It’s that time of year again, readers. Everyone is coming up with their “New Year’s Resolutions.” What this basically means is that gyms throughout the United States will have three times as many people going to them (don’t worry active gym-goers, they’ll only last about a month) and that this blog will have three times as readers since everyone is going to try to read twice as much. Well, maybe they won’t solely be reading this blog but I can dream, right? My own resolution – goal is a better term – for 2013 is to make more time to write, mainly for this blog. As part of this goal, I’m going to write a new column every 1-2 weeks challenging the reader to watch a classic sports game, read a sports book, or do something sports related to expand their knowledge as a fan.
The first challenge comes in the form of reading a book. I figured this is appropriate since I feel like most people decide they want to read more in the New Year and the book also deals with Bird and Magic. When March Went Madis a book I read this past summer that discusses the 1979 NCAA National Championship game featuring Larry Bird of Indiana State and Earvin “Magic” Johnson of Michigan State. What makes this book so interesting is that it is not simply a story about Bird and Magic or a story about the championship game itself. Instead it functions as both of these as well as a commentary on the sport of basketball as a whole and also the role that media plays in creating excitement and hype in the sporting world. Seth Davis does an incredible job of making the reader feel as if they knew both Bird and Magic. He includes countless stories from their lives and anecdotes from people around them that makes the book feel very personal. You aren’t simply reading about these two legendary basketball stars; you feel as though you can relate to them as people. This isn’t to say that Davis diminishes the stardom of Bird and Magic – he maintains this persona but does show that they were human and that they had lives off the basketball court.
Damn, how did Larry get so good looking?
The book honestly has so many nuances and interesting stories in it that I can’t do it any justice by trying to sum it up. I just challenge you to pick this book up. You’ll thoroughly enjoy it and furthermore it will leave you with a question that provokes you to look at modern media and its constant coverage of athletes and wonder about how effective it truly is. If you do end up reading the book, or even this column, I’d love to discuss it with you so please comment on this.
I’m legitimately looking for a framed poster of this. 100% serious. Please help.
After finishing a dismal 5th in the 2012 American League East, the Boston Red Sox front office went into Major League Baseball’s 111th annual winter meeting’s in Nashville with more questions than answers. Who would play alongside Jacoby Ellsbury in the outfield? Should Ellsbury be traded? Is Jose Iglesias ready to be the everyday shortstop? Was there a first baseman available who could hit for power and play respectable defense at a reasonable price? How could the pitching staff improve? These were just a few of the many questions that Red Sox Nation hoped to have answered by the time the meeting’s concluded.
Well, simply put, the result has been less than satisfying. In the eyes of some, the argument could be made that Boston Red Sox ownership has built a bridge to the future through short term signings that do not eclipse a three year contract. It seems as though former Tampa Bay Ray, Jonny Gomes (2 years), and the “Flyin’ Hawaiian” Shane Victorino (3 years) are going to accompany Ellsbury in the 2013 outfield. Will they prove to be a bridge to top prospects Jackie Bradley Jr. and Bryce Brentz, who could be ready by 2014? Former A’s shortstop Stephen Drew was signed to a one year deal valued at a seemingly steep $9 million. Are the Sox hoping to give Iglesias another year to develop his bat in the Minors before granting him the full time job? Or, do they want to give Xander
Bogaerts
Bogaerts another year to polish his tools in the minors before allowing him to be the everyday shortstop? First base was seemingly filled when the Sox announced they would sign first baseman/catcher Mike Napoli to a three year contract, but the contract has yet to be finalized for unknown reasons. Finally, the pitching staff. Aside from signing reliever Koji Uehara and starting pitcher Ryan Dempster (who many thought the Sox would acquire during last year’s trade deadline) to one and two year deals, respectively, the Red Sox have done nothing to improve one of the worst pitching staff’s in baseball last year. Again, perhaps, they are waiting on prospects to develop. Rubby de la Rosa, Matt Barnes, and Allen Webster are all hard throwing righties who need a little more seasoning before their debuts.
For those hoping the Sox would make a “big splash” in free agency this winter you may find yourself disappointed when Spring Training rolls around in March. Time will tell if the 2013 Boston Red Sox are a bridge to the future. Fans who want to win now, like myself, can only hope that they are not.
This past week during my latest visit to Toronto (just kidding, I would never go to Canada) to investigate the most recent happenings in relation to the Blue Jays, I stumbled across some very disturbing news. This Jays have traded for R.A. Dickey, the Met’s 2012 Ace and Cy Young winner, and have agreed to a big fat extension over the next two years worth 25 million dollars, or 500 billion Canadian Pesos. This move in addition to the blockbuster Marlins trade, has put Toronto in position to make their first realistic run at the playoffs in 20 years. Now this opens the floor to 2 questions I used during my investigation in the Great White North:
The first being “CUT THE S*** TORONTO, JUST ACCEPT YOUR PLACE AS THE WORST TEAM IN THE AL EAST AND BE HAPPY WE DON’T PUNCHASIZE YOUR FACE FOR FREE.” And the second was, “where exactly is all this money coming from?”
The first question didn’t really get me anywhere except for a few nights in Canadian prison (some sort of ice structure with extremely polite guards and a fully furnished lounge area with a maple syrup pool…can’t even make this stuff up). But the second question unearthed something extremely frightening.
Because of this most recent lockout with the NHL, Canadians have found themselves with a great deal of extra time on there hands, as well as a great deal of money. Now as we all know Canadians rely on sport very much in their daily lives (the exercise keeps them from freezing to death, and well there’s not much else to do there). Despite this need, their options of which sport to play are very limited. They can either choose from curling, hockey, or caribou wrangling and nothing else…or so they thought. Until the lockout Canadians had no idea that baseball even existed. Their team is made up of Americans and their fans were just teenagers from Maine crossing the border to enjoy the 19 year old drinking age. That was until this damn lockout.
College Night in Toronto
The incompetence of Gary Bettman has put Canada in position to do something Canada has never ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever ever done before. Beat the United States in stuff not on ice. And this is something that scares me.
The Blue Jays have acquired R.A. Dickey, Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio, Mark Buehrle, and Melky Cabrera making them an extremely competitive American League team in an already very crowded AL East. I have no idea how the season will turn out, if the boys from Miami will decide to play to their potential or if Dickey has a season even close to his 2012 campaign they will be a force in the East. If not then who knows. Either way, the Jays look good.
In other news the Red Sox management have undergone surgery in an attempt to remove their own thumb from their ass that has now been stuck there since September of 2011.
It’s bowl season boys and girls! My favorite time of the year normally until Notre Dame losses to some anonymous underdog in the insight bowl (2-7 in bowl games since I was 7 years old) BUT NOT THIS YEAR! THINGS WILL BE SO DIFFERENT GUYS! Notre Dame is finally in the National Championship and I couldn’t be more frightened of Alabama EXCITED, COULDN’T BE MORE EXCITED.
Now, despite being the first #1 team in college football history to be a two score underdog, Notre Dame is going to shock the world and I’m going to be so obnoxious that everyone will unfollow me on twitter, de-friend on me facebook, and facepunch me in real life. I can’t wait. But until then I think it’d be fun for Joe, Sam, Grant, and myself to fill out a college bowl pick ‘em on ESPN and invite you to join us to see how everyone does.
Please join us this holiday season in laughing out loud at how little Sam knows about college football,
First off, I’d just like to say that I’m finally back to writing for WLMM. I’ve been busy with school and watching my Tennessee Volunteers get run into the ground by Derek Dooley (good riddance) and haven’t had the time to write or have been crying so profusely because of losses to teams like Mizzou and Vanderbilt that I couldn’t see my computer screen to type an article.
I’m going to assume the readers understand the story behind this picture…
What I want to comment on today is a problem that has plagued many of the NBA’s best big men for years and is once again being discussed thanks to Dwight Howard’s inability to not butcher the shot fittingly (well not-fittingly in his case) known as the “free throw.” Dwight Howard is arguably the best big man in the game; he at least deserves a nod as top five if you don’t agree with my judgment. He came under fire this past season and off-season for the way he poorly handled his decision to leave the Orlando Magic. I don’t blame him for this – he simply is following the actions of his peers before him.
Yes, I am looking directly at you LeBron.
The thing that I do want to pick on Dwight Howard for is his AWFUL free throw shooting. After cruising through his first 7 years in the league with a free throw percentage ranging from around 59% to his career best of 67% in his rookie year, Howard posted an abysmal 49% free throw percentage last season and is even worse this year with a roughly 47% free throw percentage. To put that into perspective, Ty Cobb once batted .4196 in a full season of baseball. Somehow it was easier for Cobb to get on base in a sport where success is considered failing 7 times out of 10 at the plate than it is for Howard to hit an uncontested shot taken from only 15 feet from the basket. What is even more concerning is the fact that Howard’s only respectable season at the free throw line was his rookie year. In the NBA where players have every opportunity and amenity to improve their games, he managed to progressively get worse at this important aspect of his game.
I don’t completely blame Howard for this weakness. Big men are notoriously poor free throw shooters. One of the greatest of all time, Shaquille O’Neal, looked as though he was trying to set an Olympic shot-put record every time he stepped up to the charity stripe (which was over 11,000 times in his career). He shot just slightly over 50% and still managed to be the NBA’s sixth highest scorer of all time. Had he shot a very average 65% from the line, he would have scored 1,379 more points in his career which is roughly the equivalent of adding a whole extra season with a 17ppg average to his career. Free throws are an extremely easy way for a player to pad their stats as the example of Shaq’s career shows.
More importantly, free throws are what win big games. The difference between a 1 point loss and a 1 point win can come down to something as simple as who hits their free throws. As the name implies, the shot is supposed to be a “gimme-shot” that players easily make as a reward for an opponent’s decision to foul them. In the case of Shaquille O’Neal and Dwight Howard, coaches strategize ways to foul these players in crucial situations because they know they will step up to the line, do their pre-shot ritual, and then send the ball crashing into the front of the rim, costing their team an easy point. This league is full of big men who can’t shoot free throws which I believe ruins the game because it encourages the “Hack-a-Shaq” strategy and sends a poor message to young and upcoming players – you don’t have to be able to play fundamental basketball and hit easy shots if you’re big and athletic. It also hurts the integrity of the game. Even great coaches like Greg Popovich have resorted to fouling big men rather than concocting a defensive plan that will neutralize that player. The days of Karl Malone (career 74% free throw shooter), Larry Bird (88%), and Kevin McHale (79%) are gone and the NBA today now has the likes of Dwight Howard (career 58% free throw shooter), Blake Griffin (59%), and Chuck Hayes (60%, I included him solely to show this video of him attempting a free throw and to make you wonder how a guy who shoots like that can shoot a better free throw percentage than two of the NBA’s elite players).
My final point is this: the NBA is causing the free throw to become an unimportant shot. Big men get away with shooting percentages below a very pedestrian 60% simply because their athleticism is praised. Fans like to see Dwight Howard dunking on people and blocking shots into the stands (T-Pife against W.D. Mohammed style for my readers who are Mount Pisgah grads). The NBA may be “Where Amazing Happens” but it is also destroying the fundamentals of the game I love. I love to watch players hit 17-foot jump shots, make nice bounce passes to cutting teammates, and play a little hard-nosed defense. I just don’t see this in the NBA anymore. The days of Larry, Magic, and Michael are long gone. The NBA is not so much professional basketball as it is an entertainment industry. Maybe this is why I love college basketball and can hardly watch the NBA with the exception of the postseason. I just don’t see the game that I played and loved. I see a game dominated by freakish athletes that are encouraged by fans and thus encourage future players to not work on the fundamentals of the game such as free throw shooting. It’s a transformation that I don’t care to see.
Now let me come back from my rant (which in hindsight wasn’t my final point even though I said it was) and readdress the problem of free throw shooting. In the words of the immortal Red Auerbach, “Do what is best for you. Do it the way that you can make it.” Surely in this day and age, Dwight Howard and other big men can find some way that lets them hit a free throw. I’m not asking for any big man to shoot 80%. I’m simply asking that they hit over 60% of their free throws. That can’t be too difficult. Imagine how much more dominant a 7-footer would be if he could drop-step and dunk on you but also hit 70% of his free throws, stopping you from fouling him instead of playing good defense? If Dwight Howard truly wants to be one of the greatest of all time and wants an NBA championship, he’s going to have to correct this glaring hole in his game. And who knows, maybe if he does then the next generation of big men will start practicing their free throws a little more and their windmill dunks a little less. I know this is a change that I’d like to see.
So I’m sitting in my basement on another lovely winter morning in Milton thinking about what to write about while trying to thaw out my fingers when it smacked me right in the face (there’s no heat allowed in the Reilly house because we have “thick Maine blood!”…I was born in the land of peaches and sun, not ice and moose DAD!). What was it? Miami’s blockbuster deal with Toronto.
The Marlins have officially given up on being relevant for the next few years and have given the MLB and the city of Miami a big middle finger by dishing Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson, Emilio Bonifacio, Mark Buehrle, and John Buck to the Toronto Blue Jays for a jug of maple syrup, three compliments about the authenticity of Cuban food in Miami, and a few high fives. So this bodes the question “Is Miami the biggest joke of a franchise in baseball?”
Miami’s Opening Night 2012
Earlier in the year right before I left for Europe I wrote an article on the Marlins trading away Hanley Ramirez, one of the best third basemen in baseball, in a move to get “as far away from the playoffs as possible”. Well in addition to this the 2012 season saw their manager Ozzie fired, their ace Anibal Sanchez traded, and now it looks like this is just another move in the failed experiment that was the Miami Marlins as they drift back into their all to familiar role of “rebuilding” since their 2003 World Series victory.
So in summary the Marlins have traded away just about every player that can effect a season in a positive manner and have almost nothing to show for it but for a few young prospects and a disgruntled fan base.
Now not only am I upset that the AL East now has another contender in an already all too crowded division, but what makes this deal so sickening is the way in which Miami owner Jeffrey Loria has dooped the entire city (not that I have too much of a problem with it, if even one Heat fan is also and Marlins fan and was made unhappy about this situation I’m thrilled and will like Mr. Loria’s Facebook page if such a thing exists). The city of Miami was promised a championship caliber team whose success over the next decade would bolster the economy and give jobs to local citizens. This would help Miami fight the recession and give the city something to be proud of so the city bought in, local politicians backed Loria and it seemed as if Miami was going to add another elite franchise to their repertoire. But after the huge makeover, new stadium, and one of the biggest spending sprees in baseball, the city is 2.4 billions dollars in debt and with an over-sized almost always empty stadium standing tall as a glaring reminder of what greed can do.
This is so disgusting because Reyes and Buehrle, the big free agents of 2012, were both brought on without a “no-trade clause”, telling us that this was in the back of Loria’s head all along. If things didn’t go Loria’s way he could dump the players somewhere else and escape without losing too much money on the investment (because the cost of the new stadium was covered by the city’s tax payers), which is exactly what happened.
Jeffrey Loria
So to Mr. Loria, congratulations. Congratulations on lifting up the hopes of the Miami faithful and dashing them to the ground. Congratulations on robbing hardworking Americans of over 4.2 billion dollars during a recession and then pulling out your portion of the investment when things don’t go your way. And finally congratulations on embarrassing Major League Baseball in general, I hope you stub your toe very badly some time this afternoon or bang your head standing up to quickly in your lavish home in New York City.
People like you who never seem to have enough at the expense of others make me sick,
Teddy. Taft. JFK. Big names that are the core of a rough and tumble punch you in the mouth and hook up with your sister and your sister’s friend kind of team. I’d like to introduce you to the Whig Party Filibusters. The only team in this league with a name and a true identity.
Round 1: Theodore Roosevelt (RB)
Americanism
As a man and a warm blooded American, taking Teddy with my first pick was a no brainer. “A Republican, he is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his “cowboy” persona and robust masculinity”. Translation? He is a badass, womanizing, hotheaded, hardnosed superstar.He was shot in the ribs once and just shrugged it off just like he could shrug off would be tacklers. EXACTLY what I’m looking for to built my offense around. The Rough Rider himself is going to be the heart and soul of this team and is everything that embodies a championship organization: balls, booze, and brains.
He is literally everything a man should want to be.
P.S. Sure Sam it’s easy winning an election with 100% elector
al votes when there are only 20 people qualified to vote in the United States.
Round 2: William Howard Taft (RB)
Six feet tall and 300 pounds. I picked up the behemoth of a man for one reason and one reason only. Touchdowns. You think that String bean speghetti arms Lincoln is going to be able to stuff Taft at the goal line? I am actually willing to make a bet that noone on sam or joe’s team could come anywhere close to taking him down. I’m talking Jerome Bettis style rushing, a runaway train with no brakes.
Round 3: John F. Kennedy
There is no denying that the NFL is a Quarterbacks’ league, that is why it is absolutely nessecary to draft a skilled and polarizing leader that can stand in the pocket and throw the deep ball no matter what kind of pressure he faces. What I love most about this kid, besides his great hair and ability to pull (whaddup Marylyn), I love the way he inspires people, not only with his leadership and words but with his work ethic and his gritty Irish style of play. He’s the comeback kid, he’s the guy I want with the ball in his hands when we’re down in the fourth quarter with time running out, not only because he’s easily to most fit and skilled athlete in the draft, but because the other guys believe in him. Ask not what this presidential fantasy team can do for you, but ask what you can do for this presidential fantasy team.
Now I know I’ve received some criticism for taking the two youngest presidents in history AND relying on them as my leaders and playmakers, but I’m building for the future here. Give my boys here a year or two to develop and we have ourselves a regular dynasty.
Round 4: Dwight D. Eisenhower (Flex)
Dwight is the veteran of the team (double entendre five!) so I figured he would make a great fit for the flex position. He’s not the most explosive feller in the ball club but he knows the offense in and out and can be thrown in as a Tight End, Wide Reciever, or Runningback in any formation and make a big play. He might not have dangerous speed that would let him break an 80 yard run, but he’s always where he needs to be and is often that guy throwing the big block for whoever is about to break that 80 yard run. He brings great experience and leadership to the clubhouse and is a guy I’d want around when we get deep into the playoffs. He isn’t in it for the glory, he’s here to win a championship.
Round 5: Ulysses S Grant (D/ST)
Good ole Ulysses. Who is that you might ask? That drunk guy who fought relentlessly to save the union? WRONG. He’s the most genius defensive coordinator ever to set foot in the District of Columbia. His ferocious defenses struck fear into the hearts of the NFC South during the 1860’s as his tight coverage combined with excellent blitz packages to make a defense that could almost never be scored on. And on special teams he is know for coaching guys with blazing (wait for it) fast speed like William Tecumseh Sherman (boom! Delayed high brow history joke), one of the best return men in United States history, so you know he’ll be dangerous on both punt and kick returns.
Round 6: Millard Fillmore (Kicker)
Millard Fillmore, better known as Ole’ Reliable, will be the Filibuster’s 2013 kicker. He went to a small D3 school for soccer but was kicked off the team after an altercation with a referee, which is when he decided to pick up football, but not too much else is known. What we do know is he has nerves of steel, an ice cold stare, and he can really kick the shit out of that football.
**All of the aforementioned facts are in fact not facts, but complete fabrications…or are they?
Round 7: George W. Bush (Wider Receiver)
Now this was one of those picks that you just have a feeling about and cant help but go from the heart. George has always been an outstanding athlete, lettering in 6 different sports at his high school in Texas (including water polo), so I picked him up as one of those guys that can take hits all game long and keep going. He’s an ideal slot receiver, with great hands and cat-like speed and quickness, I can see him running those quick slants across the middle and every now and then squeaking through a couple LB’s to bust one for a big gain. He a tough player with a nose for the end zone and will be a great attribute to the squad, especially in the redzone.
Round 8: Richard Nixon (Tight End)
As you can see my team’s identity is tough hard-nosed football. A lot of runs up the middle with big guys making big plays. Nixon fits right in. After he won the Vietnam war and scared the Soviets so badly that they got rid of all their nukes, he decided to create that big fake Watergate scandal so he could leave office and pick up football and that’s where our scouts found him. Its deep in the draft and we already have our playmakers so what I was really looking for was more of an old school blocking Tight End. Nixon can open up gaps and really bust you in the mouth down field. Nixon? Yeah, he still got it.
Round 9: Gerald Ford (Wide Reciever)
Now I’m a big fan of chemistry so I was thrilled when I snagged these two back to back. Nixon and Ford are boys and they really bring a lot of energy and camaraderie to the clubhouse. With that being said this wasn’t the only reason I grabbed Gerald. Gerald’s got wheels, I mean the dude can fly. He invented the car, the steam engine, and runs a 4.2. And not only all that fake crap that I just said he’s the only guy who actually played football! So auto win for me. Anyways look for him down field, he makes his living in the back of the endzone.
Round 10: Warren G Harding (Bench)
He took over in 1915 and beat the Germans and the Brits in the First World War. Known for his toughness in the trenches and his strong distaste for foreign food and women. Mr. Harding…I like your style.
Round 11: William Henry Harrison (Bench)
We got a great month of production out of him….but that’s really about it.
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