Winning At All Costs

As a sports fan it is getting more and more frustrating and much harder to actually follow the games that are being played on the field without being subjected to the constant distraction of all the off field problems that accompany our sports teams in this day and age. Sports shows begin numerous broadcasts with lead stories concerning steroids, DUI's, sibling assaults, gun possession, club fights,and even murder. Game action and strategies become a backdrop for these reports. News is news no matter where we find it and athlete's crimes are after all more newsworthy then the final score of their games. That will never change, but the rub here for me is the focus on what's really important. Right now the big story is DeSean Jackson's alleged involvement with the gangs in LA. The media's focus was not about the issue of gangs and the connection and influence they have with many of our major sports leagues, NBA ,NFL, etc. which is a serious problem, it was on the fact that DJ was somehow a victim because people were not rushing to his doorstep to resign him. Are you kidding me. Let me make sure I understand this, DeSean has a history of gang related problems and is released from the Eagles because of it and then is rewarded with a 24 million dollar contract from the Redskins. Who says crime doesn't pay. The Media is only outraged because they don't understand how a talented player no matter what his sins are isn't idolized and rewarded with money. Athletes have always been given special treatment, in local sports, College and the Pros. They are our modern day gladiators and role models. But when we honor the thugs and criminals that are playing our games we have lost our way. How did our standards as a society ever get this twisted, and we wonder why our kids don't get it...

Deja Vu All Over Again

Building a sports franchise into a championship caliber organization is a challenge not unlike any other corporation trying to get to the top of the heap. It's sales revenues and market share are directly related to the quality of the product that they're trying to market, just like any other corporation the  direction the company's headed in is imperative for people to understand before they commit their time and money to the company's future. A confusing mission statement is never a good thing for a company to try and sell to the public but that's what the New York Jets are constantly trying to do. Over the last few years the Jets quarterback position has been a constant abyss of clarity and player development proving that their head coach at the very least is quarterback challenged in his skill set. The Jets completely mismanaged Mark Sanchez's career and then proceeded to parade in every possible option including the less than functional Tim Tebow to further confuse the situation. but wait there's more, in the off season they drafted a quarterback and with a simple draft choice created an instant quarterback controversy that would have lasted all year except for the actual  benefit of Mark Sanchez getting injured. If this was a divorce Sanchez could sue the Jets for lack of child support. By signing Michael Vick they have created a second and more dramatic quarterback controversy again. Maybe the front office and the head coach believe that constant turmoil and  chaos on a team is good for morale and the most functional way to build a champion. Successful teams do not strive to get the back pages of newspapers with controversy, they strive to make the headlines with their deeds. Great organizations are built on stability, predictability and making wise decisions when tough decisions need to be made. True leadership is recognized by clarity of judgement, strength of conviction, and commitment to excellence and execution. It seems like the Jets front office has never read a book with any of these definitions in them. Congratulations New York Jets your  not  "going to Disney World" you are Disney World.

Where Have You Gone Joe DiMaggio?

This is the time of year we reflect on the past year and ponder what the future will bring for us all, its a time to be grateful for ones good fortune and keep charity in our hearts for the less fortunate, to remember the good and try to change the bad. It's also a time many of us sit inside and watch a lot of sports. While I was doing that a little Elf kept whispering in my ear why do some athletes have to be such jerks.In this day and age it sometimes appears that classlessness seems to be an end game for some sports franchises and athletes alike. Many of today's athletes seem much more concerned with their individual highlights rather than whether their team wins or loses. "How many points, goals or hits did I get and will it be on ESPN?" How often do we see an NFL player make a tackle, get a pick or sack the quarterback in a game where they are losing by 25 or 30 points and celebrate like they just won the Superbowl. When did performing like a professional and doing your job as expected become a special reason for a world-class celebration.There used to be a time when putting yourself before the team or acting like a Prima Dona got you traded or benched, or possibly and emotional "Code Red" from your teammates. We constantly hold up our past heroes, coaches and players alike as role models for our children to learn from. People with character, class and professionalism that did their jobs with discipline and distinction. Like Red Auerbach, Vince Lombardi, Scotty Bowman, Derek Jeter, Carl Yaztremski, just to name a few. Then we proceed to market and sell the biggest mouthed, most poorly behaved, self centered modern day athletes we can find. For whatever reason it seems they are more abundant in football - Keyshawn Johnson, Terrell Owens, Dion Sanders, Warren Sapp, etc. These people are responsible for their behavior, but they are not to blame alone. The TV Networks, radio, and newspapers are possibly even more responsible for encouraging flamboyant and loudmouth behavior. The media doesn't condemn or criticize this behavior, they market it, highlight it and in essence promote it with their coverage. If you are an obnoxious big mouth player in your career, many times you will end up on some NFL pre-game show as a reward after your playing days are over. They are all there, just look around. This dynamic is not unique to Sports, it's really a sign of the times and shows how much our society has changed. The more outrageous a celebrity's behavior the more coverage they get - Lindsey Lohan, Miley Cyrus, Kanye West, et al. It works in every arena just look at politics. The rub here is that we all watch sports to generally get away from all the crazy inappropriate things we deal with in our lives everyday. The sports arena has been invaded, its often been said that sports imitates life, so in this case we all would be better off still living in a fantasy.

Fantasy or Reality?

In baseball signing free agents has become an accepted way to either rebuild your team or add to a nucleus to help you stay on top. More and more teams are  now willing to spend big money in the off season to build their brands and increase the value of their franchises. The luckiest owners in Major League Baseball have to be the Wilpon 's because even with all of their failure in recent years the Mets still are the 3rd highest valued franchise in the league. I wrote in an earlier blog that the Mets continually try to sell an inferior product to their fan base and convince them that they really care about the success of their franchise . The bottom line is based on recent acquisitions and money spent they don't care about their fans or winning a championship. They have been terrible owners ; but the fans don't get a pass because they continue to acccept this lack of commitment and continue to support an ownership  that doesn't really seem to care about the future of the team .  2014 may actually be different. The recent acquisition and signing of Curtis Granderson  shows at least a minimal effort on the part of ownership to give the fans a better team.  But one has to wonder if this was done simply to placate the fans, who would have no reason to go to the ballpark without serious upgrades this year ,  or are they really trying  to build a winner in New York . If they are really committed  they certainly have a lot more work to do regarding trades , free agency signings , and player development . Granderson is a class act , an upgrade and should help the team even if  his power will be discounted hitting in homerun challenged Citi Field. The Mets got good value for their signing and did not overpay , the coffers should have plenty of money left let's see how serious the Wilpon 's are about winning . Money talks or fans should walk.

When Men Were Men

I always find it interesting when societal issues arise to watch the hysteria and the lack of clarity in analyzing what's appropriate for our culture. The most recent bullying issue involving the Miami Dolphins is just the most recent example of this. It is very clear what happened and very obvious that the infractions that occurred were culturally, personally, and professionally unacceptable. As a society we are constantly struggling to rise above are lowest common denominator and exhibit behavior reminiscent of a more intellectually advanced society. We are constantly condemning gay bashing abuse towards women and racial profiling as unethical and unacceptable in our society, yet somehow when this abuse occurs in a professional football locker room it's somehow less than terrible. The talking heads on the radio and television have actually raised the question as to whether the simple solution would have been for the victim to punch the other person in the mouth as the proper way of correcting this injustice. Better yet I would prefer a dual at Dawn with pistols at 10 yards. Martin the victim, tried to be a good soldier and work through this abuse and when he couldn't take it anymore he did the appropriate thing, and went to his superiors and the powers to be to correct the situation that had gotten out of control. When people start making death threats and threatening your family, ignoring the situation is impossible. Rather than respecting Martin's professionalism and class in some circles he has somehow been cast as a snitch and male content because he tried to take care of the situation by taking the high road. It's amazing to me that this is the kind of message some of these talking heads are trying to send. If this situation had occurred at a high school a workplace environment a private office or anywhere else there would be no question about how to handle it and the solution would not be to have a mud wrestling match in the middle of the office or hospital or school room; but because it's football we have to solve this man to man. I'm all for being tough, defending yourself, taking responsibility for your actions, and not letting people intimidate you, but going to superiors rather than using a gun, smashing someone in the face, or killing a person does not mean you did the wrong thing. Crosby Stills Nash and & Young have a song called "Teach Your Children Well ". We are taught our society is only evolved if we are able to gain justice for all, how we do this also speaks to our character and our commitment to that idea. Martin is trying to do it the right way. He should be supported not criticized...

Locked And Loaded

Professional sports has always been an  escape for all of us, its been an arena for all of us to forget our daily troubles and fantasize about being the hero of the day. As as we have seen Sports has become more and more about drug use, gun violence, assault charges, broken contracts, trash talking, and other illegal activities making it more about our society's problems then actual wins and losses. The topic of the day and what seems to be a perpetual obsession with this subject is steroids in baseball, we have been talking about it for a number of years at this point, but there are actually bigger problems than that in sports. The NFL the originators of steroid use, and who have managed beautifully to erase that fact from their history, have a much bigger and more deadly problem than any sport has ever faced. GUN USE...Gun violence in the NFL has become epidemic. It seems that having a gun is a must in the NFL...A right of  passage. No gun no fun. Most of the time the players guns are not even legally owned. The violence and deaths caused by these gun owning players and other arrests for assault, rape etc. have made the NFL's logo in some circles stand for National Felony League. Aaron Hernandez's arrest for murder is just the latest example of violent crimes committed by  NFL players. Not long ago the Cincinnati Bengals in one season had 11 players arrested on felony charges. Since the end of the 2013 season 28 NFL players have been charged with felonies. Unfortunately many of the crimes that these players commit are murder. Just ask OJ, Ray Lewis or Jason Williams to name a few. Wife beatings, assaults and rapes only add to the problem. The problem may start as early as when these players hang out with gang members while playing in the league, or come from that background originally. Maybe it is the steroids kicking in over time. It really doesn't matter how the problem started the issue at hand is that these players are literally locked and loaded and ready to rock n roll is always a bad combination. Mix in a street gang mentality and it's only a matter of time until someone's laying stiff and cold on the ground. Guns are a problem in our everyday society, in the NFL they have become a way of life.  What's the most remarkable thing about this is that the league has been able to continue to wave a flag of marketing heroism, ignoring this problem and avoiding the reality that the victims lives have made so apparent. Steroid use in baseball and other sports is a terrible thing for the integrity of the games, but it's not a life and death result when things go wrong. I'd rather have steroids running through my veins then lead running through my body. The NFL cannot hide anymore. Criminal records and gun possession should not be part of a prospects resume, the NFL needs to enforce stricter background checks and personal interviews to eliminate some of these issues before other people die. Coaches, General Managers, and owners need to take responsibility for this epidemic. Gifted athletes have always been given a pass, passing on this issue now, only means more funerals.

The Blind Reality

When did our society begin to lose its grip on common sense and start to let reality become a secondary factor in our lives. That specific date could be hard to pinpoint but it's clearly on exhibit at Wimbledon with its current tournament seedings on display. As a society we have become dependent on computers for information , data and other technological information that helps us  evolve technologically to a supposed better place. That is all fine and good to a point  but when we allow  computers to make  the decisions strictly on binary numbers in their database as a society we are in big trouble. The movie "Fail Safe " was a example how life threatening letting computers make our decisions and run our lives can be. I understand a tennis tournaments seedings is not a life or death situation or even something that people should possibly stress over but it still is an example of have ludicrous computers can make our reality.  Rafael Nadal just won the French Open  by beating the top player in the world Djokovic. He is clearly one of the top two players in the world and has been for a number of years but because he hasn't played a full schedule  because of injury and his point total in the computer is not at the top level he was seeded 5th in the tournament. Two of the people he beat in the French Open to win the title  are seeded  ahead of him, in particular the person he beat in the semi's and in the finals. The best match of the tournament and in  essence what could be considered the finals very likely could be played as a quarter final match. This does a disservice to the players  , the patrons, the sponsors  ,  and the tournament in general. It also represents and un even playing field and ultimately makes the credibility of the tournament  a joke.. Computers are our friends they are not supposed to be our masters. The tail is not supposed to wag the dog. Not to digress too far but maybe the BCS National Championship game would have been competitive and not a joke competitively if the people in charge were not controlled by the computer rankings.. Enough said now I have to let my computer help me send this to you.