A Good Start

Jerry "The Tickle Monster" Sandusky, has been found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual molestation. He faces up to 442 years in prison, and his official sentencing will take place 90 days from now. The jury concluded that by using his status as Penn State Defensive Coordinator, Sandusky had molested and raped (at least) ten at-risk children placed in his Second Mile Charity during a 15 year period.

I sincerely hope that each of the ten victims in this trial, and all the other victims of Jerry Sandusky that we don't yet know about - the latest of which appears to be Jerry's adopted son Matt - also take solace that Justice IS being done.

I use "IS" in the previous sentence because while Jerry is one of the worst carbon-based lifeforms (I refuse to call him a human being) the planet has ever known....there is no denying that Jerry was enabled from high places during his reign of terror upon children.

As for the trial itself, to call the testimony of the victims "harrowing" would be an understatement. Each victim's detailed recounting of the horrors at which they suffered, and their staunch conviction in the face of cross-examination, became too much for the jury to ignore despite 9 of the 12 serving jury members' ties to Penn State University.

Despite the jury's environment and location, they managed to show that justice truly is blind, and rendered the only sensible verdict possible for this trial, and I salute them.

While it would be nice to say this is over, unfortunately we still have a ways to go in terms of administering justice to all those who enabled Jerry Sandusky to commit these unspeakable acts. Former PSU Athletic Director Tim Curly, and Vice President Gary Schultz are next on the menu, so to speak. They are both being tried for Failure To Report A Crime, and Perjury. While Curley and Schultz will have their day in court, unfortunately the late Joe Paterno will not, as he has deprived us of his company by dying of lung cancer a few months ago.

There are still way too many people out there (mainly a certain Mens Basketball Coach at Duke University) who refuse to believe Joe knew about Sandusky's predatory and deviant behavior. There's still way too many people who believe Joe Paterno was wrongfully terminated for not doing enough to stop Sandusky. If you are one of those people who refuse to believe he knew of it ten years ago and did next to nothing to stop it, here's Joe Paterno's grand jury testimony regarding what he knew and when he knew it.

So please stop making excuses that Paterno didn't know, and/or that he took the appropriate steps to stop it because it's just not true. Want to know why it's not true? Up until the first Grand Jury report which was released in November 2011 Jerry Sandusky still had keys to the Lasch Building, he still had an office in the Lasch Building, and he had full access to all Penn State Football facilities and was seen working out there THAT WEEK.

If you were told that a former employee who has full access to your office and locker room facilities was seen doing something of "a sexual nature" to a young boy in that very same building, and you told your supposed superiors about it (without calling the police mind you)...would you want that former employee still hanging around your building ten years later? I certainly wouldn't....but Joe Paterno obviously did. 

That is why this saga must continue. There are more people that must be held accountable, for they could have stopped Sandusky numerous times and chose not to. I'm of the believe that they will be further exposed as time goes by, and justice will once again be administered.

Whether they are aware of it or not, Penn State has only one more chance at redemption. They have one more chance to atone for this unspeakable exhibition of self-denial. They have only one more opportunity to find any semblance of character and integrity, by admitting that their beloved football program created and facilitated a monster, for which the slate must be wiped clean. They must disown their history by removing the administrators responsible for this scandal, settling with any future lawsuits that are destined to arrive in Happy Valley, and ultimately remove the Joe Paterno statue.

Unfortunately much of that is not likely to happen on it's own, given what we've seen from the Penn State students and alumni hardliners. Fortunately, we can still hope the NCAA will administer the Death Penalty.

"May No Act Of Ours Bring Shame"? Same goes for inaction as well.

Fun Article About Jay Cutler

I came across something that I want everyone to read when it comes to the best quarterback in Chicago Bears history, Jay Cutler.

This piece was written by NFL Analyst (and Howard's nephew) Greg Cosell, and Greg attempts to separate "Fact from Fiction" when it comes to Jay. In the piece, Greg does a fabulous job of isolating the tangible and objective skills, while removing the inaccurate and subjective nonsense that has long followed Cutler from the moment he was drafted out of Vanderbilt.

Some of the tangible items Greg points out that I agree with include Cutler's "See It. Throw It" approach, and Cutler's once a generation arm strength as a passer. Greg also points out that Cutler's solid performance in his first playoff game against Seattle that gets largely overlooked.

The item that really resonated with me however was when Greg wrote how Cutler's solid performances get in the way of the "pre-determined narrative", as well as Cutler's ability to take over games. One of these items is talked about too much, while the other isn't nearly talked about enough. I'll let you do the math on which is which.

Either way, if you are fan of Cutler, or a hater, I'd encourage you to read it and share your reactions to it. Can Jay play better? Absolutely, and Greg thinks so as well.

Here's the exciting part though: Jay has never had better weapons around him than right now, and the Bears are in a very good position to make a deep playoff run, bare minimum. If they don't, there won't be anymore excuses for Jay, and Jay knows it.

Significant Week

There were plenty of newsworthy items in the world of sports last week that caught my eye. Some of which involved some old enemies, former football stars, and a present/future baseball prodigy. All of it prompts commentary from me, but I have been unable to do so......until NOW. Here's the rundown :

• Well lookey here! Turns out the good people at deadspin, as well as the rest of the media, have finally caught up with me in terms of figuring out that Chicago Sun-Times columnist/Firebrand Hack Joe Cowley is an absolute dickwad. You can read deadspin's log of Cowley's twitter self-destruction here, here, here, and here. As far as how I feel about these events? 1. It couldn't happen to a more deserving piece of crap. 2. Better late than never. Cowley's been asking for this for many years now, and as predicted by me (horn toot), he finally got himself in big trouble. Unfortunately however, Cowley hasn't suffered enough yet. I'm amazed that he hasn't been fired, or hasn't been forced to give some phony-baloney public apology. Sexual Harassment (tongue in cheek, satire, or otherwise), is a very serious form of discrimination, and no corporation worth a damn would tolerate it from one of their employees. Shutting Cowley's twitter account down and putting him on something called "Final Notice" (whatever that's supposed to mean), isn't enough. There needs to be atonement, and thus far, neither Cowley nor the Sun-Times have offered any.

• On a more melancholy note, former NFL Linebacker Junior Seau committed suicide last week. I'm pretty sure nobody needs an extensive reminder of what a fierce player and hard hitter Seau was during his career. What we are reminded of however, is Dave Duerson's suicide over a year ago. Seau, like Duerson, chose to shoot himself in the chest rather than the head. Unlike Duerson however, Seau didn't leave a suicide note requesting his brain to be studied. At press time, it hasn't been determined if Seau's brain will be studied. As for my guess as to why Junior did what he did? I'm placing heavy money on CTE-related depression/complications based on this admission from Seau not too long ago. The worst part (other than Seau's death) about this situation, is that there are too many people that have missed the point already. While fans and players lament Seau's death, they still are unable to make the connection that CTE-related lawsuits from former players, is the reason Roger Goodell is cracking down on player safety. The NFL has to appear that they are at the forefront on this crisis, and the New Orleans Saints are being made as the tangible example of what happens if you do not go along with the Player Safety Mantra. So please stop with this "Might as well be flag-football with these new rules" pissing and moaning. If you really feel that way, you have to be fine with guys like Seau, Duerson, and Andre Waters killing themselves after they're done playing football, if you have any interest in being consistent on this issue.

• Finally, the Bryce Harper Era has begun in Washington D.C. and it appears it was worth waiting for. While Harper has yet to hit a home run, after 33 Plate Appearances he is already featuring a .924 OPS and a wOBA of .391. For those of you not Saber Inclined, those are really good numbers. Beyond the numbers, Harper has already managed to bat 3rd in the order, unleash laser throws from the outfield, and managed to steal home during a pick off play to first base. The steal of home was only possible because Harper was plunked by Phillies pitcher Cole Hammels. Think about that for a minute, Harper only has 33 plate appearances, and he's already bothered established All-Star Pitchers like Cole Hammels to not only throw at him, but ADMIT HE THREW AT HIM, knowing damn well he'd be suspended for admitting it. That takes someone really annoyingly good for that to happen, and Harper appears to be both annoying and good. By the way, Harper's team the Washington Nationals aren't too bad either, as they currently sit in first place in the NL East. The only negative the Nationals have going for them is their goofy-ass GM Mike Rizzo who not only won't see Moneyball, but also feels to make thinly-veiled threats to Cole Hammels for daring to plunk his prized pupil in the back. It's not like he threw at his head Mike, and Cole Hammels will never be confused with Roger Clemens in terms of headhunting. Please stop the dramatics about who's an actual "old school tough guy" d-bag. Getting hit in the back with a pitch is a part of the game.

Love Love The Perfecto...But What Have We Learned So Far?

That was the question this White Sox fan asked himself today, and the short answer is: not much. Obviously that's to be expected after 15 games, and I'm certainly not trying to draw conclusions about the Sox or any team right now. I mean, are we to expect the Washington Nationals to be playing .750 baseball for 162 games? I certainly don't think so. With all that said, it would still be nice to have at least a general idea of how good or bad the White Sox are, yet I'm still scratching my head...

The White Sox, save for A.J. Pierzynski and Paul Konerko, aren't particularly great offensively. Despite the much improved Adam Dunn, this lineup still features the putrid Dayan Viciedo, Gordon Beckham, and Brent Morel. Entering today's game, all three of the aforementioned automatic outs have batting averages below the Mendoza Line, and wOBA's below .250. These three are supposed to be the future of the franchise in case you forgot.

Oh and please don't let me forget to mention that the Sox are 2nd in the American League in strikeouts (128), and 10th in the American League in Team OBP (.310). The only thing keeping the Sox competitive is their 6th place showing in the AL in Home Runs (17) and the corresponding Team OPS of .729 which is in the top half of the AL.

Despite their offensive challenges, the White Sox have pitched exceptionally well. The big three starting pichers thus far appear to be Jake Peavy - who is finally pitching like he's capable of, Chris Sale - who has made a smooth transition from reliever to starter (knock wood), and the freshly historic (if there is such a thing) Phillip Humber, who pitched the 21st Perfect Game in the history of baseball on Saturday. More on Humber in a moment.

There is plenty of irony to point out in this solid pitching staff however, the first of which is that the newly extended $65 million dollar man John Danks, has not exactly been dominant with his 5.11 ERA. Gavin Floyd continues to have control problems (4.08 BB/9), and the worst pitcher on the staff by the numbers is the White Sox closer Hector Santiago (5.40 ERA).

Despite the Irony based on Small Sample Size, the White Sox are currently 3rd in the AL in Team ERA (3.16) and 2nd in the AL in WHIP (1.10). There's a lot of ways this performance can be summarized but I think the expression "pleasantly surprised" is most accurate.

What does it all mean? Well the data doesn't really support any conclusions as of yet, and it won't for some time. The Sox are winning games on the road (6-2) yet still continue to struggle at home (3-4). Maybe I'll get a better understanding when I see them in person this week in Oakland, but for now - mathematically speaking - what the hell, right?

Back to Phillip Humber's historic performance however, my new favorite White Sox blog SouthSideSox.com did an outstanding job analyzing and breaking down how it happened. Not to mention it's the only place I've found that actually answers the question of whether or not Brendan Ryan swung at the final strike. You can read their outstanding work here, and here.

When I watched the replay (thank you Fox for not showing the game outside of Chicago) of the game a few things stood out to me. Humber's curveball, slider, and fastball were all working obviously, but I was amazed at all the weak fly balls Humber induced when he wasn't striking people out.

One play that I haven't seen talked about much occurred in the bottom of the 6th inning. With 2 out and (obviously) nobody on, the Mariners shortstop Munenori Kawasaki attempted to break up the Perfect Game with a BUNT! Maybe I'm imagining things, but I was under the impression that attempting to break up a no-no with a Bunt was forbidden under the Unwritten Rules of Baseball? Did anybody else see that, agree with that, or think I'm silly for even bringing it up? Either way Humber fielded the ball and nothing changed except the number of outs.

13 fly ball outs, 5 ground ball outs, and 9 strikeouts total on the day is not bad work to say the least. Humber now becomes the second pitcher under Don Cooper's watch to throw a Perfect Game. Will it mean big things for the White Sox this season? I doubt it, but who knows?

Either way I already feel better about this team than I did a year ago. Maybe the new manager might have something to do with my optimism too????

MLB Season Predictions 2012

Have I mentioned before how much I despise MLB Commissioner Allan H. “Bud” Selig? Obviously I have numerous times, yet despite decades of incompetence, Bud has provided another reason to continue the widespread hatred he naturally attracts by screwing up one of the easiest things. Thanks to Bud, we now have FOUR OPENING DAYS! Opening Day is not a complicated concept. As a matter of fact, it’s about as basic as basic gets, yet Bud has decided that making money is more important than having one day for the season to start, so here we are…

Be that as it may, it’s still one of my favorite times of the year, and despite the not-too-rosy outlook for either Chicago baseball team, I’m excited for this upcoming baseball season.

The main reason I find this upcoming season so interesting is that the landscape of competition has dramatically changed. No longer is it just the Red Sox and Yankees spending close to $200 million on their respective payrolls. Thanks to some very lucrative TV Deals (among other things), multiple teams that were once considered “small market”, are now throwing money around like Pac Man Jones at a Strip Club.

• $200 million to keep Joey Votto in Cincinnati? Check.

• $245 million to get Jose Reyes, Mark Buehrle, and Heath Bell to the Marlins? Why Not?!

• $214 million to get Prince Fielder to play for his father’s Detroit Tigers? Sure.

All of this money being spent by teams not named the Yankees and Red Sox, as well as the introduction of a second Wild Card slot for the postseason, has leveled the playing field and should open up competition, which should make for a very fun season. Here are my predictions for the regular season, post season, and a few sentences about each team.

American League East:

1. New York Yankees: Despite Curtis Granderson returning to earth from his monster season last year, they’ll score enough to win the division, but their starting rotation will (once again) be exposed in October, as the entire roster continues to age with few prospects on the horizon.

2. Tampa Bay Rays: To quote Rocky from Looney Tunes – “I don’t know how’s youse done it, but I KNOW YOUSE DONE IIIIIT!” Nobody really has figured out how the Rays’ continue to make postseason appearances, but nearest I can tell it’s Run Prevention, One Ace starting pitcher in combination with Evan Longoria and some decent slugging percentages sprinkled throughout the lineup. They’ll make the postseason again, and we’ll still be scratching our heads.

3. Boston Red Sox: The post-Theo era has begun, and they’ll still have plenty of reminders of Epstein sprinkled throughout the lineup both good and bad. The good involves Ellsbury, Pedroia, Gonzalez, and Lester. The bad? Carl Crawford, Josh Beckett, and John Lackey (shudder).

4. Toronto Blue Jays: The Washington Nationals American League equivalent. The Blue Jays are close but they’re not quite there yet. Obviously they still have the most suspicious superstar in the game in Jose Bautista, in addition to some really good young players (looking at you Brett Lawrie). Unfortunately they are still missing an Ace starting pitcher to put them over the hump.

5. Baltimore Orioles: Are they even trying anymore? Seriously? They actually have a couple of good players in Wieters, Markakis, and Adam Jones. After that, it’s just a pile of black and orange puke from the owner on down. At least the hats will look cool though.

American League Central:

1. Detroit Tigers: What do you do when you already have one of the best hitters at first base? You sign another one of course! Seriously, they have two monsters in the middle of an already potent lineup, not to mention the best pitcher in the game surrounded by a sound rotation and capable bullpen. Tigers win the division easily.

2. Chicago White Sox: read Here.

3. Cleveland Indians: Year 5 of a rebuilding process that hasn’t gone well. How bad? Turns out one of their “pieces” Fausto Carmona isn’t really named Fausto Carmona but rather Roberto Hernandez Hereida. Did I mention he’s also 3 years older than he said he was? Still, at least he’s not Matt LaPorta.

4. Kansas City Royals: The good? Alex Gordon finally showed he can hit. Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, and Lorenzo Cain are going to get more playing time. The Bad? Bruce Chen is still their ace, which means you really don’t have a rotation.

5. Minnesota Twins: I might be wrong about this one, but Justin Morneau is still “dingy” in the head, Joe Mauer has become a singles hitter, Carl Pavano is still the head of the rotation, and the left side of the infield is not very good. The good news for the Twins however, Terry Ryan is back as GM and it’s only a matter of time before the Twins contend again. Just not this season.

American League West:

1. Texas Rangers: They don’t have a slugging first baseman….and that’s it. The Rangers are pretty much covered everywhere else. Sure they lost CJ Wilson, but they rolled the dice and acquired Japanese pitching sensation Yu Darvish. Their lineup is still solid-to-lethal (when healthy) and their bullpen should be better with Joe Nathan on board.

2. Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim: The Angels would be a World Series lock if this were the year 2003. That’s the year that their two highest paid players were in their prime in Vernon Wells and Torii Hunter (remember Albert Pujols’ deal is incredibly back-loaded). However, Wells and Hunter won’t be counted on for the bulk of their offense anymore, since Pujols will definitely provide plenty by himself. Their rotation of Weaver, Haren, and Wilson will propel them to wild card contention.

3. Oakland A’s: A big bag of “weird”. The A’s are putting all their eggs in the San Jose 2014 Basket. The problem is, the San Jose 2014 Basket might not (and probably doesn’t) exist! The A’s are young, might be pretty good eventually, but definitely have a player worth watching in Yoenis Cespedes. Oh and apparently they are the only team that believes Manny Ramirez can still hit an inside fastball….good luck with that.

4. Seattle Mariners: Yikes…would you believe this team has nearly an $80 million dollar payroll? Felix Hernandez is still awesome, Ichiro is drawing close to the end of his hall of fame career, and Chone Figgins is stealing money every time he gets paid. The Mariners DO have help on the way though in the minor leagues, and Jesus Montero will be fun to watch.

National League East:

1. Philadelphia Phillies: You hear that? That’s the sounds of the Phillies window closing. It’s not closed yet, but it’s rapidly descending. Here’s a list of guys on their roster over 30 – Ryan Howard, Cliff Lee, Chase Utley, Roy Halladay, Jonathan Papelbon, Jimmy Rollins, Joe Blanton, Shane Victorino, Placido Polanco, Carlos Ruiz, and our guy Jim Thome. Still good enough to win the division, but this will be the last time they will do so, before the major overhaul takes place.

2. Miami Marlins: To say the Marlins got a face lift is an understatement. The Marlins are the Heidi Montag of MLB. They’ve thrown a whoooole lot of money at this team, and it wasn’t limited to the roster as the name of the franchise has changed, as well as their stadium location. On paper, the Marlins will be nipping at the Phillies heels for the division, as long as their egomaniac manager doesn’t get in the way. Giancarlo “Don’t Call Me Mike” Stanton, remains one of my favorite players in the game to watch.

3. Washington Nationals: The Toronto Blue Jays National League equivalent. They’re close, probably closer than the Blue Jays are actually, but I see the Nationals ascending next season, not this one. The lineup is pretty good with a healthy Mike Morse, Rick Ankiel, Ryan Zimmerman and Danny Espinosa. The rotation is better than people think, but that’s not what makes the Nationals interesting. We all know that this team will live and die on the arm of Stephen Strasburg and bat of Bryce Harper over the next decade.

4. Atlanta Braves: This sentence hasn’t been written since 1989 – “The Braves pitching rotation is too thin”. That hasn’t happened in quite some time. Still the Braves have the best hitting catcher in Bryan McCann, the swollen Dan Uggla, and two of the more intriguing young players in Jason Heyward and Freddie Freeman. I guess the Braves will never be “Terrible”.

5. New York Mets: There are teams that spend money foolishly, then there’s the Mets, who spend money that they never had thanks to Bernie Madoff. The good news is that the payroll is down nearly 50% from last year, and there is actual talent on the roster in David Wright, Johan Santana, Lucas Duda, and Ike Davis. Keeping those players healthy on the other hand, isn’t one of their strengths, as they wait for 2014 to emerge from their own financial ashes.

National League Central:

1. Milwaukee Brewers: No Prince? No problem. The Brewers still have steroid-boy Ryan Braun, and plenty of other sticks in the lineup to drive in runs. Actually anybody who really pays attention to the Brewers knows that their strength really lies in their starting pitching with three guys throwing over 200 innings last season, none of which were Zach Greinke. The Brewers pitching should be enough for them to hang on and win this dogfight of a division.

2. St. Louis Cardinals: The defending champs lost one of the most dynamic players in franchise history this offseason, and they still should be considered realistic contenders for the division. The Cardinals made a very savvy two year deal with Carlos Beltran, who while not Albert Pujols, still has value. Add Beltran to a lineup already featuring Lance Berkman, Matt Holliday, Jon Jay, David Freese, and Yadier Molina, and it’s far from “average”. Their rotation however is a bit iffy. Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright are battling injuries again, and those who aren’t injured won’t have Dave Duncan to rely on since Duncan is on a leave of absence. Still, the lineup should be enough for them to at least contend for the wild card.

3. Cincinnati Reds: I’d be very happy choosing the Reds to win the division. The problem is, I keep looking at their pitching and I stop right in my tracks since it is quite ordinary at best. Not to mention I’m not wild about their manager either. Joey Votto is now very rich in addition to be very good, and Jay Bruce is one of the more unheralded left handed sluggers in the game. Newly acquired Mat Latos is about to find out there is a huge difference between pitching at Petco Park, and The Great American Ballpark.

4. Chicago Cubs: Read Here

5. Pittsburgh Pirates: Hey! Andrew McCutchen can play! Nobody else on the roster can however, but that’s neither here nor there. That will change eventually if their much ballyhooed prospects come to fruition. Hey, at least they’re not the Astros.

6. Houston Astros: Ladies and gentlemen, for the second year in a row, here is your official “Worst Team in Major League Baseball”! Besides the awful product on the field, besides the upcoming switch to the American League, the real reason why the Astros suck is their newly minted owner Jim Crane is a raging racist ass bag who coincidentally loves golf (scroll down to the Astros Section). If I had more time, I think I can come up with a good argument for contraction.

National League West:

1. San Francisco Giants: “To Hit, or Not to Hit” is the question the Giants seem to ask themselves every season. Last season they obviously chose NOT to hit as they were dead last in the National League in Runs Scored per game. That is going to change this year however, as new additions Melky Cabrera and Angel Pagan will definitely hit, plus (drum roll) Brandon Belt will be given the reins at first base and I predict he will fulfill the promise he showed last season. A lineup that goes from one actual hitter to five in combination with arguably the best rotation in baseball, means the Giants will win the division.

2. Arizona Diamondbacks: What a weird, yet good team. It’s pretty amazing that this bunch won 94 games last year. Justin Upton is also one of my favorite young players in the game, but other than him, there’s nobody in the lineup that really strikes fear in the hearts of starting pitchers. The Diamondbacks are a pretty good fielding team however, and their rotation is solid if unspectacular. They’ll hang around for a while but eventually fade.

3. Los Angeles Dodgers: You would think a team with the Cy Young Award winner (Clayton Kershaw) and a guy who should have won the MVP (Matt Kemp) on it would do better than 82 wins last year, but they didn’t. Then again with all the turmoil surrounding the embattled and thankfully former owner Frank McCourt, it’s amazing the Dodgers even took the field most nights, in many respects. This season should be more conducive to success for the Dodgers, with better days on the horizon.

4. Colorado Rockies: Like the Reds, I really want to like this team, but then I just look at their pitching and that’s the end of it. I mean seriously, what the hell is Jamie Moyer still doing there? Moyer was pitching when I was in 5th grade! The Rockies have the best shortstop in the game in Troy Tulowitzki, along with Carlos Gonzalez, Todd Helton, and the recently acquired Michael Cuddyer. That won’t be enough to overcome their pitching woes however, and believe me when I tell you, they are WOES.

5. San Diego Padres: While it hasn’t been locked up yet, the Padres are in position to make an $800 million TV deal. That money will do wonderful things for this franchise, which is already ranked 2nd best minor league system thanks to some offseason trades. Until that TV Deal is secured however, Padres fans will be attending games strictly for their awesome ballpark because the product on the field is very ignorable.



POSTSEASON:

AL East Winner: Yankees

AL Central Winner: Tigers

AL West Winner: Rangers

AL Wild Card: Rays, Angels

AL Champion: Rangers



NL East Winner: Phillies

NL Central Winner: Brewers

NL West: Giants

NL Wild Card: Marlins, Cardinals

NL Champion: Brewers



World Series Champion: Texas Rangers

Chicago White Sox 2012 Prediction

Every time I want to resign myself with the notion that this 2012 squad might be the worst White Sox team ever assembled, I quickly think about every Sox team from 1986-1989, and I abandon that notion. THOSE teams set the standard for abysmal, and in comparison to this team, the 2012 White Sox look like the 1927 Yankees compared to say the 1988 team.

Even after all of that, this is still not a good team that will be taking the field on Friday. Much like their North Side counterparts, the White Sox are a team with bad contracts tied to aging veterans. They have no hope of someone coming up from their minor league system to save them, and aren’t one or two, but more likely five trades away from contending again.

Still though, I’m not nearly as pessimistic about their chances of being watchable. That might change after one broadcast of listening to Hawk Harrelson, but for now I don’t think this team is deplorable.

One of the reasons I’m looking forward to this White Sox season is (shh don’t tell anyone) Adam Dunn has looked much better this spring, mainly because he’s taking Walks again. Gordon Beckham doesn’t look as over matched at the plate, and maybe Chris Sale can become a decent starting pitcher? Maybe Robin Ventura could be a good manager? We won’t really know until he gets some proven talent at his disposal, but for now I think he’ll do fine. He certainly won’t be as clueless as Terry Bevington.

All of those things pertain to the short term however, and are quickly tempered by the realization that the long term future of the White Sox is screwed as long as Kenny Williams is responsible for it. I personally am relieved that Ozzie Guillen and his carnival act is now playing in Miami, but I remain disappointed that Kenny Williams was retained – even if Williams may have made a good managerial hire in Robin Ventura.

I have no confidence that Williams will be able to draft the prospects necessary to keep the franchise in contention over the next 5-7 years, and judging by the minuscule returns he received in the trades he has made, I don’t expect him to get good value on the few players he is able to move. I hope I'm wrong.

Who to Watch In The Lineup: I already mentioned Dunn could be good again, and that Beckham could be good FINALLY. I’m curious to see if Brent Morel can learn to take walks in addition to carrying his stark increase in Home Run to Fly Ball Ratio he posted in September over to this season. It's also now or never for Dayan Viciedo. When you get right down to it, the White Sox could actually be good if all of them have "normal" seasons. As simple as that appears to be, it's also not realistic.

Who to Watch Pitch: Chis Sale is the most intriguing one of the bunch, particularly because he's making the difficult transition from reliever to starter. For most of his career, we have been told that Sale possesses Starter Stuff. It will be interesting to see if he can make the switch. John Danks always bears attention but now he's got the 5 year $65 million contract extension. For better or worse Danks is the White Sox present and future of their starting staff.

Bottom Line: I believe this White Sox team will finish 81-81. When they are on their game, they do a lot of things well, but not well enough to win the division. Sort of a "Jack of All Trades, Master of None" type of team. It won't amount to anything more than spinning their wheels, unless this organization finally gets serious about drafting and development.

Drafting and Development is not what Kenny Williams does however.

Chicago Cubs 2012

There have been many different attempts at a creative way to describe this upcoming Cubs season. I prefer the famous line from the film Raging Bull when Jake LaMotta’s brother says “If you win, you win. If you lose, you still win.” Allow me to expound on that.

For the first time in quite some time, the Cubs have zero expectations of winning. Most fans with a brain understand this to be true. The Cubs themselves know this to be true. The reason being is that this organization is still riddled with bad contacts to aging veterans that aren’t nearly worth the paper they’re printed on. There’s no real hope of someone from the minor leagues coming up this year to vault the Cubs into contenders, and the Cubs are not a trade or two away from contention either.

Here is the most important thing to realize and remember throughout this upcoming season. The Cubs have freed themselves from the same organizational pathos that was a staple of the Jim Hendry Era. No longer will the Cubs simply throw money at the biggest available free agents, and expect that to cure everything that ails them. Cubs’ fans finally realized this to be true this winter when (surprisingly to Cubs fans only), the Cubs did not even attempt to sign Albert Pujols or Prince Fielder.

Those free spending days are over, thanks to the hiring of Theo Epstein and his bookworm frat boy crew who are now running this franchise, and they aren’t interested in a quick fix. Theo and the gang are in this for the long haul and any serious Cubs fan should be very thankful. (Please spare me the “104 years and we’re out of patience!” nonsense because you’ll wait as long as it takes, trust me).

Unfortunately for Cubs fans, what Theo wants and needs to do with this team (drafting, trading veterans for prospects, and drafting some more), takes time. As a result, the lineup and rotation are going to be tough to watch this season.

Who to watch in the lineup: Obviously the main draw should be Starlin Castro. His 207 hits last season were a good sign that he can make the necessary adjustments to be a professional hitter in the big leagues. Nobody knows what long time minor league player Bryan LaHair is going to do, but odds are it won’t be much. Cubs’ fans should root heavily for Marlon Byrd to hit the cover off the ball, since that would only help his trade value.

Who to watch pitch: Matt Garza remains the best pitcher on the staff. The better he does, the quicker the Cubs can turn this organization around because he’ll return more prospects in a potential trade. Jeff Samardzija might FINALLY be ready to break through this season, but I’ll believe it when it happens. Carlos Marmol is always a hire-wire act to watch, as he continues to post freakishly high Walks and Strikeouts per 9 innings pitched ratios.

Bottom Line: I believe the Cubs will finish 75-87, give or take a few. Going back to the Raging Bull line, if the Cubs win more than 75 games, great. If they win less, they get higher draft picks which plays right into what Theo Epstein does well, hence “If they win they win. If they lose, they still win.”

I just hope most Cubs fans keep that in mind this season.

NFL Matters

NFL Christmas came and some major gifts have been opened and exchanged. The NFL is like an Ant Farm: No matter how many established inroads are dug by teams, the entire league can be shaken a few times and the whole thing starts over again fresh.

While the Bears didn't get Mario Williams, they still made a very impressive move by trading two third round draft picks for the incredibly talented and psychologically disturbed Brandon Marshall. With this trade, the Bears finally gave their franchise QB Jay Cutler the elite receiver the Bears haven't had since Johnny Morris. I also believe the Bears were NOT aware of Marshall's Lady-Punching incident in New York before making the trade, but it doesn't matter. The Bears needed to make this move strictly because they got a better receiver than Vincent Jackson for a much better price. I also believe Marshall won't be suspended for the alleged incident either.

The Bears also made sure that a Caleb Hanie situation never happens again, by signing Jason Campbell to be the backup QB, and they also added some linebacker depth by bringing in Blake Costanzo while retaining some of their own in Israel Idonije, Kellen Davis, Tim Jennings, Craig Steltz, and Josh McCown.

All these moves the Bears made are fine additions, but they are not the reason Phil Emery was brought in as General Manager. Emery will ultimately prove his worth in the draft. Still, helluva start Phil.

Today also became a significant day in NFL History as for the first time ever, both an NFL GM and a Head Coach were suspended. Sean Payton and Mickey Loomis felt the wrath of Roger Goodell, as the commissioner suspended Loomis for 8 games, and Payton for the entire season as punishment for "Bounty-Gate".

I had predicted Goodell would suspend Gregg Williams for half a season, but Roger went WAY farther than that by suspending Williams "indefinitely". I also predicted Roger would make examples out of the Saints. He definitely came through in that regard, and then some, but not for the reasons I thought he would.

It wasn't so much the fact that the Saints were running a Bounty System that put Goodell in his patented "Hanging Judge Mode". It was the fact that Goodell confronted the Saints about their Bounty System TWO YEARS AGO, and they lied to him. The Saints first denied to the commissioner that the program even existed, then after acknowledging that lie, informed the commissioner that the program does exist and they will cease it immediately.

That was in 2010. Obviously, it didn't stop, and even more obviously, Goodell knew it too.

I'm not one of these blind followers of Goodell who applaud every single decision he makes, but Roger is spot on with this punishment in my opinion. It's bad enough to lie to Roger Goodell's face about something he already knows you're doing, but it's even worse to lie to him again when he gives you a second chance to clean up your act. The Saints weren't smart enough to recognize their second chance, and arrogantly continued the Bounty System.

The lesson ultimately learned? Don't mess with, or attempt to make a fool out of Roger Goodell. Good job Commissioner.

NFL Christmas Eve

We're at the eve of one of the biggest days of the NFL Year : The First Day of NFL Free Agency. This is a day where teams make swift, bold, and most importantly, very expensive decisions meant to improve their respective rosters.

Some of them work out (Reggie White, Deion Sanders), and some of them don't (Albert Haynesworth, Javon Walker). When they work out, they can result in Super Bowl titles. When they don't work out, they can set your franchise back in very frightening ways.

Each signing is significant, one way or another, but no matter who signs where, the prospect of your favorite NFL team getting bright shiny new toys to play with, will always get fans excited about the upcoming season.

Which brings us to the Chicago Bears. The Bears stand $22.6 million under the cap, and by all accounts are itchy to spend it. On the one hand, they can go the obvious route by pursuing a #1 wide receiver in Vincent Jackson or Marques Colston, while concurrently pursuing a Carl Nicks or Ben Grubbs to shore up an offensive line desperate for depth. On the other hand, they can give into temptation by pursuing Mario Williams thereby forming a front four with two of the most elite pass rushers in the game today.

Cutting to the chase as quickly as I can, I believe the Bears should roll the dice and aggressively pursue Mario Williams, and I'll give you my reasons:

First of all, I don't like Vincent "2 DUI's" Jackson, or Marques "My Knee Is More Fragile Than I Let On" Colston. Despite what their stats will tell you, I don't believe either one of them are the elite receivers Jay Cutler needs, not to mention the track record of teams breaking the bank on Free Agent Wide Receivers is not a good one in terms of winning Super Bowls. Did I mention Muhsin Muhammad?

Secondly, Phil Emery is known for being a college scout specialist. So hopefully that means he has a better idea of what to look for in the draft than Jerry Angelo. The Bears also have 8 draft picks this year, including two 3rd round picks. I believe the Bears can find a suitable receiver with their second or third round pick(s), which would be a much better bet than heavily investing in Jackson or Colston.

It should also bear mentioning that Vincent Jackson was a late second round pick in 2005 - and he was also the TENTH Receiver taken in that draft! Some of the names drafted ahead of VJAX? Braylon Edwards, Mike Williams, Reggie Brown, Matt Jones, and (drum roll) Mark Bradley.

Thirdly, Mario Williams is an elite pass rusher. Essentially he's a 27 year old version of Julius Peppers: freak athlete with unbelievable size and quickness who consistently gets to the quarterback despite constant double teams. Mario already has 53 sacks in 6 seasons, which is roughly the same pace Peppers had at age 27, but that's not the point. The point is what Mario would do with the Bears.

Mario Williams would open up so many possibilities for this Bears defense. Mario's mere presence would make it impossible for opposing offensive lines to double team both him and Peppers. Teams would have to pick their poison with their blocking schemes, and the match up problems become even more difficult since Peppers occasionally lines up at the 3 Technique, and Mario has no issue with being a stand-up linebacker/edge rusher on third downs like he was last season.

Finally, in this pool of available free agents, Mario Williams is the safest bet in terms of acquiring a game changer. Quite Frankly, this free agent pool is very sub par if you think about it. I've already gone over what I don't like about Jackson and Colston. If you feel Cortland Finnegan, Red Bryant, Matt Flynn, Brandon Carr, or Pierre Garcon are better bets than Mario, that's fine, but I'm not comfortable spending large money on them versus Williams.

If we're really being honest about how bad this pool is, lets discuss the fact that a guy with 4 neck surgeries in 18 months - including two fused vertebrae and a damaged nerve that may or may not regenerate, and hasn't been seen throwing a football in two years......is about to get at least $20 million from somebody simply because he's Peyton Manning.

Add all of that up, and Mario Williams makes a lot of sense and hopefully a lot of Bears dollars.

Yeah....This Actually Happened

Mutiny On The Bounty

The NFL continues to remind us that their footprint does indeed last 12 months per year, as news broke on Friday that the New Orleans Saints implemented and orchestrated a Bounty System for a period of 3 seasons. The chief orchestrator behind the Bounty System was their now former defensive coordinator Gregg Williams.

The details of the Bounty System are as follows: players received $1500 for "knockout hits", $1000 for "cart-off" hits with payoff amounts doubling and tripling if they took place during playoff games. There also is a memo from the league that Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma put up a $10,000 bounty before a playoff game, as well as agent Mike Ornstein fronted the money for bounties at least twice. The investigation also concluded that bounty funds might have reached as much as $50,000 at one point.

The investigation into the bounties began after allegations arose that Saint defenders were targeting Kurt Warner and Brett Favre. As far as "who knew what when", Head Coach Sean Payton, and GM Mickey Loomis were very much aware of Williams' Bounty System. Even more galling, is that Saints owner Tom Benson also found about the Bounty System and told both Loomis and Payton to shut it down. Despite the mandate from Benson, Loomis and Payton did nothing to stop it.

There are also reports that Williams implemented a Bounty System when he was defensive coordinator for the Bills and Redskins.

The reaction has been pretty varied. Obviously Commissioner Roger Goodell spoke about it very foreboding terms, citing that player safety has never been more important than it currently is, and this behavior is in complete violation of player safety in addition to violating the rules and salary cap.

In terms of fans and media reaction, there has been everything from Doug Farrar of Yahoo Sports calling for a "lifetime ban" for Gregg Williams, to former player Matt Bowen pulling the "part of the game" card. Others are also pointing out that similar systems have existed for decades in the NFL, and that it's impossible to stop it, blah, blah, blah...

In my view, this is absolute garbage. 

First of all the league has rules against the Bounty System and they should be respected, even though they also have rules against taking steroids, and obviously those rules aren't being followed. Despite the league rules already in place, I don't necessarily have an issue with bounties being part of a locker room, or having a defensive coordinator orchestrate an entire system around it. My issue stems from a Bounty System encouraging/rewarding players to play with deliberate intent to injure, rather than for clean solid plays.

Bounties for interceptions, fumble recoveries, and touchdowns? Fine. Bounties for "Cart-offs", "knockouts", and "kill shots"? Hell no! There has been, and always will be a line in every level of football separating aggressive play designed to cause pain, and cheap shots designed to cause injury.

An example I keep referring people to is Bill "Romo" Romanowski. Romo was one of the dirtiest players whoever played the game. Among his most notable incidents were a helmet-to-helmet hit that broke Kerry Collins jaw...in a PRESEASON game. Romo also kicked Larry Centers in the head during a game, and most notoriously tried to break Shannon Sharpe's arm during a game. You can see footage of the Sharpe play here.

All of those incidents involved Romo trying to injure someone, versus taking out players cleanly, and they all cross the line between good aggressive play, and intent to cause injury. As a result, Romo was vilified and despised by both opponents AND teammates (see Marcus Williams). The reason for Romo's universal dislike is very simple: he played the game with intent to injure, and was justifiably seen as a dirty player.

It is this type of play that I feel Williams' Bounty System is encouraging, and there's plenty of evidence suggesting that it did occur with the Saints. From Adrian Peterson suggesting the Saints targeted his high ankle sprain, to Jay Cutler getting kicked in the throat during the Saints game in week 2, there's plenty of mounting evidence suggesting that the line is/was habitually crossed by the Saints.

I'm predicting that Goodell will be looking to make a bold statement in this situation. Goodell will make prominent examples of both Williams' and the Saints. I don't think it will be as big as a lifetime ban, but certainly will be along the lines of what the Spygate punishment was for the Patriots. Two Draft picks, Millions of dollars in fines, and definitely a half-season suspension for Williams' at least.

That's a good place to start.

A New Hope?

Like many others who found nothing else on TV this weekend, I watched a little bit of the NFL Combine. One of the more ingenious things the NFL has done over the last 8 years was airing The Combine live on NFL Network. It finally gave losers like me a chance to see with my own eyes how a NFL Prospect performed, rather than have one of their "experts" tell me what he saw on Total Access later that evening.

If you haven't seen the NFL Combine before, it mildly flirts with homo-eroticism by showcasing these over-muscled and super humanly strong/fast young men in skin tight clothing. While wearing said clothing, these prospects are then asked to go through a litany of football drills. Exactly what purpose does it really serve? Depends on who you ask since the actual evaluators won't let their true feelings be known until Draft Day. Either way though, the NFL Combine has become must-see TV for all NFL Draft Enthusiasts, and I count myself among them.

As I was watching today, I had a bit of an epiphany. Robert Griffin III (RGIII) became the story of the day, as he ran a 4.41 40 yard dash. Obviously RGIII is no stranger to anyone who follows college football since he's the most recent Heisman Trophy winner. Somewhere during the telecast, this question randomly popped into my head:

"Why is Tim Tebow worshipped, and RGIII isn't?

After all, there's nothing individually that Tebow had done in college that RGIII hasn't. RGIII also won the Heisman as Tebow did. RGIII set all kinds of conference records with his performance on the field. Here's the kicker though, RGIII graduated college in December of 2010 with a degree in Political Science, mainly because he wanted to "...get my grad school paid for while I'm already under scholarship". RGIII is aspiring to become a lawyer, and is pursuing his masters in Communications.

In terms of who impresses me off the field? That's not even a contest. There's Tebow and his incessant "I love god, blah, blah, blah" speech that seems to be stuck on "repeat" anytime a microphone is shoved in front of him. Then there's RGIII, who makes prescient statements like "This is unbelievably believable...It's unbelievable because in the moment we're all amazed when great things happen. But it's believable because great things don't happen without hard work." while accepting his Heisman Trophy. Game. Set. Match RGIII.

On the field? We'll have to wait until next season to find out for sure, but for my money I'm going on the record right now, RGIII will be a better QB in his first season than Tebow ever will be for his entire career.

Mark it down, right now. It's already a fact that RGIII is much faster than Tebow. It's already a fact that RGIII has a stronger and more accurate arm than Tebow, and it will soon be fact that RGIII will be drafted much higher than Tebow was.

Which brings me back to my original question. Why isn't RGIII worshipped the same way Tebow was coming out of college? The easy answer is the God Complex which Tebow suffers from appeals to the stupid out there, while I have yet to hear if RGIII mention any reference to an afterlife. The ugly answer is that RGIII's skin tone doesn't match Tebow's, but I don't buy that. Neither answer serves as a satisfactory one for me.

In my opinion, the answer appears to be that the NFL audience hasn't gotten a chance to get to know RGIII in detail yet. The good news is, they will get to know all about him very soon. When they do get to know RGIII, they are going to be very impressed with what they see and hear, on and off the field.

My hope is that they will be so impressed, that Tebow eventually becomes the "Oh Yeah Tebow....whatever happened to that guy?"

One Shining Moment....Not To Be

Hello dear readers. I apologize for the lack of posts. I blame my personal ban of all things NBA and the month of February for my recent departure. The lack of relevant sports activity notwithstanding, I thought I would take a moment to share a recent sports adventure I had this past week.

Living in the Bay Area, my sports radio options are pretty limited. There's the self-appointed "Sports Leader" (and ESPN backed) KNBR, and for the better part of two decades it's been KNBR or KNBR, in terms of options. 

KNBR represents everything that's wrong with sports radio these days. The station practically oozes all things ESPN Corporate Policy, while parading nothing but insipid and syrup spewing hosts that claim to be "hard hitting" all the while sending me to my smart phone to listen to WSCR The Score. All of that changed this past summer with the premier of 95.7 The Game.

The Game, while still pretty far from a finished product, is a refreshing alternative to the ESPN Propaganda Machine that is KNBR. It is obvious anytime you listen to The Game's broadcasts, the opinions offered are strictly theirs, and are not tied to some money-making machine operating out of Bristol, CT. Their hosts actually have original thoughts, that are well informed in addition to having credibility behind them, while maintaining a connection to the alienated Bay Area Sports Fan. So it would seem only natural that The Game would start a contest called "Lucky Break".

What's "Lucky Break" you ask? It is a sports reality competition the station is having with the purpose of finding an ordinary listener and giving him/her a full time position as an on-air talk show host. Think of it as a sports equivalent of American Idol. Naturally I was intrigued, and (you guessed it) I decided to compete.

How did I do? I'll get to that in a moment. First I must set the scene. The competition itself has 4 preliminary tryouts, with the idea of selecting a total of 16 second round qualifiers out of the 4 tryouts. My schedule allowed me to compete in the second tryout last Wednesday. The tryout was located at a bar/restaurant about 2 minutes away from where I work. At the tryout there were 39 other hopefuls alongside of me, all with the same goal of qualifying for the next round.

The judges had me (along with dozens of others) give "The Big Opinion", in which I'm responsible for giving a 90 second long rant on any particular Bay Area Sports subject (it's not as easy as it sounds). I decided to give my opinion on whether or not Barry Bonds is a Hall Of Famer. Oh yeah...did I mention that I had give my opinion live in front of the judges as well as my fellow competitors and the entire audience at the bar?

Needless to say, it's a pretty nerve-wracking environment. If you don't possess the necessary chops to verbalize your knowledge of a particular subject, you run the risk of complete embarrassment and humiliation from both the judges and the audience. The pressure is really on you to deliver, and it takes a lot of courage and/or self-delusion depending on your perspective, to get up there to perform.

Despite all of that pressure, I went ahead with my audition anyway. After all, I do have a history of performing live in front of an audience (starred in a play in college), and I've been told numerous times that I can be very engaging. I owed it to myself to see if I was up to the challenge of putting aside my fear, and giving it the best that I've got.

Now the story would be great if I advanced to the next round, however that wasn't the case. It wasn't that I bombed you understand. As a matter of fact, I thought I did pretty well, and I wasn't alone. The judges themselves complimented me on my knowledge, delivery, vocal inflection, and passion. They were all unanimous that I did a "good job". As you'll see if you click on the link below, the judges were not holding back if somebody sucked, so it's not like the review of my performance was being sugar-coated! They made it pretty clear to me that I didn't suck, plus my fellow competitors felt I did a great job as well, as I received numerous compliments on my performance after I sat down.

Could/Should I be mad I didn't advance to the next round? Maybe. Am I mad about it? Not really. This wasn't necessarily about winning the competition, or advancing to the next round. This had more to do with proving to myself that I could take my supposed sports expertise with my ability to entertain, and put on a 90 second show for people while putting aside my fear of embarrassment. In that regard I consider myself successful.

Despite that consolation however, I still felt I should have advanced. You can click HERE to see the guys that did advance as well as the guys who bombed.

So even though I didn't advance, I still had a fun time. Chances like this don't come along everyday, and at the very least I rolled the dice so to speak. I guess I'll be "stuck" posting my random sports stupidity on this platform, to which I really appreciate you guys still reading.

I just wish I had some footage of my performance so you could judge for yourself.

Super Bowl Round Up

Super Bowl XLVI was a good game. Not a great game, or even a memorable game, but a very efficiently played, physical game which came down to the wire with the New York Giants emerging (once again) as world champions. While the game itself might not be memorable, the outcome and legacy certainly is. The Giants now have beaten the Team of the Decade twice in the last four Super Bowls.

Back to the game itself for a moment, it was very obvious to me that the Patriots were completely not prepared for the game on the outset. A 12 men on the field penalty early in  the game was the biggest reflection of that. Rob Gronkowski's high ankle sprain injury was the subject of the mandatory week-long hype and speculation, but "Gronk" ended up being a non-factor throughout the contest. 

The Patriot offense did manage to get it going late in the first half, scoring a quick ten points to enter halftime with a 10-9 lead. The Giants on the other hand ran an effective mix of run-pass offensively, while Eli Manning was on target most of the day going 30-40 for 296 yards and the MVP to boot.

Obviously the play of the game was the catch made by Mario Manningham on the first play of what proved to be the game-winning drive for the Giants. Manning made a terrific pass to even get the ball to Manningham who was double-covered on the 38 yard reception. After the catch, Manning took chunks of yards from the Patriots defense - 16 yards to Manningham here, 14 yards to Nicks there - eventually putting the Giants in position to score the winning touchdown. A touchdown which Ahmad Bradshaw reluctantly scored while running the ball for a 6 yard TD.

Even though Chris Collinsworth called Bradshaw's TD "a mistake by the Giants", it proved to be vital since it meant not only that Brady and the Patriot offense had just 57 seconds left to score, but they had to score a Touchdown rather than a field goal. This proved to be too tall a task, and in the end the Giants walked away with the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

As far as this game's legacy, it will be largely remembered for Brady failing to join Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana as the only quarterbacks to win 4 Super Bowls. It will also serve as yet another dent in the Belichick armor in my opinion, since he's now 3-2 in Super Bowls as a head coach despite his Spygate tactics.

Many people are saying that this game will put Tom Coughlin and Eli Manning as "locks" for the Hall Of Fame now. I'm not one of those people and here's my reason why. Tom Flores and Jim Plunkett also won two Super Bowls within 4 seasons, yet neither one are in the Hall Of Fame. So why are Manning and Coughlin "locks" while Flores and Plunkett aren't? I don't get the logic in that?

Regardless, the Giants are champions today, and as a Bears fan it gives me hope watching a 9-7 team that was left for dead at one point, win the Super Bowl. It makes you wonder what else is possible?

(Sigh) Okaaaaay....

Who could have ever predicted that someday the Oakland Raiders would be more sensible and logical, in their organizational restructuring than the Chicago Bears? I certainly never thought that would be possible, yet here we are...

With the announcement today that Phil Emery is the new Chicago Bears General Manager - even though it's essentially in name only since he can't fire Lovie Smith for a year - the Bears have attempted to fool the masses into thinking that hiring Emery is/was the move they needed to make in order to "win championships". Unfortunately, in typical Bears fashion, they've managed to fool nobody.

If the Bears were really attempting to convince people they were building towards multiple championships, they would have not just simply fired Jerry Angelo, but also would have served notice that whoever they hired as the next GM would have complete and total autonomy to clean house if he so desired.

The next GM, wouldn't have any timetables, restrictions, or stipulations in place prior to taking the job. The next GM would have a plan in place, and be able to immediately bring in the supporting staff he desires to implement the plan, which is precisely what the Oakland Raiders did.

The Bears on the other hand, hired a guy that would have to mesh with Lovie Smith, meaning that Lovie is essentially choosing who his new boss will be, which is the very definition of "Conflict Of Interest". The Bears also managed to make themselves into a laughing stock around the league with the way they sought out Jerry Angelo's replacement. Most importantly, the Bears managed to make a very simple process into a needlessly complicated one, and leaves us with a feeling that they didn't get the best possible candidate.

As far as Phil Emery himself, who the hell knows? His former boss Scott Pioli had nice things to say about him today, but then again Scott Pioli isn't really in a position to be critical of anyone on his former staff in Kansas City with recent allegations that Pioli runs the Chiefs like it's an Orwellian atmosphere. All we really do know about Emery is that he was a scout for the Bears in 2004, and before that he was a Strength and Conditioning coach. Does that mean Rusty Jones could be an NFL GM someday? Wait don't answer that.

For me the bottom line is real simple. As much as I lament that the Bears have completely screwed up yet another opportunity to conduct themselves as a progressive NFL Organization, I won't get too worked up about it....yet. My reason for tempering my displeasure is pretty simple: I want to see what Emery does in the draft this season.

Everyone knows the Bears are at least $20 million under the salary cap. Everybody knows that Bears intend on spending a lot of that money on free agency, specifically targeting a big play wide receiver. That's all fine and good, but if the Bears intend on winning multiple championships as they say they are, the key will be what happens in the drafts ahead.

If it's one thing I've learned over all the years of watching football, is that talent outweighs X's and O's. I'm not saying that coaching doesn't matter, because it absolutely matters, but Bill Belichick, or Bill Walsh, or any of the other "geniuses" would not have flourished as coaches if they didn't have great drafts over the years.

If Emery really does have the excellent college scouting background he supposedly possesses, then he should be able to find the necessary players that will be the cornerstones of the team in the years to come. Today's press conference certainly eliminated any chance Phil has a future as a talk-show host, but I really couldn't care less that he's not a good public speaker.

We know that Lovie Smith - despite my own personal misgivings about him - is a good football coach when he is supplied with guys who can play.

If Emery can find that talent in the draft, then the Bears will be fine. If not, the Bears will have to start this whole thing over again which would really be a crime since Jay Cutler is not getting any younger.

Let's hope Phil knows what he's doing.

Throw It All Away

By now you have heard that Joe Paterno died. Hell you probably heard about it before it actually happened, since there were reports of his death as early as Saturday afternoon.  I don't have to explain who he was, and what he accomplished. I don't have to point out the number of wins under his belt (how many of which he actually deserved or not, is another column for another time), his National Championships, his good standing among millions of college football fans, nor his ICON status among the college football elite.

I certainly won't bother recounting the "Winning With Integrity" and "The Grand Experiment" - expressions and terms that Paterno himself coined - that Paterno stood for. I won't mention all of this because of the simple fact that NONE of it applies anymore, nor should they be what Paterno is remembered for.

The only thing Paterno should be remembered for, is that he fostered an environment that allowed a serial child-rapist to operate unfettered, and when Paterno was put in a position to stop it, he did nothing.

The closest example I can liken this to is O.J. Simpson. Like Paterno, O.J. was a legend among football circles. He electrified fans, terrorized defenses, and became an elite running back by which all future running backs would be measured against. Then O.J. had that little "Double-Murder" thing and suddenly O.J.'s football legacy wasn't so bright. The fundamental difference between O.J. and Paterno is, O.J. didn't kill his wife and Ron Goldman while he was playing. Paterno on the other hand, was still reaping the rewards while Sandusky was sexually abusing children, and Paterno found out there's no money in morality.

Paterno was the grand patriarch of Penn State University. He took pride - and a tremendous salary - in being so. Paterno ran that University from his bully pulpit, to the point when the Board Of Trustees tried to coax Paterno into retirement time and time again, he repeatedly said "no" and remained head coach just because he damn well felt like it.

What's that you say? Paterno reported the 2002 incident to his superiors Tim Curley and Gary Schultz? Well see that's the thing....Paterno didn't have superiors. If Paterno was really interested in stopping Sandusky, he could have had Sandusky arrested immediately, no questions asked. That's what's possible when you are the most powerful man at Penn State University. That's also why Paterno himself said "I wish I would have done more".

That statement alone is the admission of guilt by which all other memories of Paterno should be tabled. Whether he fully knew what that statement meant, or whether or not he actually meant it, is inconsequential. Paterno said it, and he was correct in his wishes. He could have stopped these horrific acts from being committed if he really did live by his "integrity above all else" marketing slogan.

That is why Paterno doesn't deserved to be remembered for his accomplishments on the football field. It's also why his off the field charity now rings hollow. The great example of morality that Paterno fancied himself as, was only used it to suit his own purposes.

When it came time for Paterno to use his precious integrity to protect children, Paterno looked the other way, and now so should we.

Congrats I guess???

Barry Larkin was a fine baseball player. He accumulated numerous Silver Slugger and Gold Glove awards throughout his career, and also won the National League MVP in the strike-shortened 1995 season. Larkin played his entire 19 year career for his hometown Cincinnati Reds, and in 1990 he was a key player in their World Series winning ball club, as the Reds pulled a shocking 4 game sweep of the Oakland A's.

Today, Larkin received the call he has been waiting his entire career for, as he will be the newest member elected to the Baseball Hall Of Fame this summer. Do I feel Larkin is a deserving candidate? I'll get to that in a minute. In the meantime, I just can't help but point out how completely hollow this is because there's this GIANT PED Elephant in the room, and he's taking a dump in Walter Johnson's hat.

Let's get some obvious stuff out of the way. The Baseball Hall Of Fame is the equivalent of Penn State football (albeit a less extreme example): The more you find out about Penn State Football, the more you become sickened by it, and want nothing to do with it. The same methodology holds true for the Baseball Hall Of Fame.

The Hall Of Fame's location itself is based on a LIE. The Hall claims that Abner Doubleday invented the game in a pastoral setting in Cooperstown, New York in 1839, and goes so far as to showcase the baseball Doubleday purportedly used, in an exhibit (I have seen it). The Doubleday Myth has been debunked dozens of times, yet Bud Selig and Hawk Harrelson still believe Abner invented the game.

So while the Hall's very existence is enough of a reminder that the bigger the lie, the more people will believe it, I've learned more history about the Hall of Fame itself as I've gotten older, and I've realized it's little more than a tourist attraction. Obviously, there are many who disagree with me on the significance of the Hall. They view it as Baseball Mecca, and election into it is the ultimate measure of baseball greatness. Whatever. Denial is not just a river in Egypt.

Back to the original question, do I think Larkin is worthy of election? I do, but I hesitate in thinking that because of a few different reasons. It's not so much that Alan Trammell is Larkin's complete statistical doppelganger, yet Trammell received a paltry 36% of the vote. It's not so much that Larkin never led the league in....any...statistical category...ever. As a matter of fact, my hesitation has very little do with Larkin himself. My hesitation mainly has to do with who ISN'T getting elected along with Barry.

Larkin was elected today, but a guy who has 569 career home runs was not (Rafael Palmeiro). Another former player with 583 career home runs was also not elected (Mark McGwire). Same goes with another player with a career .948 OPS and 449 home runs (Jeff Bagwell). Did I mention a lifetime .313 hitter, .965 OPS, with 383 home runs also wasn't elected either (Larry Walker)? All of these eligible players are being denied entry, yet Major League Baseball along with the Baseball Writers Association of America (BBWAA) are whistling past the graveyard when it comes to addressing why.

The irony of course, is that 365 days from now there will be even bigger and uglier graves to whistle past, in the form of Barry Bonds, Mike Piazza, Sammy Sosa, and Roger Clemens. There is no question that none of those aforementioned players will be elected on the first ballot, yet there will be no overt reason given as to why they will be denied. It will be sort of hinted at, and strongly implied, but never expressly stated by anyone on the record.

What further complicates the matter, is that the BBWAA has been given a mandate by the Hall Of Fame itself, that there MUST be at least one player elected every year. Other than Curt Schilling, and maybe Tim Raines and/or Craig Biggio, there won't be many names for the BBWAA to choose from if this pattern of election continues.

Which brings me back to my original feelings about Larkin's election. While Barry is a deserving candidate, his election is cheapened by the inaction and silence by both the BBWAA and the Hall Of Fame when it comes to decreeing/classifying PED Use, Admission, and/or Suspicion as it relates to Rule 5 - otherwise known as The Character Clause.

I am now calling on the BBWAA and the Hall Of Fame itself to remove the "Minimum 1 player election per year" mandate. I am also calling for a suspension of voting until PED use, suspicion, and/or admission is determined to violate Rule 5  and is documented on record as such. If that takes one year, ten years, or fifty years, so be it. Just as long as you take the "did he or didn't he" guess-work away from the voters.

I'm quite certain none of my wishes will happen. Still, I feel stridently this must be done before this gets worse. That is exactly why it won't be done however, because this is baseball after all.

Baseball's history is not anticipatory, but rather it is a history of being stubbornly deliberate. Whether it's been issues of racial equality, free agency, revenue sharing, or PED'S, baseball has always been dragging their feet, rather than being ahead of the curve.

The time to change that behavior is now, otherwise this will be yet another error in the handling of The Steroid Era.

You Missed A Spot Or Two George...

As I tweeted earlier, I had a feeling I shouldn't post my thoughts on the blog right away after the Bears meaningless victory over the Minnesota Vikings on New Years Day. Something told me that I should save it for later this week, in case there were any swift and bold changes taking place at Halas Hall. My instinct served me well evidently, as I awoke this morning to the news that long time Bears General Manager Jerry Angelo had been fired.

The interesting part of that news mainly involved the fact that Angelo hadn't retired, or even resigned, but was Fired with a capital "F". The Bears didn't stop with Angelo today either. After initially stating on their website that "...no other changes would be made", much maligned Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz and Quarterbacks Coach Shane Day had resigned as well.

What did all of this activity mean? Were there more names that were about to be referred to as "ex-Bears" on the coaching staff? Was Team President Ted Phillips next? How about Lovie Smith? If Jerry Angelo could be fired, couldn't the same fate await Lovie and Ted? After all, they have as much to do with the Bears making the postseason 3 times in 8 seasons, and only once since reaching the Super Bowl five seasons ago, as Angelo and Martz did. Does this activity signify that newly named Chairman George McCaskey was wiping the slate clean and starting fresh from the top down? Only an afternoon press conference could answer those questions:

Well the press conference happened, and unfortunately for us, the few answers we got aren't the right answers, and the new questions that have emerged are even worse.

There's so much subtext to all of this, it's pretty impossible for me to cover it all here, but I'll do what I can without "whistling Dixie". First things last, Jerry Angelo deserved to get fired. The totality of his too-many-misses-not-enough-hits draft classes, are more than enough grounds to justify Angelo's termination. Add the fact that Angelo's failure to recognize that Caleb Hanie couldn't play football while keeping Hanie on the roster for 4 seasons, on top of the following free agent/trade busts:

1. Adewale Ogunleye          2. Mushin Muhammad
3. Adam Archuleta              4. Frank Omiyale
5. Brandon Manumaleuna   6. Orlando Pace
7. Gaines Adams (RIP)       8. Chester Taylor

...and it's pretty clear that Jerry Angelo was in over his head, especially once he got away from Greg Gabriel and Bobby DePaul.

With regard to Mike Martz departing, I doubt many tears will be shed. Especially from the Bears most important player Jay Cutler. One sentiment I've heard is "Well you can't fire Martz because the last two game Cutler played, the offense was moving the ball pretty well." So that means it took 28 games before Martz's offense started to work?

Obviously that's not true. It's also not true that they were even running Martz's offense. What definitely IS true however is that the Bears made the simple art of relaying the play calls from the booth to the huddle the most complicated process ever, and thus burned more timeouts, and incurred more delay of game penalties, than any other team in the league.

Most fans don't seem to understand that Martz was calling all those running plays through gritted teeth. He HATED calling a 50/50 run/pass split every game. He couldn't stand calling plays for Cutler to roll out of the pocket and throw on the run. It was also Martz's idea to get rid of Cutler's favorite target Greg Olsen, since Martz's offense has absolutely no use for a pass catching Tight End. The New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints, and Green Bay Packers on the other hand seem to think the Tight End can be a pretty lethal part of a passing game, but what the hell do they know about offense right Mike?

Martz wants to run his antiquated Greatest Show On Turf version of Air Coryell, and he can't accept that he doesn't have the talent on the roster to run it. More importantly, Martz doesn't understand that his offense is going to get Cutler killed, like it did with every other quarterback that ran it. Not to mention it's pretty much an open secret that Martz is known as a "Me Guy" in Halas Hall as well. Therefore it was in the Bears best interest to part ways with him, and search for an Offensive Coordinator that is ahead of the NFL curve, or at the very least understands what he can and can't run with this personnel.

As for what happens now? Well Ted Phillips and George McCaskey made it clear that Ted is running the Bears right now, and Lovie Smith will be the head coach for 2012 no matter what. This means that the incoming GM will not be allowed to replace Lovie for at least one more season. This doesn't really sit well with me, because it sure seems like there was some Quid Pro Quo between Ted and Lovie in an effort to save their jobs.

The logic being, Ted says he'll fire Angelo while asking Lovie to fire Martz, therefore the two of them will get what they want - another year of employment while placing Angelo and Martz as the scapegoats. Want proof that Lovie fired Martz? When asked about Martz's resignation, the first words out of Ted Phillips' mouth were "Well that was Lovie's call..." So yes, it's pretty obvious Lovie fired Martz and is now working on his 4th offensive coordinator in 9 seasons.

Here's my bottom line. If the Bears are serious about bringing in a new, big nuts, General Manager, and they're also serious about bringing in an offensive coordinator that's going to maximize the talents of the franchise QB....Phillips better not have only identified candidates, but he should have them all but one final interview away from accepting the job(s). I know some people might refer to this as "tampering", but a more accurate way to describe it would be "working the back channels of the NFL".

Something tells me that's not what has happened though. These moves are little more than scapegoating by two desperate men trying to save their own asses, in the form of Ted Phillips and Lovie Smith, and it looks like they are going to get away with it.

If George McCaskey would have done what many had hoped he would do, and clean house from Phillips on down, I think this would be cause for much more optimism. The Bears are a charter franchise of the NFL. They have some attractive components already on the roster, and if they were starting over with a new GM free to hire any coach he wanted, along with making any personnel moves he desired, I have to believe this job opening would be much more attractive to the likes of say a Bill Polian, Bill Parcells, Carl Peterson or to any of the new blood candidates whose names will be brandied about very soon.

Either way, today's transactions are another example of the Bears repeating the same mistake they made when they hired Jerry Angelo in the first place on that spring day in 2001. Angelo wasn't allowed to fire Dick Jauron, and as a result had to wait three seasons into the job before he could make his first - and it turns out only - head coaching hire.

As the title indicates, if George McCaskey was going to clean house, he missed two dirty spots he needed to get rid of.