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.

The False Truth

Being a sports fan is a constant challenge and a relationship that can be a love affair or drive someone crazy. If you are a Met fan this dichotomy is always in play. Let's be clear about the New York Mets, they are clearly a very poorly run franchise, they are a big market team that never seems willing to dig into their pockets to provide talent on the field or for the fans. The front office doesn't seem to have a plan in place or a direction that is consistent for winning over time. They ask their fans to be loyal which they are even when the results on the field are never positive for very long. Met fans are constantly waiting for their next minor leaguer to be a star or the next win streak however short it may be. Last year their season revolved around RA Dicky, this year this season so far has revolved around Matt Harvey and the sweep of the Yankees. It was a wonderful weekend for the Mets as they established themselves as a real team at least for 4 days against the Yankees. Then, unfortunately, they went to Miami and got swept by the worst team in baseball, once again reminding Met fans of the reality of their team. For the Mets 50+ years of existence and the overall winning % is .478. and therein lies the rub. Met fans level of expectation is never high enough or demanding enough. Unfortunately over the years their season revolves around a couple of good players, one good week, one big series win over the season and that seems to be enough to placate the owners and many of their fans. It's not that their fans don't want more they just don't expect it because of the history of the team and it's front office. The bar is raised too low and the Mets are given a pass by the media, the newspapers and everyone else who does not demand this large market franchise with deep pockets provide a better product for the fans. If this was the Red Sox or the Yankees or the Dodgers or even the Cubs there would be revolution in the streets, but the local media and other major outlets never criticize the Mets for there ineptness. What other franchise with their own cable network would have the nerve to provide as bad a product as the Mets do on a nightly basis? Met fans, and God bless them, are always sold the idea that next year will be better and it never is. After coming off a terrible year in 2012 the Mets off season plans and subsequent talent acquisition amounted to nothing. But that's okay because they don't have to answer questions to the general public about their unwillingness to try and improve the team. Maybe the owners really do care, but if you continue to show a total lack of effort to improve your product you either don't care or you're clueless about how to do it, either way you are selling a flea circus to the public and asking them to care.
Mets fans deserve better.

The Need For Change

As a life long Ranger fan it was very difficult to watch the slow death the Rangers experienced at the hands of the Boston Bruins. There are many questions surrounding the Rangers moving forward. Maybe they just weren't good enough to advance past the Bruins or maybe their mistakes finally caught up to them against a better team then Washington. Staal and Clowe being out certainty didn't help. And of course their power play speaks for itself. Obviously these are some of the issues that jump out at you, but I think the problems go deeper. I think the issues with this team are also systematic and have to fall on the doorstep of the head coach John Tortorella.  He is a taxing coach to play for and his system leaves virtually no room for error. His defense minded strategies leave his goalie alone and a target for teams to virtually tee off on while his other players try to block shots and defend the shooting lanes. This might be viable at the end of the game while trying to protect a lead but as a game in game out strategy it puts tremendous pressure on the goalie and exhausts the defense. It can win games but never allows your team to get a big lead and close out games early by scoring multiple goals. His team's margin for error is virtually non-existent. Maybe that's the reason John Tortorella has never won a playoff series in less than seven games. Good teams have the ability to step up the level of play and distance themselves during the course of the game so that they have some breathing room , and  can make a mistake without  it costing  them the game. Tortorella's conservative restrictive game also limits his more creative players, Gabrek, Richards, Nash, etc. The Rangers pay huge money for these players and then they are forced to fit into a system that limits their creativity and therefore their ability to score. Once again systematic limitations. Their power play is also systematically inept , they try to shoot from the point, other teams get better angles and more open ice moving side to side and not front to back. Teams know how to defend the Rangers because their power play is unimaginative. How can a coach go this far into a season and fail at this aspect of the game and not make adjustments. That is one of John Tortorella's problems, he is also arrogant stubborn and spiteful... His teams play hard for him but I'm not sure whether it's out of respect or fear. I find it interesting that John Tortorella  has problems coaching the biggest stars on the team, maybe it's not their problem maybe it's his, or more to the point his system. Great coaches succeed overtime because of their ability to adjust to game situations and change their philosophies based on their talent and depth. Tortorella has left a path of destruction in his wake. He has a resume, Conference Finals last year Final 8 this year, a past Stanley Cup championship in Tampa. But it's always with a price. In addition, he is poisonous to the media as well, why? The biggest problem now is the best player on the team King Henrik doesn't seem to want to play for him or the Ranger's anymore, maybe it's because they are too systematically challenged !!!