Jason N. Gaylord

1. Discipline - Last game, Hershey scored a goal that was ruled a goal at first and then overturned after the referee visited with the goal judge. This is a few problems in itself (that I'll mention later), but there was a much bigger problem. After the referee waived off the goal, Joe Motzko (#12) continually argued with the referee. I was fine with that as I could understand their frustrations. However, the referee failed to notice that as they were explaining the situation, Louis Robitaille (#24) came over to the Hershey goalie (near the end I was sitting) to have a "discussion." Before leaving the area, he clearly started yelling at the goal judge telling him he was an "ef'n idiot." To me, this is completely uncalled for. Too bad the AHL does not have the proper cameras in place to discipline players. Tonight, a similar event happened after a goal was waved off. This time, Scott Barney (#36) skated behind WBS goalie Marc Andre Fleury to yell at the goal judge. Again, this is uncalled for. These two incidents, and I don't want to isolate this to just Hershey as I've seen Wilkes-Barre/Scranton do this as well as other teams, are the reason I'm seriously considering not bringing my children to these games. To me, the AHL *should* be a family sport more so than the NHL. They're in smaller markets and generally the fans care more about the teams even when they're in the cellar of the league.
2. Get the same rulebook - The NHL is so much better with instant replay, two referees and the same penalties. Tonight I saw Hershey shoot the puck over the glass by their goalie from between the two circles and nothing was called. Having two referees would definately help as the linesmen can't do anything in the AHL. Also, both WBS and Hershey, from what I could see, where robbed of goals this evening. Having instant replay and overturning those goals could have added to the momentum of one team or the other.

I wish someone in the AHL offices could here me. If someone can, please sound off.

• C.C. Sabathia gave up an average of 1.09 walks per game in the regular season. In Game 1, he gave up 6 walks. None of those players scored. What ever happended to walks hurting the pitcher?
• Joba Chamberlain gets attacked by bugs. The result? He throws a wild pitch, hit a man, and walked two. Yet, he is regarded as a control pitcher. Coincidence?
• Mr. October (Derek Jeter) goes 3 for 17 for a .176 average. The old cliche, when the Captain fails, the ship sinks.
• Batters 2 through 6 batted an average of .176 in the series. These same batters had a season average of .308 and include two MVP candidates (Rodriguez and Posada), a captain (Jeter), and two outfielders (Abreu and Matsui).
• The entire team struck out twice as many times as they hit a run in one. During the regular season, the ratio between strike outs to RBIs was 1.07:1.
• The two most productive hitters were on oposite sides of the line-up. Damon had a .278 average with 5 RBIs and batted first. Cano had a .333 average with 3 RBIs and batted seventh.

• Yankees beat Indians in 4
• Red Sox beat Angels in 5
• Cubs beat Diamondbacks in 4
• Phillies beat Rockies (or Padres) in 4