Both. Though an average team, they're contenders in the American League Central division almost by default -- aka -- nobody else is really good either. The Twins have been racked by injuries, from starting pitchers to star players. KC hasn't been any good since the George Brett days. Who knows what Ozzie will come up with next on the south side of Chitown, and Cleveland is, well, Cleveland. With the current system being what it is, despite 3 better teams in the east (Yanks, Bosox, and Rays), and whoever comes out of the west, they might just back door their way into the playoffs.
Yet as far as being an elite team -- they're pretenders. In reality, they have one excellent starting pitcher in Justin Verlander. The rest are a crap shoot. Along with Josh Beckett of the Bosox, and maybe CC Sabathia of the Yanks, JV's amongst the best in the American League right about now. If he learned to hit a little bit, he might even be able to crack the Phillies' starting rotation over in the National League. Maybe. And why don't American League pitchers take batting practice anyway? They normally have 4 off days between starts, and what else do they have to do? Chew sunflower seeds and add another unsoiled uniform to the wash when the game's over? While on the subject of pitching -- every time I look, the Tigers have a couple new guys in the "bullpen" the average fan never heard of. That can't be good.
Catcher Alex Avila has had a hot bat for a couple months and the "homers" want to make him an All-Star. Please. Same with Jhonny Peralta. Hell, he can't even spell his name right. Idle thought -- I wonder if he's related to Dwyane Wade? Some say the Tigers need Brandon Inge back. What for? He's been a career .230 hitter for 10 years. Defensive prowess? Try again. Yeah, he makes some good plays, but so does every other 3rd baseman in the major leagues. Inge is what the "homers" see a lot of on TV. Litmus test? Gold gloves. Stats -- none. So he ain't all that.
Miguel Cabrera is a bonafide beast with the bat. Quick quiz.... Guess who has more home runs, RBI's, runs scored and stolen bases right now than Cabrera? Answer later. The rest of the position players on the Tigers run hot and cold. Another crap shoot. While the "homers" will pay homage to every word that comes out of manager Jim Leyland's mouth like he just came down from the mountain with the tablets, the fact is, he's a sub- .500 career manager. And contrary to what they may want to believe, that isn't a "burning bush" they smell. It's a Marlboro.
But when it comes to "homers" for the Tigers, nobody can beat the TV announcing team of Mario Impemba and Rod Allen. Those guys are in a class by themselves. Even when the Tigers are getting blown out of the ballpark, the positive "spin" they can come up with is incredible. They need not ever worry about losing those jobs. High-ranking politicians would snap them up in a heartbeat for their new careers as "spokesmen". If those guys got any more "Homerish", they'd turn into a cartoon with a blue-haired wife named Marge. Doh.
The Tigers are about average. Like this blog, the pitching probably needs to be better, and a few more hits wouldn't hurt either.
Quick answer. Curtis Granderson, now with the NY Yanks. Sound familiar?
The "homers" said Austin Jackson would be better.
Right.
So far he's looked more like Austin Powers, but the only thing he's "shagged" is a fat contract.
Or maybe Steve Austin as the 6 million dollar (bionic) man. He could run fast and not hit a lick either. Seems to me Lee Majors got paid somewhere around $35,000 per episode of that show.
Wonder what AJ makes every time he strikes out?
Hmmm.
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Where Wings take dream
That's a partial quote from something George W. Bush once said when he was Prez. Don't ask me. I never did figure out what he meant either. That ranks right up there with that "1000 points of light thing" his daddy came up with. Sounds good, but in the end, nobody knew what the hell they were talking about. Like the B boys, the Red Wings are hard to figure out.
The owner. He was born Michael Ilievski in 1929. Though of Macedonian (Greek) descent, one has to remember that in the post WWII era, when he was a relatively young man, including the McCarthy "red scare" madness of the 50's, that surname probably sounded very Russian/Soviet back in those days, which was not a good thing to have going for you if you wanted to prosper in this country. So somewhere along the line it became Mike Ilitch.
He wanted to be a major league baseball player. Though drafted by the Tigers, Ilitch only bounced around the lower levels of the minor leagues for a few years in the early 50's. The company line says his baseball career ended because of a knee injury, but his minor league stats suggest he was never going to be good enough for the big time anyway.
A few years later, in 1959, he got this bright idea about opening up a pizza parlor in Garden City. That led to another one and another one, and these days there's thousands of them all over the world. Never could figure out why someone of his heritage would name it after an ancient Roman dynasty, but it sure seems to have worked. Fast forward a couple decades, and Michael was a very rich man.
It should be noted, perhaps with a grain of salt, that somewhere along the way, Ilitch's accomplishments and devotion to the city of Detroit earned him being presented with a "key" to the city. Ceremonial to be sure, but still quite an honor, considering only 4 other people have achieved that status. Why the grain of salt? Because one of those 4 was none other than Saddam Hussein. Yep, the same one, during the Coleman Young years. Don't believe me? Look it up.
In the early 80's he wanted to own a Detroit pro team, and his first pick would have been the Tigers -- but they weren't for sale. So in 1982, he bought the Red Wings. Back then they were bad. Bad enough to have earned the name "dead wings". They weren't competitive, attendance and attention were way down, and they just pretty much -- well -- sucked. Fifteen years later they were hoisting the Stanley Cup, to be followed by a few more championships in subsequent years. Sounds great, right? So was Ilitch a savior, or just happen to be in the right place long enough for something good to happen? Depends how you look at it.
15 years is a long time in pro sports, unless you're the Chicago Cubs or Detroit Lions, but those are stories for another day. A lot of pro careers will start and end during that period of time.
Thing is, Ilitch might not have been such a great baseball player back in the day, but nobody can seriously question his business savvy. The REALLY smart business folks aren't afraid to surround themselves with very intelligent people on their payroll, and give them positions of authority that involve decision-making.
Enter Ken Holland, the General Manager of the Red Wings. From negotiating contracts, to the salary cap, to trades, to draft choices, to free agent acquisitions, it was Holland that built the Wings up into not only perennial contenders, but a class organization where everybody wants to play. How he's pulled all that off with nary a whimper of dissention from the locker room, including a few coaching changes along the way, is the stuff of geniuses.
Over the last couple decades, the Red Wings have been famous, or infamous, depending on one's viewpoint, for their "international flavor", starting with Russians, and now Swedes. For the most part, those were, and are, highly skilled players, but they rely basically on finesse, not physicality. The local media will chip in and give them rave reviews, of course, but I suspect even Mickey Redmond, a former Red Wing himself, and current announcer, bites his tongue once in a while, as to what he really thinks. Then there's people like Don Cherry, that loveable Canadian traditionalist, who just don't approve. Period. Personally, I'm not sure what to make of Cherry, but I do look forward to seeing what clothing ensemble he'll come up with next. Ya gotta love those shirt collars. Ahem.
But alas, as time marches on, there's a down side to this. Skill and finesse only go so far. At the NHL level in hockey, a certain amount of "retro" style play is required to seriously compete for the Stanley Cup. In other words, a team has to have a few "bangers".
Consider: when were the Red Wings the most successful in the Ilitch era? When they had the "grind line" of Kris Draper, Joey Kocur (later replaced by Darren McCarty) and Kirk Maltby. They weren't the most highly skilled players but they wore down the finesse guys on the other team with being physical. They were flying around hitting everybody in the late 90's. Yes, they were briefly reunited a few years ago, but they were also 10 years older. It made a difference. Nowadays the Wings don't have anybody like that. That's why they keep getting bounced in the first or second round of the playoffs. No tough guys.
Further consider: Most knowledgeable hockey people said all along the Vancouver Canucks were far and away more highly skilled than the Boston Bruins. You know who won the Cup. Vancouver hung in there for 5 games, but I suspect the physicality of the Bruins eventually wore them out, as evidenced by the last 2 games where the Canucks showed up, but had seemingly lost their will to play. They were beat up and gave up. Much the same thing happened last year when the Chicago Black Hawks won the Cup. They had skill, but they were also physical.
Perhaps the best example is the Russian Red Army team of the 70's. They came over to North America and were trashing all the NHL teams on their tour, because their precision with the puck was incredible. Then they ran into Bobby Clarke's Broad Street Bullies in Philly, where they got beat up on the ice, and eventually on the scoreboard. That was their only loss. To this day, some people say that was an anomaly. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just like the other NHL teams were mesmerized by the Soviets' style of play, the Red Army squad had never seen anything like the Flyers coming at them either. They weren't only good, they were brutal. So brutal the Soviet coach pulled his team off the ice in the first period and even considered forfeiting. We'll never know, but I suspect a phone call came from Moscow telling their coach that forfeiting was not their first choice -- and if that option was exercised, it might result in a very long vacation in Siberia. So they played on and eventually limped out of town with bumps, bruises, and a loss.
I see the Red Wings in much the same predicament. They'll make the playoffs every year because, even with sometimes shaky goaltending, they have a lot of skilled players. But when the biggest news coming out of the Red Wings is about re-signing a 40 year old defenseman for another year, it doesn't take a genius to figure out not much has changed.
The NHL is the only pro sport where revenue sharing doesn't come into play for post-season (playoff) games. I suspect Mr. Iliev -- oops, Ilitch will continue to pack them in at Joe Louis Arena in the near future and enjoy some big cha-chings for a couple playoff rounds, but when they get down to the nitty-gritty and the tough teams, they won't get anywhere near the Stanley Cup again until they toughen up some.
The sympathetic local media (homers) will try to sugar-coat it, but don't believe it.
Sometimes it just is what it is.
The owner. He was born Michael Ilievski in 1929. Though of Macedonian (Greek) descent, one has to remember that in the post WWII era, when he was a relatively young man, including the McCarthy "red scare" madness of the 50's, that surname probably sounded very Russian/Soviet back in those days, which was not a good thing to have going for you if you wanted to prosper in this country. So somewhere along the line it became Mike Ilitch.
He wanted to be a major league baseball player. Though drafted by the Tigers, Ilitch only bounced around the lower levels of the minor leagues for a few years in the early 50's. The company line says his baseball career ended because of a knee injury, but his minor league stats suggest he was never going to be good enough for the big time anyway.
A few years later, in 1959, he got this bright idea about opening up a pizza parlor in Garden City. That led to another one and another one, and these days there's thousands of them all over the world. Never could figure out why someone of his heritage would name it after an ancient Roman dynasty, but it sure seems to have worked. Fast forward a couple decades, and Michael was a very rich man.
It should be noted, perhaps with a grain of salt, that somewhere along the way, Ilitch's accomplishments and devotion to the city of Detroit earned him being presented with a "key" to the city. Ceremonial to be sure, but still quite an honor, considering only 4 other people have achieved that status. Why the grain of salt? Because one of those 4 was none other than Saddam Hussein. Yep, the same one, during the Coleman Young years. Don't believe me? Look it up.
In the early 80's he wanted to own a Detroit pro team, and his first pick would have been the Tigers -- but they weren't for sale. So in 1982, he bought the Red Wings. Back then they were bad. Bad enough to have earned the name "dead wings". They weren't competitive, attendance and attention were way down, and they just pretty much -- well -- sucked. Fifteen years later they were hoisting the Stanley Cup, to be followed by a few more championships in subsequent years. Sounds great, right? So was Ilitch a savior, or just happen to be in the right place long enough for something good to happen? Depends how you look at it.
15 years is a long time in pro sports, unless you're the Chicago Cubs or Detroit Lions, but those are stories for another day. A lot of pro careers will start and end during that period of time.
Thing is, Ilitch might not have been such a great baseball player back in the day, but nobody can seriously question his business savvy. The REALLY smart business folks aren't afraid to surround themselves with very intelligent people on their payroll, and give them positions of authority that involve decision-making.
Enter Ken Holland, the General Manager of the Red Wings. From negotiating contracts, to the salary cap, to trades, to draft choices, to free agent acquisitions, it was Holland that built the Wings up into not only perennial contenders, but a class organization where everybody wants to play. How he's pulled all that off with nary a whimper of dissention from the locker room, including a few coaching changes along the way, is the stuff of geniuses.
Over the last couple decades, the Red Wings have been famous, or infamous, depending on one's viewpoint, for their "international flavor", starting with Russians, and now Swedes. For the most part, those were, and are, highly skilled players, but they rely basically on finesse, not physicality. The local media will chip in and give them rave reviews, of course, but I suspect even Mickey Redmond, a former Red Wing himself, and current announcer, bites his tongue once in a while, as to what he really thinks. Then there's people like Don Cherry, that loveable Canadian traditionalist, who just don't approve. Period. Personally, I'm not sure what to make of Cherry, but I do look forward to seeing what clothing ensemble he'll come up with next. Ya gotta love those shirt collars. Ahem.
But alas, as time marches on, there's a down side to this. Skill and finesse only go so far. At the NHL level in hockey, a certain amount of "retro" style play is required to seriously compete for the Stanley Cup. In other words, a team has to have a few "bangers".
Consider: when were the Red Wings the most successful in the Ilitch era? When they had the "grind line" of Kris Draper, Joey Kocur (later replaced by Darren McCarty) and Kirk Maltby. They weren't the most highly skilled players but they wore down the finesse guys on the other team with being physical. They were flying around hitting everybody in the late 90's. Yes, they were briefly reunited a few years ago, but they were also 10 years older. It made a difference. Nowadays the Wings don't have anybody like that. That's why they keep getting bounced in the first or second round of the playoffs. No tough guys.
Further consider: Most knowledgeable hockey people said all along the Vancouver Canucks were far and away more highly skilled than the Boston Bruins. You know who won the Cup. Vancouver hung in there for 5 games, but I suspect the physicality of the Bruins eventually wore them out, as evidenced by the last 2 games where the Canucks showed up, but had seemingly lost their will to play. They were beat up and gave up. Much the same thing happened last year when the Chicago Black Hawks won the Cup. They had skill, but they were also physical.
Perhaps the best example is the Russian Red Army team of the 70's. They came over to North America and were trashing all the NHL teams on their tour, because their precision with the puck was incredible. Then they ran into Bobby Clarke's Broad Street Bullies in Philly, where they got beat up on the ice, and eventually on the scoreboard. That was their only loss. To this day, some people say that was an anomaly. Nothing could be further from the truth. Just like the other NHL teams were mesmerized by the Soviets' style of play, the Red Army squad had never seen anything like the Flyers coming at them either. They weren't only good, they were brutal. So brutal the Soviet coach pulled his team off the ice in the first period and even considered forfeiting. We'll never know, but I suspect a phone call came from Moscow telling their coach that forfeiting was not their first choice -- and if that option was exercised, it might result in a very long vacation in Siberia. So they played on and eventually limped out of town with bumps, bruises, and a loss.
I see the Red Wings in much the same predicament. They'll make the playoffs every year because, even with sometimes shaky goaltending, they have a lot of skilled players. But when the biggest news coming out of the Red Wings is about re-signing a 40 year old defenseman for another year, it doesn't take a genius to figure out not much has changed.
The NHL is the only pro sport where revenue sharing doesn't come into play for post-season (playoff) games. I suspect Mr. Iliev -- oops, Ilitch will continue to pack them in at Joe Louis Arena in the near future and enjoy some big cha-chings for a couple playoff rounds, but when they get down to the nitty-gritty and the tough teams, they won't get anywhere near the Stanley Cup again until they toughen up some.
The sympathetic local media (homers) will try to sugar-coat it, but don't believe it.
Sometimes it just is what it is.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
Let's lose the homers and get real. The Pistons.
It's got to a point where it's become ridiculous. The "homers" are everywhere around here. By "homer", I mean people in the media that want their home teams to win so bad that they lose sight of reality. Being objective goes out the window in favor of blatant bias. It's like they're afraid of getting their press passes yanked or being chewed out by a producer for telling the truth.
Maybe that's understandable at the prep level, and even college, but when it comes to the pros, it shouldn't be asking too much for the media to act like pros themselves. This includes beat reporters, columnists, announcers, and talking heads on TV. Some of these people could find a silver lining in nuclear warfare, if one of their beloved home team players somehow survived.
I don't much give a damn. It is what it is, and let's take a quick, objective look at the pro sports scene around Detroit.
The Pistons. New ownership. Direction unknown. Can't get much worse. Joe Dumars had his day. Great moves to bring in Rip Hamilton, Big Ben, and Rasheed to put them over the top for a title. Botched the Darko thing. Getting to the conference finals other years was way over-hyped by the local media Pollyannas with their rose-tints. That's like reaching the semis in a tennis tournament, or March Madness in the NCAA hoops thing, before getting ousted. Nobody remembers, much less cares. Since then -- it's been all downhill.
Now the media is playing up the Pistons' drafting of Brandon Knight as a no-brainer. Indeed it was. For a team that already has too many guards, it showed absolutely no brains to go get another one. Unlike the Pistons, the competitive teams in the NBA have a lot of talented, tall guys. A team might have a couple flashy players, but without "tall", they won't get far. If you think the Pistons were bad last year, it's going to get worse before it gets better.
It's no surprise they didn't make any trades. After all, who do they have on that roster that any other team would want? Free agents? Forget about that. No player agent is going to advise one of his star clients to go to a place where the owner remains a mystery, the team has little chance of being competitive, is already pretty much "capped-out" with regards to money available, the front office may be revamped, and they don't even have a coach, for chrissakes.
Joe D's a fine man, but as he was so great on his rise as GM, he's just as terrible on the flipside a few years later. Like all players eventually find out -- it's a business. When you've outlived your usefulness, you're gone. Joe's no exception. He should be broomed.
More important -- Tom Gores -- the new owner -- needs to come out of the shadows and start showing what he's made of. Will he be an active owner and show up at games? A recluse? Win at all costs or tighten the purse strings? A fan's owner or a snob? Nobody knows. He needs to do something because it all starts with him.
Up next -- the Red Wings.
Maybe that's understandable at the prep level, and even college, but when it comes to the pros, it shouldn't be asking too much for the media to act like pros themselves. This includes beat reporters, columnists, announcers, and talking heads on TV. Some of these people could find a silver lining in nuclear warfare, if one of their beloved home team players somehow survived.
I don't much give a damn. It is what it is, and let's take a quick, objective look at the pro sports scene around Detroit.
The Pistons. New ownership. Direction unknown. Can't get much worse. Joe Dumars had his day. Great moves to bring in Rip Hamilton, Big Ben, and Rasheed to put them over the top for a title. Botched the Darko thing. Getting to the conference finals other years was way over-hyped by the local media Pollyannas with their rose-tints. That's like reaching the semis in a tennis tournament, or March Madness in the NCAA hoops thing, before getting ousted. Nobody remembers, much less cares. Since then -- it's been all downhill.
Now the media is playing up the Pistons' drafting of Brandon Knight as a no-brainer. Indeed it was. For a team that already has too many guards, it showed absolutely no brains to go get another one. Unlike the Pistons, the competitive teams in the NBA have a lot of talented, tall guys. A team might have a couple flashy players, but without "tall", they won't get far. If you think the Pistons were bad last year, it's going to get worse before it gets better.
It's no surprise they didn't make any trades. After all, who do they have on that roster that any other team would want? Free agents? Forget about that. No player agent is going to advise one of his star clients to go to a place where the owner remains a mystery, the team has little chance of being competitive, is already pretty much "capped-out" with regards to money available, the front office may be revamped, and they don't even have a coach, for chrissakes.
Joe D's a fine man, but as he was so great on his rise as GM, he's just as terrible on the flipside a few years later. Like all players eventually find out -- it's a business. When you've outlived your usefulness, you're gone. Joe's no exception. He should be broomed.
More important -- Tom Gores -- the new owner -- needs to come out of the shadows and start showing what he's made of. Will he be an active owner and show up at games? A recluse? Win at all costs or tighten the purse strings? A fan's owner or a snob? Nobody knows. He needs to do something because it all starts with him.
Up next -- the Red Wings.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Quit the crying and man up
Albert Pujols of the St. Louis Cardinals recently suffered a fractured arm. Ouch. A couple of trainers eventually helped him off the field. I had a broken wing years ago. It turned this rather nasty shade of dark purple right away and it hurt pretty bad, so I looked up a bone doctor in the Yellow Pages, made the call, and drove myself there to get it reset and casted. Thankfully, I'd grown out of my youthful penchant of 4-speed transmissions by then and had an automatic. Regardless of how smooth the linkage may have been, shifting with a broken right arm might have been a problem which would have forced me to Plan B -- call a friend -- or even a cab. But it wasn't that big a deal. So since when does a fractured arm mean you can't walk? I guess when you're a major league baseball player. He didn't man up.
(It's the little things that get annoying. Like buttons and zippers, or tying your shoes. Learning how to write with the other hand. Holding one arm out of the shower. And that toilet paper thing got a little messy the first few times until I got the hang of it.)
Hockey players aren't like that. An NHLer might get a really bad cut, requiring a lot of stitches -- and they'll skate off. They can be hit by a high speed puck, or a devastating check that knocks them into la-la land, and they'll try to skate off, or even crawl off -- but they don't want anybody helping them. They man up.
Years ago, NFLers not only played with arm casts, but liked them, the better to club an opponent with. I don't know who got the worst of that. For the first couple weeks I had mine on, every time I accidentally bumped into something with it, it was an attention grabber. If I'd have clubbed somebody with it, I'm not at all sure who would have suffered more. But those dudes were out there. Finally the NFL made them start padding the casts. This was probably a good thing for both clubber and clubbee. Regardless, they were manning up.
Jack Youngblood, a defensive end on the old LA Rams, once finished a play-off game on a broken leg. He was slamming bodies with offensive linemen, trying to rush the quarterback, and bring down ball carriers until the final whistle. That has to be the all-time record for manning up. If you have a better one -- lay it on me.
Then there's the NBA. The bigger the stars, the bigger the crybabies. I don't need to name names. You know who they are. If they accidentally get a hand to their face, and God forbid if it results in a, HORRORS, scratch, or an elbow to the body, they'll start screaming, go down, and writhe in pain, like they -- well -- just got clubbed with a cast or had a broken leg. Funny thing is -- after a couple minutes of being coddled, knowing the TV cameras will be all over them, they'll pop up and be just fine. They couldn't even SPELL "man up".
I drove to the doctor's office. Hockey players handle it. Football players handle it. Albert Pujols didn't grade out so well.
And basketball players? If they really want people to believe it's a "contact" sport, then 2 words----
Man up.
(It's the little things that get annoying. Like buttons and zippers, or tying your shoes. Learning how to write with the other hand. Holding one arm out of the shower. And that toilet paper thing got a little messy the first few times until I got the hang of it.)
Hockey players aren't like that. An NHLer might get a really bad cut, requiring a lot of stitches -- and they'll skate off. They can be hit by a high speed puck, or a devastating check that knocks them into la-la land, and they'll try to skate off, or even crawl off -- but they don't want anybody helping them. They man up.
Years ago, NFLers not only played with arm casts, but liked them, the better to club an opponent with. I don't know who got the worst of that. For the first couple weeks I had mine on, every time I accidentally bumped into something with it, it was an attention grabber. If I'd have clubbed somebody with it, I'm not at all sure who would have suffered more. But those dudes were out there. Finally the NFL made them start padding the casts. This was probably a good thing for both clubber and clubbee. Regardless, they were manning up.
Jack Youngblood, a defensive end on the old LA Rams, once finished a play-off game on a broken leg. He was slamming bodies with offensive linemen, trying to rush the quarterback, and bring down ball carriers until the final whistle. That has to be the all-time record for manning up. If you have a better one -- lay it on me.
Then there's the NBA. The bigger the stars, the bigger the crybabies. I don't need to name names. You know who they are. If they accidentally get a hand to their face, and God forbid if it results in a, HORRORS, scratch, or an elbow to the body, they'll start screaming, go down, and writhe in pain, like they -- well -- just got clubbed with a cast or had a broken leg. Funny thing is -- after a couple minutes of being coddled, knowing the TV cameras will be all over them, they'll pop up and be just fine. They couldn't even SPELL "man up".
I drove to the doctor's office. Hockey players handle it. Football players handle it. Albert Pujols didn't grade out so well.
And basketball players? If they really want people to believe it's a "contact" sport, then 2 words----
Man up.
Monday, June 20, 2011
NASCAR, Joe Gibbs and apple pie
First things first. My apologies to George Pohly of Journal Register News Service, who covers NASCAR for same, because I'm going to "borrow" some of his stuff. I'll get back to that.
I dare say even the casual American sports fan has heard of Joe Gibbs. Starting way back in the 60's, he was an assistant football coach at such places as San Diego State, Florida State, Arkansas, and Southern Cal. On to the NFL, where he served in similar capacities for the (then) St. Lous Cardinals, Tampa Bay Bucs, and San Diego Chargers. Old timers might remember a guy named Don Coryell and a quarterback by the name of Dan Fouts. DC was the head coach, and DF was throwing the ball, but "air Coryell" was the brainchild of then offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs.
Finally he got a shot at being a head coach for the Washington Redskins. While there, he won 3 Super Bowls in 12 years. Pretty impressive stuff. He did a second not as successful stint for the Skins in the early 2000's, and to this day still serves as a "consultant".
In 1992, he created Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), and has fielded such drivers as Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, and more recently Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Lagano. On top of the Super Bowls, throw in 3 Sprint Cup championships. In 1995, he even dabbled in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) where he owned a funny car, top fuel dragster, and a pro stock car. Those were all sponsored by McDonald's.
Needless to say, the man has one helluva resume, and if he's not a billionaire by now, he can't be too far from it. Yet it seems like he keeps getting caught "cheating" once in a while. That brings me back to Pohly's words.
Gibbs "has an admirable reputation. He preaches faith, family, organization and integrity, making him NASCAR's answer to, ahem, Jim Tressel, the former Ohio State football coach".
I couldn't agree more, but maybe George was too easy on him, by ignoring the obvious. I'm not that nice. If Gibbs ever wanted to be known as the "All-American boy" success story, he can forget about that, because he threw that out the window a few years back with an unforgiveable choice. Pohly spoke of such things as illegal oil pans, magnets, and failed post-race inspections. Sure, most teams will bend the rules and push the envelope as far as they can, and yeah, NASCAR has to closely monitor the inmates so they don't take over the asylum, but Gibbs commited a cardinal sin.
That "All -American boy" thing goes right along with mom, apple pie, and Chevrolet. Or Ford. Or Dodge. Or any other American brand.
But not TOYOTA, which are currently the cars and engines of Gibbs' choice.
Like Pohly said, "Come on, Joe. You can be better than that. You can be smarter than that".
I doubt even Mickey D's would take him back at this point. Ever hear of one of those going out of business? They don't. It's no coincidence those arches are golden. Like gold, they never lose their value. As long as there's cows and potatoes, there will be McDonalds. It's an American icon, as is NASCAR, but there's a difference. Some might view Toyota as a sort of cancer that has found it's way into the NASCAR circuit, and Mr. Gibbs needing some serious chemo before it gets terminal, like it did with Honda and the Indy cars. How popular are THEY these days?
Jim Tressel may have lost a lot of face, but even HE never bowed down to Japanese masters.
Sorry if I stepped on your toes George, but I hope I did ya proud in the end.
I dare say even the casual American sports fan has heard of Joe Gibbs. Starting way back in the 60's, he was an assistant football coach at such places as San Diego State, Florida State, Arkansas, and Southern Cal. On to the NFL, where he served in similar capacities for the (then) St. Lous Cardinals, Tampa Bay Bucs, and San Diego Chargers. Old timers might remember a guy named Don Coryell and a quarterback by the name of Dan Fouts. DC was the head coach, and DF was throwing the ball, but "air Coryell" was the brainchild of then offensive coordinator Joe Gibbs.
Finally he got a shot at being a head coach for the Washington Redskins. While there, he won 3 Super Bowls in 12 years. Pretty impressive stuff. He did a second not as successful stint for the Skins in the early 2000's, and to this day still serves as a "consultant".
In 1992, he created Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), and has fielded such drivers as Bobby Labonte, Tony Stewart, and more recently Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, and Joey Lagano. On top of the Super Bowls, throw in 3 Sprint Cup championships. In 1995, he even dabbled in the National Hot Rod Association (NHRA) where he owned a funny car, top fuel dragster, and a pro stock car. Those were all sponsored by McDonald's.
Needless to say, the man has one helluva resume, and if he's not a billionaire by now, he can't be too far from it. Yet it seems like he keeps getting caught "cheating" once in a while. That brings me back to Pohly's words.
Gibbs "has an admirable reputation. He preaches faith, family, organization and integrity, making him NASCAR's answer to, ahem, Jim Tressel, the former Ohio State football coach".
I couldn't agree more, but maybe George was too easy on him, by ignoring the obvious. I'm not that nice. If Gibbs ever wanted to be known as the "All-American boy" success story, he can forget about that, because he threw that out the window a few years back with an unforgiveable choice. Pohly spoke of such things as illegal oil pans, magnets, and failed post-race inspections. Sure, most teams will bend the rules and push the envelope as far as they can, and yeah, NASCAR has to closely monitor the inmates so they don't take over the asylum, but Gibbs commited a cardinal sin.
That "All -American boy" thing goes right along with mom, apple pie, and Chevrolet. Or Ford. Or Dodge. Or any other American brand.
But not TOYOTA, which are currently the cars and engines of Gibbs' choice.
Like Pohly said, "Come on, Joe. You can be better than that. You can be smarter than that".
I doubt even Mickey D's would take him back at this point. Ever hear of one of those going out of business? They don't. It's no coincidence those arches are golden. Like gold, they never lose their value. As long as there's cows and potatoes, there will be McDonalds. It's an American icon, as is NASCAR, but there's a difference. Some might view Toyota as a sort of cancer that has found it's way into the NASCAR circuit, and Mr. Gibbs needing some serious chemo before it gets terminal, like it did with Honda and the Indy cars. How popular are THEY these days?
Jim Tressel may have lost a lot of face, but even HE never bowed down to Japanese masters.
Sorry if I stepped on your toes George, but I hope I did ya proud in the end.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
The most interesting man in the world
No, it's not that guy on TV advertising a foreign beer, that looks like he might start drooling any second. And contrary to what she may think, Hillary's never been all that. So who is it? Martin Sheen? Justin Bieber? Alfred E. Neuman? Brandon Inge? Anybody that's a lifetime .230 hitter and makes upwards of 5 million bucks a year must have SOMETHING going on besides tats on his forearms.
It just might be Rory McIlroy, the barely 22 year old northern Irishman that's tearing up the US Open. 14 under after 3 rounds of play? That's not only a record, it's incredible. Open courses are set up to be extremely difficult. In years past, the best players in the world, and even the eventual champion couldn't even break par.
Golf purists might sniff and say, yes, but the rough isn't as deep. Maybe not, but besides the usual assortment of sand traps, water hazards, and undulating greens, try 7500+ yards on for size. Those same purists could hit the best drive of their life, followed by the best fairway wood of their life, and maybe, just maybe, they'd get to the green on some of the par 4's on this course. Did I mention the sand traps and water that surround them?
Is McIlroy the most interesting man in the world? In some ways. Consider: He likely makes Phil Mickelson wish Tiger was playing. He's a whopping 21 shots behind the Irish kid heading into the final round. Even Eldrick at his finest never pulled that off.
As I write this late on Sat night before the final round, yes, I remember he choked bad the last time he was in this position on Sun. Don't think it will happen this time. If it does, send sports editor Jeff Kuehn an email about what an idiot I am. He likes that sort of feedback.
At any rate, back to the most interesting man in the world. Tiger used to be. All the pressure of the cameras, microphones, money, fame, and even umpteen different women never fazed him. Once he got married, his golfing career started to slowly swirl around and head downward, like pushing the lever on a certain bathroom facility.
Here's hoping McIlroy avoids that pitfall, and here's REALLY hoping he stays away from that beer the slobbery guy advertises. I got into that stuff once and woke up next to an ugly woman. Still don't know what happened.
Pound the ball, not the bimbos. Drain the putts, not the pints, and above all ----
Stay single, my friend.
PS. On a personal note, I hope the Irish kid wins this thing. Why? Because maybe then Irish Charlie will finally buy a round at the Gridiron. Hmmm. Nah, probably not, but miracles have been known to happen.
It just might be Rory McIlroy, the barely 22 year old northern Irishman that's tearing up the US Open. 14 under after 3 rounds of play? That's not only a record, it's incredible. Open courses are set up to be extremely difficult. In years past, the best players in the world, and even the eventual champion couldn't even break par.
Golf purists might sniff and say, yes, but the rough isn't as deep. Maybe not, but besides the usual assortment of sand traps, water hazards, and undulating greens, try 7500+ yards on for size. Those same purists could hit the best drive of their life, followed by the best fairway wood of their life, and maybe, just maybe, they'd get to the green on some of the par 4's on this course. Did I mention the sand traps and water that surround them?
Is McIlroy the most interesting man in the world? In some ways. Consider: He likely makes Phil Mickelson wish Tiger was playing. He's a whopping 21 shots behind the Irish kid heading into the final round. Even Eldrick at his finest never pulled that off.
As I write this late on Sat night before the final round, yes, I remember he choked bad the last time he was in this position on Sun. Don't think it will happen this time. If it does, send sports editor Jeff Kuehn an email about what an idiot I am. He likes that sort of feedback.
At any rate, back to the most interesting man in the world. Tiger used to be. All the pressure of the cameras, microphones, money, fame, and even umpteen different women never fazed him. Once he got married, his golfing career started to slowly swirl around and head downward, like pushing the lever on a certain bathroom facility.
Here's hoping McIlroy avoids that pitfall, and here's REALLY hoping he stays away from that beer the slobbery guy advertises. I got into that stuff once and woke up next to an ugly woman. Still don't know what happened.
Pound the ball, not the bimbos. Drain the putts, not the pints, and above all ----
Stay single, my friend.
PS. On a personal note, I hope the Irish kid wins this thing. Why? Because maybe then Irish Charlie will finally buy a round at the Gridiron. Hmmm. Nah, probably not, but miracles have been known to happen.
Friday, June 17, 2011
Wild in the streets
The Miami Heat were eliminated from the Finals in their own building, as were the Vancouver Canucks.
Given those two cities, and their fans, I would have bet a lot of money that if either was going to start fires, turn over cars, loot buildings, and basically run amok, it would have been Miami. I would have lost that bet.
It's brutally hot in Miami this time of year, which never helps attitudes, and given certain other, ahem, factions that are in abundance there, one might think that would have been a tinderbox for mayhem. But not much seemed to happen after Lebron and Co. got kicked to the curb.
Who would have guessed the Vancouverites would run wild in the streets? Not me.
Then again, the Canucks are all they have in the way of major pro sports. I can't remember if they have a Canadian Football League team, but that wouldn't count anyway. Look at it this way. Imagine if the Pistons never existed. They've won a few titles, and been very competitive in a lot of years even when they fell a little short. Same with the Tigers. They haven't won a championship in a long time, but at least they make it interesting once in a while. Pretend they never existed either. Delete the Red Wings, their Stanley Cups, and the excitement they generate every year from your memory banks as well. Guess what?
If all you had was the Lions to root for over the last 40 years, you might have been fortunate to maintain your sanity, let alone civility.
Throw in rain damn near every day in Vancouver, year after year after year, and it's probably a miracle a few suicide bombers didn't do their thing after that game.
Let's bring the deleted Detroit teams back into existence. When it comes to a big game, the people in that city will turn over cars, loot, set fire to things, and run amok -- even if their team WINS.
It seemed the local newscasters couldn't wait to show what was happening on the streets of Vancouver.
Evidently, they have short memories of what's happened in their own collective back yard in years past, or think we do.
Maybe it's a good thing if the Lions never get to the Super Bowl because, win or lose, if that ever happened, everything from 8 Mile Rd. to the Detroit river might go up in flames.
I wonder what kind of odds the wise-guys in Vegas would put on such a thing happening.
Me? I figure it's about a coin-flip.
Given those two cities, and their fans, I would have bet a lot of money that if either was going to start fires, turn over cars, loot buildings, and basically run amok, it would have been Miami. I would have lost that bet.
It's brutally hot in Miami this time of year, which never helps attitudes, and given certain other, ahem, factions that are in abundance there, one might think that would have been a tinderbox for mayhem. But not much seemed to happen after Lebron and Co. got kicked to the curb.
Who would have guessed the Vancouverites would run wild in the streets? Not me.
Then again, the Canucks are all they have in the way of major pro sports. I can't remember if they have a Canadian Football League team, but that wouldn't count anyway. Look at it this way. Imagine if the Pistons never existed. They've won a few titles, and been very competitive in a lot of years even when they fell a little short. Same with the Tigers. They haven't won a championship in a long time, but at least they make it interesting once in a while. Pretend they never existed either. Delete the Red Wings, their Stanley Cups, and the excitement they generate every year from your memory banks as well. Guess what?
If all you had was the Lions to root for over the last 40 years, you might have been fortunate to maintain your sanity, let alone civility.
Throw in rain damn near every day in Vancouver, year after year after year, and it's probably a miracle a few suicide bombers didn't do their thing after that game.
Let's bring the deleted Detroit teams back into existence. When it comes to a big game, the people in that city will turn over cars, loot, set fire to things, and run amok -- even if their team WINS.
It seemed the local newscasters couldn't wait to show what was happening on the streets of Vancouver.
Evidently, they have short memories of what's happened in their own collective back yard in years past, or think we do.
Maybe it's a good thing if the Lions never get to the Super Bowl because, win or lose, if that ever happened, everything from 8 Mile Rd. to the Detroit river might go up in flames.
I wonder what kind of odds the wise-guys in Vegas would put on such a thing happening.
Me? I figure it's about a coin-flip.
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