If you talk to a Yankees fan about Joba Chamberlain, you’ll
probably get some heated lecture about how the Yankees’ screwed him up with
“Joba Rules” and making him a starter. I don’t know if I’ve ever heard the kind
of fervor from from a fan base like the kind Yankees fans have towards Chamberlain. The way
Yankees' fans talk about his 2007 season, when he debuted with the team, would
make you think he road a bull onto the field and hurled baseballs engulfed in
flames. Today, they talk about him like his career is over and honestly, that almost was the case.
Google Images
Joba's pumped to be back
Chamberlain has had to have one of the strangest years in
the history of baseball pitchers. He needed to have Tommy John surgery to
repair his throwing elbow last June and then had to under go an appendectomy in
the same month. While rehabbing his elbow last March Chamberlain had another set
back, this time it came in the form of a broken ankle he suffered while jumping
on a trampoline at a children’s recreation center. Chamberlin broke his ankle
so significantly that his bone popped through the skin of his leg and he lost a
life-threatening amount of blood in the process.
Google Images
Despite under going Tommy John surgery, an appendectomy, and
breaking his ankle so severely he almost bled to death, it’s reported that
Chamberlain is coming back at the very latest, in early August. Are you kidding
me?
The best part about this whole story is that reports are
that Chamberlain has looked like his old 2007 self. According the Yankees’ GMBrian Cashman, “Joba’s out of control.
The stuff he’s featuring is remarkable. He’s as high as 100 (mph) but upwards
consistently (at) 96, 97, 98. He looks really good.”
If you’re looking for a remarkable sports story to follow
this summer, I think you just got one. Joba’s been to hell and back in a year
and whether you root for the Yankees or not, Joba’s comeback is must see TV.
I’ve been criticizing the Brooklyn Nets moves all offseason
when I criticized Billy King’s roster building and wrote an analysis on why
they would not contend for a title this year, but it just keeps getting worse.
Last week, Kris Humphries signed a 2 year 24 million dollar contract. This is a
guy for some reason nobody wanted last year and who nobody really wanted this
year and the Nets gave him 12 million dollars a year.
While he did have quite a good year last season there’s no
way this signing wasn’t way above what he would've received in the open market. Outside of his rebounding,
Humphries may make the Brooklyn Nets have the worst defensive starting five in
the Eastern Conference. I’m pretty sure their plan is to have Gerald Wallace
guard 5 players at once.
The real travesty of this Kris Humphries signing is that
despite the Nets management saying that they “love” Kris Humphries, the real
motive behind this is to still land Dwight Howard. Humphries 12 million would
allow Brooklyn to absorb the stupid contracts that Otis Smith and the Orlando
Magic have handed out over the last few years. This would facilitate a potential deal when they can trade the free agents they've signed come January.
Money is clearly not a problem for the Nets and this is
certainly proof. They don’t care if they end up having to absorb this
ridiculous deal if they can still be in for Dwight Howard. I just think this is
an extremely expensive gamble that could have potentially terrible consequences
for the team building that’s going on in Brooklyn.
ESPN Photo
24 million for this guy?
You’re trying to build a winning team that’s has to gel
together and if Dwight Howard doesn’t get traded they’re going to have to deal
with these trade rumors all year. The signing of Humphries basically tells
Brook Lopez, “Hey we gave you that money but we will be shipping you out of
town the minute we possibly can.” Humphries also is the 4th highest
paid player on that roster and if he doesn’t produce like he did last year,
there definitely could be some contention with his salary. I also hear that not
a lot of people get along with or like Kris Humphries, but this is mostly what
my girlfriend tells me based on Keeping up with the Kardashians, so I’m not
sure how reliable that is.
I can’t blame Billy King for keeping the option for Dwight
Howard open because if he has a brain he can’t honestly think his team in its
current state is going to compete for a title. That said, it’s pretty hard to
justify giving Kris Humphries this kind of money and if they struggle from the
start and Howard is still in Orlando, the trade rumors will continue to swirl.
If Howard does end up being traded then King just gave Kris Humphries, a guy
nobody else wanted, 24 million dollars for two years.
It seems like in our 24/7 media culture we look so ardently
for athletes and celebrities to say the wrong thing that we tend to add
negative context and meaning to anything they say. Michael Vick is a lightning
rod for these kinds of statements and his recent “dynasty” remarks are no
different. Here’s what he said,
"When I look at
our football team and what we have on paper, I think about when I was growing
up and the great San Francisco 49er teams, the great Green Bay Packer teams,
and the great Dallas Cowboy teams, how they just positioned themselves to
compete and be one of the best teams out there. I think we have a chance to be
that. I think we have a chance to develop a dynasty."
What in the world is wrong with these statements? Vick wants
to be great, he thinks he has a great team, and he thinks they have the
potential to do something special. Isn’t this the belief every quarterback
should have in their team and what every kid growing up playing football dreams
of doing? I don’t understand what the problem is here.
CBS Sports
Michael Vick being questioned after his "dynasty" statements
This hasn’t stopped all the talking heads from picking on
Vick saying this is exactly what’s wrong with him and the Eagles. Somehow these
statements have been interpreted as Vick being immature and unfocused towards
this season. This is an absolutely crazy way of interpreting what Vick said and
just because someone might think these things about Vick, this one quote does
not prove that.
The narrative about the Eagles season last year is that they
struggled to handle the pressure handed down on them by the media from Vince
Young’s “dream team” comments. The idea of this Vick “dynasty” quote adding
more pressure to the Eagles this year is just more of this media hubris. This isn’t
analyzing what the Eagles are doing in their training camp or really anything
about football at all. The Eagles struggled last year because of some crappy
luck, adjusting to a new defense, and Michael Vick not staying healthy and
playing erratically when he was. The idea of crumbling under the “dream team”
pressure is simply ridiculous when there were real reasons the team struggled.
I can’t believe I’ve defended the Eagles, Michael Vick, and
Penn State in the same day, but some days are just weird. Vick speaking about
dynasties isn’t the most appropriate thing he’s ever said but I love when my quarterback
has confidence in his system and team. He expects great things from himself and
his team and if you think there is something wrong with that, you need to get
your head examined.
I really haven’t had much of an opinion on anything that’s
happened at Penn State thus far from the Sandusky allegations to the punishment
handed out today from the NCAA. I didn’t know the details and it’s simply not
my place to ignorantly stick my nose where it doesn’t belong. It’s also not the
easiest subject to write and talk about.
However, in the wake of the punishment issued today by the
NCAA, I just have to say I feel terrible for the students, fans, athletes, coaches,
faculty, and anybody associated with Penn State who absolutely do not deserved
to be punished for this.
The punishment is as follows:
$60 million fine
Vacation of wins from 1998-2011 (112 wins)
Four-year postseason ban
Players may transfer and play immediately at other school
Athletic department on probation for five year
Joe Paterno record now 298-136-3; fifth on FBS all-time
list
*Information provided via ESPN.
Nobody can condone any actions taken surrounding the cover
up of Jerry Sandusky but Penn State is far more than just its football coaches
and administrators. I don’t see how this is fair to all the players who worked
their butts off for those 112 wins or all the fans who were there every step of
the way. This is basically a death sentence for Penn State’s football program
without technically calling it that. This program means so much to so many people and those are the people who ultimately affected by this decision.
If you’re a player currently on Penn State do you really
want to not be eligible to play in a bowl game your entire career at the University?
If you were a player interested in playing there would you still want to go to
Penn State knowing the same thing? College football is so competitive that
being away from serious recruiting and bowl competition is a serious detriment
to the program. Does the NCAA have the right to set back this football program at least a half decade but probably longer?
Fine and fire the administrators, get rid of anyone associated
with covering these heinous acts, and take down the Joe Paterno statue if you must, but
what does punishing those currently associated with Penn State do? Are we
basically saying Penn State and its millions of fans don’t deserve to have a competitive
football program because these guys committed a horrible crime? Let’s also
remember that only one man has been convicted of anything and the rest of these
punishments are based of an FBI investigation and allegations. I’m not arguing
the validity of the investigation but this punishment did not come from a court
of law or give Penn State any due process.
Why do we need to punish people currently associated with Penn State because of a few men in the past? What right do a bunch of people outside of the Penn State community have passing judgement and putting pressure on what Penn State should do? This should not be a national affair, this should be a Penn State affair, and it sickens me the way the national media feels they should be involved in their affairs. If Penn State wants to tear down a statute or rename a library, let them do it, but if they don't stay the hell out of their business.
The students, fans,
athletes, and the majority of the football program were unaware of these things
happening. They did not commit a crime and the only thing they are guilty of is
being somehow associated with one of the best athletic schools in the nation. The punishment
may fit the crime but those who are ultimately being punished had nothing to do
with that crime. In my opinion, that’s completely unfair. My heart goes out to
anyone associated with Penn State on this sad day.
The NBA playoffs put a ton of attention on how its games
were officiated. Pretty much every talking head complained in some fashion but
nobody seems to ever offer any solutions. (Outside of Jeff Van Gundy) It’s
clear there is no conspiracy going on in any of these series but I do think the
NBA could make things a lot easier on the officials.
Less Technical Fouls
– In 2010-2011 the NBA expanded the guidelines for what is constituted as a
technical foul. The expanded rules are as follows:
• Players making aggressive gestures, such as air punches,
anywhere on the court.
• Demonstrative disagreement, such as when a player
incredulously raises his hands, or smacks his own arm to demonstrate how he was
fouled.
• Running directly at an official to complain about a call.
• Excessive inquiries about a call, even in a civilized
tone.
You watch the NBA, is this ever what’s actually enforced?
All these expanded rules have done is give the referee’s carte blanche for
handing out technical fouls. It opens the game up for veteran and star players
to be able to complain about calls while anyone not falling into this category
getting a technical for just about anything demonstrative that they do.
These rules are not only stupid but they make the job of the
referee more subjective than it has to be. The technical foul is the most
subjective call the referee has to make, why would it be expanded like this? Do
we expect players to be robots? I understand these rules were put in place to
give the referee’s more control of the game but it always seems refs lose
control once they start handing out arbitrary technical fouls.
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Stoudemire claps when he's frustrated. This is a technical foul in the NBA
Doesn’t it seem pretty silly now knowing that those are the
rules surrounding technical fouls, and that Lebron James and Dwayne Wade don’t
pick one up after pretty much after every play that doesn’t go there way? Not
that I believe they should’ve picked up 45 technical fouls this post season but
they do at least 3 of the 4 things stated above on just about every play. This
is why rules like this can’t be put in place because it’s clear that Lebron
James will get away with more than Mario Chalmers.
Isn’t it pretty clear that these rules are not fairly
officiated? Rondo trips into an official and gets suspended a game yet Wade runs
up to the official after every foul on him or every foul that he thinks
should’ve gone his way. If the NBA wants to limit some of this controversy they
should repeal this absurd expansion of the rules and call less technical fouls.
Less Offensive Fouls
– Everyone wants the NBA to do something about flopping but flopping cannot
be address if offensive fouls are not addressed first. A player should not be
able to take a charge if he doesn’t make a play on the basketball. Everyone is
sick of guys like Shane Battier, Glen Davis, and Jared Jeffries just standing
there and getting a charge called on their opponents. If you don’t make a play
on the ball or attempt to play defense it can’t be an offensive foul, period.
Why are we encouraging players to just stand there and get
trucked? This is not an athletic move and it shouldn’t be rewarded. When you
play with your buddies does anyone stand there and get trucked? Wouldn’t you be
pissed if they did then tried to call you for a charge?
In my opinion, the only time offensive fouls should be
called is if the offensive player uses inappropriate force (aka punching or
using his hands to elevate himself above the defender) or is obviously out of
control. Too many times an offensive player tries to avoid the contact with the
defender, who’s just standing there, taps him slightly and gets a charge. I
can’t wrap my head around how everyone doesn’t agree with me on this subject.
If anything encourages players faking fouls more than the
current way charges are called I’d be interested to know what it is. If the
player can’t just stand there and take a charge wouldn’t more shots be
contested making the game ultimately more exciting? Defense is about defending
the rim, not falling down.
Post Play Fouls – There
is a set of post play rules and if one of them is violated then a foul should
be called. That’s not what I’m going to complain about here. What I’m going to
complain about the excessive amount of falling down on post-defense that is
rewarded by the officials as an offensive foul.
How many times have you seen a stronger player back down a
smaller player who falls down and draws a foul? Shane Battier does this about
70% of the time he gets backed down. It isn’t a great time to be a strong
physical player in the NBA. Charles Barkely would call this turrrrrible if he
played today.
Does anyone else remember the Celtics-Heat playoff game this
year where Paul Pierce and Lebron James both picked up crucial fouls because
they were battling in the post and the other one fell down? Most of the time
these fouls are called away from the ball too, making them even worse and more
unnecessary.
Fouls away from the
ball – Speaking of unnecessary fouls the NBA Rules Committee is taking a
look at fouls away from the ball this September. I just feel like there are way
too many fouls like this called. The officials have to call moving screens,
holds, and trips but too often a foul is called the minute an offensive and
defensive player make contact with each other.
Cutting down on calling these fouls will also reduce
flopping because players like Manu Gibobli flop in these situations all the
time. He’ll be running down the court next to his defender and just wipe out.
It’s really hard for an official to tell whether this is flopping or not and
giving them a little bit of leeway in this scenario would ensure unnecessary
flops are not called.
It’s going to be interesting to see what the NBA decides in
this scenario because I don’t really know what the right answer is for this,
just that there away way too many fouls called away from the ball. Once in a
while the calls seem justified, like when a shooter is clearly getting cheap
shots while running through screens, but most of the time it just seems
physical defense. I understand it’s really difficult to draw the line between
what’s physical defense and what’s a foul, so this is a really tough one to
change.
Flopping – Even
though I’ve mentioned flopping in pretty much all the previous categories, it
is such a huge issue in the NBA that it deserves its own category. The NBA
certainly needs to manipulate the current rules to limit the amount of flopping
like I’ve described with offensive fouls, post play, and fouls away from the
ball. Players are definitely flopping because the current rules make it
advantageous for them to do so. If the rules can’t be manipulated in order to
stop flopping then we should explore other avenues to limit it. Flopping seems
to occur so often on offensive fouls though that I would definitely start there
if I were in David Stern’s shoes.
Some have suggested fining the players or giving them
technical fouls retroactively for each flop but this is a slippery slope. How
does this work though? Is it going to be David Stern handing out penalties or
is it going to be some committee doing it? We’ve all seen how well arbitrarily
handing out fines has worked out for the commissioner player relationship in
the NFL. I’m not entirely opposed to a system like this but if it’s not done
right, it could bring even bigger controversy than the flopping did in the
first place.
This is a disgrace
While I think flopping is probably the most frustrating
issue to watch as a basketball fan, I definitely believe the NBA can manipulate
the rules to limit it. If it comes to needing to fine these players retroactively
or another system like this, then so be it. I think everyone has a different
opinion on this but everyone seems to agree that something should be done.
Something must be done when the 6’9 best basketball player in the world, Lebron
James, is flopping at the slightest contact. It’s just a disgrace to watch and
clearly the rules are making it advantageous for him to do so. I just don’t see
the NBA going and retroactively fining him for anything, and that could be a
problem.
Chauncey Billups, “Mr. Big Shot” – Can you think of one big
shot Chauncey Billups ever hit in his career? I sure can’t. I know that he did
pretty well during the Pistons title run and other trip to the NBA Finals but nothing
to warrant the name “Mr. Big Shot.” Most of the time I spent watching Chauncey
Billups he’d jack up stupid shots at the end of games and actually hurt his
team.
Isn’t this kind of an insult to “Big Shot Bob” Horry? Horry
made a career of being pretty bad at basketball but inexplicably hitting big
shot after big shot on multiple playoff runs. Not only is Big Shot Bob a better
nickname it actually makes sense as opposed to “Mr. Big Shot” Chauncey Billups.
Stephen Baker, “The Touchdown Maker” – One of my favorite New York Giants of all time is Stephen Baker. What an awesome nick name Stephen Baker, ”The Touchdown Maker” is, but what a disappointing career he had. Baker only “made” 21 touchdowns his entire career and only played for 6 seasons. He received in the nickname in 1990 when he caught passes from the unlikely Super Bowl Champion Jeff Hostetler. To Bakers defense, the NFL wasn’t the pass happy league it is today and the Giants didn’t like to pass very often.
NY Daily News
An iconic image from my childhood of Stephen Baker making a touchdown.
James Shields, “Big Game James” – For a pitcher who’s
pitched in a shockingly few number of big games, it’s confusing to why Tampa
Bay Rays pitcher James Shields developed this nick name. He has pitched in 6
postseason games in his entire career and has posted a 4.98 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.
Not exactly what I’d call rising to the moment.
I understand that isn’t exactly a fair sample size and that
he did have a pretty good run in 2008, but how can a pitcher who’s pitched in
only a relatively few big games in his career earn this title? It’s baffling.
Steve Francis/Mark Sanchez, “Franchise and Sanchize” – I had
to lump these two together because neither of them deserve their “franchise”
titles. Sanchize also sounds like some kind of weird sex act, so there’s also
that. Anyway, Stevie Francis had a few productive seasons yet never really
found a position in the NBA despite his “Franchise” label. He wasn’t really a
point guard and proved he did not have the height to play shooting guard
throughout his career. He definitely did not have a “Franchise” caliber career.
Mark Sanchez has also completely failed to live up to his
“Sanchize” nickname. He struggled at pretty much every aspect of playing
quarterback last year and unless he turns things around quick, it seems very
unlikely he lives up to his nickname’s high hopes. His career 73.2 QB Rating –
6.51 average yards per attempt – 55.3 competition % - and 51 interceptions over
three seasons are just ugly numbers.
Eddy Curry, “Baby Shaq” – They should’ve properly nicknamed
Eddy Curry, “Hungry Shaq,” because the only thing he ever resembled O’Neal with
is his weight. Curry still hangs around the NBA and actually won the title with
the Heat last year after getting a stupid contract from the Knicks that he
never lived up to. Curry’s work ethic is notoriously bad and he’s been out of
shape basically his entire career.
Google Images
Eddy Curry working out before the season.
It’s really a shame too because Eddy Curry had a great
offensive game. In his one full season with the Knicks he ate his way to 19.5
points a game while playing absolutely no defense and only collecting 7 boards
a game. For a 7 footer these were unacceptable and Curry has never played in a
full season again.
Joey Harrington, Joey “Heisman” Harrington – Despite never
winning the Heisman, Joey Harrington earned this nickname. It was famously put
on a billboard in Time Square by Oregon when they thought Harrington’s chances
for the Heisman were all but certain. He ended up finishing 4th that
year, woops.
Google Images
Joey "Heisman" billboard in New York.
Harrington went on to have one of the most disappointing NFL
careers of all time and certainly never lived up to that nickname. He was taken
third overall by the Lions in 2002 and was out of the NFL by 2008 with a career
passer rating of 69.4. Doesn’t get much worse than that.
If you're reading this and can think of any other undeserved sports nicknames, throw it in the comments section or contact me and I'll add it to this list.
1. Christian Ponder – Everyone likes to pick on the Vikings
and my god have I heard a lot of criticism regarding their young QB Christian
Ponder. The problem with all the people being critical towards him is that none of them
actually watched him play. Yeah, he struggled a bit on a terrible team without
having a training camp in his first NFL snaps. When you consider those things, I think Ponder’s 13 TD - 13 INT - 70 QB rating is actually pretty impressive.
What I saw from Ponder is arm strength, accuracy, and pocket
presence. He’s not afraid to take a hit and can really get away from a rush. I
think if you surround this guy with a few dynamic receivers who don’t have
chronic headaches, he has some serious potential. Give him a full offseason to
work with some young receivers out in Minnesota and he might just surprise some
people. The Vikings did bring in Jerome Simpson who had a pretty productive
season with the Bengals last year, so there may be some for him to throw to.
While I don’t predict that he will be fantastic this year his, the combination
of arm strength and mobility will make him a lot of fun to watch. The Vikings
also have Adrian Peterson so that’s at least worth watching.
2. Reggie Bush – While Bush has already been written off as
a draft bust, he had a sneaky good year last year. He averaged 5 yards a carry
and caught 43 passes for a Miami offense that often looked atrocious. Bush
still has world-class speed and really the only knock on his game is his
slender often-injured build. A lot of people might not of noticed how effective
he was last year, but I did.
While the Dolphins might not be the most exhilarating
offense to watch led by Matt Moore, Reggie Bush is still worth the price of
admission. He’s flying under the radar in South Beach but man, he’s still a
freaking blast to watch play. We’ll never see that USC type runner again but he
is still one of the most versatile and explosive players in the NFL.
3. Ryan Fitzpatrick – I am a huge fan of any quarterback who
rocks a beard as well as Ryan Fitzmagic. I’m high on the Bills right now and my
belief in Fitzmagic is a big part of that. If you watched the first half of the
Bills season you’d have seen Fitzpatrick play at an absolutely elite level but
he absolutely fell on his face in the second half of the season.
With a healthy Fred Jackson, Stevie Johnson and a nice
nucleus of offensive talent outside of those guys I expect Fitzpatrick to have
a big season. He throws slants and crossing routes as good as anyone and while
he’ll make a few plays where his mechanics are all screwed up and you wonder
what the hell he’s doing, he’ll entertain you more often than not. Buffalo fans
are some of the best fans in football and I think they’ll have a lot to cheer
about with Fitzpatrick this year. I could put every player on Buffalo on this
list because I don’t think anyone outside of upstate New York follows this
young and entertaining team.
*Note this is only on the condition that Fitzpatrick doesn’t
shave his beard. No beard equals no Fitzmagic!
Google Images
Now that's one majestic looking beard.
4. Steve Smith – Not the Carolina Panthers Steve Smith but
the former New York Giant and Philadelphia Eagle Steve Smith. Smith made a Pro
Bowl and it seemed like he was ascending to be an elite receiver in the NFL
before he tore his knee. He is now on a young St. Louis Rams team with a young
talented quarterback in Sam Bradford.
Smith has the potential to be an absolute monster out of the
slot as he was in 2009 with the New York Giants. In 2009 Smith put up
unbelievable numbers on his way to a Pro Bowl. He had 107 catches – 1,220 yards
– 7 TD season. He also led the NFL in 3rd down conversions and just
always had a knack to find soft spots in zones.
He’s not the most athletic guy in the world but he has shown
he’s an unbelievable route runner and if him and Bradford can establish a
little bit of chemistry, he could be a Comeback Player of the Year
candidate. He might have been
essentially out of football for two years but let’s not sell short his
tremendous talent. I absolutely loved this signing on the cheap for the St.
Louis Rams. He’s a veteran and smart wide receiver who's going to a team that
desperately needs help at the wide receiver position.
5. Brooks Reed – I have to put some defense on this list and
man did I love what I saw out of Brooks Reed last year for the Houston Texans. Replacing
Mario Williams in limited time he had 6 sacks and 45 tackles. There were times
he was just simply a menace. He’s very fast and surrounding by an absolutely
stacked defense in Houston. The sky is the limit for this kid next season.
Reed had a tremendous run throughout the playoffs
accumulating 3.5 sacks and I can’t imagine him not getting better with a full
training camp and being entrenched as the starter. I love his potential and I
have a feeling he’ll be a household name by the end of the 2012 season.
