Greg Maddux Traded to Dodgers

By Ethan, Future Hall of Fame pitcher Greg Maddux has been traded from the San Diego Padres to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The last time the Dodgers traded for Maddux was in 2006, a year they made the playoffs before being swept in the first round by the New York Mets. With Jason Schmidt and Brad Penny sidelined with injuries, LA was once again in need of starting pitching help. Maddux this year has a record of 6-9 with the Padres, but also has a respectable 3.99 ERA. Once among the best pitchers in the game, Maddux has 353 career wins to go along with a 3.14 career ERA and 3353 career strikeouts. It is unclear at this time what San Diego will get in return.

Michael Phelps Wins Eight Olympic Gold Medals

By Ethan, Last night Michael Phelps captured his eighth gold medal of the 2008 Summer Olympic games. The final hurdle was the 400 meter team medley relay, a race that includes all four major strokes: backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, and freestyle. Phelps swam the butterfly portion for the USA, then waited anxiously as his teammate Jason Lezak completed the final leg- the freestyle -giving the Americans, including Phelps, the gold. For Phelps it wasn't just that he got the record eight golds that was so amazing, but it was how he did it. Of his eight victories, seven were world records. Phelps also won every event he competed in. Eight golds in eight events. So congratulations to Michael Phelps, the best Olympian of all time!

At The Buzzer Update

Some new things going on At The Buzzer:

-Congrats to Marissa on being promoted to editor. So now all our writings will be in tip-top shape.

-At The Buzzer hopes to add another writer within the next two weeks. I am in the process of bringing in another writer who is just as passionate and sports savvy as our current writers.

-In an effort to generate more readers and comments and sports discussion, I will take several measures such as advertising and will also look into finding friends on blogspot and other blog sites we can meet and share thoughts with.

Keep the good stuff coming.

The Greatest Misses of All Time

Scott Norwood. Bill Buckner. Kevin Dyson. Marian Hossa. Mariano Rivera. Byron Scott.

All these men have one small, SCREAMING detail in common.

All have been a part of some of the greatest "misses" in sports history.

Their stories are just as immortalized as our heroes, who shined in their moment of glory (Adam Vinatieri, David Tyree, Mike Eruzione, Kirk Gibson, Dominik Hasek, to name a few)

Knowing about these men that are remembered for their plays, their "misses" , is what makes each of these men so fascinating. If you do not recall their particular miss, I HIGHLY recommend discovering for yourself their claim to fame.

I love to watch the plays involving each of these men. It is in these plays you find the greatest swing of emotion, the possibility of victory ripped away by defeat, and the emotions that come in the result for both teams. It is in these moments that we do not see athletes, we see human beings, enduring loss and hardship as we ourselves do in different ways. Athletes are people. In these misses, we see that.

I invite you all to share your heroes and misses, to compare and question mine, and discover further the well of athletes that have endured some of the greatest losses in sports history.

You Will Not Know Who Michael Phelps Is In 6 Months

This article is simple. See title.

What Michael Phelps is doing now is stuff of legend. We will, without question, tell our grandchildren about seeing him on television, and how humble he was about it all, and how seeing him swim was artistic.

We still would not recognize him if he sat next to us in a restaurant six months from now. While this is a bold claim, it was this quote, said to me by a co-worker, that inspired this idea and this article:

"Michael Phelps...He was that guy I fell in love with four years ago. I don't know what happened to him, but I am in love again!"

Lest we forget, it was four years ago Michael Phelps was a 19-year-old with aspirations of Olympic immortality.

Carly Patterson. Tara Lipinski. Michelle Kwan. Kristi Yamaguchi. Michael Johnson. Michael Phelps.

Above is a list of athletes the average sports fan has probably forgotten over the years. Anyone who knows these names recognizes the contributions each made to their respective sports, especially in the Olympics, where Americans watched and glorified them for 2 months. Years later, these athletes are just names of past events.

Why? America does not care about their respective sports.

LeBron James. Kobe Bryant. Tom Brady. Alex Rodriguez. Sidney Crosby.

By all measures, their level of greatness is comparable and relative to the aforementioned athletes in their respective sports. The difference is that the latter group plays the 4 major sports of America, and as a result, these men take on celebrity status. What they do in everyday life is just as important to us as how they play their sports.

For his part, Michael Phelps will surely reap the benefits of his golden quest, bringing in endorsement deals, appearances, and the like. 1 year from now? You tell me what he's doing.

We are all in love with Michael Phelps right now. He is America's golden boy, our pride of the Olympics. But only for a few more weeks. Football season starts in September. So long Mr. Phelps, and enjoy your 30 days of fame.

How Do You Beat The Angels?

I simply pose this question, as my baseball knowledge is not the same as Ethan's or Marissa's.

-I caught glimpses of this team sweep the Yankees, handle the Red Sox, and every time I have seen them play, they seem in control of the game.

-Their bullpen is untouchable. Period.
-The lineup? With Texiera, Hunter, Guerrero, Anderson it is versatile and can beat you with the bat, speed, or a combination.
-The pitching? Much better than originally expected at the beginning of the season, when the injury bug struck.

I would just love to hear how you guys diagnose this team and how to attack them. Obviously you would want to score early and often ideally, but is there another way?

Daniel Murphy: Rising Star or Flash in the Pan?

By Ethan Recently, the New York Mets called up a young player from their farm system by the name of Daniel Murphy. Murphy was a guy who hit well in AA posting averages of .308/.374/.496 with 13 homers, 67 RBIs, 26 doubles, and 56 runs scored. However, nobody could have anticipated the smoking start that his big league career has gotten off to. Since being called up, all he's done is hit 467, with OBP/SLG averages of 556/800. In 30 ABs, he has 2 homers, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 8 RBIs, and 7 runs scored. Now, of course, 30 ABs is nothing in the grand scheme of a major league career, and there have been players before him who have gotten off to huge starts and never quite panned out over the long haul. Such names as Bo Hart and Shane Spencer come to mind. However, there are several things about Murphy that lead this writer to think that he could be for real. First, he has shown remarkable plate discipline, rarely swinging at pitches out of the stike zone. This is quite a rare trait for someone with as little MLB experience as Murphy. Second, both of his homers have been opposite field shots. This is very significant because as a lefty hitter, if he only pulled the ball, other teams would be able to shift him around towards right field which would take away many of his base hits, as it does to such players as Carlos Delgado, David Ortiz, and Jim Thome. Perhaps most impressive though is that he has shown the ability to perform in the clutch. He is batting .571 with runners on base, .800 with runners in scoring position, and .333 in close and late situations. Not all players can perform well in these spots, but it looks like Murphy can. Time will tell if Murphy can develop into a major league star, but right now, it appears as if Daniel Murphy is a name that sports fans will be hearing for a long time, and with Jose Reyes and David Wright already established as superstars, and dynamite prospects Fernando Martinez, pitcher Jon Niese, and the 17-year-old phenom Wilmer Flores on the way, the future at Citi Field looks very bright indeed.

Olympic Observations

Every 4 years, the Summer Olympics come around. If you're more of a winter person, every 4 between the Summer ones, the Winter Olympics arrive, although the Summer variety is longer running and significantly more popular. Every time they do, in either case, I swear I'm not going to watch "that much" and every time, I get utterly and completely hooked.

It's not just the competitions/Games themselves. Not even close. These 16 days are a glimpse not only into the lives of the people of the host city/nation but also a glimpse of the best athletes 204 countries have to offer, and, in many cases, the stories behind them, stories that run the gamut of emotion and sport, from US Swimmer Eric Shanteau putting off surgery for testicular cancer (that was discovered right before the US Trials) in order to have his Olympic moment to Polish swimmer (and '04 Olympic champion) Otylia Jedrzejczak first auctioning off her medals to support juvenile cancer, only to soon after lose her brother in a car accident, a car accident that she was blamed for, to the much more publicized and sports-related gold medal quest of Michael Phelps, and finally, the little boy, Lin Hao, who had the huge honor of walking next to Yao Ming into the opening ceremony, just a couple months after being buried in the rubble of the Sichuan Province earthquake, escaping and then rescuing two classmates. Each is a compelling and interesting story that we would not have heard about if it weren't for the Olympics.

Another much more sportscentric advantage of the Olympics is the simple opportunity to watch events that barely make a blip on the radar of the sports world or the average person the other 95% of the time. Sports such as gymnastics, track, and swimming and diving take over primetime, and events such as weightlifting, equestrian eventing, and shooting get their moment in the sun, although in many cases the latter set of events do not quite garner the priority to be live, but still get probably their only TV appearance until the next Games roll around.

All in all, the Olympics are 16 days packed with sporting events, with something for everyone, even, as noted above, someone who really isn't all that into sports most of the time.

There's 10 days left. Tune in, you might be surprised at what you end up watching and, I'm willing to bet, enjoying.

Are the Tigers Done?

The Detroit Tigers were the unanimous pick to win the AL Central and a popular pick to make the 2008 Fall Classic with their lineup additions of Miguel Cabrera and Edgar Renteria and the addition of Dontrelle Willis to the rotation. Things haven't exactly worked out that way. The Tigers are sitting in 3rd in the AL Central 8.5 games behind the Chicago White Sox, who are trading the top spot with the Minnesota Twins. Willis has just been re-promoted to AAA Toledo after being sent down to Low-A ball in Lakeland, FL after a number of disastrous starts and a trip to the DL.
Even with the disappointing standings so far, it seems no one really wants to count out the Tigers, due, it would seem, to their ability to play like they were expected for a few games at a time.

I think it's finally about time to count them out, a difficult admission for Tigers fans like me


Everyone knew that the bullpen would be the problem, but it was expected that the strong lineup and solid starting pitching would bail them out. Hardly. The bullpen has held quite a few leads into the 9th, only for Todd Jones and now Fernando Rodney to blow the save. If they had managed to convert half of their staggering number of blown saves (21), today they would be on top of the AL Central with a record of 68-51.If they would have converted all of them, they would have a major league leading record of 79-40.
The trade of future Hall of Famer Ivan Rodriguez to the Yankees in a straight up deal for Kyle Farnsworth is the other major indication that the front office, especially GM Dave Dombrowski, is worried about the bullpen if they're going to get ANYWHERE closing out the season. Pudge, for many was the symbol of the resurgence in the Motor City. Rodriguez said it himself in his "exit interview" with the local TV station. "When I got here, there weren't even 10,000 fans at home, now that I'm leaving, we've had 40,000 or more." We traded him for Farnsworth, a player the Tigers had in 2005, when they were still bad, and got rid of before the WS run of '06. Coincidence? Probably, but it still says something.
It is also true that the starting pitching has been even worse than expected. Willis, as mentioned above, has been a non-factor, while expected ace Justin Verlander is 8-13 and 0-4 in his last 4 starts, although was 6-0 with two no-decisions in the 8 prior to that. The strongest starting pitching has surprisingly come from Willis' replacement Armando Galarraga (10-4, 3.23) and the recent call-up Zach Miner (6-4, 3.41, 3-1 since being put back in the rotation), while the man expected to be the 2nd (or 3rd, if you count Willis) ace Jeremy Bonderman is out for the season with a shoulder problem.
The offense has shown up sporadically, but the Tigers are 13-18 in 1-run games, as the offense has shown up in bursts, with their last three wins coming by 5+ runs.



The Tigers, overall, have been one of , if not the biggest, disappointments of the 2008 season, maybe sharing the "honors" with the Seattle Mariners and the Cleveland Indians, the latter sitting even below perennial last-place KC Royals. It has been a combination of things, but really it has been their inability to put it all together for more than one game at a time. The White Sox have bounced back from an awful 2007, while the Twins are still consistently good, as they seemingly are every year. There's still a month and a half of baseball left to play, but those two teams are solid enough top to bottom that it's going to be tough to overtake either.
All things considered, I think the Tigers are just about done for the year, unfortunately, unless (and my apologies to the other authors of this blog) the White Sox and/or Twins go the way of last year's Mets, although I find that hard to fathom.

We'll have to see, but after reviewing the (depressing) stats and tidbits for this post, I think it's over. I guess the silver lining is that it can't be as bad as 2003.

Is Brett Favre The Biggest Giant In New York?

The New York Giants are Super Bowl Champions. But who cares??!? BRETT FAVRE!!!

Brett Favre is the feel-good story for the New York Jets right now. Is this what the Jets need? How does this affect the Giants?

If you have not been living under a rock, you know that Brett Favre is now a quarterback for the New York Jets. If you have read any article on this topic, you have seen that Brett has been compared to a man by the name of Joe Namath. If you read my post on Ethan's Brett Favre article, you know I feel this is a good move for the Jets. It gives them an identity on offense, and enhances the team completely. Before Favre this was a good team, but they lacked superstars who could change the game. While the defense really does not have that (Save for rising stars Kerry Rhodes and David Harris), Favre gives the offense another weapon and makes defensive coordinators take notice. Favre gives the team a potential no one thought they had, a potential to be a contender and make the playoffs.

Ultimately, Brett Favre is exactly what the Jets need. No one can say for certain what they will get statistically from Favre, but that is better than what they would have with Chad Pennington or Kellen Clemens. A buzz is what this team lacked around it, and Brett Favre gets the team noticed.

The New York Giants are Super Bowl Champions. It would be wrong to say this fact has been forgotten by New York. 660 WFAN, the flaghsip station for the Giants, always mentions them as "The Super Bowl Champion New York Giants". All around Giants training camp, banners hang noting their champion status. Since their victory over Team Asterisk (Thanks to the New York Post, who after Spygate always labeled the Patriots with an asterisk noting: caught cheating), Eli Manning and company have lived the life of champions. Eli can even be seen on this month's cover of Vogue.

Brett Favre is a blessing in disguise for the Giants. Since Favre's arrival, the New York Post back page has been Green and White, and media attention has been shifted to Favre (ESPN posted a story that Brett had to run a lap in practice). Giants players have been quoted as feeling disrespected and bothered that people seem to have forgotten so easily they are the Super Bowl Champions. Couple this with the fact that most pundits have picked the Dallas Cowboys to win the NFC East, and the Giants are seemingly forgotten. Playing with a chip on their shoulder, like they had something to prove galvanized the Giants and propelled them to Super Bowl glory. The Giants played their best football last season when they were underdogs. The Giants, albeit champions, feel as if they still have something to prove, the best motivating factor for them.

Thanks a bunch Brett.

Tampa Bay Rays...Can They Hold On?

By Ethan Of the many surprises so far that has taken place during the 2008 MLB season, the most shocking has been the success of the newly renamed Tampa Bay Rays. Before this season the team that was formerly known as the Devil Rays were perennial doormats in the AL East. They were a team for those such as the Boston Red Sox or the New York Yankees to pad their records and rest some of their starters against. Well, the Devil Rays are gone, and so too are their losing ways. As I write this, the Rays are in first place in the East, 2.5 games ahead of Boston, and 5.5 games ahead of NY. They have managed to build a top quality team with a mixture of good trades, high draft picks, and the presence of a few key veterans sprinkled in, such as Carl Crawford and Cliff Floyd. So, the question is, can they hold on, and be perhaps the most unlikely playoff team since the 1969 New York Mets? Well, there are several things that jump out about this team that could be a cause for concern. One is that as September approaches, many of these young Tampa players have never been in a pennant race. They do not know what it is like to play with the pressure on. Up until this point, there have been no expectations, no pressure. This is a stark contrast to the Yankees and Red Sox lineups which are both extremely experienced when it comes to meaningful September baseball. Another thing is the fact that their record is 45-17 at home, while only 23-29 on the road. This works against them since they have 29 road games remaining as opposed to only 19 home games. Those splits will need to improve if Tampa is going to hold onto their division lead. Personally, I think the Rays will make the playoffs via the wild card, while Boston will win the division. However, I think that's where it stops. If they do win the wild card, they would likely get the Angels in the first round, in which case I don't think they will win a single game. This team is simply not experienced enough to be champions., but you can count on this: they will be back. This is not a fluke year, or a flash in the pan. This is a team that is finally building the right way, and which has a bunch of young talent already, with several more big time prospects waiting in the wings. One in particular, David Price, is a pitcher who is simply lights out. Expect him to come up next year, and be a legitimate ace in 3 or 4 years time. The Rays will be around for a long time, and Boston and New York will just have to learn to live with it!

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Johan Santana-Can This Guy Get a Break?!

By Ethan If I were to say to you that some random starting pitcher had the following statistics, what would be you first reaction?: ERA-2.85(5th in the league) Strikeouts-135(7th in the league) Whip-1.16(7th in the league) Wins-9(tied for 20th in the league). Now, I don't know about you, but my first thought would be 'Hey, why doesn't that guy have more wins, all of his other numbers are there?!' Well it turns out this isn't some random pitcher...this is Johan Santana, the highest paid pitcher in the league, and the AL Cy Young Award winner two out of the last four seasons. When Santana was traded to the Mets, one thing he surely counted on was more run support than the modest 4.98 runs per game that the team's high priced lineup has given him. But the offense hasn't been what has cheated Johan out of six-that's right, i said six-wins. No, that would be the bullpen. Today marked the sixth time this season that Santana left the game with a lead, but ended up with a no decision because the bullpen could not hold it. Going by that stat, he should have 15 wins. But, if one were to dig further, as this writer did, they would find that there were two occurrences where Santana gave up 2 runs or less and actually lost. So, if you add those on, one can argue that he has pitched well enough to have 17 wins. And then, of course, there was that July 4th game against the Phillies where Johan pitched 8 innings giving up only 2 runs, and left the game with the score tied 2-2, only for the Phillies to win the game in the bottom of the ninth off of the horrible Mets bullpen. So, adding all of this together, one can make a strong case that Santana has pitched well enough to have a record of 18-5 instead of the 9-7 mark he currently holds. Now, every pitcher has had games where they pitch well and don't win. But for Johan, it has happened nine times in four months. So when people look at Johan's record and say that he's slipping, or he's overpaid, or whatever case they may make, because he only has 9 wins, just remember that if this guy had the record he deserved, he'd be almost a lock to become the second pitcher in MLB history to win Cy Young awards in each league. The first was a man by the name of Randy Johnson.

Hello

Hey all,
I am another of the people who will be posting as regularly as I can/feel I have something to contribute...

My name is Marissa, and I'm a native of Michigan, in addition to being a female sports fan, so those two things make me different from some, if not all of the other bloggers on here, and I'll hopefully be able to give a little different perspective...

As for teams and sports, I am almost undoubtedly most knowledgeable about women's lacrosse, which is pretty much a niche sport, but hopefully once spring rolls around, I, along with Brian, can help explain/convert some of you guys. Tied for a close second are college basketball and baseball, but I try to at least keep some tabs on everything.
My rooting interests lie with Boston U, UMichigan (mostly football), the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Pistons, Detroit Red Wings, and the New England Patriots, most fanatically the first three and the last one.

I enjoy working in athletics as well as watching them. I hope to eventually work in sports somewhere doing something (specific, I know), and have done a bunch of random jobs in and around sports. I also have some knowledge of sports medicine as I was convinced I wanted to do that for about 10 years, including 2 years of college, so I'll try and check in when a big injury happens and explain it better if I can...

I'm gonna wrap up the intro there, but please feel free to contact me if you guys have any questions or criticisms, especially as I start to post more wholly sports posts.

Take Care

Football-- The A-11:Future of Offense??

First off, thanks to Shutdown Corner for finding this. I will summarize what the A-11 offense is, but I also recommend this post: http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/shutdown_corner/post/The-A-11-offense-Buddy-Ryan-is-spinning-in-his-?urn=nfl,95915

The A-11 offense, or "all eleven players eligible" is a radical new offense developed in the high school football ranks. In this scheme, you line up with a center, two tight ends on the sides, two quarterbacks (one in shotgun, one on the side), and the rest of the players are running backs or wide receivers. The goal is to spread the defense out, create mismatches, and create confusion for the defense. Shutdown Corner posted a video in his blog which I also recommend, to get a better feel of how it works.

Upon seeing this, I loved it. I think it is progressive, intelligent, and if nothing else, entertaining. This brand of offense does not require the highest level of talent, which makes it perfect for the high school game. It is hard to slow down because there are endless combinations of plays (screens, draws, options, passes if need be). The A-11 is the future of offense, and is a classic in the idea of sports identity ("This is what our team does that wins us games, come beat it"). This offense challenges the defense to figure out a way to stop it or slow it down, which puts tremendous pressure on a defensive coordinator.

The question of the A-11 offense then arises: what game of football is this offense suited for? I feel that any offense where the quarterback is the best ATHLETE is suitable for the A-11. That is why I believe it fits perfectly for the high school game. The same idea applies for the college game. Putting a quarterback like a Dennis Dixon, Terrelle Pryor, either Vick, even Eric Crouch (obscurity points), where the quarterback is mobile and can make the throw allows this offense to work very well. In the college game, it also needs to be accompanied by a good offensive coach (Rich Rodriguez, Pete Carroll, Charlie Weis, and Bobby Petrino are the first guys that come to mind). A good coach allows for better execution of plays so that there is more than just a quarterback running around. The college game is offense-based, and could definitely succeed there. But what about the pro game?

The A-11 in the NFL is a completely different concept. Why? The speed of the game and the quality of the game. In the NFL, most quarterbacks are quarterbacks, not just athletes. Peyton Manning would not be effective in this offense because he is a pure quarterback. A passer is very good at passing the ball, whereas the offense caters more toward a thrower who can move and put some zip on the ball (Brett Favre, Jay Cutler are better suited). This does not account for an NFL defense. Unlike the other games, each player can be accounted for in the NFL (i.e. a linebacker can jam a receiver or running back off the line, disrupting timing). The three-person line of the A-11 is mismatched against either 2 defensive ends and a defensive tackle or even three defensive tackles (or if the defense lines up 4 down linemen). These are all more quality points, yet I mentioned the speed of the game as most important. When I say speed, I specifically key in on the secondary. Defensive backs all have good closing speed, and safeties can be big hitters. The biggest enemy of the A-11 would be a zone defense, where the corners and safeties can sit and wait, which actually shrinks the field for the offense. I do not see how this offense could function with a line that constantly loses the battle, quarterbacks that have to constantly create, and a secondary that can sit in coverage while the defensive line can get to the quarterback. Maybe as a change of pace this type of offense would be great, especially from a smash mouth team (imagine the Redskins lining up Jason Campbell and Antwaan Randle-El as quarterbacks). Which is another issue with the NFL: the personnel. It is simply much harder to bring together the necessary personnel for the A-11 in the NFL than it is the college game or high school game, where more players are interchangeable.

Overall, I would love to see this offense take over the college game. It would be a blast to watch teams run this (Anyone who caught Arkansas games can testify it was exciting to see the Razorbacks line up in Wild Hog formation, where Darren McFadden took the snap), and it would challenge the college game to grow up defensively. However, the NFL is grown up, that is why these players and coaches are paid handsomely. I see it having no long term success in the NFL.

The end of an era in Green Bay marks the final piece of the puzzle for Jets

By Ethan When it was announced at roughly 1 AM this morning that the New York Jets had acquired future HOF QB Brett Favre, my first reaction was shock, which quickly changed to joy, then to excitement, and then back to shock. I guess what I was most shocked about was the fact that this trade happened after hearing several times that number 4 did not want to play in the Big Apple. But, I guess the idea of an revamped offensive line including Pro Bowler Alan Faneca and newcomer Damian Woody, plus the idea that he would be the unquestioned starter, along with the fact that if he were to succeed in New York it would strongly enhance his legend, changed his mind. In return for Favre, the Jets gave a up a conditional draft pick that will be a 4th rounder that will become a 3rd rounder if Favre plays 50 percent of the Jets offensive snaps, a 2nd rounder plays if he plays 70 percent and the Jets make the playoffs, and a 1st rounder if he plays 80 percent and the Jets go to the Super Bowl. To me, this is a very good move for Gang Green. For one high draft pick, they get the big-time QB they needed, who can throw the ball down the field and utilize their explosive receivers in a way that Chad Pennington never could. Also, he is a QB that's been there, has won a Super Bowl, and has had a lot of success in the playoffs and in big games. A constant complaint about Pennington during his tenure as the Jets QB was that he couldn't win the big one. Well, no one will ever say that about Brett Favre. I truly feel like with a relatively easy schedule next year, of course with the exception of having to play New England twice, this team has all of the pieces in place to win between 9 and 11 games and make some noise in the playoffs. That doesn't mean it will happen, as in the NFL more than any other sport, things don't aways work out as planned. The fact is, however, that it could happen, and that is something not many people would have said before the man who holds almost every major QB record became a Jet.

hello to all

Hello to all present and future readers of of this new and promising blog. My name is Ethan, and I am happy to say that I will be one of the people posting regularly on this site. As many of you probably know, sports blogs have exploded in recent years, and it has gotten to a point where the average person no longer needs to pick up a newspaper to know what is going on in the world of sports. This will be my first venture into this this thriving world, and I'm very excited to get started. I hope that you will all enjoy reading my articles as much as I enjoy writing them. Just to give you all a background of my fanship, my favorite sport is baseball, but I am also a huge fan of football, hockey, boxing, tennis, and-to a somewhat lesser extent, basketball. My favorite teams are the Mets, Jets, Devils, and Knicks, and while I am very passionate about my teams, I am also a realist and will be the first to say when a team that I root for has royally screwed up. My articles will probably be about 70 percent NY area sports and 30 percent sports on the national scene. If anyone ever has any questions or criticism of my articles, you may always feel free to email me at Ethanpiazza@yahoo.com. I will always respond and try to do so within a couple of days. So, once again, my name is Ethan, and look forward to sharing my opinions on sports with all of you!

The Beginning of At The Buzzer

Welcome to At The Buzzer! I am The Big Lefty and I am your chief administrator for this blog. I will have several of my friends join me as authors/debaters on the blog, but for now this is a one-man team (Yes, I am LeBron James). Here is a little information about me and my sports knowledge.


I have been watching, discussing, and reading about sports my entire life. The sports I know best are football and basketball, and I know baseball well, and am picking up hockey (pro and college) and women's lacrosse. My favorite sports writer is easily Rick Reilly, as I find his concept of writing "about people IN sports, not just sports" genius and entertaining. My favorite sports moment I have ever seen was either a John Starks 3 "At The Buzzer" to win the game, or Eli Manning to David Tyree (With Lawrence Tynes' kick to send the Giants to the Super Bowl a close third).

So long as it is sports related, I want to discuss it on this page. I know of several articles I will be posting for discussion, as well as all mainstream happenings in the sports world. The more, the merrier. It's coming down to the wire, it will be a play at the plate, and it is now At The Buzzer. Enjoy!