Why do we watch sports? Why do we root for teams? Why do Cubs fans still root and pray for a World Series after more than 100 years? Why do 1-15 football teams still sell tickets? Part of it could be loyalty. I would say that it is more the moments that make your spine tingle.
These aren't the moments like "The Immaculate Reception," "The Catch," "The Flip," or Michael Jordan's mid-air hand switch in the 1991 finals. Those are moments in sports that we all enjoy, that we all treasure. If we were watching sports simply for those moments, we would have no loyalty; we would simply live those moments. The Spine-Tingling Moments I am writing about are fan and team specific. The moment's I'm going to write about are moments that make me downright giddy. They probably don't do so for others, but those people will have their own giddy sports moments. I have been present for one of my moments, I have only seen the other on TV--and it will never be seen live again.
I will start with the spine-tingling moment that will never happen again--the one I only saw on TV. You can watch it on YouTube right now. In my high school and early college years, during the early summer months (May and June are summer for purposes of summer break) I would always, always, ALWAYS be glued to the TV set if Jordan's Bulls were in the finals. In the 90's, this was more often than not. The spine-tingling moment in these finals came at the beginning. It was built into the anticipation of the event. And it would build into a crescendo.
At the beginning of each Bulls' home game, they would do the starting lineups.
"Introducing the starting lineup for the visiting Los Angeles Lakers, Portland Trail Blazers, Phoenix Suns...Seattle Supersonics, Utah Jazz (twice)." The five starters and head coach would be announced. Then the arena would go dark. The Alan Parsons Project's Eye in the Sky would start playing. And Tommy Edwards would start the crowd with a roaring "AAAAAND NOW THE STARTING LINEUP FOR YOUR WORLD CHAMPION CHICAGO BULLS!! At forward, from Clemson, 6'10" Horace Grant!...A 6'7" forward, from Central Arkansas, Scottieeeeee Pippen!...The man...in the middle, from San Francisco, 7'1" Biiiill Cartwright!...A 6'2" guard from Iowa, B.J. Armstrong!...From North Carolina, at guard, 6'6" Michael JORDAN!"
Sometimes they lost. More often, they won. It was always a great game. But they were all started off with the spine-tingling moment of the Bulls starting lineup introductions. The anticipation to watch my all-time favorite basketball players, Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, play started with these moments. I still get shivers thanks to YouTube. Unfortunately, that's just about the only place to re-live these moments. Occasionally I'll catch a replay of the Bulls' Dynasty on ESPN Classic while I'm at the gym, but they are rare.
The other moment, the one I have experienced live is another introduction to a favorite player. I had the opportunity to watch a Yankees game at The House That Ruth Built before the team moved to the new stadium. This player's intro didn't come with everyone else's introduction and the starting lineups. My favorite current Yankee isn't even a starter. He doesn't even bat.
However, when the opening lines of Enter Sandman start playing at Yankee home games, there is an almost certainty the game is over. Just as the intro of the song passes and the hard riff starts, the bullpen door opens and Mariano Rivera runs across the outfield to the mound. As soon as that familiar line of guitar notes even starts, the crowd goes apeshit. Total strangers start high-fiving each other. Everyone is standing and screaming ourselves hoarse.
The one game at old Yankee Stadium I was able to attend was announced by "The Voice of God," Bob Sheppard in his ever calm delivery. "Now pitching for the Yankees, number 42, Mariano Rivera, number 42." Enter Sandman has always given me goosebumps. Pairing it with my favorite player and a nearly certain victory in 3 or 4 outs is almost unfair. I have goosebumps and shivers writing this.
These moments are why we watch sports. These moments are better than the "Motor City Miracle" or "The Shot Heard Round the World." These moments are full of hope and anticipation. These moments come with every game of our favorite teams. These moments endure losing seasons, steroids eras, drug busts, lockouts, and strikes. These moments fill us with pride and make us scream our fool hearts out.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
The Lesson of Napoleon McCallum
Anyone remember Napoleon McCallum? He was a running back at Navy. He held the NCAA record for all-purpose yards. He holds the Navy record for yard rushing over a career. He was drafted by the Raiders. He played for them in 1986, then went finished his five-year commitment to the Navy. He returned to the NFL in 1990, sharing carries with Marcus Allen and, occasionally Bo Jackson. After Jackson's career-ending injury and Allen's signing with Kansas City, McCallum was a starter. So what happened?
McCallum's first regular season game where he'd be the full starter for the year was his last. It was a nationally broadcast Monday night game. McCallum only had five yards rushing so far. But he already had a touchdown, too. Then it happened. You can take a look at YouTube if you can stomach it. Ken Norton, Jr. rolled McCallum up in a tackle. But McCallum's cleat was stuck in the grass. The resulting injury almost cost McCallum his leg; it did cost him his career. His knee was hyperextended--to an almost 90-degree angle. His knee was done. The ruptured artery, torn ligaments, torn hamstring, and ripped calf threatened his leg if he didn't get treatment immediately.
Thus ended a promising career. However, McCallum had been smart. He didn't bank everything on the NFL. While he was recovering, he discovered he enjoyed graphic design. His education at Navy taught him how to start his own business and gave him the discipline to do so. He hadn't taken all his NFL earnings and blown them on half a dozen cars or gigantic houses. He moved to Henderson, Nevada and opened his own computer graphics business. Almost every casino in Vegas uses his work. At the Naval Academy, he invested not only in his body as a career option in football, but also his mind. He knew that football and the money from it wouldn't be around forever.
The recently ended lockout has hopefully taught a new generation the dangers on banking on an uncertain career in the NFL. When men in their early twenties suddenly make six- or seven-figure salaries, they don't think further ahead than how they're going to spend their signing bonuses. With the lockout and the stoppage of those paychecks, bonuses, and the delay to signing for free agency, or even signing draft picks, the money stopped. The superstars were fine. Tom Brady didn't have to declare bankruptcy. But what about last year's rookie class who were role-players and bench-warmers? Are they glad to see the end of the lockout because it means they'll be able to play again or because it means they'll be able to eat again? If it is the latter, have they learned their lesson?
McCallum's first regular season game where he'd be the full starter for the year was his last. It was a nationally broadcast Monday night game. McCallum only had five yards rushing so far. But he already had a touchdown, too. Then it happened. You can take a look at YouTube if you can stomach it. Ken Norton, Jr. rolled McCallum up in a tackle. But McCallum's cleat was stuck in the grass. The resulting injury almost cost McCallum his leg; it did cost him his career. His knee was hyperextended--to an almost 90-degree angle. His knee was done. The ruptured artery, torn ligaments, torn hamstring, and ripped calf threatened his leg if he didn't get treatment immediately.
Thus ended a promising career. However, McCallum had been smart. He didn't bank everything on the NFL. While he was recovering, he discovered he enjoyed graphic design. His education at Navy taught him how to start his own business and gave him the discipline to do so. He hadn't taken all his NFL earnings and blown them on half a dozen cars or gigantic houses. He moved to Henderson, Nevada and opened his own computer graphics business. Almost every casino in Vegas uses his work. At the Naval Academy, he invested not only in his body as a career option in football, but also his mind. He knew that football and the money from it wouldn't be around forever.
The recently ended lockout has hopefully taught a new generation the dangers on banking on an uncertain career in the NFL. When men in their early twenties suddenly make six- or seven-figure salaries, they don't think further ahead than how they're going to spend their signing bonuses. With the lockout and the stoppage of those paychecks, bonuses, and the delay to signing for free agency, or even signing draft picks, the money stopped. The superstars were fine. Tom Brady didn't have to declare bankruptcy. But what about last year's rookie class who were role-players and bench-warmers? Are they glad to see the end of the lockout because it means they'll be able to play again or because it means they'll be able to eat again? If it is the latter, have they learned their lesson?
Saturday, July 23, 2011
1992
Remember 1992? Bill Clinton was elected president in November and hadn't met Monica. Boyz II Men was on top of the Billboard 100 and ...well, they were still around. Jordan's Bulls beat the Portland Trailblazers for their first repeat. Flannel and/or overalls were the fashion for both genders. Oh, and the Pittsburgh Pirates enjoyed a winning season. Their LAST winning season to date.
Where were you in 1992? I was a Freshman in high school. I was hanging out with my buddies, Chris, Ray, and Daniel. I was just discovering the Derrick Thomas and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Pirates, after losing Bobby Bonilla (and the contract the Mets are still paying on) still had a quick footed left fielder, a skinny guy named Bonds. They had a rookie knuckleballer who would crack the rotation in the next season, a guy named Wakefield (Yankee fans can now un-clench their jaws). These pirates won 96 games. The next season, the remaining Pirates would win 75 and start 18 years of losing seasons.
These Pirates, Bonds, Drabek, Neagle, Lind, couldn't have known the fate of the team for nearly the next two decades. Now, the current Pirates--how many can you name? Go on, I'll wait. No Googling, ESPNing, or Sports Almanacing--Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?--The current Pirates have won 51 games. They are a game and a half behind the Brewers for the NL Central Division. They are a game behind Pujols and the Cards. How are they this close in the division? It isn't a crappy division. They aren't playing in the NFC West or AL West. They're just behind a perennial playoff team.
How are they doing this? They are 25th in runs, 22nd in batting average, 21st in OBP, and 24th in Slugging. Here it is. They are 7th in ERA. Five pitchers you've never heard of are holding their own in the NL. Do you know who Kevin Correia is? He's got 11 wins and 65 strike-outs. How about Paul Maholm? The #2 starter has 80 strike-outs and a 1.24 WHIP (know what WHIP means? PUT THE LEATHER AWAY, NOT THAT WHIP!) Charlie Morton has only been in the Bigs for three years. He has 60 strikeouts and a, 8-5 record. James McDonald is another third year man who has 85 K's. Jeff Karstens is a fifth year man with a WHIP of 1.04 and an ERA of 2.28, good enough for second in the NL. Second in the NL means he is doing better than all of Philadelphia's feared rotation in ERA. Second in the NL means he is better than everyone but San Fran's Vogelsong.
Only one Pittsburgh player was elected to the All Star Game, closer Joel Hanrahan. For those of you who don't know, MLB requires every team to be represented, so every team has to have at least one all-star. Three Pittsburgh players participated in the All-Star game, the other two coming as replacements, Andrew McCutchen, and Kevin Correia.
We don't know this upstart, feel-good team. They still have to win 31 more games just to guarantee a winning season this time around. Am I jinxing them by already talking like they've done it? Maybe, but if you believe in jinxes in talking about things on a blog that none of these players are ever going to read, then maybe you should have your head checked, or at the very least stop reading this until after the season and we all know for sure what happened. I'll admit believing in jinxes when the conversation involves someone actually working on the accomplishment. You never ever talk to a pitcher about a perfect game or no-hitter while he's actually doing it. That isn't so much a jinx as piling on pressure and making sure he's thinking about it, which he already is and is trying not to think about it.
Will the Pirates finally have a winning season? I think they will. They've got talent this year, and I think with the right moves, they'll get better. Will they make the playoffs? That, I doubt. Their division is just too tough for them to win outright and they'll have to contend with the likes of Atlanta, along with at least one other team from the NL Central (either Milwaukee if STL goes on a tear, or STL if Milwaukee can stave them off). Who knows, maybe the Pirates will turn the clock back to 92 and give us a winning season AND make the playoffs. If they do, I'll sure be rooting for them.
Where were you in 1992? I was a Freshman in high school. I was hanging out with my buddies, Chris, Ray, and Daniel. I was just discovering the Derrick Thomas and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Pirates, after losing Bobby Bonilla (and the contract the Mets are still paying on) still had a quick footed left fielder, a skinny guy named Bonds. They had a rookie knuckleballer who would crack the rotation in the next season, a guy named Wakefield (Yankee fans can now un-clench their jaws). These pirates won 96 games. The next season, the remaining Pirates would win 75 and start 18 years of losing seasons.
These Pirates, Bonds, Drabek, Neagle, Lind, couldn't have known the fate of the team for nearly the next two decades. Now, the current Pirates--how many can you name? Go on, I'll wait. No Googling, ESPNing, or Sports Almanacing--Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?--The current Pirates have won 51 games. They are a game and a half behind the Brewers for the NL Central Division. They are a game behind Pujols and the Cards. How are they this close in the division? It isn't a crappy division. They aren't playing in the NFC West or AL West. They're just behind a perennial playoff team.
How are they doing this? They are 25th in runs, 22nd in batting average, 21st in OBP, and 24th in Slugging. Here it is. They are 7th in ERA. Five pitchers you've never heard of are holding their own in the NL. Do you know who Kevin Correia is? He's got 11 wins and 65 strike-outs. How about Paul Maholm? The #2 starter has 80 strike-outs and a 1.24 WHIP (know what WHIP means? PUT THE LEATHER AWAY, NOT THAT WHIP!) Charlie Morton has only been in the Bigs for three years. He has 60 strikeouts and a, 8-5 record. James McDonald is another third year man who has 85 K's. Jeff Karstens is a fifth year man with a WHIP of 1.04 and an ERA of 2.28, good enough for second in the NL. Second in the NL means he is doing better than all of Philadelphia's feared rotation in ERA. Second in the NL means he is better than everyone but San Fran's Vogelsong.
Only one Pittsburgh player was elected to the All Star Game, closer Joel Hanrahan. For those of you who don't know, MLB requires every team to be represented, so every team has to have at least one all-star. Three Pittsburgh players participated in the All-Star game, the other two coming as replacements, Andrew McCutchen, and Kevin Correia.
We don't know this upstart, feel-good team. They still have to win 31 more games just to guarantee a winning season this time around. Am I jinxing them by already talking like they've done it? Maybe, but if you believe in jinxes in talking about things on a blog that none of these players are ever going to read, then maybe you should have your head checked, or at the very least stop reading this until after the season and we all know for sure what happened. I'll admit believing in jinxes when the conversation involves someone actually working on the accomplishment. You never ever talk to a pitcher about a perfect game or no-hitter while he's actually doing it. That isn't so much a jinx as piling on pressure and making sure he's thinking about it, which he already is and is trying not to think about it.
Will the Pirates finally have a winning season? I think they will. They've got talent this year, and I think with the right moves, they'll get better. Will they make the playoffs? That, I doubt. Their division is just too tough for them to win outright and they'll have to contend with the likes of Atlanta, along with at least one other team from the NL Central (either Milwaukee if STL goes on a tear, or STL if Milwaukee can stave them off). Who knows, maybe the Pirates will turn the clock back to 92 and give us a winning season AND make the playoffs. If they do, I'll sure be rooting for them.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Lockouts, Greed, and the NFL
Okay, enough baseball and Yankees for a bit. On to the game business of pro football.
If there is an NFL season this year, regular or shortened, I'll watch it. The lockout has shown that the game is owned, run, and played by greedy sonsabitches. This also just in, the world is round. The fact that both sides of this battle are playing for greed is nothing new and hasn't chased off fans before. If the greed gets in the way of a whole season, then the NFL will have issues. If that happens, it will lose its top spot in the American sports world.
The owners and players don't see it as a game. It is now a job, a business. We, the fans, see the game. We don't play it professionally, we don't recover from injuries with the help of some of the best rehabilitation/physical therapy centers in the world. We don't get paid and we don't work our asses off all week to be displayed one day to millions of screaming drunkards.
We don't jostle people around like chess pieces trying to provide the best product to our target markets. We don't hire masterminds to run our products and manage our chess pieces. We don't pay hundreds of people to go watch college games not for the enjoyment but to evaluate future chess pieces.
The game is no longer a game to those paying and making money from it. They don't just go out and have fun. They can't have an off day and say "there's always next time." If a player doesn't play their balls off every down of every drive of every game, we lose respect for them. If they are injured we call them a wimp. Have you ever sprained your ankle? You're not supposed to go to work/class the next day and keep it elevated. You're not supposed to walk on it for at least 24 hours. Most football players sprain an ankle, knee, wrist, elbow, etc. and they're taped up and on the field the next drive or at the very least the next quarter (unless they're quarterbacks, the soccer players of the NFL). They take an injury that would make us take a sick day and are back on the field within 15 minutes of game play!
Owners can't show a losing team year after year after year and expect to be successful in the business. Think about running a small business. If, say, a local restaurant served food that didn't meet with customers expectations for three years, would it even last three years? When was the last time you saw an NFL franchise contraction? In 1952 the original Dallas Texans folded due to financial hardship and a 1-11 record where it saw its lone win before a whopping crowd of 3,000. (This crowd, by the way, was smaller than the crowd for the high school game played earlier on the same field). The NFL continually brings a quality product to their markets. If your local team sucks it up for a year, there is always the draft, free agency, the trade deadline, and front office changes to "bring in new blood." The owners spend hundreds of millions to bring this product to the people. They just happen to make hundreds of millions, if not billions in the process, unlike the money hemorrhaging NBA.
The point is that the owners are trying to get the best product for their money. They are trying to present this best product to the fans for their money. The product just happens to be the talents of human beings. If this were a lockout or strike for any industry other than professional sports, then we'd look at it with the clarity of business and product. We'd probably still think that both sides are greedy or that one is an evil corporation but it wouldn't have the stigma of thinking of human beings as product. We also don't really feel sorry for the players (product) because unlike slavery, indentured servitude, or servants, many of these guys are millionaires and could stay that way if they were smart with money and realized that the average career lasts about four years. The league minimum salary for rookies in 2007 was $285,000. Players receive mandatory raises in the minimum salary for each year of experience. It is hard to pity someone making in their first year what a teacher will make in 8-10.
Greed didn't keep me from watching the game before, the only way it will keep me from watching now is if there isn't a game to watch. Then, I'll just watch college football like everyone else, where the players just get paid less (See Reggie Bush, Cam Newton, etc.)
If there is an NFL season this year, regular or shortened, I'll watch it. The lockout has shown that the game is owned, run, and played by greedy sonsabitches. This also just in, the world is round. The fact that both sides of this battle are playing for greed is nothing new and hasn't chased off fans before. If the greed gets in the way of a whole season, then the NFL will have issues. If that happens, it will lose its top spot in the American sports world.
The owners and players don't see it as a game. It is now a job, a business. We, the fans, see the game. We don't play it professionally, we don't recover from injuries with the help of some of the best rehabilitation/physical therapy centers in the world. We don't get paid and we don't work our asses off all week to be displayed one day to millions of screaming drunkards.
We don't jostle people around like chess pieces trying to provide the best product to our target markets. We don't hire masterminds to run our products and manage our chess pieces. We don't pay hundreds of people to go watch college games not for the enjoyment but to evaluate future chess pieces.
The game is no longer a game to those paying and making money from it. They don't just go out and have fun. They can't have an off day and say "there's always next time." If a player doesn't play their balls off every down of every drive of every game, we lose respect for them. If they are injured we call them a wimp. Have you ever sprained your ankle? You're not supposed to go to work/class the next day and keep it elevated. You're not supposed to walk on it for at least 24 hours. Most football players sprain an ankle, knee, wrist, elbow, etc. and they're taped up and on the field the next drive or at the very least the next quarter (unless they're quarterbacks, the soccer players of the NFL). They take an injury that would make us take a sick day and are back on the field within 15 minutes of game play!
Owners can't show a losing team year after year after year and expect to be successful in the business. Think about running a small business. If, say, a local restaurant served food that didn't meet with customers expectations for three years, would it even last three years? When was the last time you saw an NFL franchise contraction? In 1952 the original Dallas Texans folded due to financial hardship and a 1-11 record where it saw its lone win before a whopping crowd of 3,000. (This crowd, by the way, was smaller than the crowd for the high school game played earlier on the same field). The NFL continually brings a quality product to their markets. If your local team sucks it up for a year, there is always the draft, free agency, the trade deadline, and front office changes to "bring in new blood." The owners spend hundreds of millions to bring this product to the people. They just happen to make hundreds of millions, if not billions in the process, unlike the money hemorrhaging NBA.
The point is that the owners are trying to get the best product for their money. They are trying to present this best product to the fans for their money. The product just happens to be the talents of human beings. If this were a lockout or strike for any industry other than professional sports, then we'd look at it with the clarity of business and product. We'd probably still think that both sides are greedy or that one is an evil corporation but it wouldn't have the stigma of thinking of human beings as product. We also don't really feel sorry for the players (product) because unlike slavery, indentured servitude, or servants, many of these guys are millionaires and could stay that way if they were smart with money and realized that the average career lasts about four years. The league minimum salary for rookies in 2007 was $285,000. Players receive mandatory raises in the minimum salary for each year of experience. It is hard to pity someone making in their first year what a teacher will make in 8-10.
Greed didn't keep me from watching the game before, the only way it will keep me from watching now is if there isn't a game to watch. Then, I'll just watch college football like everyone else, where the players just get paid less (See Reggie Bush, Cam Newton, etc.)
Monday, July 18, 2011
Karma and the Impact of the Rare Class Act
Okay, so Jeter went 5 for 5 and got his 3,000th hit just after I said that he should start thinking about stepping down. I will gladly eat that crow. However, he is still not at the form he once was or at the form other shortstops on the Yankees are. He went 5 for 5 that game, but has only 5 hits since that game, too.
I mentioned in an earlier post that Ken Griffey, Jr. was the best pure home run hitter and was screwed by the 94-95 baseball strike. Griffey was a class act. He was never linked to steroids, unlike everyone else who outpaced him in homers during the 90s. Griffey was on pace to break Maris' record in the before the strike. If he had been given the chance, I think he would have broken the record. Maybe not to the extent that McGwire and later Bonds did, but he would have broken it. Griffey was screwed. He left the Mariners for positive reasons. He had seen the death of a friend in a plane crash and realized he wanted to play closer to home. His father had played in Cincinnati, was the Reds' bench coach at the time, and the family was from the area. Signing with the Reds was a no-brainer. At least the Mariners were able to trade him for two players and two minor-leaguers. Really, The Kid, was going home. He was the highest payed player in baseball until Alex Rodriguez signed his ridiculous deal with Texas. What we didn't know was after 2000, he would never again win a Gold Glove or a Silver Slugger award. He would be plagued by injuries, only make the All Star Game 3 more times and never make the post season as a Red (and only in 2008 with the White Sox).
How is this good karma? How are his late career woes an example of karma for a squeaky clean image, nice guy attitude, and successes of his early career? It is because none of that has diminished what we think of The Kid. He was still welcomed back to Seattle with open arms and celebration. We still remember his sweet swing. We still ask ourselves "what if?" What if he hadn't been injured so many times after leaving Seattle? We wouldn't have to worry about a big-headed antagonistic jerk having an asterisk by the all time home run record. If the 94 and 95 seasons had been played in their entirety, the single season and the all-time home runs records would belong to a legitimate heir. That is the karma. It isn't Griffey who is being punished. It is the bad karma of the strike and steroids era baseball that is punished. Griffey will still go to Canton. I hope he goes wearing the S on his hat instead of the C. His Hall of Fame career was in Seattle, not Cincinnati.
More karma and Barry Bonds. His record breaking 72nd home run ball from 2001 had to go to court to determine to whom it belonged. His celebrated 71st and 72nd shots came on the night that the Giants were eliminated from the playoffs. Controversy followed his final home run ball not being authenticated and initially disappearing, as well. Bonds cheated, was widely disliked by media, fans, opposing players, and even some of his own teammates. Who would have thought a player who hit 28 home runs and still carried a .276 batting average would be a free agent the next season and find no takers?
Mark McGwire's record home run ball was recovered by a Busch Stadium employee and returned to the slugger. This is the middle of the road for karma. The stadium worker did what was pretty much required of him. He gave the ball back to the team's slugger.
The tussles over Bonds home run balls are the low points of karma.
The young man who caught Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit, a home run, returned the ball to the Yankee captain without asking for anything. What he got for his action was $25,000 toward his student loan repayment (with the taxes being covered by the two companies giving him the money). He also received a World Series Champs ring from a donor and season tickets to Yankees home games including playoffs. Being given playoff tickets at Yankee Stadium?? That's about as much as the $25,000 cash!
Bonds carried the bad karma with him and transferred it in the collectibles. McGwire came clean about steroid use and has neutral karma. His reputation and records were smudged, but they were smudged by him. Bonds still maintains silence on his steroid use. Jeter, like the previously mentioned Griffey, has kept a squeaky clean image in the hardest market imaginable. Yes, I was disappointed at his theatrics last year when he was beaned but not beaned. I turned on the NBA playoffs and watched LeBron James go flying off the ball to draw a foul when everyone including the announcers spotted that no one had touched him. Watching mad flailing at nothing is a soccer match past time as well, so Jeter adding a little drama to a ball off the base of the bat doesn't appear so bad. Plus, in the world of sports, if that is the worst thing you can find with a guy who's had a sixteen year career, then kudos to him.
I mentioned in an earlier post that Ken Griffey, Jr. was the best pure home run hitter and was screwed by the 94-95 baseball strike. Griffey was a class act. He was never linked to steroids, unlike everyone else who outpaced him in homers during the 90s. Griffey was on pace to break Maris' record in the before the strike. If he had been given the chance, I think he would have broken the record. Maybe not to the extent that McGwire and later Bonds did, but he would have broken it. Griffey was screwed. He left the Mariners for positive reasons. He had seen the death of a friend in a plane crash and realized he wanted to play closer to home. His father had played in Cincinnati, was the Reds' bench coach at the time, and the family was from the area. Signing with the Reds was a no-brainer. At least the Mariners were able to trade him for two players and two minor-leaguers. Really, The Kid, was going home. He was the highest payed player in baseball until Alex Rodriguez signed his ridiculous deal with Texas. What we didn't know was after 2000, he would never again win a Gold Glove or a Silver Slugger award. He would be plagued by injuries, only make the All Star Game 3 more times and never make the post season as a Red (and only in 2008 with the White Sox).
How is this good karma? How are his late career woes an example of karma for a squeaky clean image, nice guy attitude, and successes of his early career? It is because none of that has diminished what we think of The Kid. He was still welcomed back to Seattle with open arms and celebration. We still remember his sweet swing. We still ask ourselves "what if?" What if he hadn't been injured so many times after leaving Seattle? We wouldn't have to worry about a big-headed antagonistic jerk having an asterisk by the all time home run record. If the 94 and 95 seasons had been played in their entirety, the single season and the all-time home runs records would belong to a legitimate heir. That is the karma. It isn't Griffey who is being punished. It is the bad karma of the strike and steroids era baseball that is punished. Griffey will still go to Canton. I hope he goes wearing the S on his hat instead of the C. His Hall of Fame career was in Seattle, not Cincinnati.
More karma and Barry Bonds. His record breaking 72nd home run ball from 2001 had to go to court to determine to whom it belonged. His celebrated 71st and 72nd shots came on the night that the Giants were eliminated from the playoffs. Controversy followed his final home run ball not being authenticated and initially disappearing, as well. Bonds cheated, was widely disliked by media, fans, opposing players, and even some of his own teammates. Who would have thought a player who hit 28 home runs and still carried a .276 batting average would be a free agent the next season and find no takers?
Mark McGwire's record home run ball was recovered by a Busch Stadium employee and returned to the slugger. This is the middle of the road for karma. The stadium worker did what was pretty much required of him. He gave the ball back to the team's slugger.
The tussles over Bonds home run balls are the low points of karma.
The young man who caught Derek Jeter's 3,000th hit, a home run, returned the ball to the Yankee captain without asking for anything. What he got for his action was $25,000 toward his student loan repayment (with the taxes being covered by the two companies giving him the money). He also received a World Series Champs ring from a donor and season tickets to Yankees home games including playoffs. Being given playoff tickets at Yankee Stadium?? That's about as much as the $25,000 cash!
Bonds carried the bad karma with him and transferred it in the collectibles. McGwire came clean about steroid use and has neutral karma. His reputation and records were smudged, but they were smudged by him. Bonds still maintains silence on his steroid use. Jeter, like the previously mentioned Griffey, has kept a squeaky clean image in the hardest market imaginable. Yes, I was disappointed at his theatrics last year when he was beaned but not beaned. I turned on the NBA playoffs and watched LeBron James go flying off the ball to draw a foul when everyone including the announcers spotted that no one had touched him. Watching mad flailing at nothing is a soccer match past time as well, so Jeter adding a little drama to a ball off the base of the bat doesn't appear so bad. Plus, in the world of sports, if that is the worst thing you can find with a guy who's had a sixteen year career, then kudos to him.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Oh, the Difference of a British Dialect and Right Turns
Channel surfing on a Sunday Morning, I came across a car race. But the announcer wasn't rattling on in a Southern dialect. And...did that car just make a right turn? THAT'S NOT AN OVAL!! This is actually interesting. Did he just say "gentlemen's agreement" in BBC English?? This is Formula One! I don't feel my IQ slipping or the desire to drink Busch Lite at 10:30 on a Sunday morning. There is actually vocabulary and complex analysis of pit stops, tire wear, turns, drafting, how to run a straight-away and the corners. All of this, and only one guy with the American Newscaster pronunciation. The map of the course looks like a side view of Guy Smiley from Sesame Street if he'd been hit in the forehead with a brick.
Even the commercials are smarter. Instead of Ford and Chevy telling me who's truck can haul more while driving a brand new pick up over boulders and other elements of terrain where no intelligent person would really ever drive, I just watched a Mercedes-Benz commercial talking about sensors and safety.
Wait, did he just say this guy, Hamilton, is racing in a Ferrari? Why is this sport(of sorts) not more popular in the U.S.? Why do we not hear about Formula One racers and the crisp British dialects instead of Nascar and the Southern drawl? There is deeper strategy, fewer laps with faster cars...frickin Ferraris, FERARRIS! That car just topped out at 300 mph on the straightaway before slowing to a mere 186 for the hairpin, yeah, 186 mph through a hairpin turn.
They've just started the final lap and there have only been five drivers put out of the race. These drivers are smarter, better, and faster than Nascar, or even Indy car drivers in the states. Instead of racing in a mind-numbing oval for hundreds of laps, the course is challenging and only 52 laps. And there isn't anyone simply known as "JUNE-yer." Seriously, hearing that word over and over and over watching other races makes the word itself sound stupid.
The lead car is holding and hoping he has enough fuel and tires for the final lap. The battle for fourth place was just decided by .24 of a second. The two cars touched coming out of the final corner, tires briefly rubbing as one car swerved wide and came back in to finish just behind Hamilton for fourth...I was just paying attention to strategy and technique for FOURTH place. I wasn't even hoping for a wreck. The trophy was just awarded by Prince Harry. Prince Harry...of England! Who awards the trophy for Nascar? Anyone? I have no idea either, probably not royalty.
The announcers talked about the "race incident" (the tire touch in the final turn) as the two drivers waved civilly to each other acknowledging accident. In American car racing, the tire touch probably would have led to a fist fight in winner's circle. If I wanted to see fist-fights, I'd watch boxing, UFC, or hockey. I like my sports (and auto racing) for whichever sport I am tuning into watch. The Battle at the Palace (NBA), bench clearing brawls and bean balls (MLB), cheap head-shots and chop blocks (NFL) have no place in the sport. I do make the exception for the NHL, with a position informally called "enforcer" the violence and fighting in the game is actually strategic and a part of the action.
With the strategy, planning, analysis, and sportscasters who don't make me want to drool into beers that I don't like to drink, I'm definitely tuning in July 24th at 9am for the next Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Even the commercials are smarter. Instead of Ford and Chevy telling me who's truck can haul more while driving a brand new pick up over boulders and other elements of terrain where no intelligent person would really ever drive, I just watched a Mercedes-Benz commercial talking about sensors and safety.
Wait, did he just say this guy, Hamilton, is racing in a Ferrari? Why is this sport(of sorts) not more popular in the U.S.? Why do we not hear about Formula One racers and the crisp British dialects instead of Nascar and the Southern drawl? There is deeper strategy, fewer laps with faster cars...frickin Ferraris, FERARRIS! That car just topped out at 300 mph on the straightaway before slowing to a mere 186 for the hairpin, yeah, 186 mph through a hairpin turn.
They've just started the final lap and there have only been five drivers put out of the race. These drivers are smarter, better, and faster than Nascar, or even Indy car drivers in the states. Instead of racing in a mind-numbing oval for hundreds of laps, the course is challenging and only 52 laps. And there isn't anyone simply known as "JUNE-yer." Seriously, hearing that word over and over and over watching other races makes the word itself sound stupid.
The lead car is holding and hoping he has enough fuel and tires for the final lap. The battle for fourth place was just decided by .24 of a second. The two cars touched coming out of the final corner, tires briefly rubbing as one car swerved wide and came back in to finish just behind Hamilton for fourth...I was just paying attention to strategy and technique for FOURTH place. I wasn't even hoping for a wreck. The trophy was just awarded by Prince Harry. Prince Harry...of England! Who awards the trophy for Nascar? Anyone? I have no idea either, probably not royalty.
The announcers talked about the "race incident" (the tire touch in the final turn) as the two drivers waved civilly to each other acknowledging accident. In American car racing, the tire touch probably would have led to a fist fight in winner's circle. If I wanted to see fist-fights, I'd watch boxing, UFC, or hockey. I like my sports (and auto racing) for whichever sport I am tuning into watch. The Battle at the Palace (NBA), bench clearing brawls and bean balls (MLB), cheap head-shots and chop blocks (NFL) have no place in the sport. I do make the exception for the NHL, with a position informally called "enforcer" the violence and fighting in the game is actually strategic and a part of the action.
With the strategy, planning, analysis, and sportscasters who don't make me want to drool into beers that I don't like to drink, I'm definitely tuning in July 24th at 9am for the next Formula 1 Grand Prix.
Friday, July 8, 2011
In Defense of the New York Yankees
In my previous blog I mentioned that I was (am) a Yankees fan. I have been hated for it, insulted for it, and even worked at a place where I would be fired if I had shown up to work wearing any Yankees memorabilia. I am not a poor, suffering Yankees fan. There are no poor, suffering Yankees fans. We enjoy the most successful team in sports history.
I am going to defend the Yankees and Major League Baseball. Currently, MLB has no salary cap. There are a lot of people calling for one. They say it will be good for baseball and parity within the sport. Bearing in mind that the two other major U.S. sports are in a current work stoppage and the one Canadian sport had a work stoppage that ate a season a couple of years ago, maybe a salary cap is not the be all end all of helping sports, since that is one of the issues that has led to the lockouts/strikes. Baseball had a strike shortened season in 94-95. Ken Griffey, Jr. was the biggest casualty of that strike, but more on that later. In the time between the baseball strike and now, the NBA has had two lockouts. The NFL has the current lockout. The NHL has had the aforementioned strike.
Now, onto the meat and potatoes of salary caps and parity. Salary caps do not lead to parity. Look at the last decade of sports. The NBA has a salary cap. In the last decade or so(2000-2010), here are your NBA champions: Lakers Lakers Lakers Spurs Pistons Spurs Heat Spurs Celtics Lakers Lakers. This is parity? Of the eleven champion teams, five of them are Lakers, three Spurs, and three other teams. The 1990s had even less parity thanks to MJ and company.
The NFL's salary cap doesn't bring parity, either. What makes the NFL's teams' successes fluctuate more than baseball is that the right front office with the right draft picks can make a huge difference from season to season. However, once that right front office is found, there is very little fluctuation. Take Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. The man drafts like a genius and has the most competitive team in the past decade. Rookies can make a huge impact in the game quickly. Look at what Indianapolis was the season before and the season after they drafted Edgerrin James. In the NFL, one player can make a difference, but there usually needs to be three to make any serious run at a championship. The QB, RB, WR trifecta is usually how these triplets work. Others build on the DL, LB, DB trifecta and just hope that their offense scores once, since once is usually enough with a lockdown D.
The point to all of that is that it is the players of the NFL that lend it parity. It is the management/coaching of these players that makes different teams contenders from year to year. The salary cap has nothing to do with that. Knowledgeable scouts and coaches create dynasties, or at least win championships. Moving these people around creates parity. Getting them to stay in one place (Belichick) for a long period of time creates dynasty.
In baseball, the draft doesn't have the impact that it does in the NBA or NFL. It takes two or three really good drafts to change a team in the NFL. It takes one right lottery pick to change a team in the NBA. This isn't salary cap, it is the way the draft is supposed to work. In MLB the draft doesn't have the impact because it is a draft right out of high school (which the other two sports no longer do) and college. Even after being drafted, players go through the farm system (the minors) before they even get playing time on a major league team. There are very very few exceptions (John Olerud being one who never played in the minors until the end of his career). Jeter was drafted in 1993 and didn't see consistent playing time in the majors untill 1996.
The slow developing new classes and longevity of current stars (see previous post on Jeter) makes baseball the slowest of the three major sports for turnover (insert joke on the slow pace of the game, as well, here). This is why there are teams that are dominant for long periods of time. However, if you bank on pitching (I'm looking at you, Philly), you'll be dominant for a shorter amount of time as pitchers rise and fall quicker than other position players, even if they only play every six days or so. The pitcher is the running back of MLB. Now that the steroid era is hopefully behind us, we won't see the pitching longevity as common as it has been. See: Clemens, Pettite (sniffle, how could you?). Legitimate long careers like Randy Johnson and any Braves 1-3 starter from the early 90s are few enough, and Tommy John surgery still doesn't guarantee a complete (or otherwise) comeback.
Every year, the Yankees are competitive. Every year they vie for the top spot in the toughest division. Yes, they throw more money around than other teams. They also contribute the most in the profit sharing. Look at the cellar dwellers: Kansas City (notorious for being skinflints); Pittsburgh (hate to break it to you, but their farm system has developed this year, they're one game out of first in their division and they're chasing St. Louis); Houston (contenders a few years ago, but they banked on pitching); Oakland (see Houston). With the exception of Kansas City (Thank you, Steinbrenner, for the money influx, we'll just keep that for ourselves instead of investing in making our team better), they were once recent contenders (Pittsburgh has spent a long time out of the playoffs, but seems to be making a mid-season run). If you accuse the Yankees of buying championships, then Steinbrenner and co. should probably get their money back, considering they've only won one championship in the last ten years (arigato, Matsui-san).
I am going to defend the Yankees and Major League Baseball. Currently, MLB has no salary cap. There are a lot of people calling for one. They say it will be good for baseball and parity within the sport. Bearing in mind that the two other major U.S. sports are in a current work stoppage and the one Canadian sport had a work stoppage that ate a season a couple of years ago, maybe a salary cap is not the be all end all of helping sports, since that is one of the issues that has led to the lockouts/strikes. Baseball had a strike shortened season in 94-95. Ken Griffey, Jr. was the biggest casualty of that strike, but more on that later. In the time between the baseball strike and now, the NBA has had two lockouts. The NFL has the current lockout. The NHL has had the aforementioned strike.
Now, onto the meat and potatoes of salary caps and parity. Salary caps do not lead to parity. Look at the last decade of sports. The NBA has a salary cap. In the last decade or so(2000-2010), here are your NBA champions: Lakers Lakers Lakers Spurs Pistons Spurs Heat Spurs Celtics Lakers Lakers. This is parity? Of the eleven champion teams, five of them are Lakers, three Spurs, and three other teams. The 1990s had even less parity thanks to MJ and company.
The NFL's salary cap doesn't bring parity, either. What makes the NFL's teams' successes fluctuate more than baseball is that the right front office with the right draft picks can make a huge difference from season to season. However, once that right front office is found, there is very little fluctuation. Take Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots. The man drafts like a genius and has the most competitive team in the past decade. Rookies can make a huge impact in the game quickly. Look at what Indianapolis was the season before and the season after they drafted Edgerrin James. In the NFL, one player can make a difference, but there usually needs to be three to make any serious run at a championship. The QB, RB, WR trifecta is usually how these triplets work. Others build on the DL, LB, DB trifecta and just hope that their offense scores once, since once is usually enough with a lockdown D.
The point to all of that is that it is the players of the NFL that lend it parity. It is the management/coaching of these players that makes different teams contenders from year to year. The salary cap has nothing to do with that. Knowledgeable scouts and coaches create dynasties, or at least win championships. Moving these people around creates parity. Getting them to stay in one place (Belichick) for a long period of time creates dynasty.
In baseball, the draft doesn't have the impact that it does in the NBA or NFL. It takes two or three really good drafts to change a team in the NFL. It takes one right lottery pick to change a team in the NBA. This isn't salary cap, it is the way the draft is supposed to work. In MLB the draft doesn't have the impact because it is a draft right out of high school (which the other two sports no longer do) and college. Even after being drafted, players go through the farm system (the minors) before they even get playing time on a major league team. There are very very few exceptions (John Olerud being one who never played in the minors until the end of his career). Jeter was drafted in 1993 and didn't see consistent playing time in the majors untill 1996.
The slow developing new classes and longevity of current stars (see previous post on Jeter) makes baseball the slowest of the three major sports for turnover (insert joke on the slow pace of the game, as well, here). This is why there are teams that are dominant for long periods of time. However, if you bank on pitching (I'm looking at you, Philly), you'll be dominant for a shorter amount of time as pitchers rise and fall quicker than other position players, even if they only play every six days or so. The pitcher is the running back of MLB. Now that the steroid era is hopefully behind us, we won't see the pitching longevity as common as it has been. See: Clemens, Pettite (sniffle, how could you?). Legitimate long careers like Randy Johnson and any Braves 1-3 starter from the early 90s are few enough, and Tommy John surgery still doesn't guarantee a complete (or otherwise) comeback.
Every year, the Yankees are competitive. Every year they vie for the top spot in the toughest division. Yes, they throw more money around than other teams. They also contribute the most in the profit sharing. Look at the cellar dwellers: Kansas City (notorious for being skinflints); Pittsburgh (hate to break it to you, but their farm system has developed this year, they're one game out of first in their division and they're chasing St. Louis); Houston (contenders a few years ago, but they banked on pitching); Oakland (see Houston). With the exception of Kansas City (Thank you, Steinbrenner, for the money influx, we'll just keep that for ourselves instead of investing in making our team better), they were once recent contenders (Pittsburgh has spent a long time out of the playoffs, but seems to be making a mid-season run). If you accuse the Yankees of buying championships, then Steinbrenner and co. should probably get their money back, considering they've only won one championship in the last ten years (arigato, Matsui-san).
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
I'll take Gatorade Pitchmen who Overstayed Their Careers for $1000, Please, Alex.
I'm a Yankees fan. I've defended it. I've had random people walk up to me in the laundromat and tell me they hate the shirt I'm wearing. More on the defense of the Yankees later. More on the shortstop of the Yankees right now. Derek Jeter now is to Derek Jeter's Career as Michael Jordan's second comeback is to Jordan's Career.
In 2010 we saw Jeter bat career low numbers. Some thought that it was due to Alex Rodriguez's extended stay on the DL and the day to day grind on Jeter not being able to take days off. However, Jeter's slump has continued into this season. He was improving before his stint on the DL, from which he took longer than expected to recover, but is still batting 56 points below his career average. His range in the field has also greatly decreased. Recent news reports on his replacements (Chavez and Nunez) lament them not having the fielding percentage Jeter does. Jeter does not make errors. However, now he doesn't get to the balls he used to. He doesn't have as many fielding opportunities.
Jeter is 37. Not even Michael was winning championships at 37. The 97-98 season, MJ's last dominant one, he turned 35. Baseball has a longer season with more games than basketball, fewer days off, and more time spent in awkward positions that wears on a body. If Jeter were a football player not named Favre, he'd have retired by now. He's in his 16th season. He recovered from a 2008 campaign during which he was declared "done." I don't see him doing that after 2010.
This is where we see if Jeter will be selfishly prolonging a career at the expense of his team and his legacy, similarly to MJ with the Wizards. To be fair to MJ, he didn't drag the Wizards down, they narrowly missed the playoffs in his final season and he was the main reason that it was "narrowly" instead of "sure fire lottery winners." There are a few options for Jeter. 1. He'll play out the rest of his three-year, $51 million deal at shortstop and Cano and Rodriguez will have to cover for him in the field as we watch him slide from lead-off hitter to the eventual 8 or 9 hole. 2. Move Jeter to third, where he doesn't need to have the range in the field, and move Rodriguez back to his natural shortstop position and see if he has the range he, or Jeter, once had. This would still mean watching Jeter's offensive numbers plummet. 3. Move Jeter to the DH position to finish out his next two years. The wear of no longer being in the field may spark his numbers again. This scenario hopes that he doesn't go the way of fellow "Core Four" member Posada. In moving Jeter to DH, that opens up fielding options for the Yankees. They could move Rodriguez to shortstop and then get either of their two promising youngsters, Eduardo Nunez or Ramiro Pena at bats and fielding time. For Jeter's trip to the DL, the Yankees also had Ramirez play some time at shortstop. He doesn't seem to be with the team anymore and would only be a temporary solution, being only a couple years younger than Jeter. Pena and Nunez are in their mid-twenties. They would be inexperienced and have shown to be a little mistake prone, but the rest of the veteran infield would be able to calm them down and really give them some good experience. 4. Move Jeter to DH and leave Rodriguez at third and let Nunez or Pena play shortstop. This has most of the same advantages as above with the exception that the widest range position in the infield would be fairly inexperienced. If anyone has a team that could absorb a too new or too old shortstop and play around him, it is the Yankees. Which shortstop it will be in the next three years remains to be seen.
And yes, I refuse to call him "A-Rod."
In 2010 we saw Jeter bat career low numbers. Some thought that it was due to Alex Rodriguez's extended stay on the DL and the day to day grind on Jeter not being able to take days off. However, Jeter's slump has continued into this season. He was improving before his stint on the DL, from which he took longer than expected to recover, but is still batting 56 points below his career average. His range in the field has also greatly decreased. Recent news reports on his replacements (Chavez and Nunez) lament them not having the fielding percentage Jeter does. Jeter does not make errors. However, now he doesn't get to the balls he used to. He doesn't have as many fielding opportunities.
Jeter is 37. Not even Michael was winning championships at 37. The 97-98 season, MJ's last dominant one, he turned 35. Baseball has a longer season with more games than basketball, fewer days off, and more time spent in awkward positions that wears on a body. If Jeter were a football player not named Favre, he'd have retired by now. He's in his 16th season. He recovered from a 2008 campaign during which he was declared "done." I don't see him doing that after 2010.
This is where we see if Jeter will be selfishly prolonging a career at the expense of his team and his legacy, similarly to MJ with the Wizards. To be fair to MJ, he didn't drag the Wizards down, they narrowly missed the playoffs in his final season and he was the main reason that it was "narrowly" instead of "sure fire lottery winners." There are a few options for Jeter. 1. He'll play out the rest of his three-year, $51 million deal at shortstop and Cano and Rodriguez will have to cover for him in the field as we watch him slide from lead-off hitter to the eventual 8 or 9 hole. 2. Move Jeter to third, where he doesn't need to have the range in the field, and move Rodriguez back to his natural shortstop position and see if he has the range he, or Jeter, once had. This would still mean watching Jeter's offensive numbers plummet. 3. Move Jeter to the DH position to finish out his next two years. The wear of no longer being in the field may spark his numbers again. This scenario hopes that he doesn't go the way of fellow "Core Four" member Posada. In moving Jeter to DH, that opens up fielding options for the Yankees. They could move Rodriguez to shortstop and then get either of their two promising youngsters, Eduardo Nunez or Ramiro Pena at bats and fielding time. For Jeter's trip to the DL, the Yankees also had Ramirez play some time at shortstop. He doesn't seem to be with the team anymore and would only be a temporary solution, being only a couple years younger than Jeter. Pena and Nunez are in their mid-twenties. They would be inexperienced and have shown to be a little mistake prone, but the rest of the veteran infield would be able to calm them down and really give them some good experience. 4. Move Jeter to DH and leave Rodriguez at third and let Nunez or Pena play shortstop. This has most of the same advantages as above with the exception that the widest range position in the infield would be fairly inexperienced. If anyone has a team that could absorb a too new or too old shortstop and play around him, it is the Yankees. Which shortstop it will be in the next three years remains to be seen.
And yes, I refuse to call him "A-Rod."
Sunday, July 3, 2011
This Just in: 2 out of 3 Big American Sports Owned and Played by Greedy Bastards
Okay, so maybe that isn't really a "This Just In" type of news. Really, 3 of 3 big American sports are run by greedy bastards. I am, of course, writing about the NBA and NFL lockouts. Yay, baseball still being played. Hockey is Canadian, as is evidenced in their work stoppage a couple of years ago and Americans didn't really notice.
I wonder if Nascar will have a work stoppage and life in the South will explode into drunken rampages. Better yet, follow the example of the 94-95 baseball strike and get replacement drivers! How awesome would that be? Those of us who can't name more than three current Nascar drivers only tune in for the crashes, anyway.
With replacement drivers, half of every race would be run under Yellow. We'd watch one lap run, see the wreck, then flip the channel to something that doesn't make us drool into our Busch Lite (or something that doesn't make us drink Busch Lite) long enough for the race to run under caution, then switch back for the next green flag and the next crash. We wouldn't have photo finishes or worry about the race running too long. If there are 43 drivers in every race, then the winner would be the guy who could avoid 42 crashes at the most. If a couple of crashes took out more than one car, then the winner would have even less to avoid. If they could get some of the glorious multi-car pileups, then the entire race might be shortened to the length of your average sitcom. The downside to this would be the next two and a half hours being filled with Guthy-Rinker infomercials for The Dean Martin Show on DVD. I think I'd rather watch the infomercials anyway.
I wonder if Nascar will have a work stoppage and life in the South will explode into drunken rampages. Better yet, follow the example of the 94-95 baseball strike and get replacement drivers! How awesome would that be? Those of us who can't name more than three current Nascar drivers only tune in for the crashes, anyway.
With replacement drivers, half of every race would be run under Yellow. We'd watch one lap run, see the wreck, then flip the channel to something that doesn't make us drool into our Busch Lite (or something that doesn't make us drink Busch Lite) long enough for the race to run under caution, then switch back for the next green flag and the next crash. We wouldn't have photo finishes or worry about the race running too long. If there are 43 drivers in every race, then the winner would be the guy who could avoid 42 crashes at the most. If a couple of crashes took out more than one car, then the winner would have even less to avoid. If they could get some of the glorious multi-car pileups, then the entire race might be shortened to the length of your average sitcom. The downside to this would be the next two and a half hours being filled with Guthy-Rinker infomercials for The Dean Martin Show on DVD. I think I'd rather watch the infomercials anyway.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)