A Real Wildcard

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With the MLB regular season complete, it’s time to make some predictions and reflect on what might have or should have been.

The Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs are disproving the notion that a second wildcard would merely dilute the playoff picture. With 98 and 97 wins respectively, it would have been a crime if either of these teams didn’t qualify. And for the Cubs, how about finishing in 3rd place with 97 wins??

The Cubs will lean on ace Jake Arrieta who has been the best pitcher in baseball since the All-Star break as they travel to Pittsburgh. The Pirates will send Gerrit Cole to the hill and he has had an outstanding season of his own. The Cubs haven’t been in the playoffs since 2008 when they were swept for the second straight year. They haven’t won World Series in 107 years or the last time the Detroit Lions won road game against a good team, but I digress.

Meanwhile in the A.L., Houston pitcher Dallas Keuchel takes his 20-8 record and 2.48 ERA into Yankees Stadium to take on the Alex Rodriguez-led Yankees and ace pitcher Masahiro Tanaka. Unfortunately for the Astros, their loss on the final day of the season to Arizona cost them a home game and Keuchel is 15-0 at home, but 5-8 on the road. He pitched 16 scoreless innings against the Yankees this season.

I predict the Astros beat the Yankees 4-3 and the Cubs beat the Pirates 3-2.

By the way, where would the Yankees be this year without ARod?

As for the Red Sox, all the failure has centered around the underachieving Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval. Yes they were a big part of the problem, but the pitching staff from top to bottom was an abject failure and not resigning Jon Lester and Andrew Miller in favor of Koji Uehara and Rick Porcello will haunt them for a long time.

Speaking of Porcello, he was traded by Dave Dombrowski once and if he can get the right return, I believe Dombrowski will do it again.

David Price is the ideal free agent target, but Dombrowski didnt exactly get the most out of Price the last time.

Kudos to the Sox for getting swept in the final weekend as they moved up three spots in the draft passing division rivals Tampa Bay and Baltimore among them. There is no trophy for third.

The Washington Nationals fired their coaching staff today and it wasn’t a moment too soon. How do you finish seven games out of your division and 14 games out of a wildcard when Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Jordan Zimmerman anchor your pitching staff?

Seven major league teams finished 20 or more games under .500.

So Miami finally pulled the trigger and axed Joe Philbin after going 24-28 in four seasons with 0 playoff appearances. Rex Ryan could have at least done that.

Speaking of Ryan, what an absolutely ugly effort by the Bills getting blown out at home by the Giants! Looks like QB isn’t the Bills problem and a once again injured LeSean McCoy and underachieving Sammy Watkins are the problems. Wonder if the Giants knew all the play calls for Buffalo? The win against Indy Week 1 is looking less and less impressive each week for the mighty Bills. But at least they have discipline.

If you are Matt Schaub are you starting to get a complex? In 2013, your Texans went 2-14, in 2014 your Raiders went 3-13 and so far in 2015 your Ravens are barely 1-3. Can you say bad luck charm? But he does compete with Cutler for droopiest face.

Bill Belichick has already begun the spin in preparation for the Cowboys. The first thing he could think of was to compliment the Cowboys kicking game. Then he went on to talk about their defense which has proceeded to allow 65 points the last two weeks capped off by their explosive weapons who are named Joseph Randle, Terence Williams and Cole Beasley. Yes Greg Hardy is returning (assuming he doesn’t assault someone in the pregame) but Jerry Jones will regret the day he didn’t take the side of Robert Kraft in Deflategate. New England 50-17.

Speaking of Jones, in a recent interview, he claimed he made his Superbowl appearances count in reference to the Patriots losing some of their Superbowl appearances. Yes Jerry, since 1992 Dallas is 3-0 in the big game while New England is 4-3 in the big game. So you have four less appearances and one less victory. Since 1996, the Cowboys are 3-8 with 0 championship game or Superbowl appearances while the Patriots playoff record is 24-11 and well you know the rest.

Lastly, it appears that the top QB comparison between Tom Brady and Peyton Manning is no longer because Manning can barely throw a 10 yard pass anymore and because Brady’s playoff stats are mind-bogglingly superior to Manning. Now everyone wants to compare Aaron Rodgers with Brady and say Rodgers is better so I thought I would enlighten our readers with some important information.

Going into this season, Rodgers has played seven full seasons and has a 73-38-1 regular season record with a 6-5 playoff record and one Superbowl victory. In Brady’s first seven seasons, he had an 86-26 regular season record, a 14-3 playoff record, an undefeated season, four Superbowl appearances, three Superbowl championships. Case dismissed.

The NHL starts tomorrow night and the NBA is around the corner. Looking forward to the incessant LeBron James talk on ESPN. Until next time…

Off to see the Wizard

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Reportedly, Miami Dolphins management reached out to the Wizard of Oz after getting annihilated by Buffalo. But unfortunately, no hearts were available. The Wizard said, if you go kill Joe Philbin, the horrible coach of the South, I can then talk about giving your team a heart.

The hot pre-season Superbowl pick Baltimore Ravens are getting worse by the second. The Ravens have given up a staggering six passing touchdowns and 734 yards through the air the last two games to the Raiders and Bengals. Don’t get me wrong, the Bengals made every effort in typical Cincy fashion to give that game away in the fourth quarter, but the Ravens’ secondary is so inept that they let Cincy leave with a win and now trail the Bengals by three games in the standings, three games into the season. But fear not Baltimore, you are among good company with the Saints and Bears as the only other winless teams in the NFL.

The good news for Baltimore is that in four days they travel to Pittsburgh to take on the Ben Roethlisberger-less Pittsburgh Steelers. The Roethlisberger injury sent shockwaves through the NFL, but Michael Vick won’t let the Steelers dog it in his absence. With Le’Veon Bell back and  Martavius Bryant returning from suspension after next week, the Steelers should be okay as long as Roethlisberger is only out the anticipated 4-6 weeks.

How about the 3-0 Atlanta Falcons? After the Falcons made Cowboys back Joseph Randle look like Emmitt Smith in the first half (two backs by the way that are/were highly reliant on their respective offensive lines to be successful) as opposed to natural skill), they battened down the hatches in the second half and rattled off 25 straight points to close out the game.

The Jets looked really tough after thumping Indy on Monday Night Football and winning two straight to start the season but today they went against a defense not named Cleveland or Indy. Ryan Fitzpatrick also came back down to earth throwing three picks. The real story though was that the Philadelphia Eagles came off an embarrassing effort and were being mocked nationally but responded with a critical road victory and are now within one game of the first place Romo-less Cowboys.

Watch out for Arizona. They destroyed San Francisco today and look dominant on both sides of the ball. Larry Fitzgerald has returned to vintage form and Carson Palmer looks better than ever. At one point in that game today, Colin Kapernick had five completions and four picks (two pick-6’s by the way). Maybe San Francisco shouldn’t have kept Alex Smith or Colin Kapernick.

If there was any doubt the Patriots are out for blood after last week, it was once again confirmed today after the Pats were aggressively trying to score through the air with a 44-10 lead midway through the fourth quarter against the innocent Jacksonville Jaguars.

Cam Newton is quietly been awesome to start the year and this is all the more impressive after he lost his number one weapon Kelvin Benjamin for the year in the pre-season.

I am sure Johnny Manziel could have lost just as easily to Oakland.

Not that NBA training camps are underway, time for some recycled boring storylines.

Carmelo Anthony feels like himself again. Does this mean no one will get a pass again this year from Anthony? He once again will fail to be a leader? What does feel like himself again actually mean?

Does anybody actually care if the Lakers monitor Kobe Bryant’s minutes? He’s not the story anymore, the development of back-to-back lottery picks Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell is though.

John Wall claims he will recruit Kevin Durant once he becomes a free agent, but he couldn’t even convince Paul Pierce to stay after the Wizards showed remarkable improvement.

Jonathan Papelbon and Bryce Harper got in a fight after yet another Washington Nationals implosion. Papelbon’s act continues to wear thin wherever he plays while the definition of leadership continues to elude Harper.

The Nationals are arguably the biggest disappointment in the majors especially with that pitching staff.

As much as the wildcard play-in game has been mocked, the Cubs-Pirates game should be a classic and it is truly a shame that one of those teams will be out of the playoffs after one game. Kudos to Theo Epstein for building a nucleus that could deliver for the Cubs for years to come.

Minnesota, Anaheim and Houston are all within one game of each other for the right to travel to New York for a one-game playoff.

Still a lot of hope for the Red Sox. If the Twins, Angels and Houston lose all of their remaining games and the Sox go undefeated the rest of the way, the Sox will be eligible for a tiebreaker play-in game.

I take offense at the Baltimore Orioles getting shut out three games in a row.

The Phillies will lose 100 games.

E”Rex”tile Dysfunction

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It’s good to be back. Sorry for the long lay-off between blogs.

Let me start by congratulating Rex Ryan and his stout defense for holding the Patriots to 40 points today. Outstanding work. Ryan had two choices this week when getting his team prepared for the Patriots. Choice #1 was to talk trash and antagonize the Patriots while emboldening New England’s us against the world mentality. Choice #2 is to take the momentum from the impressive victory over the Colts and tell his team we’re on to New England.

But Ryan of course elected for choice #1 which is the mentality that eventually led to his failure in New York. The bluster and bravado just couldn’t be backed up and players stopped buying into it. Then to add insult to injury, after the game the Bills are already predicting a playoff matchup. YAWN!

A word of advice to Buffalo. Stop, watch and learn how the Patriots win. It’s called actions speak louder than words.

A few nuggets of note from the game today:

The four anchors of the Bills defensive line make up 28% of the salary cap for Buffalo and the aggregate contracts exceed 250 million dollars. The combined cap hit of the three rookies that manned the interior today was 1.5 million dollars. The Pats O-line has been phenomenal so far and yes Brady gets rid of the ball exceptionally quick, but he has had real good protection.

Dion Lewis had 138 yards of total offense. A number that exceeds that of any Bills player today. Perhaps Rex knows who he is now. But Dion, how about you stop trying to emulate Steven Ridley in the area of ball possession.

Tom Brady targeted Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman a whopping 32 times among his 59 pass attempts.

Belichick going for it on fourth down twice while throwing the deep ball with big leads would seem to indicate an agenda of trying to win by 100 points?

The Miami Dolphins are nothing short of an embarrassment to start the season. They barely escaped Washington last week only because the Redskins kept blowing the multiple opportunities Miami tried to hand them and this week they lost to Jacksonville who has Marquise Lee and T.J. Yeldon (playing in his second NFL game) as their only real weapons. Miami had two cupcakes to open the season and have come out looking completely unprepared. Today it was the defense and last week was the offense. Joe Philbin needs to go and it is mind-boggling he still has job.

The SI jinx has struck again. SI was among many prognosticators that picked the Baltimore Ravens to win the Superbowl and after losing a tough game to Denver last week, the Ravens made Derek Carr look like Jim Plunkett this week. The loss of Terell Suggs will hurt but more important, 0-2 teams in the NFL have a 12% success rate of making the playoffs. With that said, the Ravens schedule this year is very easy although a 2-0 Cincy team is looming.

Teams that are featured on the HBO special Hard Knocks haven’t fared well and the Texans are continuing that recent trend. An 0-2 start is one thing, but what was supposed to be a vaunted defense has given up 51 points to KC and Carolina who aren’t exactly Green Bay and Pittsburgh. J.J. Watt can’t do it by himself.

The Chiefs loss to Denver this past Thursday was nothing short of egregious. Manning came into the game 13-1 against KC lifetime and the Chiefs had them on the ropes before Chiefs Coach Andy Reid did his best Pete Carroll impersonation and ran a run play deep in his own territory with 21 seconds left. Losing to a rival and the favorite to win the division at home will be a tough loss for the Chiefs to come back from.

Troy Aikman said that the Eagles performance against the Cowboys this evening was one of the all-time worst in NFL history. WOW! I mean that’s pretty bad coming from someone who led his team to an 0-11 record his rookie year with nine touchdowns and 18 picks. Nevertheless, the Eagles and their new running back DeMarco Murray look lost. Murray has 11 yards on 21 carries through two games so I am guessing the Cowboys O-line had nothing to do with his success.

And by the way, Sam Bradford might be better off injured at this rate. The Eagles QB has two touchdowns and four picks while being wildly inconsistent so far. For all the talk of how great Bradford could and would be if he stayed healthy, in his career he has 61 TD’s, 42 picks and 12 fumbles lost. Almost a 1-1 touchdown to turnover ratio.

Speaking of uninspiring quarterbacks, Jay Cutler might be the worst in the history of football. Every time I see another pick six thrown like today and you see that droopy look on his face, you wonder how bad Jimmy Clausen really is to not even get a shot.

How about Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons. An actual road win even against the defensively challenged New York Giants. Did Rashad Jennings think this week he was also not supposed to go in the end zone. And in other Giants news, sounds like JPP gave the Giants the finger.

Wither the New Orleans Saints who are feeling the effects of no Jimmy Graham, an aging Marques Colston and a horrible offensive line. The Saints just lost to a Tampa Bay team that lost at home by 28 points to a Tennessee team that lost to Cleveland today by 14.

But the Miami Dolphins award this week for the most unacceptable loss goes to the St. Louis Rams. How do you beat the Seattle Seahawks in an emotional potential season-defining win the week before and then lay an egg against the Redskins the following week while not ever being in the game.

Lastly, by taking two of three from the first place Toronto Blue Jays, the Sox pulled within seven of the second wildcard spot with 14 games left. If they go 14-0 in the remaining games and….

Big Bad Bruins Management

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I made my feelings clear in my June 1st blog regarding the direction of the Bruins and the hiring of Don Sweeney. However, in my wildest dreams I couldn’t have anticipated the complete bungling of the organization after the two trades were made this week and the approach to the NHL draft.

As for the Milan Lucic trade, aside from being forced to retain half his salary, the return seems decent. The real problem however is that the hang up on Lucic has always been his inconsistent play and lack of consistent passion. If there was ever a year you would see consistency out of Lucic it would have been his free agent year. They acquired a solid defensive prospect, a first round pick and goalie Martin Jones from the Kings. Jones has a big upside and in his short time in the NHL has been impressive. So along with Malcolm Subban, recently signed prospect Zane McIntrye and now Jones, one has to think that Tuukka Rask’s big contract will be the next to go.

The Dougie Hamilton trade was nothing short of an abomination. A reliable source reported that the Bruins got superior offers from both Arizona and Edmonton and executives throughout the entire NHL were miffed that the Bruins took such a poor return on a building block asset who is on the verge of becoming an elite defenseman.

Both Don Sweeney and Cam Neely recently stated that they would match whatever deal that was offered to the restricted free agent. If the Bruins had opted to not match an offer to Hamilton, based on the projected salary he would sign at (6-7 million annually), they would have received a 1st, 2nd and 3rd round pick.

The Bruins improved on that by getting a 1st round pick and two 2nd round picks, but they failed in doing due diligence by  maximizing the best offer possible. They could have signed him and then traded him so they had more leverage or they could have waited to see what additional offers transpired once they made it known they were ready to move him. But the Bruins panicked and fans now know what it is like to have their team mismanaged akin to a cellar dwelling team.

And then to add insult to injury, the Bruins thought by having the 13th, 14th and 15th pick, they would be able to trade up into the top 10 and get a prospective elite defenseman but no dice. Another miscalculation by the Bruins who apparently think Danny Ainge’s approach to hording first round picks will actually work.

This feels like déjà vu when the Bruins traded Joe Thornton. Wayne Primeau, Marco Sturm and Brad Stuart were the return for the franchise player. Just like with Hamilton, the entire league couldn’t believe the Bruins took such a poor return and didn’t reach out to more teams for competitive offers. Same situation but a different GM.

Incidentally, for a team that has done such a poor job drafting and developing players over the last seven or eight years, it is interesting to now see them put all their eggs in the basket of the NHL draft.

Boston needed to rebuild. Bruins fans were kidding themselves thinking that the roster that finished the 2014-15 season was even close to competing for a Stanley Cup. It wasn’t! But trading your top young player; a puck moving 22 year-old defenseman that should be a cornerstone of your franchise and trading that player at a significantly discounted value without adequately testing the market will be an epic gaffe that will haunt them for years to come. Feels like karma for the Cam Neely-Barry Pederson trade.

David Krejci must have insomnia trying to figure out who his line mates will be this year? The Bruins aren’t smarter than everyone else. Peter Chiarelli, Neely and Sweeney were allowed to put them in salary cap hell and now they are overcompensating and appear to be comfortable with a small market model.  Where is Harry Sinden when you need him?

A Royal Flush

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Kudos to MLB for once again successfully proving that the all-star ballot selection process is about as antiquated and inefficient as the electoral college system. Looking forward to seeing George Brett man third base, Bret Saberhagen start and Dan Quisenberry close out the all-star game. Maybe Whitey Herzog and the late Dick Howser can co-manage the A.L. stars.

If there was ever going to be a pinnacle moment that defined how spending money doesn’t equate to having a winning team, it is right now in the American League. The division leaders are Tampa Bay, Kansas City and Houston. And by the way Minnesota is fourth.

In the National League it is a completely different story however as the Nationals led by 210 million and recent no-hitter fame Max Scherzer lead the East, the Cardinals lead the Central (of course the Astros should get some obvious playoff shares there) and the L.A. Dodgers (Yankees West) lead the N.L. West.

Hard to imagine that Pete Rose threw a game or tried to have one of his teams intentionally lose. It doesn’t fit his personality. What does fit his personality is lying. With that said, time to put him in the Hall of Fame. The all-time hits leader did it without the assistance of performance enhancing drugs and he is one of the best of all time.

The great start by the New York Mets has come to a crashing halt as they have dropped five straight while the Nationals have won three straight and keep getting better.

And what is going on with the Seattle Mariners. They are only a game ahead of the worst record in the American League even with Nelson Cruz playing well. One reason is because Robinson Cano is struggling mightily and probably never should have left New York. Sometimes you need pressure to play.

If Cole Hamels goes to Texas, it will be interesting to see the final package and if the Red Sox truly missed the opportunity.

The NBA Draft is this week and Danny Ainge gets a chance to utilize the assets he has compiled for the Boston Celtics and to see if he can improve draft position or acquire a player or two that can change the fortunes of this franchise. Drafting 16 and 28 won’t get it done.

Lots of rumors regarding DeMarcus Cousins being traded most recently to the Los Angeles Lakers. Cousins is a moody malcontent who has the same general demeanor as one Rajon Rondo. Although Cousins is much more talented, buyer beware especially with a young team.

The Lakers incidentally are also in pursuit of Dwyane Wade if he opts out also. Wade is entering his 13th season, but showed last year he hasn’t slowed down as he was still averaging 21 PPG.

New York Knicks President Phil Jackson came out and criticized NBA offenses and claims LeBron travels every time he touches the ball. I think Phil has enough on his plate that he should keep his eye on the ball. Too bad Phil can’t ride the coattails of any Knicks players.

In a shocking move, the WNBA and New York Liberty have suspended isiah Thomas’ application to be an owner until further notice.

If Tom Brady gets his suspension reduced to one or zero games, I still contend that will be in part due to Kraft backing down from pursuing legal action against the league. I say that Brady still gets two or three games.

Funny how the St. Louis Cardinals (arguably the one of the classiest organizations in sports) hacking the Houston Astros database (a federal crime) gets fractional media attention relative to Deflategate. I guess if Bill Belichick and Tom Brady aren’t involved in the alleged crime, than the severity of the crime doesn’t matter. 

The King was no Warrior

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In light of LeBron James losing his fourth NBA championship, I thought it would be appropriate to address the ongoing debate of Michael Jordan versus King James once and for all.

This debate is reminiscent of the same one with Wilt Chamberlain versus Bill Russell. They both made 13 playoff appearances but Russell was 11-0 in championship appearances while Chamberlain was 2-4 (sound familiar?). Jordan was 6-0 in championships while James is of course 2-4.

Russell’s playoff averages were 16 PPG, 25 RPG and 5 APG while shooting 43% but Russell was never viewed as the Celtics primary scorer. Chamberlain’s playoff averages were 23 PPG, 25 RPG and 4 APG while shooting 52%. Chamberlain was clearly the superior offensive player but both players were even in most other categories and head-to-head in the playoffs Russell was 7-1.

Jordan’s playoff averages in 13 seasons were 33 PPG, 6 RPG and 6 APG while shooting 49% and James playoff averages through 10 seasons are 28 PPG, 9 RPG and 7 APG while shooting 47%. Very similar with Jordan having the scoring edge and James having a slight rebound and assist edge while both were/are elite defenders. Jordan and James never had the opportunity to play head-to-head but the worshippers of King James like to portray the lack of help James has had throughout his career compared to Jordan and that James is a better all-around player than Jordan so let me address both.

As for surrounding talent, Jordan needed Pippen to start winning championships, but aside from Pippen, the best players he had were Horace Grant and Dennis Rodman. His centers were a revolving door of journeymen from Bill Wennington to Luc Longley to an aging Bill Cartwright to name a few. His shooting guards were that same revolving door from John Paxson to Craig Hodges to Steve Kerr.

James had two dominant players at his side when he took his talents to South Beach and certainly had two all-stars by his side most of this season. And in the four years he played at Miami with the “Big 3” he was 2-2 in championships.

As for who is the better player, if both played head-to-head I don’t think they could have stopped each other. James could post up Jordan every time and would be too strong but Jordan would be too quick for James to keep up.

But the big difference I see in both is the fourth quarter. LeBron has failed in the fourth quarter as many times as he has succeeded. He frequently passes up shots at the wrong times and risks putting the game in the hands of inferior players. Jordan virtually never failed and was an “assassin” offensively which is why he was 6-0 when it mattered most. He always looked for the shot, demanded the shot and wanted the shot in crunch time.

Now if James wins the next four championships and finished 6-4 and makes 10 appearances in the Finals than we might have something to discuss. This would parallel Brady being 4-2 in Super Bowls while Montana is 4-0.

Heck even Kobe had more of a killer instinct and was more consistent in the fourth quarter than James and he has five championships to show for it. 

LeBron is the best player in the NBA. He is an exceptional talent and built like a Greek God. He already has and will continue to break many NBA records by the time it is all said and done and will be in the discussion for best all-around player in the history of the league statistically.

James so desperately wants to be liked and seeks approval where Jordan only and I mean only cared about winning.

But he isn’t loyal (Cleveland to Miami to Cleveland), he isn’t likeable “I hope I can put my team in position to be in the Finals again next year”, he hasn’t proven to be a winner when it matters most (.333 winning percentage in the Finals), he isn’t classy (left the court and couldn’t take the time to congratulate the Warriors – like the infamous Detroit Pistons) and he only has two championships a whopping 10 years into his career.

Anyone for a participation trophy?

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I remember when I was a kid and my father would take me to games at the Old Boston Garden and I would look up in the rafters and wonder why the Bruins had so many banners hanging? Had the Bruins won more championships than the Celtics? My father explained to me that the Bruins hung Adams Division champ banners (10 to be exact). Made no sense. Did they have an inferiority complex to the Celtics who were raising championship banners on a yearly basis? Did they actually think that winning your division was an accomplishment worth recognizing? The Bruins didn’t need the rest of the country to laugh at them because Boston sports fans knew how silly this was within their own city.

I remember when I attended a Providence Friars basketball game several years ago and they had an NIT participant banner hanging. Didn’t think it could get worse but in come the Indianapolis Colts.

Yes its true! This past week the Colts (had a Bruins moment) and made themselves vulnerable to the sports world. The Colts suffer from Kakorrhaphiophobia (the fear of failure or defeat). Because of this, they decided to raise an “AFC Finalist” banner. Hope they save the banner raising ceremony until the Pats come in for Tom Brady’s return. The Colts are very anxious that they will never get over the hump of winning a big game and know that there is no hope of ever going against Rex Grossman in the Superbowl again so this is how sad things have become. This must be terribly DEFLATING for Colts fans. Maybe they can put an asterisk at the bottom of the banner saying “We hope to come within 38 points next time.”

By the way, Colts fans and national media who compare themselves to the Patriots since they hung a 16-0 banner in Gillette Stadium need to realize that there is a difference between hanging a banner for the first 16-0 season ever and hanging a banner for losing a conference championship game. I bet the children of Colts upper management have participation trophies decorated all over their respective houses.

So when Brandon Spikes left the scene of the accident and his car, did he not realize that the car was registered to him? Between Aaron Hernandez and Brandon Spikes, the Gators are making the University of Miami football playing graduates look like law abiding citizens. Are the Patriots familiar with the concept of background checks?  Another blemish in what has been a turbulent offseason to say the least.

Matt Flynn is here though and his all-time stats in Foxboro are off the chart. Meanwhile, Bill Belichick is giving Malcolm Butler the Jonas Gray treatment. We get it Bill…no one can break the rules. Can’t wait to see who you trot out at cornerback this season.

LeBron James looks tired but most of all he looks like he currently has the same roster as the old Cavaliers teams he used to lead. Cleveland gutted through the first three games by playing hard-nosed defensive basketball while Golden State looked like they were anticipating a scrimmage. Kobe Bryant (remember him) ripped the Warriors for their lack of toughness and heart on Twitter after Game 3. Kobe perhaps had an agenda to not let LeBron catch him in championships or is just a curmudgeon now since he never plays. Golden State responded and put it together in Game 4. If the Cavs win, this would be one of the greatest individual efforts of all time by King James and even his most staunch critics would have to give him that. If Golden State loses, this would be an epic choke after the regular season they had and with the superior talent they have when comparing current rosters.

Matthew Dellavedova has certainly been a revelation but I have seen people get assaulted in the street who suffer less contact than Delly gives to Stephen Curry and company. Regardless, Curry has looked frail at times and has withered around the physicality. He will be fine the rest of the way and I anticipate a big Game 5 from him tonight.

There has been so much previous discussion on whether the Sox should have signed Jon Lester but one huge point that has been missed is that they could have signed battle-tested ace (at worst #2) James Shields for the four–year 72 million dollar contract he got from San Diego as a replacement. Shields is 7-0 this season with an ERA of 3.79. Shields is a great leader and bulldog who could have brought some much needed attitude to this pitching staff. Meanwhile, the pitcher the Sox signed to a multi-year deal for more money than Shields, Rick Porcello is 4-6 with a 5.26 ERA. Lester by the way continues to struggle for the Cubs with a 4-5 record along with a 4.25 ERA and an almost 1.50 WHIP.

As for the sad incident that happened last week at Fenway Park when a fan got seriously injured from a flying bat, let’s not overreact like we did in 2002 when a 13-year-old girl died after being hit by a puck at a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game. Yes fan safety is tremendously important. The issue here is whether to put up additional netting in every ballpark or curtail the use of maple bats and once proper research is done, we can only hope a common sense decision will be made. Baseball was invented in 1839. Since 1887, it is estimated two fans have died from being hit by a foul ball. The bigger safety picture is that the strength of the players and bats has changed. But if we are going to start identifying what are the biggest risks in baseball, let’s start with hitters getting beaned in the head by pitchers. And what about lined shots back up the middle that have so often injured pitchers. And perhaps the worst of all, the fact that college and high school baseball players still use aluminum bats. These kids are going to get killed with the speed that the ball comes off an aluminum bat. And how about the 21 fans that have died falling in baseball stadiums because of inadequate railings. Getting struck by lightning has caused more deaths since the inception of baseball than what happened last week. If safety is the true priority, let’s focus on where the real problems are and not the fluke ones.

How about those Red Sox. Just when things looked bad, they got worse. The Sox sent their rookie ace to the mound today Eduardo Rodriguez who promptly gave up nine runs in 4 and 2/3. The Red Sox are the laughingstock of major league baseball and don’t excel in any aspect of the game. John Farrell must go and if blowing an 8-1 lead Friday night, six straight losses and the second worst team in the American League aren’t enough, than more fun is ahead.

And I must close with the best charitable donation of all time. In light of the legal dispute going on between the city of Glendale, AZ and the Phoenix Coyotes, the Glendale City Council voted to end an arena lease with the Coyotes leaving them no place to play. Disgruntled Coyotes fan Ronda Pearson in exchange for a $10,000 donation to a selected charity, was able to use a stun gun on Glendale Mayor Jerry Weiers and take out her frustration on him. Stunning video worth checking out on Youtube. In the meantime, a judge has temporarily halted the lease termination.

It did get me thinking though if I could pay to have someone tasered, my top 10 would be:

10. Colts GM Ryan Grigson

9. Any Montreal Canadiens player

8. Any fan of the Oakland Raiders (they probably had it coming anyway)

7. Bill Laimbeer

6. Roger Goodell

5. Rex Ryan

4. Jack Tatum

3.  Isiah Thomas (the sexual assault one)

2. Alex Rodriguez

1. Ulf Samuelsson 

Frauds: Colts and Sox

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I am launching an investigation into the Indianapolis Colts franchise for fraudulent behavior.

I begin my case by pointing to the 2004 playoff game when Ty Law snared three interceptions en route to a 24-14 win over the Colts. Colts GM Bill Polian “The Ultimate CryBaby” threw a hissy fit in the press box after that game and then led a committee that offseason to change specific pass defense rules because his receivers were too soft. Polian was sad that his QB had no Superbowl appearances while The Patriots had won three in the past four seasons. His efforts were rewarded in 2006 when the Colts won their only Superbowl in the Manning-Polian era.

Not onyl did they win that Superbowl as a result of the rule change they begged for, it was against one of the softest opponents in Superbowl history (the 2006 Bears) and the worst QB in Superbowl history Rex Grossman. Manning couldn’t give that one away. That was the only year Grossman started all 16 games over an 11 year career and he only started more than eight one other season. He averaged five touchdowns and five interceptions per season.

Secondly, the Colts clearly tanked the 2011 season to get Andrew Luck and embarrassed the NFL in the process. A quote from a prominent NFL writer after the Colts fell to 0-13: “It should become glaringly obvious that Bill (Polian) and his son Chris are having the Colts tank and owner Jim Irsay needs to cut ties with these bozos if he wants to remain credible.” That would imply the Colts have ever cared about credibility or taking accountability for there many years of underachieving in the playoffs.

Lastly, Andrew Luck and the present Colts team have been repeatedly annihilated by the Patriots so Colts GM Ryan Grigson tattled on the Patriots in Deflategate. Unfortunately, Grigson forgot that NFL teams need defense to be successful (Colts have given up 131 points in last three games against the Pats) so he resorted to the only thing he had left following a long-standing Colts tradition of passing the buck when they fail and whining to Mommy for rule changes.

Keep drafting those wide receivers though Ryan and hope Frank Gore doesn’t keel over by the midway point.

Before I transition to baseball, I must express by deep concern and frustration with FIFA. 150 million in bribes and corruption? A future World Cup in the hotbed (I mean that literally) in 140 degree Qatar. Everything seems on the up and up to me. This could be the break that soccer needs.  Maybe they should change the soccer federation to be called “Thiefa”. I apologize I couldn’t help myself.

A special shout out to Kansas City Royals pitcher Jeremy Guthrie who recently allowed 11 runs and 12 baserunners in one inning of work. That wouldn’t be acceptable even by Red Sox standards.

I was thinking about while the debate over whether the National League should adopt the DH rages on, that the Red Sox could present an alternative proposal. How about multiple DH’s in your lineup…say David Ortiz, Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval could all play DH? Men’s softball leagues would be jealous everywhere.

What is going on with the Red Sox right now is not a short-term thing and is embarrassing on several fronts. It was one thing to identify that your lineup lacked offensive punch especially when your best player is 38, it is another thing to sign two guys that have virtually no defensive skills whatsoever in Ramirez and Sandoval.

The front office blundered by letting Lester go and by not resigning Andrew Miller for a mere four million dollars more (otherwise known as  ½ of Justin Masterson’s wasted salary). Lester was proven and proven in a big market, was getting better with age and was a proven ace. The Sox spent 300 million on Sandoval, Ramirez and Rick Porcello and gave up Lester and Jacoby Ellsbury in the process for the same amount. What combo would you rather have? Ask the Yankees how they feel about losing Ellsbury to an injury? They have been a mess since he has gone down. Yes I know about his history of injuries, but boy has he been good since he left. The Sox also could have saved the 72 million on Rusney Castillo.

John Farrell was the answer initially as they needed a professional calming influence after Bobby Valentine left, but he offers nothing now. For a former pitching coach, Farrell hasn’t coaxed anything magical out of any pitcher on this staff. He is not an X’s and O’s guy, not a motivator and just doesn’t seem to have the requisite skills to get this ship turned around.

Everybody keeps saying the Red Sox are underachieving but I think the talent evaluation was poor and that the team simply isn’t very good. Are they better than six games below .500? Maybe, what I do know though is that if I hear one more fan or media member remind me that they are still within shouting distance of the division lead I am going to vomit. Is that the standard? Winning an inferior division and arguably the worst division in baseball and then getting dismantled in the playoffs. Can’t wait for Game 1 of the playoffs when the Sox trot out current staff ERA leader Wade Miley. I can just hear Joe Buck on Fox now trying to hype that.

Clayton Kershaw is on the verge of making his 100th start that he has allowed one run or less. I was amazed when I read that until I saw that Roger Clemens did that 255 times. WOW! Not sure how many were pre-juice though?

Seriously, the Houston Astros are still the top team in the American League.

The Angels haven’t lost since Josh Hamilton returned to the Rangers lineup.

Seems that the water bottle Johnny Manziel threw at a badgering fan was the most accurate toss he has thrown in his NFL career.

Will Stephen Curry have the Golden Touch?

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If someone had told me during the NBA’s heyday in the 1980’s that Cleveland and Golden State would be meeting in the NBA Finals at any time ever I would have had a good chuckle.

In 1985, Sleepy Floyd and Joe Barry Carroll (AKA Joe Barely Cares) were anchoring a 33-49 Golden State team that had just drafted Chris Mullin. Meanwhile, John Bagley, Roy Hinson and Mel Turpin were leading the way for the 34-48 Cavaliers.

Golden State can close out one of the all-time great seasons by winning the championship. The Warriors are trying to end the jinx of what turned out to be trading the draft pick that ended up being Kevin McHale and Robert Parish for Barry Carroll. Incidentally, in another franchise-altering move a few years later, the Warriors also couldn’t afford to keep Bernard King so they had to trade him to the Knicks.

The City of Cleveland looks to their savior LeBron James to end the 51 year drought and all the frustration Clevelanders have endured including “The Shot”, “The Decision”, Earnest Byner, Kevin Mack …the list goes on.

I predict Golden State will capture their first title in 40 years. The Warriors are an excellent defensive team which many casual followers don’t realize. While Cleveland’s number one ranking in team defense is well -publicized, Golden State ranks fourth but has superior offensive firepower to Cleveland. LeBron has been amazing in the playoffs but the Cavs road to the championship has been laughable. The Celtics were easy fodder and shouldn’t have made the playoffs. Chicago put up a good fight but is a dysfunctional team and Atlanta was the worst #1 seed in either conference at least in the last 30 years.

With the many storylines in this NBA Finals, the one to me that is most interesting is for the people who thought LeBron James should have had the MVP over Stephen Curry. Let the real MVP step forward in this series. 

By the way, if the Cavaliers lose, James will be 2-4 in the Finals compared to Jordan’s 6-0. Kind of like Brady’s four Superbowls to Peyton Manning’s one.

By the way, kudos to the New York Knicks who are represented by David Lee (GS) as well as Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith (Cleve) in the Finals.

Recently, there was an article published on ESPN http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/the-best-nba-teams-of-all-time-according-to-elo/ rating the best NBA teams/dynasties of all time with the premise that it is more impressive to be the best team in a 30-team league than a 10-team league. This logic has so many holes I don’t know where to begin. In a 30 team league, the talent is so watered down that you drown in mediocrity. This season, nine teams finished 15 games or more below .500 and seven more finished .500 or worse. More than half the league sucks. You could lop off haldf the players in this league and no one would miss them. The article ranks the current Spurs dynasty over the Celtics dynasty in the 1960’s when they won nine championships.

In the 60’s when there was a nine-team league that eventually grew to 14 by the end of the decade. You were playing each opponent 8-10 times per year. So the Celtics were playing 25% of their road games in CA against the Lakers and SF Warriors as opposed to 7.5% now. They were playing half of their games against Philly (Hal Greer, Chet Walker and Wilt Chamberlain), Cincy (Jerry Lucas, Oscar Robertson), Lakers (Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Gail Goodrich and eventually Chamberlain) and the Knicks (Walt Frazier, Bill Bradley, Willis Reed and Dave DeBusschere. That is half your season against multiple Hall of Famers on a nightly basis. Four games in five nights was commonplace.

Give me any team from the Celtics dynasty in the 60’s or the ’85-’86 Celtics team that featured Jerry Sichting beating up Ralph Sampson and those teams would beat any of the five championship Spurs teams.

Well the NHL was spared the indignity of having an Anaheim Ducks – Tampa Bay Lightning Stanley Cup Finals. Outside of Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry on Anaheim and Steven Stamkos on Tampa Bay, most casual hockey fans haven’t heard of anybody else on those teams. At least the Blackhawks bring Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, Marian Hossa and Duncan Keith.

Nevertheless, warm weather hockey has been a great success in the NHL and with the LA Kings winning last year, the future is bright in the land of palm trees. I predict Tampa Bay in six maybe seven games.

Looking forward to seeing Mike Babcock be the fourth coach to try and get Phil Kessel to care about defense.

As for the Boston Bruins, if you are a fan and watched these final four teams it has to be painfully obvious that the Bruins are not even close to competing with this group. They also aren’t close to competing with semifinalist Montreal either. These teams all have superior speed and skills that the Bruins sorely lack. Quick name the Bruins snipers and skill players. Okay, keep reading now.

The hiring of Don Sweeney was business as usual for Cam Neely’s team. The Bruins have won a grand total of one Stanley Cup in the last 42 years based on their big bad Bruin strategy and playing heavy. They have had tremendous difficulty sustaining success, they have drafted poorly and have yet to beef up international scouting on par with several other NHL franchises. In the old days, it was easy to blame Jeremy Jacobs because he wouldn’t spend the money. That excuse doesn’t fly and as of now, this Original Six franchise is heading in the wrong direction, with the wrong philosophy and with no money under the Salary Cap.

Lastly, Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau became the first coach in NHL history to lose six Game 7’s and to lose three straight at home. In two of the last three Game 7’s his teams have lost, they have been completely blown out. Perhaps he can summon Doc Rivers (see last blog) who leads the NBA in Game 7 failure and is just a short ride down the freeway.

Final Deflategate thoughts!

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Because we are all ultimately sick of hearing about Deflategate, I will respond to the top 10 myths and opinions from this abominable episode for the NFL, for the Patriots and for Tom Brady.

10. Everybody does it so it’s okay! See the following quotes below from Jeff Blake, Brad Johnson, Aaron Rodgers, Matt Leinart, Rich Gannon, Boomer Esiason and Charlie Whitehurst respectively:

“I’m just going to let the cat of the bag, every team does it, every game, it has been since I played. Cause when you take the balls out of the bag, they are rock hard. And you can’t feel the ball as well. It’s too hard. Everybody puts the pin in and takes just enough air out of the ball that you can feel it a little better. But it’s not the point to where it’s flat. So I don’t know what the big deal is. It’s not something that’s not been done for 20 years.” “Well, I would say [to a ball boy], ‘Take a little bit of air out of it. It’s a little bit hard,’” Blake said. “And then he’d take a little bit out and I’d squeeze it and I’d be like, ‘OK, it’s perfect.’ That’s it.”

In 2012 Brad Johnson paid 7,500 for ball handlers to scuff and wear in the balls before Super Bowl XXXVII, per Johnson’s preference. “I paid some guys off to get the balls right,” Johnson told the Tampa Bay Times in 2012. “I went and got all 100 footballs, and they took care of all of them.”

 “‘I like to push the limit to how much air we can put in the football, even go over what they allow you to do and see if the officials take air out of it,’”

Every team tampers with the footballs, Ask any Qb In the league, this is ridiculous!!”

 “Ask any quarterback, and this is a non-issue. Everybody does something to them. It’s like a pitcher, he wants the ball a certain way.

– “It really does seem totally ridiculous that this story has been blown so far out of proportion,” If you look at the footballs that the quarterbacks are playing with and throwing for the last six or seven years, just realize that everybody is doing the same thing.”

 “It’s us, We go in and take the air out of them because they’re more fun to throw.

Yes everybody does it and yes Eli and Peyton Manning are both jealous cowards for not sticking up for Brady, but the bottom line is the Pats got caught and when you push the envelope like the Pats so often do and when you have become a franchise dynasty, than you make a lot of enemies. Every time I used that excuse with my parents, they always said I dont care what everybody else does, just you!

9. The NFL had an agenda to punish the Patriots and tear down this dynasty!

This is simply not true as the NFL has had more bad publicity this season than Alex Rodriguez usually has in one week. What is true however is that once Bill Belichick allegedly went back on his word about taking accountability for Spygate, Goodell used this layup of an opportunity to hammer the Patriots knowing the majority of owners, players and fans would be thrilled.

8. The deflation of the footballs had no effect on the outcome of the game!

Even the most ardent Patriot haters would have to admit that but that hasn’t been the issue since day one. The Patriots were punished plain and simple because of their unwillingness to cooperate in the investigation and because Tom Brady didn’t come clean in the first place.

7. Bill Belichick hung his QB out to dry.

Belichick most certainly did hang his QB out to dry and what no one is talking about is it remains to be seen, how this impacts their relationship going forward. Belichick could have handled this so many different ways, but he chose to proactively distance himself from Brady. Even if he said, you need to talk to Tom, but if there are minor PSI issues, than that would be consistent with what every QB does in the NFL. Belichick is an evil genius and an amazing coach, but he has no success without Brady and owed him more.

When Tom Brady elected to not address this when it first came up and play dumb, he was mirroring lessons taught by his mentor Bill Belichick. Brady got bad advice and he now has to pay for it.

6. This will affect Brady’s legacy!

It would be ridiculous for this to affect Brady’s legacy. Brady’s playoff accomplishments are unmatched and he does the most important thing, win! Four Superbowls, six appearances and in first in virtually every playoff statistical category speaks for itself. All the Brady haters out there are kidding themselves if they say they would rather have anyone else.

5. Every dynasty must come to an end!

Not so. The way Belichick and upper management have navigated the salary cap in the last 13 years shows that there is no reason this has to end. However, history has proven that people hate long-time winners. It is interesting though what a 180 degree turn the franchise has done since they beat the Rams back in 2001 and were beloved by the entire country. Whether it be the Yankees, Cowboys, 49’ers, Celtics or UCLA Bruins, no one likes teams that always win.

4. Robert Kraft didn’t know what was going on!

This is absurd as people who believe Tom Brady wasn’t texting orders on football preparation. Whether it was after his wife Myra’s death or just because he has become so used to and addicted to winning, Kraft couldn’t be as successful as he is in business today without realizing who Bill Belichick really is. Kraft has signed off on whatever Belichick wants and he is willing to let his team’s reputation suffer as a result. He isn’t about to look a gifthorse in the mouth and as long as his team keeps winning, then he is okay with it. Or maybe it’s that 20-something girlfriend that has him preoccupied.

3. Roger Goodell is a dictator addicted to power!

The fact that the NFL owners are okay with one person having unilateral power to the point where he can hear an appeal of how own rulings and judgment is beyond belief. This is why we have HR people in the corporate world and why we have principals in schools and why we have a court of law, Roger Goodell’s inconsistent handling of discipline among other things has been a black eye to the league. The NFL will continue to make money hand over fist, but Goodell himself inspires no confidence and the owners know it, the players know it and he is one more scandal away from losing his job.

2. Kraft elected not to appeal the decision because he made a closed-door deal with Goodell so Brady’s suspension gets reduced or eliminated!

If Brady’s suspension gets overturned by appeal, than this in my mind is 100 percent true. If the suspension gets altered by two games or less, than Kraft knew the Pats didn’t have a leg to stand on and didn’t want this to drag on any longer.

1. Pats fans can’t enjoy the success in the same way in light of all that has happened during the Belichick era!

I think this is 100 percent true. Even if the NFL had excused the Pats of wrongdoing, the stigma would have been there, the Pats suspicious track record was already there and haters would have used anything to tear down the Patriots’ accomplishments. 

I admire leaders who exploit loopholes and weaknesses in regards to rules and strategy. But I also admire accountability and honesty and the Patriots want it both ways. They say they did nothing wrong but they insult our intelligence by hiding information and making up phony stories.

If anybody sees Bill Clinton, maybe he can let us know the meaning of “is”. 

Part of being a Bostonian is to gloat about living in the City of Champions and having four successful sports teams, but nobody wants to be labeled a cheater whether it is justified or not.

Meanwhile, all of this overshadows the fact that Brady has had perfect attendance at offseason workouts and whether the Patriots can survive with no Revis and a who’s who of a secondary this season. 

Would love to be a fly on the wall when Brady was playing golf with Michael Jordan this past weekend. I’m sure Jordan made Brady feel better by recounting all of his gambling transgressions.