patchyfogg

Thanks to everybody who listened. Please tell a friend. You can hear me sigh "Rod Rust" when Ralph says "Read & React"

Bleedin-- Download it and save it for later (it's been downloaded over 600 times already in 1 day). You'll like it, I promise.

As most of you know from my previous interviews, I host a 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Long Island Sports Talk radio show. I have posted the audio to the 2010 Giants Season Preview that I did with Daily News Giants Beat Reporter Ralph Vacchiano the other night. It's 53+ commercial-free minutes of nothing but Giants Talk in MP3 format. You can find it at http://sportstalk903.libsyn.com Here is a list of the topics covered: --Rhett Bomar and the Back-up QB situation --The Offensive Line --Travis Beckum --Sinorice Moss --Victor Cruz --Kickoff & Punt Returns --The Wide Receiver Corps --The Running Back breakdown --Is this a Passing team or a Running team? --Kevin Gilbride as Offensive Coordinator --The Linebacker Corps --Who is the Defensive Leader? --The Defensive Line --Gerris Wilkinson --The Secondary --Perry Fewell's Defensive Philosophy --Jonathan Goff --The Punting Situation --Lawrence Tynes --The new Stadium --Keith Bulluck --18-game schedule? --A Meadowlands Super Bowl? --Will there be a Lockout? --Ramses Barden --Who would be the Star of "Hard Knocks:NY Giants?" --Eli's Head Injury --Will the new Umpire rule affect the Giants? --Ralph's Preliminary Season Prediction --NFC East Predictions --Ralph's Fantasy Sleepers Thanks, and I hope you enjoy.

Pin away! And, thanks.

As everybody knows by now, I co-host a 100% commercial- free, no one makes a dime from it, Sports Talk radio show on Long Island. On Thursday night, we talked Giants football with beat reporter Ralph Vacchiano from the Daily News. Ralph also has a new book on Eli Manning. The interview is 50+ commercial-free minutes of nothing but Giants talk in MP3 format. The audio is up at: http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg As always, thanks.

As everyone knows by now, I co-host a 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Sports Talk radio show on Long Island. I've uploaded our Giants Draft Review that we did last night with Giants beat reporter Ralph Vacchiano. It's 47+ commercial-free minutes of nothing but Giants talk in MP3 format. Each and every pick is discussed in great detail, along with discussions about literally every position on the team, plus Shockey, etc. You can listen to the audio at: http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg As always, thanks and I hope that you enjoy.

As everyone knows by now, I co-host a 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Sports Talk radio show on Long Island. I've posted the audio of the interview I did Thursday night with Giants beat reporter Mike Garafolo from the Newark Star-Ledger. It's 27+ commercial-free minutes of Giants Preview in MP3 format, plus off-season discussions like Shockey's, Strahan's and Snee's futures (etc.). I haven't written a synopsis yet, because I wanted to get this out as fast as possible. If someone wants to post their notes from the interview, it would be most appreciated. The interview is at http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg As always, thanks!

As everyone knows by now, I co-host a 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Sports Talk radio show on Long Island. We had Daily News Giants beat reporter Ralph Vacchiano on with us live the other night from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis. The interview is 33+ commercial-free minutes, and I think we covered most of the topics that interests Giants fans (the Super Bowl, Eli, Shockey, the LB's, Strahan, the Draft, Coughlin and Spags, Free Agents coming and going, etc.) You can get the interview in MP3 format at http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg or by going to http://sportstalk903.blogspot.com As always, thanks. And, I hope you enjoy.

As everyone knows by now, I co-host a 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Long Island Sports Talk radio show. Here is a mini-transcript of the topics covered in our 33+ minute commercial-free interview with Newsday’s Islanders beat reporter Greg Logan last night. It is not an exhaustive list by any means, and I do hope that you get a chance to listen. You can find it at: http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg --Greg thanks the Islander fans for their input --Last week’s hit #’s for the Isles Blog were the highest ever for any Sports Blog at Newsday.com --A lengthy discussion of all things Ryan Smyth (behind the scenes at the Deadline, a discussion of the prospects dealt, Ted Nolan's feelings for Smyth, what is the team doing to keep the Smyths on Long Island?, etc. etc.) --Can the Isles afford to sign both Ryan Smyth and Jason Blake? --Greg doesn’t believe there was a proposed Anaheim deal for Blake --Greg refutes reports of a “confrontation” between Blake and Garth Snow --Rick DiPietro’s 56-save performance --Alexei Yashin --Injury status of Radek Martinek --New arena? --“The GM Committee” --Defensive Pairings --A thorough discussion of Greg’s plans for the Islanders beat As always, thanks.

As you all already know, I co-host a 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Sports Talk radio show on Long Island. The other night, Newsday's Yankees beat reporter Jim Baumbach joined us only hours after he almost got arrested covering ARod's book signing. To Jim's credit, he did not even bring this up. The interview is 19+ commercial-free minutes of nothing but Yankees talk. Jim--and other Yankees beat writers--will join us throughout Spring Training, so I'll be sure to post the interviews when they happen. The interview can be found at http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg Here's a non-exhaustive list of topics discussed: --ARod (opt-out clause, book signing, his psyche, etc.) --Bernie Williams (at the time, he was leaning towards going to Spring Training but Jim said "he could still change his mind") --Roger Clemens --Mike Mussina's comments about Carl Pavano --Pavano --Joe Torre's future --Mattingly and Girardi as successors --How close was the Melky Cabrera for Mike Gonzalez deal? --Andy Pettitte --The Rotation (Wang, Igawa, Pavano, etc.) --The contracts of Mariano Rivera and Jorge Posada --Phil Hughes --Robinson Cano's uniform # --Jim's Blog As always, thanks. And, I hope you enjoy.

As you all already know, I co-host a 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Sports Talk radio show on Long Island. The other night, Mets beat reporter Adam Rubin (from the Daily News) joined us in-studio for 2 commercial-free hours of nothing but Mets talk. I'll post a list of all topics discussed, but that will take some time. You can find the interview at http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg Part 1 is 70 commercial-free minutes, and Part 2 is 50 commercial-free minutes. Adam and other baseball writers will join us throughout Spring Training, so I'll be sure to post the interviews when they happen. As always, thanks. And, I hope you enjoy.

As you all know by now, I co-host a 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Sports Talk radio show on Long Island. On Thursday night, we had Daily News beat reporter Ralph Vacchiano on with us. Ralph was even kind enough to link to it in his Blog yesterday. The interview is 21+ commercial-free minutes and only covers the Giants. Here is a list of the topics discussed in chronological order: --The firing of Tim Lewis --What kinds of changes is ownership expecting? --Dom Capers --Kevin Gilbride --Eli as a leader --Brandon Jacobs (team really likes him, faster than Tiki) --What kind of veteran RB would be brought in? --Jerry Reese --The dynamic between the Maras and the Tischs today --A discussion of John and Chris Mara --Did Tom Coughlin really "lose" the team? --Who was complaining anonymously? --Why did the players despise Hufnagel and his plays so much? --A discussion of all things Tiki, the good and the bad. --Will Michael Strahan be back? --Will Burress and Shockey continue to work out away from the team in the off-season? The interview can be found at the free site where we post our interviews: http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg I hope you get a chance to listen, and I hope that you enjoy. As always, thanks. Someone on another Board was kind enough to write up a transcript: First, RV expresses that it has been an exciting week, but not a fun one because people are losing their jobs, and that he'd much rather be covering games. RV's opinion is that ownership felt comfortable in saying that mandated staff changes were not part of Coughlin's contract because TC had already assured them that Lewis would be replaced. Said Coughlin pre-empted them by demoting Hufnagel, but that management has been unhappy with the way the team has played and feels Coughlin hadn't lived up to his promise to bring in the best possible staff. PF asks if there's a frontrunner on staff to replace Lewis; RV doesn't believe there's anyone on the current staff being considered, thinks Capers would be TC's first call, and that all the current defensive position coaches would likely be replaced by the new DC. PF asks about coordinator on offense, RV says Gilbride's body of work with NY is too small to base a decision on but the players reacted favorably to the subtle changes KG made in the offense and he thinks NY will give Gilbride a shot as OC and bring in a new QB coach. PF asks if Eli can become a more vocal leader; RV says there's no evidence to support that, but thinks he has to at some point. Notes that Eli's acknowledged that as QB he has to become a leader, but hasn't done that. RV speculates that if he simply might not have the necessary personality to become a vocal leader, if after three years he still has not assumed that role. He says that he's concerned that after hearing many players on O say they need Eli to step up and take charge, they're waiting for something that might never happen and someone else might need to assume that role. PF asks whether it's too early to say Jacobs is the every down back, and whether NY might have RB plans via trade or the draft. RV says he believes Jacobs is actually faster than Barber and could be very good in the open field. He thinks the Giants may bring in a vet back like the Jets did with Barlow this year 'just in case' as the RB position is too important to risk being wrong about. PF asks about Ahman Green, RV says that's the type of guy but that whoever NY gets would have to accept a back-up role/money because the Giants are committed to Jacobs as the starter. PF asks RV about the status of the GM search. He says he's been told they've completed all interviews, and though there is a small chance they are still considering someone from the outside, he believes Reese is almost certainly the next GM. Explains the delay by pointing out that the Giants wanted to settle the Coughlin issue first, then wanted to check into Pioli's interest. Adds that the Tisch brothers travel extensively and don't operate out of the Meadowlands offices, and that Mara would need to arrange to get together with them to iron out details before making a formal announcement. Said it would shock him if they hired anyone other than Reese. PF points out that the owners were always able to reach a compromise on decisions and asks how decision-making works with the current generation of owners. RV thinks John Mara is very careful to make sure it continues as a 50-50 partnership, and that while the Tisch brothers want to be involved, they are savvy enough to realize he is still learning re: football operations and to defer to Mara on those matters. Says it's a good working dynamic, guesses that they probably butt heads a little bit and that the notion of Chris Mara as a GM candidate didn't sit well with the Tisch brothers but the issue never created a feud and they were able to settle it peacefully. Whoever is GM, it will be a unanimous decision. PF asks how John and Chris came to be the Mara family members with the most involvement/power in the organization. RV says he's not sure but suspects that John being the first born and also having interest from an early age made him a natural choice. Thinks Wellington welcomed all his kids into the business if they were interested, and that Chris's position has evolved based on his skills and abilities. RV said he's respected around the league and that if his last name wasn't Mara, he might have been a lock for the GM job but the family ties complicated the issue. PF asks if Coughlin lost this team. RV says there is no doubt that there was a significant number of unhappy players in the locker room. Says not 90% or 60%, but that he could name ten starters who were at times a little disgruntled. He says that the level of discontent, though, became exaggerated when the stories passed from the local to the national media, who presented it as total loss of control, chaos. Says that was never truly the case, but that the discontent was there and peaked in late November, at which time he heard someone complaining off the record every time he was in the locker room. Re: anonymous players, RV said he wouldn't report the comments of a 'third string tackle', and would only use anonymous quotes from starters or players with key roles. In short, said Coughlin never lost control but was teetering at times, and that there were enough players who were miserable in Hufnagel's offense that he wonders if they gave up a little. PF asks what the overriding player complaints were about Hufnagel -- lack of imagination, playcalling? RV thinks it was a rigid philosophy that he wouldn't adjust. RV believes that Coughlin and his staff, when believing they had a plan that was going to work, didn't know how to change when it didn't. Example: players would tell him that when running scripted plays, they all knew the next play on the list wasn't going to work but it would be called anyway. Mentions Hufnagel's seeming "desire to throw everything on Eli Manning" -- ignoring that Barber was their best player, throwing for the sake of throwing without setting up the long passes with anything else. Says best thing Gilbride did in last 2 games was to work Barber hard and set up passes based on the run. RV said Hufnagel would abandon the run as soon as Barber had a couple carries for losses or small gains and go to the pass, and when Eli was off his game Hufnagel would push more on him instead of scaling back. PF asks RV for his strongest memories of Barber, good and bad. RV responds that Barber was a great player to watch. Says Tiki probably didn't have enough years as top RB in the league to make the HOF, but in the couple years he was the best RB in the league, he routinely made big plays whenever the Giants really needed one. Said he admires how Barber shed his negatives like third down only back, fragile, fumbler (some of that with TC's help) and made himself into a great player. Not many bad memories about him. Says he wishes Tiki hadn't criticized the coaching staff, he doesn't like it when players do that -- but he understands why he did it, thinks Barber first tried to do it behind closed doors and wasn't getting through, and decided to put a little public pressure on. RV believes it worked to some degree but still prefers players who 'run the ball into the endzone, hand the ball to the official and shut up." Says otherwise Barber was great to cover -- pleasant, well-spoken, understood the media and is a great person. PF asks if Strahan will be back. RV says he means no offense to Strahan and thinks he'll be back but doesn't think he can be the player he was because of his age (35) and the foot condition. He's spoken to surgeons about it and they've all told him it's a serious condition, takes a year to recover with surgery -- and since Strahan is foregoing surgery, he might never have the same push off that foot. Believes Strahan can still be a great player but we'll start to see the inevitable downturn that happens to all great players with age. PF asks if Shockey and Burress will continue training in Miami. RV says they will, doesn't think they're doing it to be jerks but that they believe they need that time away and their program is best for them. RV says if it was him, he'd made it a priority to spend as many days as possible working with Manning in the offseason, but Shockey and Plax do their own thing. PF thanks RV for coming on, and RV says this is his favorite interview to do because they ask great questions instead of the usual cliched ones.

As you all know by now, I co-host a totally commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Long Island Sports Talk radio show. Sports Weekly's national baseball writer Bob Nightengale was our guest the other night. The interview is 30 commercial-free minutes and can be found at http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg Here's a mini-transcript: --“Soriano definitely being traded.” “No doubt about it.” --Tigers are the best bet, but the White Sox and Angels are in on him. --“The White Sox were never close to him, despite those reports from the other day.” --All the players in the deal would be minor leaguers, with the exception of Podsednik. Zumaya would not be in the deal. --“Smoltz not going anywhere, never was.” --Soriano will definitely test the free agent market. --Odds are “very strong” that Carlos Lee will be traded --Bob spoke with Brewers GM Doug Melvin who said that he won’t do anything “before Thursday” --“could be a Dodger by Sunday or Monday” The deal would be mainly minor leaguers, but could include Kemp --Mets not in on Carlos Lee --“Mets need a power pitcher for the Playoffs….Livan Hernandez does not throw hard anymore.” --“Not having a power pitcher always cost the Braves, and the Mets will be subject to the same problem.” --The A’s need Zito right now. Will deal him, “only if blown away.” --Dontrelle Willis not being moved right now, maybe in the offseason. “But, they’re gonna be contenders in a year and he’s a bargaining chip for a new stadium.” --Arod not going anywhere, never even considered. --Yankees not worried about OF right now because Sheffield and Matsui are coming back. --Yankees “gonna let their pitching go” and see what it does --“They’re ready to trade Chacon” --“They’re gonna piecemeal a starting rotation.” --David Wells coming back will help the Red Sox --“There is no 1 starter out there to help teams. No #1 prize guy.” --Most Pirates are available, “not sure about lefty Mike Gonzalez, though.” --Bob thought Casey would be good for SF before they got Hillenbrand. --There is some talk about Casey and Oakland. --Jason Schmidt is staying put. --The Giants will be unloading a lot in the offseason. --Bob doesn’t think that Barry Bonds and the other $47M-making guys are coming back. --Through all the indictment talk, Bond has been calm, treating it like a parking ticket. --“The Giants have no inclination to bring Bonds back.” --The A’s and Angels are the only teams where Bonds is open to playing as a DH. But, neither team has shown any interest in him. --No one’s going to give him $15M-18M, which he wants. --Bob thinks that Bonds will fade away this Winter like Sammy Sosa because he has too much pride to take a pay cut. --Jason Grimsley showed that just as many—if not more—pitchers were on steroids as hitters. --“HR’s are up because elite pitchers are not throwing as hard as they used to.” --Amphetamine testing is done right before batting practice (like 3PM or 4PM). As a result, it hasn’t been that big a deal this year as amphetamines leave your system in 8-10 hours. “So, even if you load up, you’re clean the next day.” --“Everyone needs relief help this year, because guys are not throwing like they used to.” --“There will be a big run on relievers, with 10-12 traded before the Deadline.” --White Sox will only make 1 starter available. “They would only move Vazquez for Tom Gordon.” --“Because White Sox pitching has not been lights out like last year, they’ll go for a Latroy Hawkins or someone else.” --Padres want to do better than Joe Randa in a deal for a 3B. --Padres GM Kevin Towers told Bob that he turned down Wilson Betemit for Scott Linebrink. --Towers asked about Morgan Ensberg, but he’s hurt. --“The Padres will probably go the cheap route with a Russell Branyan.” --Regarding Lastings Milledge for Barry Zito, Bob said, “Go for it.” --“The Mets are going to win the division anyway. It’s a matter of how far they go.” --“Since the NL is so weak this year, who’s to say that they (the Mets) can’t make the World Series the way the team is comprised now. But, I don’t see them getting back the AL. You have to have a hard thrower to compete.” --Bob says that Milledge is thought of as an All-Star caliber OF, and not Alex Escobar. --“The Mets have to think hard about Zito. Since he was successful in the AL, he might be lights out in the NL.” --“The question is “Can you re-sign Zito? The Mets would not make the trade if they don’t have assurances from Zito and Boras.” --“Zito does not need to go to a big market, but he can handle New York, unlike a lot of guys who can’t.” --Phillies would love to have Abreu and Burrell taken off their hands. --No one wants to pick up Abreu’s option. --Burrell makes too much money to move. --“Yankees were willing to take on Abreu’s contract for nothing, but the Phillies wouldn’t bite.” --“Phillip Hughes is untouchable for the Yankees. I don’t think they would even move him for Zito now.” --“As far as minor leaguers go, Hughes is as close to untouchable as there are.” --Sidney Ponson is a waste. “If you can’t cut it in St. Louis in the NL, then you won’t cut it in the AL East.” --Bob thinks that Jeff Weaver can do well in St. Louis, as he just can’t pitch in the AL. --Dusty Baker stays ‘til the end of the year. Chris Speier’s DUI on a motorcycle “helped” Dusty as he would have been the interim manager. --Unless Dusty really turns things around, the Cubs will look for a replacement in the offseason. --Bob doesn’t think that Dusty is responsible for Wood’s and Prior’s injury troubles. --While a “great guy” and “fiery competitor,” Bob thinks that Kerry Wood is one of the most overrated guys in baseball. --Wood is out of Chicago after the season, as they’re not bringing him back next year. --“Wood’s future is closing.” --Tom Hicks could sell tickets by signing Wood, and it would “only take 3 or 4 million.” --The most prevalent “steroid-related injuries” are lower back strains, biceps being torn off of the body and calf muscles being blown out. --Bob’s surprised that Nomar has stayed healthy, but said that he doesn’t have the power of old. --Bob confirmed that Harold Reynolds was fired (the interview was conducted on the day that the firing was reported by the New York Post). --Bob spoke to Reynolds just that day. The reason won’t be made public by Harold, but Bob thinks it’s a “shame.” He called HR “a great ambassador for the game” saying “he’ll resurface” and that “he already has a couple of job offers.” “He’ll be back in the next few weeks.” “Players respected him, and the Commissioner’s Office, too.” --“Peter Gammons is much, much better. Doctors have told his wife that they don’t think that there will be any brain damage.” --There wouldn’t have been that erroneous White Sox Soriano report if Gammons was there. --Peter Gammons invented the Sunday notes column. --“There are so many good rookies this year (Liriano, Verlander, Papelbon, etc.)” --“Papelbon could win the Cy Young and come in 3rd in Rookie of the Year.” --Liriano wants to learn so much that he will sit and watch Santana’s bullpen sessions. --“Liriano was part of the best trade in Twins history, worst trade in Giants history.” --“It’s different if Pierzynski stays, but you have to seriously think that it’s the worst trade in baseball history.” (Bonser, Nathan and Liriano for Pierzynski) It was a “complete disaster,” as AJ is a catcher who hits .300, is an All Star and the Giants “got to watch him win a World Series with someone else.” --Cubs GM Jim Hendry said that if the Twins had picked Mark Prior #1, they would have taken Joe Mauer at 2. --Joe Mauer struck out only once in 4 years of high school baseball --“At one point the Twins looked like definite sellers. Now as the hottest team in baseball, they could throw their hat in the Carlos Lee Derby.” As always, thanks for listening. And, I hope you enjoy.

Valentin has 30 HR potential. I'm all for keeping him there.

We had Newsday’s Yankees beat writer Jim Baumbach on live with us on my 100% commercial-free, no one makes a dime from it, Long Island Sports Talk radio show tonight. Jim was kind enough to give us a plug in his Blog: http://weblogs.newsday.com/sports/baseball/yankees/blog/ It was a late booking, so I didn’t have the chance to solicit questions here as I usually would. The interview is 19+ commercial-free minutes of nothing but Yankees talk, and it’s in MP3 format. I hope you enjoy. Here is the link to the interview: http://hosted.filefront.com/patchyfogg As always, thanks. Here is a little write-up of what was discussed (in chronological order): --Trade Talk --Nationals Assistant GM Bob Boone was scouting the Trenton Thunder game (Phillip Hughes did not pitch in that game) --Melky and Wang as trade chips --Is Cano an untouchable? --JB Cox and Brett Gardner more likely the trade chips --Pittsburgh GM is asking the world for Craig Wilson --Last year’s Shawn Chacon deal a blueprint --All things ARod (in the clutch, whether the booing is deserved, his psyche, is he a symbol of failure until he wins a Championship?) --Derek Jeter’s silence on the booing --Randy Johnson --The Bullpen --Ron Villone --Octavio Dotel --Is Eric Duncan still a prospect?