Let Opinions Be Opinions

To many times have thousands of people around the country sat in their arm-chairs while screaming at the television that it was an incorrect call made or that foot was on the line. Well this is my version of screaming at the TV, however unlike the television people can actually see/hear this and comment on it.

First bit of business to attend to is what the heck has happened to the Yankees. Two hundred plus million dollar payroll and the best you can do is ten games back? To the Rays and BoSox? Sure the Blue Jays were a sleeper waiting to happen with gambling on older players but come on. I know your pitchers have been hurt. So what? Joe Torre had to deal without Carl Pavono, who happens to earn about $10 million a year to ride the DL through the whole season. Get me his agent to do my contractual negotiations. Ok so the Yankees are getting older. So what? Jeter is still the man. A-Rod is still being himself. Sure he didn't jack 20 some odd homers in April this year but he is still having an ok year. Oh, wait, I got it. It was the lose of Posada and bringing in Pudge who has hit in the low .200 since joining the team huh? Right. Crap pitching from everyone except maybe Moose. Maybe that'll land you somewhere. That seems to be a growing trend. The Braves cannot buy a starting rotation anymore that doesn't spend half the season on the DL. Chipper is starting to find his permanent seat on it. That once proud club has had their TV showings pulled from TBS (TURNER Broadcasting System) away from TURNER Field to favor the suddenly hot Cubs during their miraculous run for the Series 100 years after their last one. They won't win. The team leading the NL at the beginning of September the past three seasons has not gone to the World Series. Plus, they are losing steam. The Astros are kicking it since the end of July, Tony LaRussa seems to be doing what he always does. When is it going to be time for the NL to finally show that they can compete against the AL. Maybe it is because of the one sure out at the end of the lineup, with the exception of Dontrelle a few years ago and Micah Owings. The teams that win have consistent starters. Arizona. I realize they may be second in a weak, being a complement, NL West but they also have no offense. Adam Dunn is not your answer for offense. He either creates a ton of it or costs you a ton of it, normally costing you a ton of it with a thousand strikeouts a season. Am I saying I could do any better? Of course not. I am a arm-chair manager who bases my managerial skills on how well I do with the Pirates in MLB 2k8. All I'm saying is that teams need to think about letting some of these non-golden oldies go and replace with youth so the new phase of players that the young people of today will begin to know and grow up with just like I did with Maddux. Hard to believe people like Jamie Moyer, Curt Schilling and Julio Franco were playing professional baseball before I was born and are still playing. Although I think Franco finally retired, I believe I also heard that he was looking to play in the Mexican or Dominican League. I realize why some players go for so long. Maddux wanted #350. Glavine wanted 300. Franco because he's ageless and that is ok. But there comes a time when you become a player/coach and you should just be a coach. Maddux should be a paid mentor in the bullpen of a team somewhere instead of pitching/coaching/mentoring Billingsly, Peavy, Lowe, Penny and others. He is still a good pitcher with control that is insane which has been his strong point throughout his years as a professional but his time was the end of the season after #350. He's a Hall of Famer no doubt in anyone's mind about that. What does he have to play for? Sell more jerseys? Done plenty of that. Sign more cards? Can do that at charity events. So it boils down to one thing and one thing alone...cash. Who in their right mind would walk away from $10 million a year to throw a baseball, travel the country for free and tell someone young enough to be your son how to throw a slider? I wouldn't and do not blame them but I believe that they get paid way to much for the things they do. $27.5 a year to A-Rod? Sure consistent but a couple of things come to mind, playoffs victories and average with runners in scoring position in October, hmmm. Sure he'll get you there but might as well pull him and use him for a defensive backup. But wait...can't do that anymore because he commits to many errors. Not knocking A-Rod. Great player. Probable Hall of Famer as well. He hits 50 jacks a season, I could hit like three. No doubting his ability. I am just saying that in October the dude is about average.

Moving on to another sport that really get people up in the air at the TV, football. The Favre vs Rodgers thing is so burnt that I don't even want to speak about it any longer. Even if Aaron Rodgers bombs this season, which based on his opening day he won't, someone will get the guy on their roster at the end of the season because everybody in this country and probably a few others know his name. Football players are getting shot right and left. Not saying they can do anything about it or that they still are not the victim in the situation but how about going home at midnight like the rest of the red blooded Americans that have to work the next day. Quick thought that should run through your mind before going out "clubbing:" Hmmm, its 12am. Most shootings occur between the hours of 10pm-5am. Where does that put me? I was listening to the Herd on ESPN Radio one day last week and a gentleman called in who happened to be a Seattle police officer. I do not remember his exact words but it basically amounted to something of this nature,"there are only three types of people out between 12-5am. Potential victims, potential suspects and police officers." That should sum it up. Don't want to get shot, don't go out at those times. Not saying the rest of the day is an absolute safe haven but it is by a small margin. I feel bad for the families of the players that have been victimized by those horrible crimes because they now have to suffer the thought of will it happen again. Nobody should have to think, "will it happen again?" I'm a gun advocate, I believe in them for personal protection, hunting, the whole nine yards. Guns don't kill people. People kill people. Like the NRA says in their safety classes. Three elements to a gun going off is you have to have a person, a gun and a round of ammunition. Without any of those three nothing bad can happen. An unloaded gun is perfectly harmless unless loaded by a person. A round of ammunition is perfectly harmless unless loaded by a person. A round of ammunition inside a gun is perfectly harmless unless the trigger is pulled by a human. Do you see where I am going with this? I do not blame the players or their families for the idiocy of other people, in fact I pray for their well being. Try to be a role model. As a professional athlete you are looked upon by thousands of children everyday, watching your every move. Be the person you would like to see them become. If you want them to be a partying, drinking, drugging, gangster with an attitude problem then just act that way and I'm sure many children will follow shortly into your footsteps. It takes a high class kind of athlete to say no to the partying and go to bed at 10pm to be at practice on time the next day for early film review.

What in the world is going on? I cannot believe that I am saying this after the two month long NBA finals but I am ready for basketball to get back into things, hockey, something. I just think that television is having a really sad day in ratings when the most entertaining thing on at primetime is the Detroit Shock vs Phoenix game and World Series of Texas freaking Hold Em. That my friends is riveting television. You go from super boring, to being so bored you forgot how super boring felt two seconds ago before you switched the channels back and forth. Its a bad day for sports TV when you would much rather just go to bed at 8:30pm than watch what is on ESPN or Versus. Not even Speed had anything on. However, those few moments of my life that I will never be able to recover because they are lost forever did at least prove something to me. Women are better basketball players than men. They box out correctly, they swing pass correctly, they communicate better and even the center hustles down the court on every possession. Still won't watch it though. I think that because it is played correctly that is why people find it not as entertaining.

In closing this was basically just a rant from a guy who watches way to much ESPN. I'm sure a few of these things are stuff you've yelled at your TV about. Thanks for reading this far and I promise that I am done ranting about things I cannot change.