Voice of the 'Fan

Hockey fans in my area are a little divided during the 1st round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. It has nothing to do with the Rangers vs. Washington, though. It's New Jersey vs. Carolina that might be the more attractive matchup, with the Devils leading 2-1 after Sunday.

That's because up until a couple of years ago, the Devils were the parent club of the AHL's Albany River Rats, and some of the current Devils, like Zach Parise, for example, starred for the Rats before being called up. Carolina took over as the parent club about three years ago, initially sharing with Colorado, but after a year, the Hurricanes became the sole parent, if you will. There are going to be those hardcore Rat fans, the ones who've been there from the beginning, who might have their interests split down the middle during this series, but they might not be heard from much on local radio, not with the NBA playoffs and baseball dominating discussions........

Nearly 13 years after Jeffrey Maier "helped", if you will, the Yankees defeat Baltimore in the ALCS, another fan in the right field stands, this time at Yankee Stadium II unwittingly aided the Bronx Bombers in a Sunday win over Cleveland.

I looked at the replay during "Baseball Tonight" on ESPN, and it looked like the home run ball hit by Jorge Posada went through the hands of a fan, hit the top of the wall, and fell back into the field of play. The umpires couldn't find conclusive evidence to reverse the call, which would've placed Posada on second base with a double, I think. Would it actually have had an impact on the game? I don't know.

Maybe they need to put a chain link fence above that wall in right field, so no one else gets any not-so-bright ideas. You'd think they'd learn by now that it's better to be patient and let the ball come to you.......

It had been nearly 10 years since Mick Foley was a World heavyweight champion in the then-WWF. So why is he TNA's World champion this morning? One common link to past and present might be that fellow Long Island native Vince Russo, one of the most despised men in pro wrestling because of his reluctance to create new ideas and insistence on recycling his old ones, is TNA's head writer, and had the same position during Foley's 3 title runs in 1998-9. Foley has been one of the few people not named Jeff Jarrett to publicly defend Russo in interviews, so Russo and Jarrett rewarded Foley the best way they knew how.

And so, for TNA's detractors, another chapter in the soap opera "As the Stomach Turns", is being written. Foley as champion won't do anything long term. After all, this IS TNA we're talking about here. The ratings might be up, if but because WWE is getting complacent at the wrong time. Again.

In case you wonder, "As the Stomach Turns" was a recurring sketch on "The Carol Burnett Show" 30-odd years ago. I thought it might fit in this context.

Meanwhile, in the wacky world of the WWE, Triple H finds himself in a situation he thought he might not be in ever again.

On Sunday at Backlash, Triple H defends the WWE title-----in a 6-man tag team match. Yeah, it doesn't make sense, but they do recycle stupid ideas here, too. The last time this happened, in June 2000, the "Cerebral Assassin" lost the then-WWF title to the Rock without being pinned. I hope Triple H and the WWE creative team have read up on the writings of George Santayana. Then again, this is the same group of people who decided that ex-"Real World" housemate Mike Mizanin and not former partner John Morrison would be on Monday Night Raw (Morrison went to Smackdown in the supplemental draft), proving once again what one of my teachers used to tell the class occasionally. Stupidity runs rampant. Way too often.