Once in a Lifetime

The end of the year usually leads to some sort of review of the best of the previous 12 months. I'll limit that to the best performance of the year and I think that there are four performers who stood out above the rest. Tiger Woods had another great year with 8 wins and 2 majors, Roger Federer won three majors and dominated the tour and Dwayne Wade put the Miami Heat on his back and carried them to the NBA Championship. While those players were spectacular, in my opinion the best performance of 2006 took place within the first week of the new year. Vince Young put on a performance for the ages in the Rose Bowl and was transformed overnight from Texas hero into a college football legend.

Texas headed into the Rose Bowl undefeated and untied, but a solid underdog to the USC Trojans. ESPN had basically proclaimed the two time defending national champions the greatest college football team ever. USC had the last two Heisman trophy winners in their backfield and were riding a wining streak of over 30 games. They seemed all but unbeatable. They had very few close calls during their winning streak, although a shootout with San Jose State illustrated that they did indeed have some defensive weaknesses. USC entered the game confident that would be hoisting the championship trophy for the third consecutive year.

Vince Young finished second in the Heisman voting behind Reggie Bush and he may have entered the game with a slight chip on his shoulder although he would never admit to such. He had something to prove. There were many experts who thought that Young would finally be exposed by USC as less than the numbers showed. Young had transformed himself from a running QB who barely completed 50% of his passes to an extremely dangerous passer from the pocket. He didn't have the blinding speed of Michael Vick, but he was the most explosive runner from the QB position since Vick's days at Virginia Tech.

The game was tight throughout but USC had forged a 12 point with 6:42 remaining in the game. Young led Texas to a touchdown with 4:03 left, but USC had a chance to close out the game with 2 minutes remaining. They had a 4th down and two at their own 45 yard line. Texas was out of timeouts and a first down would have sealed the victory, but their defense came up with the biggest play of the game to that point and stopped USC just inches short of the first down. Vince Young took over from their and led the Longhorns to a score by running the ball in from the 8 yard line. He then converted the the two point conversion to give Texas a 3 point lead with 19 seconds to go. USC's last second attempt came up short and Texas was the national champion. They had done the impossible and sent USC to their first loss in 34 games.

Heisman trophy winner Reggie Bush had a 175 yards of total offense and scored a touchdown, Leinart threw from 365 yards and touchdown, but those performances paled in comparison to what Young pulled off that night in Pasadena. Young passed for 267 yards and ran for another 200 with 3 TD's and a two point conversion. It was the kind of transcendent performance that if it had taken place in the golden age of sports in the twenties would now be mythical. It was as dazzling as when Red Grange pulled of the performance that allowed him to make pro football a big time sport. Red Grange became the "Galloping Ghost" when he scored four times in the first quarter against Michigan on runs totaling over 250 yards. The sports writers spread his fame far and wide and when he turned pro, fans turned out to see the man that they had only read about. He became responsible for turning pro football from the poor cousin of the college game into a huge gate attraction. Red Grange's performance against Michigan is probably the only parallel to Vince Young's showing against USC in the Rose Bowl. As he scored the final two point conversion, I sent a text message to a friend that simply said, "Superman plays for Texas". Sports Illustrated would echo that point on the cover of the next issue when the shot of Vince Young was headlined by one word, "Superman".

ESPN classic now makes it possible to relive that moment over and over again, for which I'm very thankful. Red Grange's performance only lives in grainy black and white but Vince Young's performance can be seen in glorious color on any night of the week. I feel fortunate that I was watching that game and got to experience that performance as it happened. I don't know what Young's professional career has in store, but his legacy as a college football legend is secure. While there were other great performances in 2006, there was none better than when Superman put on his cape and led the Texas Longhorns, almost singlehandedly, to national championship.

4th and Long

It's the final week of the NFL season and since Toby hasn't made her picks for a while, I've decided to step back in and provide you all with some valuable insight into picking the games this weekend. I'm going to keep it short and sweet. Here's how it works:

1. A lot of teams and players are just phoning it in at this point.

2. Players want to get out of this last game without any major injuries as they head into either the post season or the off season.

3. Use the SM(patent pending) in all the games this weekend.

4. Remember that you didn't spend a dime to get this advice.

Just a refresher on the Speigler Method. Pick all the underdogs. That's it. The SM has about a 62% winning percentage this year. I don't know what method you're using, but I'm sure it isn't as good as the SM. The SM, get to know it! It will be your friend. That's all for this week folks. And as I always say, a word to the wise is probably one word more than they need.

Here are the picks: (Results in Bold)

Washington +2.5 (loss)

Pittsburgh +6 (Win)

Oakland +12.5 (loss)

Minnesota +3 (loss)

Jacksonville +2.5 (loss)

Seattle +3.5 (Win)

Detroit +13 (Win)

Cleveland +4 (loss)

New Orleans +3 (loss)

San Francisco +10.5 (Win)

Arizona +14 (Win)

Miami +9 (Win)

Atlanta +8.5 (Win)

Buffalo +9.5 (loss)

Green Bay +3 (Win)

The SM goes 8-7 to close out the year on a winning note. Not the best showing for the SM, but it will have to do until next season.

Knight and Day

Bobby Knight's Texas Tech team lost last night to UNLV in what was Knight's first attempt at breaking the all time coaching wins record for NCAA Men's Basketball. The record is currently held jointly by Knight and the former coach of the UNC Tar Heels, Dean Smith. Smith established the record during his last NCAA tournament appearance and then retired from coaching.

Knight has had a stellar career, highlighted by three NCAA championships, including the last team to finish a season without a loss. However his career as a coach has been defined by controversy. His near arrest during the Pan Am games in the 70's caused quite a stir and certainly his chair throwing incident has been replayed incessantly. The most famous or infamous incident that Knight was associated with was his choking of one of his own players. Knight insisted that it never happened until a videotape showed up on TV. Knight wasn't fired because of that particular incident, but it certainly set the sequence of events in motion that led to his eventual firing at Indiana.

Bobby has always prided himself on the high percentage of his players that graduate. The fact that he only produced one player who went to be an NBA all-star (Isiah Thomas), is a testament to his ability at coaching the college game. While Indiana was never hurting for high school stars, they clearly did not get the best athletes in the country and the lack of success of most of the Indiana players at the next level is indicative of that point. Knight was successful in getting the most out of his players. It always seemed that Knight had more of a football coaches mentality. He liked to yell at his players and get physical with them. He berated his own son on the bench during a nationally televised game. Knight always felt that intimidation was the way to get the most out of his players and he was successful using those tactics for a long time. The problem was that once the NCAA tournament wins stopped coming, his aggression seemed to be taken to a new level and that included grabbing a player by the throat.

For all intents and purposes, Knight is a teacher at a university. He teaches basketball. And a teacher should never be allowed to touch his students in the way that Knight does. I'm not sure that there would be enough money in any universities bank account to cover the lawsuits that would roll in if a Philosophy teacher treated his students the way that Knight treated his. Knight eventually lost his job at Indiana after a run in with a student on campus. Knight apparently thought he was being disrespected because a student didn't refer to him as "coach" or "Mr. Knight". He went after the student and was dismissed shortly after that. The Indiana job is one of the most prestigious jobs in all of college basketball. The Texas Tech job is not. Yet that is where Bobby Knight finds himself as he sit on the verge of history. Bobby has no one to blame but himself for the fact that he is not at the University of Indiana.

Bobby will get the record soon and he will stick around for a few more years and add to that record. It probably won't be his for long though because Coack K at Duke isn't that far behind and as long as he doesn't retire suddenly, the record should eventually be his. I think that it's probably best that the record belong to someone who didn't have to leave his job in shame. It should belong to someone who stands for what's best in the game and someone that did a service to the sport. This isn't as bad as Barry Bonds passing Hank Aaron, but there are definitely parallels that can be drawn. I was happy that Dean Smith took the record away from an avowed racist like Adolph Rupp. I can't say that I'll be as thrilled when Bobby Knight ascends to the top of the coaching list.

Cy-yonara

The Yankees are currently fielding offers from the Diamondbacks and the Padres for the services of Randy Johnson. It appears that even as the Yankees head into the season with an aging/untested/injury prone starting rotation, they are willing to listen to offers for the pitcher who has won the most games for them over the past two years.

Randy is coming off a year when his ERA reached 5, but he still managed to win 17 games due to the highest run support in the game. Randy actually won more games than any pitcher in the national league last year and only two pitchers in the AL had more wins. His secondary numbers (Whip and Strikeouts) were still very respectable and he did show the ability to dominate at times. Randy said that he seldom pitched without back pain last year and his up and down performance was probably a reflection of that. This is the second major back surgery that Johnson has had. He recovered enough from his first surgery to win four Cy Young awards, but he was a decade younger then. Will his 40+ year old body bounce back from this latest surgery? That is the $20 million question.

The Yankees may be planning on bringing Roger Clemens into the rotation, and might be looking to free up some payroll. Clemens wouldn't be available until June however, which would still leave a hole in the Yankees rotation for two months and wouldn't help them get any younger, which is one for their goals. They may also be ready to step into the Barry Zito shootout. Barry has made it clear that he would rather pitch in New York or LA. The Mets are currently major players in the bidding and the Yankees could become a player if they free up the Big Unit's salary. Outside of those two pitchers, there isn't a lot of quality left to add to the rotation. There are a few non-tendered pitchers, who are basically rejects of their former clubs, who might get an invitation to camp (Zambrano, Pinero, Duckworth), but they certainly couldn't be relied on to post anywhere near the 17 wins that Johnson did in '05 and '06.

One of Brian Cashman's stated goals is to restock the farm system and trading Randy Johnson could be a tool to help get that done. Just as in the Sheffield deal, the Yankees could get some young pitching prospects in return for Johnson. The problem with prospects is that they are just that, prospects. There is no guarantee that they will be effective in the majors or that they will even get there. The Yankees may trade away one of the greatest left handed pitchers of all time for nothing. The Blue Jays traded Roger Clemens to the Yankees for prospects who never made an impact on the major league level and that is just one example of a trade gone wrong.

The great unknown in all of this is how Randy Johnson feels about this. I have never heard him come right out and say that he was unhappy in New York. I have never read that he wanted to move back to Arizona, but that doesn't mean that he hasn't been making his wishes known behind the scenes. Randy has never been exactly friendly with the press and I doubt that he would call up one of the reporters to discuss that kind of thing now. Perhaps the glare of the New York spotlight is too much for him or perhaps he would just like to be closer to his home, or perhaps he hates the cold weather in the spring. I don't know, but it seems to me that the Yankees certainly would not be shopping his name around without his approval. And I'm absolutely sure that they would not have been so public about the negotiations. Randy is a prickly sort of person and I'm sure that he would be greatly insulted if the Yankees were shopping him without his permission. He does have a no-trade clause in his contract, and the fact that the Yankees are only talking to teams in the NL west shows me that this is being done with Randy's approval.

It remains to be seen whether Randy gets traded, but at least it gives the reporters around here something interesting to speculate about. A goodbye to Randy will probably mean that the Yankees will throw a sick amount of money at Roger Clemens. Roger played for a pro rated $20 million dollars last year. This year he may not have to pro-rate that amount. I know I said earlier that he would probably go back to Houston and I still think that they are the favorites to land him, but everybody has their price. Even the only man alive with more Cy Young awards than Randy Johnson.

Basketbrawl

The New York Knicks and the Denver Nuggets decided that scoring baskets weren't enough to decide their contest on Saturday night. They staged their own version of Boxing after Dark with about 90 seconds to go in their game. The brawl lasted for about a minute and Nuggets scored a knockout on a right hook delivered by Carmelo Anthony.

The brawl started when Mardy Collins committed a hard foul on J.R. Smith who had performed a circus dunk on the previous possession. The Nuggets were up by 19 points at the time and still had all their starters in the game. They were clearly enjoying the pounding that they were inflicting on the Knicks. It is an unwritten rule that a team will put in it's bench players when a game is beyond reach. The Nuggets didn't do this and it clearly got under the skin of some of the Knicks players.

The Nuggets coach George Karl is a former UNC player. I'm fairly sure that Karl doesn't exactly have the warmest feelings towards the Knicks considering their handling of the Larry Brown affair. Larry Brown is also a former UNC player and as everyone knows, the Tar Heel ties run very deep. Karl probably saw an opportunity to embarrass the Knicks at home and decided to keep his starters in to run up the score. Karl broke an unwritten rule in all of sports that you do not try and show up an opponent. His actions lit the fuse on what was to become an ugly scene at the Garden.

Nate Robinson is the person most responsible for the foul escalating to an all out brawl. He was the the third person in after the foul was committed and he proceeded to get into a wrestling match with Smith. Their fight spilled over the photographers and into the first row of fans seated behind the basket. The fact that the NBA immediately suspends players who leave the bench area during an on the court fight played in a big part in limiting the brawl to the players who were actually in the game. This could have turned really ugly, but the Garden security force also did a good job of maintaining order in the crowd. They kept them from getting involved with the players. Thankfully the scene was not reminiscent of the Pistons-Pacers brawl from two years ago.

Carmelo Anthony landed the only clean shot of the night when he sucker punched Mardy Collins and then took off back pedaling down the court. A few Knicks players had to be restrained as they tried to go after him, but he escaped retaliation. Anthony is currently the leading scorer in the NBA and has worked hard to repair his image after appearing in a video a few years ago that seemingly glorified drug use. Anthony is third member of the famed draft class of 2004 which included Dwayne Wade and LeBron James. He has lagged behind the other two in terms of endorsements and notoriety, but was on the road to making up some of that disparity this year. This incident will certainly bring him more notoriety but probably not the kind that he has been looking for.

NBA Commissioner David Stern will probably hand out stiff fines and suspensions to the main players in this drama. I would suspect that both Anthony and Robinson will be looking at suspensions in the 10 game range for their roles in the brawl. Collins and J.R. Smith will probably get one or two game suspensions as well. Stern has worked hard to change the image of the NBA. He has made the players wear suits on the sidelines and has changed the rules so that arguing calls brings an immediate technical foul. While he can make changes to the rules, he can't change the people who actually play the game. You can dress them up, but that doesn't change who they are. A lot of the players come from urban settings where reputation means everything. They will go to great lengths to protect that "rep". Fines and suspensions are not really on the minds of players during these heat of the moment incidents. Brawls on the court are more reminiscent of a playground fight rather than a disagreement between highly compensated professionals.

It's a shame that a basketball game came down to a street fight, but these things will happen occasionally. The only thing that we can be happy about is that the incident did not escalate and include the crowd. There's plenty of blame to go around for the brawl from the coaches to the players, but in the end it's impossible to legislate against aggression. That being said, David Stern is going to give it his best shot on Monday.

Rocket Man

The annual race to sign Roger Clemens hasn't begun in earnest yet, but it will soon and in the end Clemens will probably end up signing the biggest single season contract in baseball history. The Astros, Rangers, Yankees and Red Sox will all make sure that Roger knows how much they would like him to be a part of their rotations in '07.

The Red Sox signing of Matsuzaka probably means that they will not be a major player in the the rocket sweepstakes, but there has to be more than a passing attraction to Roger for him to finish his career in the uniform that he started it in. The ownership group and GM that alienated Roger have been replaced and he has said that he no longer feels any animosity toward the Red Sox. The Red Sox would probably be more than willing to accommodate Roger's schedule, but I think the problem with his return to the Sox is that they may not be able to come up with enough money. Their recent free agent signings have pushed their payroll into the $150 million range. I'm not sure that they would be willing to add another $25 million to that total. The Red Sox have long complained about the Yankees being the evil empire and having an unlimited payroll, but the Sox are edging dangerously close to the same territory. Currently the Sox have filled all the spots in their projected rotation for 2007 but they have yet to fill their need for a closer. That has to be their #1 priority at this point.

The Rangers will probably throw the most money at Clemens. Tom Hicks, he of the $250 million deal for Arod, has made it known that he will do anything to get Clemens into a Rangers uniform. The Rangers have longed for an ace to lead their staff and having a Texas legend in uniform would only serve to increase the revenue for the upcoming season. Nolan Ryan, the other Texas pitching legend, ended his career with the Rangers and I'm sure that Hicks envisions Clemens doing the same thing. The biggest obstacle facing a Rocket revival with the Rangers is the fact that there is no guarantee that they are going to be competitive in the AL West. The Rangers have yet to reach the playoffs in this century and the addition of Clemens probably would not push them over the top. They have a lot of holes to fill and Clemens has always stated that at this point of his career, he would only want to pitch for a contender.

The Yankees would be willing to match the dollar offer from Texas for Clemens and they are definitely a contender, but they would not be able to offer the fringe benefits that the other teams would be willing to give. Clemens would not be able to stay home on road trips, he would not be able to leave the team to see his sons play sports, he would not be given any special treatment at all. The Yankees have one sure hall of famer in Randy Johnson and one potential hall of famer in Mike mussina currently in their rotation. If Clemens were given special treatment, they would have to extend that to both Mussina and Johnson and that's simply not going to happen. While Roger does have fond memories of NY (winning multiple championships, winning a Cy Young award, winning his 300th game), it is half a continent away from his home in Texas. He would not be able to enjoy his family the way he has been able to do with the Astros. I also don't think that the Yankees signing of Andy Pettitte will have any bearing on what Clemens decides to do. The Yankees would offer him the chance to compete for a championship, but considering what he would have to give up, I think it would be a long shot if he came back to play in New York.

That leaves us with the Astros once again. Just like last year when he put the same four teams through the ringer before resigning with the Astros, I don't believe that he will end up anywhere else. The Astros showed last year that they are willing to pay him an astronomical sum to pitch for half a season if that is what he wants. His son is in the Astros organization and he will at least get to play on the same field with him in spring training, he doesn't have to travel with the team on days he isn't pitching, he's close to home and probably most importantly, he gets to sleep in his own bed for most nights of the season. It's a perfect set up for him. The Astros didn't make the playoffs last year, but they were in the World Series the just a season ago. He knows that he can make the difference in Houston. Given the fact that the Cardinals won the division last year with only 83 wins, it's very probable that the Astros could have won the division if Clemens had pitched for the entire season. We'll never know, but they only missed the playoffs by one game.

Clemens is the difference maker for the Astros. They are one pitcher away from being in the playoff hunt, unlike the Rangers. They will allow him to stay home on days he's not pitching, unlike the Yankees and they will pay him an enormous sum of money to pitch for them, unlike the Red Sox. It's a no brainer, just like it was last season. He will stay with the Astros. The question is how long is he going to keep the Astros on the hook this time? He has "retired" three times now. It's pretty clear that he's going to pitch again. No one who has been as effective as he has been has ever just walked away from the game. One of these years though, he is going to break down. Nolan Ryan's legs eventually betrayed him in his mid 40's, even though his arm never did and the same will probably happen to Roger. Exercise and "supplements" can only keep you going for so long. Eventually nature catches up to everyone. Even the singularly gifted, like Clemens.

This annual merry-go-round is really starting to become tiresome, but the truth is as long as Clemens can throw a baseball 95 mph, there will always be someone waiting at his door to hand him a huge paycheck.

By the way, this is the 200th post on "Lupica", so congratulations to me and my fellow bloggers (Natan, Ed and Toby). And they said it wouldn't last.

A California Roll

Daisuke Matsuzaka signed a 6 year contract with the Boston Red Sox last night. The deal calls for the Red Sox to pay him $52 million over the life of the contract. There are awards incentives which could push the total package to $60 million. Those incentives weren't released but it's probably a combination of All-Star appearances, Cy Young votes, MVP votes and post season MVP's.

The cost of the total package for Matsuzaka is slightly over $103 million, which breaks out to just over $17 million a year. However only the contract dollars count against the salary cap meaning that it works to a very economical $8.7 million a year for the Red Sox. Basically the Red Sox secured one of the best pitchers in the world for millions less, on an annual basis, than the Cubs are paying Ted Lilly and the Royals are paying Gil Meche. Matsuzaka was critical to the Red Sox off season plans and the owners flew out to California to meet with the pitcher in order to get a deal done. The negotiations appeared to be at a dead end on Monday and the Sox knew that they had to do something drastic in order to get them moving again. Scott Boras had initially wanted upwards of $15 million a season, but the Red Sox did not come close to meeting that demand. Boras had refused to return their phone calls after the Red Sox initial offer and was trying to bluff his way into a bigger payday for his player. The Red Sox owners flew out to California to make sure that Matsuzaka knew what their offer was. The Sox did increase theiir initial offer slightly but basically held firm and in the end Matsuzaka's desire to play in the major leagues forced Boras to accept the deal.

The Red Sox now have three young starting pitchers who they believe will form the core of their rotation for at least the next 5 years. Paplebon, Beckett and Matsuzaka could form the backbone of a great pitching staff along the lines of Seaver, Koosman and Matlack for the Mets in the seventies. Curt Schilling and Tim Wakefield will round out the Red Sox starting five. Four of the five starters could easily win 15 games a piece and Wakefield can be as tough as any starting pitcher in baseball on any given day. Compared to the Red Sox, the Yankees rotation looks positively ancient, with only Wang being under 30. The Yankees will probably try and counter by signing Roger Clemens, but that will be very expensive, it won't help them get any younger and certainly won't address any long term pitching issues.

Of course, this is all pure speculation at this point. Matsuzaka has never pitched in the major leagues. He certainly has never faced the kind of scrutiny from the media and fans that he will face in Boston. Will he perform as well as Hideo Nomo did when he first got to Majors, or will he turn out to be more like Hideki Irabu? No one knows for sure. Josh Beckett won 16 games for the Sox last year, but had an ERA of over 5 and led the league in home runs allowed. Paplebon was great as the Red Sox closer last season, but had to be shut down late in the year because of arm problems and has never worked as a starter in the majors. Wakefield and Schilling are both over 40 and somewhat injury prone at this point. There are definitely a lot of "ifs" about the projected starting staff for the Sox, but "if" they all go the right way, the Red Sox have set themselves up to become the dominant player in the AL east for next season and perhaps the foreseeable future.

What's the Question?

Allen Iverson, aka The Answer, aka AI, has played his last game for the the Philadelphia 76ers. Iverson demanded a trade over the weekend and the 76ers are doing everything in their power to grant that request. He hasn't played for the team since last week and his locker has been cleaned out, so it appears that their once Rosy union has definitely reached the "irreconcilable differences" stage.

The 76ers went into the last off season with the intention of trading Iverson, but for some reason they were unable to pull off a deal. The Boston Celtics were apparently willing suitors, but Philly was not happy with the package that was offered. They are in a much worse position now. Indiana had a similar situation last year when they were forced to trade Ron Artest in the middle of the season and could not get equal value for him. The Sixers are now going to be forced to trade the 3rd highest per game scorer in the history of the game for mere cents on the dollar. The Timberwolvews, Warriors, Pacers, Celtics, Bobcats and others are willing to consider a trade, but it's just not that easy to trade a player with Iverson's salary. There are the salary cap issues to resolve and Iverson will have a say in where he eventually ends up. In fact there were reports that he has already vetoed a deal that would have sent him to Charlotte.

The question, in this break up is, who is to blame? The answer is "The Answer". Iverson has been notoriously difficult to coach throughout his entire career. He is without a doubt the best player on his team, but he is not the kind of player who makes his teammates better. In fact he once gave this illuminating quote when asked about missing practice:

"If I can't practice, I can't practice. It is as simple as that. It ain't about that at all. It's easy to sum it up if you're just talking about practice. We're sitting here, and I'm supposed to be the franchise player, and we're talking about practice. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about practice, not a game, not a game, not a game, but we're talking about practice. Not the game that I go out there and die for and play every game last it's my last but we're talking about practice man. How silly is that? I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about practice. We're talking about practice man. We're talking about practice. We're talking about practice. We're not talking about the game. We're talking about practice.

Iverson has not exactly built his reputation as team player. He has been in the top three in field goal attempts every year since 1999, with the exception of 2004 when he was injured. His career field goal percentage is a horrendous .421. That means that he misses almost six out of every ten shots he attempts (Even someone like Dominique Wilkins, who was known for his sometimes questionable shot selection, had a .461 career shooting percentage). This hasn't stopped him from chucking them up though. Clearly Iverson plays the game as if he is the only star in town. Basketball is not, unfortunately for "The Answer", a one man game. One great player cannot lead a team to a championship, regardless of what he thinks. The 76ers reached the NBA finals in 2001 ( a five game loss to the Shaq-Kobe Lakers) and Iverson won the MVP award, it has been all downhill for the franchise since then. Iverson has continued to score, but the team has only gotten as far as the conference semi-finals once since 2001.

It's probably time for Iverson and the 76ers to move on. It has become clear that the franchise is going nowhere with Iverson, and a change in course is probably overdue. The 76ers have a history of bad superstar trades (Barkley and Chamberlain were basically traded away for nothing) and given their current situation, this will probably join the list. Trading Iverson won't be the answer to all of their problems, but at least "The Answer" will be someone else's problem.

The Long Kiss Goodnight

Joe Torre is in the final year of his contract with the New York Yankees. He has guided the Yankees to eleven straight post season appearances, ten AL east titles, six AL championships and four world series crowns during his tenure. It is without a doubt, the best run that any manager has had since Casey Stengal put together the greatest managerial stint ever in which he won ten league championships and seven world series rings over a twelve year stretch from 1949-1960. But alas, all good things must come to an end.

When Joe was first hired, the new york papers dubbed him "Clueless Joe". By winning the World Series in his first season, he changed that perception almost immediately. He went from being a mild mannered, minimally successful manager, who was in over his head to the most untouchable and most revered figure in New York sports. During the Yankees magical late nineties stretch when they won four championships in five years, it seemed almost inconceivable that Torre would ever leave the Yankees on anything but his own terms. However the inability of the Yankees to win the World Series over the last seven seasons, including being eliminated in the first round the past two years, almost pushed George Steinbrenner to do what most thought would never happen. He almost fired Joe Torre. It took a impassioned plea from Brian Cashman in order to change George's mind.

George has spent over a billion dollars on the Yankees payroll since 2000 and in his mind, he has nothing to show for it. Not only have the Yankees not won the World Series, but they lost a seven game series to the hated Boston Red Sox in the most embarrassing fashion possible. The historic collapse in 2004 was surely the impetus for George's recent unhappiness with his manager. George has made his unhappiness known by pushing out Torre's bench coach (Don Zimmer) and then his pitching coach (Mel Stottlemyre), but he knew that Joe was untouchable. He knew that the press, players and fans would be unforgiving if he made a move against Torre. The Yankees most recent playoff series changed all of that.

There were many in the press who called for Joe Torre's ouster after the Yankees latest post season failure. Derek Jeter is probably the only player left on the team with enough leverage to perhaps block George from dismissing Torre, but despite Jeter having the utmost respect for Joe, he certainly has never shown any willingness to speak out publicly against the Boss. New York Yankees fans are a fickle group. They love Torre, but the lack of a championship has begun to grate on them as well. The radio shows seemed to be populated with people who were of the opinion that it was time for Joe to go after the Yankees lost to Detroit. There were probably two things that saved Joe Torre from the chopping block. One was the afore-mentioned plea by Cashman and the other was the fact that he's owed $8 million dollars. Even though George spends about a quarter of a billion dollars a year on the team, he just couldn't justify playing out what would essentially be about $13 million dollars to the managers position. Joe was apparently saved by fiscal restraint.

George would like nothing more than to win another championship and his recent health issues have probably only intensified that desire. That is what has always made him a great owner. Sometimes he has gone overboard and has pulled the trigger on more than a few horrible trades and signings, but it was always in an effort to make the team better. George's legacy will be complete when the Yankees open their new stadium in 2009. It will be "the house that George built" and he would like nothing better than for the new stadium to be adorned with a championship banner. At this point I'm not sure that he envisions Joe Torre as the person who will be leading the Yankees into that stadium.

Joe is 67 and there is a question as to whether he would want to come back and manage the Yankees again. After the trying 2005 season, he took a couple of weeks with his family to decide whether he wanted to come back and manage again. He ultimately decided that he did want to return, but every year seems to take a little more out of him. I read a quote from Willie Randolph, the Mets manager and former Torre coach, in which he says that he doesn't think that Joe wants to retire. Joe has never stated publicly that he wants to retire at the end of his contract. However, I really can't see him leaving the Yankees for another team. It's probably the Yankees or nothing. If the Yankees fail to get to the world series or if they fail to make the playoffs next year, then it's a forgone conclusion that he would not be offered a contract extension. I don't think that George would be willing to accept another year without a championship.

I'm a Yankees fan, so I'm certainly hoping that they can win the world series next year, as much for Joe as for my own personal happiness. It would be a shame if his tenure ended with a whimper instead of a bang. I'm of the mindset that if the Yankees do manage to win the World Series this year, Joe will happily ride off into the sunset and straight into Cooperstown. He would be able to leave on his own terms then. I think at this point, he probably couldn't ask for anything more than that.

Market Price

The Giants have agreed to pay Barry Bonds $16 million for the season in which he attempts to break Hank Aaron's record. This reminds me of the old days of the Yankees when they used to bid against themselves. Not since Tom Hicks out bid his nearest competitor for Arod by 100% have I seen this kind of lunacy. No one, and I mean no one was going to sign Barry Bonds. At least no one was going to sign him for that kind of money. If he wanted to take $5 million, I'm sure there are a couple of AL teams (KC, Tampa Bay), that could have used him as a DH. But $16 million?? The Giants basically created the market for Bonds and then bid against themselves. As the great philosopher Forest Gump once said, "Stupid is as stupid does". That pretty much sums it up.

What's That Smell?

It's just Barry Bonds sniffing around the winter meetings trying to get someone to give him a contract for next season. I'm assuming that his only hope is with the San Francisco Giants. I hear that he wants $18 million for next year with an option for 2008. I also want Scarlett Johansson to give me a back massage when I arrive home this evening. I believe the odds of either happening are astronomical. Although I think I stand a better chance with Scarlett.

If Barry Bonds doesn't get a contract offer, he will almost certainly look at filing a suit against major league baseball for unfair labor practices. He will charge that there was collusion among the teams to keep him out of the game. Which is kind of amusing considering all the drugs he took to give him an unfair advantage at the plate. The Commissioner's office is probably smart enough not to have said anything to the owners, but I'm pretty sure that it's Bud Selig's wet dream that Bonds doesn't get the chance to pass Hank Aaron's home run record.

It strange that someone who is this close to breaking the greatest record in North American sports is having such a hard time finding a job. I can't possibly imagine why that is. I'm sure Barry doesn't have a clue. By the way, is it just me, or has Barry's head gotten bigger while I've been typing this article? Seriously, look at it.

Week 14 Quick Pick

Popping in for my Thursday night pick.

Pittsburgh (-7) Cleveland
Had a lovely time last Sunday with my Pittsburgh friend, so let’s go with them again. Go Ben!

A few more quick notes:

First, sorry I didn’t get to grade myself after last weekend since I think I did pretty well. Of course, I’m giving myself a million points for the Cowboys win, so I’d be pretty hard to beat in any event.

Second, unlike others, I have no problem with the Florida/Ohio State match up. Okay, yes, the BCS is bullshit, and there needs to be some sort of playoff system. But there isn’t, and we’ve already seen OSU play Michigan. As the self-appointed representative of all those who kind of hate both teams, let me just say that there is nothing in this world that I was less interested in listening to for an entire month than the run-up to that particular rematch. Absolutely everybody, Michigan fans included, knew that the winner of the first game would be playing in the Championship Game, and that there were no guarantees for the loser. Wolverines wanted in, they should have won when they had the chance.

Third, Friday Night Lights was particularly strong this week. Matt Saracen went out with Coach Taylor’s daughter, which must make for some awkward moments during practice. I guess from the ominous looking previews, things aren’t going to go well. You know who’s going to be just fine though? Stupid fucking Lyla. Looks like paralyzed Jason is going to forgive her, AND foxy Tim is in love with her? Why? Why, why, why? She sucks. She’s stupid, and she can’t fake cry worth a damn. A rare misstep. They had a golden opportunity to put cute Julie or sexy Tyra front and center, and they went with Lyla the void. I hope this doesn’t come back to haunt this near great show.

The Happiest Place on Earth

The Baseball winter meetings are taking place in Orlando, Florida this week and so far the Red Sox are showing no signs of slowing down. After the incredible offer to secure the rights to negotiate with Matsuzaka (they still haven't signed him yet), they have signed J.D. Drew and Julio Lugo. They are also in serious talks with a few team (Dodgers, Padres, Cubs) about trading Manny Ramirez. The Yankees meanwhile have done, um, nothing. Brian Cashman is there, but has yet to pull the trigger on a deal of any kind.

The Yankees did trade Gary Sheffield last month and got a top line pitching prospect from the Tigers in return. If this were the old days, the Yankees would immediately trade that prospect for Jeff Weaver. Thankfully times have changed in the Yankeeland. Cashman's plan is to restock the farm system and try to bring down the Yankees payroll if possible. Trading Sheffield and renegotiation Mussina's contract have certainly helped in the effort, but with the number of high priced players the Yankees have on the roster, it would be almost impossible for the Yankees to have a payroll much less than $200 million and still remain competitive in the AL east.

The Yankees apparently have stars in their eyes for the return of Andy Pettitte to the Bronx. Andy is unsure at this point as to whether he will pitch again, although it has been reported that his asking price is going to $15 million for one season. $15 million seems like a lot to ask for a pitcher with a suspect elbow, a 14-13 record and 4.20 ERA in the national league. What did the Astros get for their $30 million/3 year investment in Andy Pettitte? One great year, one mediocre year and one year mostly lost to injury. Now tell me again why Andy Pettitte is worth $15 million a year? I guess he's worth it because pitchers like Ted Lilly are demanding $10-12 million a year. I know that Andy has a proven track record in the Bronx, but it seems like he's asking for a lot considering his results over the past three seasons. However, if he decides to come back and play, I'm pretty sure that Cashman will do everything in his power to get him into pinstripes.

So what should the Yankees be looking for? They need a first baseman to take over for Giambi in the field and they need a right handed power hitter to replace Sheffield in the lineup and it just so happens that there may be a perfect solution to both issues in Seattle. There is talk that Seattle is trying to dump some salary so that they can make a run at Barry Zito and if that is the case, I'm sure that Richie Sexson would be one of the first players that they would want to trade. Given his salary ($14 million for the next two years), I'm sure that if the Yankees could put together a package of middle level minor league talent and agree to assume all of Sexon's salary, that the Mariners would be hard pressed to find a better offer. Sexson is a reliable power hitter and he's only 31 years old. I think that he makes perfect sense for the Yankees and he's a lot better option than the various platoon that have been floated in the press.

Pitching is at a premium this year and Cashman has made it pretty clear that he's not going to overpay for mediocre talent. Zito and Schmidt are going to probably get something north of $15 million a year and I don't think that the Yankees are going to play anywhere near that ballpark. It is possible that someone falls through the cracks, but at this point the Yankees can probably do no better than adding another back end of the rotation starter. They have Mussina, Wang and Johnson (if he returns from back surgery) to anchor the top of the rotation. The back end is another matter. Igawa, Pavano and a slew of career minor leaguers are going to be competing for the last two spots in the rotation. It remains to be seen what the Yankees pitching staff will look like come April.

I suspect the biggest news that Yankees will make at the meetings will be the signing or non-signing of Pettitte. Cahsman will probably wait and see who's still available after the feeding frenzy for pitchers is over. He may pick another arm, but it won't anything spectacular. Of course, Roger Clemens is a free agent...

We're Number Two!

The Florida Gators reached the BCS championship game this weekend thanks to a win in the SEC Championship game and a change of heart by a lot voters. Coming into this weekend, Florida was the 4th ranked team with Michigan, USC and Ohio St. ahead of them. USC lost to UCLA and Florida won its game, which left the decision as to who would be going to the championship game in the hands of the voters.

The BCS standings are decided by a combination of computer rankings and two polls. The computer had Florida and Michigan tied, but the voters, who last week voted Michigan ahead of Florida, reversed their course. They moved Florida to #2 over the idle Michigan Wolverines. I have heard many reasons in the press for this change from the campaigning of the the head coach of Florida, to the desire of voters not to see a rematch, to the SEC champion should have place in the game after Auburn was denied two years ago after a perfect regular season. It all doesn't make sense to me. If the voters thought that Michigan was better than Florida last week, then why did they change their minds? Was Florida's play so outstanding this weekend that they clearly deserve the shot at the title? Not in my mind. They won the game but actually trailed in the second half. Arkansas played a good game against Florida and might have won if they'd gotten a few breaks. So this leads us back to the question, why? I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I can imagine that some back room dealing took place this weekend. If USC had beaten UCLA, I cannot imagine that the voters would have moved Florida above Michigan.

There have been three undeafeated and untied teams in recent history that have not had the opportunity to play for the national championship. Penn St., Auburn twice and Boise St. this year. Auburn was on probation for one of those years, so they were not eligible for post season play. The BCS was supposed to take care of all of this. We were supposed to have the consensus #1 and #2 teams play for the national championship. That's all well and good if two teams and only two teams from major conferences finish with perfect records. The system has no good solution if there are four teams from the major conferences with one loss a piece (or two with one loss and one undefeated team as there is this year). It seems very clear to me that there needs to be a playoff system.

I know that the coaches and administrators scream about the added games and the effect that would have on the student/athletes, and that they hate to take away from the integrity of the bowl games, but it just doesn't make sense. Every other division of college football has a playoff. Would it be so difficult to limit the season to eleven games for each school and then have a playoff among the best eight teams in the country? I know that there are going to be teams that are ranked 9-12 who are going to complain that they should be part of the playoff, but at least we won't have an argument between #2 and #3. They would both be in as would #4-#8. The major bowls could certainly serve as the playoff games. As it stands now, only one bowl really counts and that's the one for the championship. Designating the bowls as playoff games would only enhance them, not diminish them. Under this proposal the teams that end up playing for the championship will have played 14 games. That's only one more than they currently play. That doesn't seem unreasonable, does it? There are currently five bowls that are part of the BCS. The Rose, Sugar, Fiesta, Orange and the newly created championship game. If they added two more bowl games (Outback, Cotton), they would have the required number of games for the eight team playoff.

The payoff from a bowl series championship would be much larger than the current system. The excitement generated by a true championship game would be comparable to the NCAA basketball tournament in March. There would be office pools aplenty. I'm not sure whey the NCAA is being so stubborn about this, especially when they already have playoffs at every other level of football. The BCS bowls are already irrelevant with the exception of the championship game, to say nothing of the other 50 bowl games (the San Diego County Credit Union Poinsettia bowl??? The PapaJohn.com bowl??? The Bell Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl???? (those are all real bowl games by the way) I know everyone is waiting with baited breath for those). Which do you think would be more interesting to watch? Lousiville Vs. Wake Forest for the Orange Bowl trophy or #1 Ohio St. Vs. #8 USC in the Orange bowl with a trip to the semi-final round on the line? If there was a playoff system, then Florida and Michigan would be slated to meet in the semi-finals and we'd be able to see who's the better team, provided they beat their first round opponents that is.

A playoff system is infinitely better than the BCS system currently in place. I'm sure that the NCAA will move to a playoff at some point. The only problem is that while they take their sweet time in deciding whether to make that change, many deserving teams are getting left behind. Making the change should be a no-brainer, which perhaps explains the NCAA's reluctance to do so.

Week 13: I'm back

I’m wretchedly ill so picks are short and sweet, but at least I got them in on time. You’ll notice that there’s one game I’m not discussing at all this week. Can’t risk the jinx.

Chicago (-9.5) Minnesota
I’m cautiously optimistic that Grossman will limit the number of interceptions he throws to two(ish). That should be good enough to beat Minnesota.

Pittsburgh (-7) Tampa Bay
I will be watching this game with a Steelers fan, so I’ll take Pittsburgh to keep the peace.

St. Louis (-6.5) Arizona
Arizona has already won two games this year. That should be that for the Cardinals.

Indianapolis (-7.5) Tennessee
The Titans only lost by one when they played in Indianapolis, and Vince Young is a better player now than he was then. Call me crazy, but I’m taking the Titans to cover this.

Miami (-1) Jacksonville
I do not get either of these teams, so I just flipped a coin. Miami it is.

New Orleans (-7) San Francisco
Saints.

Washington (-1.5) Atlanta
I’ve lost track. Is this Michael Vick’s week to be good? I’ll risk it and take Atlanta.

Kansas City (-5) Cleveland
Chiefs best be careful here. It’s going to be tougher than they think.

New England (-13.5) Detroit
Like the Cards, there’s no reason to take the Lions again this season.

San Diego (-6) Buffalo
Another tough one for the visiting team. Chargers are amazing, but I don’t envy anyone playing in Buffalo in December.

Jets (-1) Green Bay
I could not care less about this game. Dislike both teams, and think both are pretty crappy. Green Bay, I guess.

Oakland (-3) Houston
At this point in the season, I suspect these players are just trying to avoid getting hurt. All else being equal, might as well go with the home team.

Denver (-3.5) Seattle
I’ll take a chance on Seattle here. I’m skeptical of betting on quarterbacks to win if I’ve never seen them play.

Carolina (-3) Philadelphia
It would be marginally better for me if the Eagles won this game, so I’ll sadly go with Philly.

Almost Famous

The Hall of Fame ballot is out. The majority of the press will be about the worthiness of Mark McGwire and assured candidacies of Tony Gwynn and Cal Ripken Jr. I think it's a shame that the process is being shadowed by the cloud of suspicion that surrounds Mark McGwire. Ripken and Gwynn are going to have to endure countless questions about the issue and the focus should be on what these great players did on the field, not on what one of them may or may not have done off the field. Would Mark McGwire have made the hall of fame without steroids? It's an impossible question to answer. He had a lot of power but lost a couple of his prime years to injuries. He came back from those injuries bigger than ever and then proceeded to make his assault on stadium fences and the record books. The point with McGwire is that if you believe that he cheated (and steroids were not banned by baseball at the time of his greatest seasons), then you shouldn't vote for him. Of course that means that you can't vote for Barry Bonds either. Ditto for Sammy Sosa and Rafael Palmiero. And I have certainly heard enough innuendo about Roger Clemens. Where do you draw the line? It's hard to say what the voters will do down the line, but it's a pretty safe bet that McGwire will not be getting into the Hall of Fame museum without a ticket for at least another year.

So let's take a look at the candidates besides Gwynn and Ripken that I would vote for (if THE MAN let me have a vote that is):

Players are in order of preference:
Goose Gossage (8th year on the ballot, 64.6% last year):
He is the best closer that I have ever seen. The fact that Bruce Sutter made it into the Hall of Fame before him is a travesty. He was the dominant closer of the late 70's and early 80's. He pitched in the day before the one inning save became the norm. He would come in as early as the 7th inning to close out games ( a case in point, the '78 one game playoff against the Red Sox). He practically invented the imposing closer persona (and he didn't need a metallica song either). He threw in the high 90's and intimidated an entire generation of hitters. He did actually throw a breaking ball, but I think that was more for show. His 310 career saves seem paltry compared to the numbers being put up today, but he was definitely the best closer of his generation. His percentages have climbed steadily since he was first on the ballot, but he is still pretty far away from being voted in.

Jim Rice(13th year on the ballot, 64.8% last year)(Players are are removed from voter consideration after 15 years):
He is another player whose numbers seem paltry compared with the numbers put up during these steroid fueled days, but he was one of the two most feared batters in the AL during his career. The other would be George Brett, but he was just as dangerous as Brett. He is the only player in history to put together three straight seasons of 35+ hr's combined with 200 hits. I guess the memories of the writers are short, but there was no one I would rather see less with the game on the line than Jim Rice. He got the most votes of anyone who didn't get into the Hall last year, but he still needs a major rush of voters to get in this year.

Bert Blyleven/Tommy John (10th year/13th year, 53.3% , 29.6%):
Both of these guys deserve to be in the Hall. They are separated by one win 287-288 and they are both being damned by the fact that they never won a Cy Young award (John did finish 2nd twice however). Byleven is 5th all time in strikeouts and 9th in shoutouts. Neither have stellar won/loss records, but neither did Nolan Ryan. The fact that they didn't win 300 games is keeping them out of the Hall, but it shouldn't. I'm sure there were at least 13 times over their careers that the bullpen blew big leads for them. They shouldn't be punished because they didn't get to that magic number. They are close enough for me. There does seem to be some momentum in Blyleven's direction as there have numerous articles from sabermetric types championing his cause. Tommy John appears to be a lost cause however. He will probably have to wait for the veterans committee in order to get his chance at induction.

Alan Trammell (6th year, 17.7%):
He gets over looked because he played at the same position and at the same time as Cal Ripken did. Cal Ripken and to a lesser extent Robin Yount helped to redifine the Shortstop position as more than just a good glove/no bat position. Trammell lived in both worlds. He came up as a light hitting ss, but became a better hitter as time went on. He also won 4 gold gloves, so he became a good glove/good bat SS. Those three players were the precursor to Jeter, Tejada and Garciaparra. Trammell did finish second in the MVP voting in 1986 and was the MVP of the World Series in 1984. I think if you stacked his numbers up against all the shortstops in the Hall of Fame, you would find that he would sit comfortably in the top 1/3. Trammell has been holding steady in the mid teens since his first appearance on the ballot. I'm not sure what it's going to take to get the ball rolling in his direction. The election of Ryne Sandberg should have been a good thing for Trammell, since their numbers are comparable, but it didn't move the needle at all. It doesn't look good for Alan. He may have to wait another 20 years for the veterans committee.

That's it. My apologies to Andre Dawson, Dale Murphy, Lee Smith, Dave Parker, Albert Belle, Paul O'Neil, Jack Morris and of course Don Mattingly. They were all great players in their day, but I just don't think that they are hall of fame material. If I were to let one more player in, I guess I would be split between Murphy and Dawson. I do think that Dawson will probably eventually get in since his voting percentage has risen to the 60% level. It requires a 75% vote for induction and he is moving in the right direction. I don't think any of the players I chose are getting in this year either, but I do hope that one day they will. Gossage and Rice would be bucking a trend if they weren't elected in the next two years. It has been since Gil Hodges in 1981 that a player who received at least 60% of the vote was not eventually voted in.