Daily Roundup- Wednesday, March 4th

No matter what he says, no matter what he does, Alex Rodriguez is like a lab rat. He’s something just to be watched, observed in a laboratory as he goes about his day and his business of being a baseball player. There’s nothing about what he says or does that doesn’t get replayed about a million times over, while being subjected to constant criticism because let’s be honest, he’s not good with words or hiding his fake emotions. We can at least make that assumption after Monday’s love session with his family with the cameras in plain sight and yesterday when he paid a compliment to Jose Reyes, of the Mets. But of course, the cynics that we are and the cruel individuals that we are and the paranoid son of a gun we’ve made him, A-Rod realized that the particular quote he made could be taken as a swipe to his former best friend and current teammate Derek Jeter and it prompted him to take extraordinary measures to make sure that no one blew it out of proportion.

The guy is wound tighter than a drum and its sad to see a grown man having to apologize for making a simple statement. The fact is, I do feel sorry for him even if he’s a soul less cyborg playing out the rest of his career purely for the stats and numbers and not for any love of the game. He’s painted as this awkward guy (which he is) that isn’t comfortable with anything (which he isn’t) and would much rather have everyone leave him alone and let him play baseball (dream on). But the thing is, he hasn’t allowed us to do that. He hasn’t accepted the responsibility that comes with the immense talent that flows through him. He hasn’t respected the fact that he needs to make some concessions in his life to be appreciated the way he wants to. No matter what, it’s the burden of stardom and its the kind of weight you carry around.
Now, I understand what he meant by that comment. He said “he wished he had a guy like that leading off.” But as usual the New York media who is ultra protective of its shortstop Derek Jeter, will insinuate that perhaps A-Rod wishes he had Reyes playing shortstop. Not only is that a reach but its just pure lunacy to ever even consider that. I not only think A-Rod wasn’t thinking that deeply, I think that he has enough problems to worry about to be petty and take a swipe at Jeter. Especially at a time when he is facing attacks on his legacy, he needs good guys like Jeter and Ortiz saying good things about him to keep him in good company like he doesn’t need his cousin Yuri picking him up in SUV’s. At least, I hope he realizes that.


With all the free agent signings and shady trades that took place during this past weekend as the window of free agency opened, the Giants quietly took what essentially the Redskins gave up to get Albert Haynesworth in guaranteed money and got three very good parts to beef up the defensive line and their linebacking core. That’s not the only piece of comforting news that Giants beat writer Paul Schwartz had to report.

The most interesting part was when it was pointed out to GM Jerry Reese that they have 9 picks and possibly more with supplemental picks in this year’s draft he said that they might not have that much when draft time rolls around which of course begs the question: do you go after a big time free agent like say, an Anquan Boldin? But the interesting name that comes up is Braylon Edwards. Here’s a guy who came off of a very down year after catching 16 touchdowns two years ago. His name being mentioned alone warrants double takes and obviously means that beat writers from multiple NFL teams have heard his name mentioned in trade discussions with their team which of course means that teams are seriously considering pulling the trigger on a deal. That would be huge for the Giants.
He’s difficult in the sense that he drops a lot of passes and that won’t play well in New York. But, if Tom Coughlin could cure Tiki Barber of his fumbling woes and turn his considerable skill into almost Hall of Fame worthy discussion, don’t you think he can work his magic on a young receiver with all the skills like Braylon Edwards? Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Braylon is going anywhere but still, if management in Cleveland grow that sour on a guy and have mentioned his name possibly in trade discussions, it will be interesting to see the Giants get involved. But I see Anquan Boldin as more of an option in a trade. Possibly the extra 2nd and 5th round selections? Hmmm.


Once again those smart guys over at the New York Times have come away with a pretty cool article discussing the weird phenomenon of the Free Throw. The percentage of makes hasn’t really gone anywhere in the last 50 years. Its remained surprisingly consistent and that makes it the only thing in sports that hasn’t been altered through time.

You have to consider that coaches spend about the final 15 minutes of practice on free throws. They leave it up to chance that players will practice it on their own and get better, yet leave out the fact in their preparation that countless amounts of games are decided by guys who just can’t make a flipping free throw to ice a game. A lot of times I see teams single covering every player on the court trying to block the path to the ball, yet there will always be only one guy on the court who shoots above 90%. I am always screaming double that guy, make sure he doesn’t get it. Make sure the ball goes to Shaq and then foul the crap out of him. I’m not sure exactly why teams don’t employ that tactic, but hey what do I know? I’m just a fan.


Speaking of fans, Len Pasquarelli wrote an interesting article about how free agency has endangered fan loyalty from team and player to jersey.

Fan loyalty is a very small concern for owners trying to shell out big bucks to make sure corporations are buying suites in their brand new stadiums. They want the biggest fish out there and will go hard to ensure that big names are there. So, before teams could bring back a Marvin Harrison or a Ray Lewis with no problem. Nowadays with the prospect of other players available teams aren’t handicapped by bad contracts and will let go of players that have long standing ties to communities in a heartbeat in the (correct) pursuit of a more favorable contract with a younger player.


Speaking of those owners shelling out big contracts, Len Pasquarelli wrote that the Redskins were winners with that $100 million contract that they gave to Albert Haynesworth. Well, that was great to a fan base that yearly gets a big contract thrown to them to drum up hope that this season will be different than the rest, but not so for the dozen or so employees let go after layoffs affected yet another franchise. Kind of shady business practices but like they say the fans don’t pay a hundred bucks to see the accountant. The Washington Post’s Sally Jenkins explains more.

I get everything Sally is saying about how teams pay for hope than a particular player. Albert Haynesworth represents hope that the team will play better next year. However, if all you are selling is hope, and that is the belief among many NFL circles about Washington with all these ludicrous contracts to the big names in free agency, then the people paying for those tickets are fools themselves for believing. On paper they have a pretty good team and the fourth ranked defense should improve with the best defensive tackle in football. But, does Fat Albert start playing it easy? The guy had a reputation for coasting on some plays. Now that he has a huge contract, does it make sense to care? He has 41 million guaranteed for the next four years. If he shows flashes over the next four years, it won’t really matter. However, Jason Taylor is gone and while Cornelius Griffin is a good defensive end, they will need better end play if they want to have any kind of success in the NFC East.
Putting everything into perspective, the layoffs aren’t really the problem because if the economy rebounds and the players play well again, those employees could be rehired back into the fold, but with Washington’s luck, that is unlikely to happen.



Speaking of the economy, I am finally sending out an article addressing this Jim Calhoun situation and who else do I send out but my heavy hitter Jason Whitlock?

Listen, I understand the uproar over Jim Calhoun’s comments because in this day and age given the state of the union, hearing someone boast about their salary and unwillingness to give back money to support a state is not something you want to hear from one of your more well paid state employees.
However, its his decision and we have got to deal with it. Its true that Jim Calhoun is well compensated (as he should be) and it is true that he makes far more for the university than what they currently pay him but its money he has worked hard to accrue. While its tough for us to stomach him saying “I make more than my salary says” comment and be ok with his response, its still his money and in all fairness it is not up to us to expect him to give it back. Why should we expect a single penny?
Its his and we have no right to it. But to equate him with Latrell Sprewell as delusional people overestimating their importance is delusional in it of itself. The fact is, Latrell was dumb to say he couldn’t feed his family with $9 million. But Jim Calhoun was not stupid for refusing to give back money. Again, why should he? Has he not earned the right to keep his money? Doesn’t he pay his taxes too? Suddenly expecting the big earners to give back their money is not right. If you want to claim that as a citizen and employee of the state of Connecticut it would be nice for him to donate some of his salary is fine but to say he’s selfish for keeping his salary is beyond ridiculous. Am I selfish for keeping mine?
They want to make a big deal out of him keeping his $1.6 million plus yet we live in a country that has a guy who is living in a penthouse after he had stolen almost 50 billion of people’s hard earned money. But we want to push that story to the back burner so we can focus on this? This is this country’s biggest fault. Our priorities are completely out of whack and that is why we are about 30 years behind a lot of industrial countries around the world. Not only have I disagreed with Jason Whitlock, I went on a political rant on a sports blog. Yup, that means its time for me to go.