by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
Nov. 22, 2011
The Los Angeles Dodgers may have to call up the bankruptcy court and plead their case to halt their inevitable sale because they had just been robbed by the baseball writers of America. Not robbed by any monetary value, but robbed of an NL MVP award that was rightfully center fielder Matt Kemp’s for the taking.
Instead, Los Angeles native Ryan Braun of the Milwaukee Brewers was awarded the MVP award, and became the first Brewer since Robin Yount won his second AL MVP in 1989.
“The reason I won is because they put a better team around me,” Braun told the USA Today in a conference call. “It’s a result of 25 guys around you and putting you in that situation.”
In that case, the baseball writers of America need a dictionary refresher of what defines a most valuable player. Because Kemp did not have a better team around him like Braun did. To tell me that Braun won because he had a higher batting average and played for a team who made the playoffs for only the second time in almost 30 years (1982). To tell me Braun won the most valuable player award because he had the likes of Prince Fielder, a player who finished third behind Braun and Kemp in the MVP voting, backing him up in the lineup, is astounding.
Does Clayton Kershaw count? Because he won the NL Cy Young. Kemp was one home run away from becoming only the sixth player in major league history to hit for 40 home runs and steal 40 bases in the same season. A player who would have won the triple crown if not for Braun. First in home runs, first in RBI’s and first in runs scored (115). Did I mention Kemp won a Gold Glove?
My question is that if Braun were to go down with injury during the season, would the Brewers be that much worse without him?
Home runs? You have Corey Hart, Ricky Weeks and Prince Fielder for that. RBI’s and manufacturing runs? The aforementioned. The Dodgers lose Kemp, and their offense is even more atrocious than it already was. Unless we started seeing Jamey Carroll, Aaron Miles or (ahem) Juan Uribe start hitting home runs. But the Dodgers might have had a better chance seeing a game snowed out in Chavez Ravine than another 30+ homer player on the Dodgers.
In my eyes, the Dodgers are far worse without Kemp than the Brewers are without Braun. To hit for 39 home runs in a hitter-friendly Dodger Stadium for a disgruntled franchise in front of empty seats in which half of the season the team had nothing to play for is beyond impressive. It’s remarkable. And to be dubbed solely because the Dodgers were not a contender is wrong. Alex Rodriguez played for last-place Texas and won the award in 2002.
The Dodgers finished in third place in the NL West, a respectable 82-79, and probably would have been a 90-loss team and fighting for position in the NL West cellar if not for Kemp’s contributions not only offensively, but defensively.
And like Braun, Kemp is with the Dodgers for the long-haul, recently signing an eight-year, $160 million dollar extension. Last time I checked, that also puts Kemp with the Dodgers through 2020 just like Braun.
The most valuable player is the value of a player to his team. With a teammate who finished in third place in the MVP voting, it should be pretty clear Braun’s value on the Brewers is not nearly the value Kemp boasts in a Dodgers uniform.
Kemp joked with reporters he would be going for the 50-50 club next season. He very well might have to, or be the first player since 1967 to win the triple crown.
Because the baseball writers of America have a flawed definition of “MVP” in whatever dictionary they are looking at.
In the end, a team not in playoff contention, one home run short of the 40-40 club, and only two for three in the triple crown race isn’t good enough to win the MVP.
by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
Kicking woes-Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore reacts to a missed field goal at end of regulation of 36-35 loss to TCU Nov. 12. (Photo by Joe Jaszewski)
Nov. 14, 2011
Last year it was Kyle Brotzman. In 2011, freshman kicker Dan Goodale was left to the test of keeping the BCS national championship dream alive for the Boise State Broncos.
But for the second straight year, the Broncos put the game in the kicker’s hands…er foot, and the kicker was unable to deliver. Goodale missed a 39-yard field goal attempt as time expired, ending any hope of a national title appearance in a 36-35 loss to TCU.
Against Nevada on Nov. 26, 2010, the Broncos witnessed the NCAA Division I leader in career points shank a 26-yard field goal at the end of regulation. The drama continued in Reno, and in overtime, Brotzman was unable to redeem himself with a 29-yard field goal.
Fast-forward to Boise State’s game against TCU Nov. 12, and it was “de ja lose,” as Los Angeles Times writer Sam Farmer cleverly put it in one of his columns. Except this time, the Horned Frogs were actually the better team. For the first time in senior Kellen Moore’s career, his team trailed at halftime.
The Horned Frogs were in a position to tie the game with an extra point after scoring a touchdown to make it 35-34 with 1:05 remaining.
Then came Gary Patterson’s gutsy call. This wasn’t an FCS team going for the win with nothing to lose with a loss. TCU was in the thick of the Mountain West conference race, as the Broncos and Horned Frogs were undefeated heading into Saturday’s match-up.
Patterson elected to go for the win, and the Horned Frogs converted a two-point conversion that put the Broncos in quite the predicament.
Moral of the story: don’t leave the game to the kicker, let alone a freshman kicker. In the case of Boise State, history repeated itself, albeit too soon, too fast and at the most inopportune time.
Last season’s misery ended in Reno, Nev. This year’s misery ended in Boise, snapping the Broncos’ 35-game home winning streak.
Chasing perfection for two straight seasons. Remaining imperfect for two straight seasons. The BCS system prevails once again.
Other streaks snapped:
-Longest conference home win streak (47). The Broncos last conference loss at home was the season finale against Idaho…in 1998.
-Regular season home win streak (65), a span of 11 years.
by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
Borrowed Time–UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel on the sidelines in the Nov. 12 game against Utah. The Bruins losr 31-6 to fall to 5-5 on the season. Neuheisel has been on the proverbial “hot seat” since the beginning of the season with a career 19-26 record through the first four seasons at UCLA. (Jim Urquhart/Associated Press)
Nov. 13, 2011
Being consistently inconsistent is turning into a rerun UCLA does not want to keep replaying.
Highlighted by a season of peaks and valleys, the Rick Neuheisel tenure hit another valley in yet another embarrassing loss, this time at Utah 31-6 Nov. 12. Forget the snow or the fact that Utah became bowl eligible with the win (6-4) and UCLA (5-5, 4-3 Pac-12)…to be determined.
Just when it seems Neuheisel has awoken from the dead, climbed the mountain via crab-walk (Have you tried to crab-walk up a mountain? It’s pretty difficult), or turned fool’s gold into 24-carat stone, the Bruins get caught in a trap, pushed down the mountain they just climbed, or taken 24-carat stone and managing to smash it into a thousand pieces.
A thrilling win only to be followed with a terrible loss. Get embarrassed on national television and lose by 36 points to a 1-6 team who recently fired their coach, then beat Cal and first-place Arizona State in as many weeks, the peaks and valleys of this season are too much to handle for the Bruin faithful.
Might as well go 0-12, because at least then we know what to expect. One week, we are beating a Pac-12 contender, the next trying to find a way to beat San Jose State.
There’s only so many mountains you can turn into molehills, and for Neuheisel’s case, the Bruins got pushed off their last mountain Saturday against Utah, which actually fits quite well since Salt Lake City is 5,000 feet above sea level.
5-5 and still not bowl eligible with two games remaining, Neuheisel faces two scenarios: beat Colorado and lose to USC, or even better, vise versa, or lose both to close out the season 5-7 and without a bowl bid.
If Neuheisel beats Colorado and loses to USC, expect athletic director Dan Guerrero to dropkick Neuheisel straight out of his office because another 6-6 season with another loss to cross-town rival USC does not cut it.
Losing to a 1-6 Arizona team on national television does not cut it. Struggling against a team the school paid $465,000 to come to the Rose Bowl (not to name any names but San Jose State) in front of an empty Rose Bowl does not cut it. Even beating Cal and Arizona State in consecutive weeks doesn’t cut it, because in a season that is constantly changing elevations, we can almost guarantee the Bruins will find a way to take another two steps back.
It might be too early to say, but if Neuheisel does not win out and finish 7-5 before another mediocre bowl bid, he will be out of Westwood one year early.
The fun and games are over. Like Ole Miss head coach Houston Nutt once said: ‘How do you spell fun? W-I-N.’ Did I mention he is also resigning after this season because he can’t seem to be having much “fun” in Oxford.
A loss next week to Colorado, and Neuheisel will have the Bruins treading sand in Death Valley. “Death” might sound a little harsh, but it just happens to be the name of a Valley that happens to be in California that happens to be the lowest point on Earth.
When you climb a mountain in sports, people expect you to stay there longer than a Kim Kardashian marriage. There is no 15 seconds of fame. Only weeks and weeks of it in college football.
Consistently inconsistent. That is the best phrase to describe Neuheisel’s past four years in Westwood. Not a compliment.
by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
Lost Legacy–Joe Paterno pictured leaving Penn State on Monday. Paterno was fired by the Board of Trustees Wednesday night as a result of the child abuse allegations that took place under his watch. (AP Photo)
Nov. 9, 2011
Joe Paterno, known to the Happy Valley faithful as “Jo Pa”, will not even be granted the liberty to retire at season’s end. The Penn State Board of Trustees fired the head coach of 46 years, along with university president Graham Spanier amidst an on-going child abuse sex scandal that has stunned State College, Pa.
Paterno had earlier told trustees that they should “not spend a single minute discussing my status.”
To many, Paterno was more than a head football coach, someone who exemplified honor and dignity, a lasting symbol of State College and “Happy Valley.”
But the findings that his one-time heir apparent, Jerry Sandusky, molested eight boys over the course of 15 years, shook the very foundation Paterno spent 61 years building.
“This is a tragedy,” Paterno said in a statement. “It is one of the great sorrows of my life. With the benefit of hindsight, I wish I had done more.”
Despite not being accused of any wrongdoing, he has been scrutinized for not taking more action when then-graduate assistant Mike McQueary came to him in 2002 to report he saw Sandusky in the Penn State locker room showers with a 10-year-old boy.
Paterno notified the athletic director, Tim Curley, along with vice president Gary Schultz.
Curley and Schultz are now being charged with failing to report the incident to authorities, allowing Sandusky to use the facilities even after he retired in 1999.
Paterno met his legal obligation to report the incident to his superiors, but failed to meet his moral obligation as a human being; to follow up on the serious allegations.
Instead of saying ‘If you’re not going to do something about it, I will,’ Paterno suppressed the memory, leaving it in the hands of his superiors for nine years.
He did not stop Sandusky, and that’s the biggest crime of all. This is not about a legacy. This is not about Joe Paterno as a football coach. This is about innocent children who were abused and forever scarred by the malicious acts of one individual allowed to roam the campus.
No NCAA violations were made. This did not involve a tattoo parlor or a pay-for-play scheme.
This is why Paterno announced days earlier that he would retire at the end of the season; to preserve the little dignity and honor he had left to an otherwise legendary career.
But it’s too late for that. The damage is done. He lit that forest fire long ago, and it stood ablaze for nine years while Paterno refused to oblige to his moral responsibility as a human being.
Paterno put his career and dignity before the victims of child abuse. That is the biggest tragedy of all.
by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
Champions–The St. Louis Cardinals’ David Freese holds up paper headlining the Cardinals World Series win. The Cardinals came back from a 3-2 deficit to beat the Rangers 6-2 in game seven of the World Series Friday night. (Eileen Blass/USA Today)
Oct. 29, 2011
Cardinals win 2011 World Series
People counted the St. Louis Cardinals out when they were 10.5 games back on Aug. 25. The media had them out of playoff contention seven games back with 20 games remaining. The improbable turned to the nearly impossible when the Cardinals were three games back of the wild card with five games remaining.
Yet somehow, someway, the Cardinals made it to the playoffs. To many that would have sufficed. But for a club that rewrote the definition of resiliency, the journey to the promised land was a Journey-themed song: “Don’t Stop Believing.”
Counted out against the highly-favored Philadelphia Phillies, the Cardinals eliminated the very team that helped them make the postseason on the last day of the regular season.
Trailing two games to one against the Central Division champs and division rival Milwaukee Brewers, the Cardinals gave their season another lifeline.
A 7.03 ERA during the NLCS, the Cardinals were bailed out by their bullpen. Only one win from the starting rotation, the Cardinals found three ways to win without them.
And down to their final out, final strike, not once, but twice, what made this situation any different? All while facing Rangers closer Neftali Feliz, who was a perfect six out of six on save opportunities.
The swagger never died, the Cardinals never faltered. David Freese, St. Louis native and new hometown hero, drove a pitch to right field, out of the outstretched glove of Nelson Cruz, and the Cardinals once again defied the odds.
In the tenth, a Josh Hamilton home run created another hurdle bigger than the Gateway Arch.
Final out, final strike. Rangers well on their way to the team’s first championship in franchise history. Not quite. Lance Berkman hits a jam shot into center field, and the game is tied yet again at nine.
And fittingly, hometown glory put the icing on the cake of resiliency, as Freese drove a pitch into dead center for the game six walk-off.
The “Miracle” Mets needed Bill Buckner to gaff a ground ball. The Cardinals did it all by themselves.
Like the 1986 Mets, game seven might as well be forgotten. Because the Cardinals no longer defied the odds. The improbable practically became a guarantee.
Trip to the playoffs: win 23 out of last 32 games of the regular season to erase 10.5-game wild card deficit.
The first team in World Series history to come back from two runs down in the eighth inning or later twice: force a game seven.
Have a home-grown kid (David Freese) win the ALCS and World Series MVP: priceless.
For everyone else, don’t stop believing.
by Timothy Weisberg | Jul 27, 2012 | Blog
Oct. 6, 2011
So much for talks of player agents warning players not to give into the demands of the team owners, and suggesting the union decertify.
Thursday, the supposed behind-the-scene advocates of decertifcation are backing out of the letter seven major sports management firms wrote to its clients.
Is it time to put your money where your mouth is?
If things could not get any uglier in the labor dispute. Last week, commissioner David Stern threatened to cancel the entire 2011-12 season if negotiations were not reached by this Friday.
Like Stern, the player’s agents were only putting on a poker face, another tactic to try to get one side to budge.
The NBA announced last week that the preseason would be canceled. I’m sorry. I forgot the NBA even had a preseason.
The latest proposal was a 50-50 split of the revenue pie. But apparently Pope Alexander VI drew the line of demarcation in the revenue pie, and the players are not satisfied with this latest proposal. In that sense, the players feel like Portugal.
A letter to players from union player rep Derek Fisher and NBPA executive director Billy Hunter explained why the even split would not be acceptable.
“The overwhelming feeling was that the players are prepared to sacrifice and stand for what we believe is fair. The clear message we have received from the players, and the one we will heed, is not to back down,” the letter read, obtained from ESPN.com.
“Yesterday, the owners gave us an opportunity to back down. We refused.”
Whether they really offered 49 percent, 50 percent, or 53 percent, and whether 22 of 30 teams actually lost money this year is irrelevant.
So the season is canceled. If the teams were really losing money, then it’s actually a win for owners to have a season canceled.
The reality is that the NBA is not the NFL. People forget there is a preseason, and other than Christmas Day specials or opening night, the NBA is forgotten about until about April, when the games really matter.
And yet the NBA’s average salary is $5.1 million, which is is the amount of average salaries of the MLB and NFL combined.
The original CBA had players receive 57 percent of all revenue. What’s the worst that can happen getting seven percent less? Making millions of dollars of guaranteed money?
They will still be the highest paid players out of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues.
The stars are not bigger than the league. Not by a long shot. If that were the case, they would be making millions playing pick up games, or get networks to televise Drew League games.
More revenue will decrease the competitive imbalance and allow the leagues to invest money into teams that will then be able to field better ones. Who wants to see the Kings lose by 30 every night anyway?
Not to mention the endorsement deals many players receive, NBA players would not be going hungry if revenue is cut by seven percent.
Time to come back to work. End the lockout. Otherwise, you will be out of work.
Say goodbye to any type of revenue. If you would rather play in Lithuania, Italy, France or Turkey, by all means play overseas.
In the end, a billionaire will always beat a millionaire. A flush will always beat a straight.
There is a person who sits behind a desk, who then has a boss that is even bigger and sits behind an even bigger desk.
Egos can only buy so much pie. Can’t expect to have it all and leave owners the crust.
