Triple A Football

I am going to start this post by saying sorry for the long break between posts. Also I would like to say that the following post is purely opinion and rant and is not supported by the kind of research that my prior posts have been. 


Over the last week there has been quite a bit of talk about college football, almost all of which is negative. The main story on most people minds would be the University of Miami football team alleged infractions involving convicted felon Nevin Shapiro. Then today the NFL ruled that Terrelle Pryor, despite admitting that he attempted to undermine the integrity of the supplemental draft, would be eligible for Monday's draft with one catch: Pryor would have to serve a 5 game suspension after signing with a team (the same length of suspension he would have had to serve had he stayed at Ohio State). Finally during ESPN's "A Blueprint for Change" discussion Bob Stoops, Oklahoma Sooner head coach, talked about one of the reasons that a College Football playoff wouldn't work. All three of these things made me think about college football from numerous different viewpoints and it has caused me to draw one conclusion: Division I NCAA football is a "farm system" for the NFL and should treat the players as professionals. 

First we have to start with the scandal at "The U." With the kind of slanderous allegations made by Shapiro in a Yahoo! Sports article there is no doubt that SOME sort of misconduct was going on. According to Shapiro he supplied everything from car rims to prostitutes, even an abortion for University of Miami players over an almost 10 year period.  This incident, combined with other major violations such as the ones at USC, Ohio State, and North Carolina demonstrate a culture of what the NCAA would define as cheating. I, however, do not define it that way. As a college student myself I look at this through a different lens then I feel most adults and people in charge do. Where they see cheating I see a college student trying to do what's best for him and his family. The simple fact of the matter is that in both the case of USC and Ohio State the students were merely trying to help their families (Reggie Bush and Pryor) or get a little bit of money for their own use, something that is not easy to come about when you DON'T have football practice and workouts AND class. In the case of the students at Miami the line blurs slightly. Having someone pay for you to get a blowjob on his private yacht is obviously something that is not helping the players family or him in any monetary way, but if a booster wants to buy someone a ring so they can propose to their girlfriend I don't see the problem there. Yes, I understand that if word gets out that there is a guy in Miami who will do anything for a good player then more good players are likely to go but  look at the University or Miami throughout the years that Shapiro allegedly gave out these benefits to players-how many national title did they win? the answer is 0, so obviously they weren't given such an advantage by this guy being there. But this is all besides the point, the point is that college kids, especially college kids who grew up with nothing, are going to take free stuff if it's offered to them, no matter who it is that's offering it (just look at credit cards! they offer a free backpack and people sign up!). 


This leads me to point number two. With Terrelle Pryor being admitted into the NFL supplemental draft but still being suspended the five games he would have been suspended had he stayed in college it is clear that the NFL is admitting that it sees the NCAA as the "Triple-A" farm system from which players come into the league. The NFL can say that this isn't about the NCAA's suspension but anyone with some common sense knows that's not true. This is simply the NFL saying to the NCAA don't worry, we got your back, and the reason that they can do it is because there is NO OTHER WAY for a player to get into the pros besides college football. There is no Euro league that's gonna sign an 18 year old to a pro football contract, he'd get killed. It's not like the MLB where there is a literal farm system where 18 and 19 year olds can mature physically or like the NBA where 18 and 19 year olds can compete after playing a year in Europe, nope to get to the NFL you gotta go through college.

This all brings me to coach Stoops. Stoops said on ESPN today that one of the reasons that a 4, 6 or 8 team playoff wouldn't work in college football is because it lacks the specialty of a bowl game. He said something along the lines of you would go and play and afterwards you have to get everyone on a plane at 1am and fly back to campus then do it all again next week. This comment infuriates me because of the pure idiocy of it. It is obvious that most big time college football players, especially those that are on teams competing for a National Title, have dreams and aspirations of becoming pro players, and most of them would be in the pros already if it was allowed by the NFL (like Terrelle Pryor). So to say that this is a legitimate reason to not have a playoff, in which a TRUE champion is crowned, not just the one that some computer picks, is ridiculous. If coach Stoops is under any sort of fantasy in which his players aren't constantly thinking about heir NFL futures I have the wake up call for him-they are. Like every second an ESPN camera is pointed at them for "ESPN All Access: Oklahoma."


 If these guys want to be pros at some point let's treat them like pros now, we treat them like pros in every other conceivable way. They are criticized like pros, they are watched like pros, they are worshipped like pros (Tim Tebow has a plaque remembering a post game press conference speech at the University of Florida). Why can't the NCAA look at itself realistically and say I guess we kinda are a pro league. There should be rules on the book that if players can't get paid that they should be able to accept small amounts of money or help from outside sources if they can prove that the uses were not extraneous and were for the benefit of the player or his/her family, including their parents and siblings. Also the NCAA and the BCS should implement a pro style playoff system and show these soon to be pros what it will be like in the NFL, because as a farm program, that is their job. 

Karma Thy Name is Abby

Movies are rarely as good as Sunday's Women's World Cup Final. In fact, if it had been written it would have been called cliche, predictable, formulaic. As a filmmaker myself I can already see the script for this victory. 

EXT. GLUKGAS STADIUM (DRESDEN, GERMANY) - DAY
The play clock read 116:01, 116:02. The score reads Brazil: 2 USA: 1


The US sends a corner kick toward the goal which is handled by the Brazilian defense. As play continues down the field a Brazilian player, Erika, falls to her knees and eventually onto the ground, in apparent agony. She rolls around on the ground as the team doctor is called for. 


The clock reads 118:05, 118:06


The doctor finishes strapping her to the stretcher and begins to carry her off the field. As soon as play begins again Erika sits up on the stretcher, gets off and runs around the field to check back into the game. 


The clock reads 120:07, 120:08


Erika sprints back onto the field, she is clearly fine and her injury was just a way to waste time. She smiles as the ref gives her a yellow card. 


The clock reads 120:59, 121:00 


The USA gets control of the ball on the left side of the field. Megan Rapinoe dribbles down the side and looks up. 

GAME ANNOUNCER

This should be the United States' last chance to 

score the equalizer. 

IN SLOW MOTION Rapinoe strikes the ball with her left foot and it flies toward the penalty box. Brazilian goalie, Andreia, leaps with both arms extended attempting to catch or bat away the cross but the ball has other ideas, it goes over her finger tips where Abby Wambach meets it with her head. 

The ball flies toward the net.

CUT TO:

INT. NYC BAR - DAY

The crowd stares at the television as the ball comes off Wambach's head toward the net. 

CUT TO:

INT. CHICAGO BAR - DAY

The crowd stares at the television as the ball comes off Wambach's head toward the net.

CUT TO:

INT. LOS ANGELES BAR - DAY

The crowd stares at the television as the ball comes off Wambach's head toward the net.

CUT TO:

EXT. GLUKGAS STADIUM (DRESDEN, GERMANY) - DAY

The ball flies into the back of the net. Wambach screams as she runs into the corner. Before being mobbed by her teammates. 

CUT TO:

SPLIT SCREEN - INT. NYC BAR, INT. CHICAGO BAR, INT. LOS ANGELES BAR - DAY

The crowd goes wild in jubilation. Fans hug each other, slap high five and demonstrate every celebration possible. 

Abby "Karma" Wambach heads in the equalizer in the 122nd minute

The penalty kicks that took place after this tremendous goal, the latest in Women's World Cup history, were almost an after thought. It was as if the karmic Gods looked down on this pitiful display of cheating and decided to take over the body of Abby Wambach. With Abby's natural determination and the power of the karmic Gods pushing her there was no doubt that when she began to fly through the air, for the game tying header, that it was going in. Just like there was no doubt that after it went in the US would win. Hope Solo only made on save, but it was brilliant and essential to the win. 


But it is Wambach who earned a new nickname today. From now on she should join the soccer ranks of one named players. On Sunday Marta and Erika went up against a greater enemy and her name is simply Karma. Ain't she a b.....

The Best Combo Nobody is Talking About

Anyone who has been paying attention to this baseball season has heard about some of the big-name hitting combos: Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez, Matt Holiday and Albert Pujols, and the duo that has gotten the most attention, Adrian Gonzalez and David "Big Papi" Ortiz. But did you know that none of these three-four combos lead the ML in stats such as runs batted in, home runs or runs scored? I'm sure that this will come as a surprise to many people out there, and a bigger surprise is who DOES lead in these important hitting categories: Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder of the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers. 

That's right, Braun and Fielder are combining to beat out all of these prestigious slugging duos in almost every statistical category. Yet they continue to not get half the respect they deserve. For example, much of the talk on ESPN and across the internet is Adrian Gonzalez's 71 RBIs combined with the resurgent Papi who has added in 48 of his own. Yet their combined total of 119, while being closer than anyone else on this list, is 10 FEWER than Braun and Fielder's 129. The secret to their success is that they are balanced, Braun has 60 coming from the three spot in the line-up and Fielder follows him with 69 more RBIs. To put this astounding stat into more context let's look at the other two hitting combinations: Tex and Rodriguez have combined for 113 RBIs of which Tex is responsible to 62. When it comes to Matt Holiday and Albert Pujols the number drops to 95 RBIs between them, but someone who has been paying attention will point out that Holiday has played just over 50 games, putting him at a nearly 20 game disadvantage. This is a fair point, however how realistic is it that in those 20 games he would have added 33 RBIs, the amount needed to put him and "The Machine" in the lead? Not very. 


When it comes to home runs, the stats get a little bit closer. With 37 home runs between them, Braun and Fielder are tied with the Yankees bashing brothers, Tex and A-Rod. However it must be remembered that Mark Teixeira is leading the Major Leagues in HRs with 24 (he is in a tie with Joes Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays) so once again I would give the edge to Braun and Fielder, who share the HR load, 21 for Prince and 16 for Braun, considerably closer than the 24/13 mark left by the Yankees sluggers. Gonzo and Papi come up four HRs short having blasted 33 homers, a surprisingly low number considering Gonzo leads the majors in RBIs. Holiday and Pujols pull up the rear again with 27 HRs between them, which is actually an impressive number considering the stunted season for both stars. 


Possibly the most telling statistic of all is runs scored. With 104, Gonzo and Papi come the closest but still come up two runs shy of Braun and Fielder's 106. While both stats are impressive, the Brewers tandem proves their worth even more when looking at the total team statistics. Gonzo and Papi have accounted for an astounding 25 percent of runs scored for the Red Sox, who have scored the second most runs in the ML behind only the rival NY Yankees. Braun and Fielder have combined to scored 30 percent of the Brewers 355 runs. This shows how important these two are, it is clear the Brewers are not the same offensive powerhouses as the other three teams, which rank 1st, 2nd and 4th in runs scoring. 

With this knowledge at hand it is clear that Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder have shown they are not only great players but that they BOTH deserve a trip to July's All-Star game. The powerful combo has shown that they can not just hang with the best but they can BE the best. They are, without a doubt, worth talking about. 

Tomorrow's Stars Shine Bright at NHL Draft

Written By: J. Henry
Offsides NHL Correspondent 


The NHL draft is a time when high school, collegiate, and amateur hockey players are at the mercy of the 30 NHL teams’ countless scouts, head and assistant coaches, general managers, and owners. How a player performs is scrutinized, from his first shift to the post-game interviews. An offseason can drop a player in projected rankings from 10^th to 70^th. Even something as simple as a player mentioning intent to play in the KHL, the NHL’s Russian counterpart, will affect how eager teams are to pick him. 

Being a NHL scout is one of the toughest jobs in the NHL, aside from being Sean Avery’s roommate. You are hired to analyze and predict how a 17 year old will play in 5, 10, 15 years. Will he be an offensive or defensive defenseman; will he be a top 6 forward or will he wait in the minors for someone to be injured so he’s called up. They’re expected to know the future based on watching teenagers play a game they love. It isn’t easy. 

Some scouts are convinced that a player will be a superstar and will break several records (Alexander Daigle, Pavel Brendl, Eric Lindros), other scouts downplay a player’s style and say they’re either too short (Theory Fleury), stature is too small (Wayne Gretzky), or they aren’t disciplined enough (Mark Messier) to play in the NHL. The last two I named are in the NHL Hall of Fame; Fleury should expect a nomination in the coming years.

I will take a look at the first 5 picks selected at the draft in this post.

The first round of the 2011 NHL entry draft was held Friday night in St. Paul, Minnesota at the Xcel Energy Center. The coveted first pick of the draft was owned by the Edmonton Oilers, who finished last at the end of the 2010-2011 season. They chose Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, a center for the WHL Red Deer. Nugent-Hopkins was at the top of scouts lists as early as September 2010 and never dropped out of sight. The 6’ center had a fantastic season earning Eastern Conference All-Star First Team recognition for his league leading 75 assists and finishing fourth in points with 106. 

The Colorado Avalanche chose Kitchener Rangers Left Winger Gabriel Landeskog. Landeskog was chosen not only for his skills on the ice, scoring 36 goals in 53 games and a +27 rating, but also his skills off the ice. Landeskog was chosen at 17 to be the captain of the Kitchener Rangers, the youngest in 30 years. His leadership resume doesn’t end with the Rangers either, he was Sweden's U16, U17, and U18 captain. Look for Landeskog to be given the Alternate Captain ‘A’ when he makes his NHL debut, if not the Captain ‘C’.

The third pick of the draft, Jonathan Huberdeau was chosen by the Florida Panthers. He had an incredible season with the QMJHL’s St John Sea Dogs finishing with 105 points in 67 games, enough for third in the league. He didn’t stop in the regular season; in addition to scoring 30 points in 19 playoff games helping the Sea Dogs win the 2010-2011 Memorial Cup, Huberdeau won the 2011 Stafford Smythe Memorial Trophy, given to the Memorial Cup MVP.

The New Jersey Devils missed the playoffs for the first time since the 1995-1996 season, but there is a silver lining to having an off-season; you get an earlier draft pick – something the Devils hadn’t had the pleasure of (outside of trading). With the fourth pick in the NHL draft the Devils chose a defenseman, Adam Larsson from Sweden. While not a points intensive defenseman, Larsson will easily gain a top 4 spot when he hits his prime in the NHL, if not sooner. Scouts say that he models his game after Nicklas Lidstrom.

With the fifth pick of the draft, the New York Islanders took Ryan Strome. The 6’1” center for the Niagara Ice Dogs scored 106 points in 65 games this past season leading the Ice Dogs to the playoffs. In his 92 games with the Ice Dogs, Strome is fourth in scoring all-time on the team and has the record for most assists (73, 2010-2011) in a season. Strome isn’t just a sniper either, he’s played defensively on a few penalty kill shifts, not without putting in a few shorthanded goals. Expect him to be a part of the Islanders team in the next 5 years, centering behind Taveres.

Defense is for winning teams, not for us!

After the first 25 minutes of Saturday's CONCACAF Gold Cup Final an American fan would be cheering and extremely confident their team was going to be able to win. That's because the US was up 2-0 on two great goals, both set up by Freddy Adu. If you had asked an American fan if Bob Bradley would should be the coach of the national team after the first 25 minutes they would have said, "YES! He has made every move he needed to in this Gold Cup, especially starting Adu," a player who many thought was a lost cause. But then the rest of the game happened.

For the entire first half Mexico pounded the United States defense, and when it seemed like they were about to break, they would always come up with a stop. However, in the 29th minute Barrera scored the first of Mexico's four goals after a gorgeous long pass and a horrendous breakdown by the American defense. Defenseman Johnathan Bornstein, who entered the game in the 12th minute after an injury to Steve Cherundolo, was burned, something that became a trend as the game continued. After the goal the mostly (by some accounts up to 90%) Mexican supporting crowd came back to life. As the half continued it became clear that Mexico was the better team, they held the ball at their feet for 59% of the half and after a few attempts from within five feet they finally put away the game tying goal in the 36th minute. As the teams went into the tunnel at the half the score remained tied, but Mexico clearly had all of the momentum. 

The second half started out poorly for the U.S. Once again they played little to no defense near the box allowing Mexico to control the ball at the top and get a quick pass to Barrera who quickly put his second goal past Tim Howard in the 50th minute. It was after Mexico's comeback was complete that the U.S. finally started to play well, they began to hold the ball at their feet, passed well and kept the ball in their third. They had numerous chances to score the tying goal: captain Carlos Bocanegra came close with a header off a corner, Freddy Adu came closer on a free kick from 25 yards and Clint Dempsey came closest when he smashed a sure goal off the crossbar. But just like U.S. soccer as a whole they were not quite elite enough to go in. 

The low point in the game came in the 76th minute when Giovani dos Santos collected a pass from his teammate in the box (a pass that was set up by a terrible clearing attempt by Bocanegra). Howard charged dos Santos and attempted to go for the ball, but dos Santos had other ideas, eluding the swiping arms of Howard multiple times with fantastic footwork before chipping a perfect ball just over the top of Bocanegra's head sealing the game for Mexico. 

The final goal showed why Mexico deserved to win the game: they were better. 

Their footwork was better, their passing was better, their shots were better and most importantly their defense was better. It is something that is said in EVERY sport: defense wins championships, and Mexico proved that on Saturday. Mexico carved up the American team like a thanksgiving day turkey and they did so with reckless abandon. I don't know for sure, but I am confident that the Mexican team never thought they were going to lose, they certainly didn't look like they thought that. The same cannot be said for the US because even with a 2-0 lead the American defense didn't appear to think IT could win. They were constantly being burned by Mexican strikers, and they were almost always in full sprint toward their own goal, which as the announcers last night said is, "never a good thing." 

If there is one thing that the US learned from last night's game it's defense is for winners and right now the US National Soccer team are a bunch of losers. 

Saying goodbye to D.C.

Jim Riggleman was the manager of the Washington Nationals from mid 2009 to June 23, 2011 when he suddenly resigned. In that time Riggleman won 46% of his games, a better winning percentage then any season since 2005 (the team finished 81-81). On the surface it doesn't seem like the resigning of a manager who is under .500 seem like that big of a deal, until you dig a little bit deeper.


When Riggleman took over the team in 2009 they were an ML worst 26-61. Under Riggleman the Nationals finished the final 80 games at 38-42, quite the feat when you consider the roster that the Nationals had. In 2009 only two members of the Nats had more than 62 RBIs (Ryan Zimmerman and Adam Dunn both had over 100), only one player with more than 31 at-bats hit over .300 and not only two players had double digit steals (N. Morgan 42, W. Harris 11). Needless to say the team was not an offensive juggernaut. As for pitching, the two leading game winners were Livan Hernandez and John Lannan, both of whom had only nine wins. For Riggleman to win almost 48% of his games with a roster like this shows just how good a manager he is.


In both 2010 and 2011 Riggleman led the Nats to improving records, finishing 69-93 in 2010, an 11 game improvement on 2009. In recent weeks the Nats have won 11 of 12, and on the day that he retired his Nationals went over .500, a record they have not had this late in the season since 2005. So given all of the positive signs and considering that next year the Nats should get considerably better with the return of pitching phenom Stephen Strasburg and hitting superstar Bryce Harper, why would Riggleman quit?


According to Riggleman it's because he felt disrespected by the Nationals organization, they refused to offer him a contract extension. He told General Manager Mike Rizzo earlier this week that he would quit if he did not get a contract extension for 2012, and despite this ultimatum Rizzo refused a meeting with the manager; apparently trying to call his bluff. But Riggleman was not bluffing, after managing a great game in which a pinch runner and pinch hitter both made key plays in the bottom of the ninth Riggleman announced his resignation. While speaking to reporters after the game Riggleman said, "I'm 58, I'm too old to be disrespected."


I could not agree more. Riggleman has proven over and over again that he knows how to manage this team. The team's record has improved every year that he has managed it, and they were on pace for their best finish since 2005, and maybe ever. Why wouldn't the Nationals want to sign a proven asset to an extension? Because he isn't a big name? Because he doesn't make headlines like Ozzie Guillen? It doesn't make any sense. What makes a manager a big name? Winning, that's what, and that is exactly what Riggleman was beginning to do. I can't even imagine how good of a team Riggleman could have had next year ones Strasburg and Harper arrive, combined with a solid young core and all-star caliber players like Jason Werth and Ryan Zimmerman the Nationals could have been relevant for the first time since...EVER!


I think that the best way to describe why this move is so strange is a short story. I was watching ESPN the day before Riggleman's resignation and a Nationals highlight came on, a game that they had won. The person I was watching with turns to me and says, "the Nats are gettin' better aren't they?" To which I responded simply, "They don't suck." Which is something that before Jim Riggleman took over I could have never said, and that has to count for something.

Riggleman retired on June 23, 2011

NBA Draft: full of bench players

Anyone who watched the NBA Draft on ESPN last night can tell you a couple of things, they didn't know who any of the record four foreign lottery picks were and that they don't care. That's because only the first two picks in this years NBA draft have a real chance at becoming stars, and only one has an opportunity to become a superstar.


That one player is Derrick Williams, the second overall pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves. The 6'8" forward out of the University of Arizona has by far the best shot of becoming a household name, and he has a chance to make Minnesota an actual threat in the suddenly wide open Western Conference. Williams averaged 19.5 points per game in his sophomore season at Arizona and added on 8.3 rebounds just for good measure, all of this at the small forward position. He led the NCAA in "true shooting percentage," a stat that includes two and three point shots as well as free throws to give a better understanding of the players shooting ability. On top of being a shooter Williams was a good, not great, but good defensive player and most importantly was a leader. During the NCAA tournament in March Williams led the Wildcats to three wins including one over the Duke Blue Devils and number one overall pick, Kyrie Irving.

Derrick Williams poses after being drafted second overall by the Minnesota Timberwolves

Besides Williams the pickings were rather slim. Yes Irving has the potential to become a good point guard, ESPN's Bill Simmons described him as somewhere between, "an extremely poor man's Chris Paul and a rich man's Mike Conley." The problems that I have with this pick are simple: 1. Cleveland has $20 million wrapped up in point guards for next season, especially an aging and underperforming Baron Davis, so when is Irving going to play? If Cleveland wanted a back-up point guard they easily could have gotten any number of decent point guards with their next pick, the number four pick. 2. They need a scorer and they need help rebounding, Derrick Williams is not only a better prospect than Irving but he better fills a need of theirs. 3. Irving was a great high school player, but he was hurt in college and didn't play very much, so there is no way to no if he can live up to a number one pick caliber. Yes what he did in high school was impressive, but many players have a great high school careers and then stumbled after not playing enough, or any college ball (Telfair, Sebastian, Smith J.R.). Maybe Kyrie will prove us all wrong and turn out to be the next King of Cleveland, but for now this pick doesn't make sense. 


As for the rest of the draft there were really only question marks. Will the 14 international players (four in the first seven picks) pan out? Many of them are young, at least three of the lottery picks were under 20 years old, and their talent is raw. For the most part these players will stay where they are until their contract ends and the teams that drafted them will be left hoping that they work out well. 


However the player that everyone wants to know about is known by one name: Jimmer. Will Jimmer Fredette be the offensive juggernaut that he was at BYU or will he be another player that was great in college and O.K. in the NBA? There's no doubt that he can shoot and has "in the gym" range, his range got its own name for god's sake! He has shown an un- real ability to change his shot when he goes to the rim and he has a quick first step, these are all things that we know. The unknowns are equally as important however: can Jimmer play without the ball? Can Jimmer become a good and willing passer? Will he be able to work with a player like Tyreke Evans, another guard who needs the ball. But most importantly will Jimmer be able to play defense in the NBA? He is not as fast as most of the guards he will be going up against and he is also not as tall as most of them. At 6' 2" he is on the smaller side of NBA point guards. Jimmer will have to answer these questions before he can enter the realm of star in the NBA. My gut tells me that Fredette WILL be able to come through and make his critics bite their tongues, but it wouldn't surprise me if he doesn't pan out.  


But that is the glory of the Draft, picks like Manu Ginobli (57th overall pick in 1999) can turn into go to guys and number two picks like Dark Milicic can be complete busts. We will have to wait and see what happens over the next few years but for now it looks like the 2011 draft: the year of 50 bench players.