There is so much going on in the world of sports so let’s get moving...
1. Maurice Clarett. This is a very sad story. Loaded weapons, bullet-resistant vests, high speed car chases, mace, and stun guns? It’s obvious that this guy is deeply troubled and that he hasn’t been able to answer the question of what he’s going to do with the rest of his life now that football is no longer an option. Our country is failing its inner city youth when individuals can make the leap from sports stardom to criminality in less than 12 months. Some might say that Clarett will get what he deserves behind bars. Those people are only half-right. His is a wasted life, but at least he’ll be alive. There’s no doubt he’d die on the streets if he hadn’t been arrested yesterday.
2. Roger Goodell. The NFL has appointed Roger Goodell as the third commissioner in league history. Most view his selection as the NFL’s decision to maintain the status quo, as Goodell was outgoing Commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s right hand over the past several years. Tagliabue, my vote for best commissioner in sports history, leaves Goodell in an awkward place. On the one hand, everything looks rosy for the NFL. They have a billion-dollar media relationship with CBS, NBC, FOX, and ESPN and multi-million dollar contracts with Sirius Satellite Radio, DirectTV, and EA Sports. 19 of 32 teams have built new stadiums, with at least six more new facilities (49ers, Cardinals, Cowboys, Giants, Jets, and Vikings) on the way. On the other, the collective bargaining agreement negotiated less than 12 months ago has a mutual termination option set for November 2008 whereby either the owners or the NFLPA can opt-out of the deal and go back to the negotiating table.
Talk about potential baptism-by-fire for a commissioner who will have less than 26 months of service time at that point. And I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface on why I think the NFL faces challenges in the years ahead. A league can only grow so much before it begins an inevitable decline. Baseball can speak to that with aplomb.
3. Baseball. I’m certain people will disagree with this one but, in my opinion, walk-off hits should only be a minor factor in deciding an MVP race. While the legend of Big Papi continues to grow (in large part due to the ESPNification of our National Pastime), even I am in awe of the man who looks like Esther Rolle. But despite his uncanny ability to make the walk-off hit, his win share and RCAA stats indicate that he’s not even the top offensive powerhouse of his own team. With all due respect to Mr. Ortiz, my vote for AL MVP is going to go to Vernon Wells. Hell, Peter King has his own vote for Red Sox team MVP:
“I honestly think Jason Varitek is a bigger loss to the Red Sox than Manny Ramirez would be.”
Obviously that’s a laughable proposition as Varitek isn’t among the top half of AL catchers in win shares and ranks dead last on his own team in RCAA. Moreover, King forgets that without Manny, there would be no Big Papi and for that reason, Big Papi, as great as he is, is not a force unto himself. Barry Bonds won four MVP’s in San Francisco by doing all the heavy lifting himself. Big Papi’s being fed the fastballs that no one wants to feed to the true big dog in the Red Sox lineup.
I know, I know, walk-off hits are exciting. But human beings are programmed to remember what they see first or last in a sequence and tend to forget all the stuff in the middle. And I think sometimes it’s not what we remember, but what is happening in the middle, that should define who the MVP is. The day Manny goes on the DL is the day the Red Sox offense goes into the toilet. Just my two cents...
4. Matt Leinart. I’ll keep this one brief: Leinart’s getting horrendous advice from his agent. And the funny thing is that his agent, Tom Condon, is the agent to several other high-profile NFL QB’s who were drafted higher and signed sooner. I really have no idea why Leinart and Condon have decided on their poorly-reasoned strategy of holding out of training camp. The 10th pick in the 2006 draft is entitled to a little more than the 11th pick and a little less than the 9th pick, with some upward adjustment for inflation from the salary of the 10th pick in the 2005 draft. It should be very simple.
Leinart has effectively killed any chance he might’ve had to earn meaningful playing time in his rookie year. And given the challenges of the QB position in the NFL, there’s no telling what stunted growth can mean to the overall arc of Leinart’s career.
5. Shameless Huckstering. I forgot who came up with the saying, but whoever coined the phrase “act like you’ve been here before” should probably pay a visit to the New York Mets sometime soon. For those that live outside of the New York area, the Mets have been beating the 20th anniversary of the 1986 World Series theme to death. OK, we get it; you won the World Series in 1986.
I can’t speak for other cities and other teams but in New York, a city that prides itself on being a “winner’s city”, the Mets’ marketing barrage is bordering on ridiculous. The Knicks never celebrated any anniversaries for their 1970 and 1973 NBA titles and the Rangers didn’t go overboard with any tributes to the 1994 Stanley Cup team. The Super Bowl XXI-winning Giants certainly aren’t going bananas in this, the 20th anniversary of that great season. The Mets’ inferiority complex would be laughable if it weren’t so tiresome and boring.
1. Maurice Clarett. This is a very sad story. Loaded weapons, bullet-resistant vests, high speed car chases, mace, and stun guns? It’s obvious that this guy is deeply troubled and that he hasn’t been able to answer the question of what he’s going to do with the rest of his life now that football is no longer an option. Our country is failing its inner city youth when individuals can make the leap from sports stardom to criminality in less than 12 months. Some might say that Clarett will get what he deserves behind bars. Those people are only half-right. His is a wasted life, but at least he’ll be alive. There’s no doubt he’d die on the streets if he hadn’t been arrested yesterday.
2. Roger Goodell. The NFL has appointed Roger Goodell as the third commissioner in league history. Most view his selection as the NFL’s decision to maintain the status quo, as Goodell was outgoing Commissioner Paul Tagliabue’s right hand over the past several years. Tagliabue, my vote for best commissioner in sports history, leaves Goodell in an awkward place. On the one hand, everything looks rosy for the NFL. They have a billion-dollar media relationship with CBS, NBC, FOX, and ESPN and multi-million dollar contracts with Sirius Satellite Radio, DirectTV, and EA Sports. 19 of 32 teams have built new stadiums, with at least six more new facilities (49ers, Cardinals, Cowboys, Giants, Jets, and Vikings) on the way. On the other, the collective bargaining agreement negotiated less than 12 months ago has a mutual termination option set for November 2008 whereby either the owners or the NFLPA can opt-out of the deal and go back to the negotiating table.
Talk about potential baptism-by-fire for a commissioner who will have less than 26 months of service time at that point. And I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface on why I think the NFL faces challenges in the years ahead. A league can only grow so much before it begins an inevitable decline. Baseball can speak to that with aplomb.
3. Baseball. I’m certain people will disagree with this one but, in my opinion, walk-off hits should only be a minor factor in deciding an MVP race. While the legend of Big Papi continues to grow (in large part due to the ESPNification of our National Pastime), even I am in awe of the man who looks like Esther Rolle. But despite his uncanny ability to make the walk-off hit, his win share and RCAA stats indicate that he’s not even the top offensive powerhouse of his own team. With all due respect to Mr. Ortiz, my vote for AL MVP is going to go to Vernon Wells. Hell, Peter King has his own vote for Red Sox team MVP:
“I honestly think Jason Varitek is a bigger loss to the Red Sox than Manny Ramirez would be.”
Obviously that’s a laughable proposition as Varitek isn’t among the top half of AL catchers in win shares and ranks dead last on his own team in RCAA. Moreover, King forgets that without Manny, there would be no Big Papi and for that reason, Big Papi, as great as he is, is not a force unto himself. Barry Bonds won four MVP’s in San Francisco by doing all the heavy lifting himself. Big Papi’s being fed the fastballs that no one wants to feed to the true big dog in the Red Sox lineup.
I know, I know, walk-off hits are exciting. But human beings are programmed to remember what they see first or last in a sequence and tend to forget all the stuff in the middle. And I think sometimes it’s not what we remember, but what is happening in the middle, that should define who the MVP is. The day Manny goes on the DL is the day the Red Sox offense goes into the toilet. Just my two cents...
4. Matt Leinart. I’ll keep this one brief: Leinart’s getting horrendous advice from his agent. And the funny thing is that his agent, Tom Condon, is the agent to several other high-profile NFL QB’s who were drafted higher and signed sooner. I really have no idea why Leinart and Condon have decided on their poorly-reasoned strategy of holding out of training camp. The 10th pick in the 2006 draft is entitled to a little more than the 11th pick and a little less than the 9th pick, with some upward adjustment for inflation from the salary of the 10th pick in the 2005 draft. It should be very simple.
Leinart has effectively killed any chance he might’ve had to earn meaningful playing time in his rookie year. And given the challenges of the QB position in the NFL, there’s no telling what stunted growth can mean to the overall arc of Leinart’s career.
5. Shameless Huckstering. I forgot who came up with the saying, but whoever coined the phrase “act like you’ve been here before” should probably pay a visit to the New York Mets sometime soon. For those that live outside of the New York area, the Mets have been beating the 20th anniversary of the 1986 World Series theme to death. OK, we get it; you won the World Series in 1986.
I can’t speak for other cities and other teams but in New York, a city that prides itself on being a “winner’s city”, the Mets’ marketing barrage is bordering on ridiculous. The Knicks never celebrated any anniversaries for their 1970 and 1973 NBA titles and the Rangers didn’t go overboard with any tributes to the 1994 Stanley Cup team. The Super Bowl XXI-winning Giants certainly aren’t going bananas in this, the 20th anniversary of that great season. The Mets’ inferiority complex would be laughable if it weren’t so tiresome and boring.
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