Fitz and Vig. Real Sports Guys.

The New York Rangers visit the New Jersey Devils this evening at 8pm for a must win Game 6 (Rangers down 3-2 in the series).  If the Broadway Bullies want a parade down the Canyon of Heroes…  they’ll need to bounce back from a 5-3 home loss in Game 5.   “We’ve been through these situations a lot this year, including in the playoffs,” Rangers coach John Tortorella said Thursday after practice. “I’m very comfortable as far as our mindset. Today was a good day for us. As we approach our game, I’m very comfortable in where we’re going to go.”

Hal Steinbrenner, responding to a published report in the New York Daily News, said Thursday that his family has no intention of selling the team.  “I just learned of the Daily News story. It is pure fiction,” Steinbrenner said in a statement. “The Yankees are not for sale. I expect that the Yankees will be in my family for many years to come.”  The Daily News reported on Thursday that rumors are circulating in Major League Baseball and New York banking circles that Steinbrenner’s family is exploring the possibility of selling the franchise.

CC Sabathia had one of his worst performances of the season giving up 4 runs over 6 innings to the Baltimore Orioles last night. He was outdueled by Wei-Yen Chen as the Yankees lost 5-2. The teams split their 2 game series but on the bright side, Curtis Granderson hit his 13th homer of the season. It’s nice to see he hasn’t missed a step from his break out season last year. Freddy Garcia continues to disappoint by giving up 1 run in 2 innings of relief.

Carmelo Anthony dropped 41 points on Sunday night, carrying the New York Knickerbockers to an 89-87 victory over the Miami Heat at Madison Square Garden.  The win marked the first playoff triumph for the Knicks since 2001.  Mr. Fire Extinguisher chipped in 20 and 10, serving as the appropriate Robin to ‘Melo’s Batman.  What does the victory mean, for Knicks fans?  That the Phil Jackson recruitment watch is delayed by at least a few more days.

With a sputtering offense and an inconsistent starting staff, the New York Yankees find themselves in 4th place in the American League East.  Even a 4 game series in Kansas City has not helped to solve any of the Good Guys’ problems, as the Yanks have dropped 2 of the first three games against the Royals (pinstripers earned a split this afternoon).  Offensively, the heart of the lineup is clearly the culprit, with ARod, Tex and Cano all seemingly searching for their elusive timing at the plate.  Going into today, Robbie had 4 RBI in a 100+ plate appearances… yikes.

Freddy Garcia sucks. With that, the Yankees are trying out a new pitcher in the starting rotation tonight. David Phelps, who has pitched pretty well out of the bullpen this season, will get the nod. The 25 year old rookie has a 3.57 era so far this season and has seen the majority of action taking over for Freddy Garcia after his sub par performances. Phelps is a Yankee prospect through and through. He was drafted by the Good Guys in 2008 out of the University of Notre Dame. Good luck Phelpsy (Big Triple Girardi nod).

The #1 seed New York Rangers continue to squeak by in their quest for the Stanley Cup. Last night they beat the Washington Capitals by a 2-1 score in triple overtime. In hockey playoffs the overtime is played in 20 minute periods, just like a regular game. That means these teams played the equivalent of nearly two full games last night. Good to see after all that effort the Rangers came out on top. Marian Gaborik (a guy) scored the game winner on the team’s 49th shot. Game 4 is in Washington at 12:30.

We know our beloved Bronx Bombers are a streaky offensive team, but the last two games are just atrocious. Tuesday and Wednesday night the Yankees faced off against the all-around weak Baltimore Orioles and were outscored 12-1. Needless to say, they didn’t win either of these games. I’m going to throw two names out there for you. Brian Matusz and Jake Arieta. These two multiple time Cy Young award winners (sense the sarcasm yet?) were the starting pitchers who shut down our $200 million team. Oh yeah, and in the one game of the series the Yankees did win, it was a 2-1 nailbiter where perennial All-Star Jason Hammel held the Yanks to 2 runs over 6 innings.

We can now officially begin moving past Bountygate. Roger Goodell has leveled his punishment to the defensive players on the New Orleans Saints who participated in the pay-for-injury program. Jonathan Vilma was the biggest recipient of punishment (as expected) by getting a full year ban. Anthony Hargrove will miss 8 games, Will Smith will sit for 4, and Scott Fujita will miss the first 3 games of the season. These punishments are harsh, but a lot of people thought more players would be involved. Pity goes out to the Green Bay packers who signed Hargrove to a free agent deal this off season and now will lose their new player for half the season.

The Brooklyn Nets are building their new identity with a new logo and merchandise. You can head right now to www.brooklynnets.com and pick up some of the new merch if you’re that big of a Nets fan. They have kept the New Jersey Nets shield and seem to have blended it with the Brooklyn Dodgers “B” logo. I think it’s a solid look. Right now the focus is on a mono-color black and white print on most items. I guess that’s supposed to imply a bad boy look

In a touching sports moment, former Rutgers head coach, Greg Schiano, signed Eric LeGrand to an NFL deal today. Schiano, now coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, was the coach at Rutgers two seasons ago when Eric LeGrand was paralyzed on the field in a game vs. Army. This would have been LeGrand’s draft year and now Schiano has made his dream come true of being a professional football player. Yes, this is more of a publicity stunt than an effort to improve the Buccaneers, but it is a very nice gesture to a former player who has spent the past two years working towards finding medical breakthroughs in spinal cord research. Classy move Schiano.