Michael Sam is Gay; What’s the Big Deal?

Michael Sam Talking to the Media

For a second, I thought we were living back in 1984. But with one blink of the eye, I realized we are still in the year 2014. In a progressive society that has seen the legalization of same sex marriages, I’m still scratching my head wondering what is the big deal with a professional football player being gay (Michael Sam in particular).

 Instead of breaking down film, sizing up his physical attributes and debating whether or not Sam will be a “beast” or a “bust” as an NFL player, we are subjected to placing bets on whether he will be drafted by a team because of his sexual orientation. What does who he’s dating have to do with how many plays for a loss he’ll get per season or if he can make an open field tackle? If you want to poll the NFL players and coaches, the proposed question should be “If a gay player would make you a Super Bowl contender, would you want him on your team? Any real player or coach who is about winning should hopefully say yes. Sam will get paid to do what every other player gets paid to do and that’s “make plays.” It doesn’t matter if he is being championed for being brave in “coming out of the closet” before NFL Draft day. If he can’t make the transition to the next level, he won’t be around long. Then he will become just another novelty story, a brief blip in history. That is the real story.

Possible Lifetime Ban for A-Rod From Baseball for Using PEDs

A-Rod facing tough questions with his involvement with Biogenesis

I’ve grown tired of the show named “Alex Rodriguez.” Major League Baseball (MLB) is done with the re-runs aptly named “A-Fraud.” Having already fallen from grace, the greatest baseball player of our time is digging a crater sized grave for his career. Gone are the days of discussing whether A-Rod will go down as the greatest baseball player to ever live. He may however go down as the greatest in another category. If it weren’t for Jose Canseco, Rodriguez could have gone down as the greatest “juicer” in baseball history. And now it’s time for him to pay the piper. MLB has made a plea bargain offer to Rodriguez: Take the rest of this year off and all of next year or fight the allegations of taking Performance Enhancing Drugs (P.E.D.’s) with the possibility of a lifetime ban for a guilty verdict.

The sad thing is I can’t pull the card of “How could you disappoint all the young baseball fans who believed in you.” Fortunately, they have seen through your stale act. There won’t be any burning of A-Rod Yankee, Ranger, or Mariner Jerseys. They were given to the consignment should years ago. Your baseball cards have fallen to the status of the struggling Minor League journeyman who breaks into “The Show” every other year. What a fall from grace!

A-Rod doesn't have too much to smile about theses days.

I feel sorry for Derek Jeter having to stomach and play with the antithesis of what the many Yankee legends stood for. I feel very confident in saying that such greats as Joe D., Lou Gehrig, Mickey, Thurman Munson, and Yogi Berra would rip his jersey off right where he stood and put his career as a Yankee on ice. I don’t blame Jeter and the rest of the team for not coming to A-Rod’s rescue.

The great George Steinbrenner would always try to get a return on his investments. Unfortunately, that can’t happen. The old injury prone Rodriguez has been under-performing when not pumped up with the “juice.” He’s not putting up numbers worthy of the near $30 million that he receives annually. He received that contract on the premise that he would continue to put up the gaudy numbers that did while on P.E.D.’. Since this is not a true reflection of his ability, I think it would be wise for Major League Baseball to come up with laws allowing teams to void contracts that convicted P.E.D. abusers have, making the agreement not longer binding.

A-Rod if you are smart, you will take the suspension. The writing is on the wall. The disgruntled Biogenesis worker already turned in the incriminating evidence along with giving your name up. Take the deal.  Many of us would rather you leave the game for good. If you don’t think wisely and quickly, this is exactly what may happen to you.

Should Alex Rodriguez receive a lifetime ban if found guilty?

The Problems with the NCAA Division IA Conference Shifting

I imagine that there are some people out there in the sports world who are excited for the major shift among the conferences in NCAA Division 1A sports. However I am not one of them. The only things being created are a hodgepodge of weak rivalries, confused fans, and a whole lot of checks which are being cut to various attention starving and money hungry schools.  

The major conferences of the PAC 12, Big 10, Big 12, ACC, Big East, and SEC have each participated in the “Let’s make a deal” switch-a-roo of teams. Intertwined with collegiate sports are TV contracts, exposure, and deals for getting an bid to a “Bowl Game”. Some colleges may give the notion that they moved to a conference where the style of play was more similar to their flagship sport (particularly Football and Basketball). However, it will be hard to persuade me from believing that the motivating factor for the re-alignment was dollars and cents!

I understand that there are situations that warrant you to be flexible to a school’s needs, but this is ridiculous. It makes logical sense for the non-football Catholic College and Universities to split off and have their own basketball conference. I don’t like it, but will agree that they have earned the right to keep the Big East moniker since the conference is traditionally known for their strong basketball programs. St. John’s, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Marquette, Villanova, DePaul, and Providence traditionally field strong teams that are prepped to make deep runs in the NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament.

Do we really need another conference sucking up automatic bids in tournaments and playoffs? What I am talking about is the new “American Athletic Conference (The American).” If the NCAA were smart they would rename them as the “Conference USA –the remix”. Over the past 10 years the Big East has siphoned the talent from Conference USA. When one school leaves for the greener pastures of another conference, the Big East never panics they simply lure in one of the high performing C-USA teams. Unfortunately I’m not drinking the Kool-Aid. For the 2013 Division 1A season, the following teams will comprise the American conference:

Cincinnati

Connecticut

Houston

Louisville (leaving in 2014)

Memphis

Rutgers (leaving in 2014)

USF

SMU

Temple

(Three more teams from C-USA are joining in 2014)

Look familiar? Why not combine the Conference USA and American Athletic Conference teams. Just a thought….

The many schools jumping from one major conference to another major are just muddying up the waters of confusion. It is almost becoming one big joke. The Big 10 Conference (actually comprised of 12 teams) is going to receive their 13^th team when Rutgers joins them in 2013. Nothing says Mid-West football more than a team from New Jersey, huh… And what is Colorado doing out there in the west coast with the PAC 12? They are doing nothing but embarrassing themselves on a weekly basis. What was wrong with their neighboring Big 12 schools? And whatever happened to aligning conferences according to their geographical locations? Currently you have ridiculous commutes like the ACC’s Florida State trip to Massachusetts (BC).  The ACC is also having a good ole’ Big East Reunion now that they have lured Miami, Pittsburg, Syracuse, Boston College, and Virginia Tech to their stable. The more things are changing, the more things stay the same!

The Miami Heat Miraculously Win Back to Back NBA Titles

Just think, the line that separates greatness and goodness is paper thin. The thrill of hoisting up NBA Finals championship trophy and the agony of settling for second place in basketball can be determined by one play. Lebron James couldn’t have said it better. With 25 seconds left in Game 6 of the NBA finals he thought to himself  “Nine months of hard work is about to go down the drain”. Danny Green misses his free throw; Ray Allen eventually hits a game tying three-pointer which sends the game into overtime. And the rest as they say is history.

Many references were made as to how close the Spurs were to being World Champions. The NBA committee had Larry O’Brien trophy on the floor ready to present it to the San Antonio Spurs. You could not have been any closer to victory than they were. Let’s just imagine for a moment that Danny Green hits his free throws to seal the game, or the Heat don’t get an offensive rebound on consecutive trips to hit the game tying daggers in the heart of the Spurs. Then Tim Duncan adds a 5^th championship ring to his collection. Tony Parker and Danny Green then fight over who is the NBA Finals MVP. The Miami Heat lose two of three NBA Finals that the “Big Three” (James, Wade, Bosh) play in. Lebron moves his Finals record to 1-3 (nowhere near superhuman). The window closes on the Heat as they prepare to make changes and split the team up. Lebron then shows that he can’t shoulder the burden of carrying the team each and every night as other mega stars have done in order to win their championship. The talk then moves to will he ever win another NBA title instead of how many will he win.

But on that night, whether you believe that the stars were lined up properly or that there was divine intervention, the Heat moved one step closer to making history as one of the select few teams who have won back to back NBA titles. I’m sure Lebron will agree today that Life Is Good! There’s no need to wonder “What If?”

Time To Get Rid of A-Rod

As a die-hard New York Yankees fan, I am ready to see Alex Rodriguez get his walking papers for another town. As an expensive commodity, have we really gotten our money’s worth?

 A-Rod will give you solid puffed up regular season numbers. If you add up his career numbers, you see why he is deemed one of the most talented players of all time. He will get you .300 for a batting average. Mix in his 40+ homers. He was also pretty quick as a base runner. But, there was always something missing.

 If you want to be a Yankee legend, it takes much more. You need to be the heartbeat of the team. Your teammates know you have left everything on the field when everything is said and done. They look at you as their Colonel leading them to battle on the baseball diamond. Recently, Derek Jeter has gone down with a fractured ankle. He has played months with various ailments knowing that if his teammates know he is in the lineup they will feel they have a fighting chance to win every time. Imagine the Yankee ship losing its sail when Captain Lou Gehrig missed his first game in over 2,000 outings and his eventual retirement because his ailment had taken his ability to perform. Can A-Rod say he has the same effect on his teammates? His childish antics do not help either. Rumor has it that when A-Rod was taken out because of lack of performance, he threw a baseball up to a female fan and asked her to write down her number for him. I can tell you what his number is …….. 0. I’m so glad he was trying to figure out what he can do to improve his game.  Maybe he could have tried to think about how he can help his teammates out in the tightly contested playoff game.

 A-Rod has shown he isn't a leader and doesn't care to be either. Derek Jeter has slumped off and on over the past few years. His numbers are not as impressive as they were in his younger years. He learned though, that you can control a game in many different ways. If the bat wasn’t working, Derek would make an unbelievable play that would fire up his team and everyone in the crowd. He would somehow hit that game tying home run to help his team move out of playoff elimination. Catching an errant pass and tossing it to home plate to get a base runner out is all in a day’s work for the J Man. Have we ever received anything remotely like that from him? During the Yankees 2004 colossal 3-0 collapse to eventual World Champion Red Sox, Rodriguez climbed into his little shell instead of throwing his team on his back. In the 13 playoff series that A-Rod has played in with the Yankees, he’s only hit over .300 three times! That is anemic. In 59 Yankee playoff games Alex has driven in only 33 runs.

So, in the final synopsis, can somebody tell me what we are getting from Alex Rodriguez that warrant’s us to pay him almost $30 Million dollars? I’m willing to hear a case in favor of A-Rod if there is one. However the defense would have more holes in it than Swiss cheese.

NFL Replacement Referee Fiasco

Controversial call during the Packers-Seahawks game

The runaway train known as the "NFL Replacement Refs" has wrecked, and the cleanup will be impossible if not tended to soon. Sure I get it, I am down with the referees going on strike to get the their due compensation for the thankless job that they do on a weekly basis. However, this is creating a black eye for the entire league. We have people speaking about how much money these mistakes are going to cost the bookies.We have Presidential Candidates expressing their disapproval of the job the new refs are doing. Players are going as far as to say they will not play this week if the "first string" refs don't officiate the upcoming games. Come on...... Really!

First of all the players need to just focus on executing their plays and leave it at that. The referees union did not speak out when the players took their leave of absence. Secondly, some one please tell the coaches to keep their hands off of the refs. The coach may just get what he is looking for if he messes with the wrong person. Third, the machine known as the NFL is raking in so much money, they probably don't know what to do with it besides stick it into the owners "Fat Pockets." You see how valuable quality refs are to the game. I think they have proved their worth.

Finally, the best referees try to make themselves invisible in the game, meaning they keep out of the spotlight and try not to affect the outcome of the games. A great ref is one who prides himself on making sure he/she gets the call right, not worrying about how they look when reversing a blown call. That seems like the total opposite with the current staff. Did you see how fast the referees ran off the field after botched call (my opinion) on the field goal that gave the Ravens the victory over the Patriots. And what were the referees looking at under the hood (instant replay) during the Packers/Sea hawks game. Were they looking at a 3-D view without using the accompanying glasses? If all of America can see indisputable evidence that the Packer's defender was the one who caught the ball, why can't they see it?

Memo to the NFL, do not take to long in getting resolution in this situation. You may lose the many fans that you have gained in the last few years. And that's a blow that you cannot afford.

Sports Jedi

Dream Team 1992 vs. Dream Team 2012 (No Comparison)

It is unfortunate that members of this year's Dream Team (2012) are already popping off at the mouth; they haven't even played a game yet. The 1992 team played the game and let their results do the talking for them. It is foolish for players to make claims (Kobe) that their team may not be able to back up.

I'm not going to bore you by comparing stat after stat, and  player by player because the scale would be lop-sided. To put it like this: The 1992 Dream Team had 11 future Hall of Famers, some of the greatest to ever play the game. The current team may have 4 players that you can hold in the same breath.

Kobe has become a throwback player who could have blended in with the '92 team. Many may ask "Does the '92 team have an answer for Lebron James?" The answer is simple....Scottie Pippen.Scottie was an eight time First Team All-Defensive Team. He had the athleticism and agility to cover him. Plus, he had arms as long as Stretch Armstrong. Many of the other players on this years team are very athletic with a good amount of skill. However, they average player on the team is very green compared to the experience of the '92 team. The older team would have Pick and Rolled them to death (Who could ever stop Stockton and Malone?).

Taking a look at the 1992 Dream Team, most of the players were specialists and one of the best at what they did.

Larry Bird - one of the greatest shooters ever and excellent passer.
Magic Johnson - Did things like no other with the ball and played all 5 positions well
John Stockton - All time leader in assists
Charles Barkley - One of the greatest rebounders
Patrick Ewing - One of the greatest jump shooting centers
Michael Jordan - Mike was Mike

As the newer NBA elite players progress, they need to continue to create their own identity.

And if there are any arguments about putting numbers into the computer and spitting out results (interpolating points, margin of victory, etc.), please squash it. It's a stinking computer. It isn't human. It cannot account for the human element.

In the end synopsis, there is no comparison. Dream Team '92 wins decisively.