What Is Failure in Sports?

 

   While listening to the Michael Kay Show this week, they were talking about a topic that inspired this week's blog post. The past few days leading up to the Rangers Game 7(which they lost), Michael Kay asked " If the Rangers don't win the Stanley Cup, is their season a failure?" Michael Kay said absolutely it would be failure, Don La Greca and Dave Rothenberg both said it would be considered a success. If you want my honest opinion, it all really depends on the sport and team. What do exactly do I mean?

     Let's start this out, I am a huge a Yankees Fan. As a Yankees fan, it's like Michael said, "Championship or Bust" if they don't win the World Series. With that in mind, baseball varies when it comes to this topic. There are really only 2, maybe 3 teams, if they don't win the World Series it's a failure. The Yankees, Dodgers, and Cardinals fall under "Win or fail" concept. The Yankees and Cardinals fall in this category for a different reason than the Dodgers. Both the Yankees and the Cardinals are known for winning. By a wide margain, the Yankees have the most World Series victories in baseball history. When George Steinbrenner bought the team, he really set up a high standard. The Cardinals, however, have the second most World Series victories. St. Louis has such a rich history of winning, even if it is just the pennant.
 
   The Dodgers are in category of "Championship or Bust"(even though you can throw the Yankees with them too). With a record setting payroll of 290 million dollars, the Dodgers have put together a superstar team. Last year, they were expected to at least make it to the World Series, but didn't make it out of the first round.

    Baseball is very weird when it comes to success and failures. For 20 consecutive seasons, the  Pittsburgh Pirates had a losing season. Finally, in 2013, they broke the barrier and had a winning season. Not only did they win 94 games, but they made it to the playoffs. The did not win the World Series that year, but by no means do I consider that season for the Pirates a failure! It was considered a successful season for them. Last year, the Kansas City Royals had a winning season and made it all the way to Game 7 of the World Series. Even though they lost, I feel that for the Royals it was a successful season. They had not made it to the playoffs in 30 years.

  In football, success and failure are measured similarly to baseball. How so? For the past 13 years, teams like the Patriots, Colts, Broncos, and Packers have been expected to win every year. It's a failure of a season if they don't win the Super Bowl.  The Patriots are the most recent dynasty in football. When they lost both Super Bowls to the Giants, it was considered a failure for them.  During the 90's, it was on the Cowboys, the same with the 49ers in the 1980's.
  
    On the contrary, there are teams like Detroit Lions, New York Jets, or Cleveland Browns that a successful season will include a winning season, making it to the playoffs, or just improving on wins. I like to compare the Lions to the Pirates. They both had multiple losing seasons, before having a winning season and making it to the playoffs. A lot of the time, team management, ownership, or the media of that market, puts so pressure on their teams to "Win It All."

   Basketball is very different. Basketball success or failures fall on the superstars. If you look at it, many people are talking about how Lebron made it 5 consecutive finals, not the Heat. Like every other sport, basketball has its royalty with the Lakers and Celtics, but basketball is more about the superstar than any other sport. If Lebron does not win the Championship this year, it will be a failure for him. When Michael Jordan made it to the Finals, it was the same concept. People compare Lebron James to Michael Jordan, which is a bit unfair. Lebron's career is not over yet and still has a lot to play. If someone wants a failure in the NBA look at Carmelo Anthony. He has great ability and talents to play the game, but has never made it to an NBA Finals. Tim Duncan, Shaq, and Kobe Bryant are all not failures.

  Everyone has their own opinions about what a failure is with sports. No one will every have a definite answer. The one thing everyone will agree with is that a successful season is when your team wins it all. Many athletes have individual success and failures, but a teams success and failures all vary. Let's hope we have more stories like the Kansas City Royals and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

What A Cheating Tom!!!

                    

    I am back!!!!! I am sorry a for such a long absence to all my readers and viewers!! Lets get rolling! A lot has happened in the world of sports. Honestly, there's so much to talk about, it was hard for me to thing whats the best way to break myself back in to everyone. Between two men name Alex and Tom, it was hard to decide which one of these fellas I should talk about first. Leading off is my good friend and Super Bowl prey, Tom Brady. Ever since "Spygate" became public knowledge, it made something perfectly clear to me, no one the Patriots staff really likes doing any kind of homework. "Spygate" was the teacher giving some of the students the answers. "Deflategate" was the student asking the teacher to go the bathroom and writing down the answers on his arm.

   I'm here to tell you that "Deflategate" is worse than "Spygate" and that Tom Brady is worse than Alex Rodriguez(who I am not fan of what he did). When "Spygate" happened, it altered the way a team played the game of football. Players and personnel knew what was to come in the game. It really affected more the signal calling the anything else. "Spygate" is really bad because it seemed to have help the Patriots win multiple Super Bowls. By all means, Spygate up there as one the top sports tragedies of all time, but Deflategate is by far worse.

   Before I write any of my posts, I make sure to always do my research. In this case, after carefully reading, listening, and watching to what professionals have to say, Ted Wells only needed 50.1 percent probably cause to write what he wrote in his report. Let me tell you why Ted Wells has way more convincing evidence that Tom Brady is guilty of not only cheating, but altering the game of football.

   In the report, it brings down conclusive evidence that the equipment manager and his assistant are guilty. The text message conversations alone show that they are guilty, as is Brady. Which brings me to my next point. Tom Brady, who supposedly was "very cooperative" with the investigation, did not hand them over any emails, text messages, or phone records. If he was innocent than why not turn any of that over. In the phone records that the equipment personnel handed over, it shows that they have over an hour conversation with Brady.

   Do you want to know why Tom Brady is worse than Alex Rodriguez? We all know that A-Rod is guilty for his double steroid use and as a Yankees fan I will never forgive him, but he only changed the way he played. He never affected the team or players around him. The 3 years he was on the Texas Rangers, they were all losing teams, with him clearly as their best player.

   Tom Brady deflating the ball not only makes it easier for him throw, but easier for his wides receivers to catch the ball and running backs to have a better grip while running with the ball. How many people  think that their nearly perfect season in 2007 could have been helped by deflated balls? By all means, I am not discrediting Tom Brady as a top flight quarterback. When his career is over, I think the writers should decide if he deserves to be in the Hall Fame. If none of this ever surfaced, I would 100 percent say put him in the Hall of Fame. Pete Rose and Tom Brady scenarios are similar. They both did illegal things to "benefit" there team, but why is Pete Rose banished and Tom Brady only getting 4 game suspension? I will tell you why!! That's because Tom Brady will get punished after his career is over, when his hall of fame induction will be delayed!!!

Black History Month

   As we all know, February is Black History Month. In sports, there has been so much controversy when it came to allowing African Americans integrate in to the major sports, especially baseball. The most famous is case is with Jackie Robinson. What many people do not realize is some of the best athletes of all time are African American. If you want perseverance look at Jackie Robinson or Muhammad Ali, they became big in time were they were given so much trouble. Today, people are not under the same scrutiny they went through over 50 years ago.

    Before 1947, African American baseball players strictly played in the "Negro League." Then Branch Rickey, general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, comes along and signs Jackie Robinson to a contract. On April 15th, 1947, he became the first African American to play in the Major Leagues. He had went through hell that entire season. At least he was not alone, over in the American League Larry Doby became the first African American to play in the league. It showed strength, courage, and intensity to overcome what they went through. I like to think that they helped pave the way for Hank Aaron, who would become the all time Home Run leader.

    Baseball was not the only sport which African American athletes had problems. Joe Louis and Sugar Ray Robinson set standards for the boxing world in the 1930's and 40's. If it were not for them, the likes of Muhhamed Ali, Joe Fraizer, and Sugar Ray Leonard would not have made it. Sugar Ray Robinson never succumbed to the mob, it paid off immensely as he received many title matches. The "Rumble in the Jungle" took in place in Zaire. It was the first All African-American boxing match to be fought in the African continent. Muhammad Ali was a heavy underdog, but came back and won the match.

   The same way musicians fight certain fights through their music, athletes have the same concept. Jackie Robinson always did his work on the field. When he retired, people respected him more than when we first started playing. Muhhamed Ali showed it differently. Not only did he build up a great reputation in the ring, he stood up for what he believed in. When he dodged the draft, people saw that he was making a statement. If it was not for Jackie Robinson, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Muhhamed Ali, then we do not how African American athletes would fair today in their respective sports. Let's just take a few minutes to understand how people paved the way for future generations.

Super Mismatch? 49

   

   When Super Bowl comes to mind, what do you think? Halftime show? The commercials? Especially if my team(the Giants) are in it, I want an excellent and close game. Honestly, when people asked me who I was routing for in Super Bowl 49, I told them I can care less. I disliked the Seahawks and hated the Patriots. By default, I was going for the Seahawks. After watching the game with my son(his first Super Bowl), a few things came to my mind.

   Let's rewind! Many people are saying that Pete Carroll made the worst call in Super Bowl history. To be quite honest with you, it wasn't the greatest call, but the Patriots also had pretty good coverage on the play as well. Everyone should be giving credit to Bill Belichick for having great coverage. Belichick even came to Carroll's defense saying that this criticism of Carroll is undeserved. Yes, I agree that they should have given it to Lynch to run it in, but that does not mean Carroll was wrong to make it a passing play.

   If it was not for a miracle catch by Jermaine Kearse, then the Seahawks never would have been in position to win the game. People are so focused how Carroll blew it, what if they won? Would they have blamed the Patriots for bad coverage on the Kearse play? After watching that play, I was thinking David Tyree all over again. Anyone not paying close attention to Tom Brady's expression, it was priceless. Kearse made a "Willie Mays" type of catch.

   As the Patriots marched down the field twice to take the lead, I thought that this Seattle defense is not the defense of Super Bowl 48. Maybe they actually got lucky against Green Bay. Granted they were suffering from health issues, it was supported to be deep enough not to worry about. As good as Tom Brady has been, the Seattle defense is supposed to be much better. An unreal defense should shut down a great offense, like last years team or the 2000 Ravens.

   In all, this years Super Bowl was exciting and fun to watch. It was the two best teams in the league. In my opinion, it was really a mismatch. As good of a game as SB 49 turned out to be, it wasn't an eye for eye game when it came to its players vs. player matchups. If you wanted that, it should have been Green Bay vs. Baltimore in the Super Bowl. That would have been a unreal game. Let's see what happens with the Golden Super Bowl next year.

Hall of Fame Misvoters?

 

    When you think of the Baseball Hall of Fame, what do you think of? Cooperstown? The most elite players of all time? Who deserves to be in the Hall? All these are valid question and statements. We recently just had the Hall Fame voting where Randy "Big Unit" Johnson, Pedro Martinez, John Smoltz, and Craig Biggio were inducted. All of these players were outstanding and brought something to their teams in their era.
    There seems to be so many different changes and rules that make everything about this elusive Hall(or as some people call it a Museum). The one rule that bothers me the most, which seems to bother a lot of people, is that you can only vote for a maximum of 10 players. What if you feel that there are more than 10 players worthy of making the Hall? There are many instances like this where players get robbed of making the Hall. It's because of this rule that players have to sometimes wait 2, 3, or even 4 years to become Hall of Famers.
    The best situation that I see it with is Mike Piazza. He is the best hitting catcher of all time. He has the most home runs by a catcher. On his 3rd year on the ballot, he received 69.9 percent of the votes. If he deserves to be in the Hall, then he should have been voted in already. People claim that he was "linked" with steroids. He would not have received the amount of votes he did if people really thought he was linked to steroids.
    Craig Biggio's case over the past couple of years was really crazy, maybe worse than Piazza's. Biggio collected over 3000 hits, was an All Star at 2 different positions(catcher and second base) and even has 2 Silver Sluggers for 2 different positions. That in itself is a pretty amazing stat. He fell 2 VOTES short last year, before finally getting in this year with John Smoltz, Pedro Martinez, and Randy Johnson. Biggio played well in his career, probably considered the best position player to ever play for the Astros.
  If there wasn't the "Rule of 10", many other players who are Hall worthy would be in there. Jeff Bagwell, in my opinon, also deserves to be in the Hall. The one shocker is Tim Raines. He is the best lead off hitter ever not named Rickey Henderson. I believe he will in the Hall of Fame.
    The "Rule of 10" should really be called the "Rule of Infinity." "Rule of Infinity" should allow voters to vote for however many players they feel are deserving. I remember reading a certain article of a Hall voter mentioning how he feels he has to leave off certain players on this years ballot. The question for that is why would he do that? While reading more of the article, he mentioned he left some off the ballot because others needed the votes sooner.

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!!!