by Timothy Weisberg | Aug 23, 2010 | Blog
Brett Favre has become the new Jay-z/Michael Jordan for the NFL, recently announcing his decision to return for yet another season. What a surprise.
Favre has been toying with media outlets all over the country for the past three seasons, using every off-season since 2007 to contemplate retirement. And every time, towards the end of training camp, Favre would be back in uniform.
He wasn’t retiring people; he was just “tired.” Tired as in tired of going to training camp and off-season workouts.
Entering his 20th season, Favre will exercise the last year of his two-year, 25-million dollar contract and play quarterback for another season. Favre will be 41 in October, and the allure of a possible Super Bowl appearance has brought him back to Minneapolis.
Last season remains a constant memory, an overtime loss to the eventual super bowl champion New Orleans Saints in the NFC Championship game. A game the Vikings probably should have one but a lapse in clock management and a Favre interception later, it seemed only fitting the team from Cajun Land would win a ring for a city still recovering from Hurricane Katrina. A game that forced Bret Favre to swallow a life-size Pride pill.
At 40, Favre came off one of his best years with the Vikings, throwing for 34 touchdowns and only eight interceptions. It was only practical for him to return and exercise his option for the last year of his contract.
The whole retire/stay limbo is like the boy who cried wolf; once you start getting people to keep believing you will do something, only to see the person back out, they will no longer believe you when you contemplate the decision again.
People stopped listening to the boy who cried wolf, and fans and media will start to stop believing Favre’s retire/stay limbo gig.
Because as of now, Favre can easily tilt his head back and crawl under the bar, out of the limbo.
I think that Favre is still capable of competing at the NFL level, despite recent ankle surgery and shoulder surgery last season. Last season’s four-to-one touchdown to interception ratio speaks for itself.
He will continue to play until his legs give out, or someone crashes into the HHH Metrodome and then succumbs to burning down all of the Vikings training facilities. Okay maybe not, but Favre will be here for at least one more season. Just don’t be surprised when the boy cries wolf and you find out he’s coming out of his 4th retirement.
by Timothy Weisberg | Aug 21, 2010 | Blog
Jamey Carroll. Does the name sound familiar?
To most Dodger fans, Carroll remains a distant figure for a franchise whose owner is undergoing a bitter divorce, and a team that is fading out of the playoff picture. But Carroll still manages to come out and play his position like it’s the last time he will ever play the game.
The Evansville native signed with the Dodgers during the off-season to provide the Dodgers with a veteran utility player that could play the infield on the starter’s days off.
To me, Jamey Carroll is the MVP of the Dodgers, and deserving of the annual Heart & Hustle Award. They would be even lower in this abyss of a struggling offense, poor bullpen play, and a team that has appeared to call it quits after 162 games if it weren’t for Carroll.
He brings a calm manner to a very complex game, the construction worker with his hard hat and lunch pale as he prepares for another day on the job.
He has received more playing time due to Rafael Furcal’s trip to the disabled list, and has provided the lone flame that remains in a season filled with high expectations. Two straight NL West titles and two straight trips to the NLCS can spoil you, and standing 11 games back of the Padres, the hopes for a third straight golden October seem about as likely as Palestinians and Israelis agreeing to a ceasefire.
The best off-season acquisition the Dodgers made, which you could argue is not that much to say considering the Dodgers remained on an island of their own as other teams picked up free agents. You can thank McCourt for that one.
If the Pacific Ocean represented the free agent class, McCourt and the Dodgers were somewhere in North Dakota.
But along the way, they picked up Carroll. He doesn’t hit home runs, but he will flash you with the glove, and provide a positive energy that seems to be lacking in the Dodger clubhouse.
I think the Dodgers can learn a thing or two from Carroll, whose swagger is unphased under pressure, scrutiny, or the performance of the team. Every day, he is back at it again.
In a game that becomes less and less team-oriented as you reach closer and closer to the professional level, Carroll is the small part of unity, unselfishness and sense of team comraderie that exists in sports today.
Carroll plays on, and Matt Kemp uses his agent to bicker back at a Bill Plaschke column questioning his hustle and play out on the field, yet remains the candidate for the Heart & Hustle Award.
Batting .288 with 0 home runs and 18 RBI’s, Carroll is the Waldo of the Dodgers organization that I was able to find, and one who best exemplifies an athletes with a big heart, and with a lot of hustle.
Time for you to look for Carroll. Where’s Carroll? Better search for him next time you see the Dodgers come out on the field.
He is the MVP of moral character, mental toughness, hustle, and perseverance. Even if the Dodgers continue to struggle to score runs, and slip more and more out of the playoff picture.
by Timothy Weisberg | Aug 21, 2010 | Blog
It didn’t take much shopping for the Los Angeles Lakers this off-season to put together a team that will be in contention for another three-peat. Lakers owner Jerry Buss seemed very reluctant to increase the Lakers payroll after offering contract extensions to Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol.
However, Buss could not escape the allure of quite arguably one of the biggest free agent classes in the history of the NBA. When players such as Amare Stoudamire, Chris Bosh, Lebron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Jermaine O’Neal and Rudy Gay make up a star-studded cast of free agents, owners can only drool as they shop for the crème of the crop that will get them the rock.
So Buss went shopping. He convinced Derek Fisher to resign for less than the 5 million a year he was asking for, as well as resigning high-flyer Shannon Brown to a reduced salary, if you compare what Brown was offered by the New York Knicks and Cleveland Cavailiers. Add veteran guard Steve Blake to the mix, veteran Theo Ratliff and journeyman Matt Barnes to the roster, the blueprint has been created for another Lakers championship run.
Brown is always the high-flying act off the bench, and Blake provides a great back up for Derek Fisher. If Blake was in anything but a Lakers uniform, he would be the leader on the court. But this is Fisher’s team.
Buss’ small dip of the toes into the free agent waters has offered the Lakers an even better opportunity to defend their title for the second time.
“As of now, I feel there’s a good chance this could be the best team we’ve ever had,” Buss told the L.A. Times.
Sure it was important for the Lakers to resign Fisher, and convince Brown to rejoin the Lakers, but the best off-season mood the Lakers made was acquiring Barnes. Although a journeyman, he has always provided a swagger on defense that the rest of the team can feed into. Barnes started for the Orlando Magic last year, and was the best defender they had. He has size, quickness, and above all, the tenacity to compete in the NBA’s high-octane atmosphere.
The California native provides a cure to the Achille’s heel of the back-to-back champions: the bench play. The Lakers might have been been to three straight NBA Finals, but the bench always proved to be the crutch that put the Lakers to a stand still.
When Kobe and the gang were off the floor, the bench always managed to let large leads gradually slip away. Barnes will help spark a strong defensive second-team so to speak that will give the starters a good rest, and help keep leads for the Lakers.
Buss is determined to win another title, and in his eyes, anything less is a failure.
“Some time ago, I’m talking to some people and they wanted a bonus if the Lakers make the playoffs. I said, ‘If they don’t make the playoffs, you don’t work here anymore,’ ” Buss told the L.A. Times.
Look out Lebron, Bosh, DWade. Here come the Lakers.
by Timothy Weisberg | Aug 13, 2010 | Blog
So I have officially decided that Dodgers closer Jonathan Broxton should no longer be allowed to pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies. Game 4 of the 2008 and 2009 NLCS ring any bells? Maybe the Liberty Bell.
After seven innings, 9-2 Dodgers. At the end of the game, the score was 10-9 Phillies. Broxton was given another bitter trip down memory lane, and tonight’s latest perpetrator was Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz.
Ruiz provided the crushing blow: a two-run double in the left-center field gap to cap off the improbable comeback. Up 9-6, Broxton came in needing just three outs. He didn’t even make one. A hit batter and two walks later, the bases were loaded and nobody out.
As much as I tried to believe Broxton would be able to get out of this pickle, it only seemed inevitable that the fat lady would not be singing, the Liberty Bell would be ringing, and the Dodgers would lose another heartbreaker to the Phillies.
A routine grounder to third baseman Casey Blake marked the end of any sort of run for the Dodgers this season. The Phillies didn’t need to end the Dodgers’ season in October. They ended it in mid-August.
Blake pulled a Bill Buckneresque play and let a grounder bounce in between his legs, allowing two runs to score to cut the lead to one.
Just like Buckner in the 1986 World Series, this error was uncharacteristic of Blake, who only an inning earlier prevented a run to score by robbing Ruiz’ sure single to left field on a great diving stop.
But Blake was already dealt his fate. The ball that got away will now be the only thing on his mind. A microcosm for a team that always seems to get away from the Dodgers: those darn Phillies.
Three straight years, the Phillies have crushed Dodgers hearts, not breaking them, but absolutely obliterating them, beating them to the pulp that there is nothing left but a dark hole in between our chests. The Phillies have stood us up just to run us over for three years now.
There is always one franchise that always seems unable to beat a particular opponent: the Utah Jazz and Michael Jordan’s Bulls, the Blazers and the Lakers of the early 2000’s, and now the Dodgers–the Philadelphia Phillies.
Sure the season is far from over, but San Diego beat Pittsburgh today. The Dodgers are eight games back yet again, and this will be an unfortunate event that the Dodgers will not be able to shake off.
Four games in Atlanta, followed by a late night flight back home, only to be hosting the Colorado Rockies for another three-game set.
Tonight was the night for the Dodgers to make gain some solid ground; take a series from the Phillies in Philly.
Instead, the Dodgers are at rock bottom with no way up. Blake pulls a Bill Buckner to enable the modern-day Miracle Mets (the Phillies) come back from seven runs down, and Broxton finds another way to blow a save. All signs pointing in the wrong direction.
The Dodgers saw a fork in the road and went straight. Better luck next year. Maybe year four is the charm Los Angeles.
by Timothy Weisberg | Aug 13, 2010 | Blog
The Dodgers are riding a three-game winning streak, including a much-needed 15-9 victory over Philadelphia last night to spark an anemic offense.
The Dodgers are 7 games back, and with Ronald Bellisario returning from the restricted list, I truly believe the Dodgers can gain some ground on the San Diego Padres.
Jay Gibbons showed some signs of life last night, going 3 for 4 with a home run.
The biggest problem since the All-Star break has been the Dodgers offense. Vicente Padilla, Clayton Kershaw, and even Chad Billingsley have pulled together some strong pitching performances, but with no run support.
If the Dodgers want to make any serious run at the Padres, they need to drastically change their approach to hitting. Scoring 1 or 2 runs a game is not enough to hold off high caliber teams such as San Diego and San Francisco.
The Dodgers did do some right by putting Bellisario back on the roster and optioning reliever Ramon Troncoso to Triple-A Albequerque.
As much as I love Troncoso, he is not the same pitcher from last season. The velocity is down, his command has been off, and he is simply giving up too many home runs. Belisario should be great to set-up to Jon Broxton once he gets back to form.
The problem has been the amount of pitching Broxton has done. Along with hitting, bullpen struggles have continued for the Dodgers, and Broxton has carried on the workload pitching more than his usual one inning stint. His velocity and command has been down and when you put in an extra workload, you are in for some trouble.
I am excited to see Belisario back, and once Broxton can be that dominant closer for the Dodgers, they should be in good shape to turn around their post All-Star game slump, and do some real damage in the NL West.
Ethier, Kemp, and Loney all need to step up offensively to give the Dodgers a legitimate shot at winning the NL West, let alone winning the wild card.
If the anemic offense continues, and the Dodgers continue to fail to give their starting pitchers run support, there will be no mid-October baseball.
by Timothy Weisberg | Aug 13, 2010 | Blog
Preseason games are already starting, and Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis is still out of a job. The Pro Bowl corner has been in a contract dispute for months with owner Woody Johnson, who remains hesitant to meet Revis’ demands.
Revis reportedly wants a 15 million a year salary. I find this to be completely absurd. Granted Revis is one of the best corners in the league, it does not give him to right to be so self-centered and narcissistic about the whole contract situation. He represents an organization, as well as a team, and for the moment is only thinking about himself.
A 16-game season with a 15 million dollar salary would pay Revis 937,500 dollars per game, 15, 625 dollars per minute of play, and around 260 dollars a second. Think about that for a second. Literally. You blink your eyes on the field and you are making 260 dollars. People with a 8 dollar an hour job make 260 dollars in 40 hours of work.
How selfish are you? Do you really need 15 million dollars a year? I am so sick of these arrogant, self-centered athletes who only think about themselves.
There is no “I’ in team, and the Jets will honestly be better without him. What kind of message does that send to your teammates? That you are only in it for the money, and only care about meeting your demands.
On top of that, he is risking the possibility of not playing a down this season, which could jeopardize his career and put him out of the game for a whole season. All of this for 15 million dollars.
I do not like the message these players are sending. Just because they play well on the field, and make an impact on the team, they feel this incredible sense of entitlement.
Mr. Revis. Your arrogance offends me, and you are disappointing all Jets fans, players and the entire Jets organization by holding out for this long because you are not getting paid the money you “deserve.” Well guess what? If they did not give you the opportunity to play, you would have absolutely nothing to show for it.
I am sure head coach Rex Ryan and Johnson are getting sick of reporters asking questions and wondering if he will be in a Jets uniform this season.
I tell you what. IF he has held out this long, I can almost put money on him being a free agent the entire 2010 NFL season.
Congratulations to Revis, another selfish, self-centered athlete who feels he is so worthy and entitled because he matters.
That’s why professional sports are becoming less and less entertaining. They put the “I” in team, and completely deviate from the concept of what a team is; a family or unit united as one for some common goals.
Revis has one goal in mind: sitting out until the Jets meet his salary demands.
