Author Archives: @ltcmiked

About @ltcmiked

Expat-Masshole with an unhealthy obsession for the Boston Red Sox and a burning hatred for Buck Showalter and the entire city of Baltimore. Probably needs therapy. Stat geek with marginal math skills and anger management issues. I can't explain why, but my favorite player has always been Rick Burleson.

New England’s Unsung Defensive Heroes

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It is ridiculous to think that the New England Patriots are headed to another Super Bowl. Tom Brady has been an NFL starter for sixteen seasons and will be under center for his eighth Super Bowl. At this point only the mentally challenged debate the GOAT argument.

But Brady will be the first one to tell you he didn’t get here alone. In the ultimate team sport, he is the ultimate team guy. In that light, we should take some time to recognize the guys not getting the attention they deserve for what they’ve done this post-season.

Stephon Gilmore

It was a hard adjustment for Gilmore in New England. No question at all, he struggled in the first half of the season. Unlike his Bills teammate Mike Gillislee, Gilmore made the necessary adjustments, learned the system, and blossomed into everything for which we could have hoped.

If the Patriots go on to win their sixth Lombardi, Gilmore’s pass defense on fourth and fourteen will go down as one of the greatest defensive plays in Patriots history. It was game saving. Westbrook would have walked into the end zone if Gilmore missed.

Photo Credit: SI

But Gilmore has contributed much more than that single play. He was literally perfect in the divisional round game against Tennessee. He didn’t allow a single catch in four targets.

Malcolm Brown

Whatever happened to Leonard Fournette and the Jaguars ground game that led the league in rushing? Malcolm Brown happened. The third year tackle out of Texas has become the run-stuffer we’ve needed since Big Vince left for Houston.

Credit: NBC Sports

Brown has led a front four that has shut down Fournette, Derrick Henry, and contained two run-threat QBs in these playoffs. He’s done it without the help of Alan Branch or Dont’a Hightower. For New England to beat Philadelphia, we will need another huge game from the big man in the trenches.

James Harrison

After missing three weeks with an injury down the stretch, Kyle Van Noy returned to form against the Jags (nine tackles, one sack, one forced fumble). But his impressive stat line shouldn’t take away from the contributions of Harrison. Too old and slow to get on the field in Pittsburgh (good call Tomlin), Harrison has been a key contributor since arriving in New England. His Week 17 introduction (five tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble) against the Jets gave us a glimpse of what he might have left in the tank. The way he set the edge against Tennessee kept Mariota in the pocket and forced the run right into the big guys in the middle.

Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images via USAToday

Harrison was equally effective Sunday against Jags – containing the edge, swarming to the ball, and applying pressure on Bortles. It was Harrison who busted around the left edge to get to Bortles first as Van Noy hit him from the center for the key nine yard sack on second down taking us to the two-minute warning. Two plays later Gilmore sealed the game.

Great Defensive Schemes Wins Championships

There is a symbiotic relationship between offense and defense in football. Rarely can you win with only one championship caliber squad. Even in the years that the Pats won with marginal defenses, they were always great situationally, stellar in the red zone, and usually among the league leaders in turn-overs.

This year’s defense is not the ’85 Bears. But, they don’t have to be. All they have to do is continue to make key stops and keep the game close. The defensive adjustments the Pats made at halftime Sunday were every bit as important as Tom Brady to the win. Taking away the run and preventing Jacksonville from running out the clock. Applying pressure on Bortles late in the game. Great play after great play by an unheralded but truly elite secondary. These are the reasons New England even had a chance to win at the end.

These are also the reasons why Matt Patricia should be the runaway choice for the Associated Press’ NFL Assistant Coach of the Year. When Matty P moves on to coach the Lions, the next Patriots defensive coordinator will have big shoes to fill.

 

Pittsburgh Steelers: Rest In Peace

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I have a confession to make. I take joy in other people’s pain. I’m not particularly proud of the fact, but I don’t think I’m alone.

I love that Roger Goodell’s NFL is dying in the ratings. The 2017-18 regular season marked the second consecutive significant decline. Last week’s divisional playoffs were down eleven percent nationally. Good.

And I love that ESPN continues to be a dumpster fire. From tanking ratings, to widespread sexual harassment by on-air personalities, and President Jon Skipper resigning over substance abuse issues, I have enjoyed every minute of their demise. I hope everyone on that network has to dive through Taco Bell dumpsters just to feed their families. Ok, maybe that was too much. I hope their families leave them before that happens.

But, as much as I hate Goodell and his mouthpieces in Bristol, I hate our enemies on the field even more. That’s why I’m taking almost obscene pleasure in the current state of affairs in Pittsburgh. You know, the team we were destined to play in the AFC Championship game this weekend.

The Symptoms of Disaster

How on earth did the Pittsburgh Steelers lose a home playoff game to the Jacksonville Jaguars? The answer is simple: they are not the New England Patriots. Pittsburgh is loaded with talent, yes. But, they are poorly coached, undisciplined, and childish. They are the anti-Patriots.

From the final whistle of their annual loss to New England in Week 15, Steelers players, coaches, and fans spent the better part of a month talking about their inevitable rematch in the AFC Championship Game. Hell, even a month before that December game, Mike Tomlin predicted the match-up in a ridiculous interview with NBC’s Tony Dungy.

But after Week 15 the chorus from the Tin City – sorry, steel is hard, you’re not – was loud and confident. Not only were they going to play the Pats in the AFC Championship game, they were going to win. They were the better team. According to Safety Mike Mitchell, it didn’t matter if the game were in hell, Haiti, or Foxborough.

The problem is, of course, that Pittsburgh has all the swagger and none of the game. New England was so in their heads that they forgot the cardinal rule of the NFL – on any given Sunday, anyone can beat you. Bill Belichick’s Patriots would never look past an opponent, certainly not in the playoffs.

Other symptoms of Pittsburgh’s season-long lack of discipline and focus include:

  • Le’Veon Bell threatening to retire in the off-season if the Steelers franchise tag him rather than sign him to a long-term deal.
  • Offensive coordinator Todd Haley shattering his pelvis after being involved in a “situation” outside a Pittsburgh bar that he and his wife had just been thrown out of.
  • Ben Roethlisberger throwing every possible coach under the bus all season long when things didn’t go their way.

The Wrong Overreaction

Pittsburgh’s response to their division-round loss to Jacksonville was typical of many bad franchises. They drew the wrong lessons and overreacted.

Rather than listen to the finally rising chorus calling from Tomlin’s ouster, they fired offensive coordinator Todd Haley. Okay, technically he wasn’t fired, they just didn’t renew his contract. But, he was fired. So, the team that put up 42 points against the Jags didn’t have enough offense? Interesting assessment.

Haley had been the offensive coordinator since 2012, and in the last four seasons had guided the Steelers to no worse than the 7th best offense in the league.  This season, Pittsburgh finished as the third best offense behind only (you guessed it) the Patriots and the Saints. Offense isn’t Pittsburgh’s problem. Leadership and culture are.

As if to double down on their poor decision, Tomlin not only didn’t get rid of anyone on the defensive side of the coaching tree, he gave them a vote of confidence. This, of course, is a group that allowed Blake Bortles to hang 38 points on them.

As commonplace as it’s become for idiots like the CHB to claim New England plays in a division full of tomato cans, it’s ridiculous how Pittsburgh gets a pass for the quality of the AFC North. Tomlin is an awful coach. His teams have simply benefited from playing Cleveland and Cincinnati twice a year – who unlike Miami and Buffalo have neither a defense nor an offense.

Poor management of undisciplined and unfocused players is a recipe for disaster in the NFL. As Patriots fans, we should be thankful that the Pittsburgh Steelers are too dumb to recognize their flaws.

Stop Taking Greatness for Granted

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There is something inherently wrong with that large segment of American culture that sees greatness and feels victimized by it. Rather than appreciate it for what it is, they feel the need to attack it.

As Patriots fans, we’ve seen that for years in the petty jealousies of vanquished foes and corrupt league officials. We are also more than accustomed to local beat writers who hate the local teams. Rather than report on the game, they disparage the team’s accomplishments, take exception with the leadership, and attack the players. They do this because the coaches and players do what those writers only dream they could. Yes, Dan Shaughnessy, I’m talking about you.

From Foxborough to Tuscaloosa

As awful as life may be outside your chosen athletic distraction, it’s pretty good as a New England fan. As sports fans we should recognize that we live in magical times. To answer for the brutal awfulness of Saturday’s NFL playoff games, Monday’s College Football National Championship game was a gift from the football gods to remind everyone why we watch sports.

Photo Credit: SI

Love Nick Saban or hate him, Alabama football is a thing of beauty. And they are not alone. From UConn’s women’s basketball to Duke’s men’s team, and from the San Antonio Spurs to the New England Patriots – there are organizations today that defy the norm and achieve on historic levels in every sport. We should recognize and appreciate their greatness, even if they’re not our team.

What Saban has accomplished in Alabama – five national championships in the last nine years – is astounding. Given that there are 129 NCAA Division I FBS football programs, all of which get 85 full-ride scholarships – or about 25 new scholarship athletes per year – the recruiting playing field is level. Saban doesn’t get all the best players, there is talent enough to go around. How else can the University of Central Florida go undefeated and beat SEC powerhouse Auburn in a bowl game?

Despite a level playing field and abundance of talent, the Tide consistently out-recruit and out-play the rest. Like the Patriots, Alabama is a case study in excellence.

Appreciate the Greatness

Like many, I have predicted that the Patriots will lose both Patricia and McDaniels this offseason, and that the dynasty is nearing its end. Barring some draft, free agency, or a series of medical miracles that will fix Jules’ knee, keep Gronk healthy, and prolong MVP-caliber performance from the oldest guy in the league, I still believe that to be true.

But so what? There is a game to play this weekend. The Patriots should be in the Super Bowl this year. Things happen so quickly in the NFL that we should savor what we have today. And, on top of all that, we know that the New England Patriots are the gold standard for organizational excellence.

The NFL is the most competitive league in professional sports. It is designed to ensure everyone is equally competitive.  From the salary cap, to draft and waiver order, to schedules designed to challenge better teams with stiffer competition, the NFL tries to level the field. Despite their efforts, for the past sixteen years the New England Patriots have won at the most impressive, historic rate imaginable. Nothing comes close to their five Lombardi’s, seven conference championships, and an absurd fifteen division titles.

Trust the Hoodie

The modern New England Patriots stand alone as the greatest professional sports dynasty in American history. And, rather than relish in the hyperbolic attacks by agenda driven morons in Bristow, Connecticut or professional naysayers at the Boston Globe, we ought to just appreciate what they’ve accomplished. We, myself included, should also trust that Kraft and Belichick are smart enough to keep this training rolling for a while longer.

Apocalypse Now?

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Following New England’s Super Bowl XXXIX victory over Philadelphia, Bill Belichick memorably embraced Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel, his offensive and defensive coordinators. Both men were off to head coaching positions – Weis to Notre Dame and Crennel to the Cleveland Browns. Both were great coordinators and ultimately awful head coaches.

Image source: Boston.com

Today, as the Patriots prepare for a run at a historic sixth Lombardi Trophy, they again face the same prospect. Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia are both likely to receive one or more head coaching offers. Linebackers coach Brian Flores is also being considered for the Cardinals defensive coordinator position. (SBNation)

Closing Window of Opportunity

Even with Brady in his prime, it took New England ten years to win a Super Bowl after Weis and Crennel left. Brady doesn’t have ten years left. If his avocado ice cream and magic $200 jammies keep him healthy, he has maybe three high-quality seasons in him. And, after trading Jimmy G, we have no heir to the throne.

This is a flawed team. They can’t pressure the quarterback on defense and can’t protect our own on offense. The weakness of the defensive line forces the secondary to cover receivers for five to seven seconds on every passing play. Nobody can consistently do that. That’s why players as talented as Gilmore and Butler end up conceding monster yards almost every game. Make no mistake, the Pats secondary is one of the best in the league. They’re just asked to do the impossible every week.

The struggles of the OL have been obvious for a couple of years. They manifest themselves in sacks, hurries, hits, and poor QB decisions resulting from a desire to get rid of the ball. It is not a coincidence that Brady struggled down the stretch against Miami, Pittsburgh, and Buffalo – all teams who can bring pressure without blitzing. Brady was sacked 35 times this year, which is almost double last year’s rate (15 in 12 games).

Brady has been as good as anyone could ask in what should be his third MVP campaign. In addition to leading the league in yards and throwing 32 TDs against 8 INTs, he and Alex Smith are the only quarterbacks this year with a passer rating over 100 who’ve been sacked more than 28 times (pro-football-reference). We couldn’t ask for more from Tom. And we can’t expect more in the future.

Win Now

Despite their flaws and how poorly they’ve played down the stretch, this team is New England’s best chance at a sixth Lombardi for years to come. There is enough talent on this roster that the Pats should find themselves playing in Minneapolis on February fourth. Having the bye-week and home field advantage only help that cause.

The return of Hogan, White, Burkhead, and Mitchell will give Brady the options he’s lacked for a month. Those options will provide the over the middle safety net Brady needs to compensate for a weak line.

Image Source: Pro Football Rumors

The addition of James Harrison (5 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 forced fumble on 28 snaps this week) and the return of Kyle Van Noy (and hopefully Alan Branch) will certainly improve the front end of the defense. Branch’s presence should improve the run defense and free up linebackers to pressure the quarterback or help in coverage. Van Noy should return fully healthy from his Week 13 calf injury.

With an improved front seven finally helping the secondary on defense and more options on offense to mitigate the weakness of the line, this year’s Patriots should be legitimate contenders for their sixth Lombardi. They need to take this opportunity, because history tells us that in losing both McDaniels and Patricia, the next one might be a long time in coming.

Don’t Go Away Mad IT, Just Go Away.

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Enough already. Every time someone puts a keyboard or microphone near Isaiah Thomas’ face he reminds us more and more of his namesake. We hated that IT.

Our IT was great last year. Huge in the playoffs. We were sad when he left. No more. Kyrie Irving is a better player than Thomas. It’s not even debatable.

He’s also, apparently, a lot more grown up.

Le Divorce

Fandom, especially in Boston, is like a marriage. We love our teams and players until we don’t. And then, like a divorce, we tend to hate their very existence. Sure, there have been some amicable splits. We love Ray Bourque, despite leaving to lift Lord Stanley in Colorado. And, other than that bastard Johnny Damon who went to New York, we don’t hate anyone of the 2004 Red Sox players who went elsewhere. They drink for free forevah!

Thomas came to Boston a pretty average NBA player. He spent three seasons in Sacramento (2011-2014) and had a cup of coffee in Phoenix in (2014-2015). In those three and a half years he averaged just over 15 points, 4.5 assistants, and less than a steal per game. He was 37% from the 3-point line and 44% from the field. He was a nice player.

In two and a half years in Boston he became a star – averaging over 24 points, 6 assists, and 1 steal a game. He was a giant in the playoffs. Boston loved IT. Many of us still do, despite how difficult he is making it.

The Trade

Source: NBC Sports

Channeling his inner Hoodie, Danny Ainge capitalized on Thomas’s breakout year and post season and packaged him in a deal for Kyrie Irving in August. Beyond the machinations of compensatory picks due to Thomas’s health and the emotional outcry by Boston fans who loved IT’s play and heart, the initial reaction was that maybe the Celtics were giving up too much for Irving. Kyrie certainly didn’t take long to dispel those fears.

As much as we loved Thomas, Boston fans, more than most others, understand that even star players come and go. At some point everyone leaves – they are traded, released, or retire. We don’t like it when it happens to a popular player and important piece to our success.

The key for fans, lest we lose faith in the organization, is that these moves need to improve the team. And, over the course of the last two decades, we’ve come to understand that, just maybe, the coach and GM know a little more about the game and the organization than we do.

Theo dumped Nomar – who was the franchise’s most popular player for a decade. We don’t win the 2004 World Series without that deal.

Belichick dumps everyone at some point. There is no Patriots Dynasty without his cold calculus.

Ainge traded Paul Pierce, an all-time Celtic great, and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn in 2013 over the outrage of all of New England. That deal, in hindsight, continues to be regarded as one of the greatest in history. Theo, Bill, and Danny know how to build winning franchises.

The Tantrum

The problem with the IT-Irving trade is simply this: Thomas can’t move on. Rather than thank Ainge and the Celtics organization for the opportunity they gave him – and he capitalized on – to become a star, he’s pouted and cried about how he was treated.

Source: Twitter

Thomas is not a child, despite how he’s behaved since the trade. From snide tweets responding to Boston’s growing appreciation for Irving to criticizing Ainge and the Celtics’ medical staff, it’s been a four-month sulk that would shame even the most melodramatic teenage girl upset over being dumped for the prettier cheerleader.

Thomas contents that he’s moved on. He claims that the drama of the trade is only being kept alive by media. But his actions betray his words.

The week before Christmas, IT dropped the ultimate self-pity party. He posted a fourteen-minute video on The Players Tribune detailing the day he learned of the trade and his FaceTime exchange with his kids about having to move to Cleveland. It is a touching video. It is clear how disappointed IT is about leaving the Celtics and uprooting his family to move to Cleveland.

Time to Move On

That is totally understandable. Anyone who’s ever been to Cleveland would be devastated about moving there. But this, IT, is the life you chose. You are not a rookie. You’ve been through this before.

Thomas needs to stop acting like the original Isiah Thomas – one of history’s greatest and most unlikable whiners – and act like the guy who capitalized on his trade to Boston. Ainge and the Celtics gave you an opportunity to be a star and you took it. They traded you for a better player because that’s what organizations are supposed to do to improve their teams. You have a new opportunity in Cleveland with perhaps the greatest player in league history – grow up and take it.

What MLB Can Give Me for Christmas

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Let’s be clear, I love baseball. While it no longer dominates American sports like it did before the NFL exploded in the 1990’s, baseball remains a great game. Unlike football, it is an international game and the league draws the best talent from around the world. Like the NHL being better after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the influx of the best Eastern European players to North America, Major League Baseball draws the best talent out of Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean.

But it is a game that can be improved. We previously talked about how baseball can improve the fans experience by fixing the pace-of-play. This article will address larger, more controversial changes that MLB should adopt to improve the quality of the game.

1. Contraction

Over-expansion in the 90’s diluted the talent pool in MLB by forcing players into The Show too early, and in some cases promoting players who previously would have topped out at AAA. This month’s fire sale in Miami only serves to highlight what we’ve known for a long time – there are franchises that are not viable and there are fan bases unworthy of teams.

Major League Baseball needs to stop the charade and eliminate both Florida franchises. Like a third world country devaluing their currency, Miami has routinely sold off their talent to cut payroll and remain solvent in a market that doesn’t support the franchise. Miami was 28th (of 30) in attendance this year.

Tampa is even worse. Tampa, last in attendance in every year since 2012, can’t fill the Trop even in years when the team is competitive. And they almost never are.

It’s lonely for fans at the Trop.

Keeping Tampa and Miami is tantamount to baseball’s welfare state. Between 2012-2015, Miami received $142M from MLB Revenue Sharing; Tampa $138M. In that same period they were 30th and 29th respectively in team payroll rank. The $142M payout from the league to the Marlins represented 57% of the total amount of players’ salaries on their 40-man roster during that same period.

Baseball should stop subsidizing teams that owners can’t afford and cities do not support.

2. Shorten the Season

Why do the “boys of summer” play baseball in the snow? This happens almost every year at the beginning of the season and, depending on who’s in the Fall Classic, could happen at the end of the season. The answer is because the season is simply too long. Major league teams play 162 games over roughly 182 days. There are only twenty off days in a season – five of which occur over the All Star “break”.

Baseball went to the 162-game season in 1962. Prior to that, beginning in 1920, it was 154 games. From 1892 until 1920, it fluctuated between 154, 132, and 140, but for 17 of those 27 years it was 154 games. Put it back.

Cutting eight games off the regular season isn’t going to save the world, but it will save almost two weeks. Between games and travel or off days, MLB can push the opening day back a week and end the regular season a week earlier. But that’s just part one.

The second way to shorten the season is to return to scheduled double headers. Baseball used to routinely schedule double headers but the 2002 Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) eliminated them except under special circumstances like a make-up game due to a rain-out.

Returning to regularly scheduled double headers will shorten series and therefore shorten the season. One regularly scheduled double-header per team, per month saves an additional six game-days, which if scheduled properly is almost ten calendar days of the season. Yes, it is hard on players – hence the ’02 CBA. However, the 2012 CBA authorized teams to expand their active rosters to 26 for double headers and, coupled with a reduction in games, the introduction of scheduled double-headers will increase off days.

3.  Automated Strike Zone

I enjoy watching Joe West, Hunter Wendelstedt, and Angel Hernandez ruin a good ballgame with inconsistent plate calls as much as the next guy. And by that I mean, not at all. Game to game, inning to inning, and at bat to at bat – strike zone variations are not just frustrating, they are unnecessary.

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In 2016, according to PITCHf/x data from Baseball Savant, home plate umpires correctly called 82.21% of strikes. In other words, they made the wrong call almost 18% of the time. It’s frightening to think that in 2012 it was only 76.8%. Umpires have gone from C students to B-.

Why on earth do we accept this? MLB needs to invest in automated strike zone technology and limited the home plate umpires role to adjudicating swings and misses, foul ball, hit-by-pitches, and out calls. Baseball is a $10 Billion dollar industry, it shouldn’t be left in the hands of B- students.

Fewer teams will improve the leagues financials and reduce the number of not-ready-for-primetime players in the league. A shorter season will keep fans engaged. Better umpiring improves the quality of the game. That’s all I want in my stocking this year.

Patriots Fans Embrace the Hate

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Like the children of overly strict parents, America hates the New England Patriots and their fans. We’re your daddy. Sure, occasionally you get one over on us – or two in Eli Manning’s case – but for the better part of seventeen years we’ve spanked you and sent you to your rooms crying.

Make no mistake, it’s not enough for us to simply lift Lombardi’s. No, we want to make you angry. We relish your resentful jealousy. We bathe in the salty tears of your disappointment. The fires of your hate keep us warm in the cold New England winters.

Tears of the Vanquished

The truly great thing about being a Patriots fan is this: it doesn’t matter who we beat, the whole country loses their minds about it. Those of us who are old enough to remember watching Steve Grogan or Tony Eason know that we need to cherish every victory; we haven’t always been so fortunate. But some victories are sweeter than others.

Beating the Steelers – as we do with simply absurd frequency – always satisfies the soul more than a normal win. To do it in Pittsburgh, after a textbook Brady 4th quarter drive and an end zone interception rivaled only by Malcolm Butler’s Super Bowl clinching INT over Seattle – makes it even more special.

But the greatest part, it’s what gets us up early to troll the internet, listen to sports talk radio or, God forbid, turn on ESPN is getting to hear the incessant whining. From the Pittsburgh locker room, the legions of Steelers fans, and the incalculable throngs of Patriot haters from Buffalo to Denver – the chorus of complaints is music to our ears.

New England: Not Arrogant, Just Better Than You

Pittsburgh was the better team for much of last night’s game. What was billed as the game of the year lived up to the hype. For once, Tomlin’s squad wasn’t steamrolled. They moved the ball well, dominated possession, and got pressure on Brady. The Steelers did almost everything they needed to win. They should have won.

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They didn’t win for a number of reasons. First, obviously, Big Ben went bust and threw a terrible pick. Second, obviously, Jesse James dropped what should have been the game winning touchdown. And third, inexplicably, they decided not to double Gronk at any point on New England’s final drive or two-point conversion.

Pittsburgh was the better team until it actually mattered. Then, as usual, they got out played.

The Catch That Wasn’t

Like everyone watching the game live, I thought James caught the ball, broke the plane, and maintained possession. That’s because the live shot was from the backside of the play and a million feet away. The second America saw the replay it was clear the ball not only moved, but touched the ground.

It doesn’t matter if he broke the plane. It doesn’t matter that he wasn’t touched by a defender. He didn’t maintain control through the ground. As famed Patriot-hater Tony Dungy said on Football Night In America, “this is absolutely the right call based on the rule”.

There isn’t a league official or football analyst who thinks that Jesse James caught that ball by the letter of the rule. Not one. It’s clear that he lost possession as he went to the ground. We can argue about the ridiculous nature of the rule all we want, but from Calvin Jonson to Dez Bryant to Adam Thielen last week, that’s always been an incomplete pass.

The Glory of Twitter

The greatest aspect of not just this win, but how this win was achieved, has to be the reaction across the Twittersphere. Pittsburgh’s Scott Kacsmar (@FO_ScottKacsmar) spent hours criticizing the rule and then shifted his attention to how weak the AFC East is. Ironic that this comes for a guy whose team plays the Browns and Bengals twice a year.

My personal favorite comes from Buffalo’s Sal Maiorana (@salmaiorana). You know, Buffalo – home of the “Bills Mafia” and epicenter of drunken tailgate videos and Super Bowl runner-ups. Inside of twenty minutes, Sal made my night almost as much as the Patriots. He called it “one of the worst calls you’ll ever see” and proclaimed he loved it “when the most entitled fan base in the universe revels in its good fortune with the very arrogance that [we] loathe most about them”. Music to my ears.

That someone is so obsessed with New England that they dedicate their lives to crying about games their team wasn’t even in is glorious. Sal, buddy, you complete me. I take so much joy in your suffering I can’t even explain it. When, not if, Brady wins his sixth Super Bowl we’ll have Bob Kraft fly you in for the party. It’s the only way you’ll get that close to a Lombardi.

 

 

Why We All Secretly Want Lonzo Ball to Fail

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Despite his struggles and pedestrian stat line, Lonzo Ball isn’t an awful NBA player. But, his performance to date barely justifies a first-round draft pick, certainly not the #2 he was. Anyone can see that he would have benefited from another year playing college ball. That is, if UCLA would have even wanted him and his ridiculous father back.

Tyrannosaurus Dad

LaVar Ball represents everything that is wrong with not only sports parents, but everything else in this country. He is a talentless self-promoter who is more concerned with his own unjustified celebrity than in his children’s success.

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LaVar’s delusions of personal grandeur are well-known by now. He claimed he was a better player than Michael Jordan. He also said he was a better tight end in his brief NFL-Europe career than Gronk. And, he asserts at every turn he can coach better than Steve Alford at UCLA or Luke Walton with the Lakers.

He famously criticized UCLA for surrounding his son with “slow white players”, following their loss to Kentucky in last year’s Sweet 16. After the game, Ball lamented that “realistically you can’t win no championship with three white guys because the foot speed is too slow“. Besides the obvious racist nature of the comment, we should recall that in the game Lonzo was awful. He went 4-10 from the field for 10 points and the guy he was guarding, De’Aaron Fox, put up 39 of Kentucky’s 86 points.

And, of course, there was this timeless classic from his appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd in which he redefined misogyny.

LA Story

For all his many flaws, LaVar Ball did a great job marketing Lonzo to the NBA. He somehow managed to convince the Magic Johnson and the Lakers that Lonzo was something more than an average talent. That takes skill.

Prior to the draft, as he negotiated his way to getting Lonzo picked number two by the Lakers, he assured Magic that his behavior was all an act. It was marketing for his Big Baller Brand and promotion for his kids. Now that Lonzo was in LA, LaVar would tone it down and focus on LaMelo and LiAngelo.

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Considering that he continues to run his mouth criticizing Coach Walton and that the Lakers had to institute the “LaVar Rule” to keep microphones away from him in the aftermath of games, it’s pretty obvious that he has not toned down.

Ball can’t control himself. This is a man who thought he would win a Twitter war with Donald Trump. It’s obviously a psychosis, but it’s mostly our fault. LaVar is a Kardashian. He has neither talent nor substance. He is famous for being famous. Sports talk shows over analyzing his every outlandish comments and immature actions merely propagate his fake celebrity.

Lonzo in Perspective

Lonzo, in a vacuum sans his ridiculous father, seems like an almost likable kid. Almost. To date, he’s averaging 8.6 PPG, 7.1 APG, and 6.8 RPG. Not bad for a rookie. He is, however, an abysmal 47% from the free throw line which might play into why the Lakers don’t want him on the court down the stretch.

Celtics fans, ever willing to take joy in LA’s struggles, take added joy from the fact that Jayson Tatum, taken immediately after Lonzo, is already twice the player Ball will ever be. At 13.8 PPG, 1.3 APG, 5.7 RPG, and 82% from the field and 52% from beyond the 3-point line, Tatum is the clear candidate for Rookie of the Year and a key reason why the Hayward-less Celtics remain in contention.

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Tatum has always been a hardworking, quiet professional, and has risen to the challenge of the NBA. And, we haven’t heard a peep from his parents. Thank you.

Addressing Baseball’s Pace of Play

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Baseball was once America’s pastime. Not anymore. Today, the NFL dominates professional team sports. Baseball, despite the unbelievable quality of the game, is quickly becoming the old guys sport. Why? Because the pace of play makes it “boring”.

At least that’s what most non-baseball fans believe. We live in a time of instant gratification. People care less and less about strategy, tactics, and the intricacies of a defensive shift or a pitching match-up. And, while they may still appreciate of the beauty of a well-turned double play, they don’t want to endure a fifteen pitch, four mound visit at bat to get there. Baseball is boring because baseball is slow.

The Problem at Hand

I am not trying to be the old guy yelling “get off my lawn”, but something has to be done about the pace of play. Countless pitching changes in an inning, lefty and right specialists who face a single batter, and catchers who walk to the mound so many times you think they’re trying to meet their daily Fitbit goal have driven the average game length to over three hours.

This season’s average was almost five minutes higher than 2016 and seven more than in 2000. Of course the average Red Sox game is higher, and the average Sox-Yankees affair is much higher. It is even worse in the playoffs.

Average Length of MLB Game 2017
REG SEASON BOS-NYY BOS-HOU ALDS WORLD SERIES
3:05 3:27 3:48 3:42

Part of this is to be expected. Deeper line-ups, runners on base, and higher-pressure games slow the pace of play. Pitchers and catchers strategize each at bat like it’s the Invasion of Normandy, while managers scroll through pages of data weighing match-ups and bullpen options.

Past Proposals

Major League Baseball recognized the problem years ago and has tried in vain to address it. The two biggest measures proposed by Commissioner Rob Manfred last year were a 20-second pitch clock and a limit on mound visits. The Players Union rejected both suggestions.

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The union argued that forcing pitchers to work more quickly could lead to more injuries. But, according to CBS Sports, the average time between pitches last season was 24.2 seconds. I’m not a doctor, so I can’t speak to the rehabilitative magic that an extra four seconds between pitches does for a throwing arm. But what I do know is that in a game with 300 cumulative pitches, those extra four seconds translates to 21 added minutes.

Options Moving Forward

Manfred was on the right path with his recommendations last year. There are plenty of ways to reduce the length of ball games. Here are a few:

Pitch clock.

Damn the union, the commissioner needs to exercise his “in the best interested of baseball” powers and implement the clock by fiat if necessary. If that means that, in order to prevent injuries, teams will need to lower pitch counts per start and carry more pitchers – then expand the rosters.

I do not believe that awarding a ball for each violation is a realistic punishment. That will alter the game too dramatically. Rather, I recommend that MLB impose a $100-500 fine to the team for every violation. The team can, if it chooses, pass that along to the pitcher or pay it outright.

Under this plan, a pitcher who throws 200 innings stands to lose about $40,000 a year if even just ten percent of their pitches violate the pitch clock. That’s motivation.

Eliminate the lefty-righty specialist.

What’s worse than watching Clay “Molasses” Buchholz pitch? Watching him get pulled for a lefty-specialist who faces one batter only to be pulled himself. The specialization of relief pitching may be supported by analytics, but pitching changes add tons of time to games.

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The simple solution is to eliminate the one-out specialist. Not eliminate the roster spot, just require that every pitcher face not less than two batters. The only exceptions to this rule is injury or if the pitcher comes in and records the final out of the inning or game.

Limit Mound Visits.

As cute as it was to listen to Crash and Nuke discuss what to get Jimmy and Mille for their wedding, we need to cap mound visits so we can all get on with our lives.

As Matt Snyder noted, in Game 1 of the 2016 NLCS, the Dodgers had a mound visit before every single batter in the eighth inning. The Cubs had nine guys come to the plate that inning. How much time do you think that added? A lot. They scored five runs. How effective were those visits? Not very.

Under this proposal, there can be no more than one player mound visit per inning and it cannot exceed thirty seconds. Any subsequent player mound visit or any violation of time not related to injury would result in a $1,000 fine to the team.

A pitching coach or manager may visit the mound once per inning (not per pitcher) for not more than one minute. A managerial time violation would result in a $5,000 fine to the manager. Subsequent mound visits by the pitching coach or manager are allowed for pitching changes.

How Big an Impact

The total effect of these proposals would be revolutionary.

Games were 12-minutes shorter in AA and AAA ballparks with 20-second pitch clocks in 2015 than in 2014. Eliminate even one pitching change per team per game and you trim another 10-15 minutes. Keep catchers and managers from wearing out the grass to the mound with all those visits and it’s easily another eight to ten minutes per game.

I just cut the average baseball game down by 37 minutes from 3:05 to 2:28. You’re welcome.

HOF: A Case for Moose and Schill

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In our continuing series of articles on this year’s Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, we now turn our attention to two guys who didn’t enhance their stats through the needle. Unlike the greatly debated case of Roger “the HGH was for my wife” Clemens, Mike Mussina and Curt Schilling have never been linked to PEDs. Each deserves induction.

As I mentioned here, neither Moose nor Schill have Clemens numbers, but they also don’t have his PED baggage.

The Standard for the Hall

We used to believe that the standard for Cooperstown was 300 wins and 3,000 strikeouts. That is actually far from the truth.

There are 75 pitchers in the Hall of Fame. Taking away those who were exclusively or predominantly relief pitchers, including Eck, Rollie Fingers, Gossage, Bruce Sutter, and Hoyt Wilhelm, we’re left with 70. We should also take out Babe Ruth, Satchel Paige, and John Smoltz from the sample.

Ruth only pitched a couple of years and is in the Hall for his bat. Paige, certainly an all-time great, only pitched in the major leagues for part of six seasons after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. Smoltz earned induction based on a balanced career of excellence as both a starter (213 wins) and closer (154 saves).

Thanks to our friends at www.baseballreference.com, we know what the average starting pitcher in Cooperstown looks like. They pitched for 18 years, went to four All Star Games, won 253 games, lost 176, had an ERA of 2.98 and struck out 2,153. And, for those readers who appreciate modern, second-order stats, they have a WAR (wins above replacement) of 70 and a WHIP (Walks/Hits per Inning Pitched) of 1.197.

Mussina by the Numbers

Mike Mussina was a great pitcher, but he meets none of the traditional marks for Cooperstown. His 270 career wins are below the magic 300 but are above the Hall average. He also lost fewer games than the typical HOFer.

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The five-time All Star struck out 2,813 and had a career ERA of 3.68. His career WAR (83.0) was better than the average Cooperstown pitcher and his WHIP (1.192) is nearly identical. Mussina won seven Gold Gloves, but he never finished higher than fourth in Cy Young award voting.

Schilling Beyond the Numbers

I won’t pretend to be entirely objective about Curt Schilling. I’ve known him for years since his retirement and know that he’s not the caricature some in the media portray him to be. His Hall candidacy ceased resting on his baseball resume a few years ago. His numbers are beyond Hall worthy except for his wins total.

Schill (216-146, 3.46 ERA, 3,116 Ks, 79.9 WAR and 1.137 WHIP) finished second in the Cy Young award three times, and was a six-time All Star. His low win total is often used as an excuse for those who keep him off their ballot. There are 18 starting pitchers in the hall with fewer than 216 wins.

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No pitcher in the Hall has Schilling’s post season resume. The three-time world champion is universally understood as the greatest post-season pitcher of the modern era.

In 12 post season series, Shilling went 11-2, had an ERA of 2.23, a WHIP of 0.968, and was a League Championship Series (1993) and World Series MVP (2001). You would need a Pentagon super computer to calculate Schilling’s post season WAR. When the weather turned cold and the competition heated up, against the best hitters in the game, Curt Schilling was the best in baseball.

Tomes have been written about Schilling’s off the field activities. His failed company, his departure from ESPN, his political positions, and his social media presence. Some writers, including Boston’s “favorite” curly-haired boyfriend, have used one or more of these things to justify keeping Schilling out of the Hall. Many of these same writers ignore Curt’s long and substantial charitable work and his Roberto Clements award, but have no issues voting for steroid users who cheated, like Bonds and Clemens.

The Case For Both

If the Hall is really about baseball, and voters truly care how pitchers performed within the context of their era, than both Schilling and Mussina must be inducted. That these two pitchers accomplished what they did, in an era when juiced hitters were breaking every offensive record and when new and smaller ballparks popped up every year, is simply amazing.

To compete clean in the steroid era and achieve to their standard cannot legitimately go unrewarded. Of the pitchers who faced Barry Bonds, the poster child of the steroid era and the most prolific power hitter in history, at least 100 At Bats, Schilling held him to a lower batting average (.263) than both Greg Maddux (.265) and John Smoltz (.275). Both are in the Hall. Both were elected on their first ballot.