Posts Tagged ‘tampa bay’
Nostra-Thomas? Goaltender’s prediction comes true as Bruins best Lightning
Move over Broadway Joe, here comes Beantown Tim. Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas, predicted before yesterday’s Eastern Conference Final game 5, that his team would be victorious. After all was said and done, he held true to his word. In a hard-fought game, the Boston Bruins emerged the victors over the Tampa Bay Lightning. The primary reason for this was Thomas himself, who turned in a magnificent performance, stopping all but one of the 34 shots he faced. Could he have super powers? Perhaps, but I don’t believe that they involve predicting the future.
Instead Thomas made his prediction become reality. His powers lie in his goaltending ability. He has a slinky for a spine and is far more fast and agile than he should be at the ripe old age of 37. In fact he is more fast and agile than most goaltenders are at the age of 27. He reminds me of Dominek Hasek, as he is unorthodox, and makes up for less than sound positioning with unfathomable acrobatic saves.
I don’t think anyone felt the Tampa Bay Rays were going to repeat as division champs in the AL East, but to begin the season at 1-8 means things might be worse than expected. This offseason, The Rays lost many key players. The most notable of these are the 2 they lost to teams within their own division: Carl Crawford (Red Sox) and Rafael Soriano (Yankees). The worst thing that could have possibly happened to this team was allowing these players to leave for destinations in which they could have the largest possible detrimental effect on Tampa Bay: within the AL East. Last seasons’ AL Saves leader Soriano, who left to become the heir-apparent to Rivera in New York, can shut down opposing batters and teams’ hopes of a comeback. While Crawford may be the fastest player in the MLB; he can steal anything: be it a base, a game or the Rays’ hopes for the playoffs. The rationale for not retaining their services is simple: they simply could not afford to financially. Tampa has a beautiful stadium in Tropicana Field and last season had a very competitive and entertaining product; still they had significant trouble attracting interest and selling tickets. This led to severe financial losses. This is only part of the problem. The other is owner Stuart Stermburg. Stermburg, is an investor by nature and says his number-one priority is getting team finances in order. Furthermore he lives in New York and still holds season tickets to the Mets. This brings into question where his loyalties lie. As an investor, he should have seen locking down irreplaceable assets such as Crawford and Soriano down long-term as good for business. Instead he let them leave and will now be stuck competing with far superior products for relevance within his own division.