The NBA has just returned from their All-Star weekend and I couldn’t be more excited. That may seem like an odd thing to hear from someone around this time of year, especially one who hasn’t always been the biggest fan of the NBA. Most people refer to the time after the Super Bowl and before the NCAA tournament begins, as the dead period of sports. Well, for all those people out there (myself not being one of them) take a look towards the NBA. There is some good stuff going on there. I was slightly prompted to write this blog after noticing that my roommate had DVR’d the All-Star game the other day. Nobody gets excited about All-Star games in any sport, right? Let alone records them so that they don’t miss any of the action. I also noticed that I was very much into the Suns-Lakers game. Now, I still have a hard time watching an entire game through, but I admit, I am much more interested than I ever have been and I’m greatly looking forward to the playoffs. I’ll also temper this enthusiasm by saying I’d still probably choose a big time college game over the NBA.
With that said, let’s look at what the “association” has going for it these days. First, it has an abundance of extremely likeable stars, which I think is an underrated aspect of sports. Fans want to identify with and like the players they’re rooting for. While all of Major League Baseball’s players are currently being questioned about possible steroid use, the young guys in the NBA are running around the court smiling and putting on a show. LeBron, Chris Paul, Melo, Wade, Dwight Howard, Bosh, Deron Williams, Brandon Roy, etc, are all very likable, talented, AND young players. That’s not including the veteran guys like Nash, KG, Shaq, Pierce, Duncan, Iverson and so on that are still roaming the landscape of the NBA. If you took a look around All-Star weekend, there were guys that people really wanted to root for. Heck, even Kobe has rebounded and has gained some support from the fans. All in all, this is probably the best group of players the NBA has had since Magic, Bird, MJ, Isiah, and Barkley were running around out there.
More importantly though is the quality of basketball that is being played combined with the excitement of some of the potential playoff match-ups. In the East, you have two extremely elite teams; even teams that people would say have a chance to beat a Western conference team in the final. I know Miami won the championship a couple years ago, but no one really thought they had a chance and for the entire season, there was never any serious thought given to an Eastern team winning a championship. I am genuinely excited for the possibility of a Boston-Detroit conference championship and I think whoever came out of it would be just as likely to win a title as the team that came out of the West. (Note: prior to the All-Star game, Boston was 16-0 against Western conference teams.) I think they’re two regular season games this year are a good indication of what a 7-game series could be. The Celtics have three veteran guys who have never won anything and are extremely motivated to win a championship and more importantly extremely willing to do anything to win. Their desire and the way they play cause the guys around them to play the same way. It’s a very infectious thing and it makes them a very fun team to watch. Detroit is the team that’s been there many times before and has the veteran guys who’ve proven they can win. They also play a slightly less boring style of basketball, which helps in making me want to watch them. In addition to the usual suspects, they have some nice young guys, Stuckey, Affalo, and Maxiell, who are playing bigger roles for them that may put them ahead of where they’ve been.
There are two young, exciting teams behind them that are most likely a year or two away from being on their level but nonetheless are exciting to watch and have pieces that can make for difficult match-ups. The Magic have the next best dominating big man in the sport (Howard), a very good wing player (Lewis), a couple nice young guards (Nelson, Arroyo, Bogans), and one former role player that has emerged into a very good player (Turkoglu). Toronto has the poor man’s Steve Nash (Calderon), a host of good wing players who shoot the ball (Parker, Delfino, Kapono), and a great, yet underrated post player (Bosh). The last team in the East that can bring some interest to the party is Cleveland. The Cavs has one thing that no other team in the East (or all the league for that matter) has. His name is LeBron and he is the best player in the sport. (Sorry Kobe) We all saw what he could do last year as he single-handedly, with a very little help from Boobie Gibson, led his team to an Eastern conference title. They have exactly the same team, as his management has done nothing to help him out, so who’s to say he can’t do it again this year? My only thing is that I think the other teams are better this year. Obviously Boston is an elite team, but Detroit is also probably a bit better than they were last year.
Now to the West, which for years has been the superior conference and, from top to bottom, still is. The competitive balance in the conference is ridiculous. There are so many good teams and trying to pick out the best team or predict who will come out of the playoffs is near impossible. Ask a bunch of experts to predict the best team in the West and you may get 5 or 6 different answers. First of all, one of the following teams; Denver, Houston, or Golden State will not make the playoffs as a 50-win team. Second, most of the good teams in the West have gone out and made significant improvements, or at least moves (I’ll come back to that) to their teams. Anyway you look at it the Western conference playoffs have a chance to be as exciting and unpredictable as anything we’ve seen in a while.
At the top of the conference you have the Suns. One of the best regular-season teams for the past couple years, who’ve gotten very close the last two years to winning the conference title. Many of the same parts are there, but now they’ve just added the most dominating big man in the last 15 years. Is he past where he was during his prime? Absolutely, but can he make the Suns into a championship team is the real question. They probably maxed out their potential as they were constructed with Marion. They were going to win 60+ games and win a couple rounds of the playoffs, but lose to a tougher team. Now, they have a physical presence in the post that will bring a bit of toughness to the court if nothing else. He’ll still command some double teams which will open the perimeter up for all their shooters (Nash, Barbosa, Bell, Diaw, Hill) and not allow teams to focus so much on Stoudamire. Throw in the fact that they can throw the ball to him in the post when things slow down in the half-court postseason style of basketball. Watching Nash throw him an alley-oop last night in the second half gave me plenty of reason to think there are plenty of easy baskets for him to get which will give the big fella even more reason to get up and down the floor. In the postseason I think they’re more dangerous now with Shaq. The Lakers may be the most dangerous team in the West, but also the most uncertain. Kobe’s finger is a bit of a concern (41 point effort not withstanding) and nobody knows when and if Bynum will be back, nor how good he’ll be upon his return. With Bynum, they have two very good 7-footers and Gasol’s presence allows Bynum to really just focus on defense and rebounding. He doesn’t have to be a bona fide scoring option. Kobe is still the most clutch player in the league and has the ability to go off for 50 any night in the playoffs. Odom as a 4th offensive option is a very nice piece to have, but how he responds to that role needs to be determined. They have a bunch of nice role players as well in Fisher, Vukavic, Radmonovic, and Farmar.
The Spurs are the most consistent team of the past ten years. Everyone keeps saying they can turn it on once the postseason starts, but they are getting older each year and eventually that catches up to you. Their lockdown defender (Bowen) looks very old and doesn’t find himself on the floor in crunch time anymore. Horry, Finley, and Barry are older and not playing very well. Parker, Duncan, and Ginobili are still a very formidable trio and they have the best coach in the game, but it remains to be seen if they have the supporting cast to prevail from a loaded conference. Dallas was a team that absolutely needed to make a trade, but they may have ended up making the wrong one. They changed their style of play a couple years ago and ended up winning the conference. After having the NBA title taken away from them, they’ve seemed to become a little stagnant. They have one of the most underrated, up and coming stars in Josh Howard and a superstar in Dirk, but other than that they lack an identity. Dirk is still a 7-footer who does none of the things 7-footer’s do. Howard and Terry are guys that thrive in an open court game, and they had a young, promising point guard in Harris whose game closely resembled Tony Parker. They want to play the Spurs style but they lack the low-post presence of Duncan. Dirk doesn’t play that type of game. So, getting Kidd may not have been the right move for them. Instead I think they should’ve kept Harris and tried to get a low-post scorer instead. They gave up their best young chip to make a run at this season, and I don’t think they’re that close this season to a title.
The most intriguing team out West may be the Jazz. The only move they made came earlier in the season when the traded for Kyle Korver, a pure shooter to put on the wing. Other than that, they’ve relied on the process of developing talents and allowing players to grow together. Their core group of Boozer, Okur, AK, and Williams has played together for 3 years now and looks very comfortable together. Boozer has become a top-level post guy and Williams is one of the best point guards in the game. Their ability to run the two-man game like Malone and Stockton used to obviously make them dangerous. Throw in the fact that you can throw 3 shooters around them and I don’t think there are many teams that want to see them in a long series. As witnessed in last years playoffs, they can definitely make a run and now that they’re another year older, I think they might have what it takes. The team that I think everyone is rooting for is the Hornets. You have the New Orleans storyline, which makes them a feel good story and then they may have the most likable, exciting player in the whole game. Chris Paul has taken the league completely by storm, causing fans in Atlanta and Milwaukee to only dream of what could’ve been. Paul has been absolutely dominant this year. Throw in David West’s emergence as an All-Star and they have a nice little thing going. The only question about them is how they will handle the newness that is the playoffs, especially with so many quality, veteran teams out there. They have a nice nucleus with two good shooters (Peterson and Peja) on the wings with a defensive, rebounding presence in the middle (Chandler) and two All-Stars, but the experience is what may keep them from advancing far. If there was not so much other depth in the conference, I would feel much more comfortable backing them, but I can’t feel confident based on the other teams in the conference. Then you have the three teams battling for two spots. All of these teams are currently playing over .600 ball, so it’s pretty hard to imagine one of them not being in the playoffs, but it’s going to happen. Last year we saw what Golden State can do if they get in, Denver may be one of the most indefensible teams, with Melo and AI as the best scoring duo in the league, and Houston has Yao, who causes match-up problems for anyone. If T-Mac is playing to his potential, they obviously become a difficult out. Anyway you look at, the 1-8 match-up is going to be highly entertaining as are the rest of the match-ups. Needless to say I’m looking forward to it.
Heading into this season, there was a bit of a cloud hanging over the league because of the Tim Donaghy scandal. Some people questioned the integrity of the league, and will good cause, but it seems to have done little to temper people’s overall enthusiasm. I guess having compelling basketball doesn’t hurt that fact. But baseball is going to have a hard time distancing itself from the whole steroids thing and if anything comes out of the whole “spygate” scandal, the NFL may have a hard time getting away from that as well. Whatever the reason is, the NBA and David Stern should be very happy with the state of their league.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Friday, February 15, 2008
Congressional Hearings
I apologize in advance for writing this but I couldn’t resist. There were a few things I needed to get off my chest
As a responsible journalist I decided to watch the congressional hearings yesterday involving Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee. Actually I was just stuck in an airport and it was on every TV. I didn’t really have a choice but to pay attention to it. To say it was embarrassing would a mild understatement. I think it was quite ridiculous and comical. To think that members of our congress spent over 5 hours yesterday in these hearings makes you wonder. Is this the best way that they can spend their time? More importantly, were we really asking the right questions or investigating the correct issues.
A couple notes that I made regarding this whole debacle:
Ø The purpose of this committee, the Mitchell report, and these pending investigations are to find out how popular steroid use was in professional sports, and how do we stop it. Most importantly, how do we get young kids to stop doing them? I feel as if we’ve completely lost sight of this. Instead it has turned into a prolonged effort to prove whether or not Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee is lying. It has become about two men. These hearings do not take place in a court of law. That was not supposed to be a trial about how was telling the truth. If you’re a high-school baseball player or a minor leaguer, are you going to think twice about doing steroids now? Probably not. The real lesson here is don’t lie about it if you get caught. Andy Pettite has admitted to using HGH. I’m pretty sure he’s going to trot out to the mound the first week of the season and will get cheered loudly by his adoring fans in Yankee Stadium. Brian Roberts admitted to using as well. His owner has gone over the top to praise him and has shown a reluctance to trade him because of the personal affection he has for him. If Clemens had come out and said “I’m sorry, I realize I shouldn’t have done steroids, but half the hitters I was facing were doing it at the time and I made a mistake,” we probably wouldn’t be talking about this anymore.
Ø The drawing of party lines and the clear distinction between the two viewpoints is quite discouraging. I know these guys are politicians, but they are not supposed to bring their political affiliations into these hearings. It’s also a bit disturbing that we cannot have a unified unpartisan view on this. Steroid use is a bad thing for this country, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, no?
Ø A couple Republicans took special effort to go out of their way to verbally attack Brian McNamee and ignore that Clemens, who is a friend of the Bush family, was even in the room. So much so that Rep. Waxman, the committee chairman, went out of his way to apologize to McNamee at the end of the hearings. I’m not saying McNamee is a good guy, but what Rep. Dan Burton and Rep. Chris Shays did was ugly. (By the way, if you get a second, look up Dan Burton. He’s quite a character. I feel bad for people in the 5th ward in Indiana.) Did anyone think that Clemens was going to get taken to task as much as he should have? A week earlier, he spent a good deal of time walking around Congress shaking hands and signing autographs for the congressmen and women. He’s a hero to many of these people, how can we expect them to be objective.
Ø One representative, a congresswomen from North Carolina, spent the first 3 minutes of her questioning explaining how she thought it was a gross misuse of time for them to be there and how she didn’t agree with them doing any of this. After this soliloquy, I was very much in favor of this woman until she proceeded to present a huge poster with 4 separate pictures of Clemens at various point in his career. She then “asked” Clemens, “There doesn’t appear to be any physical difference in your appearance, does it?” Talk about a tough, hard-hitting question. So, you don’t think your committee should be dealing with this hearing and you think it’s a waste of time, but you took the time to find 4 pictures of Roger Clemens in the same exact position and analyzed the size and shape of his body.
Ø Both of the stories have holes in them. McNamee is a guy who gave people an illegal substance and clearly has lied about things. On the surface, he seems less than credible. Clemens’ supposed closest friend in baseball and training partner has basically said Clemens talked to him about it. Clemens’ camp has also taken on the appearance that they may have tampered with a witness. Again, doesn’t do a whole lot to help your cause. Clemens didn’t look entirely comfortable during the whole proceedings. He made many forceful and demonstrative points during the hearings, but he constantly avoided answering direct questions. There were a number of instances also where the committee had to reprimand Clemens’ lawyers for speaking up during the hearing, which is not allowed and there were also a couple of times where his lawyers leaned in to whisper something in his ear. A tactic most people saw as them “coaching” him on how to answer the question.
Ø Clemens is correct in saying that his reputation will never be restored. He’s used the “how do you prove a negative” line numerous times. Much like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa before him, Roger Clemens is always going to live with this cloud hanging over him. If he is completely innocent of all these allegations, that is very unfortunate for him. Because this may never get to a court of law, which may help him “prove the negative,” he is going to have to deal with how he is viewed in the court of public opinion.
Ø Bias aside, Clemens showed a bit of his true colors yesterday. He not only attacked what McNamee had said about him, but he threw his friend Andy Pettite, his agents, and his wife under the bus in order to save his own name. Either all of these people are in the wrong or this guy feels no loyalties to anyone. It was really a bit disturbing.
All in all, I think the day went pretty much according to how I thought it would go. We didn’t really learn anything new. I still think that Clemens did something illegal. And I still think that, despite the fact he’s telling the truth, Brian McNamee is less than a model citizen. I think the most disturbing thing was the performance of our elected officials. I think they acted in very poor taste regarding these hearing.
As a responsible journalist I decided to watch the congressional hearings yesterday involving Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee. Actually I was just stuck in an airport and it was on every TV. I didn’t really have a choice but to pay attention to it. To say it was embarrassing would a mild understatement. I think it was quite ridiculous and comical. To think that members of our congress spent over 5 hours yesterday in these hearings makes you wonder. Is this the best way that they can spend their time? More importantly, were we really asking the right questions or investigating the correct issues.
A couple notes that I made regarding this whole debacle:
Ø The purpose of this committee, the Mitchell report, and these pending investigations are to find out how popular steroid use was in professional sports, and how do we stop it. Most importantly, how do we get young kids to stop doing them? I feel as if we’ve completely lost sight of this. Instead it has turned into a prolonged effort to prove whether or not Roger Clemens or Brian McNamee is lying. It has become about two men. These hearings do not take place in a court of law. That was not supposed to be a trial about how was telling the truth. If you’re a high-school baseball player or a minor leaguer, are you going to think twice about doing steroids now? Probably not. The real lesson here is don’t lie about it if you get caught. Andy Pettite has admitted to using HGH. I’m pretty sure he’s going to trot out to the mound the first week of the season and will get cheered loudly by his adoring fans in Yankee Stadium. Brian Roberts admitted to using as well. His owner has gone over the top to praise him and has shown a reluctance to trade him because of the personal affection he has for him. If Clemens had come out and said “I’m sorry, I realize I shouldn’t have done steroids, but half the hitters I was facing were doing it at the time and I made a mistake,” we probably wouldn’t be talking about this anymore.
Ø The drawing of party lines and the clear distinction between the two viewpoints is quite discouraging. I know these guys are politicians, but they are not supposed to bring their political affiliations into these hearings. It’s also a bit disturbing that we cannot have a unified unpartisan view on this. Steroid use is a bad thing for this country, regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, no?
Ø A couple Republicans took special effort to go out of their way to verbally attack Brian McNamee and ignore that Clemens, who is a friend of the Bush family, was even in the room. So much so that Rep. Waxman, the committee chairman, went out of his way to apologize to McNamee at the end of the hearings. I’m not saying McNamee is a good guy, but what Rep. Dan Burton and Rep. Chris Shays did was ugly. (By the way, if you get a second, look up Dan Burton. He’s quite a character. I feel bad for people in the 5th ward in Indiana.) Did anyone think that Clemens was going to get taken to task as much as he should have? A week earlier, he spent a good deal of time walking around Congress shaking hands and signing autographs for the congressmen and women. He’s a hero to many of these people, how can we expect them to be objective.
Ø One representative, a congresswomen from North Carolina, spent the first 3 minutes of her questioning explaining how she thought it was a gross misuse of time for them to be there and how she didn’t agree with them doing any of this. After this soliloquy, I was very much in favor of this woman until she proceeded to present a huge poster with 4 separate pictures of Clemens at various point in his career. She then “asked” Clemens, “There doesn’t appear to be any physical difference in your appearance, does it?” Talk about a tough, hard-hitting question. So, you don’t think your committee should be dealing with this hearing and you think it’s a waste of time, but you took the time to find 4 pictures of Roger Clemens in the same exact position and analyzed the size and shape of his body.
Ø Both of the stories have holes in them. McNamee is a guy who gave people an illegal substance and clearly has lied about things. On the surface, he seems less than credible. Clemens’ supposed closest friend in baseball and training partner has basically said Clemens talked to him about it. Clemens’ camp has also taken on the appearance that they may have tampered with a witness. Again, doesn’t do a whole lot to help your cause. Clemens didn’t look entirely comfortable during the whole proceedings. He made many forceful and demonstrative points during the hearings, but he constantly avoided answering direct questions. There were a number of instances also where the committee had to reprimand Clemens’ lawyers for speaking up during the hearing, which is not allowed and there were also a couple of times where his lawyers leaned in to whisper something in his ear. A tactic most people saw as them “coaching” him on how to answer the question.
Ø Clemens is correct in saying that his reputation will never be restored. He’s used the “how do you prove a negative” line numerous times. Much like Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa before him, Roger Clemens is always going to live with this cloud hanging over him. If he is completely innocent of all these allegations, that is very unfortunate for him. Because this may never get to a court of law, which may help him “prove the negative,” he is going to have to deal with how he is viewed in the court of public opinion.
Ø Bias aside, Clemens showed a bit of his true colors yesterday. He not only attacked what McNamee had said about him, but he threw his friend Andy Pettite, his agents, and his wife under the bus in order to save his own name. Either all of these people are in the wrong or this guy feels no loyalties to anyone. It was really a bit disturbing.
All in all, I think the day went pretty much according to how I thought it would go. We didn’t really learn anything new. I still think that Clemens did something illegal. And I still think that, despite the fact he’s telling the truth, Brian McNamee is less than a model citizen. I think the most disturbing thing was the performance of our elected officials. I think they acted in very poor taste regarding these hearing.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Ruining Sports
February 11, 2008
Are we ruining the games that we love? For many people, sports have played a huge role in their lives. Think about the things that you love about sports and why they mattered so much to you. Now are these things getting overlooked in the way sports are covered today?
Our culture has become one in which we want, need, and get information with such speed and wealth, that we have become a bit spoiled. We’ve also become a culture that is driven by shock value and “train wreck stories.” In a time when Britney Spears is on 24-hour suicide watch, 20-something actors are dying of “accidental overdoses,” it seems like the sports world is just trying to keep up. But in the process are we bringing sports down with it.
As fans, I get the feeling that we feel entitled to know everything. Most people would say that we’re responsible for paying these athletes salaries’ therefore we deserve to know everything they’re doing. Before you ask to know all the information, please be prepared to accept the findings.
The reason I mention this is because I wonder if Bud Selig regrets appointing George Mitchell to investigate the world of steroids and their relevance to the world of Major League baseball. Has the 2-year investigation and the accompanying results helped the state of baseball? Do people feel better about the sport now that there have been all these allegations of people using steroids and HGH? What was the reasoning behind fans knowing all this information? Instead of “cleaning up” the game, it seems that we’ve begun dragging the game through the mud and took the focus off the field.
We’re less than a week away from spring training and the signaling of the beginning of the season and the #1 baseball-related story is about Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee. The Mets just pulled off a major trade for the best pitcher in baseball, and it barely got a mention in the New York papers. For the past two months we have been exposed to all kinds of he said-he said accusations, a secretly recorded phone conversation, and an admission of a 6-year old collection of used syringes, vials, and bloody gauze pads. I would not be the least bit surprised to hear that they were bringing Jack Bauer in to “break” Clemens during his appearance in front of Congress. Or maybe they’ll put Clemens’ bloody gauze next to Schilling’s bloody sock at Cooperstown.
You want to talk about the NFL. After an allegation at the beginning of the year when the Patriots were said to be videotaping the Jets during a game, they went into full on “F-you” mode, beating teams by unnecessary scores and came close to orchestrating nearly the greatest season in history. What were they rewarded with? The night before the biggest games of their lives, news came out that a former assistant, now living as a golf pro in Hawaii had admitted that he videotaped the Rams prior to their super bowl match up with the Patriots in 2002. Great timing to drop a story like this, right? Other than being a distraction for the Patriots, what bearing did this information have being made known less than 24 hours prior to the sport’s showcase event? Did FOX need something else to talk about to fill their 6-plus hours of pre-game coverage?
Once again, the focus had been shifted from on the field events to off the field activities. And once again, our desire to know everything took away from our ability to fully enjoy one of sports greatest days, or at least it hung over the day enough to distract people just enough. Two days after one of the best Super Bowl’s in history and a great upset victory by the Giants (you don’t know how hard it was to write that), the news kept pouring in about this story. Another US Senator was brought in to investigate the matter further and that was where many of the stories were headed. Instead of stories about the Giants miraculous victory, we were reading about how the Patriots videotaped the Panthers before their Super Bowl as well. I’m pretty sure that both the Patriots and Bill Belichick were fined by the league and had a draft pick taken away from them. However fit or unfit you feel this punishment was, why is it necessary to involve the US government in a full-fledged investigation into this matter. Why can’t we just leave things alone?
My request to everyone is the same as I previously stated. Let’s not allow sports to be dragged down the same way the rest of our culture is. Let’s focus on the beauty of the sports. Let’s keep the focus on what happens between the lines. I want to remember Hakim Warrick soaring through the air with his ridiculously long arms extended to block Michael Lee’s potentially game-tying jump shot from the corner in the 2003 National Championship game. I want to remember Ivan Rodriguez laying on his back with the ball clenched in his fist after getting run over at the plate, securing a wild card victory against the Giants in 2003, which led to the Marlins eventually winning the world series. Do I care that he may or may not have been doing steroids at the time? Does that take away from the greatness of the moment?
Let’s leave the headlines of US Weekly to the pop culture celebrities.
Are we ruining the games that we love? For many people, sports have played a huge role in their lives. Think about the things that you love about sports and why they mattered so much to you. Now are these things getting overlooked in the way sports are covered today?
Our culture has become one in which we want, need, and get information with such speed and wealth, that we have become a bit spoiled. We’ve also become a culture that is driven by shock value and “train wreck stories.” In a time when Britney Spears is on 24-hour suicide watch, 20-something actors are dying of “accidental overdoses,” it seems like the sports world is just trying to keep up. But in the process are we bringing sports down with it.
As fans, I get the feeling that we feel entitled to know everything. Most people would say that we’re responsible for paying these athletes salaries’ therefore we deserve to know everything they’re doing. Before you ask to know all the information, please be prepared to accept the findings.
The reason I mention this is because I wonder if Bud Selig regrets appointing George Mitchell to investigate the world of steroids and their relevance to the world of Major League baseball. Has the 2-year investigation and the accompanying results helped the state of baseball? Do people feel better about the sport now that there have been all these allegations of people using steroids and HGH? What was the reasoning behind fans knowing all this information? Instead of “cleaning up” the game, it seems that we’ve begun dragging the game through the mud and took the focus off the field.
We’re less than a week away from spring training and the signaling of the beginning of the season and the #1 baseball-related story is about Roger Clemens and Brian McNamee. The Mets just pulled off a major trade for the best pitcher in baseball, and it barely got a mention in the New York papers. For the past two months we have been exposed to all kinds of he said-he said accusations, a secretly recorded phone conversation, and an admission of a 6-year old collection of used syringes, vials, and bloody gauze pads. I would not be the least bit surprised to hear that they were bringing Jack Bauer in to “break” Clemens during his appearance in front of Congress. Or maybe they’ll put Clemens’ bloody gauze next to Schilling’s bloody sock at Cooperstown.
You want to talk about the NFL. After an allegation at the beginning of the year when the Patriots were said to be videotaping the Jets during a game, they went into full on “F-you” mode, beating teams by unnecessary scores and came close to orchestrating nearly the greatest season in history. What were they rewarded with? The night before the biggest games of their lives, news came out that a former assistant, now living as a golf pro in Hawaii had admitted that he videotaped the Rams prior to their super bowl match up with the Patriots in 2002. Great timing to drop a story like this, right? Other than being a distraction for the Patriots, what bearing did this information have being made known less than 24 hours prior to the sport’s showcase event? Did FOX need something else to talk about to fill their 6-plus hours of pre-game coverage?
Once again, the focus had been shifted from on the field events to off the field activities. And once again, our desire to know everything took away from our ability to fully enjoy one of sports greatest days, or at least it hung over the day enough to distract people just enough. Two days after one of the best Super Bowl’s in history and a great upset victory by the Giants (you don’t know how hard it was to write that), the news kept pouring in about this story. Another US Senator was brought in to investigate the matter further and that was where many of the stories were headed. Instead of stories about the Giants miraculous victory, we were reading about how the Patriots videotaped the Panthers before their Super Bowl as well. I’m pretty sure that both the Patriots and Bill Belichick were fined by the league and had a draft pick taken away from them. However fit or unfit you feel this punishment was, why is it necessary to involve the US government in a full-fledged investigation into this matter. Why can’t we just leave things alone?
My request to everyone is the same as I previously stated. Let’s not allow sports to be dragged down the same way the rest of our culture is. Let’s focus on the beauty of the sports. Let’s keep the focus on what happens between the lines. I want to remember Hakim Warrick soaring through the air with his ridiculously long arms extended to block Michael Lee’s potentially game-tying jump shot from the corner in the 2003 National Championship game. I want to remember Ivan Rodriguez laying on his back with the ball clenched in his fist after getting run over at the plate, securing a wild card victory against the Giants in 2003, which led to the Marlins eventually winning the world series. Do I care that he may or may not have been doing steroids at the time? Does that take away from the greatness of the moment?
Let’s leave the headlines of US Weekly to the pop culture celebrities.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
Baseball Preview
We’re six days away from pitchers and catchers and I couldn’t be less excited. “6 days till pitchers and catchers used to get me excited. Now it does very little. As an Oriole fan, you may be able to understand my thoughts and more importantly my frustration. If they were in the NL Central, let’s say, I may be singing a different tune.
Now I’m not saying that the National League is far inferior to the American League or that the teams aren’t as good. I may actually argue the opposite. Through the maniacal nature that is the Sox-Yanks rivalry, the American League has been ruined. Two franchises have become so overly consumed with another and have completely destroyed the hopes of virtually every other team in the league. “The greatest rivalry in sports” has turned into a one on one slugfest with 12 other teams observing.
You can’t fault anyone for getting excited about watching a Yankees-Red Sox game, let alone a seven game series. But look at it from any of the other teams perspective, and it may not be as great as it seems. In the American League, how many teams, how many teams, outside the Red Sox and Yankees, can you make an argument for making the World Series? Three? Four if you’re hopeful?
Conversely, take a look at the National League, or as some people call it AAAA. Is the National League made up of worse teams or is it just more balanced? I’d like to argue the latter of that statement. Going into spring training, how many teams in the National League have a legitimate shot at making the World Series? Ten?
The Mets, quite possibly the best team in the NL for about 150 games last year, just added the best pitcher on the planet without diminishing their major league roster. The Phillies, if Brad Lidge works out like they hope, have one of the best top of the rotation tandems to go along with the past two NL MVP’s. Throw in maybe the most complete player in the NL to go along with a number of very good offensive players. Atlanta lost Andruw Jones, but has tons of young hitters to fill his void. A lineup consisting of Teixeira, Franceour, Chipper, McCann, with all the other kids is quite formidable. Then you have a veteran staff of Smoltz, Glavine, and Hudson at the top. Not to mention they’re trying to get back to the postseason after missing it last year for the first time in 14 years.
The NL Central has its own competitive teams. Last year’s division champs added the biggest Japanese export. We saw what happened last year with prize of the Japanese free agent market. I’m pretty sure he has a championship ring. They brought back their ace and might have the most dangerous 3-4-5 in the league. Milwaukee’s “kids” are all one year older and have the experience they lacked last year when they crumbled in the second half of the year. Houston added Miguel Tejada this off-season, who is not completely removed from his MVP season a couple years ago.
Out west, we may have the most competitive division in baseball. Excluding the Giants, each one of those teams has a very legitimate shot at winning the NL and not because of “mediocrity.” Arizona won the division last year and added an ace to pair with their Cy Young winner from two years ago. Their young guys are also a year older and they get Randy Johnson back in some capacity. Colorado went to the World Series last year and was able to lock up their two best players. In the playoffs, they got valuable contributions from two young kids who only surfaced in the majors at the end of the year. They also may have as good a lineup top to bottom as any team in the NL. The Padres have the best pitching staff in the NL and added a former #1 draft pick to that staff. Even a little bit of offense makes them a very dangerous team, especially if they can get to October. Lastly, the Dodgers added a power hitting centerfielder who may be the best defensive outfielder in the game. They also added a manager who brought his previous team to the postseason for the previous 11 seasons. Throw in the return of Jason Schmidt to their rotation behind Brad Penny and Derek Lowe and the abundance of young hitting talent they have on their roster and I’m not sure there is a more balanced team in this division.
So, my point is probably that while the two, maybe three “best” teams in baseball may play in the American League, you may have a hard time arguing against the fact that the next ten play in the NL. The only debatable thing in the AL is who won’t make the playoffs out of the Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, or Indians? So as we head towards spring training my attention will be squarely focused on the National League and the great match-ups we’ll be treated to consistently throughout the year.
Now I’m not saying that the National League is far inferior to the American League or that the teams aren’t as good. I may actually argue the opposite. Through the maniacal nature that is the Sox-Yanks rivalry, the American League has been ruined. Two franchises have become so overly consumed with another and have completely destroyed the hopes of virtually every other team in the league. “The greatest rivalry in sports” has turned into a one on one slugfest with 12 other teams observing.
You can’t fault anyone for getting excited about watching a Yankees-Red Sox game, let alone a seven game series. But look at it from any of the other teams perspective, and it may not be as great as it seems. In the American League, how many teams, how many teams, outside the Red Sox and Yankees, can you make an argument for making the World Series? Three? Four if you’re hopeful?
Conversely, take a look at the National League, or as some people call it AAAA. Is the National League made up of worse teams or is it just more balanced? I’d like to argue the latter of that statement. Going into spring training, how many teams in the National League have a legitimate shot at making the World Series? Ten?
The Mets, quite possibly the best team in the NL for about 150 games last year, just added the best pitcher on the planet without diminishing their major league roster. The Phillies, if Brad Lidge works out like they hope, have one of the best top of the rotation tandems to go along with the past two NL MVP’s. Throw in maybe the most complete player in the NL to go along with a number of very good offensive players. Atlanta lost Andruw Jones, but has tons of young hitters to fill his void. A lineup consisting of Teixeira, Franceour, Chipper, McCann, with all the other kids is quite formidable. Then you have a veteran staff of Smoltz, Glavine, and Hudson at the top. Not to mention they’re trying to get back to the postseason after missing it last year for the first time in 14 years.
The NL Central has its own competitive teams. Last year’s division champs added the biggest Japanese export. We saw what happened last year with prize of the Japanese free agent market. I’m pretty sure he has a championship ring. They brought back their ace and might have the most dangerous 3-4-5 in the league. Milwaukee’s “kids” are all one year older and have the experience they lacked last year when they crumbled in the second half of the year. Houston added Miguel Tejada this off-season, who is not completely removed from his MVP season a couple years ago.
Out west, we may have the most competitive division in baseball. Excluding the Giants, each one of those teams has a very legitimate shot at winning the NL and not because of “mediocrity.” Arizona won the division last year and added an ace to pair with their Cy Young winner from two years ago. Their young guys are also a year older and they get Randy Johnson back in some capacity. Colorado went to the World Series last year and was able to lock up their two best players. In the playoffs, they got valuable contributions from two young kids who only surfaced in the majors at the end of the year. They also may have as good a lineup top to bottom as any team in the NL. The Padres have the best pitching staff in the NL and added a former #1 draft pick to that staff. Even a little bit of offense makes them a very dangerous team, especially if they can get to October. Lastly, the Dodgers added a power hitting centerfielder who may be the best defensive outfielder in the game. They also added a manager who brought his previous team to the postseason for the previous 11 seasons. Throw in the return of Jason Schmidt to their rotation behind Brad Penny and Derek Lowe and the abundance of young hitting talent they have on their roster and I’m not sure there is a more balanced team in this division.
So, my point is probably that while the two, maybe three “best” teams in baseball may play in the American League, you may have a hard time arguing against the fact that the next ten play in the NL. The only debatable thing in the AL is who won’t make the playoffs out of the Red Sox, Yankees, Tigers, or Indians? So as we head towards spring training my attention will be squarely focused on the National League and the great match-ups we’ll be treated to consistently throughout the year.
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