by Timothy Weisberg | Aug 8, 2010 | Blog
Russell Martin officially hit rock bottom when he tore his hip flexor muscle a few days ago, sidelining him for the rest of the season. The once fan favorite turned a half slide, half lunge towards home plate into the fall of Russell Martin.
It seems like only yesterday Martin was batting .300 and coming off an 18 home run season, which included a start in the 2008 All-Star game at Yankee Stadium.
The Dodgers resigned him to a one-year deal, not knowing that Martin would begin his spiraling downfall as a player. Since 2008, he has significantly dropped his averages in nearly every offensive statistical category, and we all saw a significant decrease in power.
At first we thought it was that typical baseball slump that might go away with some refining in the swing, or perhaps a different way of approaching your at-bat. But it soon became an evident reality: Russell Martin’s power is gone.
Last season, he did not hit his first home run until June 20 against the Los Angeles Angels. I was at that game and let me tell you: it was not a pretty home run. The 340-foot shot down the left-field line would have been a flyout in practically every other ballpark, and Dodger fans all began to believe it might be gradually coming back.
But this was only a fluke. He struggled offensively the rest of the season, and finished with a measly .253 batting average with 7 home runs and 53 RBI’s.
Still, Martin felt obligated to file for arbitration during his arbitration-eligible year, and surprisingly won, upping his salary to 5 million dollars.
But this year’s injury was the fat lady singing, the butter getting hard, the jello giggling. It was the end of Russell Martin as a Dodger.
A disappointing finish to a man with so much potential, so much swagger as he gracefully squatted behind home plate, waving his fingers around to signal the call, sliding over to block a nasty slider that dove into the dirt like a gopher diving through a gopher hole. But it still wasn’t the same Russell Martin.
The fan favorite who insisted on carrying the load, playing everyday, and consistently playing everyday to help his team win. The Russell Martin who put a “J” as a dedication to his mother’s maiden name, and the same Russell Martin, that nobody Canadian who rose up the Dodgers farm system, landing a spot on the roster, and becoming quite arguably one of the best catchers in the game.
But not anymore. The promising catcher, a gold-glover, will sit the rest of his Dodgers career on the bench, trying to figure out what happened the past two years.
The symbolism of the hip flexor injury is so compelling that Dodger fans were not in the least bit of shock after discovering number 55 would not be behind home plate.
A young man who still refused to go despite the injury, and the same player who caught another five innings with a torn muscle in his hip before even he finally gave in.
When Hung Chi-Kuo came in to relief, Martin admitted to Torre that he could not move in time to block Kuo’s sliders. This marked the end of a once promising prospect that will be no more.
Where his future stands, who knows. All that Dodger fans know is that something unexplainable overtook Martin’s offensive abilities, and haunted him until he could play no more.
As an arbitration-eligible player after this season, the Dodgers will most likely, and rightfully so, be unwilling to risk the demands of Martin’s salary for another injury, but more importantly, another year of offensive struggles, a lack of power, and a complete non-threat at the plate. If you ask me, Martin should have slid into home that fateful night in San Francisco.
by Timothy Weisberg | Aug 8, 2010 | Blog
Shannon Brown has passed the test. He decided to stick around for at least one more year with the Los Angeles Lakers. Brown signed a two-year, 4.6 million dollar deal on August 4, wrapping up the Lakers last real signee for the upcoming season.
Brown had about 6 other teams looking at him, and was down to Los Angeles, Cleveland and New York, but chose to make less to stay with the back-to-back champs. Good decision. The test he passed: whether or not he was in it for the money.
Two years with a team, and two championships would sure as hell lock me in, but Brown got caught up in the allure of making even more money playing for another team, as well as some more playing time. With Derek Fisher resigning to a three-year deal, and Steve Blake signing to a four-year deal, Brown looks to be the third-string point guard who will not get a whole lot of playing time. But hey, he could win his third championship by age 25.
He is truly the high-wire act, and always puts on a show, but he will never be that franchise player, or a player to carry the whole team on his shoulders. If he was that guy in Cleveland, he would be sitting home after an 82-game season and no playoff berth.
For the athletes of today, they have to ask themselves the ultimate question: Would I rather play for a non-contender and make more money, or take a pay cut and be a contender?
Brown made the right decision choosing the latter, because in the end, these guys should be in it to win. Sure you might get more playing time and a chance to be in a new environment but at what cost? The goal for every team is to make it to the Finals and get the ring. That’s the goal of the team, the fans, and the owners of the franchise. That’s why it amazes me to see the greed in athletes when they sign with another team for the money.
But that isn’t Shannon Brown. He is in it to win it. Granted he will most likely opt out of his two-year contract during the second-year player option, at least when he tested the market, he knew that being in Los Angeles was going to give him the best opportunity to win. So you ONLY make 2.3 million dollars. You have two rings at age 24. That’s a remarkable feat.
Cleveland and New York would not get you anywhere. Sure the nightlife might be great in New York, but with Raymond Felton signing with the Knicks this offseason, he would not get much playing time in the NYC anyway.
I am sorry Shannon, but scoring 8 points a game in limited action is not worthy of a dramatic raise. You will only be a role player, as popular as you are. The Lakers are glad to have you back. Let’s start another three-peat now!
by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 24, 2010 | Blog
I guess it took a two-year bowl ban, severe holds on scholarships and an entire season wiped from the record books for the University of Southern California to realize that Mike Garrett was simply not the right guy to be the Athletic Director for USC.
So in comes in Pat Haden, who has sworn to make some drastic changes to the now tarnished USC athletic program. You knew something smelled fishy when Pete Carroll bolts for the Seattle Seahawks and Tim Floyd, former coach of the USC men’s basketball team, resigns.
Is USC taking a step in the right direction? Absolutely. I truly believe Pat Haden will be able to reestablish the USC athletic program back to where it should be: winning championships, developing student-athletes, but in an honest manner.
Garrett should have been fired as soon as the allegations really came to light a few months ago. His arrogance and lack of persistence to actively look into the allegations has cost the 66-year-old tremendously. He will no longer be remembered as the Heisman-winning quarterback, or the man who led USC to unprecedented success over the past 17 years. No. He will be remembered as an athletic director who let his arrogance and pride overcome what should have been handled a long time ago.
Instead of looking into the investigation, Garrett dismissed the allegations and even had the balls to say that people were jealous of the USC program.
As an athletic director, your job is not to show up on Saturdays and sit in the luxury suite to watch your teams play. Your job is to overlook the program, hire the best candidates to lead each program, and to make sure that they are following the rules.
As a result, Mike Garrett has an “early retirement,” and only is remembered for lacking the discipline to take care of business a long time ago when the allegations came to light. He will not be remembered for all the great things he did. Who do you think hired Pete Carroll? Instead, his arrogance and remaining completely oblivious to a pretty serious situation has cost him his reputation, as well as the reputation of the USC athletic program.
I like the idea of bringing in Pat Haden, someone with experience in personal relations and someone who is determined to bring about positive changes to a program that has been under such a negative light.
However, I think there is even a better solution to this entire recruiting violation debacle that has tormented many universities over the past few years: hire someone outside the university. What kind of precedence are you setting when you hire people who have always been associated with the university to lead a major component of your school’s revenue and success: athletics.
Mike Garrett’s biased towards the program allowed for these violations to carry over for too long, before it was too late. Someone outside the university would have looked into it, having no previous bias towards the university.
This goes for every other school as well. A qualified candidate does not have to be a former athlete for the university. Think outside the box people. Do companies only hire family? No. They have an outside source leading the group.
If you ever let your arrogance and pride overcome the blatantly obvious you have to ask yourself the ultimate question: who does this affect the most? The answer is the players. Think of the student athletes who have dedicated up to 4 years to pour their heart and soul into the athletic program.
Because of one’s lack of discipline to look into a serious allegation, you have let one player completely eradicate a season to be remembered. Reggie Bush was part of an undefeated squad in 2004. O.J. Mayo led the Trojans to an NCAA berth in basketball.
Instead, the seasons have been rescinded and the players who poured their heart and soul into competing at the highest collegiate level now have nothing to show for it.
Pat Haden is a great asset and a fine way to bring some changes to a tarnished program that should be remembered for its successes, successes that were honest and fair. Think of the student athletes. Because in the end, they come first.
by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 24, 2010 | Blog
Ever since Eminem’s album Recovery came out, I have not been able to stop listening to it. Is Eminem back to his old self? Not quite. He will have a hard time following up such emotional and power songs such as “Hailey’s Song” and “Cleaning out my Closet?.”
However, this is a giant step forward from his previous disaster, Relapse. The album names epitomize what the result of the album will be. Relapse was about as bad as you can get, like getting back on drugs. Recovery is a step forward, but not quite back to his old self.
“Talkin 2 Myself” was a song with a sweet hook from Kobe, and Eminem apologizing to fans for disappointing them with Relapse. I instantly forgave him. “Going through changes” was another powerful song that talked about his struggles with addiction and losing one of his close friends Proof.
In case you did not know, Proof was a member of Eminem’s D-12, who tragically lost his life in a shootout at a Detroit club. His dedication song to Proof entitled “You’re Never Over” brought out the master lyricist that Eminem has always been. He exolains how through his struggle, Proof influenced him to get his life on track and recover from his addiction.
Other great songs include “25 to Life” a fantastic collaboration with Lil Wayne in “No Love,” with Lil Wayne spitting one of the sickest verses I have heard in a while, as well as “Not Afraid” and a song featuring Rhianna called “Love the Way you Lie.”
I give this new album a 3 1/2 stars out of 5. The sampling was a little too Kanye-esque. Where were the beats from Dr. Dre? The collaboration with Pink was just god awful, and there were a few songs that were better than Eminem. Overall, however, great step forward to reestablish himself as one of the best rappers of all time, and the greatest of my generation.
Eminem. We forgive you. We wish you the best on your road to recovery. Keep spitting, keep pouring your heart out through the ink of your pen, and give something fans want to hear: your story, your struggles, your life, your pain. Buy Recovery people. It takes a giant shit on Relapse.
Notable songs: “Talkin 2 Myself,” “No Love,” “Love the way you lie,” “Going through changes,”Not Afraid”
by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 24, 2010 | Blog
I still find it hard to believe that in one month I will be 2,800 miles away in the city of Ithaca, New York. If you were to ask me two years ago when I graduated high school that I would be attending Cornell University, I would have laughed, and thought you were on crack cocaine or some crazy hallucinagenic drug.
I will never forget that fateful afternoon, sitting in the counselor’s office my second semester at Moorpark College, and hearing her talk about how I should consider transferring to a Cal State because she did not think I would have a chance to get into a UC.
At the point in time, I had a 2.8 GPA, and already knew I had to turn it around. You see, people shouldn’t reiterate something we already know. Instead they should motivate us to climb that mountain, and survive those peaks and valleys.
Let me tell you: that counselor did not discourage me. Rather she was the fuel to my fire to turn my grades around. What she also did not know is that I was switching majors, and the majority of classes I took that first year were science or history classes. One year later, I finished my last semester with straight A’s and finished my two years at Moorpark with a 3.69 GPA. Look at me now counselor!
And even more ironic, the one Cal State school I applied to (Fullerton) had me waitlisted! Every time I got down, or wanted to give up giving it my all in my classes, some of which did not appeal to me at all, I thought of Cornell, and what an accomplishment it would be; to be able to say you got accepted to an Ivy League school.
I’m going to tell you right now: Don’t ever let anyone tell you what you can and cannot do. Counselors discourage rather than encourage you to go the extra mile. We need motivation in our lives, and taking the easy way out is usually not the best option. If someone tells you to reach for the sky, you need to tell them that you will shoot for the moon.
I am truly excited for the opportunities that await me. And that’s the best way to constantly keep yourself motivated. Think of a place you can go, or somewhere you thought you could never be, and that will get you through the peaks and valleys, knowing that when times are hard, you can always get yourself to a better place.
I thank all of my friends and family for the unconditional support. Ithaca, I think I am ready for you, even if that includes a very brutal winter. Bring it on!
by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 24, 2010 | Blog
Lebron James is off to Miami. Surprise surprise. I guess he can’t keep everyone out of the loop. My question is what kind of narcissistic, self-centered jerk-off decides that he is so high and mighty that he will turn his free agency status into a publicity stunt, then have the balls to come on national TV and basically flip the bird to all of the inhabitants of the city of Cleveland. You know I actually feel bad for them. They haven’t been so disappointed since the infamous “fumble.”
I never liked Lebron James, and never bought any of the swagger he carried on his shoulders. Don’t get me wrong. He is a phenominal athlete. There’s no question about it. But he has always been so self-centered and narcissistic. This is the same guy who strongly considered playing in Europe if he were payed 50 million dollars a season, and the same Ohio native who sports a Yankees cap to Cleveland Indians’ games, and the same man, or should I say boy, who walked away without congratulating any of the Magic players after the Cavaliers 2008 playoff exit.
We all knew it was inevitable that Lebron would be leaving Cleveland, especially after the entire team gave up to the Orlando Magic in the Eastern Conference semifinals, and knew Lebron was headed somewhere, but at what cost?
He’s so full of himself, it kind of surprised me he did not pic kthe team who could offer him the most money, which was, ironically, the Cleveland Cavaliers. I thought that man would stay in Cleveland just for the money. But now he will join the new “Big Three” in South Beach, but will still be without a ring. The 2002 U.S.A. basketball team epitomizes that a group of All-Stars simply can’t play together.This group of All-Stars will be a spitting image of that U.S.A. team.
Lebron is too self-centered and too egotisitical to be able to comprehend the idea that he is no longer the nucleus of the franchise. Dwade County will forever predominate South Beach, and I predict the All-Stars will be unable to play together. Way to go Lebron. Flying south for the winter wont get you the rock.
And next summer, when a team other than the Miami Heat wins the NBA Championship, you will be at home, trying to figure out how Adam Morrison has twice as many NBA rings as you.
