What happened Alex?

 

   Sunday came, Sunday went. What happened Sunday? Olympics in Rio were happening, baseball was being played, and football season was in reach. O Yea. . . Alex Rodriguez announced he will be playing his last game for the Yankees (and maybe baseball) this coming Friday. With all of the transition the Yankees are going thru, I find it only fit that this happened. Even though this was right to happen, why is his last come on Friday? Why not take the Mark Teixeria path and wait until the end of the season? There are so many questions to ponder. Let’s get some popcorn and dig into this topic.

   We all know that A-Rod is not the player he was 5 years ago, or even 3 years ago. He has had 2 hip surgeries (thanks to PEDs), which limited him to the DH role. There was a whole debacle that happened 3 years ago when everything with Biogenesis occurred. He was on a mission at that time. He was suing the Yankees, their doctors, and MLB. When he realized there was no fluidity, the suspension was finally accepted. Come spring training of last season, he said and did all the right things. He had a monster come back year hitting .250 with 33 home runs. During the World Series, he had critical acclaim while being an analyst for Fox. What a comeback of a season right?

  Now let’s fast forward to the 2016 season. He comes into spring training assuming the DH role. He starts out the season not really hitting so well. If you had someone of A-Rod’s caliber on your team, wouldn’t you give him a chance regardless of age and health? I certainly would. Carlos Beltran gets injured and is limited in the field, so after his DL stint he starts at the DH role. Beltran becomes red hot and Joe keeps him there. The question then became, “What happens to Alex?” Joe was trying to put the best team on the field in order to contend. Something like that is very understandable.

   Coming out of the All Star Break, Yankees seemed like they were still on fire. Then they played the lowly Rays and got swept. This is when Hal gave Brian Cashman the go ahead to start selling before the trade deadline. First came Chapman, Miller and then Beltran. It was obvious the team was in transition. Even after trading Beltran, Joe still did not start Alex. What is going on here?? Rumors started circulating that maybe the Yankees would release him.

  After all of this, we find out this past Friday that Mark Texeira is going to retire at the end of the season. He felt like his body betrayed him. As much as he loved baseball, he could not handle it. I remember putting my son to sleep on Saturday night and a report comes out that there will be a press conference with A-Rod on Sunday. The speculation really began to fly around the media. Low and behold, we find out on Sunday that Friday against Tampa will be his last game and he will become a “Special Advisor” to the Yankees. This is when all the questions started flying.

  Here’s my first and most important question, why not wait until the end of the season? Why now? I understand that he has not been playing much, but the rosters expand on September 1^st. Wouldn’t it be beneficial for the younger players if he was on the roster until of the end of the season. He can continue to mentor Didi, Starlin Castro, and Gary Sanchez. More importantly, what is the FREAKIN difference between A-Rod and Tex taking up a roster spot? When Tex announced his retirement, how come they didn’t ask him to step away now? They could have brought up 2 players to the Majors instead of 1.

   Yesterday, I was listening to the Michael Kay Show and Hal Steinbrenner was on the show. He said that it was mutual and gave A-Rod as many as 4 or 5 days to make a decision. He said if A-Rod came back and said no, he would go to Cashman and Girardi and go to the drawing board again. I know A-Rod has been a headache for the Yankees over the years, even though he won 2 MVPS and a World Series ring, but wouldn’t you be doing him and your team an injustice with this release now?

   I don’t agree with everything that A-Rod has done to enhance his career, but if you’re going to this to him why not everyone else? I am a huge Yankees fan and overall I love the direction they are going in with the team. My only issue is that management needs to be on the same page on how to execute everything. After seeing everything unravel, the Yankees should have let A-Rod play the season out, like Tex, and then do this at the end of the season. As well, if they are doing this with Alex, Tex is retiring, I will not be shocked to CC next on the chopping block! Can we say officially say the New Young Yankees and not New York Yankees? Let us see if this works.

Dear Kevin

                                                        

Dear Kevin,

   Thank you so much for your hard work over the past 8 years with us. An MVP award, a trip to the NBA Finals, some scoring titles, and almost being the 73 win Warriors to make it to the finals. You have done a lot to make us a noticeable market. You have also done a lot off the court for us as well. Thank you for all your work with the community.

   As thankful as I am for all that you have done for us, here is why I am upset as to why you went to the Bay Area. There are people who say you are not selfish for what you decided to do. There are people who say you are selfish. Here is why I am in the group that thinks you are selfish. You signed a 1 year deal with an option for a 2^nd year to play with the likes of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green. There is no denying that Golden State has championship caliber team, but so does Oklahoma City. You had an elite point guard in Russell Westbrook, who happens to be a free agent after next season. Why couldn’t you sign a 1 and 1 deal with Oklahoma City. You would stay with Russ 1 more year and if you then decided you wanted to leave than leave after next season.

    We do not see the  form of players staying with one team for their career much anymore. There was Derek Jeter, Tom Brady, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan recently. Kevin you could have cemented your legacy if you decided to stay for at least 1 year with the Thunder. Rumor has it you were fed up with Westbrooks personality. Kobe dealt with Shaq and Jeter with A-Rod, but you can’t deal with Westbrook? Granted Kobe got Shaq traded but that was AFTER they won 3 titles in a row! It takes time man. I know you could have made it work with the Thunder.

   I saw that after your decision, fans were giving you the LeBron treatment and burning your jersey. I don’t think you deserved that treatment. What do I think you deserved? Boos from fans when you returned to OKC, yes. Did you deserve to get bashed by LOCAL(not national)  media? Possibly. Listen man, if you win a title with Golden State or any other team moving forward, good luck! You are an awesome player! You will definitely be a hall of fame player once your career is finished. Thank you for all the good times. Please do us one favor though. If you ever decide to come back and play with the Thunder, let us know how we can defeat Golden State to make it to the Finals and win it!

Sincerely,

Abe

NBA Finals: Collapse or Comeback?

                                             

    What a way to end the NBA Finals!! Between both teams, during the last 3 minutes only 1 Field Goal was made. What a way to end a championship drought for the city of Cleveland. Next city is either Minneapolis or Buffalo, you choice. King James kept on his promise and brought a championship to the city. There were so many questions going into the Finals, for example, who is the better player Curry or James? Who has the better defense? The only real question I had coming out of the Finals: Was this a bigger comeback(Cavs) or bigger collapse(Warriors)? For you information, I am not even entertaining whether the Finals was rigged(which it was not!).

   Through the first 4 games of the series, Golden State was in complete control. No team in NBA Finals history had ever come down from 3-1 deficit to win the series. Only 2 teams down 3-1 had ever forced Game 7, only to lose. After coming back down 3-1 in the Conference Finals, a lot of people figured Golden State had the momentum going into the Finals. They cruised through the first 2 games without any hesitation. After splitting in Cleveland, it looked all but over.

   It appeared the one thing Cleveland did right through the first 4 games was really shut down the "Splash Brothers." Curry was not living up to his unanimous MVP award. The great thing about those first 4 games for Golden State was that other players were picking up the slack. It seemed like the Cavaliers were heading for another lose in the Finals. All of a sudden, Draymond Green gets suspended for game 5 after receiving another flagrant foul on LeBron.
 
   Game 5 came and LeBron and Kyrie Irving killed it in that game with 41 points apiece. Leading into Game 6, Green stated that had he been in Game 5 the series would have been over. That is a little bit unfair to say. Game 6 and the Cavs just blew out the Warriors. Game 7 was probably the best game of  the series. It was back and forth for most of the game. The last 3 minutes or so really had me at the edge of my seat. Only 1 Field Goal in the last 3 minutes of the game! That's how edgy I was acting. Finally, we see all the Cavs congregate around LeBron to celebrate. It was a nice to site to see, even if it was on the road.
 
   If you want my honest opinion, I feel like it was more of collapse for the Warriors than a comeback for Cavilers. Why do I say that? The Warriors already had to come back from a 3-1 deficit against OKC and were not really playing like themselves. Curry and Thompson were not playing like themselves and already had to rely on other teammates(I know its a team sport, but the at least 1 of their 2 best players needed to show up). If you noticed in Games 5-7 LeBron really stepped up his game. Through Games 1-7, Curry did not play like his MVP self. What happened to Warriors I like to compare to what happened to the Yankees in 2004 against the Red Sox, they made mistakes they never would have made before this series.

  Even though Lebron, Kryie, and the rest of Cleveland absolutely deserve this title, I felt like the Warriors gave it to them. They were falling right beneath us. They made mistakes they never would make earlier in the season. Lebron was a beast and at the best of his game! He deserved MVP whether they won or lost. I was thinking last night, "If the Warriors won, who would be MVP?" Immediately, I thought "LeBron." In my opinion, this is the worst collapse in sports history. Why do I say that? I say that because they were supposed to be the '98 Yankees, 95-96 Bulls, 72 Dolphins, not the 2007 Patriots. Scottie Pippen said this morning on "Mike and Mike" he was happy the Cavs won the Finals, because that means his Bulls are still the best.

Cheaters with the Heat

      

  Today, we found out the Tom Brady will in fact be suspended for his role in Deflategate. It was kind of surprise to find this out. I believe it is the right call. How is it that Tom Brady is not punished for something he was directly involved? The Patriots have already paid the price, but not Brady.  There are still many questions to answer, but I really only have one: How will it affect his teams play? The Patriots play the Cardinals, Dolphins, Bills, and Texans. He comes back week 5 against the Browns.

   Everyone knows how the quarterback position is the most important position on the football field. More importantly, everyone knows how important Tom Brady has been to his team over the past 14 years. The last time the Patriots were without Brady (2008 season, Matt Cassel), the Patriots were 11-5 and didn’t even make the playoffs! In order to really salvage the season, the Patriots would really need to go 2-2. The big test is against the Cardinals. They have an elite defense, an MVP caliber quarterback (Carson Palmer), and they were an NFC Championship game away from the Super Bowl. Yes, the Patriots have Gronk, Martellus Bennett, and Julian Edelmen, but they don’t have a running to fall back on.

  Besides for the Cardinals, the Texans are probably the other potential lose in this equation. If healthy, they can have an elite defense. JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney manning that defense is scary. If Brook Oswiler is actually worth what they paid, he will be a nice compliment to them with the help of DeAndre Hopkins. It was already a test for Tom Brady with this defense, but for whoever is replacing him Good Luck!! The Texans proved to be scrappy last year and beat out Andrew Luck for the AFC South division title.

   If we know anything, Bill Belichick has enough time to come up with some tricks. He has been in this game way too long not to figure something out. Look what he did with Matt Cassel when Brady got injured in 2008. Everyone forgets that Belichick is a defensive mastermind. He was defensive coordinator for Bill Parcells Giants teams, who had Lawrence Taylor and Carl Banks, and won a Super Bowl with them. He has a lot of tricks up his sleeve.

   If you want my honest opinion, it is time that the Patriots starting thinking for the future. These 4 games could really show who maybe to step up for Tom Brady. If that backup performs well enough in 4 games, they could bring in extra draft picks or young players in a trade. We all know Tom Brady has 4 years left on his contract. If Tom Brady wasn’t always connected to scandals, he would have a cleaner record and there would be no “What-Ifs” for his team. Tom Brady is not stupid; he knows how the system works.

  The real question that presents itself: Why Tom Brady didn’t feel the need to be a team player in this case? Many people are probably thinking “What the hell are you talking about? He took a paycut for the team.” Yes you are right, but it was because of him that the team lost its first round draft pick, paid a hefty fine, and doesn’t have its established quarterback for the crucial first 4 games of the season. All for this for what exactly? Making the Super Bowl? If his teammates knew about this, I could almost but guarantee you they would not want him to do it. Let’s just hope, for the sake of Patriots fans, their season is not totally up in flames by the time he comes back.