Mets sign reliever Brandon Lyons

The Mets have signed Brandon Lyon to a one year contract. He was with the Toronto Blue Jays last season. He got his first save in their final game of the season. Lyon is 33 years old and posted a 3.10 ERA in 67 appearances split between the Astros and Blue Jays. He struck out 63 and walked 20 in 61 innings. He was the primary closer for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2008 and Astros in 2010-11. In 2011 he got hurt and that derailed his career. 
He figures to be a setup man for the Mets at least to start as they say Frank Francisco is the closer. The manager and GM may not be on the same page with that though. Terry Collins the manager says Francisco is his man and the GM Sandy Alderson was less committal about that. He said a lot could depend on what they see in the spring. The Mets are done adding pieces unless Bourn signs with them. They have been talking to him but no deal is done yet. They are hoping to hold on to their draft pick if they sign him.

This is the second straight winter the Mets have made changes with their bullpen. I think this year they are in a much better place with it though. Bobby Parnell will be a setup man along with Lyon, Lyon has the experience to take over as the closer and they also have Josh Edgin as the lefty in the pen.

The Mets could use Francisco as a setup man if he continues to fail as closer.

The New York Rangers defeat the New York Islanders 4-1

The New York Rangers defeated the New York Islanders 4-1 on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers played a strong game getting two goals from rookie J.T. Miller, they were his first two NHL goals. Marion Gaborik and Ryan McDonagh scored the other goals, one was an empty net. The Rangers played good defense and Henrik Lundqvist played one of his better games. 
The first goal by Miller was at the 1:29 mark of the first period. It was only the third time this season in ten games that the Rangers had a lead. He was assisted by Chris Kreider and Marc Staal. Gaborik scored to make it 2-0 at the 14:04 mark of the first period. Staal and Brad Richards assisted on the Gaborik goal.

The Islanders cut the lead to 2-1 at the 11:13 mark of the second period on a John Tavares goal. Moulson and Finley assisted on the goal. The Rangers made it 3-1 at the 18:11 mark of the second period on Millers second goal. McDonagh assisted. McDonagh scored the final goal on an empty net goal. It was at the 17:52 mark of the third period.

The Rangers scored a power play goal and were 5-5 on the penalty kill. They still are taking too many penalties and one more too many men on the ice. It was their fifth such penalty of the season which is unacceptable. If the special teams get better like they were tonight they will get better as a team. The Rangers having more balance on offense also helps. Miller may be here for a while and he may only be here for a short time. We will have to see what they do with him. Lundqvist was 19-20 in saves and Nabokov was 18-20 for the Islanders.

The Rangers moved ahead of the Islanders into eighth place in the conference with 10 points. The Islanders after starting hot have struggled lately. The Rangers are back to 500 and will look to build on that in their next game on Sunday night. They play the Tampa Bay Lightning and then they play the Boston Bruins on Tuesday night in Boston.

The Baltimore Ravens win the Super Bowl in a crazy game

The Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in a crazy game by the score of 34-31. The Ravens dominated the first half and were well on their way to victory when the power went off in the Superdome. There was a 35 minute delay and when play resumed it was all 49ers for quite a while. The niners were able to get back in the game but were stopped on a first and goal that became fourth and goal and a turnover on downs. The Ravens basically ran out the clock with a interesting strategy at the end to take a safety. 
Joe Flacco was the MVP of the game as he threw for three touchdowns and didn’t throw an interception. In the postseason he threw 11 touchdown passes and did not throw one interception. Flacco in the Super Bowl was 22-33 for 287 yards with the three touchdown passes. Ray Rice led the Ravens rushing attack with 20 rushes for 59 yards and Bernard Pierce rushed 12 times for 33 yards. Anquan Boldin led the receiving corps with six catches for 104 yards and one touchdown. Jacoby Jones had one catch for 56 yards and a touchdown, Ed Dickson had two for 37 yards and Dennis Pitta had four for 26 yards and a touchdown. Torrey Smith had two receptions for 35 yards, Rice had four for 19 yards and Vonta Leach had three for 10 yards. Justin Tucker was 2-2 on field goals and his long was 38 yards. He also converted four extra points. Jones had five kickoff returns for an average of 41.2 yards and a touchdown. He tied the record with a 108 yard kickoff return. That was the first play of the second half which gave the Ravens a 28-6 lead. They led 21-6 at the half and came out flying before the niners got something going with 17 straight points after the power outage.

Colin Kaepernick was 16-28 for 302 yards a touchdown and an interception. Frank Gore led the niners rushing attack with 19 rushes for 110 yards and a touchdown. Kaepernick had seven rushes for 62 yards and a touchdown and LaMichael James had three rushes for ten yards. Michael Crabtree led the receivers with five receptions for 109 yards and a touchdown, Vernon Davis had six receptions for 104 yards and Delanie Walker had three receptions for 48 yards. Randy Moss had two receptions for 41 yards. David Akers was 3-3 on field goals with his long being 36 yards and he made two extra points. James had three kickoff returns with an average of 25 yards and Ted Ginn Jr. had one for 31 yards. Andy Lee had three punts with an average of 53 yards.

Patrick Willis led the niners defense with eight tackles and two assists. Each team had one lost fumble, Ed Reed had an interception for the Ravens and Dannell Ellerbe had six tackles and three assists to lead the Ravens defense.

The countdown is now for the next Super Bowl which will be a year from this one at Met Life Stadium in New Jersey. It will be an outdoor Super Bowl for the first time which should be interesting. This is the last football game until August when preseason football begins so it is a sad time for football fans but a happy time for baseball fans as it is now their turn with pitchers and catchers reporting in a week.