New York Knicker-Losers

 


  With the holidays here, there is the usual Christmas Day basketball games. The first game was the Knicks vs. the Wizards, and the Knicks(not shockingly) lost. That is what we are here to talk about. My first question is what the hell is happening in New York sports this year? It looks like the Yankees(to normal standards) and the Islanders are the only ones that are having decent seasons. The real question is who is having a worst season, the Jets or Knicks? You have to weigh the fact that football is a shorter season than basketball.

   If you look at all the stats, the Knicks are at the bottom or near the bottom of almost every category. They are the worst in defense, 3 point defense, and getting to the free throw line just to name a few things. The fact that they are considering shutting down Carmelo Anthony for the season shows their vulnerability. Yes I know he is hurting, but it shows the Knicks do not really have any hope for an already lost hope for their season.

    With a big free agency summer coming up, this season will showcase whether or not certain free agents want to come play for the Knicks. In 2015-2016 offseason, Marc Gasol and Rajon Rando are the 2 biggest free agents. In 2016, reigning MVP Kevin Durant is a free agent. Winning is really a key to many players choosing to sign with a certain team. With the exception of Kobe(who went with the money) and Melo(who went with money and Phil Jackson), we see it is like that with many players.

    The one good thing that will come out of this horrible season is that the Knicks will have a high  first round draft pick. They can take someone who has potential and build around him and Carmelo. Phil Jackson just said that better days are ahead in 2015, but what does he really mean? Does he know something that we do not? Only he really knows. Hopefully he is right. The Knicks, like the Jets, need to show that they can build a winner with the right pieces starting from the top.

    If all the top executives from each New York sports team met and discussed how to make New York sports relevant again, that would be great. Can you imagine Brian Cashman saying, "Let's bring Jeter and Yogi out of retirement?", or Jerry Reese saying, "Let's just play the Patriots and make believe it's the Super Bowl." Phil Jackson was a great coach, but is a rookie executive. He should certainly speak to his contemporaries and get some piece of advice.

Knocking on Beckham's Door

           

    Before we start of, I would just like to say that my wife gave birth to a beautiful baby boy this past week. Now back to business!! We all know that the New York Football Giants had one frustrating season this past season. Their defense was not great(even though it slightly improved). JPP was the highlight of the defense. They suffered a season ending injury to star wideout Victor Cruz against Philadelphia. The team, as a whole, did not click. The biggest positive that came out of this season for the G-Men was Odell Beckham, Jr. He is really knocking on heaven's door!

   The Giants had the 12th overall pick in last years draft. With all the offensive lines problems last year, a lot of us figured they would address that with the draft. Instead, the picked Beckham with that pick. They picked someone to take over for the departed Hakeem Nicks. At first, it was figured that he would  be, at best, a number 3 receiver behind Cruz and Ruben Randle. NFL experts knew he could be special, but did not know how special.

  Coming to camp, Beckham got injured. He missed preseason games and the first 4 games of the regular season. There was said to be some kind comments made by Tom Coughlin that being injured is not an excuse to not attempt to practice or play. Odell had to go and talk to him because he was frustrated he could not help the team.

   Once he got back on the field, he slowly started to progress with stardom. He made one of the best catches I've ever seen against Dallas a few weeks ago. He has 79 receptions in first 11 games of his career, which is the most in NFL history. While catching is 10th and 11th TD passes today, he set a franchise rookie record. He has also gone over 1000 receiving yards. There has been talk of possible tying Hall of Famer Michael Irvin's record of 9 straight 90 yard games next week.

   We see how much flash and potential he has in him. The fact the Beckham has been mentioned in the same breath as a hall of famer shows what the Giants knew they were doing. Even though there were some people thought it would be a miracle, Odel has the start of something special. He will become a top 3 wide receiver in the NFL in the next 2-3 years. Mark my Word!!!

Alex Rodri-DUMB

     Happy Belated Thanksgiving All!!! I hope you are all enjoyed your turkey, gravy, and stuffing! With that said, I am here with my(late) Holiday Special blog. As a New York Yankee fan, there is certainly a lot of things to be thankful for. The owners like to spend in order to contend, they have won 27 World Series, and the Yankees play in the greatest city in the world. There is one thing that I am not thankful for and that is Alex Rodriguez. We all know that how he was suspended for the season, but he lied about everything.

    There is a two part question I really have:A) How dumb is Alex Rodriguez? and B) How dumb does Alex Rodriguez think we are? Honestly, these are two really valid questions that all Yankees fans and personnel should be thinking. As everyone knows, A-Rod was suspended for the full season last year. His original suspension was for 211 games, but got it reduced to 162 games. None the less, through the whole appeals process he kept denying how he had any involvement with everything in BioGenesis.

     Alex did not want to go on the stand, instead he insisted that Bud Selig("a key witness") should have testified. Is it because he knew if he lied to a judge he'll be brought up on more charges? It does not seem as if A-Rod actually thought any of this through. On top of everything, he decided to sue the Yankees medical staff and the Players Union. What good would suing any of this groups do for him? It shows that he was trying to cause a distraction for the trial. He was not playing smart at all.
 
   It recently came out that he "paid off" his cousin Yuri to keep quiet for him. After that happened, Yuri's wife, Carmen, came out with a letter denying that Alex ever gave them money to keep quiet with everything. What people do for money sometimes, I usually would not believe her, but after everything A-Rod did, I don't believe him at all. If you already lied about so many other things, how can you just come out and say you paid people off. As much bad as someone like Anthony Bosch did, I believed his 60 minutes story more than I ever believed Alex.

   He smartly stayed out of the public for most of this past baseball season. If he does well in 2015, a lot of the fans will "forget" what happened with everything. Personally, I will never forget, nor will I forgive. Let's just hope this distraction does not distract the Yankees this year. As long as he is getting paid by the Yankees, I do want him to help the team, but by no means is he Derek Jeter.

One Big Giant Dynasty?

         

  

   As the San Fransisco Giants won the World Series, I thought to myself "Is it time to consider the Giants a dynasty?" Many teams in the past 14 years have come close to being a "dynasty." The last team that we can say was a dynasty were the early 2000's Patriots who won 3 of 4 Super Bowls. What really makes a dynasty? Is it the way they are run at the executive level? The way they are coached? Or simply the way they play? There are so many factors that come into this discussion.

   To be honest with you, I am huge Yankees fan. Once they lost Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, I knew that dynasty was over. 4 World Series Championships in 6 years, and 4 straight appearances. That was a true dynasty. Joe Torre did an excellent job at managing the game. The players excelled in all areas from defense to pitching to timely hitting. Bob Watson and Brian Cashman put together a great team, as well as bringing up the right players through their farm system.

    As much as I dislike the Patriots, I respect the way they were being run in the early 2000's. Many people may say that the first Super Bowl, Tom Brady just walked into that team. What about the next 2 Super Bowl victories? He redeemed himself by playing well. They were also coached very well by Bill Belichik. Although he was a defensive genius, he was able to run his offense just as well as his defense. The Patriots had the right team around Brady to help make him a winner.
    My favorite example of any dynasty is the Bulls of the 1990's. They won more than half that decades championships. They were well coached. We all know that Phil Jackson did a great job with that team. There were sound defensive and offensive teams, but most importantly they had all players contributing on all ends(not just Jordan and Pippen). Jerry Krause did an excellent job putting the right players around Jordan. Those players gave him the right support to do not 1, but 2 3-peats. The triangle offense also helped out.

    Do I think the Giants are a dynasty? Absolutely! Running a dynasty is like a triangle. You need someone to run at the top, which they have in Brian Sabean. Brian Sabean is putting together the right team. He's signing and bringing up the right players at the right time.  Then there is management. Bruce Bochy is managing the team very diligently. He has great game management.  
Finally, there's the players. The players seem to playing on all cylinders. Let's have some fun and see how long this lasts.

All(Not Old)Timers(3 of 3)

   I am back for the final installment of this 3 part post. What you guys think of my previous 2 All Time teams? Did you agree? Disagree? Tell me what you think? All the sports have such great players in all different generations. I will tell you it was not easy for me at any position(including coach) in any of the 3 sports.

    Ready for the current American sport in football? Here we go:
Offense
Quarterback: Joe Montana
 Wide Receiver: Jerry Rice
 Wide Receiver: Cris Carter
 Running Back: Jim Brown
 Running Back: Barry Sanders
Tight End: Tony Gonzalez
Center: Mike Webster
Guards: Gene Upshaw, John Hannah
Tackles: Bruce Matthews, Orlando Pace

Defense
Defensive End: Michael Strahan
Defensive End: Bruce Smith
Defensive Tackle: Warren Sapp
Defensive Tackle: Joe Green
Linebacker: Lawerence Taylor
Linebacker: Ray Lewis
Linebacker: Brian Urlacher
Cornerback: Dieon Sanders
Cornerback: Rod Woodson
Safety: Ronnie Lott
Safety: Charles Woodson

Special Teams
Kicker: Adam Vinateri
Punter: Sean Landeta

Coach: Vince Lombardi

There's my all time football team. What do you think? Again so many great players at all the positions, its hard to choose for them. Most, if not all, are hall of famers or will be in the hall of fame. It took more time to do football than the other sports because it is a larger team in general.

  There was a 3 part blog post for this topic. It was interesting, fun and challenging all at the same time! There are so many players deserving of all accolades that they could have received. Sometimes its one great season by an OK player that may snub a great player with just an OK season. That is certainly not the case with any of teams.  All my players have had multiple great seasons which have built up to great careers.

All(Not Old) Timers (2 of 3)

  I am back for part 2 of 3 now! Didn't think I was just going to leave you like that did you? What did you think of my All Time baseball team? Any surprises? It was tough, as it was for all the sports that I did. Every sport is different with its generations and eras of players that it produces.

   Today the All Time basketball time will be discussed. It is interesting because this team is the smallest out of all the teams. This is the only team to have under 10 players. It was fun because there are so many greats at ALL the positions. Here we go:

Shooting Guard: Michael Jordan
Point Guard: Magic Johnson
Small Forward: Larry Bird
Power Forward:  Karl Malone
Center: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Coach: Phil Jackson

What do you think? Interesting choices. If you want me to be completely honest with you, the Coach was the toughest position for me. Basketball had some great players and athletes overall. The interesting thing is that we see that four of these players had some kind of rivalries. Magic Johnson and Larry Bird had a rivalry, and Jordan and Malone kind of had one.

   We all know that Bird and Johnson's rivalry dated back to college and went through the NBA. That is what made them so great. They pushed each other so much that they became the best at what they do. They dominated the 1980's. Between the 2 of them, they have 5 championships and 6 MVP awards(3 each). That's how good they are.

   Malone and Jordan didn't have a real rivalry like Bird and Johnson did, but they did play each other in back to back championships(both won by Jordan). Like Bird and Johnson, it made 2 of the greats of generation play each other, it only makes them better. Between the 2 of them, they have 7 MVP awards(5 by Jordan, 2 Malone) and 6 championships in 8 appearances(Malone never won one).

   Kareem didn't really have a rivalry, but he did have 6 MVP awards(my whole team has that), and 6 world championships. Kareem, like Michael, was a scoring machine. He also had a great defensive prowess. He was a very intelligent basketball mind, just like the rest of the team is.

   The toughest position was deciding on a coach. It really came down to Phil Jackson and Red Auerbach. The reason I chose Jackson in the end is not because he has 1 more championship than Auerbach, but something completely different. Jackson had 3 3-peats and 1 repeat. His first 3-peat was a young, athletic Bulls team. His second Bulls team, they were more seasoned. The second 3-peat in Chicago had more winning with it, including with the acquisition of Rodman who had already won 2 with Detroit. The third 3-peat with the Lakers was similar to his first with the Bulls, all young and athletic. Kobe and Shaq were still both relatively new to the league, but extremely dominant. The repeat in 2008-2009, 2009-2010 season was also a more seasoned team. What do all of these have in common? All 4 of these teams were 4 different teams of personalities. As a coach, you need to have control of them. Jackson had complete control of all of those teams.

All(Not Old) Timers(1 of 3)

       

    As everyone knows, we are in the middle of a great World Series, football season has started, and basketball season is about to start. As I was thinking of all this, something fun popped into my mind. How would I construct an All Time Team for baseball, football, and basketball? I would do hockey, but to be honest with you I never really got into hockey well enough to know the greatest of the great. By far, baseball was the hardest for me to choose just because of it's rich history. None of them were easy teams to choose. What I did was go by era and who was the best at each position and narrowed it down from there. Are you ready to see my All Time Teams for those 3 sports? Lets Go!!!

   First up is baseball. As we all know, baseball is so rich in history dating back over 120 years so this was the toughest for me. The hardest two positions to pick from were OF(more specifically CF) and catcher. Here we go:
             C   Johnny Bench
             1B Lou Gerhig
             2B Jackie Robinson
             3B Mike Schmidt
             SS Honus Wagner
             LF Babe Ruth
             CF Willie Mays
             RF  Ted Williams
   This is just my lineup. I also came up with a starting rotation and a closer. The rotation was also hard to choose from because of the abundance of great pitchers in this game. Here's my starting rotation:
         SP Sandy Koufax
         SP Bob Gibson
         SP Christy Matthewson
         SP Pedro Martinez
         SP Randy Johnson
         CL Mariano Rivera
     Manager: Tony La Russa
   I know that people have the right to disagree with me, but this is my All Time baseball team. If I ran this team out on the field(obviously everyone in their prime), I believe that they would give me the best chance to win. This is part 1 of 3. The other 2 parts will be coming shortly!
 

Face of the Yankees

  

      As we all know, Derek Jeter has officially retired from the baseball. In my opinion, he should be a unanimous vote into the Hall Fame. Last night, on my way home from work, I was thinking of my favorite Yankees moments. Of course one of them included Derek Jeter(Game 4 walk off HR in 2001 World Series). As I was thinking of that moment, 2 questions came to my mind. First, who’s going to be the new face of baseball?  I figured that was the easier of the 2 questions. There’s Mike Trout, Clayton Kershaw, and Bryce Harper that can take over that role.  My second, and more difficult, question was who will be the face of New York Yankees?

    The Yankees are one of the most prestige teams in all of sports. If you think about it, there really isn’t a period in their rich history without a “face” of the team.  You can start with Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. They passed it onto Joe DiMaggio. After DiMaggio retired in 1951, you had Mickey Mantle(even Yogi Berra) all the way through the late 60’s. Thurman Munson took over after Mantle. Even though Munson’s career was cut short, you still Reggie Jackson there until Don Mattingly was passed the torch. After Mattingly retired, we had Derek Jeter for 20 amazing seasons. Where do we go from here?

   Alex Rodriguez is coming back from a year long suspension, but is really he new face of the Yankees? Everyone knows him as the face of Biogenisis. We know it’s going to be like a circus in Spring Training. At this point in time, most Yankee fans just want to see him healthy and productive. If he’s not productive, what good is he to the team? He’s certainly does not have 61 million reasons to be the face of the team.

   The one player who would have filled “The Face Of The Yankees” perfectly is Robinson Cano.  Everyone knows that he bolted to Seattle for an extra 3 years and 65 million more dollars. Fare to say, I believe the Yankees were right not to go more on their offer than they did. Had Cano stayed in New York, he would have filled that void left by Jeter. He plays in at least 159 games a season, seems to grow through the seasons, and learned how to be a leader through Jeter. Unfortunately, he is over 3,000 miles and only found in Safeco Field.

      Don’t get me wrong, the Yankees have a nice compliment of players in Brett Gardner,  Jacoby Ellsbury, Brian McCann, and David Robertson(if he re-signs), but none of them will fill that void for the long term. Gardner and Robertson can do it, but only temporarily. Someone will eventually come up through the Yankees system that will shine the way other players have in the past.

   Derek Jeter will be very hard to replace, even on the field.  His presence over the past 20 years was so strong,  people thought they can see him play forever. He is my all-time favorite player and I was really sad to see him retire. I hope that the Yankees can not only find someone to do a good job replacing him on the field, but somehow find a new “Face of the Yankees”. Not only does the team need that, but so do the fans. If we know who the new leader is, we will feel more comfortable with how things are conducted.

Bullying to Get to the Top

    As we all know, basketball season is upon us. There are more questions then answers, as there is when any sports season starts. Do the Spurs have enough to repeat? Does Phil Jackson really know what he's doing as an executive? Will the outstanding trio in Cleveland stick? These are just some of the questions going into the season. The one I am posing is simple. Who will be the Beast in the East?

   With Paul George out for the season, Indiana has clearly dropped to at least number three in the conference. As good as Indiana is, he is the glue that makes the team stick. The Knicks, who are my favorite team, have first time head coach Derek Fisher and executive Phil Jackson. The question in New York is if Carmelo Anthony has it in him to adapt to the Triangle Offense. Miami has lost Lebron, but still has Chris Bosh, Dwayne Wade, and has signed Lual Dang to name a few. It really comes down to the Tale of Two Cities.

   First we have the Cleveland Cavaliers. There is great trio of players on the team. They have the Michael Jordan of this generation in Lebron James. Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love are the other part of the trio. Unlike Bosh and Wade, Kyrie and Love are score first, pass last players. Over the years, I have very much come to respect Lebron James abilities and talent. Clearly the Cavs are better than the past few years, how much better will they be if Kyrie and Love don't change their style of play? Will Lebron have an affect on the way they play? We know that the Cavaliers also have a rookie NBA coach David Blatt(even though he's coached successfully throughout the world). How will that affect their play? We could say Lebron is like a player-coach without having the coach status.

   As great as Cleveland is, we also have the Chicago Bulls. The very first question is how healthy is Derrick Rose going to be? It looked like at the FIBA World Championships, he seemed completely healthy. If he is back at his MVP type level, that makes the whole team better. They also have defensive player of year, Joakim Noah. Noah is just as much the heart and sole of that team as Rose has been. If Noah can anchor that defense the way he has, they can be better than Indiana in that regard. Signing Paul Gasol is also a nice compliment to the team as a whole. Even though he is 34, he can still be effective as a player. Tom Thibodeau is a huge factor. He's been around for almost 5 years and his players seem to respond to him.

  At the end of the day, if all goes as planned, I believe Chicago will win the Eastern Conference. No disrespect to the Cavs, who I think have dramatacilly improved. Cleveland and Chicago will be battling it out all season for the top seed in the East. Chicagos experience, heart and sole and top notch coaching will help them be the Beast. Let's just hope they don't give any false hope.

Kershaw Has The Most Value!

 

  Now that the baseball regular season is over, the postseason is slated to start tonight. We have an exciting 1 game playoff game between the A's and the Royals. There is one big debate going on in the baseball world and it does not involve the postseason. Will Clayton Kershaw, the clear cut NL Cy Young winner, win the MVP award too? He lead all of baseball with a 1.77 ERA, 21 wins, and was in top 3 in strikeouts in the NL with 239. We saw a few years ago Justin Verlander win both the Cy Young award and MVP, so anything is possible. The main debate is that the Cy Young award is the equivalent of MVP award for pitchers. Does that really matter? Pitchers are considered players too.

    The first thing I will say is that Clayton Kershaw absolutely deserves to win both awards. If it was not for him, the Dodgers may not have won their division, let alone made it to the playoffs. There are not many instances where a pitcher has won the MVP. Before Justin Verlander, the last pitcher to win a MVP was Dennis Eckersley. The likes of Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Roger Clemens, and Rollie Fingers have all won MVP awards, respectively Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, and Clemens each lead their teams to the World Series the year they won their MVP's. That shows how VALUABLE they were to their respective teams. Clayton Kershaw is probably the closest thing we've seen to Koufax in quite some time.

  

  Kershaw was 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA and 239 strikeouts in just under 200 innings. Let us not forget that he missed about a month of the season. Had he not been injured, he could have had at least 25 wins and more innings pitched.  Kershaw had the lowest ERA in the NL since Bob Gibson. When a pticher gives you chance to win games in everyone of his starts, even if he doesn't get a decision, is that not considered valuable. Doesn't the MVP award go to someone who's valuable to his team? Even if he's valuable to his team, not everything is in the stat sheets.

   There is no doubt that Gincarlo Stanton had an unbelievable season. He deserves all the consideration in the world but is not as valuable to the Marlins as Kershaw is to the Dodgers this season. He did not make that lineup better overall. Kershaw did help take off the pressure off the rest of Dodgers pitching staff. Zack Grienke doesn't need to think he has as much pressure as Kershaw. People need to consider a players overall value to their team. Kershaw has the most value to his team.

Boxing: A Lost Art(Sport)?

  

    Last night as I was watching TV I noticed the movie “Ali” was on. First of all, I believe that movie is one of Will Smith’s finest movies. More importantly, I feel that it depicted a lot of went on with Muhammad Ali very well. The more I watched the movie, the more I realized that boxing is really like a lost sport, or as some like to put it a “Lost Art.” Everyone knows how big boxing was from the  mid 1930’s all the way through the mid to late 1990’s. We had Sugar Ray Robinson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Mike Tyson just to name some of the best boxers of all time. Every time I hear of a big boxing match going on, I always want to watch it, but honestly never get around to it.

    My number one question is why boxing was a top sport and then just feel almost all the way to bottom? It’s not lacking as far as superstar boxers are concerned. There is Floyd Mayweather and Manny Paquio just to name a few.  Every sport has their superstar(s), but is that enough to drive the sport to where it was? I believe part of it is marketing your superstar player.  We see how the NFL markets Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers or the NBA does with Lebron James. Should boxing do the same with its marquee boxers?

   Sometimes the MSG network has showing of boxing classics. In between rounds, they have some professionals who analyze the match that’s showing. While watching it, I like to enjoy it and at the same time like to see what may be different. First and foremost, I see why the likes of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier are considered two of the best boxers alive. They tend show off their strengths while showing very little of their weaknesses. Today, it  more money driven(even a little bit more than the major sports).

   Everyone knows that Howard Cosell was the voice of ABC sports for decades. He covered a lot of boxing, especially Ali. Decades ago, we see that the premiere boxing matches were shown on local television. Now we see that it is shown on either Pay-Per-View or HBO, in which case not everyone has in their household. If they had something like Monday Night Football or Sunday Night Baseball, it may prove to be something different.

    Boxing is very similar to baseball. What do I mean? We see that it relies heavily on its history.  In my opinion, boxing is the second national pastime behind baseball. Its deep with history.  The difference I see is how baseball tries to tie in its past and make its future better with it. I don’t see that boxing has that so much. Boxing needs to be relevant again. It needs to make sure it relies on its past to see how it can make its future better. We don’t need someone biting an ear off (see Tyson vs. Holyfield), but we need another Thrilla in Manilla or Rumble in the Jungle. If boxing can get there, so many people will follow and want to watch.

Goodell doing Good for NFL?

 



     A couple of weeks ago I wrote about how an athlete is made. One thing I neglected to mention is that an athlete makes a himself a bad name by doing something like what Ray Rice did. As we all know, there's been so much going on with domestic violence and the NFL.  For someone who is a football fan, I am more importantly against striking women or children. Many other things have gone wrong including the way the NFL and Roger Goodell have been investigating the Ray Rice incident. Violence in football is one thing, but domestic violence, especially when it happens to someone in your own family.

    Over the summer, we heard that Ray Rice was caught on video dragging his unconscious fiancee Janay Palmer. After meeting with Rice and Palmer, Roger Goodell suspended him for 2 games. What did not make sense to many of us at the time, including myself, is how can he suspend Ray Rice for 2 games, but Josh Gordon got suspended a year(now only 10 games)? After getting so much heat from the media and public outcry, Goodell made a new domestic violence policy in the NFL. Here's an even better question that many have, how come Greg Hardy, who was found guilty in court, was not suspended for even a game by the NFL? Roger Goodell really seems to be standing on thin ice with everything going on.
 
    Earlier this week, TMZ released a video of what really happened in that video. How is it that TMZ was able to obtain the video, but the NFL was not able to? According to at least 4 sources, as well as the Baltimore Ravens, Ray Rice told both Ravens staff and Goodell exactly what happened in the video. Not only that, the video was in NFL offices for quite a while. Roger Goodell is acting like a good lawyer(and liar) and is covering up his tracks real well. For his sake, lets hope this independent investigation goes in his favor.

     Depending on your sport, it seems that your sport can have a positive or negative effect on your personal life. If you want my opinion, I believe the hard hitting and violence on the football can and has taken a negative effect in some players personal life. Am I one to say it is the reason why Ray Rice punched his wife, Greg Hardy is guilty, or AP is currently being investigated? By all means I am not, but I am saying that it can certainly contribute. The NFL needs to learn how to help its players for so many reasons.

    The NFL is a multi-billion product. They can not afford to lose sponsors, which is why the Ravens terminated Ray Rice's contract and the NFL indefinitely suspended him. What is worse for the NFL is that one of its poster boys, Adrian Peterson, is by indicted by a grand jury for reckless or negligent injury to a child. The Vikings have deactivated him for this weeks game, which for now is the right move. Why couldn't the Ravens do that? I understand Ray Rice is not AP, but it could have saved some face for them. They knew he was telling the truth, so that's why they should work with him.

     Roger Goodell, and the NFL, should learn how to deal with situations like this better. Unfortunately, the timing of everything else couldn't have been worse. From Josh Gordon to most importantly Adrian Peterson, the NFL looks more like a train wreck than it does a car driving off in the sunset. It needs to clean up its image and needs to do it quickly. Yes the games are great, the product is great, but all this domestic violence is holding it back. Someone do the right thing and do it quickly.

NFL '14: What Will Happen to Who?

      

 

    Football season has started!!!!!!! There is definitely that feel in the air. I went to a party tonight and at least half the people I ran into were talking about Sunday football. It's a great feeling. We had 2 overtime games and 4 more games decided by a touchdown or less! That is good football. Currently, we have a game between the Colts and Broncos(never count out Luck) and 2 more games tomorrow night! Football means more ratings, more tailgating, or enjoying games with friends(even  checking occasional scores at work!)

   You know, like any sports, football is a continuous story. That's why its so interesting. Many questions we have going into this season include if Seattle will repeat, how will Peyton do, who is the Jets quarterback, or how will Andrew Luck continue progress. All teams have their own stories, as well as the league. If you want the top story lines, in my opinion, here they are:

  Will Seattle have enough to repeat? We have not had a back to back champion since the Patriots 10 years ago. The only team to win more than once in the past 7 years are the Giants. Even though the 'Hawks lost a couple of key defenders, they still have a top flight defense. They showed it against ARod(Aaron Rodgers) and the Packers on Thursday night. Even though Russell Wilson is no Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, or Tom Brady, he does have enough to carry a team. Only time will really tell if the Seahawks have enough to repeat.

  Who will be this years Kansas City? Last year, Kansas City had a nice turn around year with Andy Reid and Alex Smith. The year before Houston and Washington also played well. Every year we have the expected teams like the Patriots, Packers, and Peyton's teams(Indy or Denver). When Houston played well 2 years ago, they had a great defense. Kansas City had a pretty solid defense. Even the 9-7 Super Bowl champion Giants, had a good defense. I am sure that this years surprise team will have a good defense. They will not necessarily need a good quaterback, but just good quarterback play(Look at Matt Schuab).

   Will the Giants rebound with a completely new offense(kind of)? The personnel is a mix of keepers and newbees, but the offensive schemes will be completely different. Eli Manning had 1 offensive coordinator his whole career, now there's Ben McAdoo. With McAdoo, there will be a West Coast Offense. I believe Eli will adjust. Even though he was a QB coach in Green Bay, Aaron Rodgers succeeded with his help. What Eli really needs is protection from his offensive line. The defense will be top flight defense, let's see what happens with the offense.

  Do Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have one more run left in them? Tom Brady isn't getting any younger. Belichick doesn't have his tight end rotation he's used to having. Will we see the Belichick teams of old with a really good defense or an 18-1 team of a great offense. I respect Tom Brady's ability completely, but I believe he inherited Drew Bledsoe's team when he really won those Super Bowl. That first Super Bowl was very much like in 1990 when Phil Simms went down and Jeff Hostetler took over, but Hostetler never became the quarterback Tom Brady has become. Let's see if Belichick has enough in him to devise something other than SpyGate.

  These are only some of the headlines going into the 2014 NFL season. There will never be a dull moment in the NFL, at least not for a while. Let's see how some of these story lines turn out. Who knows, maybe we will be surprised by a few of them. All I have to say is that some of Roger Goodell's decisions should be smart, whether its about domestic violence or drug abuse. Roger look at making the right decisions immediately. In the mean time, the NFL is doing a great job with all the positive feedback.

Athletes The Right Way

   This weekend, my wife and I did an overnight in Philadelphia. I can honestly say that after taking more of our time in the city that Philadelphia is a great city!! One of the stops we made was to the Franklin Institute, which is near Drexel University. In one part of the museum, there happened to be a sports section so I told my wife that we must go see it, which we did. As we got there, there was one bulletin that said "Athletes Are Made" and gave a whole run down about what an athletes regimen really contains. The funny thing is that it DID NOT  contain taking PED's, HGH, or any other kind of drugs.
 
   As we all know, in most of the major American sports, that most players are taking or have taken some form of drugs. The main problem has been in baseball. Starting from the mid 1980's to the mid 2000's, that was known as the "Steroid Era." We saw a rise in a a lot of numbers including attendance and profit, but the most alarming rise was in individual player statistics(as well as their physique). The height of the "Steroid Era" was from 1998 to 2003. In 1998, we had the most interesting and famous home run race since the M&M boys in 1961. It was neck and neck between Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. They ended both breaking it, but McGwire did it first. After that season, Sosa had 2 more 60 home run seasons. Only 3 seasons later, in 2001, Barry Bonds broke that record with 73. When Bonds was with the Pirates, he was strong yet brawny, then when he went the Giants and he blew up.  McGwire has since admitted to being on PED's, Bonds has been indited, and Sosa in denial.

   We see in baseball now that it is more of a "pitchers" game because the hitters numbers are "down." Honestly, I think it has become more balanced. We see tremendous athletes like Mike Trout or Clayton Kershaw. Mike Trout is the Derek Jeter of this generation. He seems to have done everything the correct way. He is a 5 tool athlete.  Being built naturally is the right way to go about your game, not through performance enhancing drugs.
 
    In the NFL, even though its not as big, PED's, primarily human growth hormones have been the subject of its drug taking. For the NFL, they don't care as much because to them its about the product on the field. They don't seem to care about the well being of their players in that regard. I am sure that most people, including myself, feel that a majority(even if its a smaller majority) of football players take some kind of drugs that help their body.

   I always felt that most athletes did things the "natural way." Whether its eating the right way, to the correct exercise, or the right training regiment. Motivation and hard work should be also be factors in the way athletes are made and trained. Unfortunately, we've seen in the past how teenagers have taken PED's just to get them to the next level. It shouldn't happen that way. We all know that PED's, HGH, and any other drugs don't make an athlete who they are, but its their hard work and motivation that get them there. In my experience, once you get to where you are you should be motivated and hard work. Let's get our children, even our adults, that want to become athletes to do it the right way!!

https://www.facebook.com/AbesSportzTalk

Sports Stocks

    

A few weeks ago, I was listening to Mike and Mike in the Morning on ESPN Radio, which is one of my favorite sports radio shows. Mike Greenberg(AKA Greeny) came up with an excellent question, which I will now pose to you. If you were treating all the sports leagues, whether it be baseball, basketball, football, or even soccer(any other sport too), as a stock, which one would you invest in? There is only one catch. You can not touch it for 10 years. I thought to myself, great question! It's certainly a tough one.

    If you look at all the sports leagues, they are all unique in their own way. The NFL, by far, is the most consistent and popular. It is the safest sport to invest your money. MLB, which has risen since the '94 strike, has started to dip slowly. It maybe best to shy away from for the time being. There are 2 other sports leagues that would be risks worth taking, NBA and MLS.

   Yes, you read correctly, Major League Soccer!!!! Why am I saying MLS? We just had the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup is very popular. Soccer is a sport on the rise. This is a sport I would invest in and just let it rise. Soccer is already a worldwide popular sport. In the United States, we have football, baseball, and basketball ahead of it. In the next 25 years, I can see soccer taking over all those 3 sports in this country. It is appealing to all age groups, both males and females. It is also a face paced sport, only 90 minutes. If there is a tie, we have penalty kicks. It keeps you on your feet.

  The NBA is also worth being investing your money. We saw that basketball at its peak from the mid 1980's with Magic Johnson and Larry Bird. After Michael Jordan had his second 3-peat, it seemed that basketball went into a downward spiral for quite a few years. In 2003, everything had changed. We had a draft class the included Lebron James, Carmelo Anthony, and Dwayne Wade. Lebron was hyped as the next One. He has certainly lived up to that hype.. The NBA has only increased in popularity. We have story lines like how consistently the Spurs have been or who is better Lebron or Michael Jordan?

    If you're going to invest, don't just invest your money in the sport, also invest your time. Soccer is up and coming. People need to see how popular the sport has become. As for the NBA, this years draft has been the best in years. We can have potential stars. Can you have imagined Andrew Wiggins playing along Kyrie Irving and Lebron? Lets just keep an eye on the GOOOOOAAAALLL!!!!!!!!!

https://www.facebook.com/AbesSportzTalk

Browns Forming an Identity

     

   Earlier today, Brian Hoyer was named the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns over Johnny Manziel. In my opinion, I believe that was the right choice, at least for right now. All though Brian Hoyer has only started 2+ regular season games, he does have more experience that Manziel. Even though the Browns are trying to find their identity since coming back to the NFL, this is the way to do it. They had a "quarterback controversy" throughout camp. We all know you must have a quarterback to help take your franchise where it needs to go. That's exactly what the Browns are doing.

   Brian Hoyer was the right pick to start the season. Not only has he been in the league for 5 years, but he has studied under the likes of Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Ben Roethlisberger. Even though he was a backup, he did play, and start, in many preseason games getting to see the way other teams play with their opposing defenses. Just by picking the brain of some of the best in the league, you get to apply what they taught you when you actually do play.

   We all know that Manziel was the 22nd overall pick of this year's draft. Being drafted so high,certainly comes with high expectations. Manziel still needs to learn a lot. Partying with the likes of Justin Beiber in Las Vegas is not the way to be starting off your not so brief NFL career. On top of that, its not like he was coming in to wide open competition. Manziel is not Andrew Luck, Colin Kapernick, or Russel Wilson, he can't win on impact right away. Manziel needs to learn. I would not be shocked if he takes over anywhere from 4 to 6 games into to the season, but he needs to learn.

   The Browns did make a right decision two ways. The first being to give Hoyer the starting job at the beginning of the season. It gives them a better shot to win right away. Second, it gives Manziel, who will eventually take over the starting role, a chance to learn. The Browns are finally starting to form an identity. They may not have their top reciever right away, but just by having Manziel they have found an identity. We all know that even though he isnt the greatest, Manziel is better than someone like Tebow. Let's see what ManzielMania can bring to the table in the NFL.

https://www.facebook.com/AbesSportzTalk

New Commish, Same Problems?

   We all know that in January of 2015 Bud Selig will be retiring. This past Thursday, the baseball owners voted Rob Manfred, Chief Operating Officer, as Selig's successor. Since Bud Selig has taken over as commissioner of baseball, the game has changed dramatically. There's not only 1, but 2 wild cards, three divisions in each league, and attendance has increased. Behind the the NFL, MLB is next most successful of the major American Sports.

     The pace of the game has become a problem. Pitchers taking their time has become an issue. There has been talk about doing a pitch clock. That would be smart, but a bigger concern is the catcher and coaches making routine trips to the mound. Those should be limited to a certain amount per game and how long each visit should be. Pitchers should not be able to warm up prior to the game and prior to the first pitch.

    Hitters as well need to change certain things. They shouldn't really need practice swings since there is batting practice. Stepping in and out of the batters box is also a concern. It should be a limited amount of times per game they should be able to do that. Since baseball has no timing on it, they should work on small things like this

   Something else Manfred should look into is how to market and promote the sports major players like Mike Trout, Miguel Cabrera, and Clayton Kershaw to name a few. The more you market your players, the more you market your sport.We've seen it with Derek Jeter in the Ford commercials.  Marketing your product will help TV ratings nationally.

  Manfred still has to deal with the steroid problems. Anthony Bosch and 8 others have been arrested  while naming 85 players. Even though baseball has done a lot, there are still problems that need to be tweeking with the steroids. The biggest problem is testing. We saw how someone like A-Rod was able to get around the drug testing. The punishment is fair enough.

   An interesting topic would be if Manfred will reinstate Pete Rose. Personally, I believe Pete Rose belongs in the Hall Of Fame. If someone like Sammy Sosa, who took steroids and had a corked bat, is allowed on the ballot, why isn't Pete Rose? Even though Manfred has been Bud Selig's right hand man, he should reconsider reinstating Pete Rose to an extent. Rose is not only the all-time hits leader, but is the leader, or at least near the top, in many categories.

   Rob Manfred maybe Selig's right hand man, but he should also start to make a name for himself. Whether it's increasing the games pace, marketing your players or reinstating Pete Rose, he must make his mark. Only time will tell! Good luck Rob and lets see what happens!

https://www.facebook.com/AbesSportzTalk

Really Andrew Wiggins? Really?

 


   As everything with the Kevin Love trade rumors were happening, I was thinking poor Andrew Wiggins. He hasn't played his first professional game yet(summer league doesn't count), yet he's already in trade rumors. I feel he should get his feet wet, as the first pick of the draft, and if all goes well, then trade him. Every team has the right to do what they want(within the confines of the league of course). If the Cavaliers want to trade Andrew Wiggins, along with Anthony Bennett, and a draft pick for Kevin Love, then by all means they can do so.

   As I was on a lunch break today, I read an article on CBSsports.com that Andrew Wiggins former Kansas coach, Bill Self, said that Wiggins wanted to get traded to the Timberwolves. My first thought is why would he  want that? He gets to play with the top player in the league, Lebron, and another top 10 player in Kyrie Irving! He can only get better with both of their help. Then I read more that he wanted to be traded to the Twolves because their he can become a star. He felt playing in Cleveland he will only be a supporting player. How can someone say that? Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh, already established stars, took less money to play 4 seasons with Lebron, and now Andrew Wiggins wants out of Cleveland.

    Even though its more the Cavs wanting Kevin Love then Andrew Wiggins wanting out, isn't it absurd for Wiggins to say that? Honestly, I am not a Lebron lover(nor am I a hater), I respect Lebron's skill, talent, and competitiveness to play the game. He's the best player we've had since Michael Jordan. Why would Andrew Wiggins be so greedy? Being the first overall pick does not constitute that at all. Yes I do believe that Andrew Wiggins will become a star, but he's not there yet.

   Kevin Love teaming up with Lebron James and Kyrie Irving will make the Cavs a top 2 team in the Eastern Conference, along with Chicago(as long as Derrick Rose is healthy). With Kevin Love willing to sign a 5 year extension, the Cavs are getting the better end of the deal. If and when it becomes officially, I don't think that Cavs fans will be crying wolf with Andrew Wiggins leaving. Lets just make sure that Andrew Wiggins lives up to his words and becomes the superstar on a team that will need one. Mark my words on one thing: When the Kevin Love deal becomes official, Cavs will make it to the Eastern Conference Finals at the minimum.

 https://www.facebook.com/AbesSportzTalk