Bleacher Report - Articles by Claudio 21

Fan Goes To The Super Bowl For $29.70

Claudio 21 — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 17:36:19 -0500

I thought this was a pretty cool story and video about Craig Cox and this sports futures company, yoonew:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MLArA3emvag&eurl=http://blog.yoonew.com/

Craig Cox, an Associate Professor at Texas Tech's School of Pharmacy picked up two lower-level tickets to Sunday's Super Bowl Game in Tampa, Florida for $29!! Well, $29.70 each actually.

Cox went on yoonew.com, a website that treats tickets to sporting events like the stock market. If the team is hot, the price for the ticket is high. If they're bad, the price is lower.

A month before the NFL playoffs started, Cox put in for Arizona and Pittsburgh and at that time, the price for a ticket was just $29.

While Super Bowl tickets are going for $2,500 up to $8,000, it turns out Cox will actually spend more money on his plane tickets than on his game tickets.

Cox could have sold his tickets at a huge profit, but he and his brother have opted to go to the game with their $29 tickets.

Count on Steve Nash, Not LeBron James, in a Knicks Uniform in 2010

Claudio 21 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:39:40 -0500

As Donnie Walsh cleared in two hours, what Isiah couldn't in five seasons, the speculation began:

Will LeBron James be wearing orange and blue instead of the burgundy and navy come the beginning of the 2010-2011 season?

From photo shops of LeBron in a Knicks “23” uniform, to the billboards on 7th Avenue with his likeness, the dislike for New York across the country, especially in Cleveland, will only intensify over the next two seasons.

But many factors have to be taken into consideration before we even talk about the “King of Cleveland” becoming the “King of NY.”

If LeBron wins a title in Cleveland, many will argue that his work will be done in his home state delivering its only world title since 1964. The LeBron/NY frenzy has also made numerous journalists forget that the Cavaliers can offer LeBron close to $25 million more than the Knicks can due to the Larry Bird exception.

In addition, they will also have a similar amount of cap room available as Mo Williams and Anderson Varejao will be the only players on the books. But, what Cleveland can't offer LeBron is celebrity row, the No. 1 city in the world, Madison Avenue, and Madison Square Garden.

But before even talking LeBron, the focus should be on the player who is the most likely signing in NY: Steve Nash.

The Canadian could be the dessert to the main course of either LeBron, Bosh, Wade, or Amare. Every summer, Nash makes his home in NY city in Battery Park and has had the best years of his career under the free-wheeling D'Antoni system. He may have not delivered a title to the land of the Sun, but he stands right there with Barkley, KJ, and Chambers as one of the top players in Suns history so there's not much left to accomplish.

For Nash, it won't be a money issue, because he will be two years older and on the down-side of his career. It will mostly be about bringing a title to a franchise that last won one when Phil Jackson was part of the '72 title team.

So New York, thank Donnie Walsh for probably delivering Steve Nash to you already, but hold off on LeBron. You'll have to wait and see if the King likes his current palace or wants to move into the one everyone dreams of playing in on 34th and 7th.

Why the Yankees Should Pass on C.C. Sabathia

Claudio 21 — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 04:25:36 -0500

A week ago, the New York Yankees offered C.C. Sabathia a record setting contract for a pitcher, six years and $140 million.

Close to two weeks later, there has been no response from the best pitcher in baseball, prompting the Yankees and new boss, Hal Steinbrenner to inform him that the offer isn’t on the table forever. Now, the Los Angeles Angels, led by their giving owner Arte Moreno, have entered the Sabathia sweepstakes and could be the front-runner in this race.

The Yankees, known for buying their way into contention, went on a rare spending freeze last season deciding to go in a different direction—a youth movement anchored by prospects from their minor league system, Phillip Hughes and Ian Kennedy. The Brian Cashman led experiment didn’t lead to the results he expected. They missed the playoffs for the first time in thirteen years.

One of the major gaffes of last season was Cashman rejecting the Johan Santana trade because he didn’t want to exchange Hughes, outfielder Melky Cabrera, and two middle of the road prospects. Cabrera was sent down to the minors and Hughes suffered an injury ridden season.

So after a year of keeping their wallets stuffed, the Yankees are now busting out their wallets to the top free agents on the market.

This upcoming season, the Yankees move into a new stadium right across the street from the old Cathedral. One of the major reasons they re-signed A-Rod was to have a star to attract fans to the park. The suits at 880 River Ave feel the need to make a splash and there’s no bigger splash in the water than the nearly 300 pound Sabathia.

But Hal and Brian, I'm here to warn you: Don’t sign CC, because you will regret it sometime around year three or four.

Let him go back to his home state of California or become a Brett Favre like God in Milwaukee, but don’t bring him to New York. It’s well known amongst baseball circles that Sabathia isn’t too keen on NY, and his success level in the pitcher unfriendly Yankee Stadium is minimal to date (2-4 lifetime).

In addition, history works against Sabathia despite his greatness. Kevin Brown, Mike Hampton, and Barry Zito are all examples of pitcher who signed six-year deals and were overwhelming busts.

Many feel offering Sabathia a three to four year deal worth $30 million per year with a team option for the subsequent year is a better proposition than taking a chance on an overweight pitcher who’s knees can give out at any point. The same way David Wells had trouble staying healthy, who’s to say it wont occur with Sabathia as well.

Granted, Sabathia has had a fairly solid health history in the majors, but his body isn’t the only thing you should worry about. You also have to take into account the psychological toll playing in the world’s toughest media market can have on anyone’s psyche.

The Yankees are looking at CC as an attraction, but also as someone that can bring them back to the promise land—the World Series. But in his career, Sabathia’s playoff ERA nears 8.00 and we all saw the five runs he gave up early in the NLDS against the champion Phillies. His playoff history isn’t a promising one and pitching 494 innings in the last two years probably helped contribute to that.

In the end, Cashman, Hal, and even George are desperate for the success they tasted between 96 and 2001. It’s escaped them for seven straight years. But in many instances, desperation leads to bad decisions.

Is the short-term fix of C.C. Sabathia worth taking on the long-term risk of C.C Sabathia?

Did East Coast Bias Help Dustin Pedroia Win The AL MVP Award?

Claudio 21 — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 09:04:06 -0500

Earlier this week, Red Sox second basemen Dustin Pedroia was awarded with the AL Most Valuable Player Award. Once news of the selection was made, sports writers and radio personalities across the country, mostly from Boston and Minnesota, began chiming in.

There were those who staunchly defended the pick, those who couldn't believe a Dallas Morning News writer left Pedroia completely off his ballot, and those who felt Justin Morneau was robbed of his second American League MVP Award.

Pedroia, in his third year, was the backbone of the Boston Red Sox through their struggles, the Manny saga, and towards the end of the season. He was the table setter for the lineup and was a clutch performer throughout. But, looking at the statistics, the total games played, and the rosters on both teams, as much as Pedroia was "worthy" of this award—he surely didn't "deserve" it.

If you compare the statistics of Pedroia to those of his teammate, Kevin Youkilis, they aren't even comparable. Granted, Pedroia is a leadoff hitter and will never produce the type of numbers a third or fourth hitter like Youkilis will.

But they both played close to a full season and you wonder why Youkillis, who had to step up his game more than anyone considering Manny's absence, wasn't considered for the award more than Pedroia.

But the individual who was really overlooked in this whole process and should've been named MVP was Twins 1B, Justin Morneau.

Here are their statistics:

Morneau

Games: 163

Average: .300

HR: 23

RBI: 129

Pedroia

Games: 157

Average: .326

HR: 17

RBI: 83

If you're looking at it from a purely statistical standpoint, the voters got it wrong. If you're looking at it around playoff contention, Pedroia made it to the ALCS and Morneau came one game away from playing in the postseason. But the postseason holds no significance because votes are in before it begins.

But, contention does hold weight and this is why I believe Morneau deserves the award. If you replaced Dustin Pedroia with an average second basemen, the Red Sox would probably still make the playoffs. But if you replace Justin Morneau with an average first basemen, the Twins would've never played a 163rd game.

I can wager that they wouldn't have even been playing an important game into their 120th.

You also have to take into account that the Twins were projected to finished fourth in a division where the Tigers, White Sox, and Indians all looked markedly better. The AL Central was being called the best division in baseball before the season started.

We must also remember that the Twins lost their star pitcher (Santana), the backbone of their organization for so many years (Hunter), didn't really make any splash acquisitions, and still managed to battle within a game of the playoffs without their stud young pitcher, Francisco Liriano.

With this MVP vote, the Baseball Writers of America made a decision based on popularity and not on facts. They made the trendy pick—the pick they see the most on TV. Looking at a previous MVP vote including Morneau, everyone remembers how close the 2006 voting was between he and Jeter, when it really wasn't even a question that Morneau deserved the award outright that year.

East Coast Bias was a factor then and it also is now.

Major League Baseball has stripped any enthusiasm surrounding the award already by officially announcing it a month after the playoffs end. Now, you have sports-writers who seem to go into the voting booths and vote for who their fellow sports-writers are voting for, and not who they think deserves the award.

Tony Parker Is a Top Three Point Guard

Claudio 21 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:43:29 -0500

When people think of the point guard position in the NBA, they think of the popular ones - the Nash's, Paul's, Deron's, and Baron's. But one thing all four of those player have in common is that none of them have what Tony Parker has—three titles.

The overlooking of Tony Parker over the years as an elite NBA PG might be one of the most egregious of any player this decade.

How is it that Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Chauncey Billups, and Baron Davis get mentioned ahead of TP? For one, three of those four players, Parker has beaten on his way to a title consistently.

As for Baron Davis, if your argument is that TP is not a disher, then what is Baron? He barely averages one assist more in his career per game and he isn't even a better scorer than Parker who's also much more durable.

Since the double-nickel and 10 assist game he put down on the "baby wolves" the other night, I immediately flash-backed to the 2008 Western Conference playoff coverage on TNT during the Spurs-Hornets series.

Charles and Kenny were speaking about the emergence of point guards like Deron and Paul and mentioned six other point guards before they mentioned Parker. I was like: "What the hell does this guy have to do to be mentioned among the best?" He's only 26 years old and has three titles already and has been an integral part of each of them.

I understand anyone saying that Deron and Paul are better than TP. That's not even an argument because they are better all-around players.

But, two to three years ago, when Paul and Deron were out at Illinois and Wake, Parker was the best PG in basketball. Not Steve Nash or Kidd—both were still great players, Nash more than Kidd—but Tony Parker has absolutely shredded Nash in the playoffs and led his team in scoring to victory in all three playoff series between the teams. In the 2003 NBA Finals, Parker did the same to Jason Kidd in the six game series.

Flash to now: all the players mentioned may play in bigger media markets and are in the spotlight more often, but that shouldn't be a factor in ranking the best PG's in basketball.

In addition, the Spurs aren't the most loved franchise in basketball and many seem to diminish the accomplishments of Parker because he has Duncan. Like Paul doesn't have West, Nash have Amare and Shaq, or Deron has Boozer.

In the end, if it comes down to leading your team to titles, TP is the best point guard in basketball. If it comes down to assists per game, he's not even better than Ramon Sessions.

But as an overall package, there are only two players on both the offensive and defensive end that are better than him and that's Paul and Deron.

But if you think you can argue anyone after those two being better than a 26 year-old, three ring, could score 50 points if he wants point-guard, you're argument's as weak as the Nuggets defense.

Time to end the McNabb/Reid era.

Claudio 21 — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:40:29 -0500

I'm not an Eagles fan, so I can actually care less, but the people of Philly do care. They care now more than ever considering that their team had preseason Super Bowl aspirations and have failed to fulfill them.

It also doesn't help the Eagles that the Phillies just won their first World Series title across the street, and expectations and scrutiny are going to be much higher across the city of Philadelphia.

But let's talk about what everyone wants to talk about—yesterday. What occurred yesterday in Cincinnati was absolutely inexcusable. The Eagles finished a game they were supposed to win and keep them in the hunt for an NFC wild card berth in a tie.

The hilarious part of it all is that the "bird-brains" didn't know a game could end in a tie. What? Are you kidding me? Both McNabb, Reid, and the rest of the players stood on the sidelines as if the game wasn't over and the referees were going to change the rules for them this one time.

Absolutely dumbfounding.

Yesterday, the Eagles struggled with a Bengals team that is absolutely pathetic and plays no defense. McNabb threw three interceptions—two in the red-zone, one that looked like he threw it out there hoping for a miracle, a fumble in Bengals territory, and a devastating delay of game on third down, late in the game.

Every point the Bengals scored came off of McNabb's turnovers. Throughout the years, Ive been a staunch defender of Donovan. He was once a great QB, and I thought he got a bad rap in Philly, but the key word in this sentence is "was."

No longer is Donovan a great QB and Andy a great coach. One needs to be fired and the other needs to be traded. It's the same way A.I. and Larry Brown made Philadelphians tired of their soap-opera. They both left at separate times but should have left together.

But now that the season is over, and the Eagles are basically out of the NFC Wild Card race, I personally think its time to usher in the Kevin Kolb era and get him a bit of action to prep him for next season.

Kolb will have some weapons in Jackson, Curtis, and Westbrook, so why not give him a shot? It hasn't worked under McNabb, and Reid and doesn't seem like it will revert to the glory years of the past, so if not now, then after the Eagles get slammed in Baltimore next week.

Just give Kolb the ball for the rest of the year and begin grooming him and figure out whether he's up to the job.

But let's explore this game further and explain why Andy Reid needs to be jettisoned, like T.O.

As the folks over at Philly Sports Talk Radio said, Andy Reid is officially a "pass-aholic." Just like there's people that can't stop drinking, Andy, when he gets on the field, can't stop calling pass plays. He called 58 pass plays. Andy must know that calling that many pass plays is a strength for a Brees or Manning, but not for a McNabb, especially when you are running a West Coast offense.

It's like Reid always makes the decision that's opposite of what the fans, commentators, and possibly even the players on the sideline are thinking.

There have been two times this season that instead of keeping the ball in the hands of his best player on a fourth down against the Bears and Giants, Andy has decided to run the ball against tough run defenses with a running back who may be great in Brian Westbrook, but he is not even close to being a short-yardage back.

If you had Jamal Lewis or Deuce McCalister, proven power back's, then I can understand. But a finesse back like Westbrook is usually going to get stuffed on those situations.

Another startling occurrence yesterday was that Reid seemed to not realize that McNabb was having a bad game. He also didn't do his homework, because the Eagles were going up against the 23rd-worst run defense in the NFL, and he has a top-five back in Brian Westbrook and only ran him 15 times.

Does this make any sense on any level? I just don't understand it anymore. All I know is that I don't want to hear Donovan saying "we're better" than we're playing and watch Andy Reid side-step questions like he's on Dancing with the Stars.

Their time is up, and it's time Jeffrey Lurie and the rest of the front office start talking about a new coach and trade destinations for Donovan. It's time...

Shane Victorino Deserves the MVP Award

Claudio 21 — Wed, 15 Oct 2008 06:28:40 -0400

Cole Hamels is on the hill tonight for the Philadelphia Phillies. Hamels will get an opportunity to send the Dodgers vacationing to nearby Hawaii for the rest of the postseason and end the incessant Manny/Boston World Series talk. He can bring it to the “Will he re-sign with the team?” soap opera debuting in the offseason.

Hamels, who has been lights out this postseason, and threw a gem in Game One to put the Phillies up 1-0, has already been crowned NLCS MVP if the Phillies end the series tonight and clinch their first World Series berth in 16 years. But should he be considered?

Of course he should, because of his dominance throughout the postseason. But there has also been solid pitching from Brett Myers, who not only took care of business on the mound, but at the plate as well. Myers sparked the Phillies' Game Two win with his timely hitting early in the game.

But the MVP award, despite how deserving Hamels may be, should not be awarded to any player on the Phillies who doesn't play every day, but the one who does and plays every game as if it were his last.

If you walk around the Phillies' locker room and ask anyone who should be MVP, the overwhelming response would be the “Flyin' Hawaiian,” Shane Victorino.

The scrappy Victorino has embodied what the city of Philadelphia stands for in this series, and that's grit and toughness. If one man on the Phillies was going to be coined the “Broad Street Bully,” it would be him.

He was a “Brewer Killer” in the NLDS, he drove in five runs and stole a Casey Blake home run with a leaping catch at the wall in Game Two against L.A., he almost started a brawl in Game Three that had him squaring off with Manny Ramirez, and he hit a clutch game-tying home run in the eighth inning of Game Four, which eventually helped lead the Phillies to a comeback win and a commanding 3-1 series lead.

Entering the series, let alone the playoffs, the keys for the Phillies were listed in this order: Howard, Rollins, and Utley. There was never any mention of Victorino; but all that has changed.

In these playoffs, Victorino has cemented himself as not only an important cog of the Phillies' machine, but one of the 10 best clutch players in the sport. He not only has more RBI than Rollins, Utley, and Howard combined, but he also leads all postseason players with 11 RBI and has more hits and total bases than any one of his three star teammates.

The performance put forth by Victorino has been even more impressive because he's also going through the same rough stretch his manager Charlie Manuel is going through. Both men lost important figures in their life—Manuel lost his mother before Game Two, while Victorino learned of his grandmother's passing after leading the Phillies to a Game Two NLCS victory.

In a time of grave pain for both, Victorino and Manuel have managed to block it all out once they step on the field and deliver for their ballclub.

The team that Victorino is now helping to beat is the same team that drafted him in 1999 and gave up on him. No champagne or MVP award can be as sweet as proving your old team wrong. Nothing at all.