Enjoying baseball season yet?
If you're a Yankee fan, you have to be thinking, "...and I made fun of the Mets looking old?"
If you're a Mets fan, you're waiting for Johan Santana's arm to fall off, too.
If you're a Red Sox fan, your second world championship and a nice comeback from a rough start overseas has to be causing you an identity crisis.
If you're a Chicago Cubs fan, you know better.
If you're a Tigers fan, you're thinking, 'Quasimodo didn't predict THIS.'
(That would be Nostradamus for the non-Sopranos fan.)
If you're a Blue Jays fan, you're back to that same old closet, packing away your Frank Thomas jersey while digging out your old powder-blue Kelly Gruber garb you don't dare reveal to your grown-up friends.
And if you're a fan of the Tampa Bay Rays, the Baltimore Orioles, the Chicago White Sox, the Florida Marlins, the Arizona Diamondbacks, you're a liar.
Unless, of course, you're Silver Creek girls' basketball coach, Rich Norton--a diehard Orioles fan, who still dreams every night of waking up to his morning paper and reading Jeffery Mayer's obituary.
(EDITOR's NOTE: the previous sentence is the sole opinion of the writer, and has never been confirmed by the subject, therein. However, in all fairness, Norton has never denied that, either.)
The good news: it's only April.
The bad news: it's still April.
* If Roger Clemens did have a decade-long affair with country star, Mindy McCready, than this would be the second time Jose Canseco has been wrong--just on The Rocket alone.
Canseco testified in "Juiced" that Clemens was the only player he played with who never witnessed cheated on his wife or girlfriend.
In recent months, the 1988 AL MVP has also sworn that his former Toronto teammate and accused steroid user never attended a party in June of 1998 at the slugger's house where the pair allegedly discussed juice-use in front of estranged Clemens' trainer, Brian McNamee.
This is twice where Canseco has defended Clemens in different books. Perhaps McCready wasn't the only one on Mr. Clemens' swollen payroll.
* The grades are in for the NFL Draft. Before you scour any more websites for post-draft report cards, there's an old, old story everybody can learn from.
For four years a team was panned by pundits for swapping it's No. 1 selection, a third, the next year's first and fifth round selections. The San Diego Chargers developed those picks into Pro Bowlers (QB) Phillip Rivers, (LB) Shawne Merriman, and (K) Nate Kaeding and seemed to have garnered the better end of that 2004 draft-day deal.
Until 2008, that is, when the Giants' end of the bargain, the lone Eli Manning, won them a Lombardi Trophy.
* It is exciting for Bills fans to envision Trent Edwards, Lee Evans, Marshawn Lynch, James Hardy, Marcus Stroud, Kawika Mitchell, Angelo Crowell, John McCargo, Daunte Whitner, Terrence McGee, along with a healthy Paul Posluszny and Ko Simpson.
Just like Drew Bledsoe, Eric Moulds, Josh Reed, Travis Henry, Pat Williams, Sam Adams, London Fletcher, Takeo Spikes, Nate Clements, Antoine Winfield, and Lawyer Milloy once had Bills fans feelin' the same way once upon a time.
Didn't one of them even get a make-shift parade at One Bills Drive?
* Will anyone watch golf now that Tiger Woods is off for a while?
* Sabres fans, it just doesn't feel the same booing Chris Drury, Daniel Briere, Marty Biron and Jason Campbell from your living room now does it? If you're even watching the playoffs...
* Here's to hoping Pac-Man Jones doesn't get reinstated so his adopted father, Jerry, has to make another appointment on "Nip/Tuck." The NFL wouldn't OK the Titans-Cowboys trade unless the hierarchy (ahem, Roger Goodell) knew whether the beleaguered defensive back would return.
Between Jones and DT Tank Johnson, the Cowboys have become a halfway house of sorts, taking-in two players who have combined to miss a season-and-a-half of football games due to criminal activity alone.
All the surgery in the world can stop Jerry Jones from looking like Al Davis, but Davis' "Just Win Baby" mantra may seem better-suited in Big D, where Jones thinks copying the Cincinnati Bengals' rap sheet roster will somehow transform the Cowboys into the Patriots.
At least in Cincy, they have to wear orange.
* Pat Riley has resigned as head coach of the Miami Heat.
Yes, he won one of America's worst sports towns an NBA championship.
He also seized control of the Heat after relinquishing a 25-57 team to Stan Van Gundy, who in-turn brought the Heat to the seventh game of the 2005 Eastern Conference Finals in his second year, only to lose the team back to Riley after 21 games the following season.
Riley was the president of basketball operations during Stan-Van's tenure, and Van Gundy was nowhere to be found the during the Heat's ring ceremony before the following season opener.
Riley has won five golden globes and nine conference crowns. But he's also a quitter and an opportunist.
Not only did slick Patrick bail on Miami after 2003, he also missed six weeks of games in 2006-07 for chronic hip and knee problems, as well as skipping several games this past season to "scout." The Heat won only 15 games and dealt disgruntled center, Shaquille O'Neal to the Phoenix Suns.
Riley announced last August he would return for at least three more seasons. He will remain the club's president, handing the clipboard and whistle to former assistant, Erik Spoelstra.
Until, of course, the Heat get good again.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Grading Draft Grades
Saturday, the NFL Draft will change the directions of every franchise in football, albeit good and bad.
However, you won't find any post-draft grades here.
You may get a "what were they thinking?" or a "great trade", or perhaps nothing at all. But to grade each team's entire draft is like claiming an inheritance as the omniscient god of both college and pro football.
Draft grades are hardly fair considering the concept of first round busts, the Heisman jinx, oh and some former sixth-rounder named Tom Brady, just to name a few.
Consider this: since Super Bowl I, only three Heisman winners--supposedly the "best" player in college football--have been on Super Bowl winners with only one of them, Marcus Allen, winning a ring with the team that drafted him.
Also consider the names of quarterbacks such as Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Marc Bulger and Spergon Wynn were considered "better" quarterbacks than that three-time Super Bowl champion mentioned earlier.
There was once a debate between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf; a toss-up between Drew Bledsoe and Rick Mirer; Dan McGwire and Todd Marinovich were both selected before Brett Favre. And lest we forget Philly-phans who booed Donovan McNabb who was taken after sure thing Tim Couch because they were more interested in Sticky-Ricky Williams.-
Local Browns fans use their old No. 2 jerseys to dry off their cars after strolling through the Big Dipper.
Then there's the famous 2002 Draft where David Carr (No. 1 overall), Joey Harrington (No. 3), Patrick Ramsey (No. 32) and Josh McCown were all selected before Jacksonville Jaguars' clipboard holder-turned-starter David Garrard was selected at 108.
And those are just quarterbacks--they players even the laymen notice.
In other words, could everybody just wait three or four years and grade the performances of the players in relation to their draft status, instead of just after Round One?
Or, here's a better idea. Wait until September, or even December and use the win-loss column and compare it to past years win-loss columns, playoff appearances, and Super Bowl championships.
Now, there are some people qualified to give draft grades.
They are the people who work for 32 different teams who do this for a living. They're called scouts. They're called general managers. They're called Mel Kiper, Jr. In some cases, they have no experience grading talent and are entering their first draft under the title of "chief operations officer". However, each of these probably has more know-how and experience than sportswriters and mock-draft analysts who pay godaddy.com to host their amateur website in hopes ESPN or NFL Network will discover their analysis from the scrapheap of geekery and hire them as their Czar of NFL Draftdom.
Unfortunately, nobody has the formula for draft surprises or poor performances.
Sometimes it's bad coaching. Sometimes it's great coaching. Sometimes it's bad scouting. Sometimes scouts don't get enough credit. Sometimes there are bad front offices, salary cap issues or the players themselves who couldn't meet expectations either either in college or after the draft. Sometimes it's a deceiving combine. Sometimes players just blossom after a team takes a flier on them.
There are so many factors dictating the NFL Draft and the futures of NFL teams.
Instead of grading the draft, how about using Bill Parcells' old formula of grading teams:
"You are what your record says you are."
Multiply that by the number of playoff appearances over a given period of time.
Somewhere in that formula, you may have your answer. In New England, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit, and Arizona you don't even need a calculator. You already have your answer.
You've heard this cliche before: "Everyone is a Hall-of-Famer on Day One. Championships are won on Day Two."
This isn't to say you can't have disagreements with a decision or two of your NFL team. But to grade an entire draft of your team, or every team is more ridiculous than preseason predictions.
Someday you'll find out how well (or poorly) your team did in the NFL Draft. It may anywhere from eight months to three years.
But it certainly won't be next Monday.
However, you won't find any post-draft grades here.
You may get a "what were they thinking?" or a "great trade", or perhaps nothing at all. But to grade each team's entire draft is like claiming an inheritance as the omniscient god of both college and pro football.
Draft grades are hardly fair considering the concept of first round busts, the Heisman jinx, oh and some former sixth-rounder named Tom Brady, just to name a few.
Consider this: since Super Bowl I, only three Heisman winners--supposedly the "best" player in college football--have been on Super Bowl winners with only one of them, Marcus Allen, winning a ring with the team that drafted him.
Also consider the names of quarterbacks such as Chad Pennington, Giovanni Carmazzi, Chris Redman, Tee Martin, Marc Bulger and Spergon Wynn were considered "better" quarterbacks than that three-time Super Bowl champion mentioned earlier.
There was once a debate between Peyton Manning and Ryan Leaf; a toss-up between Drew Bledsoe and Rick Mirer; Dan McGwire and Todd Marinovich were both selected before Brett Favre. And lest we forget Philly-phans who booed Donovan McNabb who was taken after sure thing Tim Couch because they were more interested in Sticky-Ricky Williams.-
Local Browns fans use their old No. 2 jerseys to dry off their cars after strolling through the Big Dipper.
Then there's the famous 2002 Draft where David Carr (No. 1 overall), Joey Harrington (No. 3), Patrick Ramsey (No. 32) and Josh McCown were all selected before Jacksonville Jaguars' clipboard holder-turned-starter David Garrard was selected at 108.
And those are just quarterbacks--they players even the laymen notice.
In other words, could everybody just wait three or four years and grade the performances of the players in relation to their draft status, instead of just after Round One?
Or, here's a better idea. Wait until September, or even December and use the win-loss column and compare it to past years win-loss columns, playoff appearances, and Super Bowl championships.
Now, there are some people qualified to give draft grades.
They are the people who work for 32 different teams who do this for a living. They're called scouts. They're called general managers. They're called Mel Kiper, Jr. In some cases, they have no experience grading talent and are entering their first draft under the title of "chief operations officer". However, each of these probably has more know-how and experience than sportswriters and mock-draft analysts who pay godaddy.com to host their amateur website in hopes ESPN or NFL Network will discover their analysis from the scrapheap of geekery and hire them as their Czar of NFL Draftdom.
Unfortunately, nobody has the formula for draft surprises or poor performances.
Sometimes it's bad coaching. Sometimes it's great coaching. Sometimes it's bad scouting. Sometimes scouts don't get enough credit. Sometimes there are bad front offices, salary cap issues or the players themselves who couldn't meet expectations either either in college or after the draft. Sometimes it's a deceiving combine. Sometimes players just blossom after a team takes a flier on them.
There are so many factors dictating the NFL Draft and the futures of NFL teams.
Instead of grading the draft, how about using Bill Parcells' old formula of grading teams:
"You are what your record says you are."
Multiply that by the number of playoff appearances over a given period of time.
Somewhere in that formula, you may have your answer. In New England, Pittsburgh, Buffalo, Detroit, and Arizona you don't even need a calculator. You already have your answer.
You've heard this cliche before: "Everyone is a Hall-of-Famer on Day One. Championships are won on Day Two."
This isn't to say you can't have disagreements with a decision or two of your NFL team. But to grade an entire draft of your team, or every team is more ridiculous than preseason predictions.
Someday you'll find out how well (or poorly) your team did in the NFL Draft. It may anywhere from eight months to three years.
But it certainly won't be next Monday.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Get Over It, Buffalo.
You know it's baseball season when the Buffalo Sabres aren't playing anymore.
Larry Quinn better get Jason Pominville and Ryan Miller inked to long-term deals or those once coveted Sabres tickets will soon be offered as thank yous for opening checking accounts with HSBC.
The sad part is,while both of these Sabres have stitched themselves into the eternal fabric of Buffalo sports lore, their next contract will solely determine their immortality in western New York. Just ask Dominik Hasek. You're only as good as how you left, even if you're considered the greatest.
And if either is smart, they'll wait as long as they can to make any longterm commitments.
If you're a Sabres fan, now may be the best time to distract yourself with an NFL Draft guide since that's all western New Yorkers are told to care about, even though it's baseball season.
Speaking of the NFL Draft, remember back when the only draft analyst was Mel Kiper, Jr.?
Nowadays, everybody is supposedly an expert, stealing and re-writing scouting reports and calling them their own. If you go to google and type "NFL Mock Draft" you'll end-up with 523,000 hits. Wow. There must be a pomade shortage in this country thanks to all the new junior-Kipers who have somehow gotten enough time off from their real jobs to scout college football the past year.
It's all in a domain name. Because if you're website says you're a draft expert, it must be true.
The funny part is that radio pundits across the country (some of whom reside close to the lake) still find time to rip Kiper, himself, even though the guy has had several offers to scout for NFL teams. It's even funnier to listen to these morons debate picks after the second round. Meanwhile, Kiper can break-down film well into the seventh.
The guy knows his stuff. The rest of you who do not write or scout for a credible publication can put down the Fop and slowly walk away any time now.
Besides, it's baseball season.
Even in Cincy, although Chad Johnson recently dominated the headlines trying to get punted from Cincinnati. Last week, Ocho-Cinco ripped the Bengals for releasing fellow WR Chris Henry after his fifth arrest.
Clearly the Bengals don't want to win, so Chad wants to play for a contender like the Dallas Cowboys.
The same Cowboys who have developed a penchant for choking their last two playoff games away. Or in Wade Phillips' case, his last four.
Maybe criminals would best succeed in a warm climate. It clearly didn't work for the Bengals, but apparently the Cowboys have their own version of Brocton Shock Camp down at Valley Ranch.
And why wouldn't they? Michael Irvin, with his problems, still ended his career with three pairs of gold-karat, diamond-encrusted commemorative Super Bowl handcuffs.
The 'Boys still want Pac-Man Jones even though he hasn't been reinstated and signed Tank Johnson after the Bears released him because they simply just need to be rehabilitated. They're just misunderstood. Ask Terrell Owens.
Meanwhile, Atlanta Falcons' owner, Arthur Blank, has kept in-touch with Leavenworth Penitentiary's newest all-time quarterback, Michael Vick. Perhaps Jerry Jones may give Blank a call, too.
But who wants to worry about all that right now? It's baseball season. And we've just wrapped-up the NCAA Tournament. And the NBA is enjoying one of it's best seasons since Michael Jordan's second retirement.
Of course, the NFL made sure to upstage Opening Day, and the Final Four by announcing its preseason schedule to the public so fans have four full months to clear their August schedules for XFL-caliber football, or at least reschedule their fantasy drafts.
Or wondering who'll be healthy enough to practice at Fisher.
Or ask how long the Bills will remain the Bills, on this side of the Peace Bridge.
Sure, those may be legitimate concerns. But, you are allowed to find a distraction.
Like baseball season.
Chautauqua county has always been different as opposed to the rest of western New York. Whereas Orchard Park carries an imposing stature over its radius, the western-most part of western New York has always been a big baseball county.
Just below the Cattaragus Reservation, baseball is as important a conversation as the other two sports that dominate the local airwaves.
This writer knows growing-up south of Erie County that baseball isn't considered the "third" sport, but part of a sports trinity and deserves just as much attention as the other two. This isn't to knock the other two leagues, but rather to give baseball its just due.
This writer also knows that regardless of the coverage of other local media dominated by the other, less-famous mistake by the lake, this paper will continue to bring you baseball covered as if you lived in the city of your favorite team.
No, the sport isn't perfect. But none of them are. They're just rationalized.
Baseball doesn't need rationalization. Like Brian McNamee once said, "it is what it is."
And it's the "is" that brings us back every year around this time no matter how much our neighbors to the north may ignore it.
So no matter what worries you may have about the two Buffalo teams and their respective leagues, know that we've all gotten along with our baseball teams many miles away not because of their locality, but because of our love for the teams themselves, and more importantly, the game itself.
And know, no matter who gets arrested, jumps ship, leaves town, or packs a Mayflower truck, baseball will still be here, year after year, with a melting-pot of fanfare. There are Yankees fans, Mets fans, Red Sox fans, Indians fans, Tigers fans (welcome back), Braves fans, and even your occasional Brooklyn-LA Dodgers fans.
Baseball is the only game that truly ties you to your World War Two-era uncle, aunt, or grandparent because the only sport we all grew-up on is baseball.
Most of us root for the Bills and Sabres because they represent the area to the rest of the country. However, in baseball, we root for whomever the heck we want.
So while the rest of the region spends its summer mulling-over line-changes, and third-down linemen, how about the rest of us get together and talk baseball every now and then?
Because nobody in western New York loves baseball the way we do.
Larry Quinn better get Jason Pominville and Ryan Miller inked to long-term deals or those once coveted Sabres tickets will soon be offered as thank yous for opening checking accounts with HSBC.
The sad part is,while both of these Sabres have stitched themselves into the eternal fabric of Buffalo sports lore, their next contract will solely determine their immortality in western New York. Just ask Dominik Hasek. You're only as good as how you left, even if you're considered the greatest.
And if either is smart, they'll wait as long as they can to make any longterm commitments.
If you're a Sabres fan, now may be the best time to distract yourself with an NFL Draft guide since that's all western New Yorkers are told to care about, even though it's baseball season.
Speaking of the NFL Draft, remember back when the only draft analyst was Mel Kiper, Jr.?
Nowadays, everybody is supposedly an expert, stealing and re-writing scouting reports and calling them their own. If you go to google and type "NFL Mock Draft" you'll end-up with 523,000 hits. Wow. There must be a pomade shortage in this country thanks to all the new junior-Kipers who have somehow gotten enough time off from their real jobs to scout college football the past year.
It's all in a domain name. Because if you're website says you're a draft expert, it must be true.
The funny part is that radio pundits across the country (some of whom reside close to the lake) still find time to rip Kiper, himself, even though the guy has had several offers to scout for NFL teams. It's even funnier to listen to these morons debate picks after the second round. Meanwhile, Kiper can break-down film well into the seventh.
The guy knows his stuff. The rest of you who do not write or scout for a credible publication can put down the Fop and slowly walk away any time now.
Besides, it's baseball season.
Even in Cincy, although Chad Johnson recently dominated the headlines trying to get punted from Cincinnati. Last week, Ocho-Cinco ripped the Bengals for releasing fellow WR Chris Henry after his fifth arrest.
Clearly the Bengals don't want to win, so Chad wants to play for a contender like the Dallas Cowboys.
The same Cowboys who have developed a penchant for choking their last two playoff games away. Or in Wade Phillips' case, his last four.
Maybe criminals would best succeed in a warm climate. It clearly didn't work for the Bengals, but apparently the Cowboys have their own version of Brocton Shock Camp down at Valley Ranch.
And why wouldn't they? Michael Irvin, with his problems, still ended his career with three pairs of gold-karat, diamond-encrusted commemorative Super Bowl handcuffs.
The 'Boys still want Pac-Man Jones even though he hasn't been reinstated and signed Tank Johnson after the Bears released him because they simply just need to be rehabilitated. They're just misunderstood. Ask Terrell Owens.
Meanwhile, Atlanta Falcons' owner, Arthur Blank, has kept in-touch with Leavenworth Penitentiary's newest all-time quarterback, Michael Vick. Perhaps Jerry Jones may give Blank a call, too.
But who wants to worry about all that right now? It's baseball season. And we've just wrapped-up the NCAA Tournament. And the NBA is enjoying one of it's best seasons since Michael Jordan's second retirement.
Of course, the NFL made sure to upstage Opening Day, and the Final Four by announcing its preseason schedule to the public so fans have four full months to clear their August schedules for XFL-caliber football, or at least reschedule their fantasy drafts.
Or wondering who'll be healthy enough to practice at Fisher.
Or ask how long the Bills will remain the Bills, on this side of the Peace Bridge.
Sure, those may be legitimate concerns. But, you are allowed to find a distraction.
Like baseball season.
Chautauqua county has always been different as opposed to the rest of western New York. Whereas Orchard Park carries an imposing stature over its radius, the western-most part of western New York has always been a big baseball county.
Just below the Cattaragus Reservation, baseball is as important a conversation as the other two sports that dominate the local airwaves.
This writer knows growing-up south of Erie County that baseball isn't considered the "third" sport, but part of a sports trinity and deserves just as much attention as the other two. This isn't to knock the other two leagues, but rather to give baseball its just due.
This writer also knows that regardless of the coverage of other local media dominated by the other, less-famous mistake by the lake, this paper will continue to bring you baseball covered as if you lived in the city of your favorite team.
No, the sport isn't perfect. But none of them are. They're just rationalized.
Baseball doesn't need rationalization. Like Brian McNamee once said, "it is what it is."
And it's the "is" that brings us back every year around this time no matter how much our neighbors to the north may ignore it.
So no matter what worries you may have about the two Buffalo teams and their respective leagues, know that we've all gotten along with our baseball teams many miles away not because of their locality, but because of our love for the teams themselves, and more importantly, the game itself.
And know, no matter who gets arrested, jumps ship, leaves town, or packs a Mayflower truck, baseball will still be here, year after year, with a melting-pot of fanfare. There are Yankees fans, Mets fans, Red Sox fans, Indians fans, Tigers fans (welcome back), Braves fans, and even your occasional Brooklyn-LA Dodgers fans.
Baseball is the only game that truly ties you to your World War Two-era uncle, aunt, or grandparent because the only sport we all grew-up on is baseball.
Most of us root for the Bills and Sabres because they represent the area to the rest of the country. However, in baseball, we root for whomever the heck we want.
So while the rest of the region spends its summer mulling-over line-changes, and third-down linemen, how about the rest of us get together and talk baseball every now and then?
Because nobody in western New York loves baseball the way we do.
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