Take it out of each of their paychecks because a game like this is just unacceptable.

Sure, after the game, each Ranger was saying how their play was a disgrace, but the loyal Garden fans deserve more from this. If the Rangers don’t want to compete at home, the fans need something for their efforts.

And Giant-like apologies just won’t do it.

“There was nothing good about the game,” said center Brandon Dubinsky. “I’m not going to hide under a rock, though.”

Fine, they all were there in the dressing room after the match fielding answers to the questions. Each Ranger, though, has a certain responsibility to come in and play hard every night, especially at home. They owe the fans that. To do any less is a disgrace to the uniform they wear and tarnishes every great who wore the Ranger sweater since 1926.

“Everyone had a bad game on the same night,” Christopher Higgins said when asked about the game, but this is more than that, you have to wonder why the Rangers performed like this, especially after the mockery of a game just two weeks ago against the Islanders.

After that game, John Tortorella was livid, but tonight was more reserved.

“If we have to go with a coach losing his mind making an idiot out of himself every five games then we are beating our heads against the wall,” Tortorella said. “It can’t be that way. We have to find some consistency. I think we played pretty well Islander game.

“Guys, I am being honest with you, I don’t have an answer on why we played the game tonight the way we did. I thought we practiced well, I thought we got enough rest and they were in good spirits. I just don’t know why.”

Neither do the 18,200 fans, all of whom deserve their money back. At least they got treated to the NHL debut of Chad Johnson, the 23 year-old backup goalie, who stopped 17 of 20 shots on the night after coming in for Henrik Lundqvist to start the second period.  Although Simon Gagne was able to score on the first shot Johnson faced, thanks to a turnover by Dubinsky, the rookie hung in there.

“I thought he settled in, made some good saves,” Tortorella said. “It’s a tough position for a kid to come into his first game into this storm or whatever you call it.”

Fortunately the Rangers are able to play tomorrow, so they won’t have to sit and mull over this game. And maybe they can ring out this bad 2009 with some sort of win and maybe put this game behind them.

And maybe the fans will forget this game too.

Yet, what a great opportunity for Boston College. For what has been a powerhouse of a football team, USC finally falls down to a December bowl game and the Eagles are faced with a chance at history.

Current Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez fled to the NFL following his junior season at USC and after some media attention between him and Pete Carroll, top high school prospect Matt Barkley was the one lining up under center. Despite all the hype, Barkley is still a freshman and led the Pac-10 with 12 interceptions. And though the Trojans 23^rd in the nation defensively, the main problem has been consistency. Two of their four losses consisted of their opponent scoring 47+ points; not the defense we’re used too.

Boston College, on the other hand, has a forceful 18^th ranked defense and looks to keep Barkley’s struggles at a high. And because of a 14^th ranked rushing defense, I expect the Eagles to force the game out of the hands of USC’s talented backs and into Matt Barkley’s, a tough challenge for the freshman’s first bowl game. When it comes to defending the pass though, that’s where the Eagles fall through the cracks. Allowing 2,568 passing yards this season, this may be USC’s best shot at moving the ball. If they can do that, Boston College is in trouble.

Not exactly the most reliable offense, Boston College doesn’t have a consistent quarterback in Dave Shinskie and will have to rely heavily on running back Montel Harris to carry them through this game. With 13 touchdowns this season, Harris is most defiantly their best shot at outscoring Barkley and the USC offense. However, Harris can’t do it alone. As I mentioned earlier, Dave Shinskie is a concern and he’s going to have to step up it up through the air if they want to have a realistic shot at pulling off the upset.

History shows that since 2001, both teams win 82% of the time when scoring 20+ points and tend to struggle when it’s a low-scoring game. So expect this one to be a battle of field position; whoever can take advantage of end-of-half field goals and turnovers will have a definite edge.

For a prediction, I think that Boston College will hang tough most the game, but will slip away as it gets late in the game. Barkley will have a solid performance with 3 touchdowns and an interception, two being to tight end Anthony McCoy and the other to receiver Damian Williams, and back Joe McKnight will score one on the ground, all leading to a 31-17 Trojan victory.

Even though they may not have anything left to play for in the regular season, it may make great sense for Philip Rivers and the Chargers to keep doing what they do best. Over the past two and a half months only the Colts have been as good and no one’s been better than Rivers. The Chargers have rattled off nine straight wins and look like a formidable opponent for everyone heading into the post season. Why? It’s very simple, Rivers has masterd the art of the vertical game. In his last nine starts Rivers has thrown 18 touchdowns and passed for 263-yards per game. He has been unbeatable as a starter (17-0) in December and appears poised to lead San Diego deep in the playoffs. Fantasy owners would agree Rivers should keep doing what he does best.

If it ain’t Broke don’t fix-it….

The Colts have been in this precarious position once before and to put it simply, “don’t fix things if they ain’t broke.” The Colts offense led by Peyton Manning has been not only outstanding, but at times this season it has been dominant. Manning is the epitome of consistency and every week he seems to be in a class of his own, finding ways to keep winning. While the Colts remain unbeaten they have not been perfect, but when Manning (33 touchdowns in 2009) passes for 300 yards every game (nine times this season) they are awful tough to beat. With two games left and a chance for an unbeaten season, the Colts really want to keep riding that winning feeling right into the post season. Rest may seem like a good idea, but when you have an offense and a Peyton Manning firing on all pistons while tamper with that formula. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.; let your players play.

Expect the Eagles to keep soaring…..

The Eagles and Donovan McNabb may be one of the few favorite fantasy offenses left this season with great incentive to go out this weekend and keep doing what they do best. McNabb was banged up a bit early in the season, but since has begun to take flight with his explosive Eagles offense (28.5 points per game/ranked 2nd). One of the keys has been the explosive DeSean Jackson (8 touchdowns) and McNabbs favorite red-zone target tight end Brent Celek (7 touchdowns). The Eagles are now using a full rotation of receiving opitons; last Sunday against the Niners McNabb completed passes to eight different receivers. With Brian Westbrook expected to return to action this week, there’s really no reason to expect anything different from Andy Reid’s offense. It should be all about passing and scoring once again as McNabb will look to soar on Sunday against the Broncos.

More fantasy Notes

The Texans quarterback Matt Schaub appears to be just warming up. With consecutive 360-yard passing games and three touchdowns to just one pick, Schaub looks like a lock to have a big passing day against a Dolphins secondary (ranked 23rd against the pass) that surrendered three touchdown passes to the Titans last Sunday.

The Niner’s offense in recent weeks has managed to get back to the basics and hand the ball to running back Frank Gore. With 41 carries in his last two starts Gore has ran for 274 yards on the ground and scored once. With the Lions (ranked 24th against the run) and Rams (ranked 27th against the run) next on the schedule Gore looks to finish strong in 2009.

The Dolphins running back Ricky Williams has been making the most of his oppoprtunity as the team’s featured running back with Ronnie Brown on IR. Williams is averaging nearly 100 yards per game over his last six games and has scored six times. With the Texans (ranked 17th against the run) up next Williams looks to be a very good start in Week 16 for fantasy owners.

Quietly and before anyone could forget about him the Chargers superstar receiver Vincent Jackson is back at it doing what he does so well. The playmaking wideout has put together back to back 100 yard receiving games while snagging 12 balls along the way. This past Sunday against the Bengals he was a one man wrecking creew catching two passes for scores. Although the Titans are healthy and playing well, because of his 6′5″ frame, Jackson is always a tough matchup and a must play.

Very much under the fantasy radar, the Packers tight end Jermichael Finley has been a solid go to receiver for the past several weeks. In his last three games Finley is averaging a cool 74 yard receiving with a total of 21 receptions. The tight end also has three touchdowns over the same span and looks to continue to be the Packers go-to target over the middle. Next week he’ll have a very good matchup against the Seahawks 29th ranked pass defense.

When you are in command of people, tough and inevitable decisions must sometimes be made. A time when the benefit of the unit outweighs the benefits of the individual. That time for your “unit,” Mr. Stover, is now.

It is time to put an end the Jeff Agoos-Juan Carlos Osorio team that has run the franchise the last season and a half–for the benefit of your organization, its fans and its future. The hopes and goals of this franchise cannot and will not be fulfilled under its current course. Consider the following bullet points:

1. Consistency
I know this is something the organization craves. Many feel the constant coaching and managerial changes have crippled progress for this franchise. I happen to believe this assumption, however sticking to your guns is in itself an empty virtue. More important is finding and sticking with the gun that delivers success and progress.

The Agoos-Osorio tandem has indeed brought consistency, but consistency of the wrong kind: losing, which we can all agree is not what we are looking for. We can make excuses or deflect accountability, but the fact is that ever since your predecessor’s grand folly of poaching Osorio and appointing Agoos, this team has been in steady decline.

Mr Stover, I firmly agree in the general premise your organization wants to establish, however we need to do that with the right leadership. The merits here have shown fairly convincingly that Agoos-Osorio are not the right leadership.

2. Results
You have stated that you understand this is to be a results business. As such it is only fair to highlight the results since the Agoos-Osorio takeover. The 2008 season can really only be described as sub par. When they took over this team we had just finished third in the Eastern Conference with a capable sqaud that only really needed minor additions, primarily on defense.

In 2008, Osorio’s team finished with 39 points, which places them well in the bottom half historically for this franchise, and fifth place in the East. Osorio’s first season with New York saw him turn in a worse performance than 2007 by two places in the table and four points.

Yes, we all know about the playoff run, but that string of (really just two) results were very out of character for this team, as evidenced by this year’s performace.

In 2009, the table doesn’t lie. This is statistically the worst season in the history of the franchise–yes, at the current pace even worse than the crippling 1999 season.

Osorio’s overall record in league play since taking control: 12-23-13. Yes, Osorio has lost twice as many games as he has won and even drawn more games than he was won. That equates to a 1.02 points-per-game total.

Where does that rank amoung Metro/Red Bull coaches all time? Only behind Bora in 1999.

3. Player Signings
There are few ways for a coach to more effectively influence a team than in crafting its roster. The success both long term and short term of a club is directly tied to the talent the coach identifies and signs. To this end, we can not pretend that Agoos and Osorio are doing the job.

Pietravallo, Rojas, Cichero, Smith, Pacheco, Johnson, etc. These players have all failed in Major League Soccer and with our team. As a result of the scouting and signings, this team has become crippled with sub standard talent.

Either the players are not up to par, or the coach is not utilizing them properly. In any event, the blame here falls directly on the shoulders of the Agoos-Osorio team.

I could go on (and on), but i think it’s best to leave it at this. There are a lot of people in your organization whose jobs are on the line, maybe even your own. This coaching deficiency is making everyone’s job harder and vulnerable. At this point the only wise and prudent course is to make the tough decision and give Agoos and Osorio their walking papers before they do any more permantant damage to this team. (Getting knocked out of the CONCACAF Champions League comes to mind)

We need to have Ritchie Williams take over as interim coach while we identify potential replacements. Those replacements should be on board by this fall so they have plenty of time to shape the team for next season.

In the end, there is no justifiable reason for keeping Osorio and Agoos any longer. They have had plenty of chances to make right and have failed with all of them. I know that firing people is hard, that you may like them as individuals and may not want to do it for any number of other reasons–but there are also a lot of other people with careers who are counting on you too, who will lose their jobs as well if the team continues its current course. You have a duty to the organization and to its fans to do what is right and what is best for the franchise.

Sincerely,
A supporter

Of course you are going to go all out on celebration, but imagine your embarrassment when you realized halfway through it, you realized you forgot to buy the beer.

That’s what the Yankees realized today.

After spending $1.5 billion dollars on a new home and $200 million to fill the roster with stars, imagine their shock when they realized they forgot to stock the bullpen with relievers who can actually hold serve during the sixth and seventh inning. Today, we saw Jose Veras and Damaso Marte get shelled for nine runs, giving 48,271 paid something they didn’t want to see – an Opening Day loss.

“We have to get everyone going in our bullpen,” manager Joe Girardi said afterwards. “We have to get [all] the guys going because you just can’t rely upon some guys in the bullpen. We have to get Domaso going and Jose going. It’s been up and down and you have to get consistency.”

Sure it’s early in the season and some guys like Brian Bruney and Edwar Ramirez have been good, but as we saw last season in Queens, when you use guys too much too early, they burn themselves out towards the end of the season when you need them the most.

That means the less confidence Girardi has in Marte or Veras gives more and more chances to the other pitchers. Also the manager only seems to use Bruney with the lead, which make the ‘pen thinner in tight games or when coming back.

Today was supposed to be the Yankees coming out party. The last time they opened a new location, Babe Ruth hit a home run and the place became known as “The House That Ruth Built” during its 86 year lifetime. Now this Yankee Stadium needs an identity. Unfortunately for the Bombers, this will take time, because it sure didn’t get it name today.

As constituted right now, the Yankees have a very nice starting staff – which goes about six innings a piece – a great closer, mediocre setup and middle relief, and a good but not spectacular lineup, especially without Alex Rodriguez.

That means, the building will have to be a draw, and at the price the Yankees paid, it also means a winning product needs to be on the field for the team to justify their costs. A half empty stadium may cause trouble for the Yankees when the bonds come due, eventually fans will stay away if the team doesn’t start winning.

It all starts in the bullpen holding leads. Wins today mean less pressure in September and it also means a better chance of making the playoffs.  Even though this new stadium is only one day old, Girardi is already on notice, because the Steinbrenners will give him the hook after a poor start.

If that happens, the Bronx Zoo would officially reopen. Only this time with a new address, one block north of the old joint.

Roger Federer has a scare but des advance.

For two sets, Roger Federer couldn’t do anything with Tomas Berdych. It was the younger 23 year-old Czech who seemed to finally have all the right answers getting within a set of snapping a seven-match losing streak to the 13-time slam winner.

The last time he prevailed was when he was a teenager during a 2004 Olympics upset preventing Federer from even medaling in Athens.

Unfortunately, nerves got the best of Berdych dropping the third set before Federer steadied in time coming back from two sets for just the fourth time in his illustrious career pulling out a 4-6, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 Round of 16 win advancing to the Australian Open quarterfinals.

“You’ve got to hang in there, there’s no other solution,” a relieved Federer said later. “Tried to weather the storm. He was hitting the ball so heavy and so hard. He pushed me to the limit.”

It was the aggressive nature of the dangerous No.20 seed which put the three-time Australian Open champ in such a huge hole. Berdych has always had the ability to be a top five player but never the consistency. However, on this day he was in top form outslugging Federer from the baseline ripping rockets from both sides of the racket for winners.

Berdych broke Federer right away and got a key insurance break needed to help put away the opening set. The second saw the 27 year-old Swiss break early but before he could sustain it, his focused opponent broke back keeping it on serve.

Part of Roger’s problems were due to his bread and butter forehand going off which made it even more difficult to deal with an accurate Berdych. Though he saved two break points before holding in the 11th game, the set eventually went to a tiebreaker.

Entering it, Federer had won four of the previous five versus the same foe but this time, it was Berdych who had all the answers getting a minibreak lead before sealing it with a cross-court forehand winner pumping his fist.

Trailing by two sets, Federer twice broke Berdych but once again relinquished them in uncharacteristic fashion. But with a real opportunity to pull off the biggest win of his career, the younger Czech tightened up handing the seventh game over with three bad volley miscues including an overhead he bounced into the net to give a relieved Federer another chance. This time, he made good holding twice more including three aces in the 10th game to get back in the match.

Berdych began to become rattled following a crucial Deuce point in which he thought his forehand caught part of the line. However, his challenge couldn’t be overturned due to a rare technicality with the system which wasn’t working. It looked like it missed but an upset Berdych debated the call with the chair umpire before netting a volley to give Federer an early break in the fourth set.

One huge difference compared to the first couple of sets was Federer’s accuracy. He began getting Berdych in longer rallies due to outstanding defense with the strategy paying dividends with his opponent cooperating. Berdych committed 32 of 42 unforced errors in the last three sets while Roger made just 15 of 40 the rest of the way.

Beginning to wear down, Berdych called the trainer to tend to a left hamstring during a changeover near the end of the set. When he returned, he went back to his go for broke plan slugging the ball as hard as possible for winners. It nearly paid off but a resilient Federer fought off two break points dialing up his serve before drawing a long reply to square the match letting out a loud scream along with a double pump of the fists.

With his opponent broken, Federer loosened up saving his best tennis for the final set breaking Berdych twice to go up 4-0 before holding twice more. The end didn’t come easy as he blew three match points even double faulting to give his opponent one last look at a break chance.

However, in typical fashion he got a service winner and then followed up with two aces including one out wide on his fourth match point to finally clinch victory letting out a loud scream to cheers from the Rod Laver Arena capacity crowd.

“I enjoy those kind of fights. It doesn’t happen all the time. It’s always special,” Federer expressed after rallying from two sets down for the first time since 2005 against Rafael Nadal in Miami.

“I hope it’s a good omen. I feel like I could play a couple more sets, so that’s a good sign.“

The match took three hours and 28 minutes to complete but Federer looked like he would’ve gone even longer keeping a streak of quarterfinal appearances in slams alive extending it a record 20. His last defeat this early came at the hands of former French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten in Roland Garros back in 2004 of Round Three.

Federer will get another stiff challenge when he draws talented 20 year-old Argentine Juan Martin Del Potro. The No.8 seed cameback from a set defeating promising Czech Marin Cilic 5-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

While it was anything but routine for the Federer Express, American Andy Roddick continued to roll along straight setting Spaniard Tommy Robredo 7-5, 6-1, 6-3. The seventh seed who’s only dropped one set in making the Final Eight had 13 aces to none also playing solid baseline tennis converting five of seven break chances punctuating victory with a nice forehand service volley winner before raising his arms in salute.

Roddick has had a pretty easy draw aside from a solid second round challenge from wildcard Xavier Malisse. However, business should pick up for the charasmatic 27 year-old former 2003 U.S. Open champ where he’ll await the winner between defending champ Novak Djokovic and former Aussie runner-up Marcos Baghdatis who’s been in fine form since trailing Robin Soderling a set and two breaks in Round Two.

If the unseeded Cypriot brings his ‘A’ game, he could challenge Djokovic. If not, a juicy quarter between the 21 year-old Serb and Roddick would be on tap with possibly Federer waiting in the semis.

Jankovic Upset: The biggest upset of Day Six took place on the women’s side with No.1 ranked Jelena Jankovic bowing out in disappointing fashion falling to No.16 Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli 6-1, 6-4.

With the Serb’s game not there, it was her 24 year-old opponent who took early control jumping out to a 5-0 lead using her power game to pull off the upset. She doubled Jankovic in winners (34-17) while finishing off 10 of 12 points at net.

In particular, Bartoli punished Jankovic’s second serve winning a ridiculous 71 percent (17 of 24 points) on her way to five breaks.

“I was really confident because I played really well [in] my last match against (Lucie) Safarova,” the pleased former 2007 Wimbledon finalist noted to the AP. “I knew I could beat Jelena on a good day, it was just a matter of executing it … play the right shot at the right time and doesn’t make too much mistake[s].

“I was not overwhelmed by the situation, and I just went for my shot[s] and everything went in today. It was just a great match.”

Meanwhile, it was a setback for Jankovic who still has yet to breakthrough at a major and entered off her best result making her fist final losing to American Serena Williams in a very competitive straight set effort at the U.S. Open.

“I just started slow. I … was completely not moving my feet. I was late on many shots. I was really not there, for some reason,” Jankovic lamented.

“I don’t know why. When I tried to focus and get into the match, things just didn’t work out for me.”

She paid plenty of credit to her game opponent:

“I thought, you know, just my opponent was … on fire today, and she was hitting everything and really went for her shots. Most of those were going in.”

Instead of continuing the pursuit for her first major, that will wait until Paris. Bartoli will next meet No.7 Russian Vera Zvonareva, who ousted countrywoman Nadia Petrova (10) in two close sets 7-5, 6-4 to setup a quarterfinal match.

Meantime, No.3 Russian Dinara Safina was almost an upset victim herself but found a way to comeback from two breaks and match points down in the third defeating No.15 Frenchwoman Alize Cornet 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.

The recently turned 19 year-old Cornet who already had set a new career best in slams making the Round of 16 just couldn’t put away Safina, who twice had amazing comeback wins last year in Paris including one versus Maria Sharapova.

Might it have helped? By her reaction, you couldn’t tell:

“I am so lucky that I’m in the quarterfinals, she was one point away,” the younger sister of Marat Safin pointed out in overcoming eight double faults and 52 unforced errors. “My heart is still pumping so hard.”

No matter how she got there, she’ll await the winner between feel good story Jelena Dokic and talented Russian Alisa Kleybanova with the latter leading 5-4 in the first set.