Do You Believe in Miracles (again)?

Before anybody says anything, yes, I know this wasn't an upset anywhere close to that of the "Miracle on Ice." According to the FIFA's world rankings, it wasn't an upset at all. The rankings currently have the United States women listed as the team atop of their rankings, while Brazil is number three. However, that doesn't make the United States' win over Brazil any less miraculous.

Before I further discuss the "miracle," let me first briefly explain the game of football (soccer in the United States). Games consist of two, 45 minute halves of continuous play (i.e. the clock does not stop). At the end of each half of play, they add on stoppage time (or injury time - both terms work), which is approximately the amount of time that play was not going on during each half. This is done to ensure that there is 45 minutes of actual play during each half. All in all, most games are 90 minutes in length (two 45 minute halves).

In most cases, if teams are tied after 90 minutes of play, the game will end in a draw. In later stages of tournaments, such as the World Cup, there has to be a winner, so teams play what is called extra time. Extra time consists of two 15 minute halves (they also add stoppage time to each half of extra time as well). In most tournaments, during extra time, there is no such thing as a "golden goal" (first goal wins). Teams play the full 30 minutes of extra time regardless of the score. Once extra time is added in, the game is 120 minutes long.

If teams are tied at the conclusion of extra time, teams will participate in a penalty shootout to decide the winner. For American sports fans, this is very similar to shootouts in the game of hockey, even though the game of soccer has done it much longer. A penalty is a shot taken from the penalty spot, 12 yards from the goal. It is one on one, shooter against goalkeeper. One rule to keep in mind about penalties, because it will become an issue later, is that goalies must remain on their line (i.e. goalline) until the ball has been kicked. The penalty shootout is a best of five penalty competition between teams. Each team alternates shooters until the end of the shootout. At the end of five rounds, the team with the most goals wins the shootout and the game. If the teams are tied after the five rounds, it pretty much goes into sudden death, with each round being important. If the first shooter scores in every round after the fifth, the second shooter must score in order to keep the game alive. If the second shooter scores the game continues, if he/she doesn't the game is over. If the first shooter misses, after the fifth round, a goal by the second shooter wins the shootout and the team. Overall it is a pretty simple concept.

Now that that has been explained a little bit, let me get back to the miracle that was the United States win over Brazil. After 90 minutes of play, the United States and Brazil were tied 1-1, which meant the game was headed to extra time. In only the second minute of extra time, Marta, who is probably the top female player in the game today, scored an absolute beauty of a goal. That left the United States, who were playing a player down due to a red card in the second half, 28 minutes to either score and equalize the game or go home. It wasn't until the 122nd minute when Abby Wambach of the United States did just that. Let me say that again, the 122nd minute, which means the game was into stoppage time at the end of the second extra time period. This goal could not have possibly come any later in the game. If Brazil gains possession, or if the ball goes out of play for a goal kick, the game is probably whistled over right there. Had it possibly gone out for a corner kick, they probably would have allowed the corner to be taken but nothing much further than that.

For me personally, the Wambach goal is my favorite sports moment of all time, passing the Landon Donovan goal from last summer's men's World Cup. I really never thought that I'd see anything pass the Donovan goal in the near future, let alone only a year later, but the Wambach goal did just that. The thing that made the win over Brazil much sweeter was the fact that the United States was given a rough go of things by the referee all game. I'm not saying that because I'm an American cheering for the United States either. I'm saying that as a fan of the game of soccer. The ESPN commentators were sayting the same thing as well.

It wasn't going too bad until the 65th minute of the game. At that time, Rachel Buehler (of the United States) pulled down Marta inside of the penalty area, resulting in a penalty kick for Brazil. Not only was Brazil awarded a penalty and an opportunity to equalize the score, but Buehler was also given a straight red card for the foul, which meant the United States had to play a person down for the remainder of the game. There was a huge outrage as to whether the play should've been called a penalty or not. I personally tend to side with the referee on that one. It was a questionable call but Buehler did have a handful of Marta's jersey at the time, which is a foul anywhere else on the pitch (field). So again, I'll give the referee the benefit of the doubt on that one. However that foul was in no way deserving of a card, let alone a straight red one. That put the United States at a HUGE disadvantage for the remainder of the game.

When it came time for the penalty, Cristiane took it for Brazil and was stopped by United States keeper Hope Solo. However the Australian referee stepped in and ordered that the penalty be re-taken. Three days later, I still have no idea why this happened. Did the referee, or one of her assistants, rule that Hope Solo was off of her line early (I told you that rule would become important later, and it will again)? Video replays showed that this wasn't the case, but that doesn't mean that that wasn't the call. Or did they call that a teammate had entered the penalty area before the kick was taken? This probably could have been called on the play but it's one of those things that's very rarely, if ever, called. For her trouble, Solo was awarded a yellow card which we also have no idea the logic behind. If I had to guess, I would say dissent, but I honestly have no idea. Needless to say, Marta buried the re-take to square the game at one goal apiece. That's how the game went into extra time.

There was even some controversy surrounding Marta's goal in the second minute of extra time. Many people, including the match commentators (Ian Darke and Julie Foudy) were arguing that the play should have been whistled dead before the goal for offsides (it mentions that in the original article). It was certainly close, but again I'll give the benefit of the doubt to the officials on the pitch. They were put in that position by FIFA for a reason. Again, I don't want to take anything away from Marta on that goal. It was an absolute thing of beauty and Hope Solo never had a chance. That set the stage for Abby Wambach's heroics only a half hour or so later.

I'm not surprised that an American writer for ESPN (Jemel Hill) managed to get this entire thing dead wrong. She does acknowledge that this is a great moment, but since the United States was one of the favorites coming into the tournament, this means nothing if the United States doesn't win the entire World Cup. Unlike Dicky Dunn, in the movie Slap Shot, she failed to capture the spirit of the thing.

She does know that in 1980 the United States men's ice hockey team beat Finland for the gold medal and not the Soviet Union, right? The win over the Soviet Union was the defining moment for the 1980 Lake Placid Winter games, yet 31 years later it's a popular myth that that was the gold medal game. That's not true. After the Soviet game, the United States had to beat Finland in order to win the gold. Had they lost that game, they would've finished fourth (out of four) in the medal round and wouldn't even have medaled, even after they defeated the mighty Soviets. It's amazing how details change over time.

Win or lose, I think the Abby Wambach goal will be the defining moment of the 2011 Women's World Cup. If the United States does win, I'll almost guarantee you that the same thing will happen to this game that happened to the Miracle on Ice. If the United States does win, and I'm not saying that they will, people will remember the final being the United States and Brazil because of Wambach's special, if not miraculous, goal. In reality, the final is on Sunday between the United States (who defeated France today) and Japan (who defeated Sweden - who already defeated the US in the 2011 World Cup - today).

The other thing that Jemel Hill got dead wrong is what this means for soccer in the United States. It's moments like the goals scored by Abby Wambach and Landon Donovan that get the American public excited about the game of soccer and their national team. Moments like this are HUGE (understatement) for the sport in the United States. The game of soccer will never be as popular in the United States as American Football, Basketball, and Baseball, however it's moments like this that put the game on the map. Just in the past week, I've gotten apologies from two different people because they said at an earlier time that the game of soccer was boring. Anything that gets people looking at the game in a positive way, like the Wambach goal, will never be relegated to just a footnote in American sporting history if the Americans don't win the whole thing. At this point, a majority of the American people probably have no idea that the United States is the top ranked team in the world at the moment anyways. But it's moments like this that get them to this point down the line.

I for one will probably always remember where I was and what I was doing when that goal was scored. For those watching the World Cup, this very well may be their JFK moment. I've heard several people over the years who know exactly where they were and what they were doing when they heard that President John F. Kennedy had been assassinated. I personally remember that for 9-11 and, to a lesser extent, the Landon Donovan goal a year ago. It's just a fantastic sporting moment that I, and those watching will never forget.

Let me close by telling you how popular the United States - Brazil game really was (I got this from the Hill article). The REPLAY of that game on Sunday night drew a rating of 2.6. This was a higher rating than the NBA Draft, which only had a 2.5 rating on the same channel. Basketball is more popular than soccer in the States, but not on this occasion.

I'd lastly like to say good luck to the United States women in the World Cup Final against Japan on Sunday. I'll be behind you on Sunday, as will an entire nation that bleeds red, white, and blue. Go USA!

Texas Tragedy

Tragedy struck Major League Baseball and the Texas Rangers tonight. During the second inning of tonight's game between the Oakland Athletics and Texas Rangers, a fan died after falling over a railing while trying to catch a ball thrown into the stands. According to the linked story above, the fan fell approximately 20 feet, into the visiting (Oakland) bullpen area, after going over the railing. This happened in the left field corner above the 14 foot tall video board at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Texas.

Before I go any further with this, I'd just like to pass on my thoughts and prayers to the friends and family of this Texas Rangers fan (they have yet to release his name). I especially want to send out my prayers to the young son of the fan, who was at the game with his father and probably saw the entire thing.I can't imagine what that child is going through at this very moment.

Not to sound insensitive, but my first thought when I saw this story was sadly, "I'd hate to see the lawsuit that comes out of this." In the long run, we'll probably find out whether the fine print on the back of ticket stubs is worth anything. I've never been to a Rangers game, or the state of Texas for that matter, but I'm sure the print is the same on the back of all MLB tickets. I have a Cubs ticket from Wrigley Field in front of me and according to the print on it, the Cubs and Wrigley Field are not responsible for any injures that occur during the game or any time at Wrigley Field. I'm sure the fine print on the back of Rangers tickets say the same thing.

This happens to be the second fatal fall at a major league ballpark this year. Back in May, a fan at Coors Field in Colorado fell 20 feet after trying to slide down the railing to one of the many stadium staircases. This is also the second incident to happen recently at Rangers Ballpark. Last July, a fan fell 30 feet and suffered a fractured skull and a sprained ankle. Luckily, he survived the ordeal.

After watching the video of this incident, I have to say the fan is at fault here. That doesn't mean the Rangers and the other major league teams shouldn't make changes to their venues to make them safer. From the video, I see the fan in question lean over in front of another fan to attempt to catch the thrown ball. In doing so, his momentum carried him over the railing. I understand all fans want to catch a foul ball, but leaning in front of another fan, while also hanging over a 20 foot drop is not a good idea. It's way too easy, as evident by tonight's incident, for momentum to carry the person completely over the railing. Again, I don't want to sound insensitive, but that's what I saw in the video.

Going forward, teams should not be allowed to have uncovered gaps between the outfield wall and stands, like the one in left field at Rangers Ballpark, especially when there is a significant drop in between. Those should be covered up in some capacity. I'm not saying that it needs to be completely covered by something solid either. As I mentioned above, there is a bullpen there and fans feel closer to the action if they can see what is going on below. I would have no problem if they covered that gap, and similar ones around the league, with a section of chain link fence. That way it is almost impossible to fall through and get hurt and fans can still see what is going on below. That seems like a fair compromise to me. Hell, even a heavy duty net would do if they wanted to go that route. Either way, that gap, and gaps like it, need to be covered so that something like this does not happen again.

I also think that the league needs to mandate that taller railings be installed around the league. When I say railings, I'm talking about the ones at the edges of the playing field and the upper decks. Most railings are only about waist height for an average sized adult. As I said before, when you're leaning over the railing, it's not hard for your momentum ot carry you over the railing. Instead of making them waist height, I propose that the league mandates that all railings in those positions are a MINIMUM of four feet tall. That way (in theory) an average sized fan only has anything above their chest hanging over the railing. That should keep a majority of their body weight on the correct side of the railing, thus keeping them on the correct side of the railing.

I understand that this might create a bit of a vision problem, but that's the least of my concerns at the moment. If that's the case, there could be a slightly larger space between the horizontal railings to created a viewing window for the fans closer to the railing. If that were to happen though, I also propose that the install strategically spaced vertical bars in between the horizontal ones so that fans cannot lean through the bars easily. Besides, I'd much rather have a slightly obstructed view of the game than leave in a body bag.

In closing, I again want to send out my prayers and condolences to the friends and family of this unnamed Rangers fan. Major League Baseball needs to use this as a wakeup call to insure that something like this cannot happen again at a major leauge ballpark. If possible, try to turn this tragedy into something that can make the league and its ballparks safer. That should be the main objective here.

NBA Finals Recap

I'd like to use this time to wrap up my feelings on the 2011 NBA Finals. First and foremost, a couple of weeks ago I predicted that the Miami Heat would be handed the NBA Championship, even before they finished off the Chicago Bulls in the Eastern Conference Finals. I would like to say now that I WAS WRONG and have never been happier about being wrong.

For the second time, the other being the 2006 Finals, the real winner here wasn't the Mavericks or Heat. The real winner of these Finals was American Airlines. The Dallas Mavericks (and Stars) play their home games at the American Airlines Center and the Miami Heat play their games at the American Airlines Arena.

One thing I was glad to see in the Finals this year was the removal of the large championship trophy behind the team logos at mid-court on both courts. The league instead opted to put the words "The Finals" on the court, on both sides of the center court line. This is what the league used to do, before putting the huge trophy on the court, and I'm glad that they went back to this. It looks much better and far less gaudy and over the top than the large trophy.

When I predicted the Miami Heat winning the championship, I predicted that the officials would have a huge impact in making this happen. To this day, I still believe that is what happened in 2006 when the Mavericks were defeated by the Heat in the NBA Finals. To this day, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban holds the same belief and has said he will continue to believe that until the end. I've heard him say that but cannot find a story to confirm that.

Overall, I though the officials performed quite well in the 2011 Finals. I thought they did favor the Heat a little bit, but nothing game changing, not this year. The main difference I saw was that the Heat had a little bit more wiggle room when it came to contesting a call. Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle was "T'd" up twice during the Finals and both looked like very quick T's, yet Erik Spoelstra was seen doing a great deal of yelling and was not "T'd" up once. Other than that though, I thought the officials did a relatively nice job of letting the players play and letting them decide the outcome of the game. That was my biggest fear going into these Finals.

One thing I expect to come out of these Finals, which carry over into next season are a few suspensions over than scuffle during game 6. During a fight in the NBA, players who leave the bench are automatically subject to a one game suspension. That rule goes out the window a little bit here because the scuffle occured after a timeout. During timeouts, players are allowed to be on the floor, which is why they were on the court to begin with. However I feel that any player not on the floor, at the time of the timeout, in the middle of that should be subject to suspension. Getting in the middle of that should be deemed "leaving the bench." That includes players for both the Heat and Mavs.

At the end of that video, you hear Mark Jackson and Jeff Van Gundy say that if punishments are going to be handed down, they should be handed down for the start of next season, in order not to taint a game 7 (which it never came to). I couldn't disagree with that more. The timing of it would suck for both teams, but the rules are the rules. That rule has been on the books for a long time and everybody in the league knows the rule. If you break it, you should be subject to the consequences, no matter the timing. You cannot start making exceptions to the rules now if you want to continue to be taken seriously in the long run.

The more and more I see of the Miami Heat, the more and more I learn to hate them. I won't lie, I've hated Dwayne Wade since the 2006 Finals, however I will admit that there was a bias. I hated him because of all of the ticky tack, phantom calls that went his way on the way to the NBA Championship. It was because of that that the Heat were handed their first championship. However, I will admit that even though I always hated him, I always had a healthy respect for him as well. He's a great basketball player and up  until this year, he seemed to have his priorities in the right place. He seemed to be relatively down to earth and he also appeared to be a good teammate and good team player. I also had the same respect for LeBron James. That all changed this offseason.

When the "Big 3" came together, I noticed a big change in both Wade and James. It all started with LeBron's arrogant "Decision" special, when he decided to "take his talents to South Beach." With that, he proved that it really is all about him. Very early on in the season, I don't remember the situation, but I remember Dwayne Wade throwing "Coach Spo" under the bus, which was very uncharacteristic for the old Wade. This Heat team was extremely arrogant and classless and I think it cost them in the Finals.

During game 2, with the Heat up 15 points with around 7 minutes remaining in the game, James and Wade decided to do a little "victory" dance in front of the Mavericks bench. From that moment on, the Mavs went on a 22-5 run and "shocked" the Heat, evening the series at a game apiece. Like it or not, their arrogance woke up the Mavs, who were dead at the time of that shot. If they don't do that, I think the Mavs probably lose game 2 and probably the series. If everything else held true, the series would've been going back to Miami for game 6 with the Heat, not the Mavs, up 3-2. Had that been the case, Miami would probably have their second NBA Championship at the expense of the Mavs right about now. The first of which they would have actually earned, but again, that's a different story for a different day.

It was well documented that Dirk Nowitzki was sick and running a fever for game 4 of the Finals, which the Heat won. Following the shootaround prior to game 5, Dwayne Wade and LeBron James were caught mocking Dirk's illness. "I just thought it was a little childish, a little ignorant," Nowitzki said before Saturday's practice at AmericanAirlines Arena. "I've been in this league for 13 years. I've never faked an injury or illness." This is just another thing that we've come to expect from the new Miami Heat. I'm not sure how somebody in their right mind can make fun of another human being for being sick. It is something that can strike at any moment to the best of us and there is nothing we can really do about it. It's great to see that everything continues to be a big joke to James, Wade and the Heat.

For the second time in the NBA Finals, the pressure appeared to be too much for the "great" LeBron James. One CBS reporter referred to James as the "Incredible Shrinking Superstar," due to his late game disappearances. The only person he has to blame for that is himself. He put the pressure on himself when he proclaimed that this Heat team would win more than 7 NBA championships and that the season is championship or bust. This whole thing just proves that nothing is easy in this league and that there is no way to buy a cheap championship.

Like LeBron James or not, frankly he's an asshole. He proved that to me with his comments after the Heat were eliminated the other night. "All the people that was rooting on me to fail, at the end of the day they have to wake up tomorrow and have the same life that they had before they woke up today," James said. "They have the same personal problems they had today. I’m going to continue to live the way I want to live and continue to do the things that I want to do with me and my family and be happy with that. They can get a few days or a few months or whatever the case may be on being happy about not only myself, but the Miami Heat not accomplishing their goal. But they have to get back to the real world at some point.” We can hate him all we want and be happy that he lost but at the end of the day, he still has a better life than the rest of us. At this point, I expect nothing less from LeBron James. He's not man enough to stand in front of the press and talk about his own failures, he has to turn around and put it on somebody else. This time it just happened to be all of the non-Heat, basketball fans. I'll stand up right now and say that just because you are a better basketball player than me and have a lot more money than I'll ever have, that doesn't make you better than me. That doesn't make you better than any of us. You're still an arrogant, classless, and immature piece of shit that need to grow up and introduce yourself to the real world. You've had your dick sucked by your entourage for a long time and because of that, you haven't been a member of the real world for probably atleast 10 years. If anybody needs to come back to the real world, it's you LeBron.

I heard a lot of people trying to compare this Miami Heat team to the Celtics a few years ago when they added Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen to compliment Paul Pierce. I actually pulled for that team. The difference between this Miami team and that Celtics team is that the Celtics are made up of a classy group of veterans. This Heat team is made up of a arrogant and cocky superstars that are in serious need of some maturity. The Celtics set out to win games. The Heat set out to win games and embarrass their opponents by doing little premature victory dances and showboat tactics. I cannot confirm this but I believe LeBron James to be the ring leader of the extra cockiness. That was a staple of his Cavalier teams in Cleveland.

The 2011 NBA season hasn't even been over for 48 hours yet, the Mavericks have yet to have their parade, and the champs are already getting overlooked for next season. The Miami Heat are currently favored to win the 2012 NBA Championship with 5/2 odds. They are followed by the Lakers (11/2), Bulls (6/1), Thunder (8/1), and Mavericks (10/1). I really find that hard to believe at this point. The Mavs have yet to have their championship parade and it's too early for anything to have happened this offseason, yet the Mavs are already behind four other teams in the odds for the championship next season? Where's the respect? Especially considering the Mavs ROLLED over both the Lakers and Thunder in the playoffs this season. I have to ask it again, where's the respect there?

To make a long story short, I'm stoked that the Mavericks were able to defeat the Miami Heat to win the NBA Championship. It's a million times sweeter just because it is the Miami Heat. Partly because it was this classless Miami Heat team and also because it was the Miami Heat that were handed the championship over the Mavs in 2006. It would have been sweet had it been against the Chicago Bulls, no doubt, but for me and millions of Mavs fans around the world, this was much more than just a series. This was a shot at revenge. The Mavericks got that revenge and it was the happiest I've been in a long time. About two hours after the conclusion of the 2011 NBA Finals, I already had my championship gear ordered. I cannot wait until it gets here because I cannot wait to wear it proud. If you aren't down with that, well you can "suck my Dirk."

Too Much Free Time - May Edition

If you recall, last month I introduced you to my little side project about this season's Florida Marlins. As excited as I was about the Marlins start to the 2011 season, I'm that disappointed now. They came back to earth a little bit, posting a 15-13 record for the month of May. However things are starting to get bad. Both Josh Johnson and Hanley Ramirez are on the disabled list and the Marlins are currently 0-6 to start the month of June.

Let's get to the stats...All of the stats, oeher than the uniform combinations at the bottom, are for the month of May only. When you get to the uniform combinations section, those are the results for the entire season up to this date.

Overall
Games Played: 28
Record: 15-13
Runs Scored: 111 (3.96/game)
Runs Allowed: 122 (4.36/game)

Black Hat
Games: 27
Record: 15-12
Runs Scored: 107 (3.96/game)
Runs Allowed: 107 (3.96/game)

Stars and Stripes Hat
Games: 1
Record: 0-1
Runs Scored: 4 (4.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 15 (15.00/game)


White Jersey
Games: 11
Record: 4-7
Runs Scored: 37 (3.36/game)
Runs Allowed: 42 (3.82/game)

Grey Jersey
Games: 5
Record: 3-2
Runs Scored: 17 (3.40/game)
Runs Allowed: 29 (5.80/game)

Black Jersey
Games: 12
Record: 8-4
Runs Scored: 57 (4.75/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (4.25/game)

White Pants
Games: 11
Record: 4-7
Runs Scored: 37 (3.36/game)
Runs Allowed: 42 (3.82/game)

Grey Pants
Games: 17
Record: 11-6
Runs Scored: 74 (4.35/game)
Runs Allowed: 80 (4.71/game)

When Josh Johnson Starts
Games: 3
Record: 2-1
Runs Scored: 7 (2.33/game)
Runs Allowed: 8 (2.67/game)

When Ricky Nolasco Starts
Games: 6
Record: 2-4
Runs Scored: 24 (4.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 29 (4.83/game)

When Javier Vazquez Starts
Games: 5
Record: 2-3
Runs Scored: 23 (4.60/game)
Runs Allowed: 27 (5.40/game)

When Anibal Sanchez Starts
Games: 6
Record: 5-1
Runs Scored: 25 (4.17/game)
Runs Allowed: 12 (2.00/game)

When Chris Volstad Starts
Games: 6
Record: 3-3
Runs Scored: 26 (4.33/game)
Runs Allowed: 41 (6.83/game)

When Jay Buente* Starts
Games: 1
Record: 0-1
Runs Scored: 0 (0.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 4 (4.00/game)

*Major League Debut

When Brian Sanches Starts
Games: 1
Record: 1-0
Runs Scored: 6 (6.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 1 (1.00/game)

Home Games
Games: 11
Record: 4-7
Runs Scored: 37 (3.36/game)
Runs Allowed: 42 (3.82/game)

Away Games
Games: 17
Record: 11-6
Runs Scored: 74 (4.35/game)
Runs Allowed: 80 (4.71/game)

Black Hat-White Jersey-White Pants
Games: 30
Record: 14-16
Runs Scored: 119 (3.97/game)
Runs Allowed: 109 (3.63/game)

Black Hat-Black Jersey-White Pants
Games: 1
Record: 0-1
Runs Scored: 2 (2.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 7 (7.00/game)

Black Hat-Black Jersey-Grey Pants
Games: 21
Record: 13-8
Runs Scored: 95 (4.52/game)
Runs Allowed: 93 (4.43/game)

Black Hat-Grey Jersey-Grey Pants
Games: 6
Record: 4-2
Runs Scored: 19 (3.17/game)
Runs Allowed: 20 (3.33/game)

Stars and Stripes Hat-Grey Jersey-Grey Pants
Games: 1
Record: 0-1
Runs Scored: 4 (4.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 15 (15.00/game)

There you have it, the stats from the month of May. As you can see, the Marlins overall were outscored by their opponents this month, yet they still had a winning record for the month. They played most of their games pretty tight at home, and were still outscored by their opponents, yet came away with a losing record. The interesting part though were their results on the road for the month of May. They were again outscored by their opponents, yet they came away with a very good 11-6 record. The big game that cost the Marlins in that category was the 15-4 thumping at the hands of the Diamondbacks on May 30. Had that been a closer game, the Marlins may have outscored their opponents for the month on the road, instead they trailed by 6.

Hopefully once they get healthy, they will sure up their rotation and right the ship. Obviously missing a starter is bad, but in this case, that starter happens to be Josh Johnson. Just having him healthy again would be huge for the Marlins. They should also be able to put a few more runs on the board once Hanley Ramirez returns to the lineup. He is a superstar, when he wants to be, and has the best bat in that Marlins lineup. That is another huge blow for this team. I'm just hoping that the current team can right the ship a bit so things don't completely fall apart before the reinforcements arrive. Right now the Marlins are sinking fast and are in desperate need of some positive results.

I don't want to close on a negative mark however, I'm a glass half-full kind of guy. I want to tip my hat to Anibal Sanchez for his performance during the month of May. The Marlins were 5-1 in the six games he started and outscored their opponents by an average of 2.17 runs per game. That was the big bright spot for the month of May. Hopefully he can keep it going and be the savior for this team now that things aren't going so well.

Don't Just Stand There, Buster Move

I've finally reached the end of my rope in regards to the Buster Posey injury discussion. He got hurt five days ago, when is enough enough?

For those of you who did not click the link above, Posey was injured in a home plate collision with Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins.

To be completely honest, I don't know what all of the "discussion" is about. That is a clean, hard nosed baseball play that has happened (unofficially) millions of times since the creation of the game of baseball. The only thing that made this one different was the unfortunate fact that Buster Posey happened to suffer an injury on the play. If he doesn't get hurt on the play, it isn't even a footnote in baseball's record books. It'd just make up 3 seconds of a 30 second highlight on Sportscenter.

The other thing that sets this thing apart is the fact that it was Buster Posey who was injured on the play. In baseball circles, he's kind of regarded as the "golden boy" of up and coming young superstars. During the offseason, MLB Network ran a series of programs titled "Top 10 Right Now," which they ranked the top 10 players at each position. After a little more than half of a season in the big leagues, Posey was ranked by MLB Network as the second best catcher right now (behind Joe Mauer). I thought that was a little high, but that's not what we're talking about at the moment. Sadly, if it were Matt Treanor, and not Buster Posey, that this happened to, we probably wouldn't be talking about it.

Jeff Berry, Buster Posey's agent, has already called for Major League Baseball to eliminate collisions at the plate. To me, this is a joke. The injury happened on a play that has always been considered a baseball play. If Scott Cousins had intentionally gone to the head, I would agree with the argument. If he had gone low and taken out Posey's legs, I would have agreed with the argument. However, Scott Cousins ran right through Buster Posey's body, as players are taught to do. It wasn't the contact itself that injured Posey, it was the way he fell after the contact. This is an insanely stupid request from Jeff Barry who is probably just a little nervous that his cash train may have just de-railed.

If for some reason MLB would pass a rule eliminating home plate collisions it would just be another instance where a league changes a rule because of an injury to a star player. Honestly though, I don't even think MLB will consider passing this rule. If they did however, then they'd have to eliminate take out slides, automatically fine and suspend pitchers for hitting a batter with a pitch and eliminate suicide squeeze plays just because they sound bad. Seriously, the game is great. There's no need to change the rules to soften it up. You wouldn't want to follow the same path as the NFL.

As soon as you think that the Buster Posey injury discussion is FINALLY over, Mike Matheny has to chime in with his opinion on the matter. I really have mixed feelings on his comments on the issue and at the moment, I'm not completely sure what to say about them. I like how he isn't in favor of changing the rules and I also like how he says that this wasn't a dirty play either. However, he also mentions that even though it wasn't a dirty play, it was an unnecessary play. He claimed Cousins was "hunting" on the play and that Posey gave him a lane to slide to the outside that Cousins didn't take.

Honestly, you could make the case that there is always an outside lane on any play like that. After watching the video again several times, I still maintain that it is just a hard (yet clean) baseball play.

Cousins is tagging up on a ball in the top of the 12th inning and represents the go ahead run for the Marlins. As soon as that ball is caught, he put his head down and chugged his way to the plate as fast as his legs would take him. He looks up, sees Posey blocking the plate, while making a play on the ball and he ran through him. To me, that's doing whatever it takes to give your team the lead in the 12th inning of a tight ballgame. I understand the Giants don't like it, based on the end result, but it Cousins was on your team, he would've gained a lot of respect in the clubhouse for a play like that.

My favorite part of this entire play though is the sportsmanship shown by Cousins after the collision. As soon as he scored the run, his first move was to check on Posey to make sure he was ok. Unfortunately he wasn't but that's a class act by a player in the heat of the moment. It's never a good thing to overlook positive sportsmanship considering there isn't enough of it in sports as it is.

One thing people are overlooking about this whole thing is the role Chris Coghlan played in this whole thing. He was on deck at the time this play went down. At the moment the ball was hit, Coghlan got into a position behind the plate where he could direct Cousins what to do in the event of a close play. That way the runner doesn't have to take his eyes off of the plate because doing so would cause him to slow down. I know he's back there because he is in the video immediately after the collision. However I've never seen a view of the collision which shows his instructions to Cousins. Did Coghlan tell Cousins to run over Posey? My instinct on the matter tells me yes. Had Coghlan told Cousins to slide to the outside (aka Matheny's "lane"), I have no reason to believe that he wouldn't have done it.

Either way, what should it matter, it was still a clean baseball play. It's sad that Buster Posey got hurt and is probably out for the season, but that's a risk you take everyday you put the catcher's gear on. Players know the risks so they shouldn't be surprised when something like this finally does happen. It's unfortunate but it's just part of the game and it should stay that way.

Random Thoughts

I was going to do each of these as individual posts, but unfortunately some internet troubles have slowed me down as of late. Thank you Comcast!

Boulevard of Broken Wings

For the record, yes, that is a Green Day reference.

A couple of weeks ago, the Detroit Red Wings were eliminated from the 2011 Stanley Cup Playoffs by the San Jose Sharks.

While yes, I am a little disappointed that the Red Wings will not be winning the Stanley Cup this season, I cannot be too disappointed. This may be the best 7 game series that I have ever seen in the time I've been a hockey fan.

Here's a quote from the Elias Sports Bureau: "The Sharks-Red Wings series was the first playoff series in NHL history in which six games were decided by a one-goal margin. All seven games would have been one-goal games if it wasn't for Darren Helm's empty-net goal in Game 6 that made the final score Detroit 3, San Jose 1."

Every single game, except one, was a one goal game. The only reason that game six was not a one goal game as well was because the Red Wings added an empty net goal late. Then there's the fact that the Red Wings were down 3-0 in this series and came back to force a game 7. I can safely say that this series was so close that neither the Wings or Sharks deserved to lose 3 games in a row, even though they both did. Each game in this series went down to the wire with both teams having the opportunity to win.

At this point, I'd just like to tip my hat to the San Jose Sharks for their performance in this series. The Red Wings threw everything they could at them, yet the Sharks kept coming. That's a real testiment to Todd McLellan and the San Jose Sharks. Not many teams in the NHL today can do that to the Red Wings. That's not bias from a Red Wings fan, that's just reality. So again, I'd like to congratulate the Sharks on playing an excellent series in round 2 and I would like to wish them the best of luck in the Conference Finals against the Vancouver Canucks.


Pick Your Poison

I have to say it now: I'd really hate to be a Chicago White Sox fan. I'm not even saying that because the Sox have greatly underachieved up to this point in the season. They still have a great lineup and a great deal of time to turn this thing around. I certainly wouldn't count them out, especially with a General Manager like Kenny Williams.

I think it sucks to be a White Sox fan becuase there is no good way to watch and/or listen to a game.

If you cannot watch the game on television, you are stuck having to listen to Ed Farmer on the radio. I really don't recommend this unless you want to fall asleep. I certainly don't recommend listening to him especially while you are driving. He may be the most boring radio play by play commentator that I've ever heard. He is extremely monotone and rarely shows any emotion at all. It gets worse when you add in the fact that Darrin Jackson is his color guy. He is just as boring as Farmer is, which I believe is why he was taken off of television broadcasts.

Then you have Ken "The Hawk" Harrelson. This guy may be the worst television play by play man I've ever seen or heard.

First and foremost, he's a former player, so he probably has no business being a play by play man anyways. Most former players are color commentators, not play by play announcers.

Second, I have no idea the last time Harrelson actually called an MLB game. Maybe he's never actually called one? At this point in his career, he's all cliches. No matter the situation, he always has a stupid one liner to insert to describe the situation. Any White Sox game you watch, you'll hear the same thing every game. I could probably call a White Sox game from the comfort of my computer desk if you gave me a Hawk Harrelson soundboard.

Back when I was 10, I though Harrelson was a pretty cool guy. It was fun to play pick-up baseball and repeat all of his cliches. Then, unlike Peter Pan, I grew up into an intelligent baseball fan. Then I realized that not only is Hawk a lousy announcer, he's an idiot. He's a fan in the booth, not a commentator.

Speaking of being an idiot, that brings me to point number three. Not only is he all cliches, I think he chugs White Sox Kool Aid 24-7-365. I have never heard a more homer announcer in my life. Don't get me wrong, I expect a little bias. He's been calling Sox games for a number of years and they pay his salary so a little bias should be expected. However the product he puts on the airwaves is absolutely ridiculous. Teams opposing the White Sox can never do anything right. Any time they do, it happened becuase the White Sox did something negative and "gave it to them," rather than them earning it. Not to mention every time a close or questionable call goes against the White Sox, it's because the umpire has something against the Sox. I wouldn't expect him to know anything about human error. If he does, he certainly wouldn't admit it on the air.

The only thing that saves White Sox television broadcasts is Steve Stone. He's widely been regarded as one of the best color commentators in the game of baseball. I do however think his commentary has gotten worse since joining the White Sox organization. That makes me wonder if there is some pressure coming from the Sox front office on the broadcasters to keep things positive.

The only thing I do like about Harrelson is the emotion he shows during broadcasts. If only he could give some of that to Ed Farmer.

I already know some White Sox fan is going to chime in and talk about the late Ron Santo and the Cubs. I will completely agree, Ron Santo was not a great color commentator. Like Harrelson, he was a fan in the booth, not a commentator. Like with the White Sox television crew, the fan (in the booth) is paired with a pretty decent partner. Both Steve Stone and Pat Hughes are both very good at what they do.

To sum this up, there's only one good way to watch a White Sox game. Either watch the television feed on mute or pray to the gods that they are on either ESPN or MLB Network. That way you can watch your White Sox without the pain of listening to either Ed Farmer or Hawk Harrelson.


HEATing Up

Right now, I can safely and confidently crown the Miami Heat as 2010-11 NBA Champions.

I'm sure you're asking yourself, "We're still in the Conference Finals, how can you award the Championship to the Heat?"

If you're asking that, you're absolutely right, we are still in the Conference Finals. The Heat are currently leading the top-seeded Bulls 2-1 in the East. In the West, the Mavericks currently lead the Thunder 3-1. With that said, I will tell you why the Heat will win the Championship and that is the "Superstar Effect."

Of the remaining teams, the Heat have more "superstars" on their roster than any of the other teams. The Heat have 2.5 superstars on their roster. The two superstars are obviously Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. I'm generously going to consider Chris Bosh as half of a superstar. He's not remotely in the same category as Wade and James, but he's not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination. He was the best player on a bad Raptors team, which inflated his numbers a bit. The Bulls (Rose), Thunder (Durant) and Mavericks (Nowitzki) only have one superstar and that will ultimately cost them in the long run.

The officials and the NBA will deny it, but there is such a thing as the "superstar effect." Like it or not, superstar players get calls to go their way that other players do not get. That's reality and there's no way around it. In the case of guys like Wade and James, you can barely look at them without being called for a foul. Just ask the Mavericks about that one. Back in 2006, the Miami Heat rode Dwayne Wade and the "superstar effect" to an NBA Championship, beating the Mavs in the Finals. I'm a Mavs fan, so there is some bias there, but I think most NBA fans would agree with that assessment.

The other thing the Heat have going in their favor now is merchandising. Like it or not, the league revolves around money and superstar players sell merchandise. No matter what team wins a championship, in any leauge, there is a spike in merchandise sales. I'm not going to get specific here because the Heat are already the Champions. However the presence of Wade, James and Bosh will cause a higher spike in sales than that of any of the remaining teams. Even though they will NEVER admit it, the NBA wants the Heat to win the NBA Championship because of the greater amount of income. Even though the NBA secretly wants the Heat to win, they will not instruct officials to make that happen. I want to clear that up now. The "superstar effect" is a subconsious reaction by officials, nothing intentional to carry out some evil plan.

The sad part about this whole thing is that the Heat may be the worst TEAM remaining in the playoffs. Yes they have the superstars but they also filled out the remainder of their roster with role players. The other remaining teams have a much better collection of talent than the Heat do. So I'm hoping that somebody, anybody can step up and beat the Heat but I don't see it happening. Go Mavs Go.

Too Much Free Time - April Edition

As I mentioned in an earlier blog, my favorite baseball team is the Miami Florida Marlins. Before the season started, I decided that I really (I mean really) wanted to keep up with the Marlins this season. So I logged on to Microsoft Excel and created a spreadsheet which would allow me to keep track of how the Marlins are doing. Being a fan of uniforms in sports, I made this spreadsheet largely uniform based. I'll clarify that a little more once I get into my findings through the month of April.

My spreadsheet consists of six pages. The first page is just the Marlins season schedule. I update this daily with a simple "win" or "loss" and put the game score in the column next to the result. The second through fourth pages all contain the Marlins schedule as well, but they are there solely to keep track of various uniform elements. The first of those pages is there so that I can keep track of what hat the Marlins are wearing for each game of the season. This is kind of a dull element to track because, to the best of my knowledge, the Marlins only have one official game hat. They will however still be wearing the MLB "Stars and Stripes" caps for select games this season, as they've done the past three years. With the Marlins moving into a new stadium next season and changing their name (to the Miami Marlins), I wouldn't be surprised if they wore a throwback hat or two though. However, to the best of my knowledge, they are not planning on doing that.

The second of the uniform based pages has to do with the jersey the Marlins are wearing on a given day. This is a little more interesting because the Marlins have three different jerseys that they can wear. They have their traditional home white jersey, which they have worn for every home game so far this season. They have their traditional road grey jersey, which they have only worn for one series (2 games and a rain out). Like most MLB teams today, the Marlins also have an alternate jersey. In recent years, the Marlins have worn their alternate jersey for both home and away games. They seemingly wore their alternate more than both their tradtional home and away jerseys, but can't confirm what happened in the past (I'm just going on gut instinct here). However for this season, I can confirm what they are wearing! The Marlins have yet to wear their alternate at home, but have worn it for all but two of their away games.

The third uniform based page (fourth page overall) has to do with the color pants the Marlins are wearing for each game. Like with the hat, this one is pretty simple. If the Marlins are at home, they are going to be wearing their white pants with black pinstripes. If they are on the road, they are wearing their plain grey pants. Really no surprises there.

The fifth page of my spreadsheet, like the others, also contains the Marlins season schedule. On this page, I keep track of who the Marlins starting pitcher is for each game. As of this very second, the Marlins starting rotation consists of Josh Johnson (who may be the best pitcher in the Major Leagues at the moment), Ricky Nolasco, Javier Vazquez, Anibal Sanchez and Chris Volstad. Of course, as the season drags on, there will be a few other guys that make a spot start or two, but if this rotation stays healthy, they are going to have a damn good season.

The last page happens to be my favorite. This is where the magic happens. Not really, but this is where all of the data is kept track of. I keep track of the Marlins record when each element is in place. I also keep track of the number of runs scored and allowed when each element is in place as well. So without furthur adieu, let's take a look at how the Marlins are doing through the first month (25 games) of the regular season.

Overall
Games Played: 25
Record: 16-9
Runs Scored: 109 (average of 4.36 per game)
Runs Allowed: 93 (3.72/game)

Black Hat
Games: 25
Record: 16-9
Runs Scored: 109 (4.36/game)
Runs Allowed: 93 (3.72/game)

White Jersey
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (3.40/game)

Grey Jersey
Games: 2
Record: 1-1
Runs Scored: 6 (3.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 6 (3.00/game)

Black Jersey
Games: 8
Record: 5-3
Runs Scored: 33 (4.13/game)
Runs Allowed: 36 (4.50/game)

White Pants
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (3.40/game)

Grey Pants
Games: 10
Record: 6-4
Runs Scored: 39 (3.90/game)
Runs Allowed: 42 (4.20/game)

When Josh Johnson Starts
Games: 6
Record: 4-2
Runs Scored: 29 (4.83/game)
Runs Allowed: 15 (2.50/game)

When Ricky Nolasco Starts
Games: 5
Record: 4-1
Runs Scored: 25 (5.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 18 (3.60/game)

When Javier Vazquez Starts
Games: 5
Record: 3-2
Runs Scored: 21 (4.20/game)
Runs Allowed: 26 (5.20/game)

When Anibal Sanchez Starts
Games: 5
Record: 2-3
Runs Scored: 14 (2.80/game)
Runs Allowed: 18 (3.60/game)

When Chris Volstad Starts
Games: 4
Record: 3-1
Runs Scored: 20 (5.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 16 (4.00/game)

Home Games
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed:

Away Games
Games: 10
Record: 6-4
Runs Scored: 39 (3.90/game)
Runs Allowed: 42 (4.20/game)

Black Hat-White Jersey-White Pants
Games: 15
Record: 10-5
Runs Scored: 70 (4.67/game)
Runs Allowed: 51 (3.40/game)

Black Hat-Black Jersey-Grey Pants
Games: 8
Record: 5-3
Runs Scored: 33 (4.13/game)
Runs Allowed: 36 (4.50/game)

Black Hat-Grey Jersey-Grey Pants
Games: 2
Record: 1-1
Runs Scored: 6 (3.00/game)
Runs Allowed: 6 (3.00/game)

So those are the stats I've compiled over the first month (25 of 162 games) of the regular season. Yes there is a lot of overlapping data, but that happens when you look at the individual elements and the big picture at the same time. Now it's extremely early in the season, so I'm not going to get too up or down based on these results. However there are a few trends that are starting to show up. As more data is inputted as the season rolls along, we'll see if those trends continue. After 25 games and the month of April, the Marlins are in second place only 1.5 games behind the heavily favored Philadelphia Phillies. So in a (very simple) nutshell, this whole thing proves is that the Marlins are kicking ass at home, are getting outscored by an average of .30 runs per game on the road (and still have a winning record!), and that I have way too much free time. Go Marlins!

Carolina Got sCAMmed

With the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft, the Carolina Panthers select Cam New... *click*. As a fan of the Carolina Panthers, that is the only thing I've seen of the NFL Draft. I turned it off at that moment and have no desire to watch another second of the draft. To be frank, the Panthers screwed up bad and I'm pissed.

Going into the draft, the "experts" were saying that there are three can't miss standouts in this draft and Cam Newton wasn't one of them. Those standouts were Alabama defensive tackle Marcell Dareus (3 - Buffalo), Georgia wide reciever AJ Green (4 - Cincinnati) and LSU cornerback Patrick Peterson (5 - Arizona). Not only are they all much safer picks, the Panthers need players at all three of those positions.

The Panthers defense was absolutely terrible last season. They struggled all season to fill the void left by Julius Peppers and have still yet to fill it. Dareus could've been a huge part of filling that void. Considering the Panthers play in the quarterback heavy NFC South (Drew Brees, Matt Ryan, and Josh Freeman), they could always use a shutdown corner, which they don't have. With all of the new rule changes favoring the passing game, that also puts a whole new emphasis on pass rushers and secondary. The Panthers could've also used a wide reciever the caliber of AJ Green. Word on the street is that Steve Smith, who is already a star reciever in the NFL for the Panthers, wants a trade out of Carolina and has already cleared out his locker. That leaves the Panthers with a TERRIBLE recieving corps, considering Smith was the only good (and he was great) reciever on their roster.

Last season, the Panthers did not have a first round pick. Their first pick was 48th overall and took place during the second round. With that pick, they chose Jimmy Clausen, who played quarterback at Notre Dame. They also drafted Cincinnati's quarterback, Tony Pike, in the sixth round of the same draft. As of this second, here is what the Panthers roster of quarterbacks looks like (in alphabetical order): Clausen (23 years old), Matt Moore (26), Cam Newton (21), Keith Null (25), Pike (25), Brian St. Pierre (31). St. Pierre is easily the oldest quarterback on the Carolina roster and barring some serious injuries, he isn't even going to given a chance on the field. That leaves the Panthers with a ton of young quaterback and no veteran leadership. That's one reason the pick of Cam Newton is so unbelievably stupid. That's like handing your car keys to your 15 year old son/daughter, who just got their drivers permit, and letting them drive without an adult.

The big thing about that that gets me is that Ron Rivera (new Panthers head coach) has already acknowledged that Jimmy Clausen didn't have a chance of succeeding last season. With all of that said, they still completely gave up on him and drafted Cam Newton anyways. I'm not competely sold on Clausen either, but I atleast want to see him in a situation where he atleast has an opportunity to succeed before I completely give up on him. He wasn't given that last season and had a horrible season. If nothing else, Clausen can keep the seat warm while the Panthers fill some holes around him. He's good enough to do that and can make some plays if given the opportunity. He just needs to be given one first.

Now, let's talk about Cam Newton and his "red flags". I seriously question his character. In November of 2008, while still at the University of Florida, he was arrested for allegedly stealing the laptop of another student. After completing a court-approved pretrial diversion program, the charges against Newton were dropped, but the laptop was found to be in his possession. He left the University of Florida prior to the spring 2009 semester in order to avoid a suspension or possibly expulsion for academic cheating.

The thing that really scares is the fact that he left the University of Florida rather than facing the consequences of his actions. If you knowingly do something wrong, which Newton did, you need to be man enough to face the consequences if you get caught. He did not, he chose to run. That makes me wonder what he is going to do in Carolina when the going gets tough, and it's going to get tough. Is he going to buckle down and work harder or is his going to flee? The past tells that when the going gets tough, Cam Newton gets running.

After leaving Florida, Newton enrolled at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas. In one season there, Newton led Blinn to the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) national football championship. That really isn't surprising though that a five-star division one recruit dominated while playing at a junior college.

After his one season at Blinn, Newton enrolled at Auburn. In his first (and only) season at Auburn, Cam Newton had a dominant season. He led the Tigers to a 14-0 record and a BCS National Championship. Along the way, he dominated individually and took home the Davey O'Brien award (for the nations top QB) and the 2010 Heisman Trophy. Here are Newton's individual statistics for the 2010 NCAA football season:

Completion Percentage: 66.1 (185-280)
Passing Yards: 2854
Yards per Game (pass): 203.9
Touchdowns (pass): 30
Interceptions: 7
Sacks: 23 (for 152 yards lost)

Rushing attempts: 264
Rushing Yards: 1284 (Auburn's leading rusher)
Yards per Game (rush): 91.7
Touchdowns (rush): 20

On a quick side note, that is a lot of sacks. I appreciate the fact that he is moving around trying to make something happen, but that is something that needs to change in the NFL. He needs to learn to be smarter with the ball and protect field position. Taking 23 sacks is not doing that. He can get away with it at Auburn, where they are better than many of their opponents to begin with, but he won't have that luxury in the NFL.

Newton is a big, strong, powerful kid. He was able to run over and through guys at Auburn. He won't be doing that in the NFL, I can promise that. Defenders are much bigger and faster and stronger than they are in college. If Cam is going to be the franchise guy for the Panthers, I don't want him out there trying to run through guys and taking huge hits. If he is that guy, I want him healthy and on the field. He won't be if though if the thinks he's going to run through guys like he did in college. He needs to learn to slide and protect the ball. Huge hits lead to fumbles. Fumbles lead to points. Points lead to losses and the Panthers don't need any more of those. At this point though, I don't mind if he does try to run through somebody because I don't want him on the field.

During his time at Auburn, Newton still couldn't avoid controversy. According to Mississippi State (MSU), they were approached by Cecil Newton (Cam's father) wanting a payment for Cam's services. Apparently Cecil told the people at MSU that "it would take more than just a scholarship" for his son to play at MSU. Cecil was apparently asking for somewhere between $100,000 and $180,000. After an NCAA invesigation, due to insufficient evidence, they ruled that Cam Newton was eligible to play. As part of that ruling, they stated that Cecil Newton acted along and neither Cam nor the University of Auburn had any knowledge of his actions.

It's bad to say, but I've never believed a second of that story. I didn't when it happen and I don't now that he is a member of the Carolina Panthers. I think that whole mess was a very well thought out plan by the Newton camp. Even though Cam may not have had any direct involvement in the mess, I have a very hard time believing that he had no knowledge it was going on. I think they set it up so that he wouldn't be tied to it if they got caught, which they did.

The other thing that really scares me about Cam Newton was the offense he ran at Auburn. The offense he ran was an overly simple version of the spread offense. I can't officially confirm this, but I've read several places that Auburn made their offense overly simple so that Cam Newton could run it. I don't want a guy on my roster that needs his college offense (which isn't a pro style offense) dumbed down so that he could run it. When ESPN's Jon Gruden asked Newton to tell him what an Auburn play sounded like and Newton couldn't come up with an answer. Newton said it himself in that last video clip, a typical Auburn play was just a number. They ran a quick offense with very little huddling, so Newton has very little experience calling plays in a huddle. Newton also worked mostly out of the shotgun formation so taking snaps under center will be new to him, much like it was last year for Tim Tebow. Those two factors are second nature to NFL quarterbacks and it scares me that Newton hasn't done it.

Jimmy Clausen ran a pro style offense at Notre Dame under Charlie Weis and has had no problems adjusting to play calling in the NFL. He is also comfortable taking snaps under center, which Newton is not. Clausen was much more ready coming out of college than Newton is now.

Also, Newton has only played one season in Division-One NCAA football. Yes he was a backup for a season at Florida (behind Tebow), but he didn't play. I could care less what he did at Blinn College because he wasn't playing top talent every single game. Yes he played well in his one season as a starter at Auburn but I want to see him do it again so that I know that he can do it again. That lack of experience again scares the crap out of me.

I've also seen some reports where Cam's work ethic has been questioned. I don't care how high his upside is, he'll never get there if he's lazy. Look at former number one overall pick JaMarcus Russell. If there are any questions at all about his work ethic...avoid, avoid, avoid. You don't want to place the fate of your franchise in the hands of a lazy player.

During the interview portion of the combine, Newton presented himself very well. This does not surprise me. He knew his issues coming in so he knew the questions that were going to be asked. He got coached very well leading up to this portion of the combine and it showed. However it's just like any speech class a person will ever take. The more you practice, the better the delivery will be every time you deliver the speech. That's really all this was, I don't care what anybody says.

When you add this whole thing up, Newton has way too many more question marks than positives. The Panthers had the first pick in the entire draft so they could've picked anybody they wanted. They took their chances on Newton, who has a huge upside but is also a work in progress. There were much safer picks out there that would've solved more glaring problems for the Panthers. Yes they probably do need a quarterback, but they need a lot of other things as well.

To make a long story short, I think the Panthers made a huge mistake taking Cam Newton with the first overall pick of the draft. Even though Ron Rivera has yet to even coach a game for the Panthers, I'm already calling for his head. Him and General Manager Marty Hurney just set this franchise back 5-10 years with this pick. Instead of filling a need, they just created another question mark. If the Panthers do not win 5 games next season, I want Rivera and Hurney to both lose their jobs. They screwed this whole thing up so badly that it isn't even funny. Well, I suppose it probably is funny if you aren't a Panthers fan. Either way, the Panthers just got sCAMmed by Cam.

Jackie Robinson Day

I'd like to wish everybody a Happy April 15! That means one of three things:

1. Happy Birthday Ryan!
2. Shit! Did I pay my taxes? (yes I did)
3. Jackie Robinson Day.

On this day back in 1947, Jackie Robinson became the first player to break baseball's color barrier when he made his debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers. This was a monumental step forward for the game and one that should be celebrated annually. Not only should it be celebrated, it should be celebrated at every park in Major League Baseball that is hosting a game on Jackie Robinson Day.

With all of that said, MLB couldn't have screwed this whole celebration up any more if they'd tried. I take that back, I'm sure they could make it worse if they wanted to, and they probably will in future seasons. On Jackie Robinson Day every season, every player and coach on every major league roster and the umpires for every single game will be wearing the number 42.

On April 15, 1997, the 50th anniversary of Robinson breaking the color barrier, MLB commissioner Bud Selig announced that the number 42 would be retired league wide. The exception to that rule were players that were already wearing the number 42. They would be allowed to continue using the number. It's been 14 years since that announcement and there is only one player left in the league still wearing the number. That's Yankees closer Mariano Rivera. Even though it's his right to continue using the number, I personally think he's a little selfish for continuing to use the number. However that's a different argument for a different day.

In 2007, Ken Griffey, Jr. asked MLB for permission to wear the number 42 on Jackie Robinson Day as a tribute to the man and his accomplishments. Once he was granted permission from Selig and Rachel Robinson (the widow of Jackie Robinson), Selig extended the offer to all major league clubs. During this period, players were not required to wear the number 42 but had the option to do so if they wanted to. Starting in 2009, all players, coaches and umpires were required to wear the number. That tradition continues today.

As great of an occasioin as Jackie Robinson Day is, the tradition of everybody wearing the number 42 is completely stupid and over the top. It makes it extremely hard, if not impossible, to tell who anybody is on the field. To make things harder, players do not wear their last names on the back of their jerseys for Jackie Robinson Day, just the number 42. Why can't players just wear a special sleeve patch to commemorate the occasion? They could even make it a hat patch as well if they wanted to. It has the same effect, yet looks far less stupid.

Like I said before, Jackie Robinson Day is a great occasion that should be celebrated by everybody in baseball. You'll never hear me say that it shouldn't be. They just need to find a better way to do it.

I'd like to give a quick thank you to Jackie Robinson for his dedication to the game of baseball. He really helped to shape the game of baseball, and pretty much every other sport for that matter, into what it is today. So I tip my cap to you Jackie. Thank you for a job well done!

Who Am I?

This probably should've been my first blog, but I thought the Tampa Bay Lightning's uniform situation was a little more important. Anybody that knows me personally will agree with that immediately. I've always been interested in sports and the uniforms that go along with those sports. That is one of the reasons I collect jerseys. If something is rare, unique, or just an absolute throwback, it usually catches my eye. As a collector though, I still have my boundaries, I will not own a jersey of a team that is a rival of my team. With all of that said, here's a little bit about me and who I am as a fan.

There are a lot of people who choose their loyalties based on proximity. For example, if you live in Illinois, you are a Chicago fan all of the way. I live in Illinois, and I am an exception to that rule. My favorite teams are scattered throughout the United States. I follow most of the major sports and have a favorite team in each. Those teams include (listed in alphabetical order) the Carolina Panthers (NFL), Dallas Mavericks (NBA), Detroit Red Wings (NHL), Florida Marlins (MLB), and Manchester City Football (soccer) Club (EPL).

When I was growing up, I was raised by my father to be a Detroit Lions fan. I have no idea why he likes the Detroit Lions but he's always been a fan of them. So when I was growing up, I had a Barry Sanders jersey (may have been my first jersey, but I can't confirm that), a Lions winter coat, t-shirts, sweatshirts, etc. I can just sum that up by saying that I had a lot of Lions stuff. Back in 1996, I'm not really sure why, but I decided that I was going to be a Carolina Panthers fan. I've been that way ever since. I've seen them blow a Super Bowl, which stung a little bit. I've also seen them complete seasons with one and two wins respectfully. The most recent bad season just so happened to be the 2010 NFL season in which they went 2-14 and were rewarded with the first pick in the 2011 NFL Draft (aka they were the worst team in football). I'm content with that though. Like with many things, it has to get worse before it can get better.

As I mentioned earlier, I live in Illinois and grew up at the height of the Chicago Bulls championship runs. So naturally, I grew up following the Chicago Bulls. I still follow them quite closely, but don't consider them to by "my" team. A lot of that has to do with Dirk Nowitzki, who happens to be my favorite basketball player, and Mavericks owner Mark Cuban. Nowitzki is a special player, I'm not sure anybody will deny that. He's a matchup nightmare for opposing teams. It's very rare when you have a seven footer who has the outside game of a guard, who can also play down on the blocks. If you put a big man on him, he'll take him outside, creating a mis-match on defense. If you put a smaller player on him, he'll take him down low and create another mis-match on defense. If you double team him, that leaves somebody on the court open, which again isn't a good thing for the opposing team. On the flip side, you have owner Mark Cuban, who is sort of a controversial figure in sports. He's said and done a lot (emphasis added) of stupid things which have landed him fines from the NBA. At the end of the day though, he is just a passionate fan who is willing to do whatever necessary to help his team win. In past years he's tried unsuccessfully on a couple of attempts to buy Major League Baseball teams, most notably the Cubs. The sad thing is that the "Old Boys Club" known as the baseball owners won't approve Cuban as an owner. I really think he'd be good for the game of baseball but it doesn't look like he'll ever get the chance to prove it.

The Detroit Red Wings are probably the team that I am most passionate about. I've always been a hockey fan, even when it wasn't "cool" in the mid-90s. I can't say that it was never not cool to be a hockey fan, but there were never really any followers of the game where I live back in the day. As I said before, I was raised by my father to be a Detroit Lions fan. I also happened to play for the Tigers at the same time back when I was in Little League. So I always kind of had that Detroit connection, even though I've never been to Detroit, or Michigan, for that matter. When I became interested in the game of hockey, naturally I became a fan of the Red Wings thanks to that Detroit connection. During my time as a Wings fan, I've been spoiled a little bit. I've been there for four Stanley Cups and they've never missed the playoffs since I've been following them. I'd like to think that I'm their good luck charm, but that probably isn't the case. My luck as a Wings fan, as much as I hate to say it, is probably on borrowed time, not that I'm complaining. 

The team I've been a fan of the longest happens to be the Florida Marlins. I've been a fan of them since they entered the league back in 1993. A year or two before they entered the league, I went on a family vacation to Florida and had an AMAZING time. Of course what 6 or 7 (or somewhere around there) year old isn't going to have a great time at Walt Disney World? So when the state got a professional baseball team a couple of years later, I instantly became a fan. Like with my other teams, I've been around for two World Series championships and some absolutely horrible years where they were not even competitve. For the most part though, the Marlins have always been a middle of the pack team. They've always been a tough matchup and a team others don't like to face, but they usually end up falling just short in the end. I'm fine with that though because they always seem to be competitive every single year, which is all I can ask for as a fan. It'll really be interesting to see what happens next season when they move into their new ballpark in down town Miami. For those who were not aware as well, they are also going through a re-branding process next year as well. Starting with the opening of their new park, they will be known as the Miami Marlins, rather than the Florida Marlins.

I now go from my oldest loyalty, to my newest, and that belongs to Manchester City Football Club. Being in the United States, soccer really isn't a huge thing here. Yeah, we have Major League Soccer, and even though it's getting better every year, it's not exactly top flight football. I really got interested in the game of soccer watching the 2006 World Cup, which was played in Germany. At the conclusion of that World Cup, I made the decision that I was going to start following soccer and that I had to choose a team to follow. Somehow I was always attracted to Manchester City. I knew right away that I wasn't going to jump on the bandwagon of one of the top teams because it's too easy to do it that way. When you think of the "Boys in Blue," they will always be the little brothers in the city of Manchester. Everybody, even if they aren't soccer fans, have atleast heard of Manchester United. Manchester City is to Manchester United what the Los Angeles Clippers are to the Lakers. Or what the New York Mets are to the Yankees. I think you get the point. Up to this point, I haven't seen much of a return on that "investment," but thing are looking up and I see City being championship contenders for the next several years. Hopefully they can live up to those expectations atleast once.

As a sports fan in general, I love to go see live sporting events, no matter who is playing. To make the game more interesting, I like to cheer for somebody in that game, even if I don't have any ties to them as a fan. What's the point in going if you are just going to sit on your hands the entire game and not cheer for anybody? One label I've been given is that I'm an antagonist who likes to always cheer for the away team. Even though it usually ends up that way, that's not necessarily true. Most of the minor league teams close to me happen to be affiliated with rivals of my favorite team. So therefore, I'm not going to cheer for those teams just because of their affiliation. It's not that I'm necessarily trying to be antagonistic, it's that I'm trying to be a fan of my team. If that means cheering against the home team, so be it.

The example I'll use here are the Rockford IceHogs, who happen to be AHL affiliates of the Chicago Blackhawks. I've hated the IceHogs long before their affiliation with the Blackhawks. Back in the day, when they were still members of the United Hockey League, they had a nice rivalry with the Quad City Mallards. The Mallards happened to be my favorite local team growing up and the two teams are located about two hours from each other. When I was roughly 10 years old, I went with my dad to see the Mallards play in Rockford. Around 5 minutes into the game, the Mallards scored to take a 1-0 lead. My teams scored so naturally I stood up and clapped. A few seconds later, I get hit in the middle of the back with a chuck-a-puck. It takes a real classy fan to hit a 10 year old kid in the back with a chuck-a-puck for clapping when his team scored. Since then I've been challenged to a fight by a drunken bachelor party (just for wearing a Mallards jersey) and have had a half empty water bottle fly past my head (for standing up and clapping for a goal). I've also been called an asshole by a fan just for standing up and clapping for a goal. I didn't say a word, I just stood up and clapped. Back in the day, there were some extremely mean spirited fans that went to IceHogs games. It's gotten much better in recent years, but I still will never cheer for them. I've had way too many negative experiences in the past and now they have the whole Chicago Blackhawks affiliation thing going against them as well. Being a Red Wings fan, I can't find it in my heart to cheer for anything related to the Blackhawks.

There you have it. That's a little bit of an insight as to who I am as a fan and where my loyalties lie.

Be A Man(ny)

Last week Manny Ramirez, now (or I guess formerly) of the Tampa Bay Rays, decided to call it a career. When I first heard the news, I wasn't at all surprised. His numbers to start the 2011 MLB season were horrible, and that may be sugar coating it.

This season, Ramirez only played in 5 games for the Rays. In that time, he had 17 at bats and recorded one hit and one RBI. He also struck out four times and currently has a batting average of .059, which again is not good. So again, when I first heard the news about his retirement, I wasn't surprised. I had a feeling that he just wasn't keeping up with the game as well as he had in the past and that his mind and body were both telling him that it's time to go. There have been several great athletes who have run into situations like that.

As time went on, it was apparent that this retirement was different. Apparently Manny had run into another issue with Major League Baseball's Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Back in 2009, when Manny was a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles, he was suspended 50 games for an issue to do with the Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. It's also been reported, but never confirmed that Manny's name was also on the list of players that tested positive before MLB began regular drug testing. This round of testing was done in order to gauge drug use in order to decide whether or not to implement some form of drug testing. The names of the players who tested positive were not supposed to be released, even though some have come out since then.

Seeing as though Manny apparently tested positive again, he is now facing the possiblility of a 100 game suspension. Instead of being a man and facing the punishment for the act he committed, he instead decided to run away from it and retire. I lose a lot of respect for Manny just for that right there. If you knowingly do something wrong, you should always be prepared to face the consequences if you get caught. He's not a man though, he's only 38. As we know from the past, you don't become a man until you turn 40.

If Manny Ramirez decides to ultimately stay away from baseball, which I don't think he will, this will be his lasting legacy. Keep in mind that if he does decide to return, he will immediately be facing the 100 game suspension before he's able to resume his playing career.

Ramirez probably has statistics good enough for enshrinement in Cooperstown. He was never the best defender but the guy could always hit. As far as I'm concerned, he should never make his way to Cooperstown. Any player who ever tests positive for a banned substance, in my opinion, should never be allowed to make the Hall of Fame. Period. That includes Jose Canseco, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Rafael Palmeiro, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Andy Pettite, Manny Ramirez, etc. Do I need to continue?

His only chance to get into the Hall of Fame, and I mean only chance, would be to be a man and face the consequences of his actions. You will atleast save a little bit of face there. By running away, you don't get to save any face and that won't be forgotten, I'll guarantee that.

For any player, in any sport, the Hall of Fame is the ultimate reward for a great career. At some point in each of these athletes' lives I'll guarantee that they've dreamed of being card carrying members of their sports Hall of Fame. Yet in reality, very few players come close to reaching that point.

With that said, it's a shame when a player who was probably good enough to make the Hall of Fame before the use of a banned substance resorts to using that substance. Barry Bonds was good enough. Alex Rodriguez was good enough. Manny Ramirez may not be on par with those guys, but with the way he could hit, he may have been good enough at all. Now neither of them deserve to be in the Hall and that's the way it should be.

Odds and Ends

Matt Cooke Update
For anybody not following the Matt Cooke situation, the NHL threw the book at him. He was suspended for the remainder of the regular season, which at the time was 10 games. On top of that, he was also suspended for the first round of the playoffs, which will be an additional 4-7 games, depending on how the Penguins play.

Overall, I think the NHL got this one right. In my previous blog, I was calling for a MINIMUM of 10 games for Matt Cooke. The NHL gave him 14-17, so I applaud their decision on this one. The decision was also applauded by the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.

Todd Bertuzzi
In tonight's game between the Red Wings and Blackhawks, Todd Bertuzzi was ejected early on for a head shot. At 5:17 of the first period, Bertuzzi delivered an elbow to the head of Blackhawks forward Ryan Johnson. Bertuzzi was given a 5 minute major for elbowing and a game misconduct for the hit.

On first instinct, I don't think this one was as blatant as the most recent Matt Cooke elbow. I would really like to see some other angles of the hit though, as well as a slower version. It's obvious at full speed that Bertuzzi's elbow did come up and make contact with the head of Johnson, that much cannot be debated. Based on the play, or what I've seen of it, it doesn't appear as though Bertuzzi came in with the sole intention of delivering an elbow to the head of Johnson. That doesn't make it any less reckless, but I still don't think it was quite as bad as the Cooke hit.

With all of that in mind, Todd Bertuzzi may be the ultimate repeat offender, if there is such a thing. Because it was Bertuzzi that delivered this hit, I expect another lengthy suspension from the NHL. I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that he gets the same suspension that Matt Cooke did. I'm predicting the remainder of the regular season, which for the Red Wings is 6 games, plus the first round of the playoffs (4-7 games). So I'm predicting a 10-13 game suspension for Bertuzzi. If the NHL is serious about taking hits like this out of the game, that is what they need to do, intent or not.

Ocho-Ego
During the current NFL lockout, Chad Johnson/Ochocinco/Johnson/whatever his name is now is still playing football. Not that kind of football though, the kind we in the United States refer to as soccer. He is currently on a tryout with Sporting Kansas City (formerly the Kansas City Wizards) of Major League Soccer.

I'm going to get a little sidetracked here. Sporting Kansas City is a dumb name for a professional soccer team in the United States. Sadly, it is still an upgrade over the Kansas City Wizards. There are several teams in Major League Soccer that are trying to give themselves traditional European team names. Those include DC United, FC Dallas, Real Salt Lake, Sporting Kansas City, and Toronto FC, you could also include Chivas USA (who is named after the Chivas club in Mexico). For those not familiar for European football (soccer), FC stands for "Football Club."

I like the fact that MLS is trying to become more traditional, I really do. They did some pretty bizarre, and extremely non-traditional things early on in their history, which really hurt them for a while. But I don't think teams need to have traditional "European-sounding" names. We're the United States and that's just not how we do things here. We're just used to teams having names (e.g. Chicago Fire, Los Angeles Galaxy). I'm not saying that it is right or wrong, because it isn't. It's just what we do here in the States and it's what they've been doing in Europe for over 100 years. I think the MLS and its member teams need to work on establishing their own traditions, with their own identities, rather than trying to get it by copying famous European names. 

Back to my original point. Johnson played about a half hour in a reserve game against the Kansas City Brass and apparently didn't look so good. I'm not saying I'm surprised by that because football is a lot different than football (yes, I did that intentionally). Different sports require players to be built differently so success in one doesn't guarantee success or even results in another.

In the end though, this is basically just a huge publicity stunt, which is a win-win for both sides. It's an opportunity for Johnson to stroke his ego, as he normally does. It's also an opportunity for Sporting Kansas City to gererate some publicity for their club. This is the first year for the team under the Sporting Kansas City name. They were previously known as the Kansas City Wizards from 1995-2010. So this is a good chance for the team to generate more publicity on their recent rebranding of the team. The team is also slated to move into a new stadium, Livestrong Sporting Park, in the middle of the current season (tentatively scheduled for June). More publicity means more merchandise and tickets sold, which means more income for the team.

For what it's worth, I wouldn't be surprised if Johnson suited up for Sporting KC in an actual league game. If this actually happens, I don't think he'd ever see the pitch (field). In reality, he's not a good enough footballer (soccer player) to be on the field with an MLS club against another MLS club. It's all about the publicity and this would generate a lot of it. All of the major papers would probably feature pictures of Johnson wearing Sporting KC gear, which would obviously be huge for the team. Plus, Johnson could continue to stroke his ego some more.

As much of a joke as that would be, it probably wouldn't be bad for the league. It would generate a lot of publicity for the league as well and that is a good thing. The MLS has gotten a million times better in recent years and an event like this could help to showcase the game of football (soccer) and MLS within the United States. Would it fix the game in the States long term? Of course not. David Beckham couldn't do it, so how could Chad Johnson do it? He really can't. But even short term publicity wouldn't be a bad thing for an upstart league like MLS.

The Madness Continues
Remember my blog about the madness of the play-in games? I didn't think it would happen this year, but we now have a situation on our hands. The Rams of Virginia Commonwealth University have miraculously qualified for the Final Four. If you remember right, they had to play the Trojans of USC in one of the First Four games. That means that the Rams have won five games in the tournament already en route to the Final Four. The other three teams (Kentucky, Connecticut and Bulter), on the other hand, have only had to win four. As I said before, that's not fair. They shouldn't have had to play one more game than everybody else to get to this point. Now that a situation like this has come up, the NCAA needs to re-visit its tournament format.

I don't think VCU is a legitimate contender to win the national championship, even though they are now in the Final Four. With that said, I'm just hoping they're able to play their game for the remainder of their tournament run and not run out of gas before it's over. Yes they'll have six days off between games, but their legs have also had to play an extra 40 minutes of game time that their opponent on Saturday (Butler) hasn't had to play. They'll come out jumping this weekend, thanks to adrenaline, but it'll be anybody's guess whether or not they'll be able to sustain that energy throughout the entire game. I think it'll catch up to them eventually.

Get CarLOST
The Chicago Cubs have released fat ass pitcher Carlos Silva. Throughout the second half of last season, before getting injured, and throughout this spring, Silva has not pitched well. That was one of the reasons for his release. After being told that he did not make the club, he was given the option of the trading block, or an assignment to the Triple-A Iowa Cubs (if he couldn't be traded). He told the Cubs that he would not go to Triple-A and then ripped first year pitching coach Mark Riggins. Upon hearing that, general manager Jim Hendry had an interesting quote on the issue: “Basically, he wasn’t good enough to make the team,” Hendry said. “You factor in not only spring training, but you try to go back and factor in the second half of last year, looking at a guy who had a 14-something ERA from July 11 and came to camp with a notion that he already had a spot in the rotation. Obviously, the first three, four outings, quite poor.”

The Cubs decided to eat the remaining time left on Silva's deal, rather than keep him around as a potential distraction for the club. I can't say I blame them there. They probably aren't going to contend in the division this year, but they can still build the foundation for success down the line (i.e. There's always next year...). Also with Mike Quade being a first year manager, he already has enough on his plate, he doesn't need or deserve this. I applaud the Cubs organization for sticking up for and backing their on field staff. There are several organizations, in a variety of leagues, that would not do this in this type of situation.

To make a long story short, Silva is cocky, even though he's not getting positive results. Upon getting those negative results, he's quick to blame everybody else but himself. That's a lesson teachers try to correct in elementary school, just saying. He's out of shape. Plus, he's already had a dust-up with a teammate in the dugout this spring. When the whole thing is added up, Silva had to go. He got what he deserved on this one.