Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah, and Happy Holidays! First of all, to anyone that reads this blog, sorry for the very, very, long time in between this and my last post. With Christmas, and the end of a semester, I've been pretty busy.

 A lot has happened in the sporting world since my last post; the Yankees, somehow, solidified their place as my favorite to win the 2009 World Series with the signing of Mark Teixeira, the Celtics accomplished, and then lost, a 19-game win streak, the Bowl season has started, and the final week of the NFL is upon us. Since there are so many topics, I will attempt to live up to my blog's name by emulating Sport Illustrated's own Peter King and write a "Ten things I think".

-I had already written about how the Yankees were "buying" a World Series Championship, but, that was before the signing of THE most sought after free-agent; Mark Teixeira. Obviously, the Yankees have historically been the most apt to spend large sums of money to acquire the top free-agents, but, this year has been strikingly obnoxious. Prior to launching this blog, I decided to make my writing as unbiased as possible and not reveal what teams I root for. I will hold to that, but, I will tell you this; I am not a fan of the Yankees. And speaking for the millions of Yankees-haters in the country, this off-season has been disastrous. Even though Joe Maddon, manager of the Tampa Bay Rays, claims he is not bothered by the many moves the Yankees ave made, I know I am. This is going to be a very good Yankees team. The one thing fans of other teams can hang their hat on is this; if the Yankees do not win the World Series, this season will be one of the most disappointing. And hey, imagine if they don't (again) make the play-offs.

-Any mile-stone win-streak in any sport is an impressive feat. No, it is not the all-time record, but the Celtics 19 game win streak is certainly worthy of praise. In a sport that has so many games, and so much travel, to do what the Celtics did requires a true team effort, something which has been severely lacking in the NBA. Hopefully the Celtics the success triggers a new ideology in basketball...or is it bringing back an old ideology? Nonetheless, the Celtics are a great team, with great individual stars, who put their "act" together to play defense, and unselfish basketball. Despite their two-loss streak, I am confidently picking the Celtics to win the NBA Championship again.

-There are too many bowls. Regardless of whether you love the BCS-Bowl system, or hate it, there are simply too many bowls. A record of 6-6 should not merit post-season play. Allowing two 6-6 teams to play each other on National T.V., and attempt to pass it off as a great game is a disgrace to the sport. It is sending the message that mediocrity should be rewarded. Currently there are 34 bowl games, which means that 68 out of 119 D-1A teams participate in a bowl game. That is 57%. If you want evidence that there are too many bowls, go find a copy of this years Sheraton Hawaii Bowl between Notre Dame and Hawaii. I have picked on Notre Dame several times, so, I will let their mediocrity slide. Hawaii, however, who had a record of 7-6 in the less-than-formidable WAC conference, made Notre Dame's offense look like an SEC team, while their offense did not fare much better. Explain to me why this game gets the privelege of being aired on ESPN on Christmas Eve Day. 

-Not too much to say about the final week of the NFL. In my last post I posted my play-off predictions, which have already been proven wrong. Without elaborating on how much I love the NFL, this looks to be yet another great week. Will the Lions actually manage to go 0-16? Will the Broncos fail to clinch a play-off berth after being up three games with four games to play?  Who will win the NFC-South? Will the Bills keep the Patriots out of the play-offs? In short, I predict that the answer to these questions will be yes, yes, and Atlanta. 

The Hunt for the NFL Playoffs

Week 15 of the NFL proved to its viewers why it is by far the most entertaining sports league in the United States, if not the world. With only two weeks to go in the regular season, the playoff picture remains unclear. In only four divisions are the divisional leaders already decided (the Arizona Cardinals,  the Tennessee Titans, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the New York Giants), leaving four divisions yet to be decided. In the NFC South, Carolina (11-5) has a two game lead over Tampa Bay and Atlanta (both 9-5) and in the AFC West, San Diego (8-6) has a two game lead over the Denver Broncos (6-8). However, in the AFC East, where three teams, the New England Patriots, New York Jets, and Miami Dolphins (all sitting at 9-5), and in the NFC North, where Minnesota (9-5)  has a mere one game lead over the Chicago Bears (8-6), anything appears to be possible, and this is excluding the even more muddled wild-card scenarios. The situation brewing in the NFC South between the Atlanta Falcons and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers acts as a microcosm of this year's drama. By current calculations, if both teams win their two remaining games, the tie-break between the, what would be, 11-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers and 11-5 Atlanta Falcons would go to the sixth tiebreaker; strength of schedule. In this situation, if, assuming both the Falcons and Buccaneers win out, Philadelphia has a better record than the Dallas Cowboys, then the Falcons advance to the playoffs. If, however, the Cowboys have a better record than the Eagles, then the Buccaneers advance. It is fair to say that NFL Fan's are in for a real treat as the last two games of the regular season have unexpectedly been turned into playoff-implication games, thereby becoming playoff games of their own. 

Prediction on playoff picture:

AFC: 

Divisional Leaders: 1.) Tennessee Titans 2.) Pittsburgh Steelers 3.) Miami Dolphins 4.) San Diego Chargers

Wild Card: 5.) Indianapolis Colts 6.) Baltimore Ravens

NFC:

Divisional Leaders: 1.) New York Giants 2.) Carolina Panthers 3.) Arizona Cardinals 4.) Minnesota Vikings

Wild Card: 5.) Dallas Cowboys 6.) Atlanta Falcons

Predicted AFC Conference Championship Match-Up : Tennessee Titans vs. Pittsburgh Steelers (Predicted Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers)

Predicted NFC Conference Championship Match-Up: Carolina Panthers vs. New York Giants (Predicted Winner: Carolina Panthers)

Predicted Superbowl Match-Up: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Carolina Panthers (Predicted Winner: Pittsburgh Steelers).

College Athletes

For high-school and college athletes across the country, there is no dream more common than the dream of stepping onto a field, court, or rink, having your name on the back of your professional team's jersey, and having thousands and thousands of fans wildly chanting your name. In fact, it is a dream so transfixing that it has athletes eager to hit the "Fast-Forward" button and skip through the years, which according to many, are the "best years of your life"; College. Forget the fact that one's college years may be the best years of one's life and focus on the sad fact that many a student-athlete (primarily in football and men's basketball) do not finish all four years of college and earn a degree, and many who do receive their degrees fail to "earn" them (not mentioning the field of study, which is, typically, not ideal). At this point in the equation, we have either a year of college foregone, a less than ideal degree, or even the failure to earn a degree. If we add on the statistic that the average career in the NFL is three and a half years, and five years for an NBA player, it becomes clear that the solution is disheartening, to say the least. Furthermore, let us not forget that these are athletes, who regularly engage in physical activity, and are more than likely to have severe injuries throughout their careers which severely hinder their future lives. Adding on the simple variable that many professional athletes come from lower-class backgrounds and do not know how to correctly manage their newly-found wealth only makes the equation more bleak. The list of problems is so long that it has nearly exhausted my list of conjunction words. However, as I said earlier, many of the degrees "earned" by those who do remain in college for four years fail to earn a degree in a field which, following the athletes professional career, will actually allow the ex-athlete to succeed, or in certain cases, even survive. Unfortunately, the success of a few has overshadowed the underlying problems of the majority in professional sport. While there is no way to ensure that student-athletes remain in school for the complete four years, and obtain a use able degree, there must be a greater emphasis placed on the importance of the "student" element of "student-athlete". There are a schools who do manage to accomplish the extra-ordinary feat of high graduation rates, and there exist individuals such as Myron Rolle, the Florida State star safety and Rhodes Scholar who perfectly balance their academic and athletic careers, but simply put, there are not enough. The simple statistic that "players with degrees earn 20 to 30% more than players who don't have degrees. They also have a career that lasts about 50% longer" (nflplayers.com) should be enough of a deterrent to fore go college for a professional career. Sadly, the current equation of many professional athlete's career's does not add up;

Failure to earn degree (Foregoing senior year for professional career) + Short average length of professional career + Added health risks + Poor management of money +Difficulty of finding work after career = The Sad Reality.

 

The New New York Yankees

To the regret of many a baseball fan, the New York Yankees are back. After, by New York Yankees standards, a miserable season (during which they accumulated a record of 89-73 and failed to clinch a playoff berth), the Yankees have made quite a splash in the 2008 Free Agency period. At the conclusion of the 2008 regular season, there was no debate as to what was the demise of the Yankees, and what the Yankees must do going into the off season. Despite scoring 4.9 runs per game in 2008, the Yankees were unable to even clinch a playoff berth, all because of their sub-par pitching staff. Enter C.C. Sabathia and A.J. Burnett. After signing Sabathia to a seven-year, $161 million contract, the Yankees acquired one of the premiere pitchers in the MLB. In 2008, Sabathia produced a 17-10 record with a 2.70 ERA. However, his record of 17-10 certainly does not do justice to his dominance. After being traded from the Cleveland Indians to the Milwaukee Brewers, Sabathia racked up a dominating 11-2 record, including seven complete games, four of which were shutouts (one which was one questionable "hit" from a No-Hitter). While it has been argued that his production with Milwaukee was a product of the weak-hitting of the NL, no one can argue the control, and power with which C.C. pitched with (without even mentioning that he pitched for eight years with the Cleveland Indians, where he was also a premiere pitcher). For these reasons, there is no reason to lead me to believe that Sabathia will be a flop in New York, or even disappoint. 

While not as large a name as Sabathia, Burnett adds yet another (drastic) upgrade to the Yankees bullpen. After leading the AL in strikeouts  in 2008 (with 231), and compiling a record of 18-10 with a 4.07 ERA (accomplished in the A.L. East; home to the Boston Red Sox, Tampa Bay Rays, and New York Yankees), Burnett signed a five-year, $82.5 million deal with the New York Yankees. Burnett now joins a staff that includes Chien-Ming Wang, the Yankees ace who is one year removed from a dominating 2007 campaign where he compiled a 17-9 record and a 3.70 ERA, the previously discussed C.C. Sabathia, the young, "ceiling-less", Joba Chamberlain, and Ian Kennedy, who now, because of a star-studded, excellent pitching staff, should flourish, or at least, improve from last year and be a more-than-suitable fifth-pitcher. Because of my previous blog post, you all know what I think about the Yankees extravagant spending, but there is no doubt that it has been a success, as the Yankees should now be able to leave the embarrassment of the 2008 season behind, and begin the 2009 season, in which, because of the drastic reformations, they are now my pre-season pick for World Series Champs. 

Sean Avery and the NHL

It is not often that I talk about the NHL, but, after hearing Sean Avery's comments, and moreover the reactions to his comments, I felt obligated to give my own, obviously expert, opinion. On Tuesday, the Dallas Stars Forward was suspended indefinitely after his comments regarding fellow NHL defenseman Dion Phaneuf and his current girlfriend (Avery's ex) Elisha Cuthbert. In a pre-game commentary with a camera crew, Avery, who is known for downright crazy behavior, churned out another one for the books: "Uh, I'm really happy to be back in Calgary. I love Canada. And I just want to comment on how it's become like a common thing in the NHL for guys to fall in love with my sloppy seconds. I don't know what that's about. Enjoy the game tonight." Were Avery's comments insulting? Most definitely. Stupid? Let's just say that we should add him to the list along side Plaxico...but, did his rant warrant the reaction it received? Within hours of Avery's comments, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman had  suspended Avery indefinitely. Obviously, his insulting comments deserve some form of punishment, but an indefinite suspension is too strict. In fact, it is so strict that it makes NFL Commisionner Roger Goodell seem leniant. A fine, a 1-3 game suspension, or an organization-given punishment would have all been more fair. However, this issue transcends the simple issue of Avery's punishment and develops into an apparent fundamental problem in the NHL. The NFL, the NHL, MLB, NBA, and even MLS are entertainment businesses. The NFL, the NBA, and MLB are all successful entertainment businesses. The NHL, prior to the strike, was successful. But ever since, it has all but disappeared from the map. In 2002,  the NHL Stanley Cup TV viewership was just under 6 million viewers, in 2007, this number didn't even reach 2 million.  Suffice it to say, the NHL has become a colossal failure, and indefinite suspensions on entertaining players such as Avery will not help its popularity. Yes, ethics do come into question, but, as I said, the NHL is a business, and unless they dramatically alter their course of action, they are headed for extinction. So, while the NHL should not erase all rules and regulations, for the sake of its preservation, and with the dream of one day returning to national glory, the NHL must allow entertainers to be entertainers, fighters be fighters, and "drama" play itself out. 

Thought of the Day

Notre Dame announces Head Coach Charlie Weis will return for the 2009 season.

While I am not surprised by this move, I certainly disagree with it. The Fighting Irish may (barely) be bowl-eligible at 6-6, but, of the six teams they have beaten only one has a winning record (The Navy Midshipmen, who went 7-4 on the season). Overall, the combined record of the opponents that Notre Dame has beaten this season is 21-49. Included in this list of opponents is the likes of the Michigan Wolverines, who went a historic-low 3-9 on the season, the Washington Huskies who went defeated at 0-11, and the San Diego State Aztecs who went 2-10 on the season. The two other Notre Dame victories were over the Purdue Boilermakers (4-8), and the Stanford Cardinal (5-7). With the exception of the senile Lou Holtz, no one could argue that any of these wins were resume builders. More bothersome than the wins, though, were Notre Dame's losses. Besides the losses to the University of North Carolina (ranked no. 22 at the time), Pittsburgh, and Michigan State, the fashion by which Notre Dame lost was anything but inspiring. In their game against rival Catholic school, Boston College, Notre Dame was pitched a shutout, losing 17-0. Against USC, Notre Dame's offense, under the offensive mastermind of Charlie Weis, did not get a first down until late in the 3rd quarter. They later went on to lose that game 38-3. Of all the losses though, the most disappointing was Notre Dame's shocking loss to the Syracuse Orange (3-12). The Orange, who were 19.5 point underdogs, not only won the game, but won the game on a touchdown pass by Cameron Dantley to Donte Davis with a mere 0:42 seconds left on the clock. All of this at Notre Dame Stadium. Forget the years during which Weis had Brady Quinn (previous coach Tyrone Willingham's recruit) at the helm, and concentrate on the present. Charlie Weis has been the Notre Dame coach for three seasons, during each of which Weis brought in a "top-10" recruiting class. Since the loss of Brady Quinn, Notre Dame has gone a paltry 9-15. Defend that.

Plaxico Burress

Over this past weekend, New York Giants receiver Plaxico Burress accidentally shot himself in the leg. By today, the NFL, and the U.S. legal system had struck. Burress has been suspended four games by the NFL, and is now facing charges of illegal arms possession, as his gun was unregistered in the state of New York. Forget the fact that Plaxico Burress was suspended for four games, or that he is a major distraction to the New York Giants (even though, for obvious reasons, none of the Giants players want to admit that he is), or even the fact that Burress was carrying an unregistered gun, and could face time in jail. What shocks me, and what I believe we should all be focusing on, is how idiotic Burress must be. By no means am I an expert on guns, but, to me, it seems like it would be pretty difficult to "accidentally" shoot yourself. If you are handling a gun, wouldn't you be extremely careful with it? Make sure the safety is on? Not play with it, fiddle with it, or do whatever Burress was doing with it? In these hypothetical questions, I am referring to a general you, not Plaxico Burress, the New York Giants star receiver, a key piece to the Giants puzzle of success. If you were Plaxico Burress, wouldn't you double the efforts to ensure that your $25 million-self aren't injured in an accidental, self-committed, shooting? Plaxico Burress is just one example of many who have failed miserably in the realm of responsibility. Adam "Pacman" Jones, Michael Vick, half of the Bengals active roster, and to an extent, Ricky Williams all fall under this same category. They, with no regard to their importance to their respective teams, value to their owners, or second job as a role model, act stupidly and irresponsibly for no legitimate reason. Fine, suspend, and punish players who deliver "unnecessary" hits in football games, but it is the irresponsible few who are the ones damaging the NFL. It is these players which make many people to look at the NFL and deem the players to be "thugs", "morons", or whatever other other word they find appropriate. And all of this because a few players couldn't stay away from a strip club, not indulge themselves in dog-fighting, or shoot them self in the leg.