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.