Plaxico Burress and the "evil" New York Giants

We have football in just a few days and the top story on ESPN New York is about Plaxico Burress ripping his former team and its’ fans. His reasons for this are because the Giants didn’t treat him properly after he shot himself in the leg and removed himself from the Giants roster. The worst part of this entire situation is that Eli Manning and the rest of the Giants are actually taking criticism from the media and idiots like Stephen A. Smith about how they handled this situation.

Let me start this off by saying the Giants do not owe Burress anything. They paid him millions of dollars and in the midst of a playoff run, he shot himself in the leg. This created an enormous distraction for his team and he wound up in jail. Now he’s complaining Eli Manning didn’t visit him in prison and that Tom Coughlin was mean to him after it happened. I mean this is stuff we should be rolling our collective eyes at but instead it’s “top news.”

Are you freaking kidding me Plax? I know you’re trying to say you were Eli’s biggest supporter now but I clearly remember when you were publicly bashing his play the years leading up to the Super Bowl run. I’m sorry Eli hurt your feelings not visiting you but I know there wasn’t much love between you guys to begin with and you sabotaged his season. What the hell do you expect? The idea that Eli Manning should’ve done anything besides go about his business and be a professional is absolutely ridiculous.

Seriously, I know we love this story of redemption and we want to show that Burress was somehow kicked down by everyone instead of actually shitting all over himself, but we’re taking it a little far when we start criticizing professionals like Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin. I mean Burress didn’t like that Coughlin didn’t treat him with respect after he put himself before the team and shot himself? It’s Tom Fucking Coughlin! Did you expect him to be understanding about this situation?

Where in the blue hell was this media when Burress originally shot himself and got a RIDICULOUS prison sentence he didn’t deserve? Where was and where is the criticism of Bloomberg for making all this happen? No one defended Burress then, but now we want to spin this huge revival comeback story so we need the arch villains to be the New York Giants. This is so ridiculous because the Giants are such a professional organization that it works to their own detriment at times. They sat by and let Tiki Barber, Jeremy Shockey, and now Plaxico Burress just rip up their guys and they don’t respond because they always take the high road.

If you really think that Burress was mistreated by the Giants then you’re an idiot. This franchise did nothing but put up with him sitting out practices and games while he publicly bashed his own teammates and coach. Yeah, he was a force on the field and was awesome in the NFC Championship game vs. the Packers, but this is no reason for the Giants to treat a guy with respect who clearly didn’t treat them with any respect during his tenure. So while Plax bitches about us Giants fans not having his back during this maybe he should think about the constant disrespect and bullshit he always showed us as a player for our team.

I know post Michael Vick comeback the media dying for another prison to superstar revival story and wants to make the Giants the antagonists in this one but the fact is they are not. I don’t care how we celebrate Burress’ come back but let’s not act like the Giants are the bad guys here. With that said, let’s just talk about football.

Why Steve Smith?

Steve Smith of the New York Giants recently accepted a one year offer to play for the Philadelphia Eagles. He had a horrific knee injury last season and will likely be in a very limited role for the Eagles this season thus why the Giants had a lack of interest in signing him long term. However, despite the Giants never doing any harm to him, Smith is now talking trash about the team. This hits me hard as Steve Smith was probably my favorite player on the Giants and now I pretty much have no choice but to dislike him.

Smith recently told reporters, "I used to hate the Eagles, now I don't like the Giants." He went on further to state how the Giants had 2 ½ weeks to resign him but didn’t make him an offer that he apparently found worthy of his services. Now I understand that ESPN New York is making this out like the Giants screwed over Smith (because they never defend any New York franchise) but the reality of the situation is that Smith screwed himself over.

Steve Smith turned down a multi-year extension that the Giants offered him during the middle of last season that would have made him a very rich man and then had a knee injury that will probably limit his value the rest of his career. He then goes and doesn’t reply to the Giants contract offer and signs with their arch-rivals. How exactly are the Giants the bad guys in this situation? They were supposed to offer a multi-year deal to a guy coming off career threatening knee surgery? The Eagles sure didn't do that.

So while I loved what Steve Smith did on the field for the Giants, I’m a little ticked off at how he handled this situation. This is the last guy I would expect this kind of stuff from considering he always just kept his mouth shut and played football. It's just a very disappointing situation coming from a guy who I know Giants fans liked and had a lot of respect for. I'm just confused to why he would talk trash to reporters regarding this situation. Way to go from a classy guy to classless in a few weeks Steve Smith. 

We Must Trash A-Rod to Sell Sports News!

It’s a slow time for writing stories about sports. Baseball is the only sport going on, football hasn’t started yet, and there’s not much you can say about the NBA when it’s likely there’s not going to be a season. There’s not exactly a lot to draw the casual fans interest so in come these respective articles from ESPN New York writers Wallace Matthews and Ian O’Connor regarding Alex Rodriguez allegedly attending a celebrity “illegal” underground poker game. Clearly the thing to do that requires the most journalistic integrity in this situation is to cut this story from Star Magazine and then use anonymous sources to bash Alex Rodriguez. Brilliant, let’s look at these articles that I would say border on slander.

The story was initially published by Wallace Matthews who apparently has a personal vendetta against A-Rod and a deep hatred for the Yankees despite covering the team for ESPN New York. (Seriously, go through his archive then the stuff Fire Joe Morgan made fun of him for. It’s ridiculous he’s still in this business) He was one of the brilliant media types who were leading the charge saying the Yankees were better off without A-Rod despite his multiple MVP efforts.

So the title of Matthew’s article is “A-Rod Ban for Poker?” as to suggest that A-Rod is actually facing some kind of ban from baseball like Pete Rose. In reality, it would probably be a small suspension if these allegations from nameless people from a trashy tabloid are true. I mean let’s look at the evidence Matthews provides.

The allegations, first reported by Star Magazine, are that the New York Yankees third baseman played in at least two of the games, one of which took place at a record executive's Beverly Hills mansion, where "cocaine was openly used" and a fight nearly broke out when one of the players refused to pay after losing "more than a half-million dollars."

According to the story, details of which were reportedly provided by another player at the games, Rodriguez "tried to distance himself from the game," once the violence broke out.

So this is the top story on ESPN right now and to summarize it for you it’s basically MLB investigating whether A-Rod was at this poker game and the only evidence they have is hearsay about him being there. This “other player” or “whistleblower” as he’s called later in the article is really the only source given of this information. It’s also not even mentioned that this probably happened a few years ago as all the stories I’ve read regarding these poker games all point back to 2007-2008 but those are also from trashy tabloids. Alright, that’s the story so the responsible thing to do at this point would be to bring up a bunch of unrelated incidents to convince you A-Rod is an awful human being.

MLB is also concerned that Rodriguez's name will resurface in the ongoing federal investigation of Dr. Anthony Galea, the Toronto physician charged with smuggling human growth hormone and other illegal substances into the United States. Galea has treated numerous professional athletes, including Rodriguez and Tiger Woods.

Another story completely based on hearsay regarding A-Rod? Perfect. He wasn’t charged, his name wasn’t brought up, and he wasn’t convicted of anything but you’re right this is pretty relevant. How else can we slander his name Mr. Matthews?

"It's like there's something new with (Rodriguez) every day and it's impossible to keep up with it," a baseball insider said.

What exactly is a baseball insider? Does he work for MLB, an MLB team, or maybe cover baseball? If we were even slightly less vague with this would it really compromise this person’s identity? This is garbage journalism.

According to the baseball executive, MLB has yet to positively determine that Rodriguez took part in the games, which reportedly included actors Tobey Maguire, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. The man did not know if baseball's investigators had yet spoken to Rodriguez about the allegations, but he confirmed MLB has at least two investigators working on the case

The “baseball executive” doesn’t know that A-Rod was there and has yet to speak to him about it. MLB has someone working on it though! God A-Rod you’re just so lame with your celebrity high stakes poker games. Nobody wants to do shit like that. I hate you! I wish there was more stuff we could bring up unrelated to this situation that could make me hate you more!

Recently, it was revealed that Rodriguez still employs his cousin, Yuri Sucart, after fingering him as the "mule" who transported his performance-enhancing drugs in 2003 after his steroid usage was revealed in a 2009 Sports Illustrated story, despite being told by the Yankees that Sucart would no longer be allowed in the clubhouse and encouraged to keep his distance from him.

Nice, this is exactly what this article needed, another hearsay story about A-Rod doing nothing illegal just seeing his cousin at a hotel while the Yankees were in town. Seriously, it’s not possible A-Rod would see his cousin without being injected with all kinds of steroids or doing something else equally as sinister.

"You get the feeling that Alex says what he thinks he needs to say to get by, and then goes out and does what he wants," the MLB executive said.

Even though we don’t know when this happened? Even though all the stories we just brought up are hearsay and involve him doing nothing illegal? How dare someone do what they want to do? What a selfish piece of shit. Fantastic piece though Wallace Matthews, you’ve managed to write an article based on anonymous sources and connect it to a bunch of other unrelated stories. How do you write for ESPN? How do you call yourself a journalist? Do we really believe there’s not a systematic effort to sell stories on Alex Rodriguez when a story lacking merit like this one is a top story?

A few hours later fellow ESPN New York writer Ian O’Connor published a piece that is right next to Matthews on the top of ESPN headlines asking whether A-Rod is worth the headache. I can assure you this piece is about of the same quality of Wallace Matthews. Let’s plow through this piece of shit.

"This is classic Alex Rodriguez," one high-ranking baseball official said Wednesday night.

Apparently NOBODY wants to give their name to these journalists. They only work for ESPN.

"In a lot of ways Alex is no different than Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears. He's a thrill seeker, and he does everything he can to be overt. He's a classic example of where we are in society, the age of celebrity, where everyone loves triumphs and tragedies."

No No No. A-Rod is talented. He’s one of the best baseball players ever. Just because we report everything he does like those people doesn’t actually make him similar to those people. If an actual MLB executive thinks that A-Rod is like Lindsay Lohan, maybe he shouldn’t work for MLB.

"It's always something with Alex," said a second baseball official. "The amount of energy everyone has to devote to him is unbelievable.”

The amount of energy you guys spend trying to convince us all A-Rod is the anti-christ is what’s really unbelievable. He is a legendary baseball player, bangs hot celebrities, and attends poker games with Matt Damon. I’m sure nobody would do the same thing is his shoes. God, what a horrible human being. Also, all the cheap shots at A-Rod are from anonymous officials and insiders, as always.

Following his steroid admissions and his hip surgery in the spring of '09, Rodriguez was ambushed in a Tampa diner by longtime friend Gui Socarras and Yanks PR man Jason Zillo. They shouted at A-Rod over breakfast, told him he had to change his self-absorbed ways.

On the eve of the World Series, Rodriguez credited that intervention for sending his inner diva to the bench. "They showed me tough love," A-Rod said, "and I thought from that breakfast on I've stayed with the plan and it's been a good plan."

But in A-Rod's world, good plans can only be followed for so long. No, a poker game among ultra-famous friends doesn't amount to the crime of the century, not when poker tournaments are all the televised rage.

Okay, we’re actually reporting this story as if A-Rod JUST did this although ESPN never reported when this took place. All other sources say it took place years ago and that would make it in fact before everything you just said happened. Talk about spinning a story to make it more relevant. Also, poker tournaments are not “all the televised rage” and really never were. Where do they get these guys?

For the sake of my sanity I can’t quote anymore from these articles as I’ve rambled on long enough. I mean, is this journalism? We have two completely negative pieces written about A-Rod without one legitimate source. They all reference other incidents also without sources to basically prove that A-Rod is some kind of villain. It’s just terrible the things they will write and say to get people to visit their website and watch their network. There’s not a shred of integrity in either of these articles and it’s disgraceful. That’s all I can say. This is a total disgrace.

Message to Yankees Fans: Pray for Gardner’s Success

The Yankees need Brett Gardner to go on a tear over the next 15 days. Jeter is on the disabled list and if Gardner can have some success leading off in his absence maybe the Yankees can finally make the right decision and move Jeter down in the order. I know this has been written about over and over again but Jeter at this point of his career belongs nowhere near the top of the order and this is the time to move him down. I know he is close to 3,000 hits but winning and losing games are more important than personal milestones. (At least that’s what Jeter has always said)

The Yankees know at some point they have to do it and Girardi has already stated that it will happen eventually. Jeter has a slash line of .260/324/.324 which is pretty awful in its own right but even worse when you factor in he gets the most at bats on the team. I know he’s a double play machine and how could he not be hitting 66% of the balls he puts in play on the ground. However, this is no excuse to have the worst statistical hitter in your lineup getting the most at bats. This is not just some kind of trend because last year Jeter hit ground balls at the same rate and he obviously isn’t straightening himself out at the plate this year.

Let’s hope Gardner really tears it up and gives the Yankees no excuse but to continue to have him leading off. Gardner got off to an atrocious start but has picked it up over May and June to have a respectable .282/.362/.426 slash line. He’s also been red hot of late hitting .417 this June over 36 at bats. Gardner’s best attributes are his speed and ability to get on base so I feel like having him do anything but lead off is kind of a waste of his ability. Honestly at this point there is really nothing Brett Gardner will not give you that Derek Jeter does. He’s only 27 and I don’t quite think Gardner has reached his ceiling yet as a player.

I’m also in love the idea of pitchers having to worry about Gardner’s speed on base while pitching to the Granderson/Teixeira/A-Rod triumvirate. I know Gardner has been struggling running the bases but there’s no way he doesn’t put more pressure on opposing pitchers than 36 year old Jeter does at this point. He’s also seemingly too fast to continue to have these struggles. Hopefully Granderson will hit a few less solo shots with Gardner at the top of the order as well.

So let’s hope Gardner continues his hot hitting in June and gives the Yankees no option of putting him back down in the order. The Yankees need to put wins before legacies and milestones and I fail to see how it would be less special for Jeter to hit his 3,000^th batting 7^th rather than 1^st. I know ESPN and the New York media will play Jeter being moved down as some sort of insult to him just as they did with his overpriced contract in the off-season, but anyone who follows the Yankees knows this needs to happen. This is the time to do it. But hell, even if Jeter comes back to leadoff at least it makes more sense than this guy doing it.

A-Rod and Lebron are nothing alike

I’m listening to Colin Cowherd yesterday and during his rant of how Lebron disappeared in the Finals he stated that, “the only player I can even think of that compares to this is Alex Rodriguez.” I was confused by this statement but not terribly offended because Cowherd says baseless and stupid things just about daily. It’s kind of his job. Then I started to hear this comparison thrown around elsewhere in the media and by some of my friends, so I decided to write about it. Listen, Alex Rodriguez isn’t anything like Lebron James.

A-Rod struggled in the ALDS in 2006 and the media made a big deal out of it so of course, he’s the only guy we can compare to Lebron. This is an absolutely ridiculous argument. The most valuable player on a baseball team isn’t nearly as important as the most valuable player on a basketball team. That’s just how it is. Baseball is a series of individual match ups at the plate and A-Rod could have hit 400. in that series and the Yankees still would’ve lost because just about EVERYONE on the Yankees struggled in that series. A-Rod was the scapegoat of the series but “Captain Clutch” was even worse and he failed in every big situation.

I never bought this argument that A-Rod isn’t a clutch player because he’s one of the more clutch players in baseball. He hits very well with runners in scoring position, has several walk off hits in his career, and is probably the best bases loaded hitter of all time. Also, remember that time had one of the best post-season performances in baseball history in 2009 that carried the Yankees to a World Series title? Where’s the argument here?

It’s a fallacy to begin with saying A-Rod isn’t clutch and it’s even more ridiculous to suggest that what Lebron went through in the NBA Finals is even remotely the same. Lebron looked like he was going to poop his pants in the 4^th quarters during the Finals and A-Rod had big hits and crushed the baseball in the 2009 World Series. Lebron averaged 18 points a game in the Finals after averaging almost 28 during the season. Compare him to the other players who’ve choked in the NBA Finals before you compare him to one of the best baseball players ever who has absolutely no problem hitting in the clutch.

Just because both these players have been over scrutinized by the media doesn’t make them remotely the same. The scrutiny of A-Rod was unfair when it was happening and continues to be unfair if people actually think this guy isn’t clutch. Lebron wasn’t the same player in the Finals and A-Rod put the World Series away with his clutch hitting, again, what’s the comparison here? Really, if you know tell me.

Lebron and Wade Blew It

Usually the media gets a little carried away with criticizing great players in big moments. (See Alex Rodriguez) In the case of the NBA Finals though, Lebron James and Dwyane Wade blew the series. I know you can argue they don’t have the supporting cast or that Chris Bosh is really ugly and difficult to play with, but the fact is the Mavericks didn’t have anyone who should’ve been able to stop these guys. It’s pretty obvious that the Heat only go as far as Lebron and Wade take them and they just didn’t show up in the Finals.

Give credit to the Mavs, they outplayed, outhustled, and outcoached the Heat. It’s pretty simple, the Mavs were a deeper team that not only wanted it more, but just executed a game plan much better. I want to give the Mavs all the credit in the world but I just keep coming back to the fact that the Mavs used Shawn Marion, Jason Kidd, Deshawn Stevenson, Jason Terry, and JJ Barea to guard Wade and Lebron and it worked. I mean there’s so much to say about it. How the hell does this happen?

Let’s start with Wade. I half expected Lebron to disappear because I’ve seen him do it before but the fact that Wade didn’t just dominate this series shocked me. I remember thinking “if the Mavs think they can put Kidd on Wade this series, they’re crazy.” I kept waiting for that point where Wade just realized nobody could guard him and would just go on to torch the Mavs. It never happened and it made me realize something that is probably the most neglected story of the “Big Three Seven Championship Dynasty”. Dwayne Wade is past his prime.

He is. He just isn’t the same player he was in 2006 and he just isn’t the same player he was a few years ago. I kept expecting him to just explode to the basket but it just wasn’t there. Time after time Wade drove past Jason Kidd but just couldn’t use his patented 3-4 step athletic burst past the help defense he’s known for. I know the Mavs played some great team defense and Wade might have been hurt, but that only furthers the point. He’s not the same guy. He’s not a top 3 player in the NBA like everyone says he is. Not anymore.

I’m not saying he’s not an amazing player but we’re talking about a guy who’s a step slower, injury prone, doesn’t have a jumper, and isn’t really that effective of a passer. If he’s not beating guys in their 30’s to the basket at 29, how is he going to be when he’s 32-33? I know Wade is a crazy athlete but he certainly looked physically run down in the Finals and even at times in the Conference Finals. You can argue he’s hurt but I’d argue that he’s not going to stop getting hurt unless he stops playing 40 minutes a game. Unfortunately for the Heat when you have 3 guys making 17 million on your roster you don’t have that luxury.

This is why whether he likes it or not, Lebron has to be the man on this team. What I saw in the Finals was a team that was just begging Lebron to take over but he just refused. He kept deferring to Wade and Wade kept taking 9 steps to a crazy shot and complaining he got fouled. It was one of the more interesting dynamics I’ve seen on a court and probably the most interesting story in sports over the next few years.

So Lebron needed to be the man and he decided to soil his pants instead. Yeah I know his numbers don’t look that terrible but one of those two guys had to dominate for them to win that series. That’s how they beat the Sixers, Celtics, Bulls, and it’s how they had to beat the Mavs. The point I knew that Lebron wouldn’t be the man in this series is when the Mavs put Kidd on him in Game 4, just daring him to play like he always does. He should’ve simply dominated that situation and he just choked. There’s no other way to put it. How can he go from playing well against Paul Pierce and Luol Deng then not just dismantle 38 year old Jason Kidd? He wanted no part in that situation and I just don’t get that. Did he really think coming to Miami was going to give him a pass from these situations?

Lebron needs to work on his game and I am not convinced that he does. I’ve always suspected this considering he’s the exact same player he was 4-5 years ago but during his postgame press conference he kind of took it upon himself to talk about how hard he works when the camera’s aren’t there.  It almost looked like he was trying to convince himself that he has worked very hard. He also made it clear to say he listens to no one and this is very obvious considering he hasn’t fixed any of the flaws in his game. Maybe he should be listening to some people. Maybe he should learn how to play in the post. Maybe if he had a go to style in crunch time he wouldn’t be scared shitless when it came around.

Quite frankly, if Lebron James is not hitting 3’s at the end of a game he has nothing else. He can’t shoot mid-range, he has no post game, and he has TERRIBLE footwork.  I do mean terrible footwork too. This is something I watched closely this series and it was even worse than I expected it to be. He shuffles his feet just about every time he touches the ball, takes at least 3 steps every time he drives, and changes his pivot foot constantly. It appalls me every time I see Lebron drive out of control, travel, and initiate contact and get bailed out with a foul call. In the Finals Lebron was so scared of the moment that he didn’t even do that.

It all comes down to the fact that Lebron is a one of a kind athlete but he doesn’t have the basketball fundamentals or the mental toughness to lead a team to a championship right now. Miami has very little roster flexibility after stupidly signing Mike Miller and Udonis Haslem to long term deals so this team is probably going to be very similar to the one next year. Bosh is good but not great, Wade is breaking down, and if Lebron doesn’t improve these things we’ll be talking about the Heat as the most disappointing team of all time. Lebron didn’t show up in the 4^th quarter of the Finals once the entire series and until that changes there won’t be a championship for Miami. Miami’s window for winning a championship is much smaller than people think too. Wade won’t be this good for much longer and if the Heat want to win Lebron has to elevate his game crunch time.

It’s all on him and it will continue to be until he gets a ring. Just following his career and his postgame statements throughout the years it’s pretty obvious he’s not a very mature guy and that’s probably why he folds in these situations. He actually thought it was a good idea to make a statement about everyone who hates him having to continue on with their lives instead of just saying, “I blew it and I’m going to work as hard as possible to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He’s clearly not over The Decision and clearly not over everyone hating him. Until he is we might never see a title in Miami.

Did anyone actually watch Plaxico Burress play?

Plaxico Burress is returning to the NFL from his “made an example of” prison sentence and the speculation of where he is going to go has been mind numbingly stupid. This is sport media now though, making predictions without any kind of basis or evidence. It’s highly likely the Eagles will sign Burress according to ESPN because Andy Reid likes rebuilding projects. He’s also been linked with the Giants and Jets. The Giants obviously because he played their and the Jets because a couple people in ESPN think he might sign there too. I don’t understand the point of this pointless speculation without actually interviewing or talking to anybody involved.

But this article by Ian O’Connor takes the cake. It’s an article that is essentially a warning to NFL teams to be wary of signing Burress. Is this an article that needs to be written? The guy just got out of prison and had some character issues on and off the field before that, I don't think we need to state that there is some risk in signing him. Thank god you and all your infinite wisdom realize this could be a potential risk for a team.

My biggest problem with this "no duh" column is the way O’Connor described why the Giants were unlikely to sign Buresss.

Burress already blew up their shot at a second consecutive championship, perhaps even a dynasty, when the loaded and unlicensed Glock he carried into the Latin Quarter that fateful November 2008 night went off and blew a hole in his leg.

Really? Burress blew the Giants shot at a championship that year and a potential dynasty? Did you watch the Giants in 2008? Plaxico Burress had 35 receptions in 10 games before he shot himself in the leg. Not exactly what I’d call Jerry Rice like. The reality of that season was that he was struggling and had been battling injuries all season. Not that losing Burress was a good thing for the Giants but he wasn’t a fixture of their offense at all. The Giants lost in the 2008 playoffs not because of losing Burress but because they no longer could rush the passer or run the ball, something they did better than just about everyone all year.

I mean a potential dynasty? This is the team that came out of nowhere to win the Super bowl in 2007 and you’re saying that they had a potential dynasty? You can even make an argument that in 2007 they got hot at the right time and beat three teams with better talent than them. So while the Giants were good in 2008, to say Burress, derailed a potential dynasty is just a ridiculous thing to say.

So here’s my hopefully accurate analysis of Plaxico Burress. He’s 6'5 with good hands, unreal leaping ability and is a pretty solid route runner. This comes with the price that he takes plays off, has a history of fighting with his teammates and organizations, is inconsistent from game to game, and is frequently injured. Having watched him his whole career to me he looked like a guy on the downside of his career and now has been out of football for 3 years. Unless prison rejuvenated him I can’t see him being a game breaker for a good NFL team. This isn’t to say he won’t be useful but he’s certainly going to get more attention than he deserves this off-season.