General: Sterno's Talkin' Smack -- Episode #92

Sterno's talkin' smack. No holding back here. It's simply all trash, all the time. That's right folks.

Welcome back for an excellent Tuesday morning edition of the show. Today I'm going to take shots at the New Jersey Nets, rip into Roger Clemens and Alex Rodriguez and also comment on the Raiders finally getting their man.

Smack This: New Jersey (Brooklyn) Nets -- First, the Nets found out that they were going to Brooklyn. Now they're leaving Byron Scott home in New Jersey. It has been one hell of a ride for Nets players as well as fans over the past week. The only question is whether or not the ride is headed upwards or on its way down and in a hurry.

This whole gig with Bruce Ratner's group buying the team and moving it to Brooklyn certainly brings to the forefront an interesting question. Where is Jim Dolan in all of this? How is he and more importantly how is MSG going to allow this to happen? Fans originally from Brooklyn from back in the day are going to slowly move towards following the Nets. Brooklyn residents who haven't been traumatized by the move and with property intact, will also follow the team.

Heck, Long Islanders with commutes into Manhattan via L.I.R.R. are going to take a different way home than before, stopping for an NBA game on the way. All of this spells bad news for Dolan, Thomas and the Knicks. I expect a combination of cash and politics to pry itself into this situation from the MSG camp and things should get interesting.

I loved the quote from Rod Thorne after the firing of Head Coach Byron Scott. "It happens to almost every coach eventually: Your message isn't well received and taken onto the court."

Right! You mean your prissy star point guard hates the guy? Okay, now I follow you my man! Seriously, we all know who fired Scott. It was Jason Kidd. It was well documented when Kidd was whining last year and we all know that there was a smoothing over that needed to be done to keep Kidd from the likes of San Antonio. My question is why not do this in the off-season?

Yes the team is 22-20 and we all expected them to be in a much better place. However, let's be honest. Nobody thought that Scott would last, we all knew it was because Kidd hated his guts and this should have been done and over with before the season. THEN, you could go after a major player in the coaching market instead of a rash decision that now puts Assistant coach Lawrence Frank in the big chair.

Lawrence Frank? Who? You have got to be kidding me. The Knicks were killed in the media for the way they handled their coaching vacancy and they were still in just hours, able to grab the winningest coach the NBA has ever seen. The Nets got a guy who has two first names, and neither of them are household. Yikes!

Rod Thorn made a comment during the press conference yesterday about Frank being a lot like Jeff Van Gundy. Excuse me? Yeah, they have so, so many similarities. Only problem is that Frank wasn't tutored by Riley, hasn't been to an NBA Finals as Head Coach and nobody has ever heard of the guy. Did I mention that part?

I love today's athlete by the way. They can skate around the issue of their loyalty all off-season, then sign at the last minute, turn their story around, and then fire the coach as if they run the place. Ah, what a world we live in! It's a joke and so are the Nets. I hope Lawrence Welk, Frank, Hank, whatever, knows a center somewhere. Jason Collins just isn't going to cut it!

New Jersey Nets -- Smacked!!!

Smack This: Baseball in the News -- Yes, this is one of my favorite segments. Entitled "Baseball In the News," this is where I go around the league with some one liners on the world of Major League Baseball.

Our first stop is the one and only Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod was named the Captain of the Rangers this past week incase you have been under a rock sleeping. Yeah, he is Captain. Captain of a ship without a freaking driver. Does anyone care who the leader of one of the worst teams in baseball is. This was clearly a public relations maneuver to try and sew the seeds of frustration with the lack of a deal to Boston. All it did was made me want to lose my oatmeal.

"I feel a grand responsibility not only to the Texas Rangers but to our fans."

You do? Oh, okay! Then maybe, just maybe, you should give some of your money to the organization so they can get you so damn pitching. Haven't you heard? It's kind of important! Hello!

Our next stop is Rick Reed. I will be brief here. I don't know if anyone saw this but Reed's agent Phil Tannenbaum said that the Mets blew a chance to sign Reed and that it would "reflect in their win-loss column this year." Look, Reed was solid in a Mets uniform but let's be realistic here. The truth is that he has sucked the big one since he left for the Twins and it is Reed and not the Mets who needed to get back together. He is forced to pitch for the Pirates who may have a new park but their lineup and their defense won't exactly help Reed's "win-loss column."

Finally, let's turn to "Rocket" Roger Clemens. Was anyone really surprised that he got a mixed reaction at the New York Baseball dinner this past week? Come on, half of the fans here in New York have no clue what the hell is going on and the other half hate the guy because he left them ordering the MLB package to watch Houston telecasts!

"It was hurtful and it did bother me because I poured my heart out." That was what Roger said regarding the reaction in the media and with the fans after he left. Excuse me? You mean who paraded around like you were giving everyone their last hoorah, took cheers, gifts and tears from fans who followed your every move in your final year, and then you shoved it down all of those people's throats by signing with Houston because "Andy made it hard to say no." Okay, I gotcha now!

Baseball in the News -- Smacked!!!

One for the Road: It seems as if Al Davis has hired Norv Turner to be his coach. Turner has an easy job ahead of him. All he has to do is make old guys younger, turn whiners into men and find some new talent. Yeah, no problem! Hey, maybe Troy is available for a comeback?

Hit me up with feedback at eSports (click the Write the Editor link) or email me directly at sterno17@hotmail.com. Unless, of course, your afraid to go toe to toe with Sterno? See ya' all next time folks! Until then, don't be the one who's smacked!