The Kardashians of the sports world

With the NCAA tournament now winding down, college basketball has been at the forefront of the sports world, and that has brought about the rise of the Ball family. Lonzo Ball was the superstar point guard of UCLA this year, and following his team's loss in the Elite Eight, he officially declared that he would be entering the upcoming NBA Draft. I think that many people, myself included, do not pay much attention to college basketball prior to the month of March. Yes, I knew what teams are good and I had a vague knowledge of who the top players are, but I think that if you asked most sports fans who De'Aaron Fox or Sindarius Thornwell were a month ago, they wouldn't know. Lonzo Ball was somewhat more known than those other two, but he never really made the front pages of sports news outlets until the tournament started. However, I think that from now on, Lonzo Ball and his family, for better or worse, are going to be impossible to ignore.

In the year 2017, there are all sorts of ways to become famous. YouTube has become one outlet in which anyone can broadcast themselves to the world, and apparently Lonzo Ball and his two younger brothers had become YouTube sensations as high school basketball players. One of his younger brothers scored 92 points in a game earlier this year, and we got to actually watch Lonzo at UCLA. It is pretty evident that Lonzo Ball will be one of the top picks in the upcoming draft, and from what I have seen of him, I think he has the talent and potential to be a good NBA player. However, with his ascension to fame, the world has also been introduced to his father, and that is the biggest reason for all of this news about Lonzo and the rest of his family.

Let me get this out of the way right now. Lonzo Ball's father is named LaVar. LaVar Ball is one of many people that never got to live out their dream of becoming a superstar athlete, and he is using his kids to shine the spotlight on himself that he always wished he could have had. There are thousands and thousands of people who played sports in high school, thought they were great, and then for any type of reason were never actually able to become great. It isn't their fault, but somewhere along the way, their greatness was denied because of someone or something else. These people can't face the fact that they just were not good enough to be a professional athlete, and they will spend the rest of their life telling people about how good they should have been. The only difference between those thousands of people and LaVar Ball is that he has at least one kid that is probably going to be able to become the star athlete he always wanted to become. I have no problem with that. Great for him, his children, and his family. What I do have a problem with though, is that he is clearly using his children to try to shine the spotlight on himself.

Parents live vicariously through their kids all the time. It happens a lot in the sports world, but it happens in all types of other walks of life as well. Maybe Bill Gates' father thought he should have been richer than his son but someone or something sabotaged that from happening. Maybe John Lennon's father believed that if he had just gotten one break that he could be even more famous than his son. I don't know, but there are parents all over the world that have successful children but deep down inside envy their children for gaining the stature that they always wished they could have had. That is clearly what is happening now with Lonzo Ball and his father.

LaVar Ball has made claims that he could beat NBA legends in a game of one-on-one basketball because "back in his day," he was better than everyone else. Really? Back in my day I played soccer. No matter how great I ever thought I was, I would never be stupid enough to say that I "could have been" better than Pele or Cristiano Ronaldo. This guy is delusional, and while I do feel bad for Lonzo for having to answer questions about his father, I have to admit that his father is also making me cheer against Lonzo.

LaVar Ball was on First Take last week as they were broadcasting from Los Angeles and said that L.A. stood for "LaVar's Awesome." It's sad that he thinks that because if anything, it should stand for "Lonzo's Awesome." He was on the show with his son and was the loudest person on the set while his son sat next to him seemingly ashamed to be associated with the guy. Instead of appreciating the fact that the only reason anyone knows him is because of his children, LaVar Ball is making daily appearances in front of cameras and acting like he has finally become the basketball superstar that he always wanted to be but never was, and I think that his ridiculous behavior is making a whole lot of people turn against his children.

Is all of this idiocy going to hurt Lonzo Ball's draft stock? No. I have heard people compare him to Jason Kidd, and while those are lofty expectations, I do think he has many of the same skills as Kidd. He sees the floor extremely well and makes everyone around him better because of his all-around game. He definitely needs to get bigger, but put him with an NBA training staff in a weight room for months at a time, and he will surely be able to add a lot of muscle. Some people believe that his father's big mouth might be something that an NBA franchise would worry about, but I don't think that is the case. All 30 NBA franchises are used to facing distractions, and in the grand scheme of things, I think an overbearing parent is far easier to deal with than some rookie that comes into the league with a criminal record or any type of injury history.

Supposedly Lonzo's two younger brothers are also planning to attend UCLA, so I think that university should be more worried about the father than whatever team ends up drafting Lonzo. Lonzo has let his play do the talking this year, and despite not winning an NCAA championship, he clearly cemented his status as one of the best college players in the country. The stupidity espoused by his father will most likely be white noise to any NBA franchise. However, LaVar Ball should at least try to consider the fact that he is clearly riding the coat tails of his kids to put himself into the spotlight that he always wished he could have had. If he realizes that, then that is fine. At the same time though, he needs to realize that he is making people cheer for his kids to fail based solely on his behavior, and that is really something that a parent should not do to their children.

Daily Giants Update: Johnathan Hankins remains unsigned, but I think the closer and closer we get to the draft, the better that is for the Giants. Other teams are going to focus more and more on the draft, and that means that Hankins is likely to accept the Giants offer and be back for the 2017-18 season.

Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers are on the brink of clinching a playoff berth with five games left to play in the regular season. The first round opponent is still unknown, but I do like the fact that Dan Girardi and Henrik Lundqvist both are back from injuries, and the Rangers should be at full strength heading into the postseason.

Daily NBA Update: Apparently the sky is falling in Cleveland, as the Cavaliers have struggled over the past few weeks, but they will still be in contention as the playoffs wind down. Kevin Durant's return is imminent, so the Warriors will be looking good, but let me say this right now: Go ahead and continue to overlook the San Antonio Spurs. They are the best team in the NBA.

Daily Diamondbacks Update: We are now only days away from the beginning of the 2017 season, and Zack Greinke will be on the mound against Madison Bumgarner and the San Francisco Giants. Arizona still may not have the best team, but at this point that doesn't matter. Right now, we should be shooting for a record of 162-0!

Give it a rest

So one of the biggest topics of the past few weeks in the sports world has been the new trend of teams playing games without their star players under the guise of resting them for the postseason. While this has been going on for a few years now, the topic seems to have been especially newsworthy recently because ABC has a new deal with the NBA to broadcast primetime games on Saturday nights, and obviously, since these are marquee games, they have featured the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors. Those teams have responded to recent broadcasts by playing without LeBron James, Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love, Stephen Curry, Draymond Green, Klay Thompson, and Andre Iguodala. The decisions by those teams, as well as many other contending teams, to rest their best players has brought about a ton of criticism and a call for something to be done.

First, let's focus on what the league is about in 2017. You can judge a player based on statistics, style of play, MVP awards, and all types of other things. But in 2017, as the league markets its star players before even its own teams, these guys are playing for one thing. They are playing for championships. Stephen Curry and LeBron James are two of the biggest names in the sport. They both have won multiple league MVP awards. In the world we live in today though, those awards mean nothing. All that matters is how many rings these guys have. Curry has one. James has three. Ask any NBA fan to put those guys in historical perspective and the first thing that will be mentioned is how many titles they won. If you don't believe that, then just ask Kevin Durant. Scoring titles? MVP awards? Those things mean nothing because he has never won a title. NBA superstars are like NFL quarterbacks. Their legacies begin with the amount of rings they have, and it is by far the most important part of how they are viewed in comparison to players of the past. So then why are these guys being hammered for resting here and there with the bigger goal of winning a championship in mind? It's because the fans and the media can never be satisfied.

Resting players started years and years ago with Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. The best players on his teams were aging guys, and they were given games off here and there with the bigger goal of an NBA championship in mind. How did that work out? Popovich has five championship rings to show for it. Not bad, right? When he was doing it, he was praised. An 82 game regular season was grueling, and all that matters in the NBA is the postseason. Therefore, sacrificing a few games here and there in the regular season is totally fine. However, in 2017, that state of mind is completely wrong, and it is a hindrance to the sport. People can say that all they want, but until I get any legitimate proof otherwise, then those people are wrong.

I have heard people say that the teams and players owe it to the game to put forth their best effort every night. That seems totally logical. If a Warriors fan pays for a ticket to a game and then ends up going and watching a team led by James Michael McAdoo and JaVale McGee, I understand why they would feel disappointed. NBA tickets cost a lot of money, and fans expect to see their teams at full strength each and every night. However, would that same fan sacrifice one regular season game for the chance to see his or her team win another NBA title? I bet they would. Would a Los Angeles Clippers fan love to sit down on a Saturday night and watch their team face off against a Cleveland Cavaliers team that was playing its top players? Of course they would. But would that same fan rather change the channel that night and then sit down one night in June and watch the Clippers beat the Cavaliers in the NBA Finals? I bet they would. This is just another example of sports fans having the real power but refusing to exercise that power.

If resting players here and there during the regular season made no difference, then why are so many teams doing it? It is a question that could have been asked to baseball players two decades ago. If taking steroids didn't make you hit more home runs, then why are you taking them? The guys took them for a reason. These teams are sitting these players for a reason. People smarter than you and I use all kinds of analytics to study these things, and if teams pay them to make such decisions, then who are we to question them? If organizations wanted our opinions, they would have hired us. But they didn't. They hired people who say that resting players periodically will benefit a team in the long run.

Old, hard-headed men say that resting players wouldn't be accepted "back in the day." Well do you know what was being said about those same guys when they were playing? Those same guys were being viewed as a bunch of babies just like the players of today are being viewed.

Wilt Chamberlain played in the league from 1959 through 1973. Do you know how many minutes per game he averaged for his entire career? 45.8. Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing recently said that they don't believe in resting players and were hailed by thousands as tough guys who had an old-school mentality. Do you know how many minutes those guys averaged per game in their careers? Jordan averaged 38.3 and Ewing averaged 34.3. Over the course of an 82 game regular season, that means Chamberlain played 3,755 minutes, Jordan played 3,140 and Ewing played 2,812. You know what that means? Jordan and Ewing were soft compared to Chamberlain. Sitting out for 10 minutes each game? Step it up guys, you've got nothing on Wilt.

We watch baseball now and are used to things like long relievers and closers. During this past World Series, it was almost like the Indians and Royals were racing to which team could get to their bullpen fastest. Do you know what Walter Johnson or Cy Young would say about something like that? They would be appalled at how soft modern day starting pitchers were. When they played, there was no such thing as a relief pitcher. If you started a game, you ended it as well.

The point here is that while the game of basketball still is based around putting a round ball through a round hoop, there are a ton of things that change from year to year, and especially from generation to generation. So for anyone complaining about teams resting players here and there, then stop buying tickets or stop watching the games on television. Until fans start doing that en masse, no one is going to remember the Cavaliers playing shorthanded against the Clippers last Saturday. 10 years from now, Kyrie Irving and LeBron James are going to be judged, first and foremost, based on how many titles they won. No one is going to remember them sitting out one game in the middle of March. Fans and media have made the NBA about nothing but winning championships, and if this is part of that process, then they just need to deal with it. Maybe Patrick Ewing doesn't approve of it, but when someone mentions Patrick Ewing in terms of his historical impact on the sport, what is the first thing that they bring up? It's that he never won a title. If he took a few games off here and there during the regular season, then maybe he wouldn't be known as someone who never won a ring. Tim Duncan, LeBron James, and Stephen Curry might have taken some games off, but I bet that Ewing would love to have traded places with them when they were polishing their championship rings and he was spending his summer wishing that he could have accomplished what they did.

Daily NBA Update: Golden State and Cleveland are the clear favorites to reach the NBA Finals, but they have both been unspectacular in recent weeks. I still fully expect those two teams to be the last two standing, but the Celtics, Spurs, Rockets, and Wizards are not exactly going to roll over in the playoffs.

Daily Rangers Update: Henrik Lundqvist missing time may hopefully end up as a blessing in disguise, but this team is in the same position it has been in for years now. Anything less than a Stanley Cup will be unacceptable, and at this point I just don't see that happening.

Daily Diamondbacks Update: The regular season is getting closer and closer, and this is, sadly, probably the best time of the year for Arizona. Hopefully when the calendar turns to June we will still be within shouting distance of the top of the division, but I am not setting my expectations very high.

Daily Giants Update: The draft is about a month away, and I like what the team has done thus far in free agency. The addition of Brandon Marshall makes our receiving corps one of the best in the entire NFL, and I liked the signing of D.J. Fluker, who can play multiple positions on the offensive line. I still think that adding another offensive lineman would get great, and any depth we can get on the defensive side of the ball will be great as well. We are still months away from mini camp, but I like how the team looks right now.

Spring is (I think) in the air

Despite the mounds of snow outside my window, Spring Training is well underway, and that means it is time for more predictions that are sure to go wrong. As usual, this is the time of year when fans of all 30 teams are optimistic, and I feel that way about my Arizona Diamondbacks. Just like with my NFL predictions, I will recuse myself from previewing the Diamondbacks because my preview will be completely biased, but as for all of the other teams, here we go. I'll start in the American League.

AL East
This was pretty much without question the best division in all of baseball last season, and I think it will be tough again, but one team seems destined to distance themselves from the pack in 2017.

Boston Red Sox

Coming off a 93 win season in 2016, I think Boston is in position to be just as good in 2017, and maybe even better. Rick Porcello won the American League Cy Young award last year, and Mookie Betts and Xander Bogaerts look like up and coming superstars. As if that weren't enough, Boston added Chris Sale in the offseason, and youngsters like Andrew Benintendi and Jackie Bradley could join forces with Betts and become the best young outfield in all of baseball.

Losing David Ortiz will obviously hurt for reasons both on and off the field, but the Red Sox still have a group of veterans that can most likely make up for that. The only problem I see here is that the health of David Price is already in jeopardy, although after initially expecting to hear the terrifying words of "Tommy John surgery," I think Boston dodged that bullet. Instead, Price is probably going to miss the early part of the season, but the pitching staff can make up for his absence for the time being. The Red Sox are without question a team to be reckoned with in 2017.

Ceiling: It is pretty simple here. Fans in Boston should have their sights set on the World Series.

Floor: This team is too talented to fall off completely. If Price is unable to get healthy and some of the youngsters struggle, it will put a dent in Boston's plans, but I really think that at worst, Boston will only just miss out on a Wild Card berth.

Reality: Like I said, there is too much talent here for this team to be anything worse than above average. When October rolls around, I expect to see the Red Sox in the playoffs.

Toronto Blue Jays

Toronto is coming off of an ALCS appearance last year, and this team is still very formidable. However, Edwin Encarnacion left Toronto to sign with the Cleveland Indians, and that will be an enormous blow to what was (and still might be) one of the best offenses in the game. The lineup is still strong though, and while the pitching staff is not full of Cy Young contending names, they will not have to be throwing shutouts left and right in order to win games thanks to guys like Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, and Troy Tulowitzki.

Ceiling: Despite the huge loss of Encarnacion, I certainly think Toronto can still make the playoffs. Guys like Aaron Sanchez and Marco Estrada and Marcus Stroman might not be household names quite yet, but they all have the potential to win 15 games, so I think the staff can be good enough to at least earn a playoff berth.

Floor: The only way that this team will not score a lot of runs is if some of their big bats get hurt, although none of them have any sort of severe injury history. I am far more worried about the pitching staff here when it comes to failing to reach expectations. I don't think that Toronto could be abysmal, but if they don't get some breaks, they will not be playing in October.

Reality: Losing Encarnacion is a hug blow to this lineup. However, they still will score a lot of runs. Everything here will hinge on how good the pitching can be, and I think it should be at least good enough to put the team in playoff contention, but I doubt they will be able to return to the ALCS.

Baltimore Orioles

Buck Showalter will never live down his decision not to use Zach Britton in Baltimore's Wild Card game last year against Toronto after the spectacular year that Britton had, but there is nothing that can be done about that now. This team is a lot like the Blue Jays in many ways, although their lineup does not have the same explosive potential. Britton had a historically great season as the closer last year, and it is just unfair to expect him to repeat that, although he should still be one of the best in the business. The AL East is tough though, so Baltimore will be challenged throughout the season.

Ceiling: Manny Machado is an up and coming superstar, and Baltimore still has multiple guys in the middle of the order that can hit a whole lot of home runs. The rotation is made up of guys who were formerly potential aces, have not lived up to that potential yet, but are still pretty good. If Machado can play at an MVP level (which is possible), the guys in the middle of the order can offset their strikeouts with a lot of home runs, and names like Gausman, Tillman, and Bundy become known throughout the baseball world, Baltimore could potentially challenge for a Wild Card spot.

Floor: Camden Yards is a hitter friendly park, and when Chris Davis and Mark Trumbo are your big bats, that is a good thing. However, those guys are also likely to strike out a bunch. If their batting order is more bust than boom, and their young rotation does not develop, Baltimore could potentially be out of the division race by August.

Reality: The one thing that seems almost certain in Baltimore is how good Manny Machado can be. Not only can he pick it at third base, but he can hit it all over the ballpark. Aside from him though, the team is filled with solid but unspectacular names. The chances of Zach Britton equaling what he did in 2016 are pretty much zero, although he should still be a top closer. However, much of their rotation and much of their lineup is still too inconsistent for my liking. One day Chris Davis might hit three home runs and Chris Tillman might throw a shutout, but the next day Davis might strike out four times and Kevin Gausman might get lit up. Maybe Baltimore challenges for a playoff berth, but I think that is about as optimistic as their fans should be.

New York Yankees

Talk about unfamiliar territory. For pretty much the past 20 years, the Yankees have been willing to spend endless amounts of money to win at all costs. However, it seems like that trend may have finally ended. While it might not provide Yankee fans with the immediate satisfaction they have come to expect, it may be the start of a new kind of outlook for the franchise. There are still older players on the roster, but the all or nothing mentality seems to be gone, as there are a bunch of fresh faces as well. We may not see the Yankees in the playoffs this year, but their fans still should be interested in the team they will put out on the field.

Ceiling: For the first time in years and years, the Yankees are somewhat centering their fortunes around youth. Gary Sanchez was spectacular in his abridged debut in 2016, and he now has a full season to live up to the high standard that he set. Other young names like Aaron Judge and Didi Gregorious can hopefully become mainstays in New York's lineup. If this mix of young players can continue to improve, I think it is possible that the Yankees get somewhat close to a playoff berth, but the American League is just too good for that to happen yet. The Yankees need to focus on building a young core in 2017, and it will bring about a lot of optimism going into 2018.

Floor: The floor here is all about the pitching staff. C.C. Sabathia is well past his prime and Michael Pineda seems to have proven himself to be more of a wasted talent than the potential ace many once considered him to be. The back end of the rotation is full of youth but also full of question marks. The Yankees offense should be pretty good, but if their rotation is hit by injuries, inconsistency, or both, the Yankees will have no shot to compete in this division.

Reality: Sanchez is the up and coming star here, but guys like Jacoby Ellsbury, Brett Gardner, Matt Holliday, Aroldis Chapman, and Masahiro Tanaka are still on this team. While I doubt we will ever see the Yankees in full rebuilding mode like we saw the Houston Astros or the Philadelphia 76ers, this year will be pretty much as close as it gets for the Yankees. With a full season to work, I think 2017 will be a great glimpse into the future for this team. Can Gary Sanchez be a mainstay in the middle of the order? Can the guys at the back end of the rotation now eventually become solid starters? Will Dellin Betances, Aaron Judge, and Aaron Hicks become household names? This could be the year that we find out the answers to all of those questions. I highly doubt this team is in playoff contention as the season winds down.

Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays finished last year 25 games out of first place in the AL East, and they return a roster that is mostly similar to that one. Some players did under achieve in 2016 (Chris Archer lost 19 games), so maybe Tampa Bay won't find themselves 25 games out of first place, but I still don't think they will be able to come close to the top of this division.

Ceiling: Chris Archer was supposed to be their up and coming ace last year, and he ended up losing 19 games. Evan Longoria remains the mainstay in the middle of this lineup, and I do not expect that to change in 2017. He is surrounded with a cast of boom or bust types, as well as middling names that have been let go by other teams for various reasons. Just like the lineup, the pitching staff remains mostly the same, but it is time for guys like Jake Odorizzi and Alex Cobb to produce and not just be mediocre guys eating innings as part of an average rotation. I will not expect that anymore until I see it happen, and therefore I think that the best this team can hope for is to avoid the basement of the AL East and maybe get within shouting distance of third place.

Floor: Like I said, it is about time for many of the guys on this team to either put up or shut up. Logan Forsythe, Steven Souza, Kevin Kiermaier, Alex Colome, Drew Smyly, Tim Beckham, and multiple others need to either prove that they are worthy of the big leagues or the organization needs to move on without them. This team could easily finish last in the division.

Reality: Archer still has a ton of talent and despite his bad record in 2016, he still struck out a lot of guys. I doubt he will lose 19 games again this year. Longoria should be good again in the middle of the order, and they do have some other guys that can drive in some runs. However, the pitching staff still has a ton of untapped potential and a lot of these guys are running out of time to live up to expectations. I don't expect this team to be anywhere close to the top of the AL East in 2017.

Daily Rangers Update: Despite Henrik Lundqvist suffering what seems to be a minor injury, the team still has one of the best records in the Eastern Conference. With 12 games left to play, 100 points is still within reach, and 100 points means your team has had a highly successful regular season. If they can keep pace with the teams above them in the conference, this time off might be a blessing in disguise for Lundqvist, as well as for Dan Girardi, who has been out but should be back.

Daily NBA Update: As the regular season winds down, all that seems to be in question now is who will win the MVP and who will be playing in the NBA Finals. Russell Westbrook got his 33rd triple-double of the season last night, so that means he needs eight more to tie Oscar Robertson's single season record. Westbrook is also still averaging a triple-double, something that has not been done since Robertson did it decades ago. Oklahoma City currently sits in the 6th spot in the Western Conference standings, but I think that is about where most people expected them to be. It seems as though the entire team is playing for Westbrook right now, and I really do believe that he is going to finish the season averaging a triple-double, and if he does that I think it will be impossible to give the MVP award to anyone but him.

Daily Diamondbacks Update: The team has been hitting a bunch over the past couple of days, which is nice to see, but we all know that Spring Training numbers mean absolutely nothing once the regular season begins. The spots at the back end of the rotation are still up for grabs, but I do like what Taijuan Walker has shown thus far. If he can provide a boost for the rotation, that would be a huge plus.

Daily Giants Update: The draft is getting closer and closer, and in my opinion the biggest area of need is the offensive line. The team signed D.J. Fluker, who can play both guard and tackle. I like that move, but I still think it would be nice to add another piece to the line, and I would love for that piece to be Ryan Ramczyk, but I'm not sure he will be available when the Giants pick at #23. A versatile defensive lineman would also be great if Jonathan Hankins leaves, and while it does seem likely that he will be gone, the further we get into the offseason, the closer we get to him returning, so maybe the team will be fortunate enough to bring back Hankins while also shoring up the offensive line in the draft as well.