Competitive to the core!

Yesterday I was the player/coach of "The Killer Bees". We were a quickly put together team that practiced once before the 6 on 6 Touch football Tournament at The Meadowlands Stadium which is where the NY Jets and NY Giants call their home field. It's a great charity event that raises money for the Cerebral Palsy of North Jersey which is a great cause and a great organization. I was first invited to play last year and had a great time. It's a very fun day.

Last year, while we had a decent team, we were knocked out by losing twice to the same team. The team that beat us eventually won the division so we took solace in that fact. There were many divisions; church league, police and fire league, organized league (teams that were in other leagues) and "first timers" league which was for teams that had never played together and were playing together for the event only. That was us.

Our first game yesterday was at 8:30 am and I arrived at 7:30 to warm up and stretch. I did stretches and jogged around and was ready to go. My team-mates did the same.

Our first opponents CRUSHED us by 6 touchdowns. After the game I was chatting with the captain of their team and he admitted to me that there were two players on his team that were currently starting football players on NCAA Division 2 teams. Really!?!?  No wonder we were beaten so badly! No wonder these kids ran like the wind and jumped like gazelles!

I walked over to the lady with the clip board and asked about the possibility of a mistake by the organizers mixing up the divisions. She responded with "well, there weren't really enough teams this year to divide them up so there is only one division." I knew then and there that our day would be a short one. How is that fair? We were a bunch people who just came out to have fun and try and win against teams like us... but we would never actually play a team like us!

In the first game 3 of our 8 team members had injuries. Since we HAD to have 6 players on the field one of them had to play hurt. That was me. I tweaked my hamstring and could only run at half speed. I also banged up my knee on a play were I was the intended receiver and the ball was intercepted by one of the opponents players who I am pretty sure is a starting corner back at The University of Maryland. I slammed my knee into the artificial turf. It hurt.

We sat and waited for our next game. I didn't sit. I paced up and down the sidelines and tried to keep my hamstring stretched and loose. My knee began to swell.

The second game of our day started and we were playing a team of guys who looked like they had all played before. They had custom shirts with their team name on the front and what I can only imagine was their nicknames on the back. I switched to the "center" position because of the shorter routes (everyone is an eligible receiver). I could only run about half speed but at 6' 6" and 270 lbs, I am a big target. We lost the coin toss but during the first series we intercepted the ball on the 2 yard line and took over.

On our first offensive play of the game, I hiked the ball and took off on my route. I ran about 6 yards when the gentleman that was covering me gave me a shove and knocked me off balance and I went down. I complained to the ref but got nowhere. But he knew that I wasn't happy about it.

On the second play, pretty much the same scenario happened except I got only about 2 steps off the line of scrimmage. I should note that this is a CHARITY, TOUCH football tournament. The first rule in the book says "there will be NO CONTACT other than with two hands above the waist to make the player with the ball "down". I yelled at the ref who was closest to me asking "when did the rules change so that you can knock people down?" He responded with "I didn't see it." I asked "who should I talk to then?"  I admit that I was in a bad mood because of the other situations with the divisions and the injuries. But come on! A receiver should able to run his route without being knocked down.

I snapped the ball for the 3rd down and headed out on my pass route. Before I left the line I decided that I was going to stand my ground and not allow myself to get knocked down. Since the refs were letting that kind of thing go, why go down? It effectively takes me out of the play. When I was about 8 yards off the line I was hit square in the chest. My hands were both down and I dug into the turf with my cleats and held my ground. I was pushed off my route a step but kept my feet under me. I turned around and looked for the ball and saw the head ref throw up TWO flags. The pass was completed for a gain of 12 yards and we got the first down. After the play was over the head ref yelled for me and the guy who hit me to be front and center. I walked over and he very authoritatively warned us both that if he saw a hit like that again he was going to throw us both out of the game. I smirked and shook my head. He said "what is so funny?" I said "I have been telling that you are missing the call and then when I get hit and don't go down you warn me?" I turned and walked away. He said "if you smart mouth me one more time I will throw you out for that too!" I said "taking this charity football thing a little serious aren't we?"  He responded with "you wanna go home now?" I just shook my head in amaizement and went back in the huddle. Paid proffesional at a charity event! Thanks doctor!

We lost that game by one point. During the post game handshakes the guy who hit me said "you hit me and you know it!" I pulled up my shirt and showed him the two, very distinct, red hand prints he had left and said "really jerk-off? do you have a set like these?" His face turned bright red and he walked away.

I admit that I am competitive... I am VERY competitive! I always play to when. ALWAYS! I hate losing! I know that it was for charity and I probably could have been more "easy going" about the day but it should have been fair. I can only imagine that a less competitive team would be dissallusioned and not come back after the day we had yesterday. It wasn't fair, but we will be back and we will be better... and we will win!

I think next year I will coach the team and yell at the ref from the sidelines, when necessary of course. I can assure you, my dear readers, that I will not be wearing a sweater vest!

STSW

Running out of options...

At the ripe old age of 38, I look back on my life and marvel at how remarkably dumb some of the decisions I have made were. I won't go into any detail, those are my lessons and my journey, I am no celebrity and don't care to be, so hopefully, they will remain in my memory. I know that my parents have probably tried hard to forget them, but good or bad, they are there for my benefit.

Tate Forcier

On the subject of questionable moves, I turn to Tate Forcier. This morning, rivals.com reported that 3 months after signing financial aid paperwork with the University of Miami, Tate has informed them that he, in fact, will not be attending "The U".

What happened Tate? Did somebody get a hold of your transcripts from Michigan? Apparently, when Tate decided that he knew that he wouldn't be attending Michigan for the 2011 school year, he stopped going to class.. or stopped doing classwork or stopped striving to get good grades... in any case, he quit. He decided that since he knew that he wouldn't be playing football, he didn't need to bother with class. He gave up.

This leads to my next question. Did Tate go to Michigan to get a Degree of some sort or did he go there to play football, to start at quarterback, to get noticed by pro scouts and then apply for the NFL Draft? Then when he realized that, at best, he would always be a back up to Denard Robinson at Michigan, he quit focusing on being a good student... I don't know what happened, I am not in his head. But I have to ask when did you give up on the school Tate? When did you give up on your on education? Did you think that another school, a football program I should say, that has had a history of being a traditionally "drop back and pass" program would be your ticket to the NFL? What is the focus here? Aren't these kids playing football in exchange for an education? That's why many people play football at Michigan. Many people who come from "football families" JUST LIKE THE FORCIERS play football at any school.. to get educated for the real world. We all know that the NFL is NOT the real world, recent events included!

Not many of the kids who play college sports go on to the pros.. the fact is, the percentages are VERY low.

Jarrett Irons

I remember when I was younger, every season I picked my favorite football player at Michigan and followed him. One year it was Anthony Carter, one year it was somebody else, but one season it was Jarrett Irons. A 6' 1" 230 lbs Linebacker from Texas. He came from a football family too, his father and grandfather both played in the NFL. Did he go off to the NFL? Actually he went un-drafted and signed with the Arizona Cardinals who cut him during training camp... boggles my mind to this day but that's another story. Did Jarrett go to another team and try to make it there? No, he went back to Ann Arbor and did his graduate studies.

My point is that, unlike Tate, Jarrett was able to go on to a career outside of football BECAUSE he was able to focus on school and studies. Does Tate have that option anymore? I doubt it. I am not sure what Tate will do next but his options are very limited because of his choices, there's a huge consequence.

STSW

How Twitter is affecting sports...

Immediately following the death of Osama Bin Laden, The World's Public Enemy #1, in the middle of all the celebrating on TV in the news, Rashard Mendenhall made some odd comments on his twitter account. They were so controversial that the Pittsburgh Steelers had to "distance" themselves from him and Champion, a sports apparel company whom Mendenhall endorsed, fired him.

Other athletes have had some hard lessons learned due to what they have said on Twitter as well. We could talk all day about the dumb things that people say, athletes or not.

The fact of the matter is, high profile athletes should be VERY careful what they say on a all access, public forum. Anyone can read the tweets from anywhere in the world. Journalists quote athletes and politicians from their twitter accounts more and more these days.

Imagine if there was a twitter when Babe Ruth played... IMAGINE the things he would say! I am sure the Yankees would be "distancing" themselves all day long...  The Tigers would surely have to fire Ty Cobb for his Twitter comments if he played today and had a Twitter account.

People feel like they are "closer" to the athletes the watch on TV because the get to read the micro-blogs of these people. Honestly... That's exactly why I started a twitter account. I followed everyone from Reggie Bush to many of the Owners and General Managers of teams because I thought I was going to get the "inside scoop" on things. Well, Owners and GMs are smart enough to not tweet insider info and many athletes are too dumb to know when to stop typing. Sometimes 140 characters is more than enough for people to realize just how dumb you are.

An interesting note... Tom Brady and Peyton Manning.. no twitter accounts! Surprised? I'm not! They are smarter than that!

Really Kobe? Do you believe your own line of Baloney Sandwich?

Kobe's having a hard time with the Mavericks... actually he's not the one with the problem...

The Lakers lost last night and in typical fashion it had everything to do with Kobe. He had the game winning shot and missed... The Lakers lost 96-94. He probably won't agree with me, in fact I know he wouldn't, he stated in a post game interview that "it had nothing to do with me". Let's look at the stats... shall we?


Gary A. Vasquez/ US Presswire

Kobe played for 35 minutes, scored 36 points (which is a LOT), 5 defensive rebounds (5 total) , 1 steal and 0 assists.

Now, I am not an NBA analyst and I will probably never work for ESPN as one but... how can you be considered one of the sports best players if you don't A) play defense in a playoff game or B) pass the ball to players who also shoot?

When I was a kid, I was coached to pass first if you could and ONLY shoot the ball if you had no option to pass. We passed a lot.. and we won a lot too. The other thing we were coached to do was play defense. We practiced defense 5 times as much as the offense... and we won a lot too.

Kobe is often compared to Michael Jordan... I am not sure why, Michael was an AMAZING player on defense as well as offense during both regular season games as well as the playoffs. If he was off his offensive game, he played harder on defense. And he passed the ball... a lot! 

There are other players on the team that can shoot the ball... if they actually had a chance at touching it.

Why do analysts call Kobe "amazing" or "best" player of our time if he is only the "best shooting player" of our time? He's obviously not the best defensive player of our time or the best passer of our time. He's certainly not the League MVP.... it's already been leaked that Derek Rose of the Bulls will be named that shortly.

Kobe is a good player.. I would go so far as to say that he is a great player.... he was pretty far from great last night.

do you understand the words that are coming out of YOUR mouth???

Suzyn Waldman - NYDaily News Photo

During a recent CBS/Yankees radio broadcast, Suzyn Waldman, who has made NUMEROUS on air mistakes in the past, ran down that day's NL schedule noting that "old friend, Ian Kennedy (ex-Yankee)" was starting for Arizona, and "old friend Dustin Moseley (ex-Yankee)" was starting for the Padres. Really Suzyn? Are they "old-friends? Did you use to have a steak with them on home game days at Smith & Wollensky's for lunch? Did you have a beer with them at the pub and share a post game re-cap? Did you attend their kids birthday parties? Are they really old friends or are they JUST former Yankees.  Delusional!

What is also delusional is that moments later, Adam Dunn, signed by the White Sox after playing for three NL teams (Reds, Nationals, Diamondbacks), was batting when Waldman said Dunn's mighty batting slump is directly attributable to having switched leagues. WOW Suzyn! You figured it out... no... actually you figured out bubkiss.

Switching leagues nowadays doesn't mean ANYTHING to hitters. It hasn't for years. They have gone up against most of the other leagues pitchers in inter league play. The MLB has become, almost, a singular league. The fact that she had just named two ex-Yankees pitchers who that night were starting in the NL seemed lost on her.They not only switched leagues, but BOTH were starting!

How about Russell Martin's terrific start with the Yankees after arriving from the Dodgers Suzyn? You called that game for CBS right? He went 1 for 3, scored 2 runs (which means he obviously walked) and stole 3rd base. He had no problem making the transition from the NL to the AL. Is he some special phenom? No, he really isn't.

Making the switch from the NL to the AL or going from the AL to the NL is really not the"big difference" Suzyn so "expertly" pointed out that it is.

Sports Broadcasters REALLY need to get it together!

mistakes turn into deception...



Micahel Kay



Mike Francesa

       

The other night I was waiting to leave to a PTA meeting and I was watching the first inning of the Yankees - White Sox game on the YES Network. The Yankees Entertainment and Sports Network owned by the Yankees broadcasts regular home and away season games not on a "major" network.

Here's the set up - top of the first inning; the White Sox's Alexei Ramirez was on first, two out, a 1-2 pitch to Paul Konerko. The next pitch from Ivan Nova was taken for ball two. But with Ramirez running, catcher Gustavo Molina threw him out to end the half inning.

I was happy to see the young catcher showing off his arm and nabbing the base runner to end the inning.

The YES Network's Michael Kay (who also has a radio show on ESPN during the afternoon drive) who was calling the game didn't see it the way I did. As the tag was applied at 2nd base he bellowed

that the inning had just ended on "A strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play!"

Ehhhh.... what? 4 outs? I immediately rewound the DVR and played it back to check.. I honestly thought that I may have not been paying attention. No, I was right, Kay was mistaken. I then showed the mistake to my wife and we both had a little chuckle. I am recently unemployed and I made the statement to her that I could call a game better than that. She said I was being picky.

I continued watching to see if he would correct himself... wasted time.. he didn't. I was sure Kay would soon be straightened out on this and then try to make it right (there ARE producers and people helping him right?). But in the top of the second, Kay first said: "Nova faced the minimum three in the first because of a strike-'em-out, throw-'em-out double play." WHAT? Then, apparently not surprised to see Konerko again at bat, Kay plainly added: "Here's Konerko."

I couldn't believe what I was watching... this is the MLBs most expensive EVERYTHING team. As a fan you pay top dollar to go to Yankee Stadium, to eat at Yankee Stadium, to drink at Yankee Stadium. Whenever I go, I ALWAYS "pre-game". They have one of the highest, if not highest salaries.... point is EVERYTHING is top-o-the-line in Yankeeland. Should the professionals BE professional.

The YES Network broadcasts an "encore" presentation of each days game at 1 am and at 10 am the following day. Since I am free, I tuned in at 10 am to see how the Network would handle the "mis-hap".

Kay's call about the strike-out/throw-out double play to close the top of the first was absent. It was edited out, simply clipped as if it had never been spoken, never heard. Are we as fans assumed to be oblivious? Maybe we are just supposed to sit there and be faceless idiots in a semi-hypnotized state and just ignore the obvious.

And then the top of the second, which began with Kay still making a mess of the top of the first, was removed from the telecast... I sat there in amazement that the entire half-inning was cut from the second telecast! The top of the second, with the White Sox's slugging All Star, Konerko, leading off, simply didn't exist, it just never happened. It was completely obvious to me that this move was to protect Kay and Co., rather than serve its subscription audience, YES simply eliminated the entire half-inning. The bottom of the first was followed by the bottom of the second.

Listen, I understand this is not the Kennedy assassination but I am still going to cry "COVER UP"...  Why not just make it right? Why not admit imperfection? Nobody is perfect, everybody makes mistakes? Why try and hide it or pretend like it never happened?

I did some digging on YES because I wanted to see if there was a pattern. After about five or six minutes of searching the WEB, on a website called BobsBlitz.com, I found a recently posted short video/audio clip from Mike Francesa's (formerly of Mike and the Mad Dog) WFAN/YES (radio AND TV) simulcast. I must state that I USED to listen to Mike and the Mad Dog but I stopped after I realized that there was an overpowering undertone of the ol' "I know more than you" coming over the airwaves. Now this clip that I found is a clip that so fully captures another cover up but also struck me as dishonest, arrogant, and "I want you to know that I know-it-all." I had to share this with my readers.

A caller, "Bob from Connecticut," on April 6 asked who was hit with the blown save in the Yankees' 5-4 loss to the Twins the day before, Rafael Soriano or David Robertson.

"Soriano," Francesa authoritatively replied. "The last run that scored was Soriano's."

Bob from Connecticut then began to talk about something else, when Francesa is seen looking down, inspecting something off-camera in front of him on his desk, which is where he commonly spreads daily newspapers.

And newspaper box scores that day told that Robertson was hit with the blown save.

Seconds later, Francesa interrupted the caller to say it just came to him "it was Robertson's blown save!
 I was just doing it in my head," Francesa explained, "the blown save is Robertson's, I was just doing the inning in my head; the blown save is Robertson's."

LIAR!!!! LIAAAAAAAAAAR!

DUDE! You are ON TV TOO!!!! Why not just say "Sorry Bob from Connecticut, I was wrong, I just double checked the paper and it wasn't Soriano, it was Robertson, my bad!"  Will you be less of a radio personality if you admit a mistake? Will your fans respect you less? I mean, it's not like you knew about wrongdoing and covered it up and denied that it never happened to the authorities! (Shameless stab at Jim Tressel).

You made a mistake about who blew the save from a game you were probably supposed to be watching the night before. I mean, if you are being paid to talk about a game... shouldn't you WATCH the game??? Maybe "Dancing with the Stars" was on that night and you never got around to watching the tape... You COULD admit that too, it COULD make you seem more like a "normal" or "common" person. Maybe your fans would relate to you better.... what do I know?

These radio and TV sports guys have been told that they are experts for so long that they believe that they are the authority on the subjects that they talk about... They are pretty far from authority.

Something has to change! Just because there is a microphone in front of your face, it doesn't make you an expert!

#STSW


 

when I was a kid...

I remember watching college football religiously. It was like a drug almost. Saturday afternoons and evenings in the fall, it's what we did... it's what I do now with my family... the cycle continues.

It's very different now though. It's different for many reasons, one is that my step-son is a big Ohio State fan. It creates a lot of tension in our house and my wife has to step in from time to time and threaten both of us with loss of privileges. She usually sides with me but it's only because she like me better. (kidding of course)

A major reason that it's different now is that college football players seem to be more in the spotlight than just on Saturdays for good reasons and bad. just this morning the Lansing State Journal reported that Michigan State junior defensive end Corey Freeman is suspended from Saturday's spring game at Spartan Stadium after he was ticketed Monday for driving with a suspended license, a misdemeanor, and not disclosing to an officer that he was carrying a concealed weapon, a civil infraction.

This on top of the sentencing of players resulting from a bar fight in Aspen, CO and MSU is having a rough year before the season even starts. But it's not just MSU, many college football teams are embarrassed but the "off-the-field" incidents of players.

But who's to blame? Is it the responsibility of the coaches to monitor their players more closely? Is it the players who need to step up and behave better? What are the parents responsibility in all of this?

From birth, parents need to raise their kids in such a way to respect authority, follow the rules and laws of the land and be upstanding citizens. Collectively, the parents, coaches, administrators and the alumni mentors are all responsible to check in on student athletes and help them through their college experience but ultimately it's the players themselves who need to take responsibility for their behavior. It's the law, you're a grown up when you turn 18. This is college but it's also the real world. You are representing not only your family but the University that is giving you an education MANY times in exchange for your performance on the field of play. Appreciate the gift that was given to you and be the student athlete that your school can be proud of.