Three get in, many deserving others left out

Following up on yesterday's entry, the Baseball Writers' Association of America voted in three new members to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and Frank Thomas.

Maddux led the way receiving 555 of a possible 571 votes, that's 97.2% of the necessary 75% needed for election. I'd like to say that those sixteen members that didn't vote for Maddux clearly should have their voting rights revoked. I'd love to hear your explain why you didn't vote for him. Of course, only 157 writers made their ballot public, so all those cowards that didn't choose Maddux can continue to hide and do their judging from their own private soap box.

Craig Biggio missed election by two votes. I guess enough voters lumped him in with the Steroid Era. Biggio should get in next year, thankfully. Another guy getting lumped in that tainted era is Mike Piazza. Statistically the greatest catcher ever to play the game, Piazza only received 62.2% of the vote. There has never been any hard evidence that Piazza used during his playing days. Only rumors and innuendo. Oh, and that he had back acne. I ask all the baseball writers this. If you wrote a story based on rumors and innuendo, what kind of credibility would you have? Not very much in my opinion. Shame on these writers for forgetting what journalism is supposed to be based upon. The facts are the key to reporting news. Not heresay. Not what an unnamed source whispers about from the shadows. The facts. Piazza's statistics are facts. He's a Hall of Famer.

                                                          Biggio struggle face after missing the Hall by two votes.

                                                                               Soon, Mike. If not, we riot.

It was also revealed that ESPN personality and Miami Herald columnist, Dan Le Batard, allowed Deadspin.com to vote on his behalf. Deadspin put the vote in the hands of its the readers. The ten players receiving the most votes were Maddux, Thomas, Glavine, Piazza, Biggio, Edgar Martinez, Jeff Bagwell, Roger Clemens, Barry Bonds and Curt Schilling. I approve of Le Batard's actions. He allowed the masses to speak out on this issue. I think it proves that the majority of fans are fairly intelligent on who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame and I believe it allows shows that fans don't care so much about who was using steroids and who wasn't.  We'll never know exactly who used what. None of these substances were even illegal by baseball rules at the time. It's time to stop the argument, and it's time to admit the greatest players of that era into the Hall. So say the fans.

The Hall calls

Today, the results of the Baseball Hall of Fame voting will be released. Here's the ten guys that would get my vote if I actually had one.

Last year, no one got the call.

1.Greg Maddux. 355 wins. 3371 strikeouts. 18 Gold Gloves. Four straight Cy Young Awards during one of the most dominant pitching stretches in baseball history from 1992-1995. Anyone not voting for him should lose their vote forever.

2. Frank Thomas. Two-time MVP. Career .301 hitter with 521 homers and 1704 RBI. Also walked more than he struck out. Quite rare for a big slugger. Reached base 41.9% of the time. 11 seasons over 100 RBI. Mickey Mantle only did that four times if you would like a frame of reference. Big Hurt is a big lock.

3. Mike Piazza. Greatest offensive catcher ever. 427 homers and a .308 career average, mostly while playing the most difficult position on the field. All from a 62nd round draft pick. Never struck out more than 93 times in a single season, which is truly amazing for a power guy.

4. Lee Smith. When he retired he was the all time leader in saves with 478. It's time to stop disrespecting the closer position and put more of these guys in the Hall. Like punters in the NFL, they are a big part of the game, and Smith was one of the best closers in the game.

5. Mike Mussina. Tremendously consistent workhorse pitcher who spent his entire career in the hard-hitting AL East. Posted his first and only 20-win season in his final season at the age of 39. Compiled a 270-153 career record for a winning percentage of 63.8%.

6. Edgar Martinez. Much like the closer position, the designated hitter spot also gets little respect from the Hall of Fame voters. Martinez was a hitting machine. Career average of .312, 309 homers and 1261 RBI. From 1995-2001 he drove in over a 100 runs in all but one of those season. It's time for a DH to get in.

7. Tom Glavine. Crafty lefty that won two Cy Young awards and posted five, 20-win seasons as part of the Braves decade of dominance in the 90s. Finished with 305 wins and could always be counted on...unless he was pitching for the Mets on the final day of the season against the Marlins when a playoff spot was on the line. Yes, I'm still bitter, but at least I'm not holding back my vote for Tommy.

8. Jack Morris. 254 regular season wins on the mound, but really shined in the post season where he anchored the pitching staff for World Series winners in Detroit, Minnesota and Toronto. His ten inning, 1-0 shutout victory over Atlanta in Game 7 of the 1991 World Series is one of the greatest performances ever under pressure.

9. Craig Biggio. Spent all 20 years as a member of the Houston Astros collecting 3060 hits along the way. Came up as a catcher and was All Star. Then made the move to second base where he was also an All Star. His 668 doubles ranks fifth all-time and he stole 414 bases along the way.

10. Mark McGwire. Yes, he did steroids, but he also hit 49 homers as a skinny rookie in 1987, so I'm one to believe that his power was very legitimate. He was injury prone and the steroids clearly extended his career and enhanced his power numbers later in his career to monstrous levels. His home run journey to break Roger Maris' single season record in 1998 also helped baseball regain all lot of popularity that was lost following the prolonged strike that canceled a World Series in 1994. He admitted his misdeeds, so baseball needs to admit he was a legend of the game.

I'd also vote in Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, but they continue to deny their use of steroids. Both guys were Hall of Fame talent before they started using. Just admit it and people might forgive you one day.

See ya later, BCS

The college football season came to an end last night with a thrilling, final seconds victory by the Florida State Seminoles over the Auburn Tigers, 34-31, ending the Southeastern Conference's seven year reign of hoisting the BCS trophy. The game also marked the end of the BCS, as next year we will finally be treated to a four team playoff to decide college's best football team.

Amidst the entire bowl season there was one thing that bugged me. The constant which conference is the best argument. Chants of S-E-C, A-C-C, PAC 12, BIG 10 all rang out loudly at bowl games across the country, but why? As a fan of the Florida Gators, should I really be cheering for teams like Alabama and Auburn to win because they represent the same conference as my team? Hell, no. I despise the other SEC teams. They are the enemy. No true fans of the Miami Hurricanes were cheering for the Noles last night and if they were, they should probably just cease living. Can you imagine Yankee fans cheering for the Red Sox in the World Series because they represent the AL East? Michigan fans cheering for Ohio State to bring home the title and do their conference proud? Americans cheering for Mexico to bring home the World Cup title in 2014 for CONCACAF? Something is very wrong with people like this. You can't always root for the winner. Pick your team and ride it out. You can't live vicariously through some other team's triumphs.

 

                                                   FSU won the championship. Fans of Duke should not celebrate.

There's no real way to determine which conference is the best. You can say that this conference puts the most players into the NFL, or that conference had the team that won the national title, or this conference had the best record in bowl game. The SEC went 7-3 in bowls this year, Pac-12 went 6-3, ACC went 5-6, Big 12 went 3-3, and the Big 10 went 2-5. It truly does not matter. All that matters is the team that raises the trophy in the end and if it's not the team you are a fan of, then you do not have any bragging rights. Tip your caps to Florida State. Undefeated. Champions. Period.

Get hyped for Game 25!

Here we are, a mere 24 games into the marathon 82 game NBA season, and the ESPN hype wagon is already in overkill mode. Tim Legler, Sage Steele and Chris Broussard all reporting live this morning from sunny, South Florida about how Lebron James sat out practice yesterday with a sprained ankle last and how the Heat might slow down Roy Hibbert (Hmmm...they did this enough to beat them in two consecutive playoff series...I wonder). You would think this was the postseason with all that exposure, but no, it's just another regular season game

Tonight, the best two teams in the Eastern Conference, the Indiana Pacers (20-4) and the Miami Heat (18-6), meet again. They'll be meeting up again in the Eastern Conference Finals a few months from now, barring major injury to either of the teams' big stars. You can write that down now. The East is garbage other than these two squads.

                                                                                               Too soon?

The NBA's season is too long to care this much about a regular season game in December. I know it's all about the money, as it is about in all sports now, but cutting the season down to say 60 games wouldn't hurt. Start the season around Christmas Day or give the players more days off between games.

Call me back in late May when these two teams are playing important games. Thanks, ESPN.

Make football, not war

It's always fun to shock people. Football fans, especially. I've been a New York Jets fan all my life. Why? I don't know. Maybe I like the abuse. The constant frustration. The feeling that I'm going to throw up even after they win a game, like they did today. They beat the Buffalo Bills 27-20, in a game they dominated from a statistical standpoint. Yet they committed a team record 20 penalties that helped keep the Bills in the game until the end.

I was coming home from the sports bar and decided to stop for Wendy's. I'm wearing my Jets #80 Wayne Chrebet jersey, as always, and I get up to the window and the guy inside smiles and says, "Jets fan, huh?' Well, yes, that's fairly clear, I reply. Let me go out on a limb and guess that you are a Dolphins fan, right? This is South Florida after all. He nods. I jump back in and say, "Congratulations, that was a big win today for you guys, Tannehill really pulled through there." He looks at me with this stunned look on his face and just says, "Yeaaah, it was awesome....thanks?"

A good rivalry should be about mocking each other with funny pics.

I used the question mark there since I don't think he expected a Jets fan to be so complimentary. To be honest, I was quite glad he didn't drop my food in shock. Many fans of the Jets can be a little caustic, which may or may not have to do with not making it to the Super Bowl in the last 44 years or knowing that we'll being hearing about the "Butt fumble" for the rest of our lives. You see, I am a Jets fan, but I'm not an asshole. I'm an intelligent sports fan and I take pride in knowing more about the game than most people. The Dolphins proved they are a team to be reckoned with today by rallying late to beat the Atlanta Falcons, a popular Super Bowl by many experts, 27-23. I applaud their success today. I won't if they beat the Jets later in the season, but at least I won't be that typical, angry fan that goes down in defeat by saying that your team sucks right after they beat my team.

It's football. It's supposed to be fun. It gives you a few hours to escape all of life's realities.

Cherish the wins and the people you celebrate them with. Never forget the defeats and your pals who suffered right there with you. Most of all, enjoy the beer and wings.

The Life and Times of A-Fraud

The first time I heard the name Alex Rodriguez was during my sophomore year in high school. I was working as the sports editor of my school newspaper and to say I had an unhealthy obsession with baseball was an understatement.

It was in May of 1993, about a week or so before the annual Major League Baseball Amateur draft, and I was reading an article about Rodriguez, who was a sure fire lock to go first overall. He was a scouts dream. He hit for average and power. He had blazing speed, a great arm and played stellar defense at the premium shortstop position. The Seattle Mariners were the fortunate benefactors, picking first that year, and young Alex would start showing off his abilities at the major league level just two years later.

                                                                    Seattle days: Long before it all went wrong.

At the age of 20, the Mariners anointed Rodriguez their everyday shortstop for the 1996 season and he didn't disappoint. He won the American League batting title with a .358 average. Led the league with 54 doubles, smashed 36 home runs and had 123 runs batted in. Alex's journey to the Hall of Fame seemed well on its way.

He left Seattle after five outstanding seasons via free agency and signed the biggest contract in the history of sports (10 years/$250 million) with the Texas Rangers. His home run totals surged to 52 in '01 with Texas, then 57 in '02 and back down to a humble 47 in '03. Yet the Rangers finished in last place in the NL West all of those years and Rodriguez was still searching for a World Series title to add to his list of accomplishments. Enter the New York Yankees. Texas swapped Rodriguez for Alfonso Soriano and a player-to-be-named-later. The best player in the world was heading to the center of the baseball universe where names like Ruth, DiMaggio, Mantle and Jeter shine forever in immortality. The stars seemed in near perfect alignment.

Rodriguez continued to post gaudy offensive numbers when he arrived in New York. He won two AL MVP awards along the way, but the whispers of performance enhancing drugs around MLB included Rodriguez. He'd vehemently deny using them in 2007 during an interview with Katie Couric on 60 Minutes, but as more and more players around the league admitted their guilt over PED usage, the innuendos would continue around Rodriguez. He would eventually admit to using anabolic steroids during his first three years in Texas. He cited "an enormous amount of pressure to perform" as his reason for using. Later that same year, Rodriguez would help the Yankees win the World Series, gaining him the championship that had eluded him all those years.

Fast forward to today. MLB suspended 13 players linked to the Biogenesis anti-aging clinic for use of PED's. 12 of them received 50 game suspensions. Number 13, and yes that's the number he wears on the back of that pinstriped Yankee jersey coincidentally, was Alex Rodriguez. Rodriguez was hit with the harshest sentence of 211 games (the remaining 49 games of this season and the entire 162-game, 2014 season). MLB's statement explained that his discipline was based on the use and possession of numerous forms of performance-enhancing substances, including testosterone and human growth hormone. Furthermore, his discipline under the Basic Agreement is for attempting to cover up his violations of the Program by engaging in a course of conduct intended to obstruct and frustrate the Office of the Commisioner's investigation.

                                                                              The Post always says it straight.

Not only a fraud and a liar, but he tried to cover the whole thing up. Truly amazing. Why not try and save your little remaining dignity and just take the suspension and admit everything. Plenty of major leaguers have taken that route, and eventually people will forget. It's the group of players that won't admit it, that will forever be tarnished. Barry Bonds. Roger Clemens. I'm looking at you. Just admit it Alex, you did a lot of wrong. To your fans, to the game of baseball and to the teams that paid you hundreds of millions of dollars over the years. Apologize and maybe, just maybe, you will be forgiven. I doubt it, but I also doubt you would give a truly heart-felt apology anyway.

In typical A-Rod fashion, he immediately appealed the suspension and was in the Yankee lineup for the first time this year tonight, batting clean up. In his first at-bat, he hit a 'clean' single. Unfortunately, for a guy who seemed destined to be a Hall of Famer from the start, there's nothing that will truly ever be considered 'clean' about you again.

This week in stupid: Riley Cooper

For those of you that don't know, Riley Cooper is a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles and also, as his own words will show you, an ignorant, racist asshat.

                                                                 How long before that first concussion cheap hit?

You see, Cooper was at a Kenny Chesney concert this past June, consuming massive quantities of alcohol throughout the day. He then proceeded to go nuts and drop an N-bomb because he wasn't allowed backstage. I mean, really, who wouldn't let Riley Cooper backstage? His biggest claim to fame thus far is being Tim Tebow's roommate while at the University of Florida. He should have name dropped his old buddy Timmy there and saved himself a boat full of headaches. Pun intended.

Cooper's exact quote was, "I will jump that fence and fight every n****r here." The best part is that he points directly at the camera filming him while saying this. You're in the NFL, you schmuck. The most popular sports league in the United States right now. Did you really think that this wasn't going to land you in a steaming pile of trouble? This rates at the absurdly high end of stupid. How anyone in professional sports that shares their day-to-day with many other athletes from varying walks of life could use a racial slur is beyond me.

The silver lining here, if you could call it that, is that Cooper is going to get blown up eventually by a member of an opposing team's defense. I'd be willing to wager more than once. Marcus Vick, brother of Eagles' quarterback Michael Vick -that's right, Cooper's teammate- offered a $1,000 bounty to the first free or strong safety to light him up.

Moral of this story. If you play a violent, contact sport you should keep your racist thoughts to yourself because they are bound to get you knocked out on the field.