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Home / Archive: 26. May 2009
By Stoker MacIntosh… The ever flamboyant and never bashful boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather Jr. was in the news again this week.
Mayweather was engaged in an intense session of verbal jousting with ESPN’s Friday Night Fights commentator Brian Kenny.
The victor in the heated dispute is a matter of opinion, but one thing most will agree on is that both men gave valid points for and against Mayweather’s supposed ducking of top ranked welterweights.
Kenny opened fire by calling Mayweather—the former pound for pound No. 1 fighter, and then proceeded to hammer him with questions regarding Mayweather’s decision to fight Juan Manual Marquez—who is a natural lightweight—instead of facing the bigger welterweight fighters such as top ranked Sugar Shane Mosley.
The ESPN commentator seemed to have forgotten an earlier 2006 interview in which he publicly interrogated Mayweather as to why he was choosing to fight Zab Judah instead of the tough English 140 pound champion Ricky Hatton, or the man who had just defeated Judah, Carlos Baldimir.
It is noteworthy that in the following months succeeding that interview Mayweather went on to destroy Baldimir, and also knock out the then undefeated Ricky Hatton with a beautiful left check hook while stepping backward.
Kenny also seems to forget that in 2002, Mayweather moved up from the super featherweight to the lightweight division to fight four of his greatest all time bouts, which were all world championship contests.
Two of those bouts were against a bigger man, José Luis Castillo, for the WBC and The Ring lightweight belts.
In their first bout, Castillo had some success in the late rounds by cutting off the ring and used his strength to wear down Mayweather, who was on his bicycle for most of the fight.
Castillo, however, had lost many of the early rounds in the fight, and the Judges felt that he hadn’t done quite enough in the later ones to allow for a win.
Many scribes, and hard core fans alike, still argue to this day that Mayweather should have lost the fight, but the fact is that he didn’t; he won by unanimous decision.
The people called for a rematch, however, in the rematch Mayweather further employed his use of excellent timing, athletic ability, and combinations to secure another win by unanimous decision, and this time there was no controversy.
It’s also important to note that Mayweather was outweighed in those fights by the larger Castillo, especially on fight night where Castillo weighed 147 and Mayweather a mere 138.
Paul Williams storied introduction to the sweet science came when he got into a scuffle on the school bus, apparently the driver of the bus noticed that Williams was making a habit of getting himself into trouble and he decided to take the young man under his wing.
Williams possesses an 82-inch reach and his long, lightning-like jab was working well when The Punisher made his HBO debut against undefeated Walter Matthysse on May 27, 2006.
Williams won by a punishing 10th round technical knockout.
An amazing win, and it was followed by a victory over former junior welterweight world champion Sharmba Mitchell. Williams knocked Mitchell down three times en route to a fourth-round TKO.
Paul Williams’ only loss has come against Carlos Quintana by decision. Williams got the rare opportunity to avenge the single blemish however—when he and Quintana re-matched for the WBO welterweight title on June 7, 2008—and he succeeded by scoring a thrilling knockout in the early rounds.
Simply observing his recent dominant performance over journeyman defensive specialist Winky Wright left most fans tired and out of breath.
The Mandalay Bay Events Center was only half-full, but those few fans undoubtedly now understand why Williams might be the sport’s most intriguing new talent.
Williams threw over 1,000 punches in the fight, 104 punches in the first round, and 106 in the 12th on route to a 12 round unanimous decision over the shell shocked Wright.
Someone once said that styles make fights. If those words are true, then a Williams Mayweather fight would certainly be a fight fan’s dream match; hundreds of punches would undoubtedly be thrown, slipped, and parried by both combatants in a slug fest for the ages.
Williams’ long and lanky 6′ 2″ frame would make an easy target for Mayweather, but at the same time Mayweather would have an undauntedly hard task when attempting to use his specialized defensive style to avoid being hit by Williams combinations, which would no doubt be delivered from the most awkward of all angles—the southpaw stance.
It would be an interesting fight from many points of interest; however, for two obvious reasons, one being money, and the other being size, it may become—just another one of those dream matchups that we wish for—but sadly, falls far short of becoming a reality.
“Yes, risk taking is inherently failure-prone. Otherwise, it would be called sure-thing-taking.”—Tim McMahon
By Adam Greuel… Although two of the Toronto Blue Jays three minor league affiliates are struggling to win games, many prospects are shining this season and are showing the fans that the Jays definitely have a bright future ahead of them.
Las Vegas 51’s (AAA)
While the wins might not be piling up like the Jays have hoped for, there are several prospects on the team that have the Jays drooling. JP Arencibia, Toronto’s catcher of the future, is one of them.
After a slow start to the season, Arencibia has been tearing the cover off the ball, hitting .385, five home runs, 14 RBI and walking six times in his last 10 games. The walks are a big thing for him because he is not known for having patience at the plate.
Arencibia’s average is still only at .256, but he is showing power with his seven home runs, and is improving a lot as the season continues to roll along.
Another big surprise is starting pitcher Fabio Castro. Castro was acquired from the Philadelphia Phillies last year in the Matt Stairs trade and has been nothing short of phenomenal, splitting time between New Hampshire (AA) and Las Vegas.
Overall this year he is 4-0 between the two levels with a minuscule 0.94 ERA in 48 innings pitched. Not on the radar at the beginning of the season, he is definitely improving his stock with this incredible start.
Last but not least is young left-hander Brad Mills. After a horrid start to the season Mills had lowered his season ERA to a very respectable 3.63 and has pitched 45 innings this year. His 0-5 record is more indicative of the slow start the offense has had then Mills pitching.
New Hampshire Fisher Cats (AA)
The Fisher Cats are off to a good start and a lot of that has to do with the pitching. Fabio Castro helped a lot, but is now in AAA, but the Fisher Cats continue to win without him.
Casey Janssen missed all of last year with a torn labrum and is expected to be in the Jays starting rotation before the beginning of June, but he was tearing up the AA ranks.
Janssen had a 0.77 ERA in two starts and has a 0.76 ERA in 23.2 innings in the Minors this year. The Jays are very excited to be having him join the rotation.
Other pitchers contributing to the Fisher cats are Reidier Gonzalez (2-1, 1.84 ERA, 49 IP) and Mark Rzepczynski (6-2, 2.93 ERA, 43 IP, 52 K’s).
It has not been all pitching for the Fisher Cats though as spring training sensation Brad Emaus has continued to hit well in the Minors. Emaus is currently hitting .299 with four home runs, 25 RBI in 144 at-bats.
Dunedin Blue Jays (A)
The Dunedin Blue Jays are off to a bad start and its not hard to see why. While there hitting is good, the pitching has been beyond terrible.
22-year old Eric Thames is leading the offense with a very good .340 batting average. His 24 RBI lead the team but he has shown little power with only one home run so far this season.
While the starting pitching has been bad, there are two relievers in Dunedin that are showing good stuff. 19-year old Tim Collins is 2-1 with a 2.57 ERA. The amazing thing is that he has struck out 35 batters in only 21 innings. His ERA was much lower but he has given up four earned runs in his last 2.2 innings pitched.
Another plus on the Jays roster is 22-year old closer Daniel Farquhear. He is seven for seven in save opportunities and has a 0.56 ERA in 16 innings pitched and has struck out 23 batters.
They are also many good prospects in the Jays system that are struggling and could turn it around quickly. Those players are Justin Jackson, Kevin Ahrens, Brian Jeroloman and David Cooper.
All in all, this shows the great depth that the Jays farm has and shows us that the Jays have a bright future for many years to come.
The countdown is officially on until the opening of 2009 training camps across the CFL and the Argos home opener on Saturday, July 11. With one week until rookie camp begins, spring is in the air and the boys of summer are set to kick off the 2009 CFL season on Canada Day.
New Argos Head Coach Bart Andrus and his coaches cannot wait to begin practices and put their mark on the squad. Argos veterans like QB Kerry Joseph, R Arland Bruce III, OG Taylor Robertson and LB Kevin Eiben want to erase the memory of 2008 and start a new season with a winning spirit. Bringing some discipline and toughness are Argos newcomers OT Rob Murphy, LB Zeke Moreno and C Dominic Picard.
Rookies and quarterbacks take to the field for rookie camp on Wednesday, June 3. Expect to see the Argos first round draft pick, 2nd overall, Etienne Legare, bring the skills that earned him CIS accolades to the CFL.
Argos veterans report for medicals on Saturday, June 6 and full team two-a-day practices begin on Sunday, June 7 as the team prepares for the first pre-season game at home on Tuesday, June 17 vs. the Montreal Alouettes. Two-a-day practices generally will be held at 8:30 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. with Coach Andrus available immediately following the morning session.
Updates will be available online at www.argonauts.ca. The 2009 Training Camp
Prospectus and Training Camp Guide will be available to the media at training camp.
Training camp is open to the general public. Fans of the Boatmen can come out
to UofT at Mississauga, 3359 Mississauga Rd. North, Upper Field, and be among
the first to meet your 2009 Toronto Argonauts. Fans should also mark Sunday,
June 14 in their calendars as the Argos annual Fan Day returns. Stay tuned for
more details!
The Toronto Argonauts are North America’s oldest professional football club,celebrating their 136th anniversary in 2009.
As Toronto’s #1 community team through player involvement, community programs and The Argos Foundation, the Toronto Argonauts, a member of the Canadian Football League (CFL), have 15 Grey Cup championships to their credit. The Toronto Argonauts are privately-owned by two Toronto-based businessmen. For 2009 season ticket and group sales packages, please contact the sales team at (416) 341-ARGO. For more information on the Toronto Argonauts Football Club, please visit www.argonauts.ca.
Argos Press Release
By Chase… The Toronto Blue Jays have been one of the best stories in the young MLB season, riding hot bats and surprisingly-good young pitching. The Jays were in first place in the AL East until Sunday, where after a now seven-game losing streak, are in third place in the toughest division in baseball.
If you didn’t see this fall coming, you must be a die-hard Jays Fan. Here are five reasons the Jays have cooled off.
5. Overpaid, Underachievers
In recent years, general manager J.P. Riccardi has brought in several high-profile players to Toronto, and much like in the 90s, it has received various results, mainly bad ones.
B.J. Ryan has totally lost any skill and confidence he once had, Vernon Wells is not worth the money, and Alex Rios plays erratically in the field lately. The Jays have great young talent. The guys who have been around the block need to step it up if they want to return to first place.
4. Lack of Fan Support
Even with their hot start, the Jays can’t seem to fill the Rogers Centre, which, when it opened as the SkyDome, had one of baseball’s most raucous fan bases. The Jays fans still have bite (look at their forced forfeit during their home opener against Detroit for evidence) but the fans just don’t come to the ballpark consistently.
If you look at the top attendance in baseball, it almost directly relates to the standings. The Jays’ young players would definitely get a morale boost if their fans were behind their back.
But let’s face it: Toronto is, and always will be, a Leafs town and the novelty of the Jays wore off the minute the Rocket and Carlos Delgado left town. If they don’t pick up their act, the Jays might be in danger of turning into the Expos, and Canada will be left without a team.
3. Injuries
The surprise of the Jays young arms has been exciting to watch, especially Canadian-born Scott Richmond. But the scary thing is that two of the Jays’ best young pitchers, Dustin McGowan and Shawn Marcum, are injured for the majority of the year.
If the current pitching staff develops and aces Marcum and McGowan get healthy, the Jays will be a force, but until then, injuries will continue to hamper this team.
2. Vernon Wells
Vernon Wells was given the role of face of the Jays once Carlos Delgado forced his way out of town. Wells is a five-tool player at best, and at worst he is a Gold Glove Outfielder with alright base-running.
Wells’ performance at the dish has been sub-par for awhile now and his RISP is even worse. The Jays need to move him out of the cleanup role and replace him with Kevin Millar or Lyle Overbay until he gets his confidence back.
1. They Are Just Not Good Enough
Well, the Jays’ run has been impressive. Not one person would have told you in March that the Jays would even sniff the Wild Card, let alone first place, but despite the injuries and lack of talent, the Jays are still in contention for entering the playoffs in June.
They do have bright spots, but they also have glaring weaknesses. For all the offense of Hill, there is the slumps of Rios and Wells. And for the impressive start of the young rotation, there are the mishaps of B.J. Ryan.
Don’t get me wrong: the Jays are a talented, young baseball team, but they just don’t have the names, or payroll, that Boston and New York have.
If the Blue Jays put their act together soon, we will be having an interesting summer; if they don’t, we will be having another typical Jays season: over by mid-August
By Dustin Pollack… For the basement NHL teams the latter part of this season was dedicated to the pursuit of John Tavares.
But as we edge closer and closer to the NHL draft it’s becoming apparent that the team who is picking first in the draft may pass up on the young OHL pheonome.
After 82 games the New York Islanders finished their season with only 26 win and 61 points and were dead last in the Eastern conference and the NHL meaning Tavares would be a shoe in for the Isles.
But every time I look at the Islanders depth chart I think more and more about them taking Modo maven, Victor Hedman with the first pick and I’m going to explain why:
1. After giving up Chris Campoli in a trade with the Senators the number two slot on defense is now being filled by veteran, Radek Martinek. The soon to be 33 year old isn’t the guy who I see anchoring the Islander defensive core as they go through a rebuilding process. Martinek rakes in an average of 21 minutes of ice time a night. Having Hedman fill Martineks slot would allow for him to rake up a lot of ice time and play in pressure situations. Much like the Leafs did with Luke Schenn this season.
2. Playing for Modo in Sweden Hedman has had the opportunity play with former NHL players. The Modo defensive core has a combined 609 games played in the NHL. For an 18 year old kid like Hedman to have the opportunity to learn from such former NHL players it can only be good for you own experience and improvement as a player. As well it may help in his transformation to the National Hockey League.
3. For any rookie phoneme coming into the league one of the keys to success is having a couple of veterans who can lead you through the first little while of your career. If you look at stars like Sidney Crosby and Wayne Gretzky, both guys were/are great talents but when they came into the NHL they had veterans to lead the way for them. If you look at the New York Islanders that veteran presence is minuscule. Up front aside from Doug Weight, who may not be apart of the Islanders next season, most of the forwards are made up of young guys like Blake Comeau, Kyle Okposo, Frans Nielsen and Jeff Tambellini. Who is around to provide the veteran wisdom for Johnny T? Hedman on the contrary can learn from veteran defensemen such as Mark Streit and Brendan Witt.
4. If the Isles draft Hedman they continue to build up a solid defensive core to play in front of Rick DiPietro who hopefully will stay healthy next season. The Isles then have 10 million dollars in cap space to go and pick up a couple of talented forwards to lead the way up front. Not to mention this season the Isles ranked 28th in the league this year in goals against averaging 3.34 per game. They could use a solid defenseman.
None the less drafting Hedman over Tavares would be a bold move on GM Garth Snows part and if Tavares turns out to be the star that he’s projected and Hedman turns out to be only average the Islanders would put another tick next to drafting disasters.
Maybe its just safer to take Tavares or maybe they should ask Mike Millbury for some advice.
By Jeremy Visser… Okay, even the biggest Jays homer knew their offense was playing over its head the first 41 games of the season, but I didn’t expect they’d fall this hard when it came time to come back to earth. Toronto scored once in a 4-1 loss to Baltimore this afternoon, bumping the grand total to 11 over its current seven-game losing streak. It’s not even that the Jays aren’t getting hits — it’s that they aren’t doing it in clutch situations, reminding me oh-so-well of how frustrating last season was.
Anyway, enough on the Jays — How about their AL East rival, the Tampa Bay Rays? David Price made his season debut tonight against Cleveland and was staked to an early 10-0 lead before getting pulled in the fourth after walking five and tossing 100 pitches. Seemingly nothing to worry about, though, because Tampa Bay carried a 10-2 lead into the eight and a 10-4 edge to the ninth. That’s when the powerhouse Indians went to work, scoring seven and winning on a two-run walkoff single by Victor Martinez. I’d still rather go from up 10-0 to losing 11-10 than to drop seven in a row, but when you don’t have much to get excited about it helps to point out the shortcomings of division rivals.
That’s what I’m saying, guy…
By Mark “The Hard Hitter” Ritter…
Evgeni Malkin has been putting on a clinic versus the Carolina Hurricanes, if he wasn’t already a superstar he sure as heck is now. Funny, everyone and their brother were chirping about just how great Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward was, then he met up with the Pittsburgh Penguins, enough said. Ward, who had been lights out for the first two rounds of the playoffs, had some hockey experts thinking of putting him on the short list for the 2010 Olympics, not so much anymore…
In the other series, the Detroit Red Wings are putting on a clinic against the Chicago Blackhawks, heck, even round one and two no-show Marian Hossa has managed to show up! It’s too bad that Blackhawks starting goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin went down with a lower body injury, what’s worse was the total lack of coverage of the Red Wings forwards by the Hawks defenseman. Cristobel Huet, who started in place of Khabibulin, looked shaky for sure, but he needed some kind of help from the back end. If the Hawks give the Red Wings forwards the kind of room in game 5 that they had in game 4 it’s going to be another blowout.
In the 1999/2000 NHL entry draft the Toronto Maple Leafs took forward Luca Cereda with the 24th overall pick. Two picks later the Ottawa Senators selected current Blackhawk forward Martin Havlat. Cereda, has yet to play a game for the Maple Leafs and last played in the Swiss A-League in 2006/2007, Havlat has played 470 regular season NHL games, scored 169 goals and 396 points and has 49 points in 69 career playoff games. Hindsight is everything, but man, did the Leafs ever crap the bed on that draft pick, eh?
You have one vote for playoff MVP, who gets it? Place your vote in the comment box.
Speaking of which goaltenders Team Canada should bring to the 2010 Olympics, shouldn’t Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fluery be getting a little more consideration? He hasn’t been pretty at times, but he has got the Pens the all important “W”.
It’s looking more and more like it is going to be a repeat of last years Stanley Cup final with the Red Wings and Penguins facing off; if this is the case there will be no shortage of story-lines. Marian Hossa leaving the Penguins for less money and signing with the Wings in the off-season, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin losing to Detroit as a couple of young kids last year- this time they will be returning to the Stanley Cup finals as “Men”, old man Chris Osgood vs. the young Marc-Andre Fleury, and finally, Detroit Red Wings master tactician Head Coach Mike Babcock vs. the Penguins young and inexperienced Dan Blysma. There will be drama and there will be bloodshed, hockey fans everywhere will be glued to their Plasma’s…..
What say you? If the Penguins and Red Wings do face off in the Stanley Cup finals, which team takes it? Place your predictions in the comment box.
Until next time,
Peace!
By Dustin Pollack… I’m not going to lie, in my playoff pool I had the Penguins going down in the first round to the Philadelphia Flyers. Well call me any name you want now for that prediction.
On the other hand I called Bill Guerin to step up after a lousy round one performance and he has 10 points in his last 10 games.
So instead of making anymore crazy far fetched predictions, I’ll make a small prediction.
The Stanley Cup finals will consist of the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Detroit Red Wings.
Don’t let your jaws drop too far I know that was right out of left field considering the Pens and Wings haven’t won their series’ yet, but I’ll take my chances since both have sizable leads in their conference final series.
But don’t take me to the bank on that statement, it wasn’t long ago that I wrote about how the Washington Capitals were as good as eliminated when they were down 3-1 in a series with the New York Rangers.
So then comes the real question: who hoists the Stanley Cup from mid June.
Here comes the prediction.
I’m going to go against the main stream on this one and say the Pens take the Wings this year and win the Stanley Cup finals rematch.
Call me whatever name you want for that one but let me give an explanation first.
Crosby aint no kid
I’m not Crosby’s biggest fan. Partly because I like Ovechkin better and partly because I think Sidney is way too by the book in terms of his personality.
But nothing I say about his personality is going to inflict on the fact that this guy is a remarkable talent.
His on ice product has clearly matured since last playoffs and his numbers show it. After 16 playoff games last year Sidney had just 4 goals. This season he has nearly quadrupled that number with 14 goals thus far. Crosby isn’t a kid anymore, well maybe his age says so, he’s only 21 but his on ice production is that of an all star veteran. I think he’s ready to make the next step.
The Best 2nd liner of all-time
Quite frankly I wanted to write an entire blog about Evgeni Malkin earlier in the season. My personal opinion is that the guy is under appreciated. A pretty ridiculous title for the one who tallied the most points this season with 113.
The under appreciated Malkin may only be the case in Canada where Crosby is the golden boy, but in truth any team with Malkin on their second line is headed in the right direction.
Leading the league in playoff points with 28 Malkin has responded to media criticism that said he failed to show up in round 2, with nine points in only three games against the Carolina Hurricanes in round 3.
If this continues Malkin will be on fire come the finals. I wouldn’t want to be his opponent.
Thicker Skin
Last season the Pittsburgh Penguins were not ready for the Detroit Red Wings when the finals commenced.
In reality the Penguins walked all over the three teams they played against in the previous rounds sweeping the Ottawa Senators rolling over the New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers, both in five games.
This season has been a little bit different. The Pens struggled in round one with the Flyers and were almost forced to the brink if it wasn’t for a game six comeback. They beat the Flyers in six games.
Any sports fan knows about the Pens/Caps showdown, one that saw the faces of the three best offensive players in the world under one roof. The Pens took the Capitals in an epic seven game series. Epic except for the dreadful game seven.
Now they are on the path of sweeping the Carolina Hurricanes, the same team who took out Marty Brodeur and the New Jersey Devils and the first place Boston Bruins. Beating the Canes could instill the perfect amount of confidence in the Penguins when they walk into the Joe Louis Arena for game 1.
Where is Pavel Datsyuk?
Yes, I know he’s hurt but where was he even before that? He has one goal in 13 games this playoffs. I understand that analysts say he does many other great things aside from putting pucks in the net but truth being, come the finals your best player needs to be your best player.
Solid on the back end and poised between the pipes
Former head coach, Michelle Therrien so eloquently once called the Pens defense “the softest defensive squad in the league.” That hasn’t been the case this playoff.
Eric Staal has been completely invisible this series, with zero goals. He has his brother Jordan and the Pens defense to thank for that. Hal Gill has been paired with Rob Scuderi in this series and the two combined with a solid Pens 3rd line have completely shut No. 12 down.
Kris Letang and Sergei Gonchar have been solid puck movers on defense where Mark Eaton and Brooks Orpik have continued to be “stay at home” defenders. Letang stepped up earlier in the playoffs when Gonchar went down and has tallied nine points in these playoffs and is continuing to learn from one of the best offensive defensemen in the league.
Between the pipes, Marc-Andre Fleury continues to improve and at points is this series, commentators have brought up Fleury in team Canada 2010. I personally wouldn’t go that far but Fleury has a lot to be proud about thus far.
A 4th line with talent
Head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Dan Bylsma has given Canes coach Paul Maurice something to really think about when it comes to matchups. Bylsma has been double shifting Crosby on the 4th line with Miroslav Satan and Craig Adams. Satan and Adams have combined for 11 points this playoffs and playing with Crosby could ignite former all-star, Satan making for an extremely dangerous 4th line in Pittsburgh. Mike Babcock should start thinking.
Another notable move by Bylsma was putting Max Talbot up on the second line. After all he is a superstar. Chika Chika yea.
Check out this link if you didn’t catch that line.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOrvdvczpEA
By Barney Corkhill… Yesterday afternoon saw the end of an era for the Premier League and, in particular, Newcastle United.
After 16 years as a top flight club, in which they had challenged for the title, Newcastle’s fate was sealed with a 1-0 loss to Aston Villa, condemning them to Championship football next season.
Newcastle’s Premier League era began with a legend, or rather, a “Messiah” and finished in the same vain.
Kevin Keegan’s first reign as manager brought with it the golden age of the modern era, as they came within touching distance of a first piece of silverware since the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup of 1969.
The thought that Alan Shearer could have repeated those heroics by achieving safety was wishful thinking by those still clinging to the days when Shearer was their goal-scoring hero.
A few weeks ago, B’R’s David Gore coined the phrase “Messiahs before managers” and I can’t sum it up better.
Since Mike Ashley lost the fans’ support, that has been the philosophy he has stuck by.
When Sam Allardyce was leading Newcastle to a now enviable 11th place in the league, the confusingly spoilt fans chanted “You don’t know what you’re doing” to him.
I say confusingly spoilt because they have no reason to be so. Yes, they have a rich history with players like Jackie Milburn, Paul Gascoigne, and Alan Shearer himself, and a great stadium, but, when it comes to a bragging contest, they haven’t had any ammo for 40 years now.
In fact, before Allardyce they had Glenn Roeder and Graeme Souness in charge, neither of whom excelled Allardyce’s achievements.
Why, then, did those brainless fans berate Allardyce so readily?
Simple. Newcastle fans are among the worst in England.
Let me explain that statement before I cause uproar amongst any reading Geordies.
Newcastle fans are often considered among the best fans in the country, along with those of Liverpool and Portsmouth. And, at times, this is more than justified.
However, it all depends on whether or not they take a liking to the man in charge. If they do, then they will be the most loyal fans you come across. This has been seen in recent times with the second coming of Keegan and currently with the management of Shearer.
If they don’t like the man in charge, see Allardyce, Souness, and to a certain extent Joe Kinnear, although I think he won them over a bit, they can be hugely detrimental.
During his tenure at Newcastle, Allardyce won 34 points in 24 games, an average of 1.4 per game. This would have given them a total of 54 points this season, a tally that would have been enough to secure them European football.
Sam Allardyce did know what he was doing.
In comparison, Keegan won 24 points in his 21 games, an average of 1.1 point per game (enough for a 13th place finish), while Shearer won just five points from his eight games in charge, an average of 0.63 points per game, which would have secured them just 24 points over a whole season, a bottom place finish.
Alan Shearer is the man who doesn’t know what he is doing.
So why don’t the Newcastle faithful get on his back?
Messiahs before managers.
I truly believe Mike Ashley only hired Alan Shearer to get the fans off his back following Keegan’s departure. The fans can be Newcastle’s biggest help, but also their biggest hindrance.
So does the blame lie with the fans?
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