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LeBron James: Your Time is Now

Never has a player been more debated, more scrutinized, or more criticized than LeBron Raymone James.  It’s hard to judge such a player who is so divisive, however if you are able to keep a level head and not let emotions factor into it, then it is possible.

I think most of the “hate” towards LeBron was due to his decision to join the Miami Heat and the way he went about it.  I will agree that having an hour-long special in a prime spot on ESPN probably wasn’t the best idea, but for as much criticism as there was about it, almost ten million people tuned in.  I imagine LeBron got a hefty paycheck for doing the special as well, which leads me to ask you, would you forego possibly millions and announce your free agency like a “normal” player.  It’s easy to say you would because you aren’t faced with that much money.  But I will guarantee you that you would’ve done the same thing LeBron did. 

Some disdain also comes from people in the city of Cleveland and people sympathetic towards them.  They claim LeBron is a traitor for leaving the city.  What people fail to understand is that LeBron was never going to win in Cleveland.  As a small market organization they would have had a very hard time attracting any kind of star because everyone wants to play for big market teams.  LeBron wanted to win badly.  He knew that was his one criticism.  Isn’t this what we want athletes to value over everything: winning?  So he left, took less money, and went to play for a team who we knew for sure could at the very least compete for a Finals, which they did.

If you know anything about basketball at all you would know that LeBron is the most talented player in the NBA.  The fact that so many people say he isn’t clutch is completely bogus.  You can’t judge something so arbitrary in the first place.  Secondly, the definition of the skill or mindset or whatever you feel like calling changes every time LeBron proves those people wrong.  First it was the fourth quarter jokes; then LeBron started to torch people in the fourth quarter.  Then it was, “Well, he hasn’t made a big shot” until he started making big shots.  Now it’s, “he hasn’t done it in the Finals.”

This is by the way the worst argument of them all.  To say an individual player’s achievements are simply meaningless because he hasn’t won a championship (a team award) is the most ass backwards logic I’ve ever come across.  What happens to the records?  Do they just disappear? No they still say that LeBron is statiscally the best player since Michael Jordan. 

Now here we are, LeBron back on the biggest stage in basketball; going up against the scoring champion.  I will say that if they don’t win the Finals this year that it is in fact a failure because they made the “Promise” (also a cause of hate, but don’t you want good players to be confident? Namath was and people love him).  But even if they win a championship LeBron still won’t get his due.

 LeBron is coming off legendary performances in his last two games.  He SINGLE HANDEDLY brought his team back to win the series with a 45 point effort (only one in company with Wilt Chamberlain) in game six on the road and a game seven where he played the ENTIRE GAME and scored 30 points with a 30 foot three pointer to seal the victory.

LeBron will always be judged by a double standard regardless of whether he wins a championship this year.  His “haters” can hate him all they want but it will never change the fact that he is best player in the NBA.   LeBron doesn’t care what you think.  In the face of immense pressure he continues to prove the doubters wrong.  He finally has the team he needs to win his elusive ring.  Tonight and the rest of this series we will see if LeBron can continue to silence the doubters.

Why Soccer Sucks…

Soccer has struggled to gain widespread popularity in the US and this is really a shame.  I personally like the game of soccer but the majority of Americans don’t, as exhibited by the mere 67,000 who attended the USA Men’s team game against Brazil last Wednesday. Almost double that and you have the amount of people who attended Ohio States SPRING football game. 

The United States is a country with ADD and soccer does not cater to that.  Football has very short lag times in between plays and during those lag times you get shiny TV graphics thrown at you.  Soccer can go long stretches without “action”; where teams are just passing the ball trying to set up an attack.  To soccer fans this isn’t a big deal but to a casual viewer this is enough for them to change the channel.  There needs to be some sort of incentive for teams to get the ball moving quicker.  This is also a problem in lacrosse, where implementing a shot clock has been discussed.  I think some sort of “shot clock” or “stall warning” might be good for the game of soccer.  Making it so a team has to cross midfield before a certain amount of time runs out and that they couldn’t go back over midfield after a certain amount of time.  If this rule is violated then the other gets a free kick or possession.

How often are we robbed of seeing a brilliant breakaway goal by a pesky offside’s call?  I’ll answer…A LOT.  Offside’s, in my opinion is one of the dumbest rules in all of sports.  This should have been abandoned years ago.  If a team wants to have someone “cherry-pick” by the goal then that’s their gamble and the other team will just have to put someone back there with him.

To make it more “TV friendly”, there needs to be more breaks in the action for commercials or you just won’t see games at primetime hours on a regular basis.  There could be set breaks before corner kicks and some free kicks which would ruin it much.  There could even be some before goal kicks.

The main point is, soccer is just not an American friendly game.  There needs to changes made for it to be more popular in the states.  Soccer “purists” will look at this and say that I am crazy for trying to “ruin” the “beautiful game”, but in reality soccer is an outdated sport.  It needs to be modernized.  Every sport goes through rule changes.  Everyone thought football would be ruined with new contact rules and its more popular than ever.  In the end, changes such as these would help soccer become more popular globally than it already is, which would be pretty impressive.

Return of the Blog: A Hot Start for the O’s

Finally school is over and I can resume writing on my blog.  A lot has happened since my last post and this one but probably the most surprising and exciting has been the stellar start for the Baltimore Orioles.  They are currently in first place and everyone is enjoying it, including me.  However I can’t help but be skeptical.  As a diehard fan, I have been burned in the past.  The O’s have started fast before and they burned out and failed to finish the season even above .500.

Clearly there is no secret to why they have enjoyed so much success in this young season.  The key has been pitching.  There is no doubt that the Orioles can put up runs, the problem has always been preventing them.  They currently have the best bullpen in baseball (led by closer Jim Johnson) and one of the better starting staffs in the league (this has not been the case recently though).  The only way the Orioles will continue to contend is if they sustained success from both starters and relievers.  With the return of Zach Britton coming soon, pitching could even get better which is always a good thing.

Adam Jones has led a potent lineup (as much as I don’t like him, he has been a leader and a big reason for success), with the Orioles leading the league in home runs.  He is on pace for over 50 home runs this year by himself.  Matt Wieters has struggled as of late however and has looked really tired at and behind the plate.  They really need to rest him more and could be getting a lot more out of him if they did.  Brian Roberts is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment and could rejoin the team soon.  This can only improve the Orioles depth which has suffered many blows due to injuries.

This hot start has led to a lot of fans “finding” baseball again.  While they may not be showing up to the ball park, I still see a lot more people in O’s gear around then I did in years past.  Twitter blows up every time a game is on which is good to see for people like me who rely on social media to get publicity.  If the Orioles are irrelevant then so too is this post.  I have even seen concern over “bandwagon” fans.  I never thought I would see the day where the words “Orioles” and “bandwagon fans” would be in the same sentence but here I am writing it.  My response to this is welcome aboard!  There is always room for more fans of my favorite team (that includes the Ravens too when they go to the Super Bowl next year).

So far the Orioles have won 10 out of 15 series.  This is my advice to the team: take it one series at a time.  If you win the majority of your series then that is the recipe for winning baseball.  Who knows if this hot start will continue past July or August.  Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t.  One thing we can do right now though is enjoy the run.  Because when you are a fan of perpetual loser like the O’s, the only thing to do is enjoy the little things.

P.S. The podcast will be returning soon as well and come fall, a lot of my posts will be about the Towson Tigers football team.

Podcast Episode 5

New podcast after a hiatus during spring break. We talk about A LOT. Tebow, Peyton, National Championship, NBA Draft predictions. Check it out here!

How long can we trust Ozzie?

We have a motto here in Baltimore: “In Ozzie We Trust”.  It means that even though situations may seem dire, we believe, Ozzie will find a way to fix things and everything will be ok in the end.  So I, like most fans, went into this offseason thinking that the Ravens would be at least somewhat active by resigning guys and bringing in some key free agents.  It turns out they were quite the opposite.  They allowed key players such as Jarrett Johnson, Cory Redding, and Ben Grubbs to walk away from the team.  Even role players such as Tom Zbikowski and Haruki Nakamura skipped town for paydays elsewhere.  This started to trouble me until last Friday when they finally resigned Jameel McClain and Brendon Ayanbadejo and brought in Sean Considine and Corey Graham.  However this news only eased my weariness for about a day.

Over the course of free agency the Ravens have continually said things along the lines of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.  The problem with this is that it IS broken.  Last year special teams was a clear weak spot for the team, so they brought in Considine and Graham who are special teams “aficionados” (for what it’s worth).  Great, we are improving something we sucked at last year but we still aren’t addressing the glaring needs on the team (Offensive Line, Linebacker, Defensive Line).  I get it, last year we were a catch away from the Super Bowl but we have also lost key pieces to that team that still need replacing.  While we are sitting here trying “not to fix” things other teams are out there improving.  I still don’t believe that Jah Reid can step in and take Grubbs’ place.  I don’t believe Kruger is an every down player yet.  And I don’t believe that there is anyone currently on the roster who can replace Cory Redding.

Ozzie better get a move on before we are picking up scraps that no one wants.  And he sure as hell better draft like Nostradamus (well, maybe not Nostradamus but you catch my drift) if the Ravens are going to still be a competitive team next year.  I know that cap is somewhat of an issue but there are still quality guys out there who we could bring in on the cheap who are better than a Considine or a Graham.  I still trust Ozzie but my trust is wearing thin.  They say they have “a plan” but I sure hope it doesn’t include more ‘Moneyball’ pickups like the ones so far.  But, as always…..

In Ozzie We Trust

Guest Column on Washington Sports Daily

Yesterday I did a guest column on Washington Sports Daily about the Redskins’ cap penalties. Check it out here!

Top 5 NBA Players at each position

I figured I’d take a break from my usual narrative and do something a little mindless since its spring break for me and, let’s be real, who wants to be doing something thought intensive during spring break.  So here are my Top 5 NBA Players at their position.

Point Guard

1. Derrick Rose– the reigning MVP can do it all, and has to.  He is the majority of the offense for the Bulls, not because he is selfish, but because there is no one else on that team that can score consistently.  He creates opportunities for other players by drawing so much attention and can finish at the rim better than almost anyone.
2. Tony Parker– Parker has flown largely under the radar this year for…well, I don’t why.  He has been incredibly consistently all year and not just consistent but consistently great.  He is my MVP candidate this year; however, sadly I don’t get a vote.
3. Deron Williams– He is the Nets.  I challenge you to name one player on that team besides Kris Humphries (who you probably only know because he dated a Kardashian).  He scores consistently and is just an all around great player.
4. Rajon Rondo– I hate the term “pure point guard” because quite frankly it’s very narrow-minded.  Saying that point guards should be “pass first” and not “scorers”.  But if anyone deserves the title its Rondo. He is one of the best passers in the game and can still score.  Only, shooting from outside 10 feet remains a problem.
5. Russell Westbrook– Westbrook gets a lot of criticism for not passing when he should. I can agree with this sometimes but he still performs at a high level despite criticism.  Something some players can’t handle.

Shooting Guard

1. Kobe Bryant– Obviously a future Hall of Famer.  Bryant is playing like a man possessed this year.  He is carrying an obviously “not all there” Lakers team.  Kobe clearly wants to match Jordan and rings and is letting his play do the talking.
2. Dwyane Wade– Wade is playing at a high level like normal but when you watch him, he is clearly trying to one up Lebron at times.  Like he doesn’t want to lose “his” team as people say.  He consistently takes shots out of Lebron’s hands when he is hot.
3. Monta Ellis– Ellis was the lifeblood of the Warriors until he was traded right at the trade deadline.  This was a terrible trade when he was their team.  Ellis is a great pure shooter and can finish at the rim as well.  I can see him becoming number 1 on this list at some point in his career.
4. Kevin Martin– Martin is one of the best shooters in the NBA.  He carries a somewhat mediocre Rockets team.  He is highly underrated and would do much better with good players around him which is scary to imagine.
5. Manu Ginobilli– Ginobilli can do everything very good but not one thing great.  Consistency is the name of the game and he definitely embodies that quality.

Small Forward

1. Lebron James– Lebron is just the best player in the NBA so how could he not be number one at his position?
2. Kevin Durant– His sheer size gives him an incredible advantage at this position and allows him to shoot over defenders. He is incredibly quick and continues to improve his game, which is kind of scary.
3. Paul Pierce– Like Kobe he is a sure-fire Hall of Famer.  He has proven his skills over his career and can still play with the best of them.  Not to mention he one of the best defenders in the league
4. Danny Granger – Playing in Indiana won’t get you noticed by many but Granger lets his play do the talking.  He is a deadly shooter from anywhere on the court and is capable of finishing around the rim and in traffic.
5. Carmelo Anthony– Melo has really fallen off this year.  He continues to let his attitude affect the way he plays.  With that being said, he is still a top 5 SF and there is no denying that.

Power Forward

1. Kevin Love– Love is playing at a ridiculously high level this year.  He is racking up stats that no one in the history of the NBA has ever had.  He is a complete player.  He can shoot from anywhere and can play inside.
2. Chris Bosh– When Bosh gets involved, the Heat win.  It’s that simple.  When you complete yours team like that and have the skill set that he does it’s tough to compete with.
3. Dirk Nowitzki– Despite his injury troubles Dirk is still playing at a high level and is still sinking those impossible shots that he became famous for in the Finals last year.
4. Kevin Garnett– Though he is getting up in age, Garnett is still one of the best out there.  His defense is almost second to none.
5. Josh Smith– Smith’s athletic ability is ridiculous.  He can run the floor like a point guard and can match up with centers.  He is a great defender that only needs to improve his shooting.

Center

1. Dwight Howard– His antics this year would’ve been distracting for other players but he was able to deal with them.  He is having a great year despite trade rumors.
2. Andrew Bynum– Bynum is stepping up this year and is actually staying healthy.  If Kobe could just give him the ball more he would be even better.
3. Joakim Noah– Consistency is the name of his game.  Game in and game out he puts up solid numbers and his defensive skills are off the charts.
4. Al Horford– Despite my jokes about him, Horford is an up and coming young talent who is already among the league’s best.
5. Al Jefferson– He is the centerpiece of the Jazz’s offense.  Without him they are probably one of the league’s worst teams.  That says something about Jefferson as a player.

Podcast Episode 4

Topics include: NFL Free Agents, the plight of the Redskins, March Madness, and Dwight Howard. Here’s the link.

The Lesson of Allen Iverson

Growing up in Baltimore, basketball was not pushed on me as a little kid.  Baltimore doesn’t have a pro team and the Wizards were a good drive down the road, so I didn’t start watching basketball or enjoying it until I was about eight years old; when 2k released its first basketball video  game.  The cover athlete of this game: Allen “A.I.” Iverson (he would go on to grace the cover of 4 more of these games).  At this point I knew nothing about basketball or any of the players in it.  Of course I knew who Jordan was, and Kobe, but besides that, I was completely oblivious; unlike with baseball and football.

Allen Iverson I guess you could say was my window into basketball.  I used the 76ers in the game all the time so he became my favorite player.  However, I haven’t met many other people who share this view.  When people think of Allen Iverson, the first thing that comes to mind for many of them is this:

His accomplishments are drown out by his big mouth and stand-offish attitude.  I won’t say that A.I. was a saint but you have to look at what he has done as a player.  After being drafted first overall he went on to become the rookie of the year.  He was selected to the All Star game eleven times and was a two-time MVP.  If I told you a player did this without mentioning a name you would say that he is one of the best players in history.  Though when I say its Allen Iverson some people cringe and are quick to demean his achievements.

Allen Iverson’s success quickly went to his head.  He was consistently late or didn’t even bother to show up to practice.  He got into legal trouble during his career, as well as before it.  He was fickle with teammates and coaches.  He then turned the city of Philadelphia against him after he demanded a trade after ten years with the team.  He went on to have a couple good seasons with the Nuggets and then tapered off until rejoining the Sixers for the final year of his career.  There are now reports that he has squandered almost all of his over $100 million earned over the course of his career which is pretty pathetic.

Clearly he wasn’t a person to look up to.  But that didn’t stop me and some other people from going out on their driveway basketball courts trying to play like him.  There was something about this diminutive guy that you couldn’t help but like.  he made up for his lack of size and strength (something a lot of players these days only rely on) with his incredible speed, quickness, and shear skill.  All of this is lost though to his off the court (and sometimes on the court) actions.

The point is that WE create icons out of people who are not perfect and we get upset when they make mistakes.  Allen Iverson was not a role model but he was an incredible basketball player.  He was a troubled kid who got his chance to play at the highest level.  If anything Iverson should be viewed as an example, not as someone to strive to be like, but as someone to learn.  Players nowadays have to look at themselves and ask if that’s what they want to be like.  Do they want to be a great player who’s accomplishments are cheapened by their attitude or stupid actions?

The Apathetic O-wner

Over the past couple of months my criticism of the Orioles has been apparent. Most of my tweets about the Orioles have been about how bad of an organization they are. And 14 years of losing seasons and signing players past their prime will back me up on that. However there was a time in which I was as optimistic as some of the Orioles apologists out there. There was a period of a few years where my birthday parties consisted of my dad renting a van and taking me and a bunch of friends down to Camden yards to watch the O’s. Those were my BIRTHDAY PARTIES. Of all the things I could’ve gotten, I wanted to see the team I had grown up loving like a puppy lose to the likes of the Reds (I actually specifically remember a game I went to for my birthday in which they lost to the Reds).

I think the problem with fans of the team my age is that we know nothing but losing. Older fans know what winning was like while people my age are just used to losing. We are just simply numb to it. While my dad grew up with Brooks and Palmer, I grew up idolizing the likes of Jeff Conine (I have a game worn jersey framed in my room, no joke). Let’s be real Conine isn’t exactly on the level that Brooks was. The last time the Orioles sniffed success I was only 4 years old. I have grown up only knowing what regular season baseball tastes like. I love watching playoff baseball so I can only imagine what it would feel like if I was emotionally invested in it. The closest thing I’ve felt to playoff baseball was the Orioles knocking out the Red Sox last year in the final game. And I can’t even be sure if that’s what it feels like because I just have never felt it.

I’m sure one day the Orioles will be good again. They can’t suck forever can they? However, I can’t envision a day in which the Orioles are successful under Peter Angelos. He has figured out that you can make money with a sucky team rather than spend more to put a good product out there. I will be clear that my frustration is with the organization and not the team. I will ALWAYS love the orioles and the game of baseball because I know nothing else. However as fans we cannot stand for the way the organization has treated its fan base. Behind all the t-shirt nights and Dugout Club games are dirty secrets. Secrets that keep the Orioles from being a competitive team. As fans we need to move past the point of sympathy. Sympathy is for a team like the Mets. Not a team who has sucked for 14 straight years. The Orioles organization is clearly NOT TRYING anymore. They have become apathetic which is one of the worst qualities anyone can have.

To say that we still need to support the team is bogus. Would you buy a vacuum cleaner that you know doesn’t work. That’s what you are doing if you don’t stand up and voice your opinion or you simply don’t realize what’s going on. Teams aren’t this bad for this long by accident. There are clear organizational problems going on here. If you love the TEAM, the bird, the yard as much as I do; you have to stand up to the organization and demand a better product. A city like Baltimore deserves better. We have so much love for our sports teams. It’s time for the owner to start treating his puppies right.