The Norris & Long Show Best Of - Week Of May 12th
This week's edition of the Norris & Long Show Best of includes an interview with Mark Zuckerman on the Nationals vs Orioles series, and we talk with Comcast Sportsnet NHL analyst Alan May prior to game 7 of the Capitals vs Penguins series.
MARK ZUCKERMAN
Mark Zuckerman, analyst who covers the Nationals for MASN Sports, joined Ed and Rob to talk about the series between the Orioles and Nationals which is ongoing.
Mark talked about Matt Wieters leadership role in the Nationals locker room as opposed to how he was in the Orioles locker room saying, "I think it's a little different here because he is walking into a clubhouse with a bunch of guys who are leaders...I think in some ways he's been more on the side of and I think he's okay with that because he's not the most vocal guy."
On the subject of the Nationals bullpen and whether they can go on a playoff run with the pieces they have now, Mark said, "I think they can get through the regular season or the majority of it because the rotation is good and the line-up is also very good, but you can't get through the playoffs with this bullpen, Dusty Baker doesn't have anyone he can trust."
Mark also went on to talk about the outlook of the NL East and how the Nationals can win that division, and Nationals star Bryce Harper and whether last year's slump was due to injury.
ALAN MAY
Alan May, analyst for the Washington Capitals pre and post game shows on Comcast Sportsnet Mid-Atlantic, joined Ed and Rob to preview tonight's game seven between the Capitals and Penguins.
Alan started by talking about why some understandably skeptical Caps fans should believe in this team tonight saying, "Look at the Chicago Cubs they go 108 years without a victory and we finally get to see that, we see the Red Sox years ago exercise their demons, Sergio Garcia came up with a big putt...why not the Caps this time? They've blown some 3-1 leads, why not now have the Penguins blow a 3-1 lead in this series and the Caps finally get on to a Conference Finals with Alexander Ovechkin, Nick Backstrom and T.J. Oshie."
When asked about Ovechkin accepting a demotion to the 3rd line and Ovie's reputation as a 'selfish player,' Alan said, "I've been around this team for 8 or 9 years now and all I've only seen a player who has worked as hard as he can to try to produce results...this is the one guy who has always gotten his goals and helped this team win the games they win, when they lose even when he scores goals he's the guy who takes criticism and other players have hidden behind that."
Alan went on to give some examples of how the Caps can finally get past the Crosby led Penguins in the playoffs, game seven is tonight at 7:30pm.
