football round table with Tim to open up the show.

* ASU baseball coach Pat Murphy joined Tim to preview the baseball season and also look back at some former ASU players now in MLB.

* ASU point guard Derek Glasser came on SportsLine and talked about the Sun Devils promising roster and the upcoming college basketball season.

* Amy Bender chatted it up with Tim. Both are enjoying their week off, but are looking forward to the big Cal vs. ASU game next week.

* Tim interviewed ASU women’s basketball coach Charli Turner Thorne.

The 620 Sportsline: October 17, 2007

Published on October 19, 2007 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

* Burnsy spoke to callers about the pending off-season for the D-Backs and the pending decisions about who to re-sign and/or possibly deal for. Burnsy would like to see a power pitcher, but most callers would like to see a power bat as well as starting pitcher.

* In a season that has brought nothing really but good news, the No. 12 ranked ASU Sun Devils received some bad news as RB Ryan Torain is done for the year. Burnsy discussed the injury with callers.

* Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner discussed his elbow injury, the prognosis, and the amount of pain he’s in right now. Burnsy says the Cardinals should get what they can from him right now, and not wait for the bye week.

* D-Backs beat writer for the Arizona Republic Nick Piecoro broke down the biggest questions of the D-Backs off-season. He agrees that Randy Johnson is the biggest question mark.

* East Valley Tribune columnist Scott Bordow put in his two cents about the D-Backs.

Burnsy’s Blog: Diamondbacks Year in Review

Published on October 17, 2007 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

It reminds me of the Suns from a few years ago. The first year of Steve Nash, remember? They were picked to finish sixth, seventh, eighth in the West. Some didn’t think they’d make the playoffs.

That team blew the doors off the NBA and went to the Western Conference Finals. And even though they lost that series and failed in their goal to get to the NBA Finals, it didn’t matter. That series loss stung for, I don’t know, 20 minutes. Tops. Because you knew it was just a start and the future had limitless potential. I wasn’t upset by that series loss, I was encouraged.

The same goes for the 2007 D-Backs. Getting swept by Colorado hurts, especially when you add up all the breaks that went their way. Seth Smith hitting a dying quail for a two run bloop double was absurd. But the D-backs talent is young and getting better. The GM is bright and deft in his touch. The manager turned heads, opened eyes and changed opinions with his style this year. There is nothing to be disappointed about. Here’s quickie run down on the D-backs headed into the offseason.

Pitchers:

Brandon Webb: Only going to get better. Watching him and Jake Peavy battle each other for the Cy Young award for the next half-decade will be treat.

Doug Davis: The numbers he put up this season are very similar to what you’ll get out of him every year. Still don’t trust him, he’s awfully hit-able. But you can’t argue with the second half results.

Livan Hernandez: Free agent. He’s gone.

Randy Johnson: If you had to bet a paycheck that he’d be healthy for even half a season, would you? Me neither. Just don’t think he can hold up but he’ll give it a go next year.

Micah Owings: Intriguing. Does he hit eighth next year? Seventh? Fifth? Does that bruise egos? Do they find a position (first base) for him to get his bat in the lineup? He needs to get more economical. He has a tendency to have that one inning where the pitch count goes through the roof. But watching him drill Matt Holliday in Game 4 was a revelation.

Jose Valverde: The 11th inning of Game 2 against the Rockies aside, he was the D-backs MVP this year. Is it asking too much to expect him to duplicate his success next year? I fear it might.

Brandon Lyon: Don’t know how he does it, but he does. Despite not being much of a strikeout guy, had a lot of success in the eighth. I like his makeup a lot, he’s got guts.

Tony Pena: Was dominant except for a three week stretch in September when fatigue led to a drop in confidence. If Valverde falters, Pena’s the man.

Juan Cruz: Electric. Very valuable.

Dustin Nippert: Curious to see what happens with him. Every time he’s been put in the starting rotation he’s been just so-so, but as a reliever he was great. I actually felt comfortable with him in the game. Does he get another shot?

Edgar Gonzalez, Yusmeiro Petit: No opinion whatsoever.

Infielders:

Chris Snyder: The leader. Respected. Love this guy. If he hits like he did in the second half he becomes one of the most well rounded catchers in the National League.

Miguel Montero: Good stick, but with no Livan next year, who does he catch? Pales in comparison to Snyder defensively.

Conor Jackson: Just doesn’t have the pop. Don’t think he ever will. He’ll give you a good at bat, but, first base is a power position. If you’re going to play a contact hitter at first then he better be able to pick it. Connor can’t. Would be gone if not for Chad Tracy microfracture.

Tony Clark: Must keep him here. Must.

Orlando Hudson: He’ll be back next year. Was missed against Rockies.

Stephen Drew: Breakout postseason, hit .387 in the NLDS and NLCS. Baserunning mistake in Game 2 (assuming he’s out when he was actually called safe) and swinging 3-0 in the 9th in Game 4 showed his youth. But give him time, he’s going to get there and stay there.

Mark Reynolds: Along with Justin Upton, is the guy who most impacts what the D-backs could be. He is the legit 30-35 home run threat this team is dying for. Can he get there next year or do they need another power bat now?

Augie Ojeda, Jeff Cirillo, Alberto Callaspo: Nothing special and certainly replaceable.

Outfielders:

Justin Upton: Don’t know if it will be next year or the year after but the kid is going to be fantastic. Like Reynolds, in time, he’ll be the power bat the team needs.

Chris Young: Must cut down on the K’s. Average and On Base Percentage have to improve. But the White Sox have to be watching this kid and wondering what they were thinking about when trading him away. The tools are there.

 

Eric Byrnes: The first half of the season was huge for Byrnes, the second half he was known more for what he said than what he did. At times he was just invisible in this lineup. Time to start earning the contract. I don’t mind the razzle dazzle stuff as long as he backs it up. Flip all you want after you throw the ball, just so long as you’re throwing it where it needs to go and you’re not popping up every other pitch.

Jeff Salazar: Like this guy as fourth outfielder, but not as platoon player.

Management:

Josh Byrnes: Has done such a good job. Savvy beyond his years. I am very comfortable with him in charge making baseball decisions. Can’t help to wonder if he was overridden by Jeff Moorad in the Eric Byrnes deal. Did he really want Byrnes back at $10 million a year for three years? The waiver-wire decisions (Kim, Kennedy and Cirillo) were really the only poor decisions during his tenure.

Bob Melvin: Many of the moves in the NLCS didn’t work out. I stand by his decision to leave Valverde in game two. But I thought he left Micah in too long in Game 4. And there just wasn’t enough of putting the runners in motion against the Rockies. But, that’s small-picture thinking. Big picture? He is the Manager of the Year in the National League and it’s not even close.

Burnsy’s Blog: Will Webb pitch on short rest?

Published on October 16, 2007 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

It is a statistic that is both revealing and deceptive at the same time.

The D-Backs and Rockies have played 29 innings of baseball through three games.

The Diamondbacks have held the lead after only one of the 29 innings.

Inning one of Game 1 after an Eric Byrnes RBI-double scored Stephen Drew and gave Brandon Webb and the D-Backs a 1-0 lead.

Revealing because it shows the offensive ineptitude of the team in this series. Deceptive because it would appear the Rockies have owned the D-Backs.

Not the case.

I would like to see how the D-Backs would play if they had the lead.

If Eric Byrnes’ smash right back at Josh Fogg last night with two on in the first had gone into centerfield. If Tony Clark’s hit to the gap hadn’t been chased down by Willie Tavares. If Stephen Drew hadn’t “assumed” he was out at second. If they hadn’t grounded into three double plays in the first three innings of Game 3.

Instead, we’ll never know.

The D-Backs are down 3 games to none, and by now you’ve had it drilled in your head that the 2004 Boston Red Sox are the only team to ever come back from such a deficit.

Here in Denver, the Rockies are playing with a sense of invincibility. Winning 20 of 21 will do that to a team and a community. Maybe the D-Backs can win four straight, but will the Rockies lose four straight?

Not happening.

We’ll see who pitches tonight for the D-Backs. All indications are that it will be Micah Owings, whom we haven’t seen in a game since Pittsburgh the last week of the regular season.

But my friend Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic wrote this morning that we shouldn’t be surprised if Webb starts on short rest tonight. I would be, but we’ll see.

Either way, it doesn’t make much of a difference if the D-Backs continue to come up empty offensively.

Four runs in three games. Not even Curt Schilling or Randy Johnson could save that.

Burnsy’s Blog: This ain’t the Cubs, fellas

Published on October 13, 2007 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

It was a thoroughly forgettable night of baseball. And all of the national sports media types who ripped this team and their fans in the last week or so probably feel validated Friday.

They asked, how did the D-backs get this far? How did they win 90 games?

What kind of fans do they have out there? No sellout for game one of the NLCS? What’s wrong with you people?, they screamed.

In losing 5-1 to the Rockies, in a game that had to be shut down for about 8 minutes because fans were throwing their garbage on the field, the D-backs and their fans looked guilty as charged.

Let’s start with the game itself. I never felt like the D-backs were in this one even though they briefly held the lead. Watching the Rockies send a steady stream of talented hitters to the plate inning after inning gave the sense the D-backs were simply overmatched. Brandon Webb wasn’t awful. His one bad inning (the 3rd) was the result of three straight softly hit balls followed by a walk and a hit by Webb’s personal assassin Brad Hawpe. But his pitch count rose quickly, the Rockies made him work.

This ain’t the Cubs, fellas. They’re not a bunch of free swinging, home run hitting sluggers.

Offensively, not much there for the local nine. Stephen Drew would be the guy you’d want up twice representing the tying run. In the 5th he struck out swinging, in the 7th he flew out to right on the first pitch he saw.

The team looked flat, listless.

The same cannot be said for the fans.

Let’s say this about the crowd because it deserves to be said. The passion was fantastic. The energy was wonderful. In the seventh inning when Justin Upton and Augie Ojeda were called out after Upton’s hard slide took out Kaz Matsui, you got pissed and it was good to see. This past week you’ve been picked on for your lack of fervor.

But…..

It does not in any way justify throwing your crap on the field. There’s a line, it was crossed. And if you can’t understand that, than I can’t reach you.

Once again, the national media types will be ripping Arizona Diamondback fans. But now they have 2 minutes worth of video footage featuring security guards picking up water bottles to back their claim.

Now that’s embarrassing.

Game two tonight features Doug Davis making the start of his career. The Rockies have already scored big, winning on the road against their opponents ace. A D-backs loss tonight and this series is well on it’s way to being over quick.

Burnsy’s Blog: Game Day Blog

Published on October 12, 2007 in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Here’s what I think:

I think the decision to keep the pitchers on their regular rest is the right one. Heard Keith Law of Scouts Inc. on with the morning show today. His belief is that the D-backs best chance is to go with Brandon Webb on short rest so you use him three times in the series. I disagree. The numbers are overwhelmingly bad for pitchers on short rest in the playoffs. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, since 1995 pitchers on short rest in the playoffs are 19-33 and their teams are 29-53. No thanks.

I think that Keith Law is dead on when it comes to Doug Davis and Livan Hernandez being bad matchups in this series. The Rockies were second in the National League in batters drawing walks. This ain’t the Cubs folks. They’re patient and I don’t think that works well for Davis or Livan.

I think we need more Micah in this series than just one start.

I think the attendance issue is the most bloated, overrated piece of garbage topic in the last 48 hours. Be embarrassed because your streets are dirty or your teachers are underpaid, not because there are a thousand unsold tickets for a playoff game. For goodness sakes I’ve stepped in deeper puddles. Media types trying to sex up a series that has no sex appeal, nothing more.

I think the key player in this series is Mark Reynolds. When he’s on, and hitting the ball for power, the D-backs offense is a different animal.

I think these two teams are relatively even in the pitching categories. I think the Rockies have a slight advantage defensively, especially when Justin Upton is in right and Connor Jackson is at first. I think the Rockies have a huge advantage offensively and that’s why Connor and Justin need to play more than just against the lefties.

I think the layoff really hurts the Rockies more than the D-backs. They’ve been playing elimination games for the last 3 weeks and haven’t done anything the last 4 days but take batting practice. Finding that gear again might be difficult. That intangible can make a difference in this series.

I think that, on the surface, the move to bring Willie Tavares back is a smart one for the Rockies. Speed at the top with Tavares and Matsui, plus it makes Troy Tulowitzki a 7 hitter. But, the Rockies got hot without Tavares. Are they messing with what works?

I think the Rockies win in six.

620 SportsLine: October 8, 2007

Published on October 9, 2007 in Uncategorized. 0 Comments

John Bloom filled in for Dave Burns

* We previewed the upcoming D-Backs Rockies NLCS. John took calls on whether Webb should pitch Game 1, 4, and 7 or go Games 1 and 5 and be ready for the Fall Classic.

* Augie Ojeda joined us to talk D-Backs baseball.

* The Cardinals won, but that wasn’t the story. Leinart is out with a broken collarbone and Warner is now the starter. The Cards need a backup QB – who will it be? Reports have Vinny Testaverde as a possibility, Jude Lacava called in and threw Tommy Maddox’s name into the mix.

* Reggie Wells joined Bloom to talk about his touchdown and the Cardinals’ victory.

* Stewart Mandel visited with Bloom and talked college football - Mandel discussed USC’s stunning loss, the Sun Devils and some early Heisman favorites.