Okay, I’m already getting old and grumpy, but there’s so much to annoy me lately it’s ridiculous. I really can’t say I’ve been inspired much by that idiot Jet Blue flight attendant, but I suppose I’ve reached my threshold.
Rather than drop F-bombs like Jets head coach Rex Ryan, or smack around a family member (or common-law family member) like Mets closer Francisco Rodriguez, or kick folks with my cleats like Reds starter Johnny Cueto, I’m going to use what I’ve learned from anger management and simply swing my big fluffy pillow while I vent…
WHOOMP!
Memo to Darrelle Revis: Let me get this straight... No matter what the Jets offer you, you won’t settle for anything less than $16-million per season. Fine... And when next year and the year after come, and other defensive players exceed your salary, are you going to hold out again and hold your team hostage? Just a thought…
Are you underpaid in terms of your $1-million 2010 salary? Yes. Have you outperformed your rookie contract? Probably. Do you and your Rockland County attorneys, Neil Schwartz and Jonathan Feinsod, have the right to throw everyone into turmoil because you worry too much about the salaries of other NFL players? NO. Unless I’m mistaken, you already signed a 6-year, $36-million contract as a rookie in 2007, and the last I checked, you work for the New York Jets. They don’t work for you.
For those who think Jets owner Woody Johnson is simply pocketing as much money as he can without paying for the talent that brings fans into seats and pay for new stadium PSLs, I believe you’re not looking at the broader picture. If I was paying for a PSL I'd want that money to go to Woody Johnson, Revis as well as all the other players seeking long-term deals, specifically center Nick Mangold and linebacker David Harris. I’ve said for weeks that the Jets and Revis would be smart to take $15-million from the $20-million still due on Revis’ rookie contract and fold it into this year as a guaranteed $16-million salary, THEN use remaining $5-million towards new long-term deal. Do I think that new contract should average $16-million per season? Of course not; both parties need to think about the future overall team salary structure and how to sustain a winning team with as many core players as possible.
Revis has to learn to give a little to get his due, and his holdout was not wise in many respects, his second in four years. Former running back Leon Washington's gone because he cut his nose off despite his face with greed towards last year's contract offer and an antagonistic attitude towards Jets when he got injured and his money plans blew up.
Revis is a great cornerback and part of Jets defense, but it's still the New York Jets, not the New York Revises, and I do believe Rex Ryan’s defensive scheme can still succeed at a relatively high level without Revis. Let’s face it, as great a talent as Revis is, there are still ten other players on the field playing defense and to be a great unit requires all eleven position players working together. If you doubt my theory, take a look at the $16-million man out west, Oakland Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. The last I checked, the Raiders didn’t necessarily have one of the best defenses in the NFL lat season (26th overall, 29th against the rush, 7th against the pass), so one man doesn’t make an entire defensive unit.
Getting back to the Revis situation, BOTH sides are in the wrong on this stalemate, but Revis is more in the wrong because he's reading and listening to too much media praise and it's warping his perspective. Sorry, but as a former player from 30 years ago, I don't see the issue as simply "give the star the money he deserves." He's one of many important stars and needs to better comprehend the grand scheme of things in terms of the pot of money and how it's shared in a salary cap era, which will still exist when the new CBA is settled.
But I’m very happy Revis, Schwartz, Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum and Woody Johnson finally decided to suspend the public spat through the media and work quietly between themselves. I’ve more than made my views clear on Revis’ holdout and contract, and for the sake of maintaining a healthy blood pressure, I choose not to vent further.
WHOOMP!
Memo to Rex Ryan: Haven’t we discussed your inclination towards profanity before, back when you were photographed flipping some slob the bird at a mixed martial arts event in Miami during Super Bowl week? So now you treat viewers of the first episode of HBO’s Hard Knocks to a steady stream of F-bombs? More than one Jets fan counted approximately three-dozen during the first ten minutes of an hour-long show. Were they really necessary?
I don’t even get HBO on my television, and I saw so many tweets from folks watching the show, there’s no point to me downloading a podcast for myself. Everyone spoiled the $#@&*%! suspense for me.
Now don’t get me wrong… I can swear like the best foul-mouthed Philistine American society has to offer, but I also know there’s a time and place for unleashing expletives. Just like some of today’s lowbrow comedians (and I use the term graciously), Rex seems to use profanity for profanity’s sake, catering to the lowest common denominator of sports fans and HBO viewers. C’mon, coach… you can do better than this.
And is “My mom’s the only one really disappointed that I care about” your idea of an apology?! Sheesh!
Your blue language embarrassed your mother, an education professor in Canada. Folks at ESPN even commented that your language likely made your own father, former Eagles and Cardinals head coach Buddy Ryan, blush. Now that we know you can verbalize profanity as well as express it with sign language, let’s see you show viewers and fans how articulate and intelligent you really are, which is MUCH more than what you demonstrated last Wednesday night.
Oh, and could you spare us all the grandstanding overtures about Revis’ holdout and your ideas for détente? You really don’t want to get sucked into this mess, for your own sanity. Yes, I understand and appreciate your willingness to help out and get talks out of their inertial state, but just stick to coaching the players currently in training camp and on the field.
WHOOMP!
What a week for our New York Mets. On Tuesday, ace pitcher Johan Santana was slapped with a civil suit charging rape going back to an October 2009 incident on a Fort Myers, Florida golf course. On Wednesday night, after a 6-2 home loss to the Colorado Rockies, closer Francisco Rodriguez beat up his girlfriend's father in the family room adjacent to the players’ locker room. On Thursday and Friday night, with K-Rod on team-imposed suspension (more on this later), Santana and R.A. Dickey showed the best way to work around bullpen woes and win consecutive games was to pitch complete-game shutouts – 4-0 over Colorado by Santana and 1-0 over Philadelphia by Dickey. Come to think of it, it seems the ONLY way for the Mets to win lately is to pitch shutouts (Mike Pelfrey pitched a gem in defeating Colorado’s Ubaldo Jimenez 1-0 Tuesday night).
What has me venting? Let me count the ways…
First, if Santana and Dickey can toss 100-plus pitch complete game victories in August, why couldn’t Met starters do this more often in April, May, June and July?! Why were pitch counts so strict earlier in the season while manager Jerry Manuel overworked his bullpen, but now he lets pitchers finish what they start?
As much as it pains me to say it, Jerry needs to go, as does GM Omar Minaya. Let’s face it; the season seems to be lost, too many players are simply underachieving, Jerry can’t seem to get the most from the players, and Omar’s the one who provided Jerry these players. Don’t get me wrong… I respect Jerry, but the more I watch the Mets play the more I’m convinced Jerry manages not to lose as opposed to win, and to quote everyone’s favorite sage, former Jets head coach Herman Edwards, you play to win the game!
When your pitching staff leads MLB with 18 shutouts and also giving up nine grand slams, this tells me a major problem exists with team consistency and focus, both clearly falling on the manager’s shoulders for blame. It was clear from the start of the season that this year’s team would be a relatively mediocre .500 team – better than last year’s 70-92 disaster, but certainly not ready for primetime playoff action. That being the case, the Mets are likely cleaning house with their coaching staff and bringing in new blood. If not, then someone in the front office needs his head examined.
As for Omar Minaya, for every David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Angel Pagan there’s Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez. I get a kick out of listening to Mets fans call in on WFAN and beg for the Mets to unload Castillo and Perez one minute, then demand the Mets trade away Reuben Tejada (yes, I got it right this time) for a veteran second baseman. Folks, you can’t have it both ways. Either you want the Mets to rebuild with youth or stock up on high priced veterans. Either way, there are no guarantees of a divisional title, NL pennant or World Series title. If Mets ownership wants to scale back payroll, fine. Let’s work with an everyday lineup of younger cheaper players and let them mature into a solid contender in 2-3 years. But don’t make a mish-mash of youth and expensive players past their prime, expecting an instant championship team to pacify a whiny impatient fan base perpetually unhappy and not knowing what it wants.
Second, as much as this may shock some, I think the Mets need to cut ties with Perez, Castillo, and K-Rod, either by release (and eat the contract) or trade. Perez is too much of a head case to ever really contribute again. Castillo simply is too beaten up and close to retirement. K-Rod simply isn’t worth the aggravation anymore for inconsistent performance and a trigger temper.
Third, it’s clear Omar Minaya no longer knows how to put together a cohesive or productive roster. For all the splashy moves he made 2005-2007 in putting the core of this team together, it has underachieved poorly and come up very short in class and accountability for all the machismo in the locker room and on the field. What was once a grand and exciting vision in 2005 has become a public relations albatross in 2010.
This finally brings me to K-Rod’s explosion on Wednesday night. I’m of two minds as I offer my view, but the bottom line is that Rodriguez’s violent actions were unacceptable, unprofessional, and inexcusable. Worse, his minute-long “public apology” on Saturday was not only inadequate, it was embarrassing and an insult to Mets fans and the New York media. Regardless of English not being Rodriguez’s first language, his words were too few, too lacking in thought or meaning, and too small in magnitude relative to Wednesday night’s events.
The Mets reportedly wanted to suspend K-Rod for longer than two games, but that’s all they were allowed by the collective bargaining agreement. If that’s the case, former MBLPA leader Don Fehr and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig have insulted baseball fans and media members just as much as Rodriguez did with his lame apology.
You know there’s a real manhood issue in the Mets locker room when no player publically denounced Rodriguez’s actions. For all the machismo in that locker room you really need to ask what the standard is for being a man. Obviously the standard is a tad lower among the players than for the general population.
Now I speak from my second mind, one of a former athlete, on this story. No matter how reprehensible K-Rod’s actions and his teammates’ reaction were, there’s a more disturbing issue to consider. Why does Citi Field need a “family room” mere feet from the locker room? Yes, I know players have wives, kids, parents and significant others, but why keep these people so close to where emotions can boil over after any game? Regardless of whatever interpersonal issues exist between K-Rod and his girlfriend’s father, something like this was bound to happen, be it with the Mets or some other professional sports team employing immature hotheads. If Mets management wants to entertain players’ loved ones after a game, why not make one of their new restaurants available to them, where they can be fed and catered to until sufficient time has passed after the game and players have showered, gotten treatments and talked to media members. Remember, this is still a person’s place of work, their proverbial office, not a social club. I don’t know about other professional sports teams, but if the Mets paid more attention to business instead of ancillary fluff, maybe a good chunk of its overall woes might be eliminated. The Mets seem to spend too much time and effort catering to the wrong people and it’s only making the on-field product more of a letdown to the people who pay for it, the fans.
WHOOMP!
Memo to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell: A couple of weeks ago, I praised you for advocating NFL players were more protective padding during games, but I also questioned the logic of why only have the teams wear this extra padding and not even make it mandatory beyond the pre-season. Now you’re subject to my piercing and disapproving stare because one of your league’s biggest stars, Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald, took a wicked shot to his right knee during Saturday night’s 19-16 pre-season opening win against the Houston Texans. Fitzgerald is lucky he suffered “only” a sprained medial collateral ligament and won’t miss any regular season games.
But if you watched the replay, what do you notice about Fitzgerald’s uniform? NO knee or thigh pads underneath his uniform pants. Minutes later we see Fitzgerald on the Cardinals’ bench with ice wrapped around his knee. DUMB, Mr. Commissioner! Very DUMB! If you listened to me (or perhaps your gut), you’d make ALL players wear extra padding for EVERY game and practice, and maybe Cardinals fans wouldn’t have gasped with worry last night when Fitzgerald went over the middle for a pass reception.
Please don't make me tell you this again...
WHOOMP!
Speaking of dumb, I declare this mini-rant Dumb and Dumber, Part Two – playing the part of Dumb, Cincinnati Reds second baseman Brandon Phillip; playing the part of Dumber, Reds starting pitcher Johnny Cueto. In case you missed it, Phillips shot his mouth off in the local press, saying how much he hated the St. Louis Cardinals and calling them “[female dogs]” before the second game of a three-game sweep by the Cardinals. Naturally the Cardinals took exception to it, and when Phillips tried his “hey, all part of the game; no-harm, no-foul” bit in the bottom of the first inning, it started a benches-clearing brawl behind home plate. In the middle of this brawl, Cueto was pinned back over the backstop and into the surrounding net. What does Cueto do? He starts kicking out with his spikes in order to presumably gain him space for an escape. Cueto was the only player suspended for the melee, for seven games.
Of course, Phillips wasn’t the only one opening up his big mouth to say not quite the right thing at the wrong time. Consider San Francisco 49ers tight end Vernon Davis telling Jarrett Bell of USA TODAY, “I want to dominate. My goal is to be the best to ever play this position. It’s going to take discipline. I’m going to have to be smart and relentless. The stuff [head coach Mike] Singletary always talks about.”
No, no, no, NO! This is NOT what your head coach, a hall of fame linebacker with the Chicago Bears, talks about. Yes, you want to dominate your opponent, but your goal is to do everything you can to make the 49ers the best team in the NFL. Your individual glory is secondary. You still fail to realize it’s not all about you and your personal statistics.
Davis shouldn’t feel too bad. He’s not alone. New Orleans running back Reggie Bush recently called University of Southern California athletic director Pat Haden to “apologize” for the sham of a 2005 Heisman Trophy season he perpetrated while taking illegal money from a potential sports marketer. As a result of his “series of mistakes,” USC’s football program is banned from bowl games for the 2010 and 2011 seasons and forced to vacate 14 victories from the 2004 and 2005 seasons, which could result in losing the 2004 BCS national title.
What were Bush’s touching words of contrition? If I could turn the clock back, I would. If I could give the Heisman Trophy back, I would. Oh, isn’t that touching? Could someone please pass me the airsick bag? Oops... I think that Jet Blue dude took it with him down the emergency slide.
Speaking of the 49ers, they will need to move on without second-string running back Glen Coffee, who abruptly retired from professional football. Coffee is 23 years old, a third-round 2001 pick of the 49ers, and behind all-pro Frank Gore on the depth chart. Coffee’s reason? His heart was no longer in it and he needed to leave the game to pursue his faith.
WHAT? Are you entering the priesthood or ministry, or are you simply tired of not having a chance to be the star of the 49ers’ offense? You're second-string, pal, and getting paid for sideline duty.
WHOOMP!
Memo to NBC Sports’ Jim Gray: Do you take personal pleasure antagonizing sports figures?
Last, a memo to New York Knicks president James Dolan and his BFF Isiah Thomas…
Oh, why waste my breath…
WHOOMP! WHOOMP! WHOOMP! WHOOMP! WHOOMP! WHOOMP!
Sorry… some folks simply get me steamed…
No comments:
Post a Comment