Warning: This will be a major jerk off of Boston sports. I will also provide, however, a persuasive argument to support the following claim. Boston sports teams have become the model of excellence in 3 of the 4 major sports. The Patriots, Red Sox and Celtics all have the attention of the rest of the class. We will start with the longest and most replicated but never quite duplicated example.
The New England Patriots burst onto the scene in 2001 with an unknown quarterback taking over for the face of a franchise and arguably the league (he was the highest paid player with a $100 M contract), Drew Bledsoe. The two touchdown (re. 14 point underdogs) beat the high flying Rams after an improbable late drive (Kneel that John Madden) and a legendary kick. The Patriots had shocked the world but it wasn't the first time that night they did. After the long drawn out introductions for the Rams, the Patriots "electing to be introduced as a team" came out of the tunnel as a unit. So began, the emulation of a dynasty. Your Super Bowl pregame is much shorter thanks to the Patriots, as this has become the status quo for every Bowl since.
The Patriots won with a mix of scouting/drafting, inexpensive veteran free agents and great coaching. They have shown time and again they know where to invest their cap money (Brady, Seymour) and when not to (Lawyer Milloy, Deion Branch). They know when a guy has more left in the tank (Rodney Harrison, Corey Dillon) and when its time to let go (Bledsoe, McGinest). They win with coaching, preparation and the luck any team needs to sustain winning. This is the model of excellence in the NFL. Every team wants to be the Patriots with their superb front office and scouting, superior coaching and a team first attitutde. The 9-0 Titans and Jeff Fisher would probably agree with me here.
The Boston Red Sox are a bit of a hybrid of this example. They have the money to toss around so not only can they sign big free agents and keep their homegrowns from leaving when arbitration/free agency hits, but, and this is something that gets overlooked by most, they can scout in far reaches of the world and drop bonus money to sign high draft picks that other teams stray away from because they simply know they can't cough up $5M for uncertainty. Revenue sharing is starting to buck this trend, as evidenced by the Rays success this year, but it certainly is still a factor in the success of the Red Sox.
The Red Sox have put a lot of money and effort into their scouting. They are looking where lots of teams haven't (China, Taiwan and Latin America) and they are drafting a mix of raw talent and finished, college type players. Their team this year, while falling short of the World Series, was evidence of the Red Sox scouting and development prowess. Pedroia won a gold glove and there is a good chance for him to be named MVP next week. Papelbon was dominant at the end of the bullpen and Lester looks like an ace. Throw in production from Youkilis, Ellsbury and Masterson, the Red Sox have a promising future filled with these homegrowns and some key trade/free agent acquistions (Bay and Ortiz). The Red Sox have traded their prospects wisely (such as Hanley Ramirez, a stud no doubt for Lowell and Beckett) for certain results and when to hang on to them (such as Lester and Ellsbury for Santana this past offseason. They have their bad ones (see Gagne last year) but again, they have the money to make up for this.
You have seen the price of minor leaguers go way up and it started with the Red Sox. You have seen an increasing number of foreign players in areas where they hadn't been taken from before. A premium has been put on scouting and development and the Red Sox have led the field in the MLB.
The Celtics have the most recent recipe for success that has been emulated. Teams saw what tenacity on defense could do for a team. Holding opponents around 90 points a game gave you a great chance to win, regardless of if there were hot hands on offense. You can already see this emphasis around the league early this season. Teams spent the offseason acquiring defensive minded players and the cliche the name on the front is more important than the one on the back has made a comeback. It will be interesting to see how this trend develops with the Celtics at the helm.
Three teams, three sports and three highly respected teams in their individual leagues. The Patriots have had the longest reign on top as they are still proving they can win with a team attitude and great coaching even as injuries ravage their squad. The Red Sox have pioneered several new attitudes in the MLB although they are certainly rivaled but many teams in their execution. Defense will be the increasingly emphasized for this season and beyond because of the Celtics' success last season. It will be interesting to see these teams and their counterparts take into the future seasons.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Digital Age
We just witnessed a presidential race that went on for more than a year. No incriminating story or photo about each candidate that was available was kept private. We had pictures of Mr. Obama with Mr. Ayers, we had pictures of John McCain drinking at his base and everything in between. As everyone one under 40 (its biggest increase in users is in the 30-39 range) takes to Facebook and other social networking sites, indiscriminately posting pictures of themselves doing dumb things, at what election year do we reach the inevitable photos from Facebook that ruin a candidates image?
We have been hearing how hiring managers are looking to these sites for more insight on candidates they interview or are looking to interview and how these sites ruin/promote a persons chances. When is the saturation point of social networking site users being the majority of the pool for political candidates? My guess is it will start at the local level, Mayors and the like and steadily move into state representatives and then on the national level, eventually to the President and/or his Cabinet members. How long before I get to see One of Our Future Leaders smoking a giant blunt or funneling a beer naked from a Facebook photo or an old friend's cell phone camera?
I feel its getting to the point where there are people recording all sorts of dumb things people do and storing it on their tera byte hard drive until they need leverage against someone in power. One of the thousands of creepers and paparazzi out there is bound to be hanging onto video or pictures just waiting for the right moment to cash in on their prize. People will pay good money to save their reputation or magazines will pay good money to get the inside scoop to destroy them.
Be wise all. You are almost always on camera in a big city such as NYC, at least in public areas. And you never know when that guy with the Iphone is going to snap that picture of you pounding beer out of a shoe.
We have been hearing how hiring managers are looking to these sites for more insight on candidates they interview or are looking to interview and how these sites ruin/promote a persons chances. When is the saturation point of social networking site users being the majority of the pool for political candidates? My guess is it will start at the local level, Mayors and the like and steadily move into state representatives and then on the national level, eventually to the President and/or his Cabinet members. How long before I get to see One of Our Future Leaders smoking a giant blunt or funneling a beer naked from a Facebook photo or an old friend's cell phone camera?
I feel its getting to the point where there are people recording all sorts of dumb things people do and storing it on their tera byte hard drive until they need leverage against someone in power. One of the thousands of creepers and paparazzi out there is bound to be hanging onto video or pictures just waiting for the right moment to cash in on their prize. People will pay good money to save their reputation or magazines will pay good money to get the inside scoop to destroy them.
Be wise all. You are almost always on camera in a big city such as NYC, at least in public areas. And you never know when that guy with the Iphone is going to snap that picture of you pounding beer out of a shoe.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Election '08
Well, with election day tomorrow, I guess it is time for the wRite, Rinse, Repeat official endorsement for president, no doubt trumping that of the WSJ or New York Times or even PerezHilton.com. We all know (or should know) the facts, policies/(empty) promises that each candidate possesses as this campaign has gone on for essentially (at least) twelve months. With all that in mind, I am endorsing Mr. McCain for president. Not McCain/Palin, John McCain. Let me throw my simultaneous endorsement with the people who are terrified of Sarah Palin becoming president. I am simply going to assume that with the best doctors in the world, he can be kept functional at least until its time for reelection and that he doesn't already have any number of degenerative diseases that could make him less "there" than Ronald Reagan was for at least his last two years when Alzheimer's was setting in.
My reasons for this are varied but can be succinctly expressed this way: For a position that should require a resume that goes on longer than a Best Buy receipt, Mr. Obama's is exceptionally thin while Mr. McCain's is double sided and lamenated. The next president will be elected into an atmosphere that has no rival in American history, at least on the global scale. (Lincoln's election prior to Fort Sumter could be argued because it would have severely altered the shape of America and the Americas during the age of imperialism and through the World Wars. However, after globalization and the double headed monster of an unparralleled attack on belief in Capitalism and a deepening worldwide recession and the reclosing of the Iron Curtain across new global lines this one could be much more perilous. Sorry to sound like a doomsdayer, but for the purposes of this crude blog, I will make this fact from here on.) Mr. Obama provides too much unknown and far left thinking for the role he is going to need to play on both domestic and foreign stages. As a small microcosm example of some unknowns he could steer us to, his tax reductions and the increased spending his agenda would cause would put us even further on borrowed time until the bill collectors from China and even old friends such as Germany and France come calling. His plans are just too risky.
Mr. McCain will provide more known course. I would compare it to your investment portfolio. The more risk you are willing to take on within that portfolio, the more extreme your results will be, both good and bad. This is what you have with Mr. Obama, one with lots of start up companies and a whole lot of that risk. Mr. McCain is like your 401K (this most recent plunge withholding), you have more manageable and forseeable growths and peace of mind that those treasury bonds and other slow growth investments are backed by the federal government. With that example, I do think Mr. Obama could be better than Mr. McCain. However, at this juncture in my life with it already being a transition out of the fantasy land that is college, I want to keep the future on a steadier course than Mr. Obama offers.
My reasons for this are varied but can be succinctly expressed this way: For a position that should require a resume that goes on longer than a Best Buy receipt, Mr. Obama's is exceptionally thin while Mr. McCain's is double sided and lamenated. The next president will be elected into an atmosphere that has no rival in American history, at least on the global scale. (Lincoln's election prior to Fort Sumter could be argued because it would have severely altered the shape of America and the Americas during the age of imperialism and through the World Wars. However, after globalization and the double headed monster of an unparralleled attack on belief in Capitalism and a deepening worldwide recession and the reclosing of the Iron Curtain across new global lines this one could be much more perilous. Sorry to sound like a doomsdayer, but for the purposes of this crude blog, I will make this fact from here on.) Mr. Obama provides too much unknown and far left thinking for the role he is going to need to play on both domestic and foreign stages. As a small microcosm example of some unknowns he could steer us to, his tax reductions and the increased spending his agenda would cause would put us even further on borrowed time until the bill collectors from China and even old friends such as Germany and France come calling. His plans are just too risky.
Mr. McCain will provide more known course. I would compare it to your investment portfolio. The more risk you are willing to take on within that portfolio, the more extreme your results will be, both good and bad. This is what you have with Mr. Obama, one with lots of start up companies and a whole lot of that risk. Mr. McCain is like your 401K (this most recent plunge withholding), you have more manageable and forseeable growths and peace of mind that those treasury bonds and other slow growth investments are backed by the federal government. With that example, I do think Mr. Obama could be better than Mr. McCain. However, at this juncture in my life with it already being a transition out of the fantasy land that is college, I want to keep the future on a steadier course than Mr. Obama offers.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Rodney Harrison
I was reading this article (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=fleming/081029&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab6pos1) about who is the dirtiest player in the NFL now that Rodney Harrison's career may be down the toilet. For those that didn't see it, Harrison crumpled over himself attempting to make a play, was on the ground for a long time and was then carted off the field with a splint for his entire leg, waving to the crowd as he headed down the tunnel. That is never a good sequence for a 35 year old, 100 mph player with more than a decade of smash mouth football under his helmet. He tore his right quadriceps muscle (ouch) and is now on injured reserve.
Harrison hasn't been without injury in the past, already recovering from tearing his ACL, MCL and PCL in 2005, his shoulder (and subsequently his other knee) were injured in 2006, limiting his playing time. To start 2007, however, Harrison was suspended for four games stemming from his admittance to purchasing human growth hormone. Afterward, Harrison claimed it was "accelerating the healing process from injuries [he] sustained playing football," and "never to gain a competitive edge."If that is a sincere case, is he now being doubted to come back for fear of tarnishing what may still be a Hall of Fame career?
Harrison was written off by the Chargers 5 years ago when he was released before singing with the Patriots. Was his ability to come back from devastating injuries (three ligaments in one knee, a shoulder and another knee) less his heart than his, ahem, regimen? I have always like Harrison, he anchored a two time champion secondary for my favorite team, but never gave him a free pass for the HGH, regardless of his end game with them. Injuries are a part of the game and why should you have an easier return than the guy in the pool and in therapy for months working it out.
I would love to see Rodney back in the lineup, equal for his personality as for his talent, but not at the cost of having to devalue him any further for another positive HGH test.
Harrison hasn't been without injury in the past, already recovering from tearing his ACL, MCL and PCL in 2005, his shoulder (and subsequently his other knee) were injured in 2006, limiting his playing time. To start 2007, however, Harrison was suspended for four games stemming from his admittance to purchasing human growth hormone. Afterward, Harrison claimed it was "accelerating the healing process from injuries [he] sustained playing football," and "never to gain a competitive edge."If that is a sincere case, is he now being doubted to come back for fear of tarnishing what may still be a Hall of Fame career?
Harrison was written off by the Chargers 5 years ago when he was released before singing with the Patriots. Was his ability to come back from devastating injuries (three ligaments in one knee, a shoulder and another knee) less his heart than his, ahem, regimen? I have always like Harrison, he anchored a two time champion secondary for my favorite team, but never gave him a free pass for the HGH, regardless of his end game with them. Injuries are a part of the game and why should you have an easier return than the guy in the pool and in therapy for months working it out.
I would love to see Rodney back in the lineup, equal for his personality as for his talent, but not at the cost of having to devalue him any further for another positive HGH test.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
World Series
World Series
Tampa Bay Rays vs Philadelphia Phillies
The world series starts tonight and it should be the first non sweep in a couple of years. The Phillies and Rays are evenly matched when it comes to offense. However, the pitching and momentum favors the Rays. The Phillies have been sitting on their hands for nearly a week now while the Rays staved off a Red Sox comeback and played until this past Sunday. Home field also favors the Rays where they were 57-24 during the regular season.
Having said that, if Cole Hamels can shut down BJ Upton, Evan Longoria and the rest of the Rays offense in Game 1, he could slow the upstart Rays and the Phillies could take the series. I think Hamels is a stud and perfectly capable of doing so.
Result: Phillies in 6
MVP - Cole Hamels
Tampa Bay Rays vs Philadelphia Phillies
The world series starts tonight and it should be the first non sweep in a couple of years. The Phillies and Rays are evenly matched when it comes to offense. However, the pitching and momentum favors the Rays. The Phillies have been sitting on their hands for nearly a week now while the Rays staved off a Red Sox comeback and played until this past Sunday. Home field also favors the Rays where they were 57-24 during the regular season.
Having said that, if Cole Hamels can shut down BJ Upton, Evan Longoria and the rest of the Rays offense in Game 1, he could slow the upstart Rays and the Phillies could take the series. I think Hamels is a stud and perfectly capable of doing so.
Result: Phillies in 6
MVP - Cole Hamels
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Novel Defensive Plan
The biggest problem in the majority of NFL secondaries today is a lack of height. 6' 4" receivers are snagging balls from 5' 10" defensive backs. It seems that any fast player with leaping ability and hands is seperated into two pools at the high school level, receiver or DB. If you were to force all teams to play all of their DB's at receiver and their WR's in the secondary, opposing defenses would get a huge, immediate boost. So why is it more teams don't utilize a WR in the secondary more. Granted, playing both ways is an extremely tiring task, as anyone who played high school ball can most likely attest, but a receiver who poses a deep threat to defense with no one to deliver the ball to him would undoubtedly be more beneficial playing on the opposite side of the ball.
Extrapulating that (as my mind becomes head football coach of the New England Patriots), why not play Randy Moss in the secondary? You're team is hurting in the wake of injuries to both Tom Brady and Laurence Maroney and you're defense is pretty good but not keeping you close enough in games. You move Moss into the secondary (substituting Deltha O'Neil, who was horrendous against the Chargers) and across from Ellis Hobbs. You match him against not necessarily their best receiever, rather their taller one, who is often their best (see Burress, Plaxico and Wayne, Reggie). This puts someone with immense acceleration, tremendous hands and leaping prowess that is unmatched in the NFL into a position to pick off and defend a lot passes.
What happens to Moss on the offensive side of the ball, you may ask? He will still play several downs with the offense. True, this will be a personal sacrifice by Moss for the greater good of the team. For him, however, it will be worth it to come back with a big contract and play with Brady again in 2009. For the Pats' secondary, you suddenly have a sound squad and a better defense. You will still have Warren, Wilfork and Seymour up front and Vrabel, a great rookie in Jered Mayo and a Pro Bowl season from Adalius Thomas at Linebacker. You then have a much better coverage team with Moss, Ellis Hobbs, Harrison and an up and coming Brandon Meriwhether in the secondary. Your defense becomes a much stingier one.
Moss doesn't have the caliber in quarterback with Cassell to exploit his greatest strengths. Cassell manages a simple offense and passes past the 15 yard mark are worse than hit or miss (with the awful third option of INT). As is evident by the first few weeks this season, Cassell and Moss are not on the same page and when they are, Cassell cannot deliver the football and Randy has not been helpful with his traditional highlight reel catches. The offense will excel with a focus on running/pounding/swinging the ball to Sammie Morris and Kevin Faulk and the WR screens to Wes Welker rather than Moss' sulking streaks down the sidelines to wish for a ball 30 yards downfield from a mediocre quarterback. The offense becomes more manageable for Cassell and thus more productive and the defense becomes more reliable and possibly even better with big plays (any plays really at this point).
It is a very risky idea to actual put into action. What if Moss becomes even more irritated or worse, injured on the defensive side of the ball? What if the lack of his offensive production hurts the offensive to the point stagnant? It cannot be worse than the lackluster team they are throwing out at this point in the season.
Extrapulating that (as my mind becomes head football coach of the New England Patriots), why not play Randy Moss in the secondary? You're team is hurting in the wake of injuries to both Tom Brady and Laurence Maroney and you're defense is pretty good but not keeping you close enough in games. You move Moss into the secondary (substituting Deltha O'Neil, who was horrendous against the Chargers) and across from Ellis Hobbs. You match him against not necessarily their best receiever, rather their taller one, who is often their best (see Burress, Plaxico and Wayne, Reggie). This puts someone with immense acceleration, tremendous hands and leaping prowess that is unmatched in the NFL into a position to pick off and defend a lot passes.
What happens to Moss on the offensive side of the ball, you may ask? He will still play several downs with the offense. True, this will be a personal sacrifice by Moss for the greater good of the team. For him, however, it will be worth it to come back with a big contract and play with Brady again in 2009. For the Pats' secondary, you suddenly have a sound squad and a better defense. You will still have Warren, Wilfork and Seymour up front and Vrabel, a great rookie in Jered Mayo and a Pro Bowl season from Adalius Thomas at Linebacker. You then have a much better coverage team with Moss, Ellis Hobbs, Harrison and an up and coming Brandon Meriwhether in the secondary. Your defense becomes a much stingier one.
Moss doesn't have the caliber in quarterback with Cassell to exploit his greatest strengths. Cassell manages a simple offense and passes past the 15 yard mark are worse than hit or miss (with the awful third option of INT). As is evident by the first few weeks this season, Cassell and Moss are not on the same page and when they are, Cassell cannot deliver the football and Randy has not been helpful with his traditional highlight reel catches. The offense will excel with a focus on running/pounding/swinging the ball to Sammie Morris and Kevin Faulk and the WR screens to Wes Welker rather than Moss' sulking streaks down the sidelines to wish for a ball 30 yards downfield from a mediocre quarterback. The offense becomes more manageable for Cassell and thus more productive and the defense becomes more reliable and possibly even better with big plays (any plays really at this point).
It is a very risky idea to actual put into action. What if Moss becomes even more irritated or worse, injured on the defensive side of the ball? What if the lack of his offensive production hurts the offensive to the point stagnant? It cannot be worse than the lackluster team they are throwing out at this point in the season.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
Baseball Predictions Part 2
Well, since it is my blog I guess I can show a bit of hubris. If you scroll a measly one post down, you will see my predictions for the baseball playoffs. These are indeed predictions and not results, although they 75% could be. It is true, that I picked 3 of the 4 division series winners and how many games they would need to get things wrapped up. The lone standout is I picked the Dodgers in 5, not being pessimistic enough about the horrible Cubs team that got absolutely wrecked in the opening series against the boys in Blue. That's better than the "expert" picks I read in the days leading up to Game 1's.
Back to living in the now rather than my past glory.
Red Sox vs. Rays
Sox in 6
As a Sox fan, this series scares me. The Rays are in uber cocky, there's nothing going to stop us mode that you hate to see. Then again, the Angels had that same idea and failed to execute again (although they seem to think they were the better team, yet lost 3 of 4 (that's a .250 winning percentage) Keep dreaming L.A.). I am interested to see if Lester starts game 1 (on 3/4 days of rest depending on how you count it), or if it will be the chip artist Dice-K or the legend Beckett. I think that is a big decision for Terry and he may only want Lester to be the one to do it, which would help explain his logic of pulling in the 7th last night on some bogus split second reaction Lester had to getting the final out of his night. I like the Red Sox "been there before" look they seemingly bring to the park each game a bit more than the Rays mentality that I detailed above so I will take experience over youth but look out for the Rays over the next three years.
MVP - John Lester
Dodgers vs Phillies
Dodgers in 5
Remember when the Rockies went on a tear to the World Series last year? While the numbers weren't as impressive (like 20+ game winning streak to end the season), but they were mind boggling since the Ramirez trade. They have the hottest pitching in baseball, a great bullpen (Lidge can't take the 7th - 9th every night) and a guy who just flat out hits each October. If the Phillies can slow them down with a strong Cole Hamels start in Game 1 and that lineup starts catching some fire and wins some 7-6, 9-8 types of ball games, the Phillies will take this one in 7. Unfortunately I dont think anything is stopping Manny and Torre's return to Fenway Park in the biggest series of the year.
MVP - Manny Ramirez
Back to living in the now rather than my past glory.
Red Sox vs. Rays
Sox in 6
As a Sox fan, this series scares me. The Rays are in uber cocky, there's nothing going to stop us mode that you hate to see. Then again, the Angels had that same idea and failed to execute again (although they seem to think they were the better team, yet lost 3 of 4 (that's a .250 winning percentage) Keep dreaming L.A.). I am interested to see if Lester starts game 1 (on 3/4 days of rest depending on how you count it), or if it will be the chip artist Dice-K or the legend Beckett. I think that is a big decision for Terry and he may only want Lester to be the one to do it, which would help explain his logic of pulling in the 7th last night on some bogus split second reaction Lester had to getting the final out of his night. I like the Red Sox "been there before" look they seemingly bring to the park each game a bit more than the Rays mentality that I detailed above so I will take experience over youth but look out for the Rays over the next three years.
MVP - John Lester
Dodgers vs Phillies
Dodgers in 5
Remember when the Rockies went on a tear to the World Series last year? While the numbers weren't as impressive (like 20+ game winning streak to end the season), but they were mind boggling since the Ramirez trade. They have the hottest pitching in baseball, a great bullpen (Lidge can't take the 7th - 9th every night) and a guy who just flat out hits each October. If the Phillies can slow them down with a strong Cole Hamels start in Game 1 and that lineup starts catching some fire and wins some 7-6, 9-8 types of ball games, the Phillies will take this one in 7. Unfortunately I dont think anything is stopping Manny and Torre's return to Fenway Park in the biggest series of the year.
MVP - Manny Ramirez
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)