Deal with the Devil

The Yankees boast a team payroll of $208, 097, 414. This obviously being the highest payroll in professional baseball. The second highest? The prize goes to the New York Mets at roughly $145 million. The difference is an astounding $63 million. Lets repeat that number. $208, 097, 414. This number being higher than the GDP of the island nations of Palau, Sao Tome and Principe, the Marshall Islands, and Kiribati. Their highest paid player, Alex Rodriguez, boasts a salary equal to that of the Pittsburgh Pirates team payroll. And yet this franchise is making its first World Series appearance since 2003, when the Yankees lost in 7 games to the Florida Marlins.

Much has been made of the Yankees' bloated payroll, but the consequences are clear. The New York Yankees have sold their soul to the devil for a championship. They have officially given a new definition of the concept of "buying a championship". But the Yankees will not win the 2009 World Series, currently being played. Not saying this is a bad team. That couldn't be further than the truth, but there are numerous indications pointing to an imminent defeat.

1) The Yankees lost Game 1 at home.

Not only did they lose at home, but they lost in convincing fashion (6-1). Since 1903, Game 1 winners have gone on to win the World Series at a 62% clip. The 2001 and 2003 Yankees also lost Game 1 in the World Series. Luis Gonzalez and Josh Beckett anyone?

2) Now A.J. Burnett starts Game 2. He of the 4.42 ERA in the playoffs with no decisions. The Yankees could easily fall into a 2-0 hole, requiring them to win at least 2 of the 3 games in Philadelphia to bring the series back to the Bronx.

3) And Cliff Lee is too good. To put it more eloquently, Cliff Lee has gone 4-0 with a .54 ERA in 4 post season starts. He will likely be the Game 4 starter, and the Game 7 starter if necessary. Bad news for the Bronx Bombers.

4) Then even if the Yankees get a lead going into the later innings, they give the ball to Phil Hughes in the 8th. Hughes was great in the regular season as Mariano Rivera's setup man, going 8-3 with a 3.03 ERA and 96 Ks in 86 innings pitched. His playoff numbers: 0-1, 9.64 ERA, with batters hitting .391 against him.

5) And once they get to Philly? No DH in Philadelphia. Not only will the Yankees enter arguably the most hostile environment in MLB, but they will lose the DH. Here we go Joe Girardi, lets see those managerial skills.

6) Most of all the Yankees need their best player, A-Rod, to produce. Alex Rodriguez has had a tremendous post season (.389, 5 HR, 12 RBI), but went 0/4 with 3 Ks in Game 1. With a choke job in the World Series, his label of playoff bust will stay firmly affixed.

7) Oh by the way, the Phillies are the defending champs. Not the Yankees. Reason being the Phillies are good. Damn good. Much better than Minnesota and Los Angelos at least.

But who knows? The Yankees could win the World Series, easily even. But New York made a deal with devil, and he has come to collect his due.

The Evolution of Sports Commercials

Similar to the evolution of dance (a must watch by the way), sports commercials have also undergone radical changes since its infancy. From Mean Joe Greene to Terry Tate Office Linebacker, professional sports and television advertising have been staples of American culture for decades. Therefore it only seems fit that it remains an impossibility to foresee a future in professional sports without advertising. And in particular television commericials.

This one is a classic. Mean Joe Greene drinks the Coke, and throws the little boy his jersey. Gets me everytime.

The best part about this Nike commercial? It was 100% real. He's that good.

Another classic. This McDonald's ad has a distinct late 80s, early 90s feel to it, and every kid who has ever played HORSE can connect with the essence of the video. Even if the whole expressway part was a bit much.

Sir Charles got a ton of heat for this controversial ad, but he stood by his declaration that, "I am not a role model." The man did throw a man out of a window of a restaurant once so I think he might have a point there.

Terry Tate. The Office Linebacker. Hilarious. A bit disturbing at times. But nonetheless a modern classic already.

Looking back, this commercial was either really bad or awesome. And the song...

Y2K. Pretty stupid huh? But back in 2000 everyone was talking about it. Even ESPN.

All those Budweiser commercials with the Clydesdale horses? This one started it all during the '96 Super Bowl. And no I don't think the Clydesdales should play the Detroit Lions because it would be an awful game. The Lions would get creamed.

Who doesn't like the Go World Visa commercials? Visa did a great job putting together off colored videos, Morgan Freeman, and inspirational Olympic moments into the best commercials during the '08 Beijing Games.

Yao Ming and Yogi Berra. That makes sense right? Still cracks me up after all these years.

I honestly can't imagine a world without Monday Night Football. The ad connects with us all. Mondays suck. MNF is awesome.

Great message. But when your the greatest person to ever walk onto a basketball court this ad starts to ring hollow. Nonetheless a classic Nike spot.

The second ad is an actual commercial by the NBA as part of the Amazing Happens ad series. The first is a spoof by ESPN columnist Bill Simmons. I honestly thought both were fairly accurate.

WHY THE FALCONS WILL GO TO THE SUPER BOWL

No, this isn't a joke article. And no I am not a Falcons fan (Love the Chicago Bears). Rather these are sincere observations from a dedicated observer of the NFL game. Sure the Falcons got torched in Phoenix last season by Arizona. Rookie QB Matt Ryan looked the part, flustered by an underrated Arizona D while Kurt Warner led the eventual NFC champion Cardinals to an easy win in Atlanta's first playoff berth since the Michael Vick era.

This is a new year, and let me say just this. This a stacked team. Say what you wish about the suspect defense, which did lose All Pro safety Lawyer Milloy, perennial fan LB Keith Brooking, and the polarizing, but extremely talented cornerback, DeAngelo Hall, but the Falcons have the make up of a Super Bowl contender. They have a coach in Mike Smith, the 2008 NFL Coach of the Year, who, as a rookie head coach last season, took a rookie QB (Matt Ryan) and a career backup at RB (Michael Turner) to 11 wins and a playoff berth. Not only that, but this coming off a 4-12 debacle the prior year.

But of course coach Mike Smith alone isn't going to take the Falcons to the Super Bowl in January. Its their high octane offensive unit which can hang with any team in the league. QB Matt Ryan, only a second year QB in the league, is the real deal, and he now has multiple weapons to throw to. Tony Gonzalez, a game changer at the tight end position, was Antonio Gates before Antonio Gates. Roddy White has blossomed into a Pro Bowl WR, and worthy of a cover by the opposing teams best corner. And Michael Turner, once LaDainian Tomlinson's backup in San Diego is now a All Pro runner himself, with 1699 yards and 17 TDs on the ground last season. Which also happened to be his first as a starting RB in the NFL as well as his debut with the Falcons. Fullback Ovie Mughelli cleared the way for Jamal Lewis all those seasons in Baltimore, and anchored an elite running attack there before signing with the Falcons to clear holes for Michael Turner and Jerius Norwood, who now fills the role Michael Turner himself played in San Diego as the change of pace back.

This is a squad that has all the weapons on offense and defense, as well as one of the

greatest kickers of our generation (Pro Bowl K Jason Elam) anchoring the special teams unit. With an owner, Arthur Blank of Home Depot fame, firmly behind the players and the personnel, the Falcons have all the tools necessary to make a run in these playoffs. Not to mention they play in the Georgia Dome, the second largest domed structure in the world (The Millenium Dome in London is the largest).

But even with all these factors, good coaching and talented players alone don't gauruntee a Super Bowl appearance. Just ask the Dallas Cowboys, Washington Redskins, or the San Diego Chargers, who have been to the Super Bowl a total of 0 times in the last decade despite high payrolls and even higher expectations.

5 REASONS WHY ITS GOING TO HAPPEN

1) Michael Turner. Remember how the Falcons led the league in rushing all those years with TJ Duckett and Warrick Dunn? Turner is those two backs combined into an elite All Pro RB. Not only will he rip off a 60 yard run, but he'll punch it in for you as well. The man is absolutely ridiculous.

2) Matt Ryan is the real deal. Nobody knew how he was going to do fresh out of Boston College, but Matty Ice was the main reason the Falcons went from 4-12 to 11-5 in the span of a single season. Also, he threw only 11 picks, only the second time a rookie QB started all 16 games and threw under 16 INTs. Not to mention he won a 2009 ESPY (Best Breakthrough Athlete) over a field that included gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson, NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose, and MLB's AL Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria.

3) The NFC South. The Falcons will play their NFC South brethren 6 times this season, and needless to say a 5-1 or even 6-0 record in their division does not seem out of the realm of possibility. The Panthers look like a complete mess so far in the early going, with QB Jake Delhomme throwing 4 INTs along with a lost fumble last week against the Philadelphia Eagles. Tampa Bay boasts a strong running game with Cadillac Williams and Derrick Ward, but little else of note on a rebuilding franchise. The Saints are a good team. Let me rephrase that. The Saints are a good offensive team. While they dropped 45 on the Lions last week, they also gave up 27 points to an absolutely horrendous Detroit offense in the process.

4) The '09 Falcons are a helluva lot better than the '98 squad, the Dirty Birds, who made it to the Super Bowl against the John Elway and the Denver Broncos. Chris Chandler and Jamal Anderson will always be heroes in Atlanta for their memorable Super Bowl run, but with all due respect the former have nothing on the latter day combo of Matt Ryan and Michael Turner.

5) Week 1 against Miami. The Miami Dolphins went from 1-15 in 2007 to 11-5 last season, and won the AFC East in the process. They also introduced the Wildcat to the NFL, and often caught offenses off guard with RBs Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown running roughshod over opposing defenses. At the Dome, the Falcons limited the Dolphins and their vaunted Wildcat package to 259 total yards and forced 4 turnovers in their 19-7 romp over the defending AFC East division champs.

The Falcons are now 1-0 with their immediate schedule reading as follows: home vs. Carolina, @ New England, @ San Francisco, home against the Chicago Bears, and @ Dallas. All of those games are very winnable, even the New England game as Brady and Co. looked very out of sync against the heavy underdog Buffalo Bills, and there is no reason why these Falcons can not manage easy wins against Carolina, San Francisco, and Chicago, with New England and Dallas being toss ups. If the Falcons can end up 4-2 or even 5-1 in their first 6 games, this sets them up in a huge game against division rival New Orleans on ESPN Monday Night Football.

And once again, do not underestimate the no respect angle. Even after a 11-5 season last year, the Falcons are flying, once again, under the radar. Vegas pegs the over/under on Atlanta's number of wins this season at 8.5, the same system which had that same number at 5.5 last season. And before you call me crazy remember this: Remember all those people who thought the Patriots were going to cream the Giants in the Super Bowl in '07? And you would be lying to yourself if you thought the Cardinals would be playing in their first Super Bowl in franchise history last season. Crazier things have happened, and in Atlanta the times seem ripe for a suprise run from an under the radar team.

Thoughts and Speculation

Recently 19 year old Joey Logano became the youngest driver in NASCAR history to win a race. A heroic effort, the young Logano overcame incredible odds and decades of history in accomplishing the feat. But this is not a NASCAR blog, and the subject of this article is not Joey Logano.

As a very passionate sports fan, deeply emotionally invested as such, I used to rise and fall with the game by game results of my hometown Cubs. When Steve Bartman knocked that foul ball away from Moises Alou in Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS I was aboslutely crushed. My heart lept at the promise of the Bulls taking Tyson Chandler and Eddy Curry (aka the "Twin Towers"), and fell when they never fulfilled their promise in a Chicago uniform. I held up Sammy Sosa on a pedestal and defended the beleaguered slugger even through the corked bat incident in 2003. When Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown against the Colts in Super Bowl XLI I jumped up and down on the sofa. And when the Bears ended up losing that game I was slumped over sitting on that same couch.

In these recent times, much of that passion and faith has been rewarded with such events as the Mitchell report, athlete misconduct, rising prices on everything from tickets to jerseys, and a general disregard for the fans who are the life blood of professional athletics. I recently attended a Braves v. Yankees game for which I paid $18 for upper deck seats. Perhaps it was the near capacity crowd or the popularity of the Yankees, but these seats which might have went for $5 only a few years ago were nearly quadruple that number. Meanwhile some of the greatest baseball players of our generation have been singled out in the Mitchell Report as out and out cheaters (Alex Rodriguez, Sammy Sosa, etc.). We have witnessed an NFL wide receiver (Donte Stallworth), clearly driving while under the influence, hitting and subsequently killing an innocent pedestrian. Even more increduously Stallworth received a minimal sentence of 30 days in jail. We have owners firing hundreds of employees and cutting health benefits for these same employees while ringing up more then $30 million in profits (Green Bay Packers).


Perhaps this week a few more All Stars will be outed as steroid users by the Mitchell Report. Maybe a NBA lottery pick will hold out for another million or two. And these days a high school player bypassing college to play in Europe en route to the NBA is becoming a scary reality rather than a distant possiblity (Brandon Jennings). Job cuts will continue in the NFL, with profits rolling into the pockets of the owners and players. And arrogant owners will continue to hire overpaid coaches to watch over a group of overpaid, underworked prima donna athletes. In the worst economy since the Great Depression, with people waiting in line at the unemployment office and losing their homes and families along with their jobs, the sports we hold as so sacred...an outlet for the pressures of daily life...and the athletes and teams we revere and cheer for are not uplifting their fans but instead soaking in the reverence while sitting in their ivory towers.

While watching the NBA draft I realized that those fans at the Madison Square Garden cheering or moaning over the young men being picked by their respective teams will perhaps make a fraction of what these athletes will make over the course of their relatively short careers. To put this in perspective, the average NBA player will make over $5 million a season while the average annual income of a U.S. household stands at somewhere around $50,000 a year.

While this may very well come off as a bitter rant of your average sports fan this is hardly such. I will continue to watch sports and be passionate about my preferred teams and players. However the deep respect and reverence that I once held for this national icons has all but disappeared. Sadly when we need our heroes to lift the rest of us up, they instead choose to ignore the people who have lifted their status and showered them with praise and adulation.

Dog Days

The NBA Finals have come and gone, a blow out affair between the Lakers and the Magic, ending with Kobe Bryant taking home a 4th championship, and more importantly his first without Shaq. Football season is still in its training camp infancy, with Donte Stallworth's suspension the biggest news of the summer out of the NFL. Yawn. Baseball season is nearing its halfway mark, but lets not pretend like anyone cares. At least until October. So here we are, in the dog days of the sports season. With the NBA (LA Lakers) and the NHL(Pittsburgh Penguins) crowning their champions this past month, and the NFL still far from opening kick off, the sports landscape seems to be barren and devoid of any meaning for the time being. Right? And as baseball fans wait for October, NFL heads count down the days till opening kickoff, and hoop fanatics sit patiently for the NBA season to begin once again, presumably there are countless people out there in the world who are searching for an appropriate outlet for their sports fix.

(Just a personal theory, but seeing as crime seems to go up during these "dog days of summer" is there any reason to believe there is a correlation between the lack of major sports action and this presumed spike in crime?)

So maybe your average NFL, NBA, and MLB follower decides to try NASCAR during this summerlong "hiatus" of his preferred sports. NASCAR? Really? After 10,000 years of human civilization, watching a Chevrolet turn left for 4 hours is still the most popular spectator sport in the United States.

Golf? Yawn. Tennis? Nope. Poker? No thanks, not interested in seeing something anyone on Earth can theoretically do. Bowling? Are you serious?

So here we are then... talking about Cleveland Browns' WR Donte Stallworth's suspension, the "real reason" why T.O. left Dallas, and whether or not Ricky Rubio will get drafted by Memphis at the #2 spot in the upcoming NBA draft. This is precisely the type of complacency that eats away at the very fibers of modern civilization. For years and years this same tradition of an empty(and endlessly depressing) period of time, usually from about June to August, has existed in the world of sports. Combined with the traditional increase of everything from gas prices and police presence, this is a deadly combination for your average person, sports fan or not.


















Simply put something must be done about the "dog days of summer", especially in the world of sports. Without entertaining sports to watch, or be immersed in to use the correct terminology, a passionate sports fan during the winter and spring can become a shiftless wanderer, as one can only go to the pool or the movies so many times. In all seriousness, sports can bring a city or even nation together. It brings out the best of us, uniting very diverse groups of people under one purpose. The simple fact that two people may share a passion for a certain sports franchise can result in a truck driver from Indiana and a dentist from New Jersey to sit next to each other on a plane for hours engaged in conversation. Therein lies the power of sports.

And the power of sports can not be underestimated. (especially if you saw those "Go World" commercials by Nike.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9wV8AUe6_A

The Fish that saved Los Angelos

For those who witnessed Game 4 of these NBA Finals between the Los Angelos Lakers and the Orlando Magic saw the unlikeliest of heroes emerge. Kobe and the Lakers now lead the Magic 3 games to 1, and seem to have clinched the title (No team has ever come back from a 3-1 disadvantage in the Finals). However, while Kobe Bryant can now say that he won a championship without Shaq, he still hasn't won one without Derek Fisher.

Derek Fisher was unheralded guard out of Arkansas drafted by Los Angelos in 1996. He was thrown right into the fire, playing 80 games in his rookie season. He didn't even average double digit points until the 2000-2001 season, but by then he had established himself as the primary point guard in Phil Jackson's triangle offense. Kobe Bryant was also drafted in 1996, albeit as one of the top prep stars in the nation. The two were drafted 11 spots apart, however when the Lakers traded starting center Vlade Divac for the young Bryant on draft day their paths would cross as the starting backcourt for a budding Los Angelos squad.


The story of Derek Fisher is nothing short of remarkable. For the Los Angelos 3 peat in the early 2000s, Fisher was the point guard who had to keep both Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant appeased while putting the Lakers in positions to win games. He won the confidence and trust of Hall of Fame coach Phil Jackson who had initially written the guard as "undersized and not particularly athletic". Nowadays, Fisher acts almost as a coach on the floor, running the Laker offense even with All Stars Gasol, Bryant, and Odom present, and has been described by his contemporaries, opposing coaches, and most impressively Phil Jackson as "dogged". Its a quality that Jackson has used to describe players like Steve Kerr and Robert Horry. While both players were undersized or underskilled at their respective positions, the two combined to win 12 titles in 14 seasons. Kerr boasts 5 rings while Horry can wear his 7 championship rings with impunity.

This brings us to Game 4 of the 2009 NBA Finals. Against the upstart Magic featuring the "next great center" Dwight Howard, who had a NBA Finals record 9 blocks in Game 4, it wasn't the best player on the team, Kobe Bryant, their All Star center, Pau Gasol, or any of the young budding stars, Trevor Ariza, Jordan Farmar, Andrew Bynum, who would save the Lakers from letting this title slip away. It was the 34 year old Fisher who has battled injuries, his daughter's fight with a deadly illness, and slowing legs to bring Los Angelos a commanding 3-1 lead going into Game 5 in Orlando. More importantly, Fisher perserved Bryant's legacy. While few may remember the name Derek Fisher years and years from now, the man deemed "one of the best players ever" by legends and contemporaries alike will still owe an undersized, underskilled guard from Arkansas. He'll owe him big time.

"Little" Guys

High school basketball is an enigmatic animal. There are multiple levels of competition, based on a school's enrollment size, and therefore different levels of exposure and prestige associated with different players from differing regions and levels. However, the level of competition remains just as tough in the smaller regions than in the largest. The difference is small, and the talent is identical. However, players from private schools and smaller public institutions, with the exception of a few standouts, receive less respect and aplomb than those in large public schools.

What the public doesn't know is that one must look no further than the Orlando Magic's star center, Dwight Howard, to find an example of a small school star succeeding in the NBA. Howard played for Class A Southwest Atlanta Christian Academy, also home to NBA alumni Javaris Crittenton, a small private school playing in the "lowest" region in Georgia high school basketball competition. However while the elite prospects are still recruited and deserving players are given their chances by college coaches and NBA scouts, the public writes off many small school basketball stars as a product of little to no competition and lower talent levels.

This blogger was guilty of this ignorant sentiment. Until very recently that is. Recently I had the opportunity to spend time with two varsity basketball players enrolled in St. Francis (also a Class A athletic program) in Alpharetta. The two players are featured as starting guards/fowards for St. Francis, and are being recruited by mid major Division I programs as well as big name schools (Yale, Georgia Tech, etc.). What many sports fans, even high school basketball fans, fail to realize is that while there is a lack of depth in Class A basketball as opposed to Class AAAAA basketball (i.e. Norcross, Wheeler, Milton), the top talent in the "inferior" divisions would very much hold their own against stars from even the largest divisions. And while the pair of St. Francis standouts may never play professional basketball, the idea that they can not compete against players from big name programs is proposterous. In fact, either one could most likely start on most other varsity teams in the state.

This attitude is not just limited to high school basketball however. The difference from Division II and Division III college basketball is negligible, and even the difference between the best Division II and the worst Division I teams is just as small. Top talent across the board is very much similar, and the stigma of coming from a small high school or unknown program should in no way limit the respect a talented player receives.
























2009 Class A GHSA State Champions