I Kid You Not

Why Sports Are Important

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:32:00 +0000

**I found this recap of my thoughts on sports after the fires that swept through Southern California in October of last year. Hopefully it still rings true today...**

Given what's happened in our town, in our county, and even throughout our state this week, I'm sure we've all heard, and many of us have said, the phrase, "It reminds us of what's really important."
For starters, I agree wholeheartedly. I have never been through anything remotely like the wildfires, the mandatory evacuations, and the smoky aftermath of this week. I grew up in Western New York, where the most we had to worry about was a lot of snow, and not to downplay the power of a lake-effect blizzard, but there's just something deeply, inherently frightening about fire. It moves quickly, it moves erratically, and it consumes everything in its path. And this week, it was on our doorsteps.
That's why it was such a shock to wake up at 5:30 a.m. on Tuesday to the smell of smoke, the wind howling outside my front door, and a county sheriff careening up the driveway to alert us that we needed to evacuate immediately. I admit it, I almost lost it. I stood outside for a good 30 seconds, just looking around and trying to process the movie-like scene in front of me. Thank goodness for my neighbors, who had been through this before, and assured me that everything would be alright. They calmly explained that we weren't in any imminent danger, but that I still needed to get some things together to be ready to leave.
In the five minutes I had to put together what I considered to be my irreplaceable belongings, I had to make some hurried decisions. Do I take my guitar? Obviously, yes. Do I take my Christmas tree, which is still up from last year? Obviously, no, since I got it at Target for like $15. Do I take my movie collection, my suits (which belonged to my dad), or my book collection? Those were not so obvious.
In the end, I loaded up what I thought was important: a few changes of clothing, my bedding, some extra towels and blankets, my guitar, my Bible, a painting done for me by a dear friend, my portfolio of articles I wrote for the newspaper back in New York, and my athletic equipment.
At that point, I realized something that I have since thought about further, and continue to find interesting -- that is, the fact that I saw fit to include sports equipment in the company of things I considered important enough to save from the oncoming fire.
Now, I don't consider myself anything but an amateur when it comes to athletics; I certainly enjoy playing sports and look for any excuse to do so. But what I have is all replaceable, from my soccer cleats, to my old baseball glove, to the football I just bought a few weeks ago to replace the one I left back in New York. None of that really matters in the grand scheme of things, right?
Well, maybe it does. I'm sure we all heard the pros and cons of the Chargers playing at home against the Texans on Sunday -- some said it was just what the people here needed, others said it was insensitive to presume that a football game was important enough to go on, even in the face of debilitating tragedy.
Yet it was played, and played quite well from a San Diegan's perspective. The message sent by the Chargers and the NFL was that yes, San Diego County (and all of California) has been through a terrible nightmare of a week, but in the end, if we can all come together for something as "insignificant" as a football game, we can certainly come together to help our neighbors and friends get through the process of rebuilding their lives.
Of course, sporting events in and of themselves are not to be taken as life and death situations; one team wins, another loses, we all are entertained and then we move on. But if Simon and Garfunkel are correct that each of us is an island, then sports provide an easily-accessible bridge to connect even the most isolated person. There have been so many times in my relatively young life when I've struggled to carry on polite conversation with a stranger -- until we realize that we're both sports fans, and then it's not too long before other people begin to wonder if we've known each other since grade school.
And sports become so much more important for those of us who have experienced what it means to be a part of a team. It's common to hear about the special bond players develop with their teammates, especially in the formative years between elementary school and college. Once you've been a part of a true team, you know that it's infinitely more than that -- those other guys (and/or girls) are like another family.
Possibly the most important role of sports, however, is that they give us a sense of normalcy that is impossible to replace. It happened for Virginia Tech after the campus was decimated by an armed attacker, it happened in the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in New York City six years ago, it happened in San Francisco after the devastating earthquake in 1989. Tragedy is a reality in our world, and though there is a time to pause and reflect, there is also a need to pick up what's left and keep going. Sports have played a pivotal role in the healing of our nation and our world, and I doubt that anything else could have done such a marvelous job.
So when the CIF canceled sports events and practices last week, I'm sure our student-athletes missed their teammates and the competition they love. And now that the danger has all but passed, I'm sure they are ready to get back to playing.
When they do, I hope you're there to see it.
Because no matter who you're rooting for, it's going to remind us all of what's really important.

A Super Bowl For The Ages

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:31:00 +0000

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright,
The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light
And somewhere men are laughing, as they pat each other's backs;
But there is no joy in Boston - mighty Brady has been sacked.

For so many fans, Super Bowl XLII was another re-creation of Ernest Thayer's famous poem about the mighty Casey. And much like the Mudville faithful, those fans sit today in silence, wondering what in the world just happened.
"Eli Manning?" I'm sure they're saying to themselves. "Tom Coughlin? David Bleeping Tyree?!?"
But in the midst of the confusion, forming itself out of thin air, the thought must be sinking in:
We were this close to perfection.
For nearly six months, football fans could hardly leaf through the sports section (let alone finish an episode of Sportscenter) without an almost-constant reminder of what perfection is. We'd all heard that perfection is "the highest degree of proficiency, skill, or excellence," because another sportswriter took the time to visit dictionary.com and make a simple comparison.
We all saw the pre-game montage of the various New England Patriots explaining what a perfect season entails. I'm sure all the Pats fans had all but handed the Lombardi trophy to their favorite celebrity playboy-slash-quarterback before Jordin Sparks had even lip-synched the National Anthem.
But here we stand, hurtling through space on a big blue marble where the truth of the matter is this:
The New England Patriots just lost the Super Bowl.
For the record, I couldn't be happier. I despise the Patriots and all they stand for. I'm sure I'm not alone in my loathing of Bill Beli-cheat's inhuman, robotic glare; or of Tom Brady's "I'm-better-looking-than-you-so-I-father-children-with-supermodels-just-because-I-can" air of self-importance; or of Wes Welker's creepy 1980's mustache. It looked like he had an anemic caterpillar glued to his upper lip, for crying out loud.
But here's what makes this game, this epic failure, so timeless:
The Patriots blew it.
They straight up blew their shot to add their name to the list of immortal teams in sports. They had the chance to do the impossible, or at least the very improbable, and they ended up as just another footnote in history.
From now until the end of the world, when people remember the 2007 New England Patriots, they will not be discussing perfection. They will not be waxing poetic about Tom Brady's pocket presence, nor of Mike Vrabel's pass-rushing prowess, nor of Matt Light's textbook blocking technique.
One word will forever haunt the New England Patriots of 2007:
Cheaters.
We don't need to re-hash the details of the Tape-Pot Dome Scandal (I'm sick of the overuse of Spygate, so until we come up with a better name for the videotaping scandal, I'll use whatever political references I remember from ninth-grade history class. Feel free to send in your suggestions anytime.) There's a new story going around about how the Patriots even taped a practice that the Rams went through the day before Super Bowl XXVIL... uh... QRS... TU... Whatever 36 is in Roman numerals.
Anyway, whatever evidence comes out from this point on, it has already been established that the Patriots cheated. They broke the rules of the game to gain a competitive advantage over their opponents. They decided that it's better to have a tainted win than an honest loss, and that will never, ever be removed from their legacy.
And that, in the end, is why are so many of us, as in the Thayer poem, laughing and listening to the band play.
Because there's nothing we like better than seeing some slimy shyster get his comeuppance. Think back to the plot of every action movie you've ever seen. Some nasty little egomaniacal headcase thinks that his way is the only way, and he (or she) is so bent on attaining some goal that nothing is off-limits.
And how do they all end? With the hero, a hard-working, imperfect-but-still-trying-to-do-the-right-thing guy (or gal) finding some way to bring down the bad guy.
And you know what? We all keep going to see this movie. And we all keep hoping that the good guy will find a way to beat the bad guy, against all odds. And when he does, we all feel good inside. Again.
That is why, all across this favored land, the sun is shining just a little brighter today. That is why I got up this morning with a little bit of a spring in my step. That is why those poor souls in Boston won't find a sympathetic ear from anyone but their compatriots.
The Mighty Patriots -- the once-undefeated, record-setting, nearly-perfect, running-up-the-score-in-the-fourth-quarter, posing-on-the-cover-of-GQ, counting-their-chickens-before-they-hatched Patriots -- have struck out.

My Wish List For Sports In 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:30:00 +0000

2007 was a great year. There were so many heartwarming moments of triumph, so many gut-wrenching moments of defeat, and so many laugh-out-loud moments of craziness in the world of sports that won't soon be forgotten.
But now it's 2008, and like so many "Rocktober" t-shirts, 2007 has been tossed on the proverbial burn pile in favor of the anticipation of another unforgettable year in sports.
What will 2008 bring? I can't claim to know what will happen, but I can offer a brief list of what I would like to see happen in sports in the upcoming year.
1. A use of video replay in all major sports.
This should be an easy one to get, as it seems to be on the verge of happening anyway, but there is a surprising backlash against the process.
I can understand why, though; the NFL has bogged down the replay process to a Bledsoe-ian running speed.
Once the questionable play happens, the team's video guys look at it, then they tell the coach to throw the flag, then the referee discusses it with the coach for a while, then the ref looks at the play, then the ref looks at the play again, then the ref steps back from the video booth to talk about the play with the video officials, then the ref looks at the play again, then the ref scoots back out onto the field to discuss it with the coaches for a while, then the ref announces his decision, then the game is finally allowed to resume. Whew. And all in slightly less time than the typical cricket match.
This may be the first and only time you'll hear me say this, but here's an area where I agree with the process used in college football. The NCAA simply puts an official (actually, three officials) in a video replay booth up in the press box area of the stadium, and allows them to make a call without having to go through the coach's challenge process. If a questionable call is made, the replay officials look at the video to see if a change is needed. If it is, they alert the on-field referee of the correct call; if not, the game simply continues uninterrupted. The coaches do have the ability to challenge a play if the replay officials do not initiate the process, but the on-field referee does not have to run over to a little hood-covered booth or anything; the replay officials in the press box still make the call.
It's simple, it's effective, and it doesn't bog the game down. Before we get to 2009, I'd like to see this kind of replay officiating implemented in the NFL, MLB, the NHL (which already has some kind of replay, but it could use some tinkering) and the NBA (also featuring an existing system that is a little short of perfect).
2. More ejections.
And not just in baseball, where it's extremely amusing to watch a manager get tossed, then continue his tirade until he is all but forceably removed from the field.
What I'm getting at is the increasing regularity with which we see highly- (overly-?) paid athletes ignore the rules of the game, only to be confronted with a minor penalty at best.
In the area of properly punishing offenders, the NHL is the current front-runner of the major sports. Already this season we've seen players who have purposely tried to injure an opponent immediately removed from the game, and from a sizeable portion of his team's following games. Take last March's Chris Simon incident, in which the New York Islanders' forward bashed in the face of Ryan Hollweg of the New York Rangers. Simon received a match penalty and was kicked out of the game, then was handed a then-record 25-game suspension that has stretched into this season. Jesse Boulerice of the always-thuggish Philadelphia Flyers was also suspended for 25 games after cross-checking Vancouver's Ryan Kesler in the face in October.
The swift, drastic action taken by the NHL in this regard is appropriate because of the nature of hockey as a sport -- any time you have large men with sticks traveling at high rates of speed across a sheet of ice, somebody's going to get hurt -- but it's also noteworthy because we don't see players ejected from other sports very often, MLB notwithstanding.
In the NFL, Warren Sapp of the Oakland Raiders was ejected from the Dec. 23 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars after receiving three unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in one play, which has to be some kind of record. Before that, it's hard to recall the last ejection in the NFL, let alone find it online (thanks for nothing, Google). I think it might be the 1999 game in which Cleveland Browns lineman Orlando Brown was inadvertantly hit in the eye with a penalty flag (which is pretty funny, actually) and went crazy, shoving referee Jeff Triplette before getting ejected and eventually suspended from the league.
But these two incidents are isolated against the seemingly ever-present backdrop of inappropriate in-game behavior that goes all but unnoticed. I have actually heard (and would love to see a YouTube clip of) an NFL referee picking up a flag, noting that it was "just some pushing and shoving." There are a few YouTube clips of referees actually calling penalties for, and this is a direct quote, "giving him the business." I hope this does not become an officially recognized way to call penalties.
Whatever it's called, there are far too many extra-curricular activities happening in any given NFL game, whether they be celebratory or confrontational in nature. If Terrell Owens should be fined for the simple, relatively benign act of dumping popcorn on his face after a touchdown, why should players (and coaches!) be able to verbally abuse officials game in and game out without any sort of punishment?
In 2006, Tyler Brayton of the Raiders (there seems to be a pattern here, yes?) was penalized and eventually fined for kneeing Jerramy Stevens of the Seattle Seahawks in the groin on Monday Night Football. Stevens was also fined, but neither player was ejected during the actual game.
My point here is that the old adage of "hit 'em where it hurts" comes into play, and that "where it hurts" is not where it used to be. For the average person, a fine of $15,000 would be pretty devastating; or at least, it would make him or her think twice about repeating the action for which the fine was enforced. But for an NFL player, even those in the lower echelon of talent like Brayton and Stevens, $15,000 is not that big of a deal. The average NFL salary is again over $1 million per season, which means that the average game check in the NFL is $62,500 (one million divided by 16, the number of games each team plays per season). In reality, $15,000 is what the average player gets paid for less than a quarter of play, which really doesn't dent the old bank account very much by the end of the year.
So hitting them where it hurts has to be where it really will hurt, and that's in the time they're allowed on the field. If you kick a player out of the game for acting like a jerk, chances are other players in the league will see that acting like a jerk will get you kicked out of the game. And most players, given the high levels of competitiveness needed to be a professional athlete, would rather cut off an appendage (see: Ronnie Lott) than miss any playing time.
3. Another all-time classic sports movie.
There have been a few in the not-too-distant past -- Remember The Titans, for example -- but gone are the days of Willie Mays Hayes prowling centerfield for the Cleveland Indians (with Bob Uecker in tow!) and Johnny Moxon coming off the bench to lead the West Cannan Coyotes to the inevitable championship triumph (yes, I just referenced Varsity Blues in conjunction with classic sports movies).
There have been some close calls, like 2006's Invincible, the true story of a Philadelphia bartender who earns a spot on the Eagles' roster in the mid-70's. We Are Marshall was also a worthwhile cinematic experience, but both films came up a little short. If I had to put a finger on it, I'd say they were a little bit too real, actually. If you haven't seen the movies -- SPOILER ALERT -- skip down to the next paragraph. At the end of Invincible, we find out that Vince Papale didn't even win the Super Bowl with the Eagles, and at the end of We Are Marshall, we find out that the team only wins one game that season. The Miami Dolphins won only one game this year -- granted, they didn't have a tragic plane crash kill all but three players, but the season was enough of a trainwreck as it was -- and we'll not likely see a movie about them in the near future.
All I'm looking for is a good, old-fashioned, good-guys-win, bad-guys-lose, overcoming-insurmountable-obstacles, triumph-in-the-face-of-adversity, don't-mess-with-me-because-I-like-writing-sentences-with-hyphens-instead-of-spaces kind of sports movie.
And it had better include some kind of 80's music training montage, or I'll walk right out of the theater.
Well there you have it, the top three things I'd like to see happen in sports this year.
How about you? What would you like to see from the sports world in 2008? A BCS playoff system, perhaps? More steroid testing? Some kind of inter-sports all-star competitions in the vein of the Battle Of The Network Stars?
I would love to hear your list, and I'd love to share it with our faithful readers, so send me your thoughts.
Drop me an e-mail at sports@valleycenter.com, or send me some snail-mail to PO Box 1529, Valley Center CA 92082, and I'll put it in next week's edition. Include your name and phone number, just in case it's a really good idea and I want to hear more about it.
In the meantime, start thinking about some things you'd like to see the sports world do away with in 2008, so we can discuss that next week.

Another Championship For The Jags

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:28:00 +0000

The Valley Center Jaguars are the CIF champions, and there's only one reason why:
They did it the right way.
Last week in this space we discussed what it means to be a champion, and concluded that a key ingredient is performing with excellence under the greatest pressure.
But we may have missed out on something even more important; something that goes beyond just football, or even sports in general -- we failed to see that it's not just what you do, but how you do it.
For the greatest of champions to be truly loved by the fans, character is indescribably important. Sincerety and graciousness in winning or losing are to be very highly regarded, and when these qualities are absent, it takes away from the accomplishments on the field instead of adding to them.
Take, for example, the New England Patriots in the NFL. Their head coach is widely considered to be the premier mind in football, their quarterback is on a record-obliterating pace, their once-controversial wide receiver is quietly (for once!) having the season of his life, and they have a defense that could probably hold a rampaging army of killer cyborgs to at least a field goal.
But people hate them. Hate them. Well, people outside the New England area, anyway. Why is that? Why aren't the Patriots commonly loved and admired like the Dallas Cowboys of the 1970s, or the 49ers of the 1980s? Why do most fans cringe every time we have to see another Brady-to-Moss heave that ends up as a touchdown?
It's because of the way they're winning. They seem to have convinced themselves that they are the victimes of the early-season "Cameragate" scandal, and they somehow manage to take even the smallest slights as an affront to their collective, personal well-being. Basically, they think everybody's out to get them, and that somehow they don't deserve it.
For the record, I think they cheated, they admitted they cheated, and they were punished for cheating. It pretty much seems like the situation has been resolved, right? But it has somehow gotten worse as the season goes on.
The Patriots have won 16 straight games now, but they play in probably the least competitive division in football (the AFC East, home of the 0-16 Miami Dolphins). Their division is also playing the NFC East this season, presenting some challenges (the Dallas Cowboys), but also serving up another cupcake opponent (the Washington Redskins, who lost by a score of 642-0, if I remember correctly).
The Pats aren't just content to win, they want to rub their opponents' faces in it, and they want to pad their own stats in the meantime.
Which goes against the great Patriots teams of the past seven years, who were known for their subtle gameplans, their ability to use just enough of the playbook to win, and who seemed genuinely happy to be successful. I wonder, if we were to show Tom Brady the film of how he celebrated after beating the Rams after the 2001 season, if he even recognizes himself. He's gone from a happy kid playing a game to a morally-questionable sourpuss who chews out his teammates for missing a route when the team is holding a 30-point lead in the fourth quarter.
And that brings us back to the Valley Center Jaguars, because they are the polar opposite of the New England Patriots.
Head coach Rob Gilster may not have a ripped-up hoodie or every sportscaster in the nation calling him a genius, but when he took over the playcalling duties at the beginning of the season, he knew what he was doing. Time and time again, when the Jaguars needed a big play in a tight spot, coach Gilster found a way to get the ball into the hands of his playmakers and the team responded.
And so did the rest of the coaching staff, from defensive coordinator Randy Cowell all the way through the kids charting the offensive plays on the sidelines. Sure, the players missed assignments, or lined up out of position, and the coaches called them on it. But they didn't stop coaching, and once again, the team responded.
The moment that most indicates the heart of this Jaguars team came after the win at USD, after the celebration, after the crowd started filing out to head home. As the players headed up the ramp to get on the bus, senior linebacker/tight end Burt Lund, who won the sportsmanship award at the game, ran up to quarterback Tyler Bernard and put his arm around his shoulders.
"Hey Tyler, thanks for getting us here," Lund said. "And sorry I dropped that fourth down catch."
Bernard looked up and laughed. "Shut up," he fired back with a grin.
That little exchange showed that the team was glad to be there, even though it's becoming something of a habit to be in the CIF final. But it also showed that these players, though grateful for success, weren't satisfied with anything less than their best effort.
And in the end, it showed that no matter what, they were in it together -- not for the hype, not for the prestige, not for the glory -- but for each other.
These Jaguars are truly champions.

What It Means To Be A Champion

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:26:00 +0000

What does it mean to be a champion?
I've been thinking about that lately, especially with the excitement surrounding the Valley Center Jaguars and their quest for a third CIF title in four years.
For the record, since I'm the hometown sports writer, I don't have a problem admitting that I root for the Jags. We in the media are supposed to "be objective" and "not pick sides" and all of that, but when you're on the sidelines with the team every week, it's hard not to get caught up in the emotion of the game. I was really thrilled to see them beat La Jolla after the heartbreaker they had down there earlier this season, and I can't wait for the championship game.
But even if (excuse me... when) the Jaguars take the title, what will make them champions? Will it simply be that they were the best team in Division IV this year? In this specific case, yes... that's pretty much it.
Still though, there must be something more to being a true champion. As Freddie Mercury so poetically postulated, a champion seems to be someone who, A) keeps on fighting to the end, and B) has no time for losing. Evidently by following this simple formula, Queen was able to achieve some sort of world championship. Which seems pretty impressive.
But in the discussion of sports heroes and their legendary battles, Lance Armstrong immediately comes to mind. When you face something as scary and oppressive as cancer, then not only live to tell the tale but go on to dominate a sport at its highest level of competition, there's something special there. And no, I'm not referring to any sort of performance enhancements, but the mere fact that I have to make mention of such a thing here means that there are more issues to examine.
So another name that comes up is Muhammed Ali, perhaps the greatest boxer of all time. He broke down racial, social, religious, and even comfort barriers (Howard Cosell sure didn't look at ease in most of those interviews) and somehow still had time to win title bout after title bout. He certainly set an example, although if one really wanted to teach young athletes how to win graciously and humbly, without calling attention to oneself, there may be other examples better served for such lessons.
Hank Aaron certainly enters the discussion, having established the all-time home run record that stood for nearly 40 years and playing the game of baseball like a true gentleman no matter the circumstances.
And what about Jim Brown, who is widely considered the greatest football player ever, despite an early retirement that left fans wondering what limitless heights he could have achieved?
As more and more examples come up, like Jim Thorpe, Willie Mays, Wilt Chamberlain, Bobby Orr, Reggie Jackson, Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky and Jerry Rice, one common bond links the greats and separates them from the mediocre -- true champions are at their best in the biggest moments.
Think about Ali beating Joe Frazier, or Jordan's shot over Craig Ehlo in the finals, or even Jesse Owens sticking it to the Nazis in the 1936 Olympics. When the stakes are the highest, the great ones shine the brightest.
So as the Jaguars get ready to take on Mission Bay on Saturday, amidst all the game film, strategy and endless repetition of the game plan, I know the coaches will all be instilling one final bit of encouragement:
Champions are made in games like this.
Good luck, Jags!

Cheating In Sports

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:24:00 +0000

By now I'm sure we've all heard about Bill Belichick and the admitted cheating done by the Patriots in filming the Jets' defensive coaches during their week one matchup.
Of course, those of you who are Chargers fans saw firsthand what the Patriots are capable of with or without the aid of extra film. I'll give you a moment to collect yourselves; I know it's a painful memory.
Welcome back.
I bring this all up because it occurs to me that we need to discuss the prevalence of cheating in sports, both professional and amateur, and what, if anything, is being done about it.
First, we need to ask if cheating is something that happens a lot, rarely, or not at all. I don't think I'm alone in assuming that there has to be some kind of illegitimate advantage being sought throughout professional sports, but how much does it really happen?
The place where it seems to happen the most is in NASCAR, where the old motto of "If you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'" still has some hold on the way things are done. Consider that both Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson, who are currently tied for the points lead after the first race in the Chase for the Nextel Cup, had their crew chiefs suspended for a month this season after illegal modifications were found on their cars.
Some kind of shady business is almost always going on, whether it's as sly as Kevin Harvick's team rigging up his fuel tank before qualifying, or as blatant as Sterling Marlin climbing out of his car under a red flag to pull a fender away from his front tire. Cheating in NASCAR goes by a lot of different names, but that just means that it's a pretty big (and accepted) part of the sport at this point.
It's obviously a lot harder to tell if and when cheating is happening in other sports, mostly because there isn't any kind of post-game inspection of athletes, equipment and film. Although, given the current NFL scandal, perhaps something like that isn't too far off.
But I'd say it still happens, like when we saw some kind of "substance" on Kenny Rogers' pitching hand during last year's World Series, or when Sammy Sosa's "practice" bat littered Wrigley Field with cork after it split open, or when John LeClair gets sent back to the bench to change hockey sticks because the curve on his blade doesn't meet specifications (again).
These little nuances of the game make most fans wonder, "If they're catching these guys, how many others are getting away with it?"
Obviously we can't answer that accurately, but if I'm going with my gut feeling, I'd have to say there's probably a whole lot more going on than we as fans realize. I can't imagine every athlete who gets paid to excel in such a highly competitive arena will also have the moral fortitude to turn down an advantage that may or may not be noticed.
So if we assume that cheating is happening, and that it's happening in more instances than what is being caught, what can we assume is being done to protect the integrity of these games?
I suppose we should first ask what a game's integrity entails, because some could argue that these aspects help shape the sports we know and love, and are therefore just as important as any other tradition. If push came to shove, I suppose I'd probably have to agree with this thought, mostly because the vast majority of illegitimate competitive advantages are minimal at best, and unless your name is Gaylord Perry, they usually come back to haunt the players involved.
But we must always consider the effect these things have on amateur and youth sports.
It goes without saying that the message we all want to send young players is that cheating is bad. But we also have to send a message about why cheating is bad, and specifically why cheating is still bad even if you don't get caught.
I don't think we want to get bogged down by too much social commentary, so I'll just say that it's still very important -- perhaps even more so these days -- to instill a sense of integrity and pride in our youngsters. The idea that a job well done isn't as important as a job correctly (and properly) done carries over into so much of life, and since sports do so much in teaching kids life lessons, it seems important to maintain this attitude in friendly athletic competition.
In the end, the problem with filming your opponents' coaches, or using a corked bat, or qualifying on a nearly-empty tank of fuel isn't that it's morally reprehensible, or that it's going to turn kids into lousy stinking cheaters.
The problem is that it makes it that much harder for caring, hard-working coaches and parents to remind young athletes that competition isn't just about beating the other guys.
It should be about making yourself better in more ways than just the statistics.

Football = Great

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:23:00 +0000

I love football.
I know, I know, we've discussed the NFL at length over the past few weeks. And I'm unbelievably excited about the amazing action we saw this weekend.
But the best game I saw wasn't on national television, nor will it be discussed at length on ESPN anytime soon.
To me, the best game of the week happened in La Jolla when our own Valley Center Jaguars took on the Vikings on Friday night.
I'm sure you've seen that we (yes, I'm allowed to root for the Jags -- I'm the hometown sports writer) just missed completing a great comeback in the fourth quarter and ended up losing by a field goal. But the outcome isn't what made the game such a treat to watch.
I love seeing really good competition, and this game had a lot. At first, the Jags looked -- well, I have to be honest -- pretty much out of it. They were slow getting off the ball on the snap, they looked confused in their assignments, and seemed to be easily disheartened, especially when the first pass of the game got picked off.
But I also got to see first-hand one of the aspects of sports that is invaluable in our society -- heart. The coaches talked to the players at halftime, and the players responded with a new attitude that translated into better play in the second half.
The little things started to happen the way they should, like a great block by a receiver to allow the running back to pick up a few more yards. The sideline started to pick up the enthusiasm levels, and the Valley Center crowd followed suit. Even the coaches themselves were getting more and more excited, like when offensive line coach Kelly Stewart screamed, "We're going for it! We're going for it!" on a key fourth-down conversion attempt (that the Jags converted, by the way).
Sure, the game came down to a few inches, and I know Tyler Bernard feels like he let one slip away. But he especially elevated his level of play in the second half, and on the sideline, I could sense how his calm confidence affected his offensive teammates. During the Jaguars' final drive, everybody but Bernard was jumping and yelling, but the junior quarterback huddled the team up and called the next play to keep the clock from running down any further.
This Jaguars team is going to win a lot of games, and they're going to put up some impressive numbers along the way.
But what I'm most excited about is getting to see how this team comes together when it matters, how they learn to lean on each other when all the chips are down, and how they bounce back from a tough loss after giving all they had.
And it may not be a Sportscenter highlight reel, but it's going to be something worth watching.

Here We Go: The 2007 NFL Season Kicks Off

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:21:00 +0000

It's the final hours before the start of the 2007 regular season of the National Football League, and I'm having a hard time even thinking about anything else.
Thursday night's matchup between the Saints and the Colts is probably one of the best ways to start the season -- from a business standpoint, anyway. We all know what Peyton Manning can do with a football in 3.5 unhurried seconds, and all the weapons on the Saints offense are ready to prove that they weren't just a one-hit wonder last season. Combine those two tidbits with the fact that neither team has much to speak of on the defensive side of the ball, and we may have a scoring outburst that can rival an out-of-control Madden game between those two college guys everybody knows who play Madden so much they haven't been to class in about a year and a half.
Needless to say, I'm pretty pumped up. But that's just the beginning of several outstanding matchups over the weekend.
Obviously we should all be aware that the Chargers are hosting the NFC champion Chicago Bears to open the season, and it promises to be a great game. LaDainian Tomlinson is always fun to watch, but in light of his recent Nike commercial (which shows him absolutely shredding the Chicago defense on his way to another touchdown), I'm sure there's no need for any extra motivation on either side of the ball.
The thing I'm most curious to see, though, is whether or not Rex Grossman has learned anything from last season. I know, the Bears won 13 games and made it to the Super Bowl with Rexy taking the snaps. But if you're at all like me (and since you've read this far, there must be something there), then you must have been pleading for him to just stop giving the ball away. I mean, he had to have known that he had one of the league's best defensive units of all time, right? Why was it so hard for him to understand the concept of keeping his mistakes to a minimum so as to allow his team's strength to control the tide of the game?
Week one will show us what, if anything, the Chicago coaches have drilled into Grossman's head. Because if he wants to make it out of San Diego with anything more than just his uniform and a series of nasty grass stains, he's going to have to play a whole lot better than he did for the majority of last season.
Another game to watch will be the Atlanta/Minnesota game, if only to see the entire city of Atlanta collectively wonder why Michael Vick was their starting quarterback for the past six years. I know I'm not alone in this, but I just get the feeling that the Falcons are going to be a better team without the erratic Vick. He has such amazing athleticism, yes, but for that matter, so does Carl Lewis, and I don't know if I'd want him as my quarterback. Vick has been fun to watch, but when your team is set up to run the ball, hit short, accurate passes and play tough defense, a flashy quarterback who'd rather scramble 18 yards behind the line of scrimmage and heave up a jump ball into coverage is the last thing you want. Granted, Joey Harrington isn't exactly going to be the savior of the franchise (take it from a Dolphins fan). But in the end, he's going to be just what the Falcons need.
I'll just touch on one more matchup I'm looking forward to seeing, and that's the Baltimore/Cincinatti contest on Monday night. Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer is now two seasons removed from a torn knee ligament, and the Cincy offense looks ready to explode again.
But standing in the way is an always-tough Ravens defense that has been the hallmark of the team ever since the escape -- er, move -- from Cleveland. On a quick side note, I just have to point something out -- Baltimore safety Ed Reed is probably the pro football player I'd least like to meet in a dark alley. I know there are bigger, stronger guys out there, but something about Reed just looks... unstable. Hopefully he doesn't decapitate any wide recievers this season, anyway. If nothing else, though, it enhances the aura around the Ravens that you just don't want to mess with that defense.
We will have to keep an eye on Chad Johnson, though. If Ocho Cinco finds his way into the end zone, he promises to deliver a celebration that will be front-page worthy. He's even said that he's set aside money for all the fines he expects to rack up with his antics, so be prepared.
Whichever team you follow, week one has plenty of solid matchups that shouldn't disappoint. So grab the chips and salsa, kick that recliner back into "I'm not moving until Tuesday morning" mode and settle in for a great week.
-- -- --
As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the first week of the season, even if it's after the fact.
So send me an email to sports@valleycenter.com or comment on the blog page by going to www.valleycenter.com and clicking on the "RR Blogs" link.
Just try not to send anything on Sunday, or even Monday evening.
I think I've got other plans.

Enjoying High School Sports

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 16 Feb 2008 23:19:00 +0000

Ah, high school -- the good old days.
For some of us, it was longer ago than it was for others, but nonetheless, the memories are just as sweet.
Well, maybe not all the memories. I'm usually the first one to point out that the teen years are an awkward phase of learning not only about yourself, but about interacting with others.
That's why I love high school sports so much.
It wasn't too many years ago that I was a high school baseball player, trying my best not to embarrass myself and my teammates while still thinking about how to hit a curveball. For the sake of time, I'll just say that neither endeavor went exceptionally well, and we'll move on.
But the experience wasn't so bad, now that I look back on it. Being a shy person by nature, I tended to stick to my small group of friends at school, and never really got to hang out with the "cool" kids. I think this led me to read more books, which in turn helped shape me into a coherent writer, and allowing me to land a pretty sweet job. More on that in a second, though.
While on the baseball team, I found that it was a whole lot easier to put my worries about my little eccentricities aside and focus on just having fun and playing a great game. My teammates weren't always the most supportive, but we were still a team, and we had a lot of fun times. For example, the time when we played a baseball game in a driving snowstorm... in April. Yes, that's what life is like in Western New York.
The biggest thing I learned from sports while I was growing up is that if you want to succeed at anything, you can't just show up and expect success to be handed to you.
I've always had a natural ability to play sports, and got better and better because my older brothers insisted we play for two or three hours longer than I had the patience for. But as I moved up through the various levels of competition, I found out quickly that natural ability would only get me so far; I'd have to practice more in order to play better.
Obviously, I'm not a professional athlete, so I can't say that it worked out the way I had hoped at the time. But in retrospect, the idea of getting out what you put in was so important because it has so much to do with what we call "real life."
A big part of why I love my job is that I get to see kids learning lessons like these on a regular basis. Plus, I get to watch some pretty competitive sporting events.
I'm looking forward to the fall sports season at Valley Center High School; I enjoyed watching the teams last year and I know the teams are ready to get the action started.
But I'll also look forward to watching the student athletes overcome adversity, like when Jeremy Cline got absolutely blown up by a linebacker on the football field and had to miss some games with a concussion, but came back to bat leadoff and provide a spark on the mound for the baseball team in the spring.
I also like seeing when the teams come together to play a tough game against a superior opponent, like when the varsity girls softball team was on the wrong end of a perfect game against Mission Hills, but came right back out the next game and played just as hard as they had all season.
And then there's the emotion of the players, like when Ray Crosslin broke down in tears after the football team lost to Santana in the first round of last year's playoffs. Crosslin was primarily a special teams player, but whether he was on the sidelines cheering on his teammates or sprinting down the field to take on the opponent's kick returner, his intensity never wavered.
I know I'll see all of this and more this season, and I hope you get a chance to be there as well.
It's going to be memorable.
-- -- --
If you have a favorite memory from last year's high school (or any other local) sports, I'd love to hear about it and share it with the community.
Send it my way by e-mail at sports@valleycenter.com or by going to our home page at www.valleycenter.com and clicking on the "RR Blogs" link to leave a comment. You're also more than welcome to send in a letter or drop off a note at our office on Valley Center Road as well.
Either way, we'll see you at the game.

Calm In Valley Center: 8:30 p.m.

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:22:00 +0000

Tuesday evening here in Valley Center came on with a welcome calm, as the winds that were causing so much trouble for firefighters were steadily reduced to nothing. Around 4 p.m., there was something of a light breeze, and by 5 p.m., there was a dead calm for nearly two hours. Other than the smoke to the north, it looked like a regular autumn day here in Southern California.
Since then, the only reports we've heard have been good; the flames that had been advancing towards North Lake Wohlford Road were reportedly held up by the firefighters. As darkness fell, a glance in the direction of the middle school showed no signs of that ominous orange glow we saw last night and this morning, although it's still hard to tell what exactly is happening over those hills.
It also seems like a lot of people stayed put, despite the mandatory evacuations, as one by one house lights on the surrounding hills blinked on. Every few minutes, a car could be heard nearby on Vesper, or more distantly on Valley Center Road, heading east in both cases. There was a helicopter over to the southeast at one point, and some sirens heading away from the North Lake Wohlford area back towards Cole Grade, but the overall feeling is one of calm.
To be on the safe side, I will be heading to Escondido for the night, as will my neighbors. We all feel quite confident that the danger is minimal to none, but at this point, there's no need to take any chances.
We've heard that the evacuation orders won't be lifted until sometime Wednesday afternoon, but there hasn't been any official word at this point, so the best thing to do is keep checking in with local news broadcasts.
Of course, anything can happen at this point, but given what we expected and what we've actually seen here over the course of the last two days, Valley Center has been extremely fortunate to have escaped with very little damage. The evacuations were quick and effective, and even though information has been scarce and sometimes unclear, it looks as though things here are much better than what people have heard in other areas.
So now we wait to hear more good news, and we think of our surrounding communities and the ongoing battles there. Count your blessings, Valley Center, and let's do what we can to help others around us as we try to get through this as best we can.

Dan Kidder
Sports/Valley Life Editor
Valley Roadrunner

Still In Valley Center: 3:00 p.m.

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:58:00 +0000

Things in Valley Center continue to be calm, at least here on Vesper Road, but with the help of some neighbors we've been able to piece together what we consider pretty reliable information about the surrounding parts of town.
Around 10 a.m., Robert Palle reported that in a short drive around Vesper, Mac Tan and Fruitvale, he saw firefighting crews in action, but hadn't seen any flames in the area.
As of 12:30 p.m., a resident just to the south of Valley Center High School reported seeing the haze of smoke we all see to the north, but hadn't seen any flames of any kind. The east side of Cole Grade Road appeared to be fine; no flames there, but still plenty of smoke. At that point, we had heard again that the grade coming into Valley Center was closed, but outgoing traffic was getting through just fine.
According to San Diego news broadcasts around this time, the La Jolla fire (now called the Poomacho Fire) had worked its way towards Palomar Mountain, and may be converging with the Witch Creek Fire from Ramona, somewhere east of Valley Center. The report also said that the Valley Center evacuations would most likely be in effect for at least 24 hours.
Also around this time, we heard that residents in the Saddle Creek area were without power.
At 1 p.m., Kevin Bennett reported from the area between Cool Valley Road and Yellow Brick Road that the smoke was heavy, with some patches of sky visible, but no flames could be seen. He also mentioned that conversations with friends and relatives outside the area weren't sure how much danger was imminently present in the various parts of the community. He mentioned that some of his neighbors were still in their homes at that point.
"There's still some people here and there," he said. "But it doesn't look as threatening as the reports say."
Also around 1 p.m., radio reports indicated that there hadn't been any flames sighted in the Old Castle/Cold Creek area.
Roland Horakh, reporting from near Valley Center Middle School, mentioned a radio broadcast in which Bill Horn indicated that the La Jolla fire was mostly to the north of the 76, but that a portion of the Witch Creek fire had worked its way up the hills to the south of North Lake Wohlford Drive. At that point, firefighters had been able to keep the fire to the east of Lake Wohlford, so Horakh reported seeing lots of smoke, but nothing else.
At 1:30, a radio report indicated that the evacuation center at Valley Center High School was in need of bottled water and non-perishible food items.
Shortly thereafter, at approximately 2:30 p.m., Matt Tyler reported that he had just left Valley Center High School, and that they had found food in the school to prepare for the evacuees, and also that EOC had brought sack lunches to be given out. He also said that once some residents began to leave for the night, heading north to Temecula or other places, most evacuees left the high school to either return home or head for a safe destination.
As for things here on Vesper Road, the smoke is still present to the north, and since the winds have died down to almost nothing, a lot of the smoke seems to be settling down into the valley east of here. Hopefully this means that the fires will be even a little more easily contained, and that things will continue to get better.
For now, the general feeling is cautious optimism, although there are no guarantees. After the unnerving conditions surrounding the evacuation this morning, this afternoon has unfolded better than most had hoped. We still have power, we still have water, we still have the luxury of a functioning internet connection. Things could be so much worse, and from what we've seen this weekend all throughout the county, things are much worse in so many places.
And so with a great portion of the county still engulfed in flames, there is still a long way to go. Keep praying out there, and we hope to have some good news for you later on.

Dan Kidder
Sports/Valley Life Editor
Valley Roadrunner

Reporting From Valley Center: Tuesday, 10-23, 12:30 p.m.

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 21:04:00 +0000

This weekend's battle with the wildfires throughout the county hit home in a big way this morning, as most of Valley Center was put under mandatory evacuation orders, some as early as 4 a.m.
I woke up at about 5:30 to the smell of smoke, the howling of the wind and the commotion of my neighbors packing up their cars for the possible flight from the area. It looked like a scene from a movie when I walked out my front door; the wind was whipping through the trees, the smoke created a haze that created a cocoon-like effect, the rising sun gave off an orange glow that I'm sure many confused for an oncoming blaze, and at that moment, a county sheriff came up the driveway with lights flashing to announce the evacuation.
After quickly getting my own things together, I got together with my neighbor and his wife (both Valley Center residents for more than 20 years) and we decided to wait and see what was coming before we added to the chaos on the roads out of town.
I have to add that my neighbor was a firefighter in New York City for a number of years, and also served as a volunteer firefighter here in Valley Center before we had our own department. He has also seen his share of wildfires, and given our unique position (on Vesper Road near the CDF station), we have a clear vantage point of any oncoming danger.
At that point, we decided to just be ready, so we made some coffee, had some sausage and eggs, and kept an eye on the eastern skyline.
Gradually, the winds seemed to slow, and as the sun rose, we could see that it didn't appear as dire as we originally thought. We could see smoke to the north, and there was a bit of a haze to the east, but the smell of smoke wasn't as bad as it had been last night.
So we spent the morning making sure we had what we needed in case we felt that we should leave, then clearing the brush and leaves from around the house to disperse any potential fuel for a wayward spark or ember that may find its way here.
Since then, we have kept current with the San Diego news broadcasts, made a number of phone calls to concerned family and friends, and gotten updates from other residents in Valley Center to see what's happening in our town.
I'm going right now to talk with some neighbors to see what they've heard, and I'll continue to check back in every few hours until things clear up or I need to leave.
Wherever you are, I hope you're safe, and please keep Valley Center in your prayers as we hope to hear more good news.

Dan Kidder
Sports/Valley Life Editor
Valley Roadrunner

Rick Ankiel, Michael Vick, and Little League Baseball

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 01:07:00 +0000

It's been another fantastic week of sports, but with all that's going on, it's hard to just talk about one particular thing.
So we'll take a few moments to touch on some of what's happening around the world of sports, and hopefully that will lead to hearing some thoughts from you, the sports fans of the community.
Off we go.
-- -- --
In light of the ever-worsening negative stories we hear in sports, let's start this week's chat off on a good note: the story of Rick Ankiel.
If you haven't heard about the pitcher-turned-outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals, it's one of those stories that makes Tom Rinaldi really excited about doing another piece for Sportscenter that involves a lot of muted lighting, piano music and phrases like "and just when things couldn't get any worse..."
Overemotional reporting aside, watching Ankiel's success since returning to the big leagues has been pretty amazing. He started his career as a promising pitcher with the Cardinals, but for some reason that maybe only Chuck Knoblauch can understand, he lost all sense of ball control and got shipped down to the minors.
Somewhere along the way, Ankiel figured out that he's a pretty decent hitter, so he became an outfielder, worked his way back up to AAA ball (where he led the league in home runs) and eventually got called back up to St. Louis.
Since his call-up a few weeks ago, he's batting over .300 and has five home runs, leading manager Tony LaRussa to give him plenty of playing time in left field. Oh, and as for his ball control -- after misjudging a fly ball against the Cubs on Monday, he recovered to throw out a runner trying to advance to third base with a spot-on toss.
I sincerely hope we hear more good things about Rick Ankiel.
-- -- --
And now, we have to touch on the ongoing atrocity that is the Michael Vick saga.
Obviously, the dog fighting aspect of the charges are pretty horrific, and there doesn't seem to be any need for ESPN to go into details anymore about what Vick may or may not have done to those animals.
The thing that's most disconcerting from the sports angle is that Vick was gambling, and apparently pretty heavily. It's never a good thing to find out that a professional athlete is into gambling -- especially now that the NBA referee scandal has hit the fan, it's on our collective mind -- because it has to be extremely tempting (and lucrative) to bet on the sport in which you compete.
Basically, if Vick was so desperate to gamble that he wagered on which dog would win a fight, it's not too crazy to think that he may have plunked down some cash on an NFL game. I don't know if we'll ever know for sure, but the question will always be there, even if we forget about the dogs.
One quick note on the Falcons: they're going to be a whole lot better off without Michael Vick. Maybe not this season, and especially not right away, but in the long run, they'll be glad they had an excuse to cut loose a 30-year-old quarterback with only one playoff win.
-- -- --
Finally, I'd like to wrap things up this week with a mixed reaction to the Little League World Series.
Don't get me wrong; I love that there's an outlet for kids to play a great game against other kids. The competition itself is a good experience when it's handled properly, and it looks as though it is.
I guess I'd just like to see more of a return to kids being kids. I remember growing up playing organized sports, but at most it was a once-a-week practice with a game on Saturday, and that was it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't a lot of leagues practice every day (especially once the kids are older than 11)?
Maybe it's the shift in society from neighborhoods to gated communities, or maybe it's a parental mindset that asserts that down time for a child is wasted time. I don't know.
But whatever it is, I really hope that kids out there have the time and the means to get away from mandatory practices and go play a game of wiffle ball (with a taped-up ball and bat) with whoever lives within biking distance.
I think I might even go see if the neighbors want to play this weekend.
-- -- --
Now of course this is just a small sampling of the many topics in the sports world these days, but I'm only one man and there's only so much room on this particular page.
But I'll tell you what: if you have a sports issue burning away at you and you want to share your thoughts with -- well, whoever will listen -- then drop me a line or eight at sports@valleycenter.com or by visiting www.valleycenter.com and clicking on the "RR Blogs" link to comment. I'm always happy to share your thoughts with the community, so keep those comments coming.
In the meantime, I think I'm going to have to consider giving up on sports writing, go back to the journalism minor leagues, and try to make a comeback as a TV weatherman.
I know who I can talk to for inspiration, anyway.

Fantasy Football Sleepers & Snoozers

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 00:56:00 +0000

The end of summer is quickly approaching, and with the changing colors of the leaves (trust me, it happens in other parts of the country) comes the annual insanity known as Fantasy Football.
Let's get the most obvious point out first — if you have the first pick and you don't take LaDainian Tomlinson, you should never, ever consider playing fantasy sports again. Ever.
But beyond that, the fantasy draft is a tangled web of possibility, expectation, analysis and enough head games to plunge even the most die-hard fanatic into an abyss of doubt and confusion.
So how do we get through those late-round selections in one piece? Easy — just sit back, take a few deep breaths, wipe the chicken wing grease off your fingers and pick up this handy Guide To Fantasy Sleepers & Snoozers.
Here, we'll look at five players who you should target and five players you should avoid. I base my opinions on more than a decade of NFL fanship, a consistent streak of top-three finishes in fantasy football for the past four years and the fact that winning a fantasy league is just as much about luck as it is about skill, so if I'm wrong, what can I do about it?
Here we go — five "sleepers" you should try to land in the early rounds, followed by five "snoozers" you should encourage your league's other owners to grab while you snicker behind their backs.
— — —
Sleepers:
1. Ronnie Brown: RB, Miami Dolphins.
Brown has the perfect combination of size and skill, leading to a few pundits to label him a "poor man's LaDainian Tomlinson." With former Chargers Offensive Coordinator Cam Cameron at the helm in Miami, Brown's hard-nosed running style should mesh nicely with his versatility in the passing game to create a fantasy outbreak. If he's on the board at number five, he's a tempting choice for you to build your team around.
2. Travis Henry: RB, Denver Broncos
He's had 1,000-plus yard rushing seasons before, and we all know how the Broncos can make any running back an all-pro. But it's Henry's toughness around the goal line that will separate him from the decent backs available late in the first round. With second-year quarterback Jay Cutler still working out the bugs, look for Mike Shanahan to give Henry plenty of opportunity to rack up yards and touchdowns.
3. Deuce McAllister: RB, New Orleans Saints
Go out on the street and ask the first ten people you see to name the Saints' running back. I'd say there's about a .0000006 percent chance that you get an answer other than "Reggie Bush." But what all the hype doesn't tell you is that McAllister is still in his prime (he will turn 28 late this season), he's finally gone through an entire season without getting injured (he's fresh!) and he's a horse around the goal line. Reggie may have those highlight-reel flips into the endzone to show off, but odds are that McAllister will at least double Bush's touchdown totals by the end of the season. Admire Bush's athleticism, but take advantage of McAllister's propensity to score.
4. Brandon Jacobs: RB, New York Giants
Some people aren't so big on Jacobs, and it's easy to see why — he's huge (6'4", 264), he's got speed (he ran a 4.5 in the 40-yard dash out of college) and he scores loads of touchdowns. Yeah, stay away from that guy. Seriously, he scored nine touchdowns last year as Tiki Barber's backup, so now (with only a decaying Reuben Droughns as competition) people suddenly don't think he's ready to go? You know what, let them think that while we grab him as a solid number two back and ride him to the championship.
5. Jerious Norwood: RB, Atlanta Falcons
I'm going to let you in on a little secret — the Atlanta Falcons offense will be better without Michael Vick. They were the league's leading rushing team last season with Vick, so with Joey Harrington under center while Vick's legal troubles keep him away, do you think they're going to pass more? The downside is that Warrick Dunn is still hanging around, but Norwood averaged more than six yards per carry in his rookie season, and Dunn isn't young enough to keep that up all season. Norwood as a number two fantasy back isn't a bad deal at all.
Snoozers:
1. Drew Brees: QB, New Orleans Saints
I know he's the toast of The Big Easy, but after such an unbelieveable season last year, there's really nowhere to go but down for Brees. He lost a veteran wideout in Joe Horn, his defense is finding ways to get hurt in the offseason (yes, you did see a headline about a Saints linebacker getting hurt while at a water park this summer), and with a tougher schedule, teams know they're coming. Even the emotions of resurrecting the team from the ravages of Hurricane Katrina are starting to wear off (if they're not gone completely). Don't get me wrong, he'll still be decent, but if you sit back and watch him get snatched up in the late first or early second round, you'll be more than happy you settled for another of the many decent quarterbacks in the fifth or sixth round.
2. Steve Smith: WR, Carolina Panthers
Despite his Hobbit-ean stature, Smith has been racking up impressive totals over the past five seasons. But this year, with a shaky quarterback (who's a little nervous now that he's got competition) and a deteriorating defense, Smith's opportunities aren't going to come easily. Like Brees, he should put up decent numbers — just not second-round worthy numbers.
3. Ahman Green: RB, Houston Texans
Wow, where to begin? His age, his team's inability to block anybody, his age again, or his age? I think you get the point — he's no spring chicken. But otherwise, he's going to have to fight for every inch this season on legs that have gone through yet another off-season surgery. Plus, he has to deal with other backs who are trying to prove themselves (Ron Dayne and Samkon Gado). Oh, and he's got a first-year starter at quarterback, a defense full of guys you couldn't pick out of a lineup and a team that has expectations like "it would be great to beat at least one of our division opponents again this season!" Picking Green this year should automatically come with a bottle of Tums.
4. Tony Gonzalez: TE, Kansas City Chiefs
Always one of the top tight ends, Gonzo has long been one of the most gifted athletes in the NFL. But that will only get you so far, and with a first-year starter at quarterback behind a sketchy offensive line, combined with a defense that probably remembers listening to FDR give his "fireside chats" on the radio, gives you a scenario that doesn't look so good anymore. Factor in his age and the fact that there are absolutely no other receiving weapons on the team, and you've got a career-low season waiting to happen.
5. Donovan McNabb: QB, Philadelphia Eagles
He's really fun to watch when he's healthy and he's got talent around him. So basically, this season will not be fun to watch. He hasn't played a full season in more than two years, and the Philly ownership seems to be going out of its way to deny him a surrounding cast of talented receivers. Only the pass-happy offense of Andy Reid keeps McNabb's totals high, but you have to wonder if all that throwing has been wearing him down. If he's still on the board in round seven or eight, he might be worth a shot. But if somebody else grabs him in the fourth round, enjoy a good chuckle when McNabb ends up on the bench by week three.
— — —
As a special treat, I’ve invited back David Baker to add his thoughts on some potential sleepers and busts going into the fantasy football season.
You may remember Mr. Baker from our now-infamous “MLB vs. NASCAR” debate that spanned three weeks and started a number of good conversations with you, the sports fans of the community.
Here are his thoughts on who will exceed expectations and who will disappoint.
Sleepers
1. Jon Kitna: QB, Detroit Lions
With some of the best receivers in the game, and an unjust reputation for being mediocre, look for Kitna to surprise some people with pretty decent numbers.
2. Matt Leinart: QB, Arizona Cardinals
Leinart has great young talent in the WR positions, and should develop a more refined passing game. He could have a breakout year.
3. Cedric Benson: RB, Chicago Bears
With no serious threats to take many of his touches away, Benson looks to capitalize on an awful passing game, but a team that still has plenty of time on offense due to a turnover hungry defense.
4. Jerious Norwood: RB, Atlanta Falcons
Though he still may be the second back on the depth chart, Norwood is poised to take most goal line carries. He’s a strong runner that is ready to take over for an aging Dunn.
5. Drew Bennett: WR, St. Louis Rams
Infused into a high-powered offense, Bennett will quickly prove that he should be the number two receiver behind Holt, and reap the benefits of an amazing passing attack.
6. Zach Miller: TE, Oakland Raiders
Look for Oakland to dump a lot of passes, due to a quarterback who is past his good years, and an offensive line that will never see good years.
Busts
1. Jeff Garcia: QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Garcia is all out of magic, and ready to end his career somewhere sunny.
2. Daunte Culpepper: QB, Oakland Raiders
Though I like the addition of Zach Miller, Culpepper is on a team that refuses to add talented weapons in their prime.
3. Julius Jones: RB, Dallas Cowboys
His touches will become fewer and further between, as Marion Barber continues to grow into a well-rounded back. Even if he rushes for a decent amount of downs, Barber will continue to get all goal line touches, hurting Jones’s numbers.
4. Fred Taylor: RB, Jacksonville Jaguars
Though Taylor put up over 1100 yards rushing last year, those numbers will diminish with the continued development of Jones-Drew, and Taylor’s advancing years.
5. Mike Furrey: WR, Detroit Lions
He had one great year… and that’s what we’ll say 10 years from now. With Calvin Johnson, coupled with fate in general, Mike Furrey will drop out of our collective consciousness quickly.
6. Derek Mason: WR, Baltimore Ravens
A solid receiver for many years in Tennessee, Mason is past his prime, and he and McNair will combine for a whopping 700 yards.
— — —
Well there you have it — another opinion in the swirling seas of fantasy football advice for you to navigate yourself through on your quest for the championship.
If nothing else, you can just use it as another head game to play with your fellow owners before the draft starts... ("Hey, this guy said to draft Jerious Norwood... Is he even in the league? Doesn't that name sound made up? I just don't know... )
And since there's time before most fantasy drafts, I'd love to hear your thoughts on some potential sleepers and snoozers for this season.
Drop me an e-mail at sports@valleycenter.com or a comment on the blog page by going to www.valleycenter.com and clicking on the "RR Blogs" link.
Here’s another potential sleeper — Dan Fouts. I don't know why, but something tells me he's going to have an outstanding year.
You heard it here first.

Five Feelings About The NFL Season

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:32:00 +0000

If you enjoy watching the NFL as much as I do -- and you probably should apologize to your loved ones in advance this year if you do -- then I have no doubt you've seen and read enough about the upcoming season to get excited on a level that could make your doctor a little worried.
So in the interest of perhaps bringing something new and enlightening to the fodder of NFL information out there, I'd like to share with you a few feelings I have about how this season will unfold.
Now, I'm no prognosticator, and I certainly won't be rivaling the Swami on ESPN anytime soon, but from what I've seen over the years, and especially the past few years, I just have a feeling that things will unfold a little...like this...
1. Even though the Cardinals look like they've improved, they will still disappoint.
Let's face it; at this point, the Cardinals have cemented themselves firmly into the role of losers. I know, I know; Matt Leinart. Edgerrin James. Some rookie offensive lineman. Blah blah blah. Did you watch the Monday night game against the Bears last year? Did you see how quickly the faces of the Arizona players turned from "we've got this locked up!" to "oh no, not again!"?
It's going to take more than a Heisman Trophy winner and a couple of decent-looking rookies to turn this team around. They'll be alright, especially if Larry Fitzgerald stays healthy, but don't get your hopes up too high.
2. The Patriots' wide receiver spending spree may help Tom Brady, but they are still going to need Laurence Maroney to stay healthy to get back to their playoff dominance.
Nothing puts butts in the seats like a beautiful, 80-yard bomb to a streaking wide receiver who calmly settles underneath the flying pigskin, cradles it to his chest like a newborn, then casually pulls away from the pursuing defenders for a touchdown. The 1999 Rams made a living off of that style of offense (and were dubbed "The Greatest Show On Turf"), but they also faded away pretty quickly, especially once teams caught on to their strategy.
The Patriots are going to benefit from Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker (especially Welker), but we have to remember two things: they play in Massachusetts and they have a really good defense. They're going to win games by running the ball, making short, safe pass completions and scaring the living daylights out of opposing offenses with their confusing packages.
3. Ronnie Brown will become an elite running back, even if his offense hasn't improved that much.
He's been described as a poor man's LaDanian Tomlinson, but I really feel like the designation isn't any higher simply because he's been playing behind a Dolphins line that couldn't block my little sister effectively. But RB showed some signs last year of how impressive he can be, even against good defenses (like the Bears, for example). He's big enough to carry tacklers, but nimble enough to make a safety miss in the open field. Plus, he's shown that he's got good hands and an increasing knowledge of the blocking schemes for the passing attack. All told, by the end of the year, I would be surprised if he isn't in the top five in the league and making a push for the top three.
4. Carson Palmer will become the new Peyton Manning.
He's been electric when he's healthy, and he's even been impressive when he's not 100 percent. Now that he has put that devastating knee injury a full season behind him, Palmer will prove that he can go toe-to-toe (and even brain-to-brain) with Peyton. The Bengals have a suspect (at best) defense, a running back who has the same acceleration rate as a steam engine and a bunch of slender, speedy receivers. The only difference is that the Colts play in a dome, but even in the snows of Ohio, Palmer will sling the ball around enough to put up numbers that will rival those of the reigning Super Bowl MVP.
5. No, the Chargers will not win the Super Bowl.
I know, last year was an amazing year for the Bolts. Tomlinson is making a stronger and stronger case for Best Running Back Ever. Rivers is developing a knack for winning, especially when he throws the ball anywhere near Antonio Gates. The outside linebackers are like twin bolts of lightning. The offensive line is the best in football. Even the secondary is starting to mature (finally).
But Norv Turner, for all his successes as an offensive coordinator, doesn't have the same impact as a head coach. His scheme is still in place, but unless he's motivating the players to get better each and every play, it won't matter what's being called through the quarterback's headset. For all his faults, at least Marty Schottenheimer knew how to get the most out of his players. Teams under Turner have traditionally underachieved, putting him back into the coordinator role again and again.
Unless he's taken some classes with Tony Robbins, I just don't see the Chargers improving on their 13-win season and another early exit in the playoffs.
-- -- --
Well there you go; these are (some of) my bold predictions for the upcoming season.
You may agree, you may disagree; but either way, I'm sure you have a few of your own.
So send them in to me at sports@valleycenter.com, or check out our blog page at www.valleycenter.com and click on the "RR Blogs" link to comment.
And look for our special Fantasy Football Preview next week, which will help you locate the sleepers and snoozers before you draft your team.

NASCAR vs. MLB--part II

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 18:05:00 +0000

Last week, we all shared a journey through two sports fans' thoughts on Major League Baseball and NASCAR and how the two sports line up against each other.
Today, we conclude our sojourn with further examination of the two sports and their many facets.
Also, a few people have asked about David Baker, our guest for this discussion. Well, he says he has been an avid sports fan for as long as he can remember, and asserts that baseball is his favorite sport. He has been a life-long fan of the Padres and Chargers, as well as the Lakers in the NBA and the Flyers in the NHL. He has yet to become a NASCAR fan, but assures me that one day, he will indeed consider himself a motorhead.
And now, back to our discussion.
-- -- --
DK: If you're just rooting for a team and/or city, all you're rooting for is the logo -- it doesn't matter who's on the team anymore because it's a revolving door of free agency and self-serving egos that follow the almighty dollar. At least in NASCAR, the team stays together because they're in in for more than just themselves. If that wasn't the case, you wouldn't have rear-tire carriers because they would only want people to know who they are. But as it is, drivers are WAY more loyal to their teams than any athlete in the other pro sports. Dale Earnhardt Jr. leaving DEI is probably the first time a huge driver like that changed teams in his career, whereas MLB players change teams like they change underwear -- even the big stars. If you want to root for your hollow, empty logo, that's fine; I root for a team that has a star (the driver) like the NFL's QB, and has some "anonymous" guys (the crew) like NFL lineman. If that's not good enough to be a pro team, then I just don't know what is.
And as far as athleticism, that is exactly what I'm telling you. Well, perhaps not more athletic in terms of flexibility or anything, but as far as stamina, toughness and strength, NASCAR drivers are up there with NFL players. You and I couldn't do it, David Wells couldn't do it, and I seriously doubt that Adrian Gonzalez could do it. He's one of the top, what...100?...baseball players in the world. To drive in the Nextel Cup Series, you have to be one of the top 40 drivers in the world, and you have to stay there while younger, possibly more talented drivers are nipping at your heels. If you're not in tip-top shape these days, you're not going to be driving very much longer (look what has happened to Bobby Labonte, Sterling Marlin, Steve Park, Jimmy Spencer, Rusty Wallace, Mark Martin and Jeremy Mayfield).
DB: That's ridiculous. While I think we can both agree that either would have trouble transitioning into the other sport, baseball players in general would have a much easier time playing a sport besides NASCAR or baseball.
And none the less, if you're looking for self serving, look no further than NASCAR. They have nothing to race for but money and self promotion. In baseball, that may often be true, but from time to time you have the Tony Gwynns of this world that serve one team and city their whole careers. The only thing NASCAR drivers ever play for is themselves.
And you've got to be kidding me about Adrian not being able to have the stamina for racing.
DK: NASCAR drivers appear to be the most self-serving athletes, but it's really that they're being promoted as such by their sponsors; the same way a QB is pimped by his team by the media and by the team's public relations folks. But ironically, most NASCAR drivers tend to shun this, or at least just do it out of necessity, because they aren't driving just for themselves. Their team (from the owner, crew chief and crew down to the dudes turning wrenches in the shop) is who they race for; most of those guys have relationships within those teams that go back to childhood. When it comes to the money, they do what's asked of them by sponsors and such, but they're far more likely to stick around for less money than any other athlete. Even Dale Jr. leaving his team wasn't about the money; it was that his stepmother was refusing to give him any power within the organization his father created. That's just another level of loyalty that is rare in other sports -- family.
And Adrian couldn't last an entire race.
DB: I'm not sure about the loyalty thing in NASCAR being greater than other sports. I think in all sports you have the home-town guys. Well, I guess not in NASCAR, but you have the loyal guys and the wanderers. And Adrian has a better chance of lasting a season of racing, than a random NASCAR has a chance of surviving 162 games in baseball.
And the loyalty of family is once again more self-serving than that of baseball. The players embrace a whole city (unless they're the small percentage like Manny Ramirez), as well as the players they grind it out with. As for racing, the pit guys are just the random support of a lesser value -- kind of like a kicker.
DK: I'm just saying that you have a better chance of finding a NASCAR driver staying with his team out of loyalty than it is to find that anywhere else. The family loyalty is something I thought you'd celebrate, being all home-town, apple pie, pickup-truck-and-a-hound-dog like you are.
But I take special exception to the comparison of a NASCAR driver's crew to an NFL kicker -- if anything, the crew is like the offensive line; if they miss one minute detail like a lugnut or a missed jack placement, that team goes from leading to middle of the pack, just like if a lineman missed one block, it can end the team's drive. Those guys practice harder and longer than any NFL kicker, and they don't even get heralded when the team wins. If you're into the little things mattering for a team, the pit crew members should be your heroes.
Also, there's no way Adrian could last through 42 races. Not even close. You don't get to sit down in between innings, you don't get to wait in the on-deck circle or anything.
DB: You're really gonna try to tell me you think this (link to less-than-flattering photo of Tony Stewart omitted has more stamina than this (link to photo of Adrian Gonzalez circling the bases omitted)? Beyond the obvious appearance differences, Adrian has a better chance at making it in any sport than Stewart -- except maybe bowling.
DK: As far as stamina goes, I most definitely am saying that Tony Stewart could outlast Adrian Gonzalez. NASCAR drivers have to be able to physically force a 3,500-pound hunk of metal to change course against its will, and they have to be mentally capable of keeping their car from touching the other cars and the wall with less than two inches of room in some cases. The mental stamina alone makes these guys WAAAAAAAY more capable of handling anything any other sport can dish out than a baseball player who spends an inordinate amount of time not doing anything.
And not only do the drivers have to finish the race without wrecking, they're then expected to give a coherent interview as soon as they climb out of the car. If we're trying to decide who's in better shape, I'll take a NASCAR driver over a baseball player any day, regardless of what the photos may look like.
To accentuate my point, here's a quote about how much down time baseball players have, compared to the zero down time in NASCAR. I'll even give you caution periods as "down" time, and that's still less than 30% of a given race.
"Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly timed a ball in play during a 2000 playoff game. The game lasted 3 hours and 15 minutes, and the ball was in play a total of 12 minutes and 22 seconds (and Reilly admitted to being "generous with the stopwatch"). Do the math and you'll see that for 94% of the game, players were either spitting seeds, jumping in and out of the batter's box, or adjusting themselves. Along those same lines, in 1956, a sportswriter named Dick Wade timed the actual "action" during a game and found that the ball was in play for nine minutes and 55 seconds. Neither Wade's nor Reilly's findings are scientific, but their point is proven nonetheless. When watching baseball, just about any time is a good time to go for a beer."
DB: How much more down time can you have than sitting on your butt the entire event? Even if the ball is only in play for ten minutes of a baseball game, that's 9.5 minutes more physical action than NASCAR (15 seconds to climb in the car, and 15 to get out). Tony Stewart couldn't run the bases without taking time to sit down between second and third to catch his breath.
And you still haven't addressed the fact that drivers wouldn't be able to succeed in any other sport, while time after time we see baseball players that were drafted in more than one sport (Chris Young, Dave Winfield, Tom Glavine, Bo Jackson, Deion Sanders, etc.)
DK: Obviously the two-sport pros who opted to play MLB were capable of playing other sports and decided that they didn't want to have to work as hard, so they chose baseball. I worked for a minor league ball club and I saw daily how the baseball player's season goes -- they get up around whenever they want, they show up to the park about two hours before game time, they get dressed, they stretch, they maybe run three or four laps from the foul line to center field and back, then they take some practice cuts, do some infield, then they play the game and go home. I am currently in a physical shape that would allow me to play baseball for an entire season without much trouble.
But I could not (nor could you or any MLB player) physically handle a single Nextel Cup race, let alone the NASCAR season. If you think it's just sitting there for four hours, you have obviously never driven a car of any kind, nor have you passed middle school science. The g-force alone is as physically demanding as what an astronaut does.
As far as NASCAR drivers competing in other sports, there's just a different set of skills involved. I've never said it's easy to be a pro baseball player, only that it's less physically and mentally demanding than NASCAR. Of course Kasey Kahne couldn't hit a 90 mph fastball or cover Antonio Gates in open space, but neither could Alfonso Soriano drive a Nextel Cup car (and keep it up to minimum speed without hitting the wall or another car). And that transition would not be any easier than going the other way. It's very tempting to think that just because we've all had our cars up to 85 mph on the highway, we could drive a race car -- but that's like saying that because I've been mini-golfing, I could join the PGA tour.
In the end, I'm the only one of the two of us who has been (and still is) a fan of both MLB and NASCAR, so until you're a full-blown motorhead like me, I'm the only one qualified enough to discuss both sides accurately.
Oh, and Tony Stewart could outrun Adrian Gonzalez any day of the week and twice on Sunday, even after a 500 mile race. Stewart consistently does what they call the "Memorial Day 1100," where he runs in the Indy 500, then hops on a chopper to Charlotte, N.C. to run in the Coca-Cola 600, the longest event on the Nextel Cup schedule. Stewart's also the dude who once was forced to soil himself in his car when he had the flu, then not only continued to run the race, he won the thing. There is absolutely ZERO chance that Gonzo even shows up to the park when he feels that bad.
DB: See, but you can't discuss both sides accurately. First off, you have a strong bias towards NASCAR, which is throwing you off, and you telling me that Tony Stewart can run two races consecutively only lends me to the thought that Adrian could run three or four. And Adrian does play sick. I'm sorry Dan, you just will never be able to convince me that all NASCAR drivers have more stamina than all baseball players, or even that most drivers have more stamina than most ball players. Maybe they can beat out some middle relief guys, and some DHs, but that's part of why the DH is lame -- t makes us look lazy. And i never said baseball players wouldn't have difficulty in a race; they would. It takes a lot of skill developed over practice and time to be a good driver. But the same principals apply to baseball. I'm just saying that there are more athletes who could cross over to another pro sport from baseball than in NASCAR. You can't argue with that.
DK: You are right that MLB players could go into other sports more easily, but don't try to use that to take away the fact that NASCAR drivers are in so much better shape than people give them credit for. I admit that it hasn't been that long since dudes like Dale Earnhardt Sr., Darrell Waltrip and Harry Gant could go out drinking all weekend, then show up 20 minutes before the race and go out and win. But if nothing else, I would like to instill in you that today's NASCAR is so much different from even 10 years ago. It's like comparing MLB to those Rock & Jock softball games; they're not even close, even though a casual observer could point out one or two similarities.
DB: Ha ha -- yeah, I do give NASCAR more credit than others though. Each sport takes a lot of work and training to get to the top. And there will always be those guys that are a little more out of shape than others in pretty much every sport.
-- -- --
Well there you have it, two fans presenting their sides of the story and reaching an equitable agreement. Well, an agreement to disagree, if nothing else.
That is why sports are so great; every sports fan has a different background and reasons for loving the sports and teams they love. And no matter how much we debate, we'll always stay loyal to those first loves.
Until then, I hope to hear more from you about this and any other sports topics you may wish to discuss. You can e-mail me at sports@valleycenter.com or visit our blog page by going to www.valleycenter.com and clicking on the "RR Blogs" link.
And just in case you're keeping score, that's NASCAR, 1, MLB 0.

NASCAR vs. MLB -- The Debate Begins

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 08:13:00 +0000

I love sports for so many reasons.
One of the utmost is the fact that sports can bring people together to create amazing, passionate, dynamic dialogue that isn't often found in other areas of life.
And as a treat to you, our loyal readers, I invite you to come along with me as we review one such discussion that took place via e-mail over the past week between me, your esteemed host, and another local sports fan. The discussion began with last week's column about the all-star events in the various pro sports leagues and continued from there.
Enjoy.
-- -- --
David Baker:
Baseball has the best one, by far, especially if you include all of the events, like the Home Run Derby. Next is basketball, and football and hockey are tied for third.
Dan Kidder:
Have you read the blog? Because any sane human being has no choice but to agree with my position.
DB:
You, my friend, are quite positively out of your mind.
DK:
Please; MLB's all-star game has no million dollar prize, the players don't take each other out on purpose, and nobody cares who wins. You should love the NASCAR All-Star Challenge because it's what you want NASCAR to be -- short, sweet, and full of wrecks.
DB:
No one has even heard of it -- for a reason.
DK:
Being ultra-lame isn't a valid reason for not watching and enjoying great things like NASCAR. Nobody's ever heard of Grady Sizemore either, and apparently you think he's the best thing since sliced bread, so there must be something there.
DB:
Grady is an up-and-coming star. He's only 24, so he has a few years to gain recognition. None the less, he is already far more recognized than Denny Hamlin or Carl Edwards.
DK:
Dude, Kyle Busch is only like 20, he's in his third full year at the peak of his sport, and his aggressive style makes him one of those polarizing figures that only come around once in a while. I seriously doubt that the merchandise sales on Grady Sizemore gear even comes close to what any of the top 25 NASCAR drivers are pulling in. Even Dave Blaney probably sells more No. 22 Cat Toyota merchandise than No. 24 Cleveland Indians jerseys. You are just unwilling to face the fact that NASCAR has so much to offer and you're missing out because you're worried about what people will think of you if you just give in. You know you want to.
DB:
Ha ha ha, that makes me chuckle aloud. Comparing one driver's merchandising to a single baseball player's merchandising isn't an equitable comparison. While the average hillbilly NASCAR fan follows one driver closely, baseball fans follow a team (the actual team element seen in baseball, and missing in NASCAR, is what will never allow it to climb higher than three or four on my list). You would have to compare Cleveland Indians merchandise, in which case we all know how that comparison would go. Though baseball doesn't have an overwhelming young star, it never does. Baseball stars aren't made overnight, but are cultivated, and mature into that role. But if you want to compare Busch to other team sport youngsters, I think it's safe to say that LeBron, Reggie Bush, and maybe even Sidney Crosby have more recognizable names than Kyle Busch. Kyle just has a bit of a boost in his recognition because of big brother. And by the way, Kyle is 22.
DK:
NASCAR phenoms don't happen overnight either; a guy like Carl Edwards got to where he is now because he just kept calling Roush Racing until they decided to give him a tryout; and lots of other guys within the sport got their jobs just because they showed up at the shop and eventually got hired.
The team thing is always your biggest crutch, but you have to be able to see that even though a NASCAR team isn't a team in the traditional sense, it's the multi-layered aspect of "team" that makes it so unique and enjoyable. Think about how cool it would be if Grady Sizemore got down to the bottom of the ninth and had to decide whether or not he was going to sacrifice bunt to help the team, or swing away to help himself. We'd find out right away who the jerks are and who the good teammates are--as it is in NASCAR.
For merchandising, I think you seriously underestimate how many people out there buy up tons of their drivers' gear. I bet at least 10 drivers outsell the Indians every year.
DB:
Well, the Indians are a small market team, and I really have no idea how much each driver sells (nor have I ever heard of Carl Edwards), but if you compare the top with the top, the Yankees, Red Sox, Cubs, etc, all sell more than any given NASCAR driver. And let's also get this straight; I don't believe I've ever seen NASCAR apparel in southern Cali (though I’ve seen plenty in my years in Tennessee), while the big three sports show their influence everywhere. It may be true that NASCAR has a big following, but they’re all in the south. You might as well argue with me on how soccer is the most entertaining sport, just because it has global relevance -- just not in the U.S.
NASCAR and college sports will never be overwhelming forms of athletic entertainment in California, because we are blessed with so many professional teams. Because we ban together as a city to support our professional teams, we don’t feel the strong need to follow individuals as they compete in events such as NASCAR, or the usually lower brands of athletics found in college.
Question: if you had to eliminate sports from ever existing, would you choose NASCAR, football, or baseball first? Rank 'em.
DK:
You know, it seems like it should be the other way around out here; I think more people are into sports like motocross, skateboarding, and surfing, and NASCAR is the perfect bridge into the world of team sports because it does come down to the individual on the surface level, but it really is a team sport (even though we don't really know who all the team members are).
And as for your question, it's a very easy choice -- baseball. Yes, I know we'd have to find something else to go to on occasion, but I could not handle a world without NASCAR now. I would, however, keep football above NASCAR if I absolutely had to. And I would feel better if they canceled the NBA for good as a bonus.
DB:
So you would rather never have played baseball growing up, never see a World Series, never play Over The Line, just so you could watch a little NASCAR? Wow. This is a sad day for America.
DK:
The alternative is that we could have grown up racing cars and fixing engines, then we'd be racing around the tracks at our local parks on the weekends and celebrating the Daytona 500 as the true spectacle of sports that it is. If nostalgia's all you've got for the baseball side, car racing has just as much and could have been even bigger if baseball hadn't been around. Of course I loved playing baseball as a kid and I can even have a pretty good time playing your wimpy beach pseudo-sport OTL. But I would have had a BLAST growing up fixing and racing cars.
As far as pro sports, though, it's no contest -- I'd get rid of MLB before I'd get rid of anything besides the NBA. It's just too long of a season and there are too many games for me to care about the one game I happen to be watching.
DB:
I did grow up racing and fixing my car. In case you're wondering, the fixing part is called work; not my idea of a fun afternoon. Well, at least not as much fun as OTL.
DK:
I'm sure it is work, but it's just like the work it takes to field grounder after grounder, or pitch a ball against a barn wall until the sun goes down, or run like 30 feet to get in baseball shape. If you're so into the nostalgia, there's nothing like growing up under the hood of a car, turning wrenches with your dad and going fender-to-fender with some real racers at the local track.
DB:
Don't get me wrong, I really love that I worked on cars with my dad, changing transmissions and even an entire engine out, but baseball has a more wonderful place in my heart. I'll never forget my dad coaching me in little league, or playing catch with him -- and that's just the nostalgia aspect of the game for me. Beyond that, I like the team aspect, easier player recognition and sense of connection, a city pulling together for one cause, and the many intricate facets of the game.
DK:
You come back to those four aspects, and for good reason, but they're all present in NASCAR -- they're just a little different. The biggest one is the intricacy; there is so much that goes into winning a race that a guy who wins eight of the 45 races per year is considered to have had a pretty good season. All I'm saying is that the only reason you aren't a fan is because you refuse to give it a try.
DB:
No, Dan, I'm sure I will be a fan. That is not the question at all. I just know it's role for me, which will forever be behind baseball and football, because they are so near to my heart. Oh, I'm sure you're going to suck me into the NASCAR world, and I look forward to it, I just want you to remember how much you loved playing baseball, and how beautiful that sport is.
DK:
You know, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for baseball as well; not only have I been playing since before I can remember, but I worked as a batboy for the minor league team in my hometown for more than three years, and the time I spent playing church softball was some of the best interaction I've ever had. There's no question that baseball is one of the best things out there. But sadly, it's losing steam; even though there are still good things about it, it's just not as great as it used to be. NASCAR is on its way up, and even though it probably won't ever be "America's Pastime", it's still got aspects (they race once a week, the competition level is WAY up there, etc.) that make it really fun to be a part of.
DB:
Fair enough, but I'm not going to agree that baseball is losing steam. I will say that it was losing steam in the early and mid 90s, but the home run race, Cal Ripken's feat, the Red Sox breaking the curse, Barry Bonds -- it's definitely doing well.
DK:
It's been a while since the home run race and the streak, and people hate the Sox and Bonds now. The impression I get of the general attitude towards MLB is that there's more to dislike than to like; steroids, Bonds, A-Rod, the Yankees, the Red Sox, Bud Selig, too much money being spent on dudes like Alfonso Soriano, and all during the summer when there are lots of other things to do -- it's not that fun anymore.
NASCAR's got the remedy for most of that, although the NFL still has them beat in one area (length of schedule; NASCAR has about 10 too many races per year for my taste). But NASCAR only races once a week, the stars are paid well, but part of their salary comes from winning races (i.e., they have to earn their money, at least in part), winning a race is a really impressive feat and can be done in a number of ways, and there's no way those dudes are on steroids. I'm bigger than half of them -- well, a quarter of them -- alright, just Kasey Kahne and Jeff Gordon -- but the point remains.
DB:
I don't get how you could love something and want less of it. I would never get rid of any of the games in the baseball schedule. I wouldn't do anything to change it, whether that is getting rid of the DH, getting rid of interleague play -- I love it all. It makes no sense to me to get rid of any games of any sport. If it were up to me, there would only be two preseason football games, and they would play a 20-game season. There is no such thing as "too much of a good thing". And don't give me any crap about "earning their money;" baseball players do, just not until their next contract. And for steroids, who cares? They don't really help with strength anyway. Their main draw is their recuperation power. And if cheating is your main concern, you can't begin to tell me that NASCAR drivers don't cheat. And who, besides me and Yankee fans, hates the Red Sox? They’re one of the country’s most beloved teams. Since when is nine years a long time, or even 12?
DK:
The thing with 180-plus MLB games a year is that if you take any single game out of that, it's not a big deal; so you know that players and teams just mail it in every now and then because one game doesn't make or break your season (at least not until mid-August). But with the NFL, every game is so important because there are only 16 of them per team each year. The quality of play goes up, and the excitement levels are through the roof because you feel like you have to watch each game. You haven't ever watched every Padres game in a season, I would bet heavily on that, so cutting out a couple months would make it more worthwhile to watch, and therefore better.
Also, I don't care about the steroids issue necessarily either, and I fully admit that NASCAR teams are pushing the envelope. But they get caught, and they're not screwing with their bodies, just the cars.
And since when has anybody in the history of anything been worth $27 million in a year? Never. A-Rod earns about half that, if even.
DB:
They don't televise every game, but when I'm in the country I watch or listen to at least part of 94% of the games. That is no exaggeration either. Two seasons ago I watched all but one televised game. And yea, if two months were cut off of baseball, my year would really be worse. If any changes were to be made, and we had to cut games, I would just thin out the weeks, but keep the season the same length (then we could cut to a four-man rotation, which I would like). I don’t think I see MLB players dog it any more than any other sport. What about the 60% of plays that players like Randy Moss take off? There will always be slackers, that only try when it benefits them, and there will always be guys like Mike Cameron or Eric Byrnes who don’t take plays off. I wouldn’t make baseball longer, I wouldn’t make it shorter, I wouldn’t change anything about it. I love it the way it is.
And as for the money thing, I don’t think the money thing is really a valid conversation point, in that there will always be people being paid way too much for what they do, whether they’re CEOs (Richard Fairbank, $250 mil), or actors (Tom Cruise, $100 mil for War of the Worlds), or opinionated broads (Oprah $225 mil). Compared to these people, A-Rod earns his money. I still hate him though.
DK:
I could agree with thinning out the weeks in the MLB schedule; all I'm saying is that we really appreciate things when we know they're not going to be there for 80% of the year. We love the NFL because we have all week to anticipate the matchups, then we watch with real emotion because we know we won't see it again for a week. But with MLB, when there are six games a week, it's not as big of a deal if we miss one or four.
And MLB players may not be dogging it all the time, but the game lends itself to periods of inactivity that allows players to not do anything for extended periods of time. Randy Moss may take plays off, but I guarantee that he does more running, jumping and catching (plus he deals with way more physical contact) than any MLB player does in a given week, let alone a single game. Any sport where John Kruk can be a professional can never be argued to be physically superior.
Oh, and you're right that people get paid way too much -- but that's just the point; none of them really earn that much money either. Baseball players have the luxury of playing a game for a living, then they get paid a king's ransom to do it. And then they have the gall to demand more, hold out when the don't get it and be jerks to fans and media because they think they deserve what they're getting. All athletes do it, but at least the NASCAR drivers tend to be more fan-friendly, and they earn their money directly in part from winning races. Other athletes get paid solely by their employers; NASCAR drivers are paid by sponsors and by their race winnings, so they're motivated to keep the fans happy and to keep winning. It makes for such a different atmosphere.
DB:
I agree that it lends itself to a different atmosphere, but i don't think it's a better one. Once again, it's the American ideal of selfishness that appeals to you when you see an individual competing solely for himself, and not for a team or a city. And if I chose my sports based on pure athleticism, I would only watch triathlons, or track and field, but that's not the sole reason why I like the sports I do. On that note, you're crazy if you're going to try to tell me that baseball players are less athletic than NASCAR drivers.
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How will I respond? Am I crazy to say that NASCAR drivers have more stamina than the typical MLB player?
Well you'll just have to come back next week to find out.
In the meantime, you are always more than welcome to join the discussion on this or any other sports-related topic.
You can do so by logging on to www.valleycenter.com and clicking on the "RR Blogs" link, or by sending me an e-mail to sports@valleycenter.com and putting "I Kid You Not" in the subject line. I will also accept a hard copy, whether sent through the postal service or dropped off at our office on Valley Center road.
However you wish to take part, it's always great to hear from other sports fans, so I encourage you to join in.

All-Star Games Need Some Help

noreply@blogger.com (Dan Kidder) — Tue, 10 Jul 2007 07:55:00 +0000

Wow, that Major League Baseball All-Star Game on Tuesday night sure was great, wasn't it? The way that guy hit the ball, and those pitchers, and that one thing that was amazing -- it was all really, really good. Really.
Alright, our deadline is Tuesday, so I'm writing this before the game even happened. But I bet I had you going there for a minute.
My ridiculousness does bring up a valid point, however -- the various all-star competitions in professional sports. And specifically, which one of them is the best.
We'll start with the MLB All-Star Game, since it's still fresh in our minds. Overall, it's pretty decent -- the Home Run Derby adds a wrinkle to the proceedings that other sports can't necessarily match, but the game itself lacks something.
Gone are the days of Pete Rose running over Ray Fossey at home plate to score the winning run; most athletes today aren't even passionate enough to show up to an exhibition put on soley for the benefit of the fans. This year's Home Run Derby was pretty exciting, especially after the snoozer of a first round, but aside from Albert Pujols, there wasn't a bonafide superstar to be seen. I know guys like Matt Holliday and Magglio Ordonez are really good baseball players, but in a home run contest, don't most fans want to see players like Barry Bonds, Ken Griffey Jr., Manny Ramirez, Alex Rodriguez and maybe even Sammy Sosa? Alas, none were to be found, although most of them were actually in the stadium while the contest was happening. That's just not so cool.
And it carries over into the actual All-Star Game, despite the league's unique format in which the winning team's league has home-field advantage in the World Series. The only players who go all out are the young guys who have something to prove, and that's why players like Michael Young of the Rangers win the game's MVP award more often than the superstars.
By far the worst all-star event unfortunately comes from the country's most popular (well, second-most popular... we'll get to that in a second) league, the NFL.
The Pro Bowl has the potential to be pretty great, but one factor always makes it forgettable -- it happens after the season ends. We get all pumped up about the Super Bowl, and with good reason given the games in the past few years. But then we're expected to be enthused about an exhibition game where too many players (again with the lack of passion) decline the invitation? Throw in the fact that it's played in a completely foreign time zone and on that awful turf at Aloha Stadium and the collective yawn from the sports world is pretty deafening.
I suppose we should mention the NBA All-Star Game, but I'm a little bit afraid that I'm going to get shot if I do. Let's just say that the lack-of-passion issue comes up again, and if David Stern has even half a brain, he probably should never purposely send athletes who heavily promote a pseudo-gangster lifestyle to a place like Las Vegas ever again.
We find a bit of a bright spot with the NHL All-Star Game, mostly because the NHL really goes out of its way to cater to the fans for the all-star weekend. They have an exhibition game featuring the young stars of the league, then they hold a skills competition that is always lots of fun (if you can find the network carrying the coverage) before the actual All-Star Game even begins.
Once it does, the rules of the game are set up to allow for the stars to show off just how good they can be when they don't have a 250-pound goon hanging on their jerseys. The game is usually an offensive showcase and I, for one, am always impressed at how skillful the players are. Even the defensemen are way better skaters than you or I could ever hope to be.
But we save the best for last, and it should come as little surprise that the most entertaining all-star event in professional sports comes from the nation's No. 1 spectator sport -- NASCAR.
The Nextel Cup All-Star Challenge is basically what every non-NASCAR fan wishes NASCAR was on a weekly basis. For starters, only drivers who won a race the previous season qualify, along with two drivers who finish in the top two spots of the All-Star Open qualifying race and another driver who is voted in by the fans. Then, the race itself is broken up into four 20-lap segments and drivers in the back of the pack are eliminated at the end of the first two segments. When the race is finally decided, the winner takes home $1 millon, which is enough to make even the most successful drivers put a little extra heart into the race.
In this year's race, for example, brothers Kurt and Kyle Busch were battling for position late in the race, and when neither one gave any ground, they collided and wrecked each other's car. That doesn't usually happen in the typical weekly race.
Add to that the Pit Crew Challenge and the myriad of special paint schemes making their debut and it's easily the best all-star event in pro sports today.
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But I'd also like to hear what you think about all-star games, even if I didn't mention your particular favorite.
So e-mail me at sports@valleycenter.com or check out the blog by visiting www.valleycenter.com and clicking on the "RR Blogs" link. You can even send me a response through the good old U.S. Postal Service if you'd like -- our address is PO Box 1529, Valley Center CA, 92082.
And if it's a really good response, we might just invite you to participate in an all-star blog commenting event to be held midway through the blog commenting season.
We're still working on that million dollar all-star prize, though.