R.I.P. to The Boss

I'm an LA guy. If you take anything away from my rants and articles, you'd know I'm a home town sports loyalist. I've never been a Yankee fan, except when they play the Red Sox then I'm a huge Yankee supporter.

More than anything I'm a sports lover. I recognize what the Yankees are. They're either the ultimate villain or the ultimate winner; or perhaps BOTH. You can't have great rivalries without good guys and bad guys. You can't have great teams unless they beat other great teams. You can't have magical moments without history that create environments where tensions can grow and pressure mounts and players break through.

The greatest baseball moment ever is Kirk Gibson's home-run in the '88 World Series. I won't go on about that because frankly I don't need to and it's just an example of what sports can mean and what magical moments and unforgettable games or plays can do to change people's lives.

With all that being said, George Steinbrenner was a maverick, a monster, a tyrant, a control freak, a unique character the likes we'll not see very soon and a winner. The man wanted to win every year. He made all the right moves when it came to generating money. He had no fear of spending the money to get a championship team. For good or bad, all he wanted was for the Yankees to win. And to win every year. Unlike most owners (by choice or by lack of funds) he pushed his players, coaches and fans to expect to win the World Series every single year. I can do nothing but admire him.

Sure there where times where he was banished from baseball twice. Or would fire a coach seemingly every six months. I truly believe he'd slit the throat of every Red Sox player if it meant one more championship. But what more do you want from your owner?

I love the Dodgers but they're not going to win. They're close. They have great young players and one of the best run minor leagues in baseball. The Dodgers are always turning out great young prospects. The one thing that they've lacked is the money and balls to go after those few sought after, high paid free agents. A big bat here or a ace #1 starter there. They never do it. When they try, they usually end up with a hurt arm or a washed up steroid-ed former all star.

The Yankees really didn't care if they got Cliff Lee this year, why? Because they're going to get him over the summer in free agency and not have to give up their young prospects to do it.

In his older age, when I believe he appreciated life and winning even more he let go. When coming back from his second suspension he saw that growing young talent was just as important as buying all stars. He was still willing to spend the money and that's how you've got a hall of fame infield of Jeter / Cano and A-Rod / Texeria. Two home grown stars and two superstar free agents. Name me another baseball team that can even come close to doing what the Yankees do year in and year out. I'd love for the owner of any of my favorite teams to be like this.

We have a taste of this in the Lakers. It's not quite the same because of salary cap rules. Like the Yankees, the Lakers always try to put the best product out there. Ask fans of the Royals, or the Indians or the Cavaliers or the Clippers. Ask them how it would feel if their owners where truly about winning a championship rather than just banking their multi-millions each year. Never breaking the bank to win, always playing it safe, trading their most valued players halfway before the season ends because they know they can't or won't sign them so they'd rather cripple the team to get some minor league player who may be something in 5 years.

Steinbrenner was a winner. He'll be remembered that way forever. For bringing the most historic franchise back to greatness and raising the playing field of every team in their division and possibly the league, if they wanted to contend of course.

I wish there where more owners like Steinbrenner and Dr. Buss in the sporting world. Steinbrenner had his flaws but from all accounts off the field he was a good man. On the field what was his greatest flaw, that he wanted to win every year. Not a bad flaw when it comes from the owner of a sports team.

George Steinbrenner 1930 - 2010

Superbowl in NYC, not for me!

I love New York. I love the Superbowl. But putting them together is a bad idea.

First off, the stadium isn't even in New York. It's in New Jersey. Sure, it's around the corner and two teams claiming to be from NYC play there but I know a fact when I see one.

That's just me stroking a sarcastic note. I hate this idea because of the big ice burg in the room. It's cold!!! Even worse, it's NYC in February.

If this past year taught us anything is that the Pro Bowl shouldn't be played a week early AND it should be in Hawaii. What NFL-er wants to go to a city that they've played in or even live in as a "bonus" of being an all star. Many people said that these players are so rich that going to Hawaii isn't all that special anymore. I disagree. First off, it's a chance to take their families and show off that they're not just special but get the red carpet treatment in a tropical island. They can take their wives, parents, family all for a nice trip. Just like any high paying job, sure you can afford to go to Hawaii on your own but many times you don't. And it means something more when you're good at your job and get to share that with the family. If I was given a trip to Hawaii by the mortgage brokers of America in honor of being one of the best mortgage brokers that would be great. I've been to Hawaii and owned a place there, but to be honored and take the family; that's special. You won't have all these players dropping out of the game. Also, when you have it the week before you're taking out a good 5 - 10 players that are going to be in the Superbowl and can't play. The reason that these guys are in the Pro Bowl is because they're good and naturally their teams would be in the Superbowl.

Let's get back to the Superbowl. Let me bring up just one game. The "tuck game". New England VS Oakland. Need I say more. If the Raiders went on to win that game, they could be the one that has won 3 of 4 championships and been a dominating factor between 2000 - 2010. I'll live with the results because it was a championship game. But if you think that for one second that was a "good" game to watch or remember you're out of your fucking mind. Even Patriot fans will tell you that game was horrible, and they WON!

We might get lucky and you won't see a drop of rain or feel a push of wind but I doubt New York in February you'll get that lucky. Even if one ball is thrown off because of a wind factor of 45 MPH you'll never hear the end of it.

Now it sounds good, having the NFL's biggest game in their home city and the home of two big time franchises but to risk the SUPERBOWL to something like weather when you don't have to is just stupid. Sure it rained for the Colts vs Bears game but you can't control everything. It was still over 50 degrees. But you gave it the best possible chance of having good weather by playing in Miami during the winter. By having a Superbowl in NYC you're just asking for trouble. And when it hits, I hope it's not a team that I like in the game. Because that game will never be forgotten.

There was a pole on ESPN that showed 60% of the fans like the idea of having the game in NYC. I think there is a magical quality to having the game there. But someone has to be the voice of reason and look at the game part. We want a fair neutral site. Or just have it go to the highest ranked team's home field like every other sport. Also don't forget about the days leading up to the game. The NFL promotes such a large number of events that if you have bad weather you're killing your own product and setting yourself up for a logistical nightmare.

As always I could go on but this is not a Pro Bowl where we can try it out one year and see how it goes. The game is fine. Leave it alone. Please don't put the Superbowl in New York in February. I thought that there where smarter people that ran the NFL, but I guess when you get to have your office party in your back yard, you forget the reason why offices don't have parties at the office, no one wants to clean up the mess.

Congrats Saints

OK, I was totally wrong about every part of my Superbowl pics.

It was strange because I really did want Peyton Manning to win another SB, but I can't say I'm upset that the Saints won. They've shown that they know how to party.

Whether or not it's true that the Saints bring the city of New Orleans together and gives them hope is a real question of mine. Sure it's great but it doesn't build houses and doesn't pave roads. Even if it brings one business back or makes one person feel better, than I guess that's a good thing for a city that's been through so much and has so much culture.

So go Saints. And let's hope the Colts can make another run for the championship next year. If I'm not wrong, I believe the SB will be held in Indy next year or the following year. Now that's something that I've always wanted to see. A Superbowl where one of the teams has a true home field advantage.

Early pic for SB

Here's the Bear's pic.

Colts 35 - Saints 24.

This could be a shoot out. So if anything I'd bet the over.

I never like that one team is talked about more than the other. It seems everyone is jumping on the Colts band wagon, more than that the Peyton Manning wagon. Let's not forget that the Saints are not to be overlooked offensively. They can match the Colts score for score. If the Saints get just 2 or 3 turnovers defensively I think they could win.

I don't think the final score will be close either way. If you like one team or another, pick that team and forget the points. We're talking about teams putting up 7's so I'm guessing that one of teams will win by more than 7 points. Specifically, the Colts will win by more than the line and if you like the Saints take the points.

This game smacks of scoring (so it'll probably be 13 to 10 :) ). Realistically, this should be a shoot out. Both teams are very good at moving the ball. The Saints give up a lot of yards and rely on turnovers, so if the Colts don't turn it over, they'll be putting up lots of points.

Good luck to all.

Take the NFC to win the coin toss. Believe it or not I think they've won for 12 straight years? And take the under on the amount of times they show Kim K in the stands. This is football, they'll only show her 2 or 3 times depending on if Bush does well.

From college to the Pros?

Is there anything worse than seeing your favorite college football star leave early from a winning program to go into the NFL?

Yes. It's to see your head coach, that has built a national powerhouse that aside from the latest 8-4 season, leave to go to the NFL.

Pete Carroll is all but a lock from the reports I'm reading to go to the NFL. What's worse is to see him go to the Seahawks. THE SEAHAWKS?!?!? WTF!!!!

USC is so good that they lost 4 linebackers to the NFL draft last year in the first 2 rounds. People, they only start 3!! And correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't the fourth guy drafted Maualuga, the defensive star?! Cushing is going to the Pro-Bowl in his first season. Let's add the fact that the year before, they lost 3, THREE, linebackers to the draft. In the span of two years, USC lost 7, SEVEN, linebackers to the NFL. I'm just pointing out how good and deep this system is. It wasn't a surprise to see that USC had an off season. Most teams would consider an 8 - 4 year with a bowl win as a record year. Not for USC.

If not for one stupid loss for the past 3 or 4 years, USC could very well have at least five championships. USC started a rookie, that by the end of the season looked far from it, for the first time at the quarterback position. The way USC ended up and considering who and what was returning they could be on the brink of another two to five year stretch of championship years.

This is all because of Pete Carroll. I ask why? Why would someone want to leave this job? Unless there is such damning NCAA violations that are coming around the corner, why would he want to leave? OK, so you weren't the greatest coach in the NFL the first few times you got the chance. But you are one of the best that college has ever seen. You're in a city that has no NFL team so by default USC is our NFL team. I bet for the past few years, USC would either win or stay close in games against any of the bottom third of the NFL.

It can't be money because USC will pay the coach whatever he wants. Besides the endorsements he gets in Los Angeles have to be way bigger and better than anything he can get in Seattle. It's inceadibly upsetting to see. I have no real loyalty to USC except for the fact their LA's football team. I don't care about the school or any other part of it. I wouldn't travel to USC unless you paid me. It's students come from some of the richest families in the world, but USC is slap dab in the middle of the ghetto.

I admire coaches like Paterno and Bowden. They stayed with their schools because they new it wasn't going to get better than this. Also, I find that most coaches that go from college to the pros miss out on this aspect; the players don't have to listen to you. You're not shaping young minds, you're babysitting super rich kids. Football is about chemistry and even on the best of teams you see the hardest part is keeping the egos in check and getting the players to work together. That's not the case in college. At USC, Carroll is going for championships all the time AND turning kids into men. He'll have way more to making a mark on this world in college than he'll ever do in the pros. Think about the kid that will never make it in the NFL. He'll have busted his ass and gone from 18 - 22 years old. Carroll will have made this boy into a man and this man may never see the light of the a Sunday night game.

If this is it, Pete, thanks for giving the greatest city in the world something to watch each week. As much as I love the city of Seattle, I hope you choke on your Starbucks bitch! You'll never EVER have in Seattle what you have in Los Angeles.

Texas Tech vs. Leach

I find it hard to believe that things at TT are so bad and have been that they are really firing the biggest name in their history. Sure they had Bobby Knight but he wasn't what Mike Leach was.

I'm not going to pretend like I know what went on between Tech officials and Leach or Leach and the football staff and the players but I do know success. Leach had been slowly putting Tech on the map for the past 10 years (I think that's how long). No one knew about or care what Texas Tech did in football not to long ago. Then you started to see these shootouts. Then in the last few years they where contenders for the Big 12. Now it's not unrealistic to think that Tech could soon challenge Texas for the top dog of the Big 12 or via for a BCS bid.

There has to be something more to this story because not only did Leach bring attention, wins and, by the way, education (Tech ranked high on graduation rate for it's players) but most importantly for schools MONEY; to just throw him out? And they're still going to have to pay him at the very least about 2.5 million if not more.

Unless something comes out that's totally insane, I guarantee Mike Leach will be the head coach somewhere very soon. It might be a little late for this year but definitly by next year, he'll be at an even better job. Worse is what the NCAA is going to do (or not do) to the current football players. If they choose to follow Leach or just go elsewhere, they'll have to sit out a year. I don't see another coach being able to come in and run the same crazy system Leach did. So the parts aren't there to have a winning team for the next coach. Basically Tech is screwed for the next 3 - 4 years. All because a kid was put in a shed.

Again, I don't know what's true and what's not. But it doesn't seem like anyone is going to win EXCEPT for Leach who will move on. I really don't know the point of this post because like the situation it's very cloudy on who's right and wrong. Leach will move on and get paid, the kids that are at Tech now will suffer, the school will suffer, the students will suffer... oh and did I forget to mention, not a year ago Leach signed a new contract?

I guess the point is, that once again, a school doesn't take a learning opportunity and use it for good but instead screws everything up. Whether it's because of money or administrative pride, I'm getting sick of college football for everything non football related. If Leach was so horrible to this kid, don't you think they could teach him a better lesson by educating him and the world on how to treat injured players who have concussions? Or if there is some sort of dissagreement between Leach and the administration, why sign him to a multi-million dollar / multi-year deal at the end of last season?

I just don't know what to make of this one. I just know that everyone, including us fans, are loosing out and no one really knows why.

2009 Colts

I'll make this short and sweet.

The Colts should have gone for a perfect season. They easily could have defeated the Jets and I think they'd be a heavy favorite to beat the Bills. Here's the reason why:

How many times does a team get even a sniff of all time greatness? It's not like the Colts need to win a Superbowl, they've done that. Now they're trying to put themselves in the ranks of best teams ever. If they win their second Superbowl, that will put them in the discussion. They'll be one of the few teams that in a free agency era where able to pull out two Superbowl wins. BUT if they'd gone undefeated and then won the Superbowl, they'd be the greatest team ever. 19 - 0 has never been done.

There's no guarantee that they'll even get past their first opponent in the playoffs. Now whether they do or don't, they won't be undefeated. Also, they have a regular season record that could have continued well into next year that would never be matched. They gave up so much just to rest their stars for 20 minutes?

I don't get it and I don't agree. They should have tried. These chances don't come along often so when it's sitting in front of you, you take it. Now I think there is more pressure for them to win the Superbowl going with this tactic. You've rested, You've lost and now you should win. The problem is it's just not that easy or guaranteed when playing one game. As the Patriots.