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Time to tear apart some NFL beliefs
With the first game of the NFL now just a week away it is time to turn my focus to the pigskin. I love the game and the anticipation is great. Yet with that anticipation comes overreaction and at times lunacy from those who cover and report on the game.
Every year experts are certain of things and every year many of those things turn out not to be. So as Grinding My Gears returns this week, it does so by picking apart some of the statements I have heard during the offseason that really dig at me.
The Patriots have been passed in the AFC East: Never, ever doubt Tom Brady. I may not be one of his fans come Sunday, but I sure do respect his talents. Rex Ryan can run his mouth all he wants, but the AFC East still runs through the Patriots — and it probably will until Brady retires or leaves town.
The Sexy pick: Every year it happens: Last year it was the Chargers and this year it’s the Packers and the Cowbys. Analysts collectively faun and drool over a team that has been close but hasn’t gotten to the big game, and decide it’s time to make them the favorites. Sometimes they’re right and most of the time they’re not, but every year it seems like the Colts get pushed on the back-burner. And every year the Cots are right there in the end. It would be nice if just once the favorite was actually labeled as the favorite.
Mike Martz love: Mike Martz is the offensive co-ordinator for the Bears and suddenly that offense will be more potent. Suddenly, Jay Cutler will be able to throw the ball to someone other than the opposition. These are the things I hear.
In fact, I keep hearing things about Mike Martz that would make Chuck Norris jealous. I respect what the guy did in St. Louis, but his time in Detroit and San Francisco hardly makes me a believer that he will transform the Bears offense into a scoring machine. In fact I have no faith at all that he will.
The Bengals are Super Bowl contenders: OK this one is coming from the Bengals themselves … and I’m not close to buying it. The Ravens will be the class of the division while the Bengals may scrap to get close to a Wild Card spot, before falling short. Super Bowl contenders do not have a giant question mark at QB (Yes Carson Palmer fits that profile after a dismal 2009/10 season).
This is the year for the Texans: Hasn’t every year been the year for the Texans to reach the playoffs since 2007? I thought so. How many times have they been to the playoffs during that span? Zero. There is a lot to like with this team but I refuse to get sucked into the hype anymore.
Brett Favre’s numbers will take a huge hit this season: This one is my personal favorite. I will be the first to admit that it will be tough for Favre to repeat the success he had last season (33 TDs, 7 picks), but I sure think he will be close. Don’t let the ankle injury news fool you. Favre always keeps an excuse handy in case he needs one. The man still has a great arm and plenty of talent around him (even with Sidney Rice out for up to six weeks). He may be the biggest drama queen in the league, but the man can still play — and play very well.
Favre’s streak is great, but never discount Ripken
As news broke this morning that Brett Favre was retiring, yet again – at least we think – it didn’t take long for analysts to turn to talk of the QB’s impressive games started streak of 285.
That many starts in football is unheard of given the violent nature of not only the sport, but the position. Favre clearly possesses a level of toughness and grit, along with protection and luck, that few in the history of the game have ever had. While other players limped off the field, Favre had enough bravado to limp onto it.
Remembering Favre as one of the all-time great quarterbacks and one of the toughest men in the business should be enough for most people. But as is the case of some in the media, it can never stop there.
Twice today I heard analysts compare Favre’s consecutive games streak with Cal Ripken’s. I guess the comparisons were inevitable. Both analysts, along with several writers agreed that Favre’s streak was more impressive than Ripken’s.
That’s where I have a problem. A big problem.
How quickly we forget just how remarkable what Ripken accomplished was. For those who need a refresher course, Ripken started 2,632 straight games, again that’s 2,632. In today’s game if a player starts 50 straight fans start to wonder if the manager is overworking him. I’m not here to tell you that Ripken’s streak is superior to Favre’s — that’s not my style. I am however assuring you that it isn’t any less impressive. Some people dissagree, like this out of touch blogger from Yahoo who posted this when Favre’s streak hit 253.
The argument that writer and others are making is that Favre’s streak should be considered superior because football is a more physical game with more opportunity to get injured. I fully accept that football is a more physical game and get that. Not too many baseball players get thrown to the ground — although Yankees bench coach Don Zimmer once did. But what’s not taken into account is the recovery time football players have between games. There were plenty of occurrences where Favre was hurt in a game, came out and was questionable heading into the next game. So he sat on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, sometimes Thursday and Friday too, recovering.
It’s the natural thing to do for any quarterback who may be hobbled.
Ripken never had that option. When he was banged up Sunday night, he still had to come out and play nine more innings Monday and then again on Tuesday and Wednesday. Maybe an off day was sprinkled in, but those are few and far between. The only time Ripken got to recover was when he was sleeping.
Another area that can not be overlooked is day games, following night games and double-headers – and I mean real double headers unlike the day/night ones you see today. In Cal’s era a double-header meant once the first game ended the second one began. Managers often used those situations to get their bench guys in for one of the games as to not wear out the starters. Ripken always wanted a full 18 innings though.
Another area rarely mentioned when talking about games played streaks is voluntary rest. In football there is rarely a scenario where healthy players sit (the final game or two of the season for teams that clinched a playoff spot being the exception). In the NFL, if you are healthy enough to play, you play. That’s not always the case in baseball, Every hitter will go through slumps and sometimes a hitter will ask for a day to sit down and clear his head. And if the player doesn’t ask, the manager often makes the decision for them. Ripken had his share of slumps in his career, yet sitting was never an option. When he finally did take a day off on Sept. 19, 1998, he said afterwards that he didn’t want to sit anymore. He had tried it out and it wasn’t for him.
My point is simply that just because Favre’s streak possibly coming to an end is the most recent, doesn’t mean it is automatically the greatest in any sport. Peyton Manning may catch that streak before he is done and maybe he wont. Either way it shouldn’t change the way we feel about Brett and his legacy. Just like Brett’s streak shouldn’t change the way we feel about Ripken’s.
I think former Yankees pitcher David Cone summed it up best, speaking when the streak ended.
“A lot of people who go to work every day can identify with Cal,” said Cone. “The streak supersedes baseball.”
And nothing can ever take away from that.
Plenty on my mind from World Cup
It’s been nearly a week since the U.S. was eliminated from the World Cup after a disappointing 2-1 result against Ghana and I am still plenty steamed about the mistakes that cost the U.S. a chance to get to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2002. While much of the focus has been directed at the poor officiating during this World Cup — and rightly so — I am taking my anger out on the U.S. for failing to do what was necessary to keep playing in this great tournament.
Here, above all else, is what’s grinding my gears.
Starting Rinaldo Clark: Before the tournament ever started I hated the idea of Clark getting much playing time for the U.S. I listened to announcers say he is a great defensive midfielder before the cup but I never bought into it. I didn’t like his play in qualifying and hated it even more during the Cup. He cost the U.S. a goal against England and got benched for it, yet Bradley decided to bring him back for the Ghana game.
And what happened? He cost the U.S. another goal, and likely the game, with a brutal turnover five minutes in that put the U.S. in a 1-0 hole. I can’t remember a player being responsible for two defensive meltdowns like that since 1998 when Jeff Agoos was beaten twice for goals and scored an own goal. Clark will be remembered just as harshly and so will Bradley for starting him.
Starting Robbie Findley: If you ask the causal soccer fan who Findley is, they certainly will not know. If you ask a more serious fan about Findley, they won’t know much more. Why? Findley has never scored an international goal. That’s right, he has a big zero in the goal column and that’s the guy Bradley picks to start for his squad? In three games, Findley did nothing, showing how pitiful the striker position continues to be for U.S. soccer.
Sure Findley is fast, but he has no goal scoring touch, which last time I checked is a pretty important part of the position.
Winning headballs: Can anyone remember the last time A U.S. player won a headball off a cross or corner kick? The last one I remember seeing came off the head of Brian McBride about five years ago. This team is a disaster in the air and yet it insists on playing in high crosses and then watching them get cleared out. For the love of God, if you can’t win a ball in the air, how about working the ball on the ground!!
I Love Me Some Me: This one goes out to Landon Donovan for his words after scoring the game winner against Algeria. Donovan, who finished a goal set up by the work of Tim Howard, Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore, told reporters that all the work he put in up to that point had resulted in the goal. Really, all of your work? I love watching Donovan play and he was one of the two best players for the U.S. on the field this tournament (Dempsey was the other) but how about giving a little love to your teammates? Soccer is a team sport and handing out a little credit would have been a nice gesture by the face of the U.S. team.
Bob Bradley and his coat: Is it just me or does it seem that Bradley wore the largest coat ever created? I mean was half of the team’s bench hibernating in that thing? It looked like Bradley was more focused on staying warm than leading his team to victory. Most coaches has a suite. Bradley has a bubble coat. I understand it is cold in South Africa, but we are not talking about Antarctica. Some cold air cold have done Bradley some good as maybe the brisk air would have smacked some sense into him and kept him from starting Clark against Ghana.
As you are reading this I may be on my way or already in Orlando, Florida for a five-day trip, which includes a wedding I will be attending in Disney. Is there any way I can find something that will grind my gears in “The Happiest Place on Earth”?
You better believe it.
Vuvuzela hurting World Cup experience
I had a bad experience today.
While doing some yard work I came upon a bees nest. Wisely I chose to stay away from the nest, doing my best to avoid any type of swarm coming at my face. Yet despite my best efforts, the bees came charging, buzzing around my face for what seemed like hours. The annoyance of the whole event goes beyond words.
OK, truthfully that event never happened.
Instead I simply turned on the World Cup.
Anyone who has experienced even a minute of the World Cup can emphasize with what I am speaking of. The host South Africans don’t chant, don’t cheer, don’t sing. Instead they play a horn known as the vuvuzela. And they play it all game. Every game.
I’m hardly the first blogger or reporter to write about this. The vuvuzela has been talked about as much as England goalkeeper Robert Green these days. In fact I’m not sure which issue the English are angrier with right now.
Players haven’t commented much on the horns but there have been reports that the decibel rating in the stadium is enough to damage your hearing. I’m not sure I buy that, though. South African fans have been doing it for years and I don’t see any of the players wearing earplugs.
The President of FIFA recently came out and said he would not ban vuvuzela playing from the stadiums and I have to support his decision. If it’s a big ritual in South African culture, then who is he, I, or anyone else to tell them to stop playing?
That doesn’t mean that this whole vuvuzela thing doesn’t grind my gears though. I mean don’t these people have to stop to take a breath once in awhile?
When I tuned into the first World Cup game on Friday I noticed the horn playing but thought, like any other background noise, it would simply go away. The problem is it hasn’t.
One of the great things about soccer is the passion of the fans. I love the cheering and the chanting. It’s what helps make the sport so beloved around the world (even if not in the U.S.).
During this World Cup we get none of that.
It’s funny how much things change in a couple of weeks. Suddenly I long for the “Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole” chant again (as long as it’s not coming from the Canadiens, that is).
Go figure.
Poll suggests hockey is boring
I have never been a huge fan of polls, mostly because they can be manipulated to the users liking. Too many times, logical choices are left out and replaced by one meant for humor, or as an insult.
The poll that got the gears grinding today comes from www.cbssports.com and is in reference to the Stanley Cup finals.
The question was simple: Did you watch the Stanley Cup Finals? A simple yes or no here could gather all of the information needed to see where their visitors stand on hockey. Instead they give us this gem.
A: Absolutely: It was great!
B: No: It was boring.
Can anyone possibly explain “boring” being a selection there. Was the back-and-forth Game 1 that featured 11 goals boring? Was Game 3 which featured overtime boring?
How about Game Six which featured a Cup clinching overtime goal — equivalent to winning the World Series on a walk-off home run. Was that boring?
I could live with one of the choices being: “No, not a fan.” That is simple and direct.
But boring?
Before CBS pulls out a poll like this again maybe they should take a look at the ratings. When the ratings came out today it was discovered that Game 6 had the highest rating for the NHL since 1974.
I guess all those people tuned in to see a boring sport.
CBS makes a habit of having polls with dumb choices. I have e-mailed them in the past about them and truthfully they have e-mailed me back with responses each time. It brings a little joy to my life knowing that someone has to take the time to read my complaint and then think up a response. I feel that if I have wasted even a minute of someone over there’s day, I have accomplished something.
They can plan on hearing from me again soon, as I know a poor taste soccer joke is sure to follow the next couple of days about the World Cup. If they think hockey is boring I can only imagine what waits for the world’s most popular sport.
Soft Hamels lets down team again
If Charmin ever needs a new spokesperson to talk about the how soft its brand of toilet tissue is, they need to look no further than the Cole Hamels.
The lanky left-hander showed once again Tuesday Night that no one knows more about being soft than him.
Hamels allowed a three run homer to Troy Gloss in the first inning then went back into the dugout during a rain delay that lasted all of one hour and four minutes.
When the game restarted, Hamels didn’t. His day was over, leaving 7-plus innings to be pitched by the Phillies bullpen. Nothing like burning up your bullpen with a day game on deck. Meanwhile, Braves starter Tim Hudson came back on the field and continued mowing down Phillies hitters.
Apparently those 64 minutes weren’t too long to make him call it a night. Instead Hudson went on to throw six strong innings and over 100 pitches.
If Orel Hershiser was a Bulldog, then Hamels is a poodle.
It’s not breaking news that Hamels is soft. He has been perceived that way by Phillies fans throughout his career. He has refused to pitch on three days rest when asked and his personality makes him seem like a better fit for a Los Angeles than Philadelphia.
Of coarse the announcers made sure to cover Hamels backside. Wheels said “Usually it’s the managers who decide if the pitcher is going to go back out there, the player doesn’t usually tell the manager.”
I’m sure there’s some truth to that. But can anyone tell me that Roy Halladay would not have come back out?
Of coarse he would have came out, because that’s the type of pitcher he is.
And time and time again Hamels shows what kind of pitcher he is.
Specter, Tebow, Mark Jackson and Ole Ole …
With the Flyers seemingly destined to return to the Stanley Cup Finals, its hard to be too down on the sport scene these days, but there are still plenty of things going on that need to be called out. Bellow is a brief recap of what has been Grinding My Gears, even in these great sporting times.
- Arlen Specter’s campaign. I won’t claim to know anything more about Specter and his politics than the fact he changes political parties more than NBC changes its Prime Time programming. What I do know is that his commercials, or more accurately commercial, drove me nuts. I couldn’t watch one baseball or hockey game without seeing the ad with him and Obama standing next to each other and Obama saying “I love Pennsylvania and I love Arlen Specter” about five times.
As it turned out, after 80 years the voters didn’t love Specter.
- Tebow hits baseballs. There were reports that Tebow picked up a bat and took a few swings at a Memphis high school. Word is that he hit 12 home runs in 15 swings. And I should care because? A great athlete hit a baseball far, gee I’m shocked.
I for one hope Tebow proves his doubters wrong and has a successful NFL career, but is it any wonder why so many people are routing against him? The media is turning the guy into the athletic version of Chuck Norris. Next thing you know there will be T-shirts saying “Tim Tebow doesn’t churn butter. He roundhouse kicks the cows and butter comes straight out.”
Let me know when he completes some passes at the NFL level. I don’t need to know about his next game of H-O-R-S-E.
- Mark Jackson on the mic. While Jackson was great point guard in his day his work for ESPN is deplorable. The guys is to intelligent commentary what Lou Holtz is to clear speech.
Yesterday he dropped this gem during the Celtics-Magic game: “There should be a debate about who is the best QB in Boston, Rondo or Brady!”
Yes Mark, Rondo is clearly in the same category as one of the greatest quarterbacks in NFL history. The scary part is some team may one day hire this guy as a head coach.
- Check out ESPN’s baseball schedule this week. We had Yankees-Red Sox Monday; Yankees-Rays today; Yankees-Mets Sunday. Are you kidding me? I understand the network gets high ratings with the Yankees, but three times in a week is absurd. People who want to see the Yankees on a daily basis can dish out a few extra bucks and order YES. As for me, I will be saying NO to ESPN this week.
- Ole, Ole, Ole, Ole: This one is intended for the Canadiens fan base, not the Flyers, who echoed the chant as a taunt to Montreal. This is a soccer chant and its use in any other format is unacceptable to me. With the World Cup a month away we will be hearing this chant in all it’s glory for full month. I will bask in it then. I hate it now.
The people of Montreal need to learn something a little more original. Maybe they can work on that next year. Their season won’t last long enough for them to find a new one..
Mariners point finger at wrong place
Ken Griffey Jr. took a nap — and somehow that is a reporter’s fault.
At least that’s the way the Seattle Mariners see it.
On Monday the News Tribune ran an article with two unidentified players stating that Griffey went down to the locker room during the fifth inning and preceded to take a nap.
Griffey has denied the report, without actually denying the snooze, but that is hardly the end of the story.
After picking up a win on Tuesday our old friend Cliff Lee started talking during his postgame press conference, then stopped and said he wouldn’t continue until the reporter from the Tribune left the room. Several Mariners players followed suit at their lockers.
Real class there Seattle. As if somehow it is the reporter’s fault that two players spoke up about Griffey — who it can be argued has done nothing but nap all season, batting .200 with zero home runs and five RBIs.
Yeah, punish a paper for you know, actually reporting something.
As if that isn’t enough, we have these great words from Mike Sweeney, designated clubhouse leader, or something like that.
“We will support and fight and take a bullet for Ken Griffey Jr. if we have to. He’s our teammate,” Sweeney said, according to FOXSports.com. “Nothing is going to divide this clubhouse, especially a makeshift article made up of lies.”
OK, nothing wrong with that. But he followed with this: “We don’t think there are two players who said that (about Griffey sleeping),” Sweeney added, according to the report. “I challenged everyone in that room — if they said that to stand up and fight me. No one stood up.”
So in one breath Sweeney says nothing can divide the team then in the next he challenges his teammates to a fight?
I guess that’s a reporters fault to.
Seattle is a team going nowhere fast and not even the pitching of Lee can change that. It’s time for Griffey to retire, so he doesn’t do any more damage to his reputation. Known for having one of the sweetest swings in the game, Griffey has a better chance of hitting a lottery than he does a curveball these days.
In fact, Griffey probably did his team a favor by being unavailable to pinch hit.
There are plenty of people in the wrong on this one: Griffey, if he did indeed nap, and the players who broke clubhouse rules about keeping things like that away from the media head the list.
The reporter who did his job? He gets no blame from me.
Time to rage against the machines
I have never been a reader of Business Week. I am not a businessman, thus see little need in reading the magazine. There is however an article published in late April that was recently brought to my attention.
The article is titled: Are Sportswriters really necessary? I didn’t even have to get to the body copy to know this article was going to grind my gears.
The basis of the story is that technology has gotten to the point that it can take statistics and generate functional sentences.Read the article and judge for yourself. It may work for a sentence or two but as far as hard hitting stuff I doubt it could ever deliver.
What the machine can really do is give you factual, but dry material. No thoughts, or emotion, simply copy.
And the sickening thought?
Three companies have already bought in, replacing its writers with this new technology to save a few bucks. The Big 10 Network is one with the other two unnamed. They probably didn’t want to be named in fear of the backlash that would come their way.
At the end of the article Bachman posts this as his bottom line: Narrative Science can make some writing by humans obsolete. After tackling sports, it will move on to medical, financial, and survey data.
So as the system improves, more and more workers may be in jeopardy of losing their jobs.
If you ask me it may be time to form La Resistance and fight back.
In fact I’ll start it.
Hey sports writing machine, if you can find this I am calling you out. Me and you one-on-one in an old fashion write-off. You can pick the time, place and sport.
Good luck getting those interviews buddy! You’re just a stupid machine!
Birthday, Christmas, Draft Day? No more thanks to greedy Goodell
A little over a month ago the idea for “Grinding My Gears” came to light. At the time of its creation I had several things that I felt fit in with the format.
- Philadelphia sports talk was stuck in a rut with the McNabb-Reid blame game.
- ESPN’s coverage had become stale and barely palatable.
- Word of a 96-team NCAA Tournament had just broke.
Then there’s the new format given to the NFL draft. This was old news by the time “Grinding My Gears” was created but it was none the less in the forefront of my mind.
If you have been a frequent visitor of this space you know my standpoint on the draft moving from a Saturday-Sunday event to a Thursday-Friday-Saturday event. If you are visiting this blog for the first time, let me catch you up.
I hate it.
And when I say hate I mean, getting up for breakfast ready for you favorite bowl of cereal, only to realize someone left you with nothing more than a spoonful, hate.
The NFL draft has been one of my true joys over the years. As soon as the Super Bowl is over I seek out a schedule to find out when the draft will be taking place. No, I am not one of those people who live and die with football season. I miss the NFL when it is off but I am more than happy with the NHL, NCAA and the start of baseball season.
I circle the date of the draft for the traditions that come with it.
I should say, the traditions that used to come with it.
Lets face it: The Saturday of the NFL draft was the single greatest drinking day of the spring.
I should be preparing for a great day of drinking right now. Instead I get to enjoy the first round of the draft on Thursday night, by myself. Then when it’s done I get to go to bed and head to work the next day.
That’s just the way I want to celebrate my team getting a star for the future, at least a guy I hopes becomes a star.
I have heard endless excuses about the new format from the NFL. It gives teams more time between rounds to decide on their picks. It will lead to more trades. The experience will be even better for the fans.
If you believe that than you likely also think Kate Gosselin is a good mother. And that professional wrestling is real. And that if a girl tells you “it’s not you it’s me,” she is telling the truth.
In other words, you are a sucker.
This move is all about money. As if the NFL didn’t have enough of it they needed more with two prime time draft days to sell more advertising.
Screw you and your advertising Goodell. What about all of the local pubs that will be losing the sales on beer and wings on Saturday? Sure some will still celebrate Saturday, maybe with a little washers, horse shoes, or for the extreme some slip-n-slide action.
And maybe they will even glance at the TV to find out who got picked with the 132,092 pick of the draft.
The United States Government wouldn’t suddenly cancel the 4th of July or Labor Day. People don’t cancel their birthday’s.
But you Roger Goodell cancelled one of the greatest days on the calendar. You took the joy away, the passion, the debauchery.
Thanks Roger.
And worst of all you will win.
NFL teams will love the new format. As stated above there is more time decide on picks and make trades. The advertisers will be all over the new format filling the NFL’s pockets.
But what about the common man? Some of us can’t afford to take off a couple extra days of work, just so the rich (the NFL) can get richer. The Saturday of the NFL draft was an event that the true fan appreciated.
Will I watch the new version of the draft? Sure, a little. Will I be watching a lot more of Game 5 of the Flyers-Devils series on Thursday? Damn right.
I will close with a brief story.
A while back I heard a story of a group of friends who were so angered by the draft’s new format that they refused to adhere to it. This group of gentlemen set out a plan to isolate themselves from all of civilization for Thursday and take off from work on Friday. Their goal was to tape the first round, watch it Friday afternoon, and then tune back in for the second round. It still wouldn’t be the same as the Saturday tradition used to be, but it was the best they could do.
As the draft arrives today I think of that group and wonder what they will ultimately do.
Goodell won’t wonder. He will just count the dollar signs in front of him.
These people must be high
The date 4/20 is associated with — by some — as national marijuana day. While we here at Philly Sports Blogs are not endorsing such activity it has been brought to my attention that many of our current athletes are high all the time. Maybe not in the literal sense (well, yes, in the NBA it is the literal sense), but in the sense that they must be high to do some of the things they have been doing. So here is a list of a few people and organizations that are acting so dumb it must be as a result of narcotics.
NASCAR: Look at Denny Hamlin in the photo. After winning the Samsung 500 he came out in this getup. Does he think he’s is, Yosemite Sam?
Gilbert Arenas was looking at jail time after bringing a gun into a locker room. I know the guns Hamlin showed off were not real and the situation is quite different, but what type of message is NASCAR sending.
Its crap like that that will keep the sport’s reputation as hick entertainment.
Roger Goodell: This three-day draft idea is pure garbage. Clearly he has never hear of the “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” saying. Much more on this in Thursday’s Grinding my Gears.
Donovan McNabb: Now you want T.O. to be your teammate. Did you see him in Buffalo last year. He’s not the same guy that caught bombs from you in 2001. He is still the guy, who drops a pass a game though. I get the whole fresh start idea, but asking to reunite with T.O. sounds like asking for trouble.
Ed Stefanski: Time and time again since the firing of Eddie Jordan he has insisted that he did not overestimate the talent of the roster and that he believes the roster he has can get it done with a few tweaks. Only major drugs can make someone believe that.
Joakim Noah: It was clear in his days with Florida that this guy wasn’t all there. Now he’s just making an ass of himself. Noah continues to throw jabs at the Cavaliers and the city of Cleveland. Meanwhile he team is on its way to being swept out of the playoffs.
He said that he chooses to stay in his hotel room because there is nothing to do in the city. He then calls Kevin Garnett a dirty player. Keep in mind that the Bulls will have a ton of cap room this offseason and are looking to lure LeBron James or Dwayne Wade to town.
But what superstar in their right mind would want to play next to this fool?
Hope your team steers clear of Washington
The new NFL draft format grinds my gears so much that I can’t even begin to get into it right now. Before the draft I will explain why I hate the new format – which ruins one of the greatest Saturday’s on the sports calendar – to such an extreme.
But first I will ease my way in talking about another draft related subject.
Fans of all 32 teams have opinions on the type of player their team needs. Some are begging for a quarterback, others a safety. Holes will be filled next weekend, that much we know.
It is also a near certainty that someone will draft Tony Washington. Maybe it will be in the third round or maybe in the fifth. But someone will take him.
Soon after Washington is selected the PR department of the squad that drafted him will quickly go to work.
They will tell their fans base that Washington has regretted his decision for eight years. They will tell them that no real crime was committed. They will tell the fans that the scrutiny and shame that Washington has experienced since his action has far outweighed the mistake he made.
And I will buy none of it.
If you’re not familiar with the story of Washington consider yourself lucky. In fact now may be the best time to stop reading. I wish I could forget the story.
Washington, an oline prospect from Division II Abilene Christian, has a big red flag attached to his name.
What did Washington do? He had sex with sister.
As a 16-year old, he slept with his then 15-year old sister. He was convicted of having consensual sex with his sister at 2003.
The excuses have already flowed out – he was from a dysfunctional home and emotionally he was in a bad place.
One scout certainly doesn’t give Washington a pass and his words have to give pause to anyone willing to draft the lineman.
This comes from sportsbybrooks.com
But sticking to Washington, would anyone really want this guy on your squad? I know I wouldn’t. No way I cheer for this guy.
Roger Goodell thinks he has his hands full with Ben Roethlisberger right now. Wait until he meets Washington.
Good God. NBA fans get to vote for MVP
Maybe it was the spring weather or the fact that baseball season has started up.
Or maybe it was the rush that the Flyers provided me with when they snuck in the playoffs.
Either way the gears just hadn’t been grinding that much lately. We’ll today that changed today and once again it is the NBA that has me steamed.
I like the NBA, I swear I do, but no other professional organization is flawed in so many ways. I don’t think David Stern is the worst commissioner in professional sports, though with the likes on Bud Selig and Gary Bettman around that isn’t saying much.
But Stern and his boys have made another bad decision involving fan participation — and this time the MVP trophy is involved.
This year fans will have a vote for the League’s Most Valuable Player. All of the votes cast will be combined and will count as just one vote in the final tally.
You may be saying to yourself, “It’s only one vote, why does it matter?” You may also be thinking. “Hey the fans no more than most of the sports writers anyway.”
Let me tell you, they don’t.
The fans that will vote for an MVP are the same ones who put Allen Iverson in as a starting All-Star. They are the same ones that vote for Tracy McGrady every year, even though he hasn’t been any good, or played close to a full season since gas was $2 a gallon.
These are the people you want having a say in the MVP?
Not much will be made of the new change this year as LeBron James will win the fan vote and will easily win the trophy as he should.
But what if Kevin Durant (NBA’s scoring leader) had done enough to become more deserving of the vote than James? Do you think for one second the fans would have cast a vote for Durant?
Heck no. King James will win the fan vote for the next 10 years. As long as he deserves it, that’s fine. When he doesn’t the system may finally be called out.
It’s not that I blame the NBA for trying to keep their fan base more involved. Heaven knows they need to keep as many fans engaged as possible.
I just don’t think people who think Iverson, McGrady and Yao Ming dominated the league this season need to have a say in the MVP voting.
Carcillo punished for being Carcillo
Driving to work today I got a flashback to 2004. Stopped at a red light I noticed a bumper sticker on the Honda Accord directly in front of me.
That bumper sticker read: “Vote Kerry/Edwards.”
Do people even check what they put on the back of their cars these days? How can I vote Kerry/Edwards, when the election has been over for more than five years?
These people need to get with the times. Heck, they’ve won now as a democrat is in office. The great dream team (sarcasm on) of Kerry/Edwars will never be together again.
Get over it Accord driver.
Now on to what is really grinding my gears.
A couple of weeks ago my PSB colleague Jason Weisbecker posted a blog about the inconsistencies coming from NHL commissioner Gary Bettman’s office. His points were dead on — except in one case it seems.
When it comes to the Flyers’ Dan Carcillo, Bettman and his axman are always handing out the same thing: A bunch of crap.
For the fourth time in two seasons the NHL’s disciplinarian Colin Campbell has suspended Carcillo, this time for two days after a cross check made during the team’s win over the Devils.
For the cross check Carcillo received a match penalty and a game misconduct. A match penalty — which is given for intent to injure — comes with a mandatory hearing with the NHL’s discipline committee.
Carcillo said it was an accident and replays lead me to believe him. But he has been a bully in the past and that alone is enough for the NHL to make it’s move.
For his part, Carcillo saw it coming.
“I didn’t mean to do it. But knowing me, I’ll probably be suspended,” Carcillo said to Philly.com.
Carcillo is not being penalized for the check; he is being penalized for being Dan Carcillo.
This is the way the NHL has always done things and it needs to stop.
Just once I wish the league would dish out punishment for the plays on the ice and not the names on the jerseys.
We now cut away to a terrible view
I can recall many times during my younger years, getting a new sports video game and checking it out for the first time. One of my favorite things to do was check out all of the different camera angles that the game had to offer. I would typically flip through the seven or eight options (or two or three back in the Sega days) and try each out for about 10 or 15 seconds. That’s all it took for me to realize that the original angle was set as the default for the game for a reason. The other angles either cut out part of the game or made me dizzy. In other words, they stunk.
Either way it was a lesson I learned early: There is no need to change a camera view when the one you got gets the job done.
I only wish the major networks would pick up on that clue.
If you have caught much of the NCAA Tournament you have surely seen some of the camera angles in question. For ninety-nine percent of the time they give you the same view, the one your eyes are used to and have come to admire. Then for one or two possessions each half we get a special view, one flipped around from what we have been looking at the whole time, and quite frankly distracting. I don’t need an aerial view, I really don’t.
The NCAA is not the only sport hurt by production. Flip on CSN and check out a Flyers game and you will surely see what I have dubbed “The Goal Cam.” They go to this behind the net view during power plays. To be fair the angle isn’t as bad as the result. I swear every time they flip to that view the other team scores a goal. Check it out. I’m not lying.
For what it’s worth I do believe there is a place for new camera angles. The NFL gets it right. A few years ago they introduced cameras that glided on a wire over the center of the field. However, they introduced it the right way. The vast majority of the time this view is used simply for replays. It gives the fan a different angle of a play that they saw from the original viewpoint.
By doing this they add to the viewers experience, rather than take away. I would applaud them for their use of their cameras but this is “Grinding My Gears” not “Making My Day.”
So get with it NCAA and NHL production directors. Sometimes the simplest view, is the right one.
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