Stitzer's Take: TRYING TO FIND SOME LIGHT AMIDST THE DARKNESS

Mr. Stitzer has graced us with a column....finally! He tells me this effort is not up to his own standards, and will be working on a column reminiscent of his old stuff that wil appear in this space in the near future. As always, my comments and reactions can be found at the bottom of his work
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TRYING TO FIND SOME LIGHT AMIDST THE DARKNESS

My football team had a coach fire them for the 4th time in 7 seasons, my baseball team continues to be like an NCAA hoops team that keeps getting #1 seeds but cannot out of their Regional bracket, my 1A Hoop team is a laughingstock, my favorite childhood players keep shafted by the Baseball writers, so where does that leave me? Time to follow the Dark Side.

Message to Terry Bradway & Woody Johnson: When you have a coach under contract through 2007 and another organization wants him, you posses the bargaining strength, even if you do not want said coach. Now, that might mean saying one thing when you mean another. Such as, Herm Edwards is our coach, and if you even want to consider offering us compensation for his services, let’s start with 2 #1 picks. You do not let word leak out that you are not thrilled that Herm is considering going to KC, because that weakens your bargaining position, and you might just end up with a 4th round pick. How about that pussy Tags not getting involved – he could not wait to start doling out JETS draft picks in 1997 during the whole Parcells fiasco. Just amazing how the NE gave the JETS a #1 pick foBelicheckck and KC only gives us a #4 for Herm. Herm from 2001-2005 had a much better coaching resume thaBelicheckck did from 1991-1995. Next HC should be Kirk Ferentz of Iowa, if you saw the On-sides kick call they got hosed on New Year’s Day than he should be a no-brainer hire as he is used to taking up it up the doo-da from the Zebras – a weekly occurrence for the JETS. (Editor’s note: Kirk Ferentz has taken his name out of consideration for any NFL job and will remain at Iowa).

The Baseball HOF has really disgraced itself once again. So Kirby Puckett is a first ballot HOF, Don Mattingly cannot come close to getting in and Jim Rice still cannot get in. Then, they finally take a closer, and they take Bruce Sutter over Goose Gossage? I will let the #s speak for themselves:

Editor's Note: Stitzer had all the career numbers season by season posted here, but I could not copy them over in any semblance of order. To see statistics for these players, please see the following:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/p/puckeki01.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/m/mattido01.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/r/riceji01.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/s/suttebr01.shtml
http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/gossari01.shtml

The #s do not even take into account that Gossage signed with the Yankees in 1978, and reduced the role of the 1977 Cy Young winner, Sparky Lyle, to a set-up man. That is how dominant Goose was.

Very tough to be a St. John’s fan these days. Still trying to get out from under the Jarvis rock, and our best player, Darryl “Showtime” Hill has a knee (in football speak). Of course the injury is just mild enough that he can play once every 3 games as a shell of his former self and re-injure it, and then not play for 2 games. Tough times, tough times.

THE DARK SIDE: Ok, so I stole the name of the football team’s defense, but the SDSU Aztecs beat Utah in their building for the first time since 1982 – Michael Cage’s sophomore year. If you want to know what was going on in the world in 1982, see this link: http://www.signonsandiego.com/sports/aztecs/20060112-9999-2s12azhoop.html. Look for SDSU to win the MWC Tourney in March (by then Marcus Slaughter will be fully recovered from his knee injury), and depending on the match-up, they could win a 1st round game in the NCAAs.
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I agree with Stitzer, this is not his best work. It is great to have him back in the fold, but he can and will do reach a higher level. We are all in need of a taste of his bitterness and cynicism that we crave and miss. As for the content:

• It is unfortunate that the Jets will not be hiring Ferentz. I agree with Stitzer that he will make a fine NFL head coach. As for the other coaches the Jets are consideringconsidernig, Fassel, Haslett, et al, I am not a strong fan of any of them. They have all been head coaches in the past and none of them showed me much (although yes Belicheck was a horrible head coach in Cleveland before he became Vince Lombardi, Jr.). I like the idea of hiring an assistant that has never had that shot as a head coach before. We will see what happens.
• As far as the Hall of Fame goes, I think Rice should absolutely be in, no brainer. I am not as sold on Mattingly (sorry Nitz), as I do not think he was hall of fame great for a long enough period of time. If it make Stitz feel any better, I think Kirby Puckett getting in on the first ballot was a joke (although I would elect Puckett before Mattingly by a hair, but I would not put either one in). I would either put both Sutter and Gossage in or neither. I am not sure how you can justify Sutter without taking Goose.
• Speaking of the hall of fame, it is OK for a coach or player to be very good or excellent and not Hall worthy. The hall should be reserved for the best of the best, only. I am tired of watching college basketball and hearing that Tom Izzo, Roy Williams, Gary Williams, Tubby Smith and every other coach at the Division I level deserves entrance into the shrine. By admitting too many people (not sure how that crook Calhoun got in the same year as Boeheim), it takes away from the accomplishment of those who truly deserve it. Let's try to get back to where it is truly a special accomplishment to get in the Halls of Fame, not one where 25% of the people playing or coaching can get in....