When fans are asked what they think the greatest rivalries in the sports world are, their answer usually depends on where they live, and what sports they enjoy the most. People in California might say the Dodgers vs Giants or UCLA vs USC. In the south, you will hear Alabama vs Auburn or Florida vs Florida State. There is the Red Sox vs the Yankees, and Michigan vs Ohio State. Just a week ago, Duke and North Carolina played for the first time this season, and there is no question that the basketball programs of those two schools produce great games and their rivalry will be near the top of anyone's list.
Many Hall of Fame basketball players have been produced by the two schools, and there are surely going to be more of them to come for the foreseeable future. Right now, the biggest star in college basketball is Duke's Zion Williamson, and he has been at the center of many arguments based upon what happened to him less than a minute into the game last week.
The entire country was watching and ready to see another game that could be a classic one in a classic rivalry. However, the greatest equalizer in all of sports, the unpredictable injury, struck Williamson in the oddest of ways. He had the ball and went to pivot and then his shoe broke and he went to the floor in pain. He fell down awkwardly and limped off the court, and just like that, the air seemed to be taken out of the building before anyone had even taken their seats. North Carolina went on to win the game quite handily, but the result has been hardly mentioned since Williamson went down.
The debates began, once again, about collegiate athletics, who benefits from the games, who gets exploited, the worthiness of the college experience, and draft rules. Everyone has their opinions on this stuff, and usually everyone has a stance that they will stick with no matter what, and trying to argue it is pretty much like arguing with a brick wall. No one wants to budge.
Personally, I do believe that college athletes are exploited. Ticket prices for that game were getting close to Super Bowl levels, and the players do not get any paychecks, despite being the reason the prices can be that high. They should see some sort of money for being the ones out there. However, I do think that the value of a full college scholarship is constantly overlooked by many people.
I don't mean going to school and joining volunteer clubs or editing newspapers. I mean the actual cost of living at school and going to class. I know people who are paying back student loans a decade after they graduate college. They would all love to have had a full scholarship. Proponents of paying college athletes throw that aside like it is nothing, and, in my opinion, you can't do that. That isn't the main issue in this case though. The issue here is Zion Williamson, and athletes like him. Starting only minutes after he went down, opinions were flying in from everywhere on what this would mean for him, and what it would mean for college sports in general.
It isn't often that athletes become true box office, must-see attractions before they even become professionals, but Williamson has become just that. We don't know what his professional career will end up looking like, but he is probably going to be the first overall pick no matter what, simply because whatever team drafts him will instantly be must see television, even if they aren't any good. Because of that, I heard plenty of people saying he should not step foot on the court again as a college player, and that by doing so, he is only putting himself in danger of missing out on a life-changing amount of money that would come with being taken first overall. I do understand their point of view, but I can't say that I fully agree with it.
I have always believed that kids should be allowed to enter the draft straight out of high school, and I will always believe that. However, the rule right now is that you have to be one year removed from high school before entering the draft. For most players, that means spending one year in college. Some choose to play overseas as a professional, and I think that is totally acceptable. You can get paid right out of high school, just like anyone else in any other field can. The biggest benefit of going to college in the United States for a year though, is you can put your name on the national map and become a main attraction before you even step on to a professional court, and that is what Williamson, like most other high profile young stars, has chosen to do.
When I mentioned getting a full scholarship to college and getting the true "college experience" before, you have to realize that what that experience is varies depending on the individual. For many, the college experience includes going to class and playing frisbee and living away from home for the first time. For people like Williamson, the college experience is much different. His college experience consists of basketball games in front of millions of people. Those are two vastly different things.
When I hear former athletes talk about what they enjoyed the most when they played, the first thing they usually mention is the time they spend with their teammates and being out on the court actually playing. All of the benefits that come with that are obviously nice, but the brotherhood and relationships are what I hear mentioned most often. That is stuff we as fans don't get to fully see or understand, and that is why Williamson shouldn't listen to any outsiders when deciding what he wants to do.
The fall he took looked a bit awkward, but the injury ended up not being too serious, and he should be able to be back to play by March, and in the college basketball world, the month of March is as good as it gets.
Out of all the people who have come out and stated their beliefs on this, the one I most agreed with was Charles Barkley's. Barkley is known to be very outspoken, and not afraid of the consequences of what he says. In this case, he is far more qualified to give advice to Williamson than most people, and I think what he said was perfect.
He said that these kids want to play. Sure, some college football players have begun to sit out bowl games at the end of the season, but that is different. Those are games that have zero meaning relative to the games Duke could be playing in the very near future. Do you think the star player on Duke wants to sit out a game against North Carolina? Absolutely not. Without question they want to be out there. Right now, Duke seems to be on the way to a high seed in the NCAA Tournament, and they certainly have a legitimate chance to win a national title. I would almost guarantee that if you asked Williamson (which it seems no one actually cares to do), he would want to get back on the court as soon as possible.
There is a difference between a college football player sitting out the Idaho Potato Bowl and sitting out a playoff game. It is why no one on a playoff team has ever sat out one of those games with the sole intention of staying healthy for the draft. When Duke is playing in the NCAA Tournament, do you think that Williamson is going to be content sitting on the bench in the name of cautiousness instead of being out on the court with his teammates? No way.
These kids want to play. It is what they have done their entire lives, and it is what they are probably going to do many years into the future as well. All too often, people want to point to these freak injuries as evidence that every aspiring pro athlete should sit in a bubble and wait until they are eligible to be drafted before even daring to put on a uniform. It isn't like Williamson would be the first player drafted with an injury history either. Joel Embiid and Kyrie Irving had injury problems in college and were still drafted very high. Their injuries were also much more serious than Williamson's. Embiid and Irving sat out extended periods of time, while it appears that Williamson is only going to miss a week or two. He should be fully healthy by the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, and I would bet that there is no way he would want to miss any of that if he were healthy enough to be out there with his teammates.
The college experience for Zion Williamson is a very unique one that most of us will never be able to really understand. The same can be said for being the top overall pick in the NBA Draft, and right now it looks like Williamson has a chance to experience that as well. He didn't earn those things by running up and down the court afraid of getting hurt, so why should he change that right now? Coaches coach, players play, and us fans sit and watch and try to act like we know what is best for these people when what we say really doesn't matter at all.
No matter how you feel about Charles Barkley, he is far more qualified to give advice to Williamson than 99.9% of us are. If I had to try to predict what will happen though, I would say that the chances of Williamson playing as soon as he can get back on to the court are very high. People often look back at their college years as some of the best of their lives. For many of us, that means meeting new people and learning new things. For Williamson, it means trying to win a national title and playing against North Carolina on national television.
You don't want to sit and watch your friends have fun in college without you, so why should he be any different?
Daily Rangers Update: The push for the playoffs is certainly underway as we have reached the final 25% of the regular season. The Rangers will play the New Jersey Devils in just about an hour, and this is the type of game that the team really needs to win if they want to reach the postseason. It is still somewhat of a longshot, and I think that we are closer to seeing a few guys dealt at the upcoming trade deadline, but I am still holding out hope that the team can go on a run here and finish the regular season strong.
Daily Giants Update: Reports were out there that Landon Collins may or may not be planning on being somewhere else next season, but the Giants can use the franchise tag on him, and in my opinion, they would be foolish not to do that. Try to hopefully get him re-signed, or at least maybe work out a trade to get something in return for him. I would hate to see him walk away for nothing because he is still very young and could be an anchor on defense for years to come. There is still about a month to go until many of these decisions will have to be made, but the time is getting closer and closer.
Daily NBA Update: I know James Harden has been terrific this season, as have a few other guys, but I really think that Paul George should be the frontrunner for the MVP award right now. He has been absolutely magnificent for an Oklahoma City team that I think has surpassed expectations thus far, even though they looked good coming into the season. Right now, they sit in the third spot in the Western Conference, and George would be my choice for MVP as of today.
Saturday, February 23, 2019
Monday, February 18, 2019
A very extended offseason
Even the most casual of sports fan, and someone who might complain about baseball for any number of reasons, has to admit that one of the clichés about the sport is true. The smell of fresh cut grass, the crack of the bat, the snap of the catcher's mitt, the mention of places like Sarasota and Scottsdale all make you think of one thing. Along with the beginning of daylight savings time, which is getting closer and closer, the beginning of spring training can only make you feel happy and refreshed. The winter is coming to a close, the weather is about to get warmer, and snow and wool hats will soon be a thing of the past.
Spring training is getting underway this week, and all of those feelings about warm weather will be in the air very soon. As is the case with any sport, the preseason brings about hope and anticipation. Everyone has the same record, and everyone has championship aspirations. Old faces are returning and reuniting at camps, and new faces are being welcomed and embracing their new teammates and surroundings. However, as of today, February 19, 2019, there are a few major faces of baseball who have yet to find a new home and new group of teammates to join.
Last season, the free agent market in baseball was very slow, in the fact that many relevant players did not sign with teams until well into the new calendar year. That has been the case this year as well, only in 2019, many of the players still available are much more than relevant. Many of them are elite players in the primes of their careers.
Manny Machado is 26 years old, has made four All Star teams, and won two Gold Glove awards. Dallas Keuchel is a Cy Young award winner who has made two All Star teams and was a key member of a World Series champion team just two seasons ago. Bryce Harper has made six All Star teams, is a former Rookie of the Year in the National League in 2012, Most Valuable Player in 2015, and arguably one of the best players in the entire sport. Craig Kimbrel has made seven All Star teams, was the National League Rookie of the Year in 2011, and led the league in saves in four different seasons. These guys are key members of their teams. The only problem is, right now, none of them actually have teams. All of them, along with multiple other very good players, remain unsigned.
Would any team in baseball be thrilled to have Machado, Harper, Keuchel, or Kimbrel? Absolutely. So why is it then, that all of them are still looking for new teams? The answer is multi-faceted and highly debated, but if you look at the reasons behind the answer, it actually might not be as surprising as you would think.
Professional football is the sport where the "second contract" of every player is most important. That is, after a player is drafted and plays out their rookie deal, which in many cases does not truly indicate their market value because it is based more upon potential than actual performance, the second contract they sign is the one in which players can really cash in on their talents. Since football is a sport where often times players will not even reach a third contract, that second deal is usually life-altering, but all other professional sports do have somewhat similar circumstances.
The "prime" of a player's career usually occurs from around the time an athlete is in their mid-20's until they reach their early 30's. There are obviously outliers in many cases, but when you are in that age range, you are most likely to be able to sign very lucrative deals, and Machado and Harper are the perfect examples of that.
Through the first seven years of Harper's career, he has averaged 26 home runs and 74 RBI per season. Play that out until, say, he reaches the age of 34, he will have hit 392 career home runs and driven in over 1,000 runs. Those are already borderline Hall of Fame numbers, and Harper could still probably play even longer than that and approach 500 career home runs.
Over that same span, Machado has averaged 25 home runs and 73 RBI. Those are pretty much identical numbers, so clearly both men certainly have the chance to put up unbelievably elite statistics over the course of their careers. And that only stretches out until both men turn 34. It is likely that they will both play longer than that, so why in the hell does it seem like no one wants either of them right now? The answer to that is a mix of a number of things.
In 2001, at the age of 25, Alex Rodriguez signed an unprecedented contract with the Texas Rangers. 10 years for $252 million. I remember seeing both of those numbers and being absolutely floored by how big they were, and I was not the only baseball fan who felt that way. Sure, Rodriguez was already a great player who was just entering the prime of his career, but a 10 year contract? For that much money? Wow.
After Rodriguez did sign the deal, he more than proved he was worth the money initially, as he averaged over 50 home runs and 130 RBI over the first three seasons. However, the problem was, the Rangers never actually made the playoffs with Rodriguez on the team, despite the fact that he did win the MVP award in 2003. Three years later, Rodriguez was playing for the New York Yankees. The Rangers had paid him for 10 years, and only got three years worth of production, even though the production was outstanding.
The case of Rodriguez is not an anomaly either. Following eleven magnificent seasons in St. Louis, the Anaheim Angels signed Albert Pujols to a 10 year deal worth $240 million when Pujols was 32 years old. That means Pujols will be making $24 million when he is 42 years old. While he is already a surefire Hall of Famer, the fact that he will be making that amount of money at that age seems not even close to worth the original deal. Right now, Pujols is an every day designated hitter who can occasionally play some first base, and he still has three more years left on that mega-deal. Robinson Cano, who signed an almost identical contract in 2014, is at nearly the exact same point in his career, yet he still has five more years of money coming to him.
To put it in terms that are more easily understood, the history of these mega-deals for a whole lot of money and a whole lot of years usually do not turn out to be worth it for the club that initially makes the offer. The players no doubt love the long term security of years and money, but general managers and ballclubs have become aware that these contracts prove more of a detriment to them than a benefit.
So, that brings us back to the cases of Harper and Machado. Both of those players have seen similarly talented players in the position they find themselves in now put their signatures on gigantic deals. Then why should these two guys seek anything different? It makes sense from their point of view. However, clubs have seen how these big contracts have a history of not working out over the long run, and now they are balking at what these guys are demanding. The ten year contracts signed by Rodriguez, Pujols, and Cano have not worked out for the teams signing those checks for even half the life of the deals, let alone the duration of the contracts, and that brings us to the stalemate we are at right now.
The players have seen the precedents set by their predecessors, but the teams have seen the precedents set as well. Both sides right now are firmly entrenched in their beliefs, and I cannot blame either side for feeling the way that they do. Are these free agents who still remain unsigned worth the money that Pujols or Rodriguez made? The case could be made that they are. However, is that money worth being spent by clubs looking to sign them? The case seems to be pretty much closed that they are not.
Will Harper, Machado, Keuchel, Kimbrel, and all of these other very good free agents still out there eventually sign somewhere? Yes, they will. For that to happen, both sides are going to have to make concessions though. Is Bryce Harper or Craig Kimbrel willing to sit out an entire season and earn no money just to prove a point? The answer to that is unquestionably, no. Are there teams out there willing to pass on an unsigned Manny Machado or Dallas Keuchel? The answer to that is also unquestionably, no.
These guys are all going to eventually end up suiting up for some team out there. At this point, the only question is when it will actually happen. They are all too talented to pass up, and every club out there knows that. Right now, because we are short on things to talk about when it comes to baseball, these guys are the main focus. Once the games begin and they eventually find homes though, fans will most likely forget about this very extended and odd period of free agency. After all, the temperature is beginning to rise, the bat is starting to crack, and the mitts are starting to snap. Baseball season is getting closer and closer, and no matter what team you cheer for, that can only be a good thing.
Daily Rangers Update: After a tough loss in Pittsburgh this past Sunday, the Rangers will be on the road to face the Hurricanes tomorrow night. There are 24 games left to play, and this would be the perfect game to win, as Carolina is ahead of the Rangers in the standings, but can surely be beaten.
Daily Giants Update: To the surprise of pretty much no one, Landon Collins received the franchise tag by the Giants, and that hopefully means he will be in New York at least through the upcoming season, and maybe even longer than that. We are not far enough along into the offseason to get a true sense of what the plans are for the team this season, but with some of the young core nearing possible free agency, this draft will definitely be important in showing what we might have in store for us for the next few years.
Daily NBA Update: The All Star game was this past weekend, and I watched none of it, as I am becoming less and less interested in the NBA season as it goes on. So much of the focus seems to be off the court and about possible offseason moves, and we still have half the season to play. As I have said before though, I am impressed at the ability of the league to stay so relevant when the conclusion of the season will almost certainly be like last year and the year before that, because one team is so much better than all of the others.
Spring training is getting underway this week, and all of those feelings about warm weather will be in the air very soon. As is the case with any sport, the preseason brings about hope and anticipation. Everyone has the same record, and everyone has championship aspirations. Old faces are returning and reuniting at camps, and new faces are being welcomed and embracing their new teammates and surroundings. However, as of today, February 19, 2019, there are a few major faces of baseball who have yet to find a new home and new group of teammates to join.
Last season, the free agent market in baseball was very slow, in the fact that many relevant players did not sign with teams until well into the new calendar year. That has been the case this year as well, only in 2019, many of the players still available are much more than relevant. Many of them are elite players in the primes of their careers.
Manny Machado is 26 years old, has made four All Star teams, and won two Gold Glove awards. Dallas Keuchel is a Cy Young award winner who has made two All Star teams and was a key member of a World Series champion team just two seasons ago. Bryce Harper has made six All Star teams, is a former Rookie of the Year in the National League in 2012, Most Valuable Player in 2015, and arguably one of the best players in the entire sport. Craig Kimbrel has made seven All Star teams, was the National League Rookie of the Year in 2011, and led the league in saves in four different seasons. These guys are key members of their teams. The only problem is, right now, none of them actually have teams. All of them, along with multiple other very good players, remain unsigned.
Would any team in baseball be thrilled to have Machado, Harper, Keuchel, or Kimbrel? Absolutely. So why is it then, that all of them are still looking for new teams? The answer is multi-faceted and highly debated, but if you look at the reasons behind the answer, it actually might not be as surprising as you would think.
Professional football is the sport where the "second contract" of every player is most important. That is, after a player is drafted and plays out their rookie deal, which in many cases does not truly indicate their market value because it is based more upon potential than actual performance, the second contract they sign is the one in which players can really cash in on their talents. Since football is a sport where often times players will not even reach a third contract, that second deal is usually life-altering, but all other professional sports do have somewhat similar circumstances.
The "prime" of a player's career usually occurs from around the time an athlete is in their mid-20's until they reach their early 30's. There are obviously outliers in many cases, but when you are in that age range, you are most likely to be able to sign very lucrative deals, and Machado and Harper are the perfect examples of that.
Through the first seven years of Harper's career, he has averaged 26 home runs and 74 RBI per season. Play that out until, say, he reaches the age of 34, he will have hit 392 career home runs and driven in over 1,000 runs. Those are already borderline Hall of Fame numbers, and Harper could still probably play even longer than that and approach 500 career home runs.
Over that same span, Machado has averaged 25 home runs and 73 RBI. Those are pretty much identical numbers, so clearly both men certainly have the chance to put up unbelievably elite statistics over the course of their careers. And that only stretches out until both men turn 34. It is likely that they will both play longer than that, so why in the hell does it seem like no one wants either of them right now? The answer to that is a mix of a number of things.
In 2001, at the age of 25, Alex Rodriguez signed an unprecedented contract with the Texas Rangers. 10 years for $252 million. I remember seeing both of those numbers and being absolutely floored by how big they were, and I was not the only baseball fan who felt that way. Sure, Rodriguez was already a great player who was just entering the prime of his career, but a 10 year contract? For that much money? Wow.
After Rodriguez did sign the deal, he more than proved he was worth the money initially, as he averaged over 50 home runs and 130 RBI over the first three seasons. However, the problem was, the Rangers never actually made the playoffs with Rodriguez on the team, despite the fact that he did win the MVP award in 2003. Three years later, Rodriguez was playing for the New York Yankees. The Rangers had paid him for 10 years, and only got three years worth of production, even though the production was outstanding.
The case of Rodriguez is not an anomaly either. Following eleven magnificent seasons in St. Louis, the Anaheim Angels signed Albert Pujols to a 10 year deal worth $240 million when Pujols was 32 years old. That means Pujols will be making $24 million when he is 42 years old. While he is already a surefire Hall of Famer, the fact that he will be making that amount of money at that age seems not even close to worth the original deal. Right now, Pujols is an every day designated hitter who can occasionally play some first base, and he still has three more years left on that mega-deal. Robinson Cano, who signed an almost identical contract in 2014, is at nearly the exact same point in his career, yet he still has five more years of money coming to him.
To put it in terms that are more easily understood, the history of these mega-deals for a whole lot of money and a whole lot of years usually do not turn out to be worth it for the club that initially makes the offer. The players no doubt love the long term security of years and money, but general managers and ballclubs have become aware that these contracts prove more of a detriment to them than a benefit.
So, that brings us back to the cases of Harper and Machado. Both of those players have seen similarly talented players in the position they find themselves in now put their signatures on gigantic deals. Then why should these two guys seek anything different? It makes sense from their point of view. However, clubs have seen how these big contracts have a history of not working out over the long run, and now they are balking at what these guys are demanding. The ten year contracts signed by Rodriguez, Pujols, and Cano have not worked out for the teams signing those checks for even half the life of the deals, let alone the duration of the contracts, and that brings us to the stalemate we are at right now.
The players have seen the precedents set by their predecessors, but the teams have seen the precedents set as well. Both sides right now are firmly entrenched in their beliefs, and I cannot blame either side for feeling the way that they do. Are these free agents who still remain unsigned worth the money that Pujols or Rodriguez made? The case could be made that they are. However, is that money worth being spent by clubs looking to sign them? The case seems to be pretty much closed that they are not.
Will Harper, Machado, Keuchel, Kimbrel, and all of these other very good free agents still out there eventually sign somewhere? Yes, they will. For that to happen, both sides are going to have to make concessions though. Is Bryce Harper or Craig Kimbrel willing to sit out an entire season and earn no money just to prove a point? The answer to that is unquestionably, no. Are there teams out there willing to pass on an unsigned Manny Machado or Dallas Keuchel? The answer to that is also unquestionably, no.
These guys are all going to eventually end up suiting up for some team out there. At this point, the only question is when it will actually happen. They are all too talented to pass up, and every club out there knows that. Right now, because we are short on things to talk about when it comes to baseball, these guys are the main focus. Once the games begin and they eventually find homes though, fans will most likely forget about this very extended and odd period of free agency. After all, the temperature is beginning to rise, the bat is starting to crack, and the mitts are starting to snap. Baseball season is getting closer and closer, and no matter what team you cheer for, that can only be a good thing.
Daily Rangers Update: After a tough loss in Pittsburgh this past Sunday, the Rangers will be on the road to face the Hurricanes tomorrow night. There are 24 games left to play, and this would be the perfect game to win, as Carolina is ahead of the Rangers in the standings, but can surely be beaten.
Daily Giants Update: To the surprise of pretty much no one, Landon Collins received the franchise tag by the Giants, and that hopefully means he will be in New York at least through the upcoming season, and maybe even longer than that. We are not far enough along into the offseason to get a true sense of what the plans are for the team this season, but with some of the young core nearing possible free agency, this draft will definitely be important in showing what we might have in store for us for the next few years.
Daily NBA Update: The All Star game was this past weekend, and I watched none of it, as I am becoming less and less interested in the NBA season as it goes on. So much of the focus seems to be off the court and about possible offseason moves, and we still have half the season to play. As I have said before though, I am impressed at the ability of the league to stay so relevant when the conclusion of the season will almost certainly be like last year and the year before that, because one team is so much better than all of the others.
Monday, February 11, 2019
An unfortunate hypocrisy
I was going to write about Bob Costas today, because I feel like the story of him being removed from NBC's Super Bowl broadcast last season has been drastically overlooked by the national sports world, but news broke a few hours ago that brought about reactions that I feel more strongly about, so I will have to save the Costas story for another time.
After video surfaced of Kareem Hunt abusing a woman, he was released by the Kansas City Chiefs last December. Today, he was signed by the Cleveland Browns. I was not surprised by him signing with another team at all, and I think any NFL fan with a sense of reality should not be surprised by it either. Hunt led the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie in 2017, and was seen as an intricate piece of the Chiefs offense going forward, prior to his release. With Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and a bunch of other weapons, it seemed like Kansas City could possibly have the best offense in the entire NFL. Even without Hunt, they still were a high-powered scoring machine this past season. With such a young group of star players, it seems like they will only get better too. However, just like Ray Rice, after video surfaced of Hunt's actions, it seemed like the Chiefs had no choice but to release him.
Now that the season has ended, it was only a matter of time before he was picked up, and today happened to be that day. Hunt is still on the commissioner's exempt list, and will face a suspension for at least part of the upcoming season, and maybe the entire season. Despite that, the Browns still signed Hunt.
John Dorsey, the former general manager of the Chiefs, and current general manager of the Browns, drafted Hunt prior to the 2017 season, and he said that his relationship with Hunt prior to his release by Kansas City played a role in Cleveland signing the running back. Dorsey claimed that he knew Hunt was a good person, and said that there will be strict guidelines that Hunt will have to follow in order to maintain his spot on the roster in Cleveland. All of that is probably true as well. Dorsey did personally know Hunt prior to his release, and I'm sure Hunt will have to abide by any guidelines that the Browns put in place. My problem is not with that. What I have felt strongly about though, is the immediate reaction to Hunt's signing by men inside and outside the Browns organization.
Everyone I have heard comment on this since the news broke has been a man, mainly because the talking heads on television in the football world are almost all men. They played the sport, the worked in the sport, and they are the ones who usually comment on the sport in the national media. It makes sense that they would be the ones to initially react to Hunt's signing, and I have heard them all say pretty much the exact same thing, and it all begins with a laughably dishonest qualifier.
Before listing all of the positive things Hunt can do for the Browns, they all start by making some type of comment on how domestic violence is a terrible thing, and that Hunt should be ashamed of his actions. Then, after that there is nothing but praise for Hunt and for the Browns. Just get the bogus, disingenuous claim out there, and everything is fine after that. Domestic violence is bad, Hunt is a bad guy, and now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how great of a running back he is. It is so transparent that I don't know if I should call it comical or pathetic.
Once Hunt serves his suspension, however long it may be, are any male Cleveland Browns fans going to care about that video if he runs for 1,000 yards and scores a bunch of touchdowns? Absolutely not. They are going to cheer as loud as they can for him and totally forget anything he ever did before he signed with their team. The Browns had a pretty nice season, at least by their standards, in 2018, and they have some young and talented players, especially on the offensive side of the football.
If Hunt teams up with Baker Mayfield and Jarvis Landry to form a fearsome trifecta of talent, the fans are not going to care one bit about what Hunt did. Sure, he will have to abide by strict guidelines or whatever the organization wants to call it, but if he doesn't hit any more women on camera, it won't matter.
And I am sorry to say it, but if the same thing happened with Saquon Barkley, I would probably do the exact same thing. Hunt did not face charges for what he did, and no arrests were made either, so in the eyes of the legal system, what he did was not worthy of any kind of punishment. However, we did see the video, and it speaks for itself. Yet, in the world of the NFL, not too many people care about it.
Winning supposedly cures most problems within locker rooms, and the same can be said for any problems fans might have with their teams or players on their teams. If Hunt plays well, the Browns and their fans (and by fans, I mean male fans) will say he served his suspension and was not charged by the legal system, so it will justify them falling in love with him. If he doesn't perform well, then they will say that the team never should have signed him in the first place, and he is a terrible person for what he did.
Like I said, I would probably react the same way if I found out that Saquon Barkley or Odell Beckham were in a situation identical to the one Hunt is in. I would vilify them for what they did, but if they served a suspension and came back scoring touchdowns, I wouldn't really care. Maybe every once in a while I would remember to throw a fraudulent apology out there for supporting the guy, but I wouldn't really mean it. If they didn't perform well, the story would be far different, and I would forever curse their character and ability.
I would like to hear from female Browns fans what they think of the team signing Hunt, or even just female football fans in general. Maybe they would have no problem with him being on the team, I can't say. One thing I can say with certainty though, is that any male fan who throws a quick condemnation of domestic violence in before going on a tribute to Hunt's talent is being totally hypocritical and phony.
Daily Giants Update: In another piece of breaking football news, Kyler Murray officially declared for the NFL Draft today. He is definitely talented, but I think his size is really not suited for a long term career as a quarterback. I am hoping he is not even available when the Giants pick sixth overall, as therefore they won't even have a chance to consider taking him.
Daily Rangers Update: Alexander Georgiev was absolutely brilliant last night as the Rangers beat a very good Toronto Maple Leafs team by a score of 4-1. I find the team very fun to watch, but with the trade deadline approaching, I am fearful some guys may be on the way out, as even if the Rangers do make the playoffs, they probably won't do much damage. Hopefully I am wrong, because the team is very likeable right now, despite not being a powerhouse.
Daily NBA Update: Teams in the Eastern Conference all seem to be trying to separate themselves from each other with the belief that they can reach the NBA Finals. Once they get there, I still do not see any possible way they can beat the Warriors, unless somehow the Warriors are knocked out by a team in the Western Conference. In a seven game series though, I just cannot see that happening, and despite all of the drama of the NBA season on and off the court, I really believe that the Warriors are still just better than everyone else.
After video surfaced of Kareem Hunt abusing a woman, he was released by the Kansas City Chiefs last December. Today, he was signed by the Cleveland Browns. I was not surprised by him signing with another team at all, and I think any NFL fan with a sense of reality should not be surprised by it either. Hunt led the NFL in rushing yards as a rookie in 2017, and was seen as an intricate piece of the Chiefs offense going forward, prior to his release. With Patrick Mahomes, Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and a bunch of other weapons, it seemed like Kansas City could possibly have the best offense in the entire NFL. Even without Hunt, they still were a high-powered scoring machine this past season. With such a young group of star players, it seems like they will only get better too. However, just like Ray Rice, after video surfaced of Hunt's actions, it seemed like the Chiefs had no choice but to release him.
Now that the season has ended, it was only a matter of time before he was picked up, and today happened to be that day. Hunt is still on the commissioner's exempt list, and will face a suspension for at least part of the upcoming season, and maybe the entire season. Despite that, the Browns still signed Hunt.
John Dorsey, the former general manager of the Chiefs, and current general manager of the Browns, drafted Hunt prior to the 2017 season, and he said that his relationship with Hunt prior to his release by Kansas City played a role in Cleveland signing the running back. Dorsey claimed that he knew Hunt was a good person, and said that there will be strict guidelines that Hunt will have to follow in order to maintain his spot on the roster in Cleveland. All of that is probably true as well. Dorsey did personally know Hunt prior to his release, and I'm sure Hunt will have to abide by any guidelines that the Browns put in place. My problem is not with that. What I have felt strongly about though, is the immediate reaction to Hunt's signing by men inside and outside the Browns organization.
Everyone I have heard comment on this since the news broke has been a man, mainly because the talking heads on television in the football world are almost all men. They played the sport, the worked in the sport, and they are the ones who usually comment on the sport in the national media. It makes sense that they would be the ones to initially react to Hunt's signing, and I have heard them all say pretty much the exact same thing, and it all begins with a laughably dishonest qualifier.
Before listing all of the positive things Hunt can do for the Browns, they all start by making some type of comment on how domestic violence is a terrible thing, and that Hunt should be ashamed of his actions. Then, after that there is nothing but praise for Hunt and for the Browns. Just get the bogus, disingenuous claim out there, and everything is fine after that. Domestic violence is bad, Hunt is a bad guy, and now that that's out of the way, let's talk about how great of a running back he is. It is so transparent that I don't know if I should call it comical or pathetic.
Once Hunt serves his suspension, however long it may be, are any male Cleveland Browns fans going to care about that video if he runs for 1,000 yards and scores a bunch of touchdowns? Absolutely not. They are going to cheer as loud as they can for him and totally forget anything he ever did before he signed with their team. The Browns had a pretty nice season, at least by their standards, in 2018, and they have some young and talented players, especially on the offensive side of the football.
If Hunt teams up with Baker Mayfield and Jarvis Landry to form a fearsome trifecta of talent, the fans are not going to care one bit about what Hunt did. Sure, he will have to abide by strict guidelines or whatever the organization wants to call it, but if he doesn't hit any more women on camera, it won't matter.
And I am sorry to say it, but if the same thing happened with Saquon Barkley, I would probably do the exact same thing. Hunt did not face charges for what he did, and no arrests were made either, so in the eyes of the legal system, what he did was not worthy of any kind of punishment. However, we did see the video, and it speaks for itself. Yet, in the world of the NFL, not too many people care about it.
Winning supposedly cures most problems within locker rooms, and the same can be said for any problems fans might have with their teams or players on their teams. If Hunt plays well, the Browns and their fans (and by fans, I mean male fans) will say he served his suspension and was not charged by the legal system, so it will justify them falling in love with him. If he doesn't perform well, then they will say that the team never should have signed him in the first place, and he is a terrible person for what he did.
Like I said, I would probably react the same way if I found out that Saquon Barkley or Odell Beckham were in a situation identical to the one Hunt is in. I would vilify them for what they did, but if they served a suspension and came back scoring touchdowns, I wouldn't really care. Maybe every once in a while I would remember to throw a fraudulent apology out there for supporting the guy, but I wouldn't really mean it. If they didn't perform well, the story would be far different, and I would forever curse their character and ability.
I would like to hear from female Browns fans what they think of the team signing Hunt, or even just female football fans in general. Maybe they would have no problem with him being on the team, I can't say. One thing I can say with certainty though, is that any male fan who throws a quick condemnation of domestic violence in before going on a tribute to Hunt's talent is being totally hypocritical and phony.
Daily Giants Update: In another piece of breaking football news, Kyler Murray officially declared for the NFL Draft today. He is definitely talented, but I think his size is really not suited for a long term career as a quarterback. I am hoping he is not even available when the Giants pick sixth overall, as therefore they won't even have a chance to consider taking him.
Daily Rangers Update: Alexander Georgiev was absolutely brilliant last night as the Rangers beat a very good Toronto Maple Leafs team by a score of 4-1. I find the team very fun to watch, but with the trade deadline approaching, I am fearful some guys may be on the way out, as even if the Rangers do make the playoffs, they probably won't do much damage. Hopefully I am wrong, because the team is very likeable right now, despite not being a powerhouse.
Daily NBA Update: Teams in the Eastern Conference all seem to be trying to separate themselves from each other with the belief that they can reach the NBA Finals. Once they get there, I still do not see any possible way they can beat the Warriors, unless somehow the Warriors are knocked out by a team in the Western Conference. In a seven game series though, I just cannot see that happening, and despite all of the drama of the NBA season on and off the court, I really believe that the Warriors are still just better than everyone else.
Saturday, February 2, 2019
One case where math is certainly stupid
In another example of how the NBA, a league where the championship is as close to a foregone conclusion as we have in sports, is still managing to grow even more and more, trade rumors surrounding Anthony Davis are sharing headlines with the Super Bowl. The biggest and most viewed television spectacle is just over 24 hours away, but the New Orleans Pelicans are stealing some of the spotlight. As I have said before, it is a testament to the growth of the NBA that this is happening. However, that isn't really what I want to focus on right now.
With any trade rumors in any sport, players are critiqued and their values are estimated by anyone and everyone. How much is this player worth to this team? In this case, we are all wondering how much the Pelicans will ask for in return if they do end up trading Davis. One of the methods for calculating his value that I have seen used is this thing called Player Efficiency Rating, known for short as PER. Davis has the third best PER of all time, behind only Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Therefore, it seems like the Pelicans should be asking for a ton in return for him, at least according to this rating.
Basketball isn't the only sport where new metrics like this are being used to grade players. It actually started with sabermetrics in baseball, and what is supposed to be the greatest evaluation of a player ever created, Wins Above Replacement, otherwise known as WAR. That way of thinking now has spread to many other sports. This new-fangled numbers are supposed to be better ways of measuring the values of players than old-fashioned things like batting average or points scored per game.
For the most part, people fall into one of two categories when it comes to these relatively modern measurements. You either hate them or you love them. I always thought things like WAR and PER were stupid. They seemed like random numbers that supposedly told us who the best players were, but nobody knew how to calculate them. You just said Mike Trout had a WAR of this number or Anthony Davis had a PER of this number and that was it. That was all you needed to prove their values.
So since I have seen so many people use Davis' PER as a way to show how good and valuable he is, I decided to actually look up just how to calculate the PER of a player. After I looked up how to do it, I no longer think it is stupid. I now think it is absolutely ridiculous and far stupider than I ever could have imagined.
Basketball-reference.com has a breakdown of how to calculate the PER of any player, and you can look it up there, but to help me make my point, I want to write it here as well. This is how you calculate PER:
Come on. I knew it was stupid, but I didn't think it was that stupid.
Then, in case you don't know what all of those abbreviations mean, you can find that out in John Hollinger's book, which is on sale on Amazon.com for $19.95.
Being a basketball fan, I can figure out what most of those abbreviations mean, but I have no idea what a VOP is, and I don't know what lg Free Throws are as opposed to just regular Free Throws. Also, the 0.44 and 0.56 have to correspond to something similar since they add up to exactly 1, but I don't know what that correspondence is.
At the end of it all, what I need to calculate the PER of a basketball player is a large list of statistics, a spreadsheet to input that formula into, at least about 10 minutes, and also $19.95. Stop it. Get the hell out of here with that idiotic nonsense of a statistic.
I looked at the list of all-time leaders in PER, which is supposedly one of the best ways we have to equally compare players across the entire sport. It rates Amar'e Stoudemire and Andre Drummond higher than Hall of Famers Bob Lanier and Allen Iverson, and it rates Greg Monroe and someone named John Brisker higher than Kevin McHale and Steve Nash. Anyone who has ever seen five minutes of basketball can tell you that makes absolutely zero sense.
I researched how to calculate WAR in baseball, and the formula was pretty similar to the PER formula. Long and full of a whole bunch of signs and variables and symbols.
I remember when the Cleveland Browns hired a bunch of guys to run their front office who were from the baseball world but supposedly great with this analytics. It didn't matter that baseball wasn't the same sport as football. They were all so smart that it wouldn't matter. Then what happened over a two year span in Cleveland? The Browns went 1-31 and everyone got fired.
In the late 1990's and early 2000's, Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics were famous for their "moneyball" philosophies. Oakland was unable to spend as much money as some teams from bigger markets, but we were told that their mathematicians and thrifty geeks had all the answers. What happened to those teams? They would lose every season to the Yankees or Red Sox or other teams with big payrolls.
The point of all of this is I hate these metrics and equations that are supposed to be the definitive ways to evaluate players. WAR is supposed to say how many wins any given player is worth to a team as opposed to if a replacement level player were in the same spot. So my team will win more games with Mookie Betts in the lineup than it will if I put Brock Holt there? Really? Wow, what an earth-shattering discovery that is!
Can Mookie Betts hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 runs? Yes. Can Brock Holt do that? No.
Anthony Davis can go out there every night, score 20 points, grab 10 rebounds, and play great defense. I don't care what his efficiency rating per adjusted 48 minutes is.
Davis is a great player, and it will take a lot for the Pelicans to trade him. It's simple. Just don't try to show me his value based on some number that you can't even calculate yourself. Even if you have the time to plug all those VOP's and lgFTA's into a spreadsheet and that $19.95 for John Hollinger's book, I still don't care.
Daily NFL Update: Super Bowl Sunday is literally only hours away now. That's pretty much all that needs to be said.
Daily Rangers Update: After a nice road win in New Jersey capped off by a Mika Zibanejad hat trick, the Rangers will have a serious test tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have been the best team in the league this season pretty much from day one.
Daily NBA Update: The Bucks, Raptors, Nuggets, and Warriors continue to impress at the top of the standings. On the other end of the spectrum, the race to the bottom of the standings and the number one pick are on as well, with the frontrunners right now being the Cavs, Knicks, Suns, and Bulls.
With any trade rumors in any sport, players are critiqued and their values are estimated by anyone and everyone. How much is this player worth to this team? In this case, we are all wondering how much the Pelicans will ask for in return if they do end up trading Davis. One of the methods for calculating his value that I have seen used is this thing called Player Efficiency Rating, known for short as PER. Davis has the third best PER of all time, behind only Michael Jordan and LeBron James. Therefore, it seems like the Pelicans should be asking for a ton in return for him, at least according to this rating.
Basketball isn't the only sport where new metrics like this are being used to grade players. It actually started with sabermetrics in baseball, and what is supposed to be the greatest evaluation of a player ever created, Wins Above Replacement, otherwise known as WAR. That way of thinking now has spread to many other sports. This new-fangled numbers are supposed to be better ways of measuring the values of players than old-fashioned things like batting average or points scored per game.
For the most part, people fall into one of two categories when it comes to these relatively modern measurements. You either hate them or you love them. I always thought things like WAR and PER were stupid. They seemed like random numbers that supposedly told us who the best players were, but nobody knew how to calculate them. You just said Mike Trout had a WAR of this number or Anthony Davis had a PER of this number and that was it. That was all you needed to prove their values.
So since I have seen so many people use Davis' PER as a way to show how good and valuable he is, I decided to actually look up just how to calculate the PER of a player. After I looked up how to do it, I no longer think it is stupid. I now think it is absolutely ridiculous and far stupider than I ever could have imagined.
Basketball-reference.com has a breakdown of how to calculate the PER of any player, and you can look it up there, but to help me make my point, I want to write it here as well. This is how you calculate PER:
(1/MP) x [3P + (2/3) x AST + (2-factor x (team AST/team FG)) x FG + (FT x 0.5 x (1+(1-(team AST/team FG)) + (2/3) x (team AST/team FG))) - VOP x TOV - VOP x DRB% x (FGA-FG) - VOP x 0.44 x (0.44 + (0.56 x DRB%)) x (FTA-FT) + VOP x (1-DRB%) x (TRB-ORB) + VOP x DRB% x ORB + VOP x STL + VOP x DRB% x BLK - PF x ((lg FT/lg PF) - 0.44 x (lg FTA/lg PF) x VOP)]
Come on. I knew it was stupid, but I didn't think it was that stupid.
Then, in case you don't know what all of those abbreviations mean, you can find that out in John Hollinger's book, which is on sale on Amazon.com for $19.95.
Being a basketball fan, I can figure out what most of those abbreviations mean, but I have no idea what a VOP is, and I don't know what lg Free Throws are as opposed to just regular Free Throws. Also, the 0.44 and 0.56 have to correspond to something similar since they add up to exactly 1, but I don't know what that correspondence is.
At the end of it all, what I need to calculate the PER of a basketball player is a large list of statistics, a spreadsheet to input that formula into, at least about 10 minutes, and also $19.95. Stop it. Get the hell out of here with that idiotic nonsense of a statistic.
I looked at the list of all-time leaders in PER, which is supposedly one of the best ways we have to equally compare players across the entire sport. It rates Amar'e Stoudemire and Andre Drummond higher than Hall of Famers Bob Lanier and Allen Iverson, and it rates Greg Monroe and someone named John Brisker higher than Kevin McHale and Steve Nash. Anyone who has ever seen five minutes of basketball can tell you that makes absolutely zero sense.
I researched how to calculate WAR in baseball, and the formula was pretty similar to the PER formula. Long and full of a whole bunch of signs and variables and symbols.
I remember when the Cleveland Browns hired a bunch of guys to run their front office who were from the baseball world but supposedly great with this analytics. It didn't matter that baseball wasn't the same sport as football. They were all so smart that it wouldn't matter. Then what happened over a two year span in Cleveland? The Browns went 1-31 and everyone got fired.
In the late 1990's and early 2000's, Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics were famous for their "moneyball" philosophies. Oakland was unable to spend as much money as some teams from bigger markets, but we were told that their mathematicians and thrifty geeks had all the answers. What happened to those teams? They would lose every season to the Yankees or Red Sox or other teams with big payrolls.
The point of all of this is I hate these metrics and equations that are supposed to be the definitive ways to evaluate players. WAR is supposed to say how many wins any given player is worth to a team as opposed to if a replacement level player were in the same spot. So my team will win more games with Mookie Betts in the lineup than it will if I put Brock Holt there? Really? Wow, what an earth-shattering discovery that is!
Can Mookie Betts hit 30 home runs and drive in 100 runs? Yes. Can Brock Holt do that? No.
Anthony Davis can go out there every night, score 20 points, grab 10 rebounds, and play great defense. I don't care what his efficiency rating per adjusted 48 minutes is.
Davis is a great player, and it will take a lot for the Pelicans to trade him. It's simple. Just don't try to show me his value based on some number that you can't even calculate yourself. Even if you have the time to plug all those VOP's and lgFTA's into a spreadsheet and that $19.95 for John Hollinger's book, I still don't care.
Daily NFL Update: Super Bowl Sunday is literally only hours away now. That's pretty much all that needs to be said.
Daily Rangers Update: After a nice road win in New Jersey capped off by a Mika Zibanejad hat trick, the Rangers will have a serious test tonight against the Tampa Bay Lightning, who have been the best team in the league this season pretty much from day one.
Daily NBA Update: The Bucks, Raptors, Nuggets, and Warriors continue to impress at the top of the standings. On the other end of the spectrum, the race to the bottom of the standings and the number one pick are on as well, with the frontrunners right now being the Cavs, Knicks, Suns, and Bulls.
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