The sports world is full of polarizing figures. Cam Newton, LeBron James, Jerry Jones, and Tom Brady are just a few of them. It could be an owner, it could be an executive, it could be a player, or heck, it could even be a group of fans. No matter what, the sports world will always be full of people we love as well as people we hate. One name that has been quickly climbing the list of most polarizing figures lately is Bryce Harper. His talent on the field cannot be argued. He has plenty of that. However, because of things that he has done or said, as well as what others have done or said, Harper has quickly become one of, if not the most, polarizing person in the entire sports world. And what he did this past Monday only added fuel to that fire.
Before I delve deeper into this, let me get this out of the way first. I have never had a problem with celebrations in sports, even if they sometimes go over the top. As long as someone is not blatantly disrespecting an opponent, I have zero problem with people enjoying the games that they love. Cam Newton celebrating all of his success this past season made the game of football more enjoyable to watch. He never blatantly disrespected his opponents, he was just out there having fun. Some people argued that just celebrating in general is denigrating to opponents, but what I have to say to them is simple. If you don't want these guys to celebrate, then stop them. If you don't want Newton dancing after scoring a touchdown, then tackle him. If you don't want Jose Bautista flipping his bat after hitting a memorable home run, then strike him out instead.
Sports are filled with drama, and I have no problem at all with guys who get caught in the moment and show emotion that some might consider over the top. In the final game of their unbelievable season, Leicester City star Jamie Vardy scored on a penalty kick and pointed straight at the opposing goalkeeper before celebrating with his teammates. Was it disrespectful? Maybe a little bit. But like I said, if you don't want him to celebrate, then stop him from scoring. Later in the game, Vardy missed another penalty kick, and the opposing goalkeeper stared straight at him and pumped his fist. Good for him. He may have felt disrespected after Vardy scored the first time, but after Vardy missed the second penalty kick, the keeper was able to celebrate at Vardy's expense.
The same goes for Cam Newton. He celebrated all season as the Carolina Panthers went 15-1, but after losing in the Super Bowl, the Denver Broncos were able to give it right back to him when they beat him. His attitude during the postgame press conference rubbed many people the wrong way, and while I thought he could have been a bit more receptive to the media, I also did not feel bad for him. He wanted to celebrate and dance all year long, so when he lost on the biggest stage, he should not have been offended when the other team beat him and did the exact same thing.
So that brings us to Bryce Harper. Since Harper entered the league, he was always seen as brash and outspoken. In the eyes of some, he might have been seen as controversial. In the eyes of sour old men like Goose Gossage, he was seen as disrespectful. Forgive me for mentioning Gossage, but when he blasted the players of today for showing emotion during the game, I lost a lot of respect for him. Old curmudgeons like Gossage aside though, Harper was definitely a polarizing figure.
On the field, no one can question the talent of this young man. He is a legitimate five-tool superstar, and he is still only scratching the surface of what seems destined to be a very long and very successful career. He was named Rookie of the Year in 2012, and won the MVP in 2015. If he continues to improve and play like we all think he can, I am sure that he will have more MVP awards in his future. Major League Baseball is full of very young and very talented players, but I think Harper is the one leading the way and at the top of that list.
I have never had a problem with Harper. His outspoken manner never rubbed me the wrong way, and his brash attitude never made me overlook his immense talent. However, this past Monday was the first time that I felt different.
Harper was called out on strikes during the game, and was clearly not happy with the call. He voiced his displeasure with home plate umpire Brian Knight as he walked back to the dugout, but that was all. Baseball players let umpires know if they disagree with a call all the time, so I had no problem with Harper doing the exact same thing. I don't know what Harper said, but I'm pretty sure that it was not something that a home plate umpire has never heard before. I get it. You are frustrated and you let your emotions get the best of you. It isn't the first time that has happened, and it isn't the last time it will happen.
Later in the game, Harper's teammate, Danny Espinosa was called out on strikes and seemed a bit unhappy with the call. Harper (as well as a number of other people in Washington's dugout) took this chance to berate Knight again, and despite being held back by multiple people in the Washington dugout, Harper was eventually tossed from the game for continually arguing balls and strikes. Was it the best look for Harper? No, it wasn't. However, it did not exactly help his cause for being seen in a sympathetic way. Once again though, guys have been tossed from games while arguing with an umpire from the dugout, so it was not the worst thing in the world. I still did not have a huge problem with Harper's behavior. What happened after that though is what changed my mind about his game that day.
Not long after Harper was ejected, his teammate Clint Robinson hit a walk off home run to win the game for the Nationals. For the moment, Harper was out of mind and out of sight. That did not last long though.
When a player is ejected from a game, he is not allowed to return to the playing field at all for the rest of the game. After Robinson's game winning homer, Harper ran back on to the field in what seemed like a celebration of the win. Not allowed by rule? Yes. But was it still terribly over the line? No. However, once Harper ran back on to the field, it was clear that his main objective was not to celebrate with his teammates. After yelling a quick congratulations to Robinson, Harper pointed straight at Knight and yelled some words that were definitely not acceptable for national television. This was where I had a problem with what Harper did.
In every sport, players and officials do not always agree. Often times those grudges do not end once the game ends. I know of plenty of grudges between players and officials that have lasted more than just one game. It isn't right, but it is a fact. So I would not have had a problem with Harper holding a grudge against Knight when they crossed paths in the future, as long as it was a respectful grudge. I know the term "respectful grudge" seems to be an oxymoron, but like I said, it happens and no matter what we as outsiders may think is right or wrong, it will continue to happen.
I had a problem with Harper returning to the field after being ejected with a clear intention to search out Knight and curse him out for a third time. Harper's team had just won a game in dramatic fashion, but it was obvious that the only thing Harper had on his mind was letting Knight know how he felt. In my opinion, that is where Harper crossed the line. Getting ejected is ok. It happens many times. But coming back on to the field to get the last word with an umpire does not happen all the time. In fact, I don't recall it ever happening before. So while I do like Harper, when he did that I have to say that I lost a bit of respect for him.
The more talented a player is, the longer the leash is when it comes to their actions both on and off the field. Harper is talented enough to have one of the longer leashes in all of sports. Even so, I think what Harper did on Monday night was unacceptable by any standards. He was suspended today by the league for one game and fined an undisclosed amount of money. In my opinion, that is not enough. Missing one game in a 162 game season is not enough of a deterrent to stop him from acting in the same fashion in the future. Outsiders can say all they want, but I have a hard time believing that the punishment fits the crime here. You can toe the line of acceptable behavior or you can cross it. What Harper did crossed it.
I will never agree with Harper critics who call his overall game and attitude bad for baseball. He is a transcendent player, and his future is about as bright as you could get when it comes to current athletes in any sport. However, I may sound too much like Goose Gossage here, but I cannot overlook what Harper did this past Monday. He is great on the field, but he crossed the line. If this is a one-time incident, then it will pass and no one will remember it, and hopefully it is a one-time incident. There is such a thing as respecting the game though, and despite what I believe as pretty high standards that I have when it comes to disrespecting the game, Harper did exactly that. Hopefully it is just a blip on the radar of what has the potential to be a great career, because if I have learned anything recently, it is that I do not want to agree with Goose Gossage very often. It is my hope that this will be the only time that happens.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: After six straight losses, the team came back to win five in a row but then lost last night to the Colorado Rockies. Arizona currently stands at 17-19, but in a division full of teams that are not exactly flying out of the gate, they are still only one game out of first place. The San Francisco Giants are 18-18 and tied atop the NL West, and they come to Arizona starting tonight. There have been ups and downs, but it is still early, and there is plenty of time for a whole lot of drama to unfold.
Daily Giants Update: We are still four months away from Week 1, but minicamps are now underway and the team will begin to take shape over the next few months. Overall, I liked the Giants' draft, and I am hopeful that the offseason spending spree combined with the incoming rookie class can provide the Giants with a big spark. The NFC East is certainly up for grabs, so there is no reason to expect anything less than a playoff appearance this season.
Daily NHL Update: Once again, the Washington Capitals fell short in the playoffs, and this is definitely not just a few unlucky bounces anymore. Instead it is a legitimate history of coming up short in the playoffs no matter how good they play in the regular season. Pittsburgh will face Tampa Bay in the Eastern Conference finals, while St. Louis will face either Nashville or San Jose in the Western Conference finals. Game 7 between the Predators and Sharks is tonight, and I would argue that a Game 7 in the NHL playoffs is the most exciting thing in all of sports. We will know tomorrow who will move on to the conference finals.
Daily NBA Update: The Oklahoma City Thunder and the San Antonio Spurs will square off in Game 6 tonight, with the winner of the series moving on to face the defending champion Golden State Warriors. Oklahoma City can close out the series at home. If they lose, it is on to Game 7 in San Antonio. In my opinion, if the Spurs somehow win tonight, then they will win Game 7 at home. Even then though, the Cavaliers and Warriors will be sitting at home resting and watching Oklahoma City and San Antonio battle, and at this point, with Stephen Curry seemingly ready to return from injury, I think you have to consider Cleveland and Golden State the favorites to reach the NBA Finals.
Thursday, May 12, 2016
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
Sorry Drew, you brought this on yourself
As if the saga of the deflated footballs in the 2015 AFC Championship hasn't gone on long enough, the story re-emerged again in recent days when some court made some ruling that sided with the NFL and upheld Tom Brady's four game suspension that he has yet to serve. To be honest, I did not even remember that this issue was still going through the court system, so when this latest ruling was made, I had no idea it was coming, and therefore it was even more irritating.
The NFL draft begins tomorrow night, and before long, training camps will be under way, and it will be Week 1. We should be excited as football fans. Instead, we have to listen to more of this nonsense about a 45-7 game that happened almost a year and a half ago. As we all know by now, the New England Patriots were accused by the sore loser Indianapolis Colts who had just been run off the field that Patriots players or coaches or equipment managers or anyone who they could think of to blame had partially deflated the game balls in order to give an advantage to the Patriots. I don't need to bore you with all the details, but thanks to never ending court rulings and appeals, Tom Brady still could be suspended for the first four games of this season.
After this latest ruling came down, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said that he thought this was another case of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell having too much power since he not only is the one who levies the punishments, but he is also the one who hears the appeals of the punishments that he levies. NFL Player's Association executive George Atallah echoed those sentiments. Brees said that this unilateral power is unfair and the fact that the only recourse players have is to take their case to court. And I agree. It does make no sense. It is in many ways unfair. But do you know what I have to say to those two and anyone else who feels sorry for their plight? Too bad. Deal with it.
Back in 2011 when the NFL and the NFLPA were in the midst of a lockout and a labor dispute, we all had the same goal in mind. We wanted football. No matter what it took, we wanted football back. And we got it back without having to miss any regular season games. As players and owners, we got back the game we loved and made a living off of. And as fans, we got the game we loved to watch back. All seemed well and good. However, now that we have had football back for multiple years, people are starting to get mad again.
When Roger Goodell initially made his ruling on the deflated footballs saga, the Patriots were up in arms. They said that a four game suspension for Brady, a fine for the team, and the loss of a first round draft pick was a lot. And they were absolutely right. It was an unbelievably high price to pay for what seemed like a relatively minor transgression. Once again, I agree with that opinion. First round draft picks are golden in the NFL, and losing one of the greatest quarterbacks ever for 25% of the season, plus a $1 million fine levied against the Patriots was unbelievably over the top, especially when the investigations the league based their decisions on were questionable to say the least. There was very little hard, convincing evidence that proved the footballs had, in fact, been knowingly deflated. However, where I stop feeling sorry for Tom Brady and Drew Brees goes back to those labor negotiations in 2011.
The point of collective bargaining agreements is, as the title would lead us to believe, is that it is a collection of agreements between two parties. The NFLPA signed off on Goodell having this autonomous power. There were concessions made by both sides in the negotiations, and one of the concessions made by the NFLPA was that they would allow Goodell to make rulings just like the one he made in this case with the Patriots and Tom Brady. No one held a gun to the head of the NFLPA executives and forced them to sign this agreement, but they did sign it, and now they have to live with what they agreed upon.
I will say that while a gun was not literally held to the head of the NFLPA executives to sign the agreement, there is no question that there was immense public pressure to get the deal done and not deprive the fans of any meaningful regular season games. But you know what? The owners and the league were under the same pressure as well. The players wanted to make their money. The league wanted to make their money. The fans wanted to watch the games. So in the end, everyone got what they wanted.
It is easy to look back now and say that the NFLPA should not have agreed to giving Goodell unilateral power, but in the end, they agreed to it, and now they have to live with it. Brady has remained steadfast in his desire to prove his innocence in this case, and that is why this legal battle is seemingly never going to end, and it still may be far from over. And I commend Brady for taking the stance that he took. If he really believes that he is innocent, then he should appeal these court rulings as far up the legal chain as he can. To this point, that is exactly what he has done. The problem is, there have been so many appeals, that there is not much legal chain left.
If Brady chooses to continue to appeal (and I think he will do that), he will soon be appealing to the Supreme Court of the United States, and I think that might be where the case finally stalls. Plenty of people laugh at the notion of a sports case reaching the Supreme Court, but it has happened before, and there have been multiple times that I believe the cases were truly important enough to be ruled upon by the highest court in the country. You can research those if you would like and form your own opinions, but I believe that this particular case is not worthy of being ruled on by the Supreme Court. Therefore, like I said before, eventually I think that Brady will have to serve the four game suspension levied upon him. When that will be, I can't say for sure, but the time will eventually come.
So, let me get back to my original point. None of this would matter, and this issue could have been resolved a long time ago if the NFLPA had not agreed to give Goodell the power that they agreed to give him. The fact of the matter is, they did agree to it. And now they have to live with it. Patriots fans can try to sue the league, players can lash out publicly at Goodell and the league, and anyone else who feels so inclined can say that the punishment does not fit the crime. And they would be right. The punishment exceeds the crime. It exceeds the crime by miles. But the only thing that matters is the laws of the league.
Brady will, in my opinion, never concede guilt in this case, even if you asked him about it 50 years from now. And I applaud his stance. It is hard to believe based upon how he handled himself in meeting with the league before Goodell made the ruling, but I have no idea if he is guilty or not. If he believes he is innocent, then more power to him. He can appeal his case until there is no one else left to appeal to. And while I may not know whether or not Brady is guilty, I do know that he and the rest of the players gave Goodell the power that he is currently wielding. And for that, they have no one to blame but themselves.
The current collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players expires in 2020. Thanks to Brady, I think we all know what one of the first demands of the NFLPA will be a lessening of the power of the commissioner in terms of punishing players and/or teams. And it is a more than reasonable demand to make. What would make sense is that if a player did not agree with a punishment levied upon him, he should be able to appeal in front of an independent arbitrator that is not the exact same person who made the ruling in the first place. Until that happens though, the players are simply going to have to live with what they agreed to.
Maybe if Brady really wants to go out and stick it to the league, he can continue to appeal his case, hope it lasts through this season so he can play all 16 games, win the Super Bowl, and ride off into the sunset like Peyton Manning without ever serving his suspension. That would be the ultimate victory for Brady. So if I were Brady, I would go into training camp this season and expect nothing less than a Super Bowl. I would have my lawyers draw out the legal process as long as they could, and try to go out with a victory not only on the field against the 32 other teams, but off the field over Roger Goodell as well. That, in my book, would be the ultimate way to go out. Ride off into the sunset with all his money, his supermodel wife, and a big middle finger for the league that tried to tarnish his legendary image.
Daily Giants Update: With the draft now less than 48 hours away, it is truly time to get excited. With the first two picks seemingly locked in as Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, that leaves seven teams ahead of the Giants to make their selections. I have wanted Myles Jack to fall to the Giants ever since the season ended and we had a linebacking unit that was atrocious, and his name seems to be falling a bit recently. Hopefully he falls into the laps of the Giants, and if he is still on the board when they pick, I would hope that the team jumps at the chance to take him and immediately plugs him in and tries to turn him into the future leader of the defense that the team has so desperately needed for so long now.
Daily Rangers Update: The season is over, and what a disappointing way to end it. That's all I have to say about them.
In hockey that actually does matter, the St. Louis Blues knocked out the defending champion Blackhawks in a crazy Game 7, and the Ducks face the Predators tonight in the final game of the first round. The Islanders and Lightning also kick off the second round tonight in Tampa Bay.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: After 22 games, the team sits at 11-11, and while it is still early, there still have been things that I have been able to take away early in the year. The $200 million man Zack Greinke got off to a very bad start, but I think he is starting to find a bit of a rhythm. I can't say that I expect a historical season like he had last year, but he is going to be the ace.
I cannot say anything close to that, however, about the other new acquisition in the rotation, one Shelby Miller. He has been horrible in every start thus far. I felt bad enough about what the team gave up to get him immediately after the deal, and with the way he has performed so far, I only feel worse.
Still plenty of time left, and I have seen some good things elsewhere, but I think I have already lost patience with Miller.
Daily NBA Update: The Raptors staged an incredible comeback last night to avoid another loss at home, but my stance on them remains the same. Don't talk about being disrespected until you actually win a playoff series.
The Cavaliers and Spurs are in cruise control, and I also like what I have seen from the Atlanta Hawks. The talk of the playoffs has been injuries though, and the Los Angeles Clippers went from having championship aspirations one night to talk about blowing up the team after losing Chris Paul AND Blake Griffin to injury the next night. I think they have about a 50/50 chance of getting past the Portland Trail Blazers, but I would be shocked if they got anywhere after that.
The injury bug, has also bitten Stephen Curry, and while the injury he suffered was absolutely a freak accident that there was no way of predicting or preventing, he is starting to worry me a bit with the multiple injuries he has suffered over the course of the past few months. There are some guys, no matter the sport, that just seem to be unable to stay healthy for extended periods of time, and I hope this is just a blip on the radar and he does not fall into that category. I think Golden State still gets past a Houston Rockets team that should really be ashamed of the way they have looked on most nights.
The Warriors also caught a break when Griffin and Paul went down, because it will like be Golden State and Los Angeles in the second round. With the Clippers down their two best players, I think the Warriors win that series easily if Curry plays, and I think they still win even if he misses all or some of the series.
Right now though, the Spurs and Cavaliers are both healthy and rolling, so if Curry is unable to get back to 100%, Cleveland and San Antonio look like the two best teams.
The NFL draft begins tomorrow night, and before long, training camps will be under way, and it will be Week 1. We should be excited as football fans. Instead, we have to listen to more of this nonsense about a 45-7 game that happened almost a year and a half ago. As we all know by now, the New England Patriots were accused by the sore loser Indianapolis Colts who had just been run off the field that Patriots players or coaches or equipment managers or anyone who they could think of to blame had partially deflated the game balls in order to give an advantage to the Patriots. I don't need to bore you with all the details, but thanks to never ending court rulings and appeals, Tom Brady still could be suspended for the first four games of this season.
After this latest ruling came down, New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees said that he thought this was another case of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell having too much power since he not only is the one who levies the punishments, but he is also the one who hears the appeals of the punishments that he levies. NFL Player's Association executive George Atallah echoed those sentiments. Brees said that this unilateral power is unfair and the fact that the only recourse players have is to take their case to court. And I agree. It does make no sense. It is in many ways unfair. But do you know what I have to say to those two and anyone else who feels sorry for their plight? Too bad. Deal with it.
Back in 2011 when the NFL and the NFLPA were in the midst of a lockout and a labor dispute, we all had the same goal in mind. We wanted football. No matter what it took, we wanted football back. And we got it back without having to miss any regular season games. As players and owners, we got back the game we loved and made a living off of. And as fans, we got the game we loved to watch back. All seemed well and good. However, now that we have had football back for multiple years, people are starting to get mad again.
When Roger Goodell initially made his ruling on the deflated footballs saga, the Patriots were up in arms. They said that a four game suspension for Brady, a fine for the team, and the loss of a first round draft pick was a lot. And they were absolutely right. It was an unbelievably high price to pay for what seemed like a relatively minor transgression. Once again, I agree with that opinion. First round draft picks are golden in the NFL, and losing one of the greatest quarterbacks ever for 25% of the season, plus a $1 million fine levied against the Patriots was unbelievably over the top, especially when the investigations the league based their decisions on were questionable to say the least. There was very little hard, convincing evidence that proved the footballs had, in fact, been knowingly deflated. However, where I stop feeling sorry for Tom Brady and Drew Brees goes back to those labor negotiations in 2011.
The point of collective bargaining agreements is, as the title would lead us to believe, is that it is a collection of agreements between two parties. The NFLPA signed off on Goodell having this autonomous power. There were concessions made by both sides in the negotiations, and one of the concessions made by the NFLPA was that they would allow Goodell to make rulings just like the one he made in this case with the Patriots and Tom Brady. No one held a gun to the head of the NFLPA executives and forced them to sign this agreement, but they did sign it, and now they have to live with what they agreed upon.
I will say that while a gun was not literally held to the head of the NFLPA executives to sign the agreement, there is no question that there was immense public pressure to get the deal done and not deprive the fans of any meaningful regular season games. But you know what? The owners and the league were under the same pressure as well. The players wanted to make their money. The league wanted to make their money. The fans wanted to watch the games. So in the end, everyone got what they wanted.
It is easy to look back now and say that the NFLPA should not have agreed to giving Goodell unilateral power, but in the end, they agreed to it, and now they have to live with it. Brady has remained steadfast in his desire to prove his innocence in this case, and that is why this legal battle is seemingly never going to end, and it still may be far from over. And I commend Brady for taking the stance that he took. If he really believes that he is innocent, then he should appeal these court rulings as far up the legal chain as he can. To this point, that is exactly what he has done. The problem is, there have been so many appeals, that there is not much legal chain left.
If Brady chooses to continue to appeal (and I think he will do that), he will soon be appealing to the Supreme Court of the United States, and I think that might be where the case finally stalls. Plenty of people laugh at the notion of a sports case reaching the Supreme Court, but it has happened before, and there have been multiple times that I believe the cases were truly important enough to be ruled upon by the highest court in the country. You can research those if you would like and form your own opinions, but I believe that this particular case is not worthy of being ruled on by the Supreme Court. Therefore, like I said before, eventually I think that Brady will have to serve the four game suspension levied upon him. When that will be, I can't say for sure, but the time will eventually come.
So, let me get back to my original point. None of this would matter, and this issue could have been resolved a long time ago if the NFLPA had not agreed to give Goodell the power that they agreed to give him. The fact of the matter is, they did agree to it. And now they have to live with it. Patriots fans can try to sue the league, players can lash out publicly at Goodell and the league, and anyone else who feels so inclined can say that the punishment does not fit the crime. And they would be right. The punishment exceeds the crime. It exceeds the crime by miles. But the only thing that matters is the laws of the league.
Brady will, in my opinion, never concede guilt in this case, even if you asked him about it 50 years from now. And I applaud his stance. It is hard to believe based upon how he handled himself in meeting with the league before Goodell made the ruling, but I have no idea if he is guilty or not. If he believes he is innocent, then more power to him. He can appeal his case until there is no one else left to appeal to. And while I may not know whether or not Brady is guilty, I do know that he and the rest of the players gave Goodell the power that he is currently wielding. And for that, they have no one to blame but themselves.
The current collective bargaining agreement between the league and the players expires in 2020. Thanks to Brady, I think we all know what one of the first demands of the NFLPA will be a lessening of the power of the commissioner in terms of punishing players and/or teams. And it is a more than reasonable demand to make. What would make sense is that if a player did not agree with a punishment levied upon him, he should be able to appeal in front of an independent arbitrator that is not the exact same person who made the ruling in the first place. Until that happens though, the players are simply going to have to live with what they agreed to.
Maybe if Brady really wants to go out and stick it to the league, he can continue to appeal his case, hope it lasts through this season so he can play all 16 games, win the Super Bowl, and ride off into the sunset like Peyton Manning without ever serving his suspension. That would be the ultimate victory for Brady. So if I were Brady, I would go into training camp this season and expect nothing less than a Super Bowl. I would have my lawyers draw out the legal process as long as they could, and try to go out with a victory not only on the field against the 32 other teams, but off the field over Roger Goodell as well. That, in my book, would be the ultimate way to go out. Ride off into the sunset with all his money, his supermodel wife, and a big middle finger for the league that tried to tarnish his legendary image.
Daily Giants Update: With the draft now less than 48 hours away, it is truly time to get excited. With the first two picks seemingly locked in as Jared Goff and Carson Wentz, that leaves seven teams ahead of the Giants to make their selections. I have wanted Myles Jack to fall to the Giants ever since the season ended and we had a linebacking unit that was atrocious, and his name seems to be falling a bit recently. Hopefully he falls into the laps of the Giants, and if he is still on the board when they pick, I would hope that the team jumps at the chance to take him and immediately plugs him in and tries to turn him into the future leader of the defense that the team has so desperately needed for so long now.
Daily Rangers Update: The season is over, and what a disappointing way to end it. That's all I have to say about them.
In hockey that actually does matter, the St. Louis Blues knocked out the defending champion Blackhawks in a crazy Game 7, and the Ducks face the Predators tonight in the final game of the first round. The Islanders and Lightning also kick off the second round tonight in Tampa Bay.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: After 22 games, the team sits at 11-11, and while it is still early, there still have been things that I have been able to take away early in the year. The $200 million man Zack Greinke got off to a very bad start, but I think he is starting to find a bit of a rhythm. I can't say that I expect a historical season like he had last year, but he is going to be the ace.
I cannot say anything close to that, however, about the other new acquisition in the rotation, one Shelby Miller. He has been horrible in every start thus far. I felt bad enough about what the team gave up to get him immediately after the deal, and with the way he has performed so far, I only feel worse.
Still plenty of time left, and I have seen some good things elsewhere, but I think I have already lost patience with Miller.
Daily NBA Update: The Raptors staged an incredible comeback last night to avoid another loss at home, but my stance on them remains the same. Don't talk about being disrespected until you actually win a playoff series.
The Cavaliers and Spurs are in cruise control, and I also like what I have seen from the Atlanta Hawks. The talk of the playoffs has been injuries though, and the Los Angeles Clippers went from having championship aspirations one night to talk about blowing up the team after losing Chris Paul AND Blake Griffin to injury the next night. I think they have about a 50/50 chance of getting past the Portland Trail Blazers, but I would be shocked if they got anywhere after that.
The injury bug, has also bitten Stephen Curry, and while the injury he suffered was absolutely a freak accident that there was no way of predicting or preventing, he is starting to worry me a bit with the multiple injuries he has suffered over the course of the past few months. There are some guys, no matter the sport, that just seem to be unable to stay healthy for extended periods of time, and I hope this is just a blip on the radar and he does not fall into that category. I think Golden State still gets past a Houston Rockets team that should really be ashamed of the way they have looked on most nights.
The Warriors also caught a break when Griffin and Paul went down, because it will like be Golden State and Los Angeles in the second round. With the Clippers down their two best players, I think the Warriors win that series easily if Curry plays, and I think they still win even if he misses all or some of the series.
Right now though, the Spurs and Cavaliers are both healthy and rolling, so if Curry is unable to get back to 100%, Cleveland and San Antonio look like the two best teams.
Saturday, April 2, 2016
Don't get mad; get even
As we are getting closer and closer to the Finals of the NCAA Men's and Women's tournaments, there have been discussions in recent weeks about the UConn women's team, their dominance, and whether or not it is good for the sport. The Huskies have won 73 straight games (all by double digits), and are two wins away from winning their fourth straight national championship. They currently stand at 36-0 on the season, and they have won by scores of 79-31, 86-40, 107-45, 104-49, and a whole lot of other seemingly almost unfair final scores.
In the NCAA Tournament, the best teams are supposed to be on display. Maybe not in the first few rounds, but once the field is cut down to 16, in both the men's and women's game, we expect tight games. When UConn faced Mississippi State in the Sweet 16 this past week, we saw a record performance. UConn led 32-4 after the first quarter, and at halftime, the score was 61-12. 61-12 in the Sweet 16. Not only was the game already over, but in the eyes of many it wasn't even worth watching. Whether you felt like watching or not is not for me to say, but one thing I can say is that outcomes like that are certainly not bad for the women's game.
The easy thing to say is that dominance is good because it brings attention to the sport. I don't agree with that. What the Huskies are doing is more than simply bringing attention to women's basketball. They are winning games at an unprecedented pace and no matter your gender or theirs, this team deserves national attention for just how good they are. Geno Auriemma is one of the most accomplished coaches in all of sports. The senior class on this team is two wins away from their fourth national championship. Breanna Stewart is making a case for the greatest woman to ever play for the University of Connecticut.
Detractors say that UConn's dominance shows a lack of talent in the women's game. They say that there is not enough talent to go around, and each year there are only a limited number of teams with a legitimate chance to win a national title. While the women's game certainly does not feature as much talent in comparison to the men's game as far as the first ranked team to the 64th ranked team, to disqualify UConn's success because of that is a mistake.
This isn't like professional sports with no salary caps. The biggest teams are not simply in the biggest markets. Building a perennially successful college program does not happen overnight, and what Auriemma has done is the prime example of that. I would guess that just about 99.99% of Americans would not be able to locate Storrs, Connecticut on a map. So why is it then, that Storrs is the number one location for women's college basketball? The answer is simply Geno Auriemma. His players swear by him, and what they do on the court exemplifies just how great of a coach he is.
Years ago, I heard Auriemma answer a question about what he thought the dominance of his program meant for women's basketball, and he gave what I thought was a perfect answer. He said that he had no obligation to the game to try to make the playing field more even. Just because his program was great did not mean all of the other programs were at a disadvantage. In order for the playing field to even out, his program did not need to get worse. The other programs needed to get better.
It is the same as any other line of work. Whether it be real estate, technology, fashion, or anything else, the leaders are in that position for a reason. They innovate. They set the bar higher and higher. They lead while everyone else tries to catch up. The others do not catch up because the leader gets lazy and stops trying to innovate. The followers need to find ways to get better. Whether that means inventing a new kind of telephone or computer, starting a new fashion trend, or formulating a new way to build houses, the leaders have no responsibility to try to make everyone else better.
Watch the UConn team play this weekend. They aren't cheating. They aren't bending the rules. All they are doing is outplaying their opponents, and doing it in overwhelming fashion. The way they pass the ball, the way they shoot the ball, the way they play defense. It isn't some new kind of revolutionary basketball. It is the same basketball that every other team plays. The only difference is that they do it better than everyone else.
Breanna Stewart is standing in the middle of the lane blocking a shot at one end, and then she is knocking down a three pointer at the other end. Moriah Jefferson is leading a fast break and then playing lockdown defense. It is true that UConn almost always has more talented players on the court, but their players are not getting by on just raw ability. They are beating their opponents in every way possible, and it all starts with Auriemma.
His former and current players say that the number one reason his teams have so much success is because of his mentality. And his mentality is that his team deserves to be the best, and they have no reason to apologize for being just that. He works them hard in practice, and is just as tough on them during games. No matter how talented any of his players might be, none of them are immune to his criticism. And what makes his players so good is the fact that they know that. There are countless examples of talented players in any sport who cannot handle criticism. They think they are above the laws of the game, and they take any kind of criticism as an insult to their ability. What has made Auriemma's teams so good is that his rosters never contain players like that. No matter how good Breanna Stewart might be, she swears by Auriemma's coaching abilities, and says she is always willing to listen and get better. It is this sort of relationship between a coach and his players that truly makes a team elite. And Auriemma has done nothing but field elite teams since he has been at UConn.
Just watch a UConn game and you see what makes Auriemma great. His team might be winning by 20 points, but he is still pointing out each and every mistake they are making. And his team is still listening. What even further displays how great Auriemma is happens once the game is out of hand. Despite such lopsided final scores, UConn could never be accused of running up the score. Often times the starters sit out the entire fourth quarter. However, the team still dominates.
There is a common theme in sports that the attitude of the superstars trickles down and represents the attitude of each and every player on their team, and that is exactly what happens with the Huskies. Since the stars of the team are so receptive to criticism, the attitude infiltrates the entire team. Freshman see senior leaders always striving to get better, and that is the example they follow. That is why Auriemma's program has been so good for so long. Freshman classes come in and watch how the leaders of the team conduct themselves, and they have no choice but to do the same thing. They understand that their time will come, but it will only come if they buy into the concepts that Auriemma has used to build such a successful program. And that is why the Huskies do not run up the score despite the fact that they win so many games by such wide margins. Their players are all just coached so well from the top of the roster to the bottom that no matter who is on the floor, Auriemma's team has the advantage.
What Auriemma has done (and former men's coach Jim Calhoun) is really remarkable. They took a small and almost completely unknown school in a town in the middle of nowhere and they have built it into a national power. Sure, if you are one of the best women's basketball players in the country you could go to UCLA or Miami and play in the bright lights and the big cities. But thanks to Auriemma, if you really want to get better at basketball, you will go to school in tiny Storrs, Connecticut. Auriemma started with a program that was little more than a name and an arena and innovated his way to the top of the college basketball world.
Auriemma owes no one any apologies, and if you think that he does, then you don't know what you are talking about. There is only one way for the playing field to be leveled, and that is for the competition to catch up. Until that happens, the UConn women will keep winning titles, and the lights around Storrs will just grow brighter and brighter. And if their streak right now stands at 73 consecutive wins, imagine what could happen when those bulbs get bigger and bigger. Until someone out there steps up and beats the Huskies, Auriemma will not apologize as his team continues to dominate. And if you are one of those people that believes he should apologize, then I have to tell you that you are simply wrong, and I do not apologize for telling you that.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Really tough news last night as A.J. Pollock broke his elbow only days before the regular season gets underway. At first I thought he might miss a month or two, but the way it sounds now, I think the team has to count on being without him for the majority of the season. Injuries happen to everyone though, and I never like to use them as an excuse. However, losing Pollock is a big blow. Opening Day is now less than 48 hours away.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers were finished off by the lowly Buffalo Sabres just under an hour ago, and the team now has fallen to fifth in the Eastern Conference with four games to play. The NHL playoffs are almost like a brand new season once they get underway, but the Rangers really have no momentum at all at this point, and I cannot say that I am confident they can make much noise once the postseason begins.
Daily NBA Update: The Warriors suffered their first home loss of the season last night, and at 68-8, they need to finish the season 5-1 to break the single season record with 73 wins. Most of the other title contenders are resting their stars in preparation for the playoffs, and watching the Warriors recently, I have to say that they are looking a bit fatigued, and I am not sure that they will be as fresh as the competition going into the postseason, and this could come back to haunt them down the road. However, I have believed from the beginning of the season that if you have the chance to have what could possibly be the greatest season in the history of the sport, you owe it to yourself to go all out. Golden State is 68-8. If they finish 73-9 and win the title, there is no argument that they will have put together the greatest season ever. Until that is impossible, the Warriors should be playing every game like it is their last.
Daily Giants Update: Not much new here, as we are pretty much just counting down to the draft now that the majority of free agency signings have been completed. The Giants addressed their defensive line with major upgrades, but still need to add more pieces on defense. I would love for the team to be able to draft Myles Jack out of UCLA, but I doubt he will be available at number ten. New mock drafts I have seen have begun to mention as Laquon Treadwell as a possibility for the Giants. I think they just need to go the best player available route as opposed to trying to fill a certain position and maybe reaching for someone unworthy of the tenth overall pick. No matter who they draft, the Giants will need him ready to contribute Week 1.
In the NCAA Tournament, the best teams are supposed to be on display. Maybe not in the first few rounds, but once the field is cut down to 16, in both the men's and women's game, we expect tight games. When UConn faced Mississippi State in the Sweet 16 this past week, we saw a record performance. UConn led 32-4 after the first quarter, and at halftime, the score was 61-12. 61-12 in the Sweet 16. Not only was the game already over, but in the eyes of many it wasn't even worth watching. Whether you felt like watching or not is not for me to say, but one thing I can say is that outcomes like that are certainly not bad for the women's game.
The easy thing to say is that dominance is good because it brings attention to the sport. I don't agree with that. What the Huskies are doing is more than simply bringing attention to women's basketball. They are winning games at an unprecedented pace and no matter your gender or theirs, this team deserves national attention for just how good they are. Geno Auriemma is one of the most accomplished coaches in all of sports. The senior class on this team is two wins away from their fourth national championship. Breanna Stewart is making a case for the greatest woman to ever play for the University of Connecticut.
Detractors say that UConn's dominance shows a lack of talent in the women's game. They say that there is not enough talent to go around, and each year there are only a limited number of teams with a legitimate chance to win a national title. While the women's game certainly does not feature as much talent in comparison to the men's game as far as the first ranked team to the 64th ranked team, to disqualify UConn's success because of that is a mistake.
This isn't like professional sports with no salary caps. The biggest teams are not simply in the biggest markets. Building a perennially successful college program does not happen overnight, and what Auriemma has done is the prime example of that. I would guess that just about 99.99% of Americans would not be able to locate Storrs, Connecticut on a map. So why is it then, that Storrs is the number one location for women's college basketball? The answer is simply Geno Auriemma. His players swear by him, and what they do on the court exemplifies just how great of a coach he is.
Years ago, I heard Auriemma answer a question about what he thought the dominance of his program meant for women's basketball, and he gave what I thought was a perfect answer. He said that he had no obligation to the game to try to make the playing field more even. Just because his program was great did not mean all of the other programs were at a disadvantage. In order for the playing field to even out, his program did not need to get worse. The other programs needed to get better.
It is the same as any other line of work. Whether it be real estate, technology, fashion, or anything else, the leaders are in that position for a reason. They innovate. They set the bar higher and higher. They lead while everyone else tries to catch up. The others do not catch up because the leader gets lazy and stops trying to innovate. The followers need to find ways to get better. Whether that means inventing a new kind of telephone or computer, starting a new fashion trend, or formulating a new way to build houses, the leaders have no responsibility to try to make everyone else better.
Watch the UConn team play this weekend. They aren't cheating. They aren't bending the rules. All they are doing is outplaying their opponents, and doing it in overwhelming fashion. The way they pass the ball, the way they shoot the ball, the way they play defense. It isn't some new kind of revolutionary basketball. It is the same basketball that every other team plays. The only difference is that they do it better than everyone else.
Breanna Stewart is standing in the middle of the lane blocking a shot at one end, and then she is knocking down a three pointer at the other end. Moriah Jefferson is leading a fast break and then playing lockdown defense. It is true that UConn almost always has more talented players on the court, but their players are not getting by on just raw ability. They are beating their opponents in every way possible, and it all starts with Auriemma.
His former and current players say that the number one reason his teams have so much success is because of his mentality. And his mentality is that his team deserves to be the best, and they have no reason to apologize for being just that. He works them hard in practice, and is just as tough on them during games. No matter how talented any of his players might be, none of them are immune to his criticism. And what makes his players so good is the fact that they know that. There are countless examples of talented players in any sport who cannot handle criticism. They think they are above the laws of the game, and they take any kind of criticism as an insult to their ability. What has made Auriemma's teams so good is that his rosters never contain players like that. No matter how good Breanna Stewart might be, she swears by Auriemma's coaching abilities, and says she is always willing to listen and get better. It is this sort of relationship between a coach and his players that truly makes a team elite. And Auriemma has done nothing but field elite teams since he has been at UConn.
Just watch a UConn game and you see what makes Auriemma great. His team might be winning by 20 points, but he is still pointing out each and every mistake they are making. And his team is still listening. What even further displays how great Auriemma is happens once the game is out of hand. Despite such lopsided final scores, UConn could never be accused of running up the score. Often times the starters sit out the entire fourth quarter. However, the team still dominates.
There is a common theme in sports that the attitude of the superstars trickles down and represents the attitude of each and every player on their team, and that is exactly what happens with the Huskies. Since the stars of the team are so receptive to criticism, the attitude infiltrates the entire team. Freshman see senior leaders always striving to get better, and that is the example they follow. That is why Auriemma's program has been so good for so long. Freshman classes come in and watch how the leaders of the team conduct themselves, and they have no choice but to do the same thing. They understand that their time will come, but it will only come if they buy into the concepts that Auriemma has used to build such a successful program. And that is why the Huskies do not run up the score despite the fact that they win so many games by such wide margins. Their players are all just coached so well from the top of the roster to the bottom that no matter who is on the floor, Auriemma's team has the advantage.
What Auriemma has done (and former men's coach Jim Calhoun) is really remarkable. They took a small and almost completely unknown school in a town in the middle of nowhere and they have built it into a national power. Sure, if you are one of the best women's basketball players in the country you could go to UCLA or Miami and play in the bright lights and the big cities. But thanks to Auriemma, if you really want to get better at basketball, you will go to school in tiny Storrs, Connecticut. Auriemma started with a program that was little more than a name and an arena and innovated his way to the top of the college basketball world.
Auriemma owes no one any apologies, and if you think that he does, then you don't know what you are talking about. There is only one way for the playing field to be leveled, and that is for the competition to catch up. Until that happens, the UConn women will keep winning titles, and the lights around Storrs will just grow brighter and brighter. And if their streak right now stands at 73 consecutive wins, imagine what could happen when those bulbs get bigger and bigger. Until someone out there steps up and beats the Huskies, Auriemma will not apologize as his team continues to dominate. And if you are one of those people that believes he should apologize, then I have to tell you that you are simply wrong, and I do not apologize for telling you that.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Really tough news last night as A.J. Pollock broke his elbow only days before the regular season gets underway. At first I thought he might miss a month or two, but the way it sounds now, I think the team has to count on being without him for the majority of the season. Injuries happen to everyone though, and I never like to use them as an excuse. However, losing Pollock is a big blow. Opening Day is now less than 48 hours away.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers were finished off by the lowly Buffalo Sabres just under an hour ago, and the team now has fallen to fifth in the Eastern Conference with four games to play. The NHL playoffs are almost like a brand new season once they get underway, but the Rangers really have no momentum at all at this point, and I cannot say that I am confident they can make much noise once the postseason begins.
Daily NBA Update: The Warriors suffered their first home loss of the season last night, and at 68-8, they need to finish the season 5-1 to break the single season record with 73 wins. Most of the other title contenders are resting their stars in preparation for the playoffs, and watching the Warriors recently, I have to say that they are looking a bit fatigued, and I am not sure that they will be as fresh as the competition going into the postseason, and this could come back to haunt them down the road. However, I have believed from the beginning of the season that if you have the chance to have what could possibly be the greatest season in the history of the sport, you owe it to yourself to go all out. Golden State is 68-8. If they finish 73-9 and win the title, there is no argument that they will have put together the greatest season ever. Until that is impossible, the Warriors should be playing every game like it is their last.
Daily Giants Update: Not much new here, as we are pretty much just counting down to the draft now that the majority of free agency signings have been completed. The Giants addressed their defensive line with major upgrades, but still need to add more pieces on defense. I would love for the team to be able to draft Myles Jack out of UCLA, but I doubt he will be available at number ten. New mock drafts I have seen have begun to mention as Laquon Treadwell as a possibility for the Giants. I think they just need to go the best player available route as opposed to trying to fill a certain position and maybe reaching for someone unworthy of the tenth overall pick. No matter who they draft, the Giants will need him ready to contribute Week 1.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
A free agency frenzy
Yesterday was the first day of the new league year in the NFL and boy, did it start out with a bang. Money was flying around, and guys were changing teams so fast it seemed impossible to keep up. Now, one day later, the dust has somewhat settled, but there are still some very important questions that need to be answered. Before I address those, I want to address why people who are using yesterday as an indictment on the league or the players or the executives are dead wrong.
The NFL is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. That means there is a whole lot of money constantly coming in, and therefore a whole lot of money to be spent by all 32 teams. Yesterday was a prime example of that. There were really not any huge names that changed teams as far as the casual fan goes. No Reggie White or Drew Brees or Peyton Manning. But for the hardcore football fan, there were a whole lot of very interesting names that were moving all over the place. And the fact that many of the names on the move yesterday were not one of superstar status, yet they were still signing deals for unprecedented amounts of money is why I have heard so many people today criticize the teams that were writing all of those checks.
Now, part of this probably has to do with the fact that the Giants were at the forefront of the spending spree, and I want to justify the moves that my team made, but they were surely not the only team emptying their pockets.
Professional sports in the United States have gotten to the point where there is so much money that it is coming to the point where there is almost too much to go around. Baseball players having been signing contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars for years now. The same goes for basketball players, and like we saw yesterday, football players as well. That is why when people say that these players are being overpaid, it shows that they have no clue as to what they are talking about.
As is the case in any field of work, you are worth what someone is willing to pay for you. That doesn't just go for people either. If Home Buyer A wants to spend $1 million on a house, but Home Buyer B wants to spend $1.5 million on it, then the house is worth $1.5 million. Home Buyer A is more than welcome to increase his or her offer if they feel so inclined, but if they don't, that is their choice.
If a law firm wants to hire a defense attorney and pay $100,000 for their services, but another law firm wants to pay $125,000 for their services, then the lawyer is worth $125,000. That is the way the American economy works. The same goes for the NFL. The Denver Broncos thought Brock Osweiler was worth $15 million per season. The Houston Texans felt he was worth more than that. They offered him more, and Osweiler decided to sign with Houston. Is it Osweiler's fault that he was being offered that much money? No, because the current market in the league said he was worth that much. Is it Houston's fault that they had to offer that much money in order to sign him? No, because once again, the market said that was what they needed to offer him.
Now, you can call me biased here, and you would be correct, but the same goes for the spending spree that the Giants went on. Olivier Vernon was not forced to sign with the Giants. Neither were Janoris Jenkins or Damon Harrison. Maybe they had offers from other teams that would have paid them more money, or maybe the Giants were the highest bidders. I don't know the answer to that. Maybe Jenkins could have signed elsewhere but simply wanted to play for the Giants instead of the other teams that made offers to him.
And don't get me wrong, I am not saying this only about the guys that signed with the Giants. I would have loved to see the team sign Kelechi Osemele, because the Giants still need help on the offensive line. I would bet that the Giants made him an offer, but instead he decided to sign with the Oakland Raiders. If I had to guess why he signed with Oakland, I would say it was because they offered him more money than anyone else did, and in my mind, he made the right decision. The Raiders also made the right decision. If they felt that they needed help on the offensive line and thought adding Osemele would fill a hole, then they had to offer him the money that he signed for.
The critics that I have heard today are using Osweiler as the most glaring example of how unproven players are being extremely overpaid. They bring up the fact that Osweiler is making a salary similar to Tony Romo. Osweiler has started seven games in his NFL career, while Tony Romo has made multiple Pro Bowls and is a top-flight, franchise quarterback. Romo signed his deal in 2013. This is 2016. The league, and therefore the Houston Texans as well, have made billions of dollars since the time Romo signed his current contract. If Romo were available yesterday, he probably would have made a salary double what Osweiler got because the market would have made him worth that much. However, he wasn't. And in a league that is generating so much money, the market inflates the value of these guys, and it inflates the value of quarterbacks exponentially.
So don't sit here and criticize how much money these teams spent to get guys who are not elite level superstars. I would bet that the Texans have already sold thousands of Brock Osweiler jerseys, and he hasn't even been a member of the team for 24 hours. So the move is already paying dividends for Houston. Add ticket sales to that thanks to more interest in the team in Houston, as well as what is likely to be more national exposure since the Texans seem to be getting close to a true contender, and Osweiler will absolutely be worth every penny that the team spent on him. Training camp sessions will have higher attendance numbers. Ticket prices will increase. Therefore the team will be able to increase prices at the concession stands in the stadium. And what does that mean? More money. Thanks to Brock Osweiler and a hope for a brighter future among the Texans fanbase.
The same goes for the Giants. Sure, they spent a ton of money yesterday. But you know what that means? Giants fans are excited. I have not spoken to one Giants fan in the past 24 hours that was disappointed in what happened yesterday. The team filled holes that they desperately needed to fill, and in doing so, they made me want to go to a game next season and spend money for tickets and concessions and memorabilia. And I promise you that I am not the only Giants fan who feels that way.
After a string of unsuccessful seasons, Jerry Reese's job may be on the line going into this year. He had a ton of cap space, and a lot of needs. So why would someone ever blame him for using the resources he had at his disposal to try to turn his team around? The same goes for the front offices in Houston and Jacksonville and all of the other places that dished out a ton of money yesterday.
And then why would the players ever be at fault for taking that money? Brock Osweiler left the defending Super Bowl champions to join a borderline playoff team. Maybe he felt slighted when he was benched after going 5-2 in the seven starts he had with the Broncos. Maybe he prefers to be in Houston since it is warmer than Denver. Maybe his family likes the city of Houston more than Denver. Maybe houses are cheaper there. Or maybe he just wanted to go to Houston because they were offering him more money. Maybe he signed with the Texans for some, all, or none of those reasons. What I do know is that he shouldn't care what anyone else thinks. He should be happy with the deal he just signed, and based on his statements yesterday, that clearly is indeed the case.
The Texans needed a quarterback. The Giants needed help on the defensive line. The Raiders needed help on the offensive line. They might have paid a lot of money to address those needs, but at the end of the day, they did address them. Just because one guy in Anywhere, USA thinks they spent too much money is of no concern to them. The teams spent what they needed to spend. Not because I said that was the right price, but because in the NFL, where there is so much money to go around, that was the right price.
Daily Giants Update: I will start here since the Giants were the team making headlines yesterday. They did a heck of a job improving what was a terrible defense last season, but there are still more holes to fill. I have been an advocate of cutting Jason Pierre-Paul and Victor Cruz, but my mind has changed over the past few days. In comparison to what the team gave Vernon and Harrison, getting Pierre-Paul back on a one year deal is okay with me. Give him the offseason to adjust, and then next year to really be able to play with the self-induced limitation, and if it works we can try to re-sign him. If it doesn't work, then we are off the hook.
As far as Cruz goes, he took a massive pay cut, and I have to say as a fan that I really respect that. He then immediately posted a picture on Instagram that said "Once a Giant, always a Giant," and it told me that he was still dedicated to the team. I still need to see him actually get on the field and play, but what he did yesterday at the very least made me feel better about his commitment to the team.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers next seven games are against teams with serious postseason hopes, and that includes a trip to California to face the Ducks, Kings, and Sharks. With 15 games left to play, there is no such thing as a margin for error.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Zack Greinke has been pretty good thus far, and guys like Brandon Drury and Socrates Brito, both of whom are fighting for roster spots, have been hitting well. It is still somewhat early in the spring, but the weather is actually starting to get nice here in New York, so that means real baseball is getting closer and closer.
Daily NBA Update: Add the Portland Trail Blazers to the list of teams that are positioning themselves for nice futures. However, I still find it hard to believe that any of the lower seeds will knock off any of the top four teams in the Western Conference in the first round of the playoffs. Golden State won again last night, and they stand at 57-6 with 45 consecutive regular season home wins. And speaking of those Blazers, the Warriors next game is tomorrow night at home against Portland, so let's see how the Blazers stack up against the best the NBA has to offer.
The NFL is a multi-billion dollar enterprise. That means there is a whole lot of money constantly coming in, and therefore a whole lot of money to be spent by all 32 teams. Yesterday was a prime example of that. There were really not any huge names that changed teams as far as the casual fan goes. No Reggie White or Drew Brees or Peyton Manning. But for the hardcore football fan, there were a whole lot of very interesting names that were moving all over the place. And the fact that many of the names on the move yesterday were not one of superstar status, yet they were still signing deals for unprecedented amounts of money is why I have heard so many people today criticize the teams that were writing all of those checks.
Now, part of this probably has to do with the fact that the Giants were at the forefront of the spending spree, and I want to justify the moves that my team made, but they were surely not the only team emptying their pockets.
Professional sports in the United States have gotten to the point where there is so much money that it is coming to the point where there is almost too much to go around. Baseball players having been signing contracts for hundreds of millions of dollars for years now. The same goes for basketball players, and like we saw yesterday, football players as well. That is why when people say that these players are being overpaid, it shows that they have no clue as to what they are talking about.
As is the case in any field of work, you are worth what someone is willing to pay for you. That doesn't just go for people either. If Home Buyer A wants to spend $1 million on a house, but Home Buyer B wants to spend $1.5 million on it, then the house is worth $1.5 million. Home Buyer A is more than welcome to increase his or her offer if they feel so inclined, but if they don't, that is their choice.
If a law firm wants to hire a defense attorney and pay $100,000 for their services, but another law firm wants to pay $125,000 for their services, then the lawyer is worth $125,000. That is the way the American economy works. The same goes for the NFL. The Denver Broncos thought Brock Osweiler was worth $15 million per season. The Houston Texans felt he was worth more than that. They offered him more, and Osweiler decided to sign with Houston. Is it Osweiler's fault that he was being offered that much money? No, because the current market in the league said he was worth that much. Is it Houston's fault that they had to offer that much money in order to sign him? No, because once again, the market said that was what they needed to offer him.
Now, you can call me biased here, and you would be correct, but the same goes for the spending spree that the Giants went on. Olivier Vernon was not forced to sign with the Giants. Neither were Janoris Jenkins or Damon Harrison. Maybe they had offers from other teams that would have paid them more money, or maybe the Giants were the highest bidders. I don't know the answer to that. Maybe Jenkins could have signed elsewhere but simply wanted to play for the Giants instead of the other teams that made offers to him.
And don't get me wrong, I am not saying this only about the guys that signed with the Giants. I would have loved to see the team sign Kelechi Osemele, because the Giants still need help on the offensive line. I would bet that the Giants made him an offer, but instead he decided to sign with the Oakland Raiders. If I had to guess why he signed with Oakland, I would say it was because they offered him more money than anyone else did, and in my mind, he made the right decision. The Raiders also made the right decision. If they felt that they needed help on the offensive line and thought adding Osemele would fill a hole, then they had to offer him the money that he signed for.
The critics that I have heard today are using Osweiler as the most glaring example of how unproven players are being extremely overpaid. They bring up the fact that Osweiler is making a salary similar to Tony Romo. Osweiler has started seven games in his NFL career, while Tony Romo has made multiple Pro Bowls and is a top-flight, franchise quarterback. Romo signed his deal in 2013. This is 2016. The league, and therefore the Houston Texans as well, have made billions of dollars since the time Romo signed his current contract. If Romo were available yesterday, he probably would have made a salary double what Osweiler got because the market would have made him worth that much. However, he wasn't. And in a league that is generating so much money, the market inflates the value of these guys, and it inflates the value of quarterbacks exponentially.
So don't sit here and criticize how much money these teams spent to get guys who are not elite level superstars. I would bet that the Texans have already sold thousands of Brock Osweiler jerseys, and he hasn't even been a member of the team for 24 hours. So the move is already paying dividends for Houston. Add ticket sales to that thanks to more interest in the team in Houston, as well as what is likely to be more national exposure since the Texans seem to be getting close to a true contender, and Osweiler will absolutely be worth every penny that the team spent on him. Training camp sessions will have higher attendance numbers. Ticket prices will increase. Therefore the team will be able to increase prices at the concession stands in the stadium. And what does that mean? More money. Thanks to Brock Osweiler and a hope for a brighter future among the Texans fanbase.
The same goes for the Giants. Sure, they spent a ton of money yesterday. But you know what that means? Giants fans are excited. I have not spoken to one Giants fan in the past 24 hours that was disappointed in what happened yesterday. The team filled holes that they desperately needed to fill, and in doing so, they made me want to go to a game next season and spend money for tickets and concessions and memorabilia. And I promise you that I am not the only Giants fan who feels that way.
After a string of unsuccessful seasons, Jerry Reese's job may be on the line going into this year. He had a ton of cap space, and a lot of needs. So why would someone ever blame him for using the resources he had at his disposal to try to turn his team around? The same goes for the front offices in Houston and Jacksonville and all of the other places that dished out a ton of money yesterday.
And then why would the players ever be at fault for taking that money? Brock Osweiler left the defending Super Bowl champions to join a borderline playoff team. Maybe he felt slighted when he was benched after going 5-2 in the seven starts he had with the Broncos. Maybe he prefers to be in Houston since it is warmer than Denver. Maybe his family likes the city of Houston more than Denver. Maybe houses are cheaper there. Or maybe he just wanted to go to Houston because they were offering him more money. Maybe he signed with the Texans for some, all, or none of those reasons. What I do know is that he shouldn't care what anyone else thinks. He should be happy with the deal he just signed, and based on his statements yesterday, that clearly is indeed the case.
The Texans needed a quarterback. The Giants needed help on the defensive line. The Raiders needed help on the offensive line. They might have paid a lot of money to address those needs, but at the end of the day, they did address them. Just because one guy in Anywhere, USA thinks they spent too much money is of no concern to them. The teams spent what they needed to spend. Not because I said that was the right price, but because in the NFL, where there is so much money to go around, that was the right price.
Daily Giants Update: I will start here since the Giants were the team making headlines yesterday. They did a heck of a job improving what was a terrible defense last season, but there are still more holes to fill. I have been an advocate of cutting Jason Pierre-Paul and Victor Cruz, but my mind has changed over the past few days. In comparison to what the team gave Vernon and Harrison, getting Pierre-Paul back on a one year deal is okay with me. Give him the offseason to adjust, and then next year to really be able to play with the self-induced limitation, and if it works we can try to re-sign him. If it doesn't work, then we are off the hook.
As far as Cruz goes, he took a massive pay cut, and I have to say as a fan that I really respect that. He then immediately posted a picture on Instagram that said "Once a Giant, always a Giant," and it told me that he was still dedicated to the team. I still need to see him actually get on the field and play, but what he did yesterday at the very least made me feel better about his commitment to the team.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers next seven games are against teams with serious postseason hopes, and that includes a trip to California to face the Ducks, Kings, and Sharks. With 15 games left to play, there is no such thing as a margin for error.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Zack Greinke has been pretty good thus far, and guys like Brandon Drury and Socrates Brito, both of whom are fighting for roster spots, have been hitting well. It is still somewhat early in the spring, but the weather is actually starting to get nice here in New York, so that means real baseball is getting closer and closer.
Daily NBA Update: Add the Portland Trail Blazers to the list of teams that are positioning themselves for nice futures. However, I still find it hard to believe that any of the lower seeds will knock off any of the top four teams in the Western Conference in the first round of the playoffs. Golden State won again last night, and they stand at 57-6 with 45 consecutive regular season home wins. And speaking of those Blazers, the Warriors next game is tomorrow night at home against Portland, so let's see how the Blazers stack up against the best the NBA has to offer.
Tuesday, March 8, 2016
A big deal or no deal at all?
After writing about a Denver Broncos quarterback yesterday, another Broncos quarterback was making news at the same time. Because it is 2016 and pretty much everything done by anyone with some sort of notoriety can become public, we saw video of Brock Osweiler involved in a minor confrontation outside a pizzeria in Scottsdale. Depending upon who you ask, this could be a huge deal, or it could be no deal at all. And if you ask me, I will admit that it isn't the greatest look for Osweiler, but if I had to choose one side, I would choose the side that classified it as no deal at all.
Despite a limited sample size of games, Brock Osweiler is about to be handed a check for more money than most of us could ever imagine. Because of a number of reasons, Osweiler has simply found himself in the right place at the right time. Peyton Manning has retired, so the Broncos obviously need a quarterback. The market at the position is so devoid of capable bodies right now, that whoever signs Osweiler is going to have to pay him a ton of money. The quarterback position is so important to winning in the NFL, that when you get any sort of player who has the ability to play it at a high level, you need to do whatever you can to keep him. Combine all of these, and that is why Osweiler, despite a limited sample size of work, is still going to be paid a lot of money very soon by some team, with the most likely one being the Denver Broncos.
If you watch the video and have no idea who Osweiler is, then you are likely to make a bigger deal of it than football fans will. It is pretty obvious that Osweiler is drunk, and he shoves a woman before walking away into a taxi. When you find out that the woman is trying to confront Osweiler's wife, then your thought process should change at least somewhat. At face value, that is not exactly a good look for him. However, let's look at this case a little more closely.
Osweiler is a 25 year old, already successful young athlete. Should he be careful how he acts in public? Absolutely. However, does he have the right to defend his wife if she is being confronted by another person? Absolutely. I am not married, but if I were and my wife was being confronted by another person, male or female, I would have a problem with it. I don't care if it is physical or verbal confrontation. A man should defend his wife, and that is exactly what Osweiler did. The heckling woman was the aggressor, and Osweiler shoved her back to protect his wife. Any man faced with the same situation would do the same thing.
I listened to people today talk about, "What if the lady had fallen and hit her head? That would be terrible." Really? Anyone who thinks that way has blinders on and is living in a fantasy world. Those people should also watch the part of the video when another man shoves Osweiler from behind into the taxi cab and Osweiler refuses to reciprocate. Instead, he gets his wife and friends into the cab as the heckling man and woman continue to yell and scream. In my opinion, not only did Osweiler show incredible restraint in not going back at the man, but he also showed love and respect for his wife as well.
As the NFL has been dealing with all sorts of domestic violence issues in the past few years, I think what happened with Osweiler the other night is not a cause for concern. We have seen video of Ray Rice punching his wife in the face. Ray McDonald and Greg Hardy have been guilty of assaulting females. Major League Baseball just suspended Aroldis Chapman for domestic violence. What Osweiler did is nothing compared to Rice, Hardy, Chapman, or McDonald.
I actually feel stupid having to write about this video, but I couldn't help it because of what the people who criticized Osweiler were saying. What if the lady had fallen and hit her head? Really? What if she had some class in her and didn't act like a fool? Maybe that is a more important question. Sure, Osweiler was not in the right place at the right time, but because of his status as a growing celebrity, he can't help it if more idiots out there try to get their fifteen seconds of fame at his expense.
Brock Osweiler is about to get paid a lot of money. That lady and her fellow male heckler in Scottsdale are not going to have that luxury. If they can't accept that fact then, well, I'm sorry for them. If they can, I'll buy them dinner. I live in New York too, so how about pizza? I might not know either of them personally, but one thing I do know is that the pizza in Scottsdale is nothing compared to the pizza here. Osweiler is probably going to make a lot of money. But the pizza here is definitely better than the pizza in Arizona, and that isn't my opinion. That is a fact.
Daily Giants Update: The team just re-signed Jason Pierre-Paul to a one year deal. He is going to undergo surgery this offseason to try to make his hand more...like a hand I guess...and hopefully that means him not having to wear that club that he used last year and made him pretty much unable to wrap up and tackle. He was just as explosive as ever when he returned last season, but his handicap was obvious on countless occasions. I like the one year deal because it means he will have to prove himself next year with no guarantees for the future. That means he will be giving it all on every snap. I still think the team is paying him too much money, but I like the fact that what this deal does is basically make him have no choice but to prove his worth each and every play next year.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Welington Castillo had a big day at the plate yesterday, and while he has been a backup throughout his career up until joining the Diamondbacks, I really like what I have seen from him since he joined the club. We still need a serviceable backup, but I feel far better going into 2016 behind the plate than I did in 2015 when Tuffy Gosewisch was the top choice.
Daily Rangers Update: Coming off a bad loss to the Islanders, the Rangers go to Buffalo tonight to face a struggling Sabres team. I have continued to say it, and I stick by it. The Rangers are not playing well enough right now to win a Stanley Cup. That is all.
Daily NBA Update: Ok, for anyone saying that the Raptors are a threat to win the Eastern Conference, I say this: Let me see that team win a playoff series before I consider them as a true title contender. Until that happens, get out of here with those title aspirations.
In the west, the Warriors got back on track last night to go to 56-6, while the Spurs stumbled, and will play tonight without Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and head coach Gregg Popovich. Ouch. People are talking about Golden State like the last two games have written the blueprint on how to beat them. Stop them from making three point shots and force them to turn the ball over. With that team, I think hoping for both of those to happen over the course of a seven game series in the playoffs is still extremely wishful thinking. They are still on track to win 73 games, and with a long stretch of games coming up at home, it makes each and every night in the NBA worth watching.
Despite a limited sample size of games, Brock Osweiler is about to be handed a check for more money than most of us could ever imagine. Because of a number of reasons, Osweiler has simply found himself in the right place at the right time. Peyton Manning has retired, so the Broncos obviously need a quarterback. The market at the position is so devoid of capable bodies right now, that whoever signs Osweiler is going to have to pay him a ton of money. The quarterback position is so important to winning in the NFL, that when you get any sort of player who has the ability to play it at a high level, you need to do whatever you can to keep him. Combine all of these, and that is why Osweiler, despite a limited sample size of work, is still going to be paid a lot of money very soon by some team, with the most likely one being the Denver Broncos.
If you watch the video and have no idea who Osweiler is, then you are likely to make a bigger deal of it than football fans will. It is pretty obvious that Osweiler is drunk, and he shoves a woman before walking away into a taxi. When you find out that the woman is trying to confront Osweiler's wife, then your thought process should change at least somewhat. At face value, that is not exactly a good look for him. However, let's look at this case a little more closely.
Osweiler is a 25 year old, already successful young athlete. Should he be careful how he acts in public? Absolutely. However, does he have the right to defend his wife if she is being confronted by another person? Absolutely. I am not married, but if I were and my wife was being confronted by another person, male or female, I would have a problem with it. I don't care if it is physical or verbal confrontation. A man should defend his wife, and that is exactly what Osweiler did. The heckling woman was the aggressor, and Osweiler shoved her back to protect his wife. Any man faced with the same situation would do the same thing.
I listened to people today talk about, "What if the lady had fallen and hit her head? That would be terrible." Really? Anyone who thinks that way has blinders on and is living in a fantasy world. Those people should also watch the part of the video when another man shoves Osweiler from behind into the taxi cab and Osweiler refuses to reciprocate. Instead, he gets his wife and friends into the cab as the heckling man and woman continue to yell and scream. In my opinion, not only did Osweiler show incredible restraint in not going back at the man, but he also showed love and respect for his wife as well.
As the NFL has been dealing with all sorts of domestic violence issues in the past few years, I think what happened with Osweiler the other night is not a cause for concern. We have seen video of Ray Rice punching his wife in the face. Ray McDonald and Greg Hardy have been guilty of assaulting females. Major League Baseball just suspended Aroldis Chapman for domestic violence. What Osweiler did is nothing compared to Rice, Hardy, Chapman, or McDonald.
I actually feel stupid having to write about this video, but I couldn't help it because of what the people who criticized Osweiler were saying. What if the lady had fallen and hit her head? Really? What if she had some class in her and didn't act like a fool? Maybe that is a more important question. Sure, Osweiler was not in the right place at the right time, but because of his status as a growing celebrity, he can't help it if more idiots out there try to get their fifteen seconds of fame at his expense.
Brock Osweiler is about to get paid a lot of money. That lady and her fellow male heckler in Scottsdale are not going to have that luxury. If they can't accept that fact then, well, I'm sorry for them. If they can, I'll buy them dinner. I live in New York too, so how about pizza? I might not know either of them personally, but one thing I do know is that the pizza in Scottsdale is nothing compared to the pizza here. Osweiler is probably going to make a lot of money. But the pizza here is definitely better than the pizza in Arizona, and that isn't my opinion. That is a fact.
Daily Giants Update: The team just re-signed Jason Pierre-Paul to a one year deal. He is going to undergo surgery this offseason to try to make his hand more...like a hand I guess...and hopefully that means him not having to wear that club that he used last year and made him pretty much unable to wrap up and tackle. He was just as explosive as ever when he returned last season, but his handicap was obvious on countless occasions. I like the one year deal because it means he will have to prove himself next year with no guarantees for the future. That means he will be giving it all on every snap. I still think the team is paying him too much money, but I like the fact that what this deal does is basically make him have no choice but to prove his worth each and every play next year.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Welington Castillo had a big day at the plate yesterday, and while he has been a backup throughout his career up until joining the Diamondbacks, I really like what I have seen from him since he joined the club. We still need a serviceable backup, but I feel far better going into 2016 behind the plate than I did in 2015 when Tuffy Gosewisch was the top choice.
Daily Rangers Update: Coming off a bad loss to the Islanders, the Rangers go to Buffalo tonight to face a struggling Sabres team. I have continued to say it, and I stick by it. The Rangers are not playing well enough right now to win a Stanley Cup. That is all.
Daily NBA Update: Ok, for anyone saying that the Raptors are a threat to win the Eastern Conference, I say this: Let me see that team win a playoff series before I consider them as a true title contender. Until that happens, get out of here with those title aspirations.
In the west, the Warriors got back on track last night to go to 56-6, while the Spurs stumbled, and will play tonight without Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, and head coach Gregg Popovich. Ouch. People are talking about Golden State like the last two games have written the blueprint on how to beat them. Stop them from making three point shots and force them to turn the ball over. With that team, I think hoping for both of those to happen over the course of a seven game series in the playoffs is still extremely wishful thinking. They are still on track to win 73 games, and with a long stretch of games coming up at home, it makes each and every night in the NBA worth watching.
Monday, March 7, 2016
Riding off into the sunset
As it is now official, Peyton Manning has retired from the game of football. While I said earlier that I thought Manning still did want to play, I think he did and still does. However, as he said in the press conference announcing his retirement, he just thought it was the right time to walk away, and I totally agree with him. He was coming off a Super Bowl title, his skills were clearly diminished, the Broncos seem to be ready to usher in the Brock Osweiler era, and there just are not really any places that would seem like a fit for Manning right now.
As is the case with many professional athletes, saying you will retire and then actually doing so are two entirely different things. Some legends like John Elway and Michael Strahan have left the game on top and not looked back. There is also a long list of guys who have had trouble stepping away from the games that they love. Michael Jordan and Brett Favre come to mind there, but even guys like Jerry Rice and Shaquille O'Neal ended their careers bouncing around to teams we will not remember them for. You don't think of Jordan as a Washington Wizard. You don't think of Favre as a New York Jet. You don't think of Rice as an Oakland Raider. You don't think of O'Neal as a Phoenix Sun. And 20 years from now, maybe most people will not think of Manning as a Denver Bronco. However, it is hard to forget going out on top, and while Manning spent the majority of his career in Indianapolis, he did things in Denver that we had never seen before, and he set records that may not be broken for a very long time.
Manning leaves the game as the all-time leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns. He also has won more MVP awards than any other football player. He is tied with Brett Favre for the most career regular season wins as a starting quarterback. His record setting 2013 season also saw him set the mark for most passing yards and passing touchdowns in a single season. And when you actually look at what he did in 2013, it is really unbelievable just how great he was for that year. 3,000 passing yards in a season seemed like the benchmark not too long ago. Then the game evolved and the magic number was 4,000. In 2013, Manning threw for 5,477 yards. That alone is amazing. Throw in 55 touchdown passes compared with only 10 interceptions, and 2013 alone is the stuff of legends, and that was only a part of the legend that is Peyton Manning.
As he now is officially retired, the obviously instant question to ask is where he ranks on the list of all-time great NFL quarterbacks. That list varies widely depending on who you speak to, but when it comes to numbers alone, if you wanted to argue that Manning was the greatest to ever play the game, I would fully understand you. Manning threw 539 touchdown passes over the course of his 18 year career, the most ever. Tom Brady and Drew Brees are tied for third on that list with 428, and despite Brady's continued defiance of time, as well as his new four year contract extension with the New England Patriots, I have a hard time believing that he still has 111 touchdown passes in him. However, Brady has climbed higher mountains than that, so maybe I am wrong, but barring an unprecedented defiance of time by him, I think Manning seems primed to remain atop that list for quite a while.
Manning leaves the game with 71,940 passing yards. Once again, Brady may have an outside chance to break that record, but if he does not, it will be a long time until anyone comes close to Manning's mark. Manning's five league MVP awards is actually two clear of the nearest competition (Jim Brown, Brett Favre, and Johnny Unitas all won the award three times), so I think that record is one that is safe for a very, very long time. So these numbers present a very compelling case as to why it could surely be argued that Manning is the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
The elephant in the room though, is Manning's postseason record. As is the case with most sports, being a winner is what really counts, and that is where Manning falls short of some of his competition. It is also why guys like Bill Russell and Yogi Berra are so underrated. Not only were both of those men great at what they did, but they won more than anyone else ever did. And that is why, despite his unprecedented numbers, I still cannot say that Manning was the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
Peyton Manning won 70% of the games he played and was 2-2 in the Super Bowl. Joe Montana won 71% of the games he played and was 4-0 in the Super Bowl. Tom Brady has won 77% of his career games and is 4-2 in the Super Bowl, with still the chance to improve on both of those percentages. Roger Staubach, the only other quarterback to win over 70% of the games in which he played was 2-2 in the Super Bowl. And in my mind, those numbers are the ones that define the greatest to ever play, and why, in my mind, Joe Montana is still the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. Does Brady have a chance to surpass Montana? Yes, I think he does. Does Manning at least deserve to be mentioned in that conversation? Absolutely.
This past season and the outcome of the Super Bowl really was, in my opinion, a huge notch in the belt of Manning. Prior to the game, most people said that win or lose, Manning was among the all-time greats, and they were correct. However, in my mind, the game was very important in the legacy of Manning. The fact that he won multiple Super Bowls put him in a class that does not have many members. There are only 12 quarterbacks that have won more than one Super Bowl, and when Manning was able to join that list, I thought it was a colossal addition to his list of career accomplishments.
Another part of Manning's legacy is what I mentioned before. He was able to be great with more than one team. Montana, Brady, Bradshaw, Aikman. All of those men have won more Super Bowls than Manning, but they have all done so with one team. Manning stands alone as the only quarterback in NFL history to have won Super Bowls with multiple teams. While that may seem like something that is not essential in defining the greatest to ever play, it is still very unique in its own right. Kurt Warner won a Super Bowl with the Rams and then lost a Super Bowl with the Cardinals. Craig Morton started a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos but lost both of them. Manning is the only man to ever start and win a Super Bowl with more than one team. Not only does that speak to his greatness as a player, but I think it also speaks to his ability to lead in multiple ways. He was the face of the Indianapolis Colts for over a decade and delivered a title. Then, he moved to Denver and was just as great, and delivered a title there as well. Reaching the ultimate goal with one team is tough enough, but to be able to readjust and do it again somewhere else is truly something that we have never seen before in the NFL.
I have drifted a bit off topic here, as my initial goal was to focus initially on Manning alone, but I think the fact that you cannot speak about him without mentioning the all-time greats speaks for itself. Older fans will mention names like Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, ad Sid Luckman. What they all did was incredible, and in many ways revolutionary. However, what Peyton Manning did was revolutionary as well.
I cannot say that I will think of Peyton Manning as the greatest quarterback of all time, but he is definitely in the top ten, and most likely in the top five. I also cannot say if I will remember him more as an Indianapolis Colt as opposed to a Denver Bronco. Only time will tell how that plays out.
What I can say without question though, is that I will remember him as someone who played the position in a manner I had never seen before. He didn't get in the huddle, walk to the line of scrimmage, and take the snap. I will remember him for how he seemed to always be one step ahead of his opponents. All of those audibles and hand signals at the line of scrimmage meant that he knew what he was doing. It put opposing defenses on their heels. It demonstrated why I think that the single most difficult position to play in all of professional sports is NFL quarterback. Not only do you have to master how you and your teammates play the game, but you have to master how to adapt to how your opponent plays the game as well.
His individual numbers are great. His postseason record is far from so. However, no one can argue that Peyton Manning not only revolutionized how the game of football is played, but he also revolutionized how I watched it as a fan. It isn't just a bunch of Neanderthal men out there crashing into on another. It requires a mental approach just like, if not more so, than any other profession does. Winning games on Sundays is based off of what you do from Monday through Saturday, not just going out and running around on the field. That is what I learned from Peyton Manning, and that is why the game will always be missing something now that he is gone.
Daily Giants Update: The team announced today that they have told Victor Cruz that he will have to take a pay cut in order to remain on the roster, and I completely agree with them in doing so. As much fun as he has been to watch, it has been a long time since he has been on the field, and the Giants need their money to be spent wisely. That means giving less of it to Cruz. If he stays with the team at a reduced salary, then I am fine with that. If he wants anything else, then he needs to be released.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers were gashed by the Islanders last night, allowing six goals. Eric Staal got a goal which is nice as he acclimates himself to the team, but I am still not exactly comfortable with how this team is playing. They have 16 games left to change my thinking.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Zack Greinke looked good in his brief spring debut, which is obviously nice to see. The first round of roster cuts took place today, but there still are plenty of moves to be made, as we still have just under a month until Opening Day. Stay tuned here, because the back end of the roster is still far from being decided.
Daily NBA Update: The Warriors laid a total egg yesterday afternoon in a loss to the Lakers, and they now sit at 55-6. They have a long stretch of games at home coming up, beginning with the Orlando Magic tonight. They have not lost at home all season, and their opponents during this home stretch are mostly far from intimidating. However, their few losses this season have all come against lower level teams, so they need to bounce back tonight.
Aside from that, I think teams in the Eastern Conference really need to worry about the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Hornets. I am not saying that either of those teams will be able to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown in 2016, but I like the way both of those teams are building around young cores.
As is the case with many professional athletes, saying you will retire and then actually doing so are two entirely different things. Some legends like John Elway and Michael Strahan have left the game on top and not looked back. There is also a long list of guys who have had trouble stepping away from the games that they love. Michael Jordan and Brett Favre come to mind there, but even guys like Jerry Rice and Shaquille O'Neal ended their careers bouncing around to teams we will not remember them for. You don't think of Jordan as a Washington Wizard. You don't think of Favre as a New York Jet. You don't think of Rice as an Oakland Raider. You don't think of O'Neal as a Phoenix Sun. And 20 years from now, maybe most people will not think of Manning as a Denver Bronco. However, it is hard to forget going out on top, and while Manning spent the majority of his career in Indianapolis, he did things in Denver that we had never seen before, and he set records that may not be broken for a very long time.
Manning leaves the game as the all-time leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns. He also has won more MVP awards than any other football player. He is tied with Brett Favre for the most career regular season wins as a starting quarterback. His record setting 2013 season also saw him set the mark for most passing yards and passing touchdowns in a single season. And when you actually look at what he did in 2013, it is really unbelievable just how great he was for that year. 3,000 passing yards in a season seemed like the benchmark not too long ago. Then the game evolved and the magic number was 4,000. In 2013, Manning threw for 5,477 yards. That alone is amazing. Throw in 55 touchdown passes compared with only 10 interceptions, and 2013 alone is the stuff of legends, and that was only a part of the legend that is Peyton Manning.
As he now is officially retired, the obviously instant question to ask is where he ranks on the list of all-time great NFL quarterbacks. That list varies widely depending on who you speak to, but when it comes to numbers alone, if you wanted to argue that Manning was the greatest to ever play the game, I would fully understand you. Manning threw 539 touchdown passes over the course of his 18 year career, the most ever. Tom Brady and Drew Brees are tied for third on that list with 428, and despite Brady's continued defiance of time, as well as his new four year contract extension with the New England Patriots, I have a hard time believing that he still has 111 touchdown passes in him. However, Brady has climbed higher mountains than that, so maybe I am wrong, but barring an unprecedented defiance of time by him, I think Manning seems primed to remain atop that list for quite a while.
Manning leaves the game with 71,940 passing yards. Once again, Brady may have an outside chance to break that record, but if he does not, it will be a long time until anyone comes close to Manning's mark. Manning's five league MVP awards is actually two clear of the nearest competition (Jim Brown, Brett Favre, and Johnny Unitas all won the award three times), so I think that record is one that is safe for a very, very long time. So these numbers present a very compelling case as to why it could surely be argued that Manning is the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
The elephant in the room though, is Manning's postseason record. As is the case with most sports, being a winner is what really counts, and that is where Manning falls short of some of his competition. It is also why guys like Bill Russell and Yogi Berra are so underrated. Not only were both of those men great at what they did, but they won more than anyone else ever did. And that is why, despite his unprecedented numbers, I still cannot say that Manning was the greatest quarterback to ever play the game.
Peyton Manning won 70% of the games he played and was 2-2 in the Super Bowl. Joe Montana won 71% of the games he played and was 4-0 in the Super Bowl. Tom Brady has won 77% of his career games and is 4-2 in the Super Bowl, with still the chance to improve on both of those percentages. Roger Staubach, the only other quarterback to win over 70% of the games in which he played was 2-2 in the Super Bowl. And in my mind, those numbers are the ones that define the greatest to ever play, and why, in my mind, Joe Montana is still the greatest quarterback to ever play the game. Does Brady have a chance to surpass Montana? Yes, I think he does. Does Manning at least deserve to be mentioned in that conversation? Absolutely.
This past season and the outcome of the Super Bowl really was, in my opinion, a huge notch in the belt of Manning. Prior to the game, most people said that win or lose, Manning was among the all-time greats, and they were correct. However, in my mind, the game was very important in the legacy of Manning. The fact that he won multiple Super Bowls put him in a class that does not have many members. There are only 12 quarterbacks that have won more than one Super Bowl, and when Manning was able to join that list, I thought it was a colossal addition to his list of career accomplishments.
Another part of Manning's legacy is what I mentioned before. He was able to be great with more than one team. Montana, Brady, Bradshaw, Aikman. All of those men have won more Super Bowls than Manning, but they have all done so with one team. Manning stands alone as the only quarterback in NFL history to have won Super Bowls with multiple teams. While that may seem like something that is not essential in defining the greatest to ever play, it is still very unique in its own right. Kurt Warner won a Super Bowl with the Rams and then lost a Super Bowl with the Cardinals. Craig Morton started a Super Bowl with the Dallas Cowboys and Denver Broncos but lost both of them. Manning is the only man to ever start and win a Super Bowl with more than one team. Not only does that speak to his greatness as a player, but I think it also speaks to his ability to lead in multiple ways. He was the face of the Indianapolis Colts for over a decade and delivered a title. Then, he moved to Denver and was just as great, and delivered a title there as well. Reaching the ultimate goal with one team is tough enough, but to be able to readjust and do it again somewhere else is truly something that we have never seen before in the NFL.
I have drifted a bit off topic here, as my initial goal was to focus initially on Manning alone, but I think the fact that you cannot speak about him without mentioning the all-time greats speaks for itself. Older fans will mention names like Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr, Sammy Baugh, Otto Graham, ad Sid Luckman. What they all did was incredible, and in many ways revolutionary. However, what Peyton Manning did was revolutionary as well.
I cannot say that I will think of Peyton Manning as the greatest quarterback of all time, but he is definitely in the top ten, and most likely in the top five. I also cannot say if I will remember him more as an Indianapolis Colt as opposed to a Denver Bronco. Only time will tell how that plays out.
What I can say without question though, is that I will remember him as someone who played the position in a manner I had never seen before. He didn't get in the huddle, walk to the line of scrimmage, and take the snap. I will remember him for how he seemed to always be one step ahead of his opponents. All of those audibles and hand signals at the line of scrimmage meant that he knew what he was doing. It put opposing defenses on their heels. It demonstrated why I think that the single most difficult position to play in all of professional sports is NFL quarterback. Not only do you have to master how you and your teammates play the game, but you have to master how to adapt to how your opponent plays the game as well.
His individual numbers are great. His postseason record is far from so. However, no one can argue that Peyton Manning not only revolutionized how the game of football is played, but he also revolutionized how I watched it as a fan. It isn't just a bunch of Neanderthal men out there crashing into on another. It requires a mental approach just like, if not more so, than any other profession does. Winning games on Sundays is based off of what you do from Monday through Saturday, not just going out and running around on the field. That is what I learned from Peyton Manning, and that is why the game will always be missing something now that he is gone.
Daily Giants Update: The team announced today that they have told Victor Cruz that he will have to take a pay cut in order to remain on the roster, and I completely agree with them in doing so. As much fun as he has been to watch, it has been a long time since he has been on the field, and the Giants need their money to be spent wisely. That means giving less of it to Cruz. If he stays with the team at a reduced salary, then I am fine with that. If he wants anything else, then he needs to be released.
Daily Rangers Update: The Rangers were gashed by the Islanders last night, allowing six goals. Eric Staal got a goal which is nice as he acclimates himself to the team, but I am still not exactly comfortable with how this team is playing. They have 16 games left to change my thinking.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: Zack Greinke looked good in his brief spring debut, which is obviously nice to see. The first round of roster cuts took place today, but there still are plenty of moves to be made, as we still have just under a month until Opening Day. Stay tuned here, because the back end of the roster is still far from being decided.
Daily NBA Update: The Warriors laid a total egg yesterday afternoon in a loss to the Lakers, and they now sit at 55-6. They have a long stretch of games at home coming up, beginning with the Orlando Magic tonight. They have not lost at home all season, and their opponents during this home stretch are mostly far from intimidating. However, their few losses this season have all come against lower level teams, so they need to bounce back tonight.
Aside from that, I think teams in the Eastern Conference really need to worry about the Boston Celtics and the Charlotte Hornets. I am not saying that either of those teams will be able to challenge for the Eastern Conference crown in 2016, but I like the way both of those teams are building around young cores.
Monday, February 29, 2016
The real thing that we need to focus on
This past Saturday night we saw what was surely one of the best games of the NBA regular season thus far. The Oklahoma City Thunder led the Golden State Warriors for pretty much the entire night until Stephen Curry hit an unbelievable three pointer in the waning seconds of overtime to win the game for Golden State. There were multiple storylines that surrounded the game, and while Curry's incredible shot to win the game was clearly at the top of the list, I think there are a few other storylines worth mentioning.
The first of those is something that I think has been more and more noticeable as the past few seasons have progressed, but for one reason or another, I think has been downplayed. When LeBron James came into the league with all of the fanfare that surrounded him, the spotlight shined bright on him, and all of his successes and failures, no matter how big or small, were highlighted. And for the point right now, his failures were well documented and picked apart with a microscope. After he won two titles, the burden has surely lessened, but people still look at his failures and put more weight into them than all of the success he has had. Whether fair or unfair, it is simply the truth. However, one of the parts of this past Saturday's game that has been overlooked is that Kevin Durant seems to be the "new LeBron" as far as coming up short when it matters most.
When the Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, it was seen as a long overdue coronation of James. People looked at Oklahoma City and thought they would have plenty of time to reach the mountain top in the future. However, that has not happened yet. Injuries to Durant and teammate Russell Westbrook have certainly played a part in it not happening yet, but I think we need to face the fact that in the biggest moments, Durant has not yet delivered what every NBA superstar covets, and that is a championship win. Down the stretch of the game this past Saturday, we saw more of the same. Durant played a great game, but he also made some crucial errors.
Trapped in the corner after taking an inbounds pass, Durant threw a terrible cross court ball that was intercepted and eventually allowed Golden State to tie the game and send it into overtime. Then, he followed that up by fouling out. The foul may have been a cheap one, but when you are a superstar, you simply cannot foul out of a big game like that, and he did. I don't want to dwell on Durant anymore, because I like him, but I think people need to at least realize the fact that he has still not delivered on the biggest of stages, and if they want to rip LeBron to shreds over each and every failure to deliver, then I think they need to be fair and do the same with Durant, because they are both superstars.
What really made me want to write this piece though, was the immediate reaction of people to a halftime tirade by Draymond Green. Green went off in the locker room at halftime about some sort of disrespect that he felt about his mistakes being highlighted. Supposedly, head coach Steve Kerr was the one who set Green off, but no matter the original cause, Green's tirade was magnified by many reporters. My response to those who magnified his actions to the degree that he had to publicly apologize is this: Really?
Professional athletes are a different breed. Whether it be basketball, football, hockey, baseball, or any other sport, you cannot deny the fact that these guys are wired differently than other people. They are driven by an attitude that has given them the opportunity to be in their position. They find motivation in the smallest of slights, whether it be personal or professional. That is what makes the cream of the crop exactly that. Michael Jordan is known for his ability to take the simplest thing and turn it into an unbelievably motivating factor, and he is praised for doing so. Pro athletes understand that, and what is even more important, is that they respect and appreciate that. So there is a reason that Green's tirade is being viewed by his teammates in a manner that is in stark contrast to how it is being viewed in the public eye.
To outsiders, Green may been seen as a selfish individual who was wrong in criticizing his coaches and teammates. But in the place that really matters, the locker room, I am willing to bet that his coaches and teammates have zero problem at all with what he did. Green wasn't disrespecting his team. He was motivating them, even if he didn't know it at the time. What he did showed the people in the locker room that he really does care about wins and losses, and too often it seems like there are players who do not truly care about that. So how did the media respond to what Green did? They blew it out of proportion. How did his team respond? They went out on the court and won the game. In my mind, that is what should be the focus here. When it comes to issues off of the court, that is when teams may need to worry. However, this was not an off-court issue. This was only about what was happening on the court, and therefore, what Green did was only being done with the best interest of the team in mind, no matter what people outside that locker room might say.
There is a reason that great teams and great players are great, and their attitude about the game is key in helping them reach such a level. Draymond Green is a very good player on a team that has the potential to become one of the greatest ever. And what Saturday night showed me was that not only can Stephen Curry shoot the three as well as anyone we have ever seen, but he is surrounded by teammates that truly care about the team. A public apology may have been necessary to quell the media uproar about Green, but I can assure you that no apology was needed in that locker room, and at the end of the day, for a professional athlete, the feelings in his locker room are the only ones that really need to matter.
Daily NBA Update: As I said, the Warriors beat the Thunder in an unbelievable game, and they now sit at 53-5. They aren't there yet, but they continue to climb the ladder ad are getting closer and closer each and every night to the peak of NBA regular season history.
Daily Rangers Update: The team acquired Eric Staal in a trade with the struggling Carolina Hurricanes in what is clearly a win-now move. The Rangers are tied 1-1 in the third period right now with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and this is a game they should win. Hopefully, it ends that way.
Daily Giants Update: Nothing really new to report here, as the Giants, just like every other team in the league, is scouting the incoming draft class at the combine. Jerry Reese cannot afford to miss on another first round pick, so hopefully whoever it is the team ends up drafting turns into a key contributor during the 2016 season.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The team signed Rickie Weeks to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, so there is now officially a logjam in the middle infield. Second base and shortstop are probably the two biggest questions that need to be answered, and the Diamondbacks have a number of options to choose from. However, the problem is are any of those options really good ones? The games start soon, so all we can do is watch and hope that someone separates himself from the pack so we can go into Opening Day with a strong roster from top to bottom.
The first of those is something that I think has been more and more noticeable as the past few seasons have progressed, but for one reason or another, I think has been downplayed. When LeBron James came into the league with all of the fanfare that surrounded him, the spotlight shined bright on him, and all of his successes and failures, no matter how big or small, were highlighted. And for the point right now, his failures were well documented and picked apart with a microscope. After he won two titles, the burden has surely lessened, but people still look at his failures and put more weight into them than all of the success he has had. Whether fair or unfair, it is simply the truth. However, one of the parts of this past Saturday's game that has been overlooked is that Kevin Durant seems to be the "new LeBron" as far as coming up short when it matters most.
When the Miami Heat beat the Oklahoma City Thunder in the NBA Finals, it was seen as a long overdue coronation of James. People looked at Oklahoma City and thought they would have plenty of time to reach the mountain top in the future. However, that has not happened yet. Injuries to Durant and teammate Russell Westbrook have certainly played a part in it not happening yet, but I think we need to face the fact that in the biggest moments, Durant has not yet delivered what every NBA superstar covets, and that is a championship win. Down the stretch of the game this past Saturday, we saw more of the same. Durant played a great game, but he also made some crucial errors.
Trapped in the corner after taking an inbounds pass, Durant threw a terrible cross court ball that was intercepted and eventually allowed Golden State to tie the game and send it into overtime. Then, he followed that up by fouling out. The foul may have been a cheap one, but when you are a superstar, you simply cannot foul out of a big game like that, and he did. I don't want to dwell on Durant anymore, because I like him, but I think people need to at least realize the fact that he has still not delivered on the biggest of stages, and if they want to rip LeBron to shreds over each and every failure to deliver, then I think they need to be fair and do the same with Durant, because they are both superstars.
What really made me want to write this piece though, was the immediate reaction of people to a halftime tirade by Draymond Green. Green went off in the locker room at halftime about some sort of disrespect that he felt about his mistakes being highlighted. Supposedly, head coach Steve Kerr was the one who set Green off, but no matter the original cause, Green's tirade was magnified by many reporters. My response to those who magnified his actions to the degree that he had to publicly apologize is this: Really?
Professional athletes are a different breed. Whether it be basketball, football, hockey, baseball, or any other sport, you cannot deny the fact that these guys are wired differently than other people. They are driven by an attitude that has given them the opportunity to be in their position. They find motivation in the smallest of slights, whether it be personal or professional. That is what makes the cream of the crop exactly that. Michael Jordan is known for his ability to take the simplest thing and turn it into an unbelievably motivating factor, and he is praised for doing so. Pro athletes understand that, and what is even more important, is that they respect and appreciate that. So there is a reason that Green's tirade is being viewed by his teammates in a manner that is in stark contrast to how it is being viewed in the public eye.
To outsiders, Green may been seen as a selfish individual who was wrong in criticizing his coaches and teammates. But in the place that really matters, the locker room, I am willing to bet that his coaches and teammates have zero problem at all with what he did. Green wasn't disrespecting his team. He was motivating them, even if he didn't know it at the time. What he did showed the people in the locker room that he really does care about wins and losses, and too often it seems like there are players who do not truly care about that. So how did the media respond to what Green did? They blew it out of proportion. How did his team respond? They went out on the court and won the game. In my mind, that is what should be the focus here. When it comes to issues off of the court, that is when teams may need to worry. However, this was not an off-court issue. This was only about what was happening on the court, and therefore, what Green did was only being done with the best interest of the team in mind, no matter what people outside that locker room might say.
There is a reason that great teams and great players are great, and their attitude about the game is key in helping them reach such a level. Draymond Green is a very good player on a team that has the potential to become one of the greatest ever. And what Saturday night showed me was that not only can Stephen Curry shoot the three as well as anyone we have ever seen, but he is surrounded by teammates that truly care about the team. A public apology may have been necessary to quell the media uproar about Green, but I can assure you that no apology was needed in that locker room, and at the end of the day, for a professional athlete, the feelings in his locker room are the only ones that really need to matter.
Daily NBA Update: As I said, the Warriors beat the Thunder in an unbelievable game, and they now sit at 53-5. They aren't there yet, but they continue to climb the ladder ad are getting closer and closer each and every night to the peak of NBA regular season history.
Daily Rangers Update: The team acquired Eric Staal in a trade with the struggling Carolina Hurricanes in what is clearly a win-now move. The Rangers are tied 1-1 in the third period right now with the Columbus Blue Jackets, and this is a game they should win. Hopefully, it ends that way.
Daily Giants Update: Nothing really new to report here, as the Giants, just like every other team in the league, is scouting the incoming draft class at the combine. Jerry Reese cannot afford to miss on another first round pick, so hopefully whoever it is the team ends up drafting turns into a key contributor during the 2016 season.
Daily Diamondbacks Update: The team signed Rickie Weeks to a minor league deal with an invitation to Spring Training, so there is now officially a logjam in the middle infield. Second base and shortstop are probably the two biggest questions that need to be answered, and the Diamondbacks have a number of options to choose from. However, the problem is are any of those options really good ones? The games start soon, so all we can do is watch and hope that someone separates himself from the pack so we can go into Opening Day with a strong roster from top to bottom.
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