Your New York Sports Blog

Former Mets manager Willie Randolph was fired this week apparently for being too laid back. New manager Jerry Manuel doesn't seem to have the same approach. After Manuel removed Jose Reyes from Tuesday nights game a minor argument ensued. Manuel had this to say about the encounter.

"I told him next time he does that I'm going to get my blade out and cut him. I'm a gangster. You go gangster on me, I'm going to have to get you. You do that again, I'm going to cut you right on the field."

Apparently he was joking but that is hilarious.

Courtesy of Google

He doesn't look too gangster to me.

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• The Knicks will be working out the following players today:

Antoine Agudio (senior G, 6-3, 190, Hofstra)
Gary Ervin (senior G, 6-0, 182, Arkansas)
Dante Milligan (senior F, 6-9, 215, Massachusetts)
DeAndre Jordan (freshman C, 7-0, 260, Texas A&M)
Mike Taylor (junior G, 6-2, 165, Iowa State/NBA D-League)
Vladimir Golubovic (C, 7-0, 225, Serbia)

- Jordan should be available at #6 overall but has been projected more in the early teens which further strengthens the rumor of Donnie Walsh's desire to trade down. Other than Jordan, I haven't heard much about any of these players indicating they could be looked at as undrafted free agents.

• Draftexpress.com is also reporting the Knicks desire to move the 6th overall pick but states that they may move up or down in the draft.
  
• Marc Berman of the New York Post says that the Knicks are looking to come out of this draft with the point guard of the future. Whether it be through trade or the draft remains to be seen.
  
• Will the Nets select Robin Lopez of Stanford, Brooke Lopez's twin brother at #10 overall? Robin, who is projected to be drafted after his brother in the late teens, worked out for the Nets recently and following the workout canceled all other workouts. This may indicate the Nets have zeroed in on the big man from Stanford.

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• It has been reported that rookie WR Mario Manningham's performance during last week's mini camp was disappointing. Apparently he had a tough time tracking down deep passes and ran a few incorrect routes. I've read specifically from Mike Garafolo's report that Manningham had dropped a pass in the end zone in which he had to jump to go get. Other than that I haven't read any specific troubles he has had besides mixing up some routes. I think the media is overplaying this situation because 1. He is a rookie learning a new playbook at the WR position which is said to be one of the hardest to learn as a first year player and 2. He only scored a 6 on the wonderlic test, he obviously isn't Albert Einstein, let's give the guy a break.
• Plaxico Burress released a statement yesterday saying he expects his contract dispute to be resolved before training camp in July and that he would like to play another five or six years and retire as a Giant. His ankle must be feeling a lot better if he plans on playing another five or six seasons.
  
• Ahmad Bradshaw behind bars?! Thats right, according to Skip Wood of USA today, the Giants second year running back has been incarcerated since June 15th for violating terms of his probation. No word yet on what he did to violate probation but he is only on probation in the first place for stealing a students video game from the Dorms back at Marshall. What a joke.

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Alan Hahn of Newsday.com has a nice article discussing O.J. Mayo's recent visit with the New York Knicks.

Mayo apparently worked out very well showing off his superior shooting skills and athleticism.

He also handled the media very well as Hahn described the 6'5'' combo guard as "polite", even when answering questions regarding the ongoing financial controversy with his alma mater USC.

Mayo could go as high as number two overall to the Miami Heat, the only other team who has worked Mayo out but it is also possible that he falls to number six where the Knicks very well could draft him.

Mayo on the idea of playing in head coach Mike D'antoni's system: "It is great for any guard who can get up and down the floor and shoot well," Mayo said. "It definitely puts you in a position to be successful."

Mayo also said, "If you get the opportunity to play for D'Antoni, you get a great chance to put up shots and really get up and down."

It seems that Mayo would relish the opportunity to play in the Garden but I am still skeptical as whether or not he is the right fit for the Knicks. The thought of adding another combo guard with a shoot first mentality, who is turnover prone (more turnovers than assists in college) really makes me nervous.

With that said, if he is available at number six he surely will be the only player left on the board with superstar potential and as O.J. has pointed out, he would definitely thrive in D'Antoni's system.

NOTE: D.J. Augustin, Anthony Randolph, Kevin Love and Danilo Gallinari will be in NY to work out for the Knicks today. Gallinari has stated that if not drafted by the Knicks or Nets he will return to play in Italy. Augustin was an outstanding college player but I have serious questions about a player who is 5'11''. Theres very little that gets me excited about Love. Randolph is a guy I do like.

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This was my first time attending the Belmont Stakes so I did not know what to expect. To me it was more like two events that took place on the same day. The first event being a tremendous outdoor bar-b-q/party for kids between the ages of 16 and 26. The second event being the actual race itself. Obviously the first event was a lot of fun but will not be discussed here. I mainly want to talk about the stage itself and what happened with the race.

After two dominant wins at the Kentucky Derby and at the Preakness, Big Brown was the uncontested favorite leading up to the Belmont Stakes. In the weeks leading up to the final leg of the triple crown, Big Brown suffered a minor crack in his hoof. The injury was regarded as minor by trainer Rick Dutrow and Big Brown remained the favorite leading up to the race.

On race day, Big Brown was a 3-10 favorite and his biggest competition, Casino Drive was scratched on race day morning because of an injured hoof. It seemed as if the stars were aligned for Big Brown to be only the fourth ever triple crown winner and first since Affirmed in 1978.
Post time was 6:25 p.m. and the race began sometime around 6:30. There was a total of 94,476 fans in attendance.

The minutes leading up to the race were like no other sporting event that I had been to. It was so chaotic as people were racing in every different direction trying to get a glimpse at what many thought would be a historic race. There was such an unexplainable buzz of anticipation in the air but just before the gun went off everything went silent.

I was inside the stadium when the race began but it was so crowded that I had to stand on a seat just to get a look at the big screen located on the infield. I honestly could not tell what was happening but I knew Big Brown was horse number 1 and could see the order of the top three horses 6-4-1.

I had watched the Preakness on TV and listened to jockey Kent Desormeux recap Big Brown's victory. I remember him saying that he was holding the horse back for the first 3/4's of the race while he sat in third place and then let him go on the final turn.

I figured Desormeux would use the same strategy at Belmont and was just waiting for the 1 horse to be at the top of the leader board. Time seemed to go so slowly and the leader board seemed to not change at all. Eventually the number 1 dropped off the board completely.

The 6 horse, Da'Tara who opened the race in first, had finished as the winner. The horse closed at 38-1 odds. Big Brown did not even finish the race.

Da'Tara wins the 140th Belmont Stakes

Desormeux stated after the race that he thought the horse was injured so he did not allow him to finish. Tests later showed that there was no injury. Questions have been raised by many, including Big Brown's owner as to why the horse, who was favorite to win, came in last place and did not even finish.

Some have pointed to the injured hoof as a possible reason for the horse's poor showing. Some have pointed to the fact that Dutrow who normally had been administering steroids such as Winstrol to the horse, stopped giving him the steroid just before the Preakness. Others have even brought up the idea of foul play being involved. When there is big money being bet, there is always the chance of a fixed race. Especially with the ongoing betting problems of NBA officials. The truth will probably never be told but the 2008 Belmont Stakes was a spectacular event and one can only hope that there was no foul play involved.

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I am 21 years old going into my senior year at SUNY Cortland. Currently a member of the football team hoping to crack the starting lineup at the cornerback spot. I edited the school newspaper this past semester and have written and will continue to write. I currently do construction for my fathers company and just landed an internship with Long Island Press. I hope find a career somewhere in the sports/media field but would really love to be a professional football scout. Professional inside the office but keep it real on the streets.

• Age: 21
• Gender: Male
• Astrological Sign: Scorpio
• Zodiac Year: Tiger
• Location: West Babylon : NY

Interests

• sports
• music
• lifting
• being active
• skiing
• the beach
• the great outdoors
• livin' life

Favorite Moives

• Movies take a long time to watch but I can always set aside a few hours for Forest Gump.

Favorite Music

• Right now if its not Weezy or Gunit I'm probably not listening.

Favorite Books

• Committed: Confessions of a fantasy sports junkie- By Mark St. Amant
• TSN
• prefer magazines and newspapers to books

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