Sunday

Greed Fuels Presti's Brilliancy

"I was just snooping around ESPN, going from sport to sport. I get to the NBA and for some reason started in the middle of the headlines and worked my way up to the top one, "Thunder deal Harden to Rockets." I was literally stunned. My eyes almost popped out of my head, and if it wasn't 4 AM, I would have screamed, "WHAT??!!!?" (which is what happened in my mind anyways. The scream was so loud in my mind I'm now debated if I actually said it aloud or not..) Thought I'd share this unique reaction. Btw, the Rockets overpaid."

That was my initial reaction to the James Harden trade. I posted that as my Facebook status at around 4 AM this morning. The weird part is that is exactly what happened. I didn't really exaggerate my reaction even though it was 4 AM. Obviously you could have counted me as one of the people that thought the two sides would work out a deal before the extension deadline ended on the 31st. I knew the Thunder wanted Harden to take a discount, and I, like everyone else, thought he was in a good enough situation to accept a minor discount. Apparently, Harden did not agree with the rest of the NBA world. though. The Thunder offered him 55 of the 60 million dollar max on the extension, but he refused the offer. So Thunder General Manager, Sam Presti, did the same to Harden what he did to Jeff Green a few years earlier, he dealt him as fast as he could. Last time around it was the Celtics that ponied up to obtain Green, this time it was the Rockets that really ponied up to obtain Harden (more on this later).

ESPN's Brian Windhorst made this trade seem like a no-brainer in the eyes of Presti. He referred to Presti's philosophy which can basically be described as the old saying 'sacrifice for the greater good.' Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Serge Ibaka, Kendrick Perkins, and Nick Collison had all made some type of sacrifice, and it resulted in the Thunder having the ability to keep most of its core intact. Two years ago, Green refused to sacrifice. Presti doesn't have time to deal with greedy players that can't take a little less for the sake of the team. Presti dealing Green set precedent for every future player that didn't buy into sacrificing for the greater good. It's almost as if Harden asked for a trade when he refused to do what the other great players of the team had done before him. Presti's hands were tied. It didn't matter how good Harden was or how well he fit into the Thunder system. Presti made it clear that if you don't want to be a team player in the negotiation room then he doesn't want you to be a player on the court. In a league full of players taking, the two teams with the players most willing to give their team some wiggle room were the teams that made it to the Finals, and those two teams were the Thunder and the Miami Heat. 

What I don't understand is what made Harden think that he was above the Thunder sacrifice rule? He couldn't possibly have thought he was going to get a max deal after both Westbrook and Ibaka signed deals that were favorable to the Thunder. Why did he think he was special? The team can definitely manage without him. He didn't not have the negotiating power of Durant, who is by far the best player on his own team and arguably number two behind LeBron in the entire league. Harden was just the sixth man of the team, a position that isn't that hard to replace. Being only 23, Harden would most likely be able to make up the five million dollars he would have left on the table if he decided to remain with the Thunder. I guess the rumors over the years of Harden wanting to lead his own team were true. Now he gets to be the main man in Houston and he'll be paid like one as well. For those getting ready to blurt out that Jeremy Lin is still the main man in Houston, I'm sorry but you're mistaken. James Harden is now by far the best player on the strangely formed Houston Rockets.

Speaking of the Rockets, you'll notice throughout this article that I have hinted that Houston forked over too much for Harden. If you haven't noticed, then I'm telling you now, Houston gave up way too much for James Harden. The trade officially goes down as James Harden, Daquan Cook, Cole Aldrich, and Lazar Hayward for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb, Toronto's lottery protected 1st rounder, Dallas' top-20 protected 1st rounder, and Boston's second rounder. Even with the two firsts being heavily protected, since when is a good sixth man and bench players worth a good veteran, a promising rookie, and three draft picks? The Magic only got six draft picks for Dwight Howard and half of them won't be used until 2015 or later. Not to mention the group of players the Magic received did not include anyone with nearly as much potential as Jeremy Lamb. I'm sorry Mo Harkless, but you are too raw to be compared to Lamb. The Rockets are incredibly dumb to give up so much for a guy that has been change of pace for Durant and Westbrook for his short career. He doesn't have enough star power to command such a deal. They don't even know if he has what it takes to be 'the man.'

The strangest part of this deal though is that it occurs right before the season. This is obviously because the contract extension deadline is October 31. I find it odd that the NBA has that deadline so late. You'd think that they'd have it before or at the halfway point of the preseason so that traded players would at least get a few exhibition games with their new teams before the regular season. Instead, Martin and Lamb will have to learn the Thunder way on the fly while Harden now has to learn to lead as he goes along. It's not completely unfair to teams that want to trade players they can't extend, however, because the season is 82 games long and all traded players shouldn't take that long to get accustomed to their new surroundings. To the people that want to make a big deal that the Thunder broke up their continuity and now might not be title contenders this year, you are crazy. All the top teams of the West, besides the Spurs, have reconfigured themselves and if you ask me, losing your sixth man isn't that big of a hit. It's not like the Thunder drastically changed their starting lineup like the Lakers and Mavs or completely overhauled their bench like the Clippers did. The Thunder will be fine. As long as Sam Presti is at the helm, it's their way or, in this case, the runway.

References

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Dreaming a Mega NFL Expansion

The National Football League is by far the best sports league in North America. This is a fact, not an opinion. The NFL makes about nine billion dollars a year. To compare, that is about as much as pro baseball (six billion) and hockey (three billion) make combined. Basketball fans don't get your hopes up either because the NBA is trying to avoid coming last in the ranking, not fighting for first. They make roughly four billion (although with the forming of 'super teams' becoming more common it's only a matter of time before the NBA equals and then passes the MLB). You can't argue against the NFL when they are ahead of the competition by three billion dollars. Now I know what some of you will shoot back with, "Just because it makes the most money, doesn't make it the best." Oh really? So then please explain to me how a sport in which each team plays 24 total games (preseason, season, postseason) makes billions and billions of dollars more than three sports in which each plays four times as many games per year? The only explanation is that it is better.

Now that I've convinced everyone that the NFL is the best, it's time to switch gears to what I really want to talk about, expansion. Right now the NFL is a 32-team, 8-division, 4 teams-per-division league. I would like to know what is preventing it from becoming a 40-team, 8-division, 5 team-per-division league. The way I see it, there are plenty of cities that would be worthy of a NFL team and there are plenty of current NFL backup and unsigned players worthy of starting on a NFL team. Scheduling wouldn't be that big of a problem either as adding eight teams comes down to fitting in four more games a week, which could be done a number of different ways (my favorite is to expand Thursday and Monday night football to two games and give CBS and FOX each another 4:25 game on Sunday). This expansion makes even more sense when you consider that three cities are already dying for a team. Los Angeles has wanted a team ever since the Rams left while the NFL has been hosting games in Toronto and London for several years now with what looks like the goal to put teams there permanently. Throw in another obvious city to put a team, Las Vegas, and you have half the expansion done already. The other four cities would be less obvious, but the NFL could definitely find four good cities (my votes are: Oklahoma City, San Antonio, Orlando, and somewhere in Nebraska).

The main argument against this mega expansion would be that the competition would be severely diluted. My question would be how? From college kids that don't get drafted because they weren't noticed or overplayed in the media to arena league players to players from the Canadian Football league, there are plenty of talented players that could suit up and do well in the NFL. For every Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, and Ray Lewis, there is a Tom Brady, Arian Foster, and Cameron Wake. All six of these players are very good football players. The difference between them is that the first three were supposed to be stars while the other three weren't supposed to be anything. But the other three were given a chance and they became stars. Do you know the reason why Foster wasn't drafted? His junior year he had a great year, but he decided to return to college instead of going pro. During his senior year he was got injured and he fell off the map. No team even took a flier on him in the later rounds. He worked his butt off on the Texans practice squad, got his chance to start due to injuries, and the rest is history. Arian Foster can't be the only player that has been overlooked by the NFL. Expanding to 40 teams may force teams to think outside the box when drafting and more hidden gems like Foster would be discovered.

Another common misconception would be that the players would not approve because they'd have to play more games. Yes, more games would be played, but that'd be because of the increase in teams, not an increase in the schedule. The NFL schedule would not need to grow to accommodate more teams. Therefore, players would still be playing 16 regular season games a year. What would change is how often they'd play teams out of their division. With five team divisions, each team would obviously play 10 divisional games and six non-divisional games. I think putting more emphasis on divisional games would make winning the division harder as teams tend to player division rivals a little harder than their other opponents. The Patriots-Jets game last week was proof of this. While the Patriots are the far better team, especially with all the Jet injuries, it still took overtime for them to beat the Jets, 23-20. A potential problem with 10 divisional games would be if a team found a way to sweep their division then they'd have a good chance to make the playoffs even if they lost their other six games. Of course, I would respond by noting how unlikely this would be because coaches would be the first to realize this and spend more time preparing for divisional games, making it much harder to win divisional match-ups. I could also remind you of how difficult it would be to reach the playoffs if a team didn't do very well in divisional play. Either way, playing a schedule with more divisional games wouldn't have as much of an effect on the playoffs as one would think.

Us NFL fans would undoubtedly welcome more games played each week. Selling us on expansion wouldn't be too hard. However, it might be hard to sell expansion on the existing owners. More teams just means more people to split revenue with, right? This is indeed true, but more teams also means more money. Theoretically speaking, if the NFL makes nine billion dollars in revenue, that means, on average, each team makes 281.25 million dollars. Adding eight teams increases league revenue to roughly 13.5 billion dollars and each team makes 337.50 million dollars, on average. In this instance, the owners make an additional 56.25 million dollars, but in reality they would make much more as TV contracts would have to be re-negotiated to fit the expanded league and merchandise numbers would increase eight times in accordance to the new teams. Plus, the eight new owners would have to pay entry fees to join the league. These numbers would only come into fruition after the league has reached 40 teams. The numbers vary drastically depending on how the league attacks the expansion plan.

Deciding how to expand is the most important part to expanding. There are a number of combinations that could be used to actually bring in the eight new teams. It could be as simple as bringing them all in at once or as complicated as bringing two teams in every few years. If it were me, I would bring in four then wait a few years to bring in the other four. I would do it this way to avoid unfairness in divisional play. The first four expansion teams wouldn't go into their eventual division homes right away, instead forming their own temporary division. This would keep four team divisions across the league, avoiding any complaints of some teams playing 10 divisional games while others still play eight. When the next wave of four teams comes in, each expansion team will go into its respective division and divisional match-ups will rise from eight to 10. I would have a waiting period between the two groups of four teams to allow the second group of teams to build stadiums and prepare for life in the NFL. The first group to enter would obviously include the four teams that were already prepared to enter the league. I think the two group way is the easiest way to do it while avoiding many of the potential problems that come with expansion.

The second most important part of expanding is deciding how the expansion drafts go. To me, this is very simple. All 32 practice squads are fair game while the backups on each team are also fair game. A backup would be defined by the number of snaps a player gets per game. If a player has some type of specialty, like a speed rusher or a third down passing back, they are not considered backups. To prevent teams from saying that all of their backups are specialty players, each team can only have a certain number of specialty players. If a player fails to meet the snaps requirement and isn't designated as a specialty player, then he is eligible to be drafted in the expansion draft. If a team likes a certain player that is eligible and is drafted but they don't want to give him up, then they could give the expansion team that selected him a draft pick that is one round lower than the round he was originally drafted in. For instance, if an expansion team wants to give Jimmy Clausen a shot at starting quarterback but the Panthers don't want to part with him for whatever reason, then the expansion team would receive a third round pick from the Panthers since Clausen was originally selected in the second round. For those thinking, "That's ridiculous Clausen isn't worth giving up a third rounder to keep, he's third string," it becomes easier to giving something up when you know you get to keep something more valuable, doesn't it? Free agents would not be part of the expansion draft and teams would have to negotiate contracts with them either before or after the draft. Also, expansion teams would take on the entire contract of every player they draft in the expansion draft. This wouldn't be a problem though because practice squad players and most backups do not make big money.

This covers most of the important things that would come up if the NFL were to expand. I would like to remind you that this piece is called "Dreaming a Mega NFL Expansion" with major emphasis on the word 'dreaming.' The NFL is not going to expand and while there are always rumors about a franchise in LA or London, the fact is those two cities would obtain a franchise through relocation, not expansion. I wrote this article thinking that it'd be fun if I could write down a NFL expansion plan that didn't sound like complete trash. I believe that most of my points are believable and logical. I chose when to go into detail and when not to keep the article from becoming too technical, to keep it from becoming a legit argument to why the NFL should expand to 40 teams. The article isn't meant to feed into the rumors of potential NFL expansion in the future. I wanted people to know it could happen and it would probably work out fine. I wanted to get people to think of what the NFL will do to keep growing and expanding without much international potential. I wanted people to realize all the talent that's wasted on the bench each week and would happen if they got their shot. I wanted people to dream of a perfect NFL.

My dream went so far I decided to write it down and post it for the whole world to see. How far will yours go?
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Monday

Yanks Need Reality Check

Today is the off day in the American League Championship Series. The Detroit Tigers lead the New York Yankees two games to none. The Tigers, probably just looking for a split, took both games in New York over the weekend backed by pitching and timely hitting. The Yankees also had the pitching, but the hitting just wasn't there. This is partially false though. This couple sentences describe the box scores of Game 1 and 2, but it doesn't accurately describe what actually happened on the field. The fact of the matter is the Tigers enjoyed immense luck throughout the first two games of the ALCS, and the Yankees could get right back into it once reality sets in for themselves and the Tigers.

The Detroit Tigers are known for Miguel Cabrera and Justin Verlander, first and foremost. They are the iconic stars of Motor City. On second look, you discover they have other great hitters in Prince Fielder, Austin Jackson, and Delmon Young. On third look, you discover they have good pitching behind Verlander in Doug Fister, Max Scherzer, and Anibal Sanchez. But then on the fourth look, you realize that their defense is below average at best. They win their games because of either good hitting or good pitching, rarely good defense. Anybody will tell you this. However, when you look at Game 1 and 2 of the ALCS, they won because of good defense. As of now, Jhonny Peralta should be the front runner for the title of MVP of the series. Peralta, the shortstop that looks like he should be at third, has made three extremely hard plays at short that saved at least four runs in Game 1 and at least one run in Game 2.

 The first play came in the 1st inning of Game 1 with the bases loaded and two outs. Alex Rodriguez hit a bullet in the hole between short and third, Peralta dove to left, got the ball, and made a twisting throw from his backside that somehow made it to second without pulling second baseman, Omar Infante, off the bag. On a scale of 1-10, the degree of difficulty of the play was about 25, and yet he made it. The second play came in the 2nd inning of Game 1 with the bases loaded and two outs again. This time Robinson Cano hit a bullet up the middle that never got to center field, instead hitting off the pitcher's wrist. The ball ricocheted to a charging Peralta who scooped it up and fired to first to get Cano according to the umpire, but replay showed Cano beat out the bang-bang play.  Two runs would have definitely scored on both of these plays, and considering the Yankees eventually lost by two, both plays loom large. Also, if these plays weren't made, extra innings might have not been needed and Derek Jeter might still be playing instead of debating whether to have surgery on his broken ankle or not. The Yankees sleeping bats and Jeter's injury dominated Game 1 headlines, but these two plays were the ones that swung the game in Detroit's favor.

 The third play Peralta made happened in Game 2. It's not quite as pivotal as the first two plays, but it still made a difference. It came in the 6th with runners on first and third and two outs. Russell Martin hit a fast-moving groundball to short. Peralta charged, barehanded the ball, and a made a perfect throw to first to get Martin. While this play happens more often than diving stops and balls going off the pitcher, it still was very difficult, especially in a playoff game in which runs were at a premium (none had scored at that point). If Peralta doesn't make that play, the Yankees would have scored first and the game would have gone into extra innings had the second base umpire not blown a call that resulted in two runs for the Tigers. It would have gone to extras because had the game played out the same way, the Tigers scored in the next inning and it would have been 1-1 without the blown call. Of course, you can't assume the game would have played out the same exact way, but it's only fair or else Yankee fans could assume the offense could have exploded that inning or vice versa for Tiger fans. This play, and the two from Game 1, were not routine plays and luck played a role in all three of them. The Tigers also caught lucky breaks when a ball hit by Austin Jackson in the ball bucket in right field that turned a double into a triple and when Nick Swisher lost a ball in the lights in extra innings which allowed the game-winning run to cross the plate for the Tigers. Lady Luck has clearly been on the side of the Tigers so far.

While Detroit may snap back to reality on defense and in good fortune, the Yankees also need a reality check. They need to snap back on offense. The entire regular season no one was afraid that the bats wouldn't put up runs. Instead, everyone worried whether the starters could hold the lead long enough to get into the back end of the bullpen. The postseason has been the complete opposite, though. The starters have done an excellent job keeping games in range for the potent offense to strike. The problem is the offense hasn't been potent outside the 9th inning. Cano and Swisher entered the postseason hotter than hot and Curtis Granderson did strike out plenty but he still hit timely bombs to left. Now neither of the three can buy a hit. Cano has gone hit-less in 26 straight at-bats, which is a postseason record, while Swisher and Granderson have about five hits between them. Alex Rodriguez has morphed into the 2011 version of Adam Dunn, except with no power. Girardi was so frustrated that after he was done ripping the league for not having replay review he turned to his hitters and said they know how they are being pitched but haven't made any adjustments and they needed to make those adjustments. After listening to John Smoltz on the TBS broadcast say multiple times that the Tigers pitching staff has been throwing breaking balls in hitters counts instead of fastballs, I don't know how the hitters haven't adjusted and started sitting on breaking balls in those counts. I know that's easier said than done, but they haven't even attempted to adjust and they just look foolish out there.

While the story remains that the Yankees need to somehow figure out how to hit again, there were other factors involved in the two losses at Yankee Stadium. No one dared say that the Tigers were fortunate that Peralta didn't screw up on any of his amazing plays or when Swisher didn't make that play in right. Someone has to point out that it wasn't all Detroit Tigers and that someone might as well be me. They've had plenty of luck factor into their seemingly insurmountable 2-0 lead in the ALCS. That is a fact. No true baseball fan could look you in the eye and say otherwise. If you don't believe me, then you too need a reality check.
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Tuesday

Tebow Better Than 2012 Sanchez

It has become painfully obvious that Mark Sanchez is not the franchise quarterback the New York Jets drafted him to be. He has shown flashes of improvement over the years and he can come through in the clutch, but he hasn't been able to put it all together. Is it entirely his fault? No, he has never been surrounded by a lot of talent, and when he was surrounded by enough to make him succeed, management didn't keep the core intact. Still, lack of talent is no excuse, and Sanchez himself will tell you that. Ryan Tannehill, QB of the Miami Dolphins, has put together a good season so far despite having average targets to throw to. So if Sanchez isn't the answer, what do the Jets do? Well, for starters, start Tim Tebow.

It is well documented that Tebow isn't the best "thrower," as I've heard people term it. Sanchez is a better thrower than Tebow, but does that make him the better option? You could make an argument that Mark Sanchez is a better thrower than Michael Vick, but would Sanchez be starting over Vick in Philadelphia? No, Vick gives the Eagles the best chance to win, which is why he hasn't been benched even though he's struggled this season as well. You could make another argument that Tim Tebow is a poor man's Michael Vick, better at scrambling and making plays than standing in the pocket and throwing. In Denver, Kyle Orton was a much better thrower than Tim Tebow, but he was benched for Tebow. If you ask me, Orton is better than Sanchez, and yet Orton is backing up Tony Romo in Dallas while Sanchez starts over Tebow in New York. My opinion means nothing, but it does bring up a good question, why do the Jets value Sanchez so much?

Through five games, Mark Sanchez has completed 48.4% of his passes. Last season with the Broncos, Tebow completed 46.5% of his passes. Sanchez's numbers would be the same as Tebow's without his Week 1 performance when he completed 70% of his passes against the Bills. But wait, if the only thing Sanchez has over Tebow is being a better thrower and he hasn't thrown the ball well in 4 out of 5 games, then what exactly is keeping Tebow from jumping him on the depth chart? If you are going to throw out a guy that completes only 45% of his passes, why not choose the one that can also run really well? When Sanchez is equal to Tebow in passing numbers, Tebow becomes the better player. Like it or not, Tim Tebow is the better option for the Jets. What makes Sanchez better? The fact that a few years ago he played in back-to-back AFC Championship games? Those teams were completely different from his current team and that's even before the injuries. Besides if the past meant anything in the NFL, then Donovan McNabb would still be starting somewhere.

Starting Tebow may make life easier for Tony Sparano, the master of the wildcat, as well. The only difference between the current wildcat formation and starting Tebow would be Mark Sanchez won't be lined up as a receiver, which is useless anyways. All he'd have to do is throw in a couple option plays, and the Jets offense would be operating full time out of the wildcat basically. Image what Sparano could do with a wildcat-like offense on nearly every down. He'd be in heaven creating crazy passing and running plays, a majority of which I'm sure Tebow could make work. Tebow turned the Broncos offense into winners with questionable personnel around him like aging Willis McGahee, young receiver Demaryius Thomas, and unknowns Eric Decker and Daniel Fells. When Dustin Keller and Stephen Hill return, the Jets offense won't be that much different than Denver's last year.

Like Sanchez, Tebow is not the future of the Jets, but if he wins, why not ride him until he fails? You will never have to worry about an empty stadium because fans will come to watch Tebow alone, wondering if he'd transform into a super quarterback in the 4th quarter and lead his team to victory. Plus his stats wouldn't matter as long as the team was winning games. If he wins, then why not start building around him? It's not like surrounding Tebow with talent will backfire because any QB after him would benefit from the talent. Tebow had some talented people around him while playing for the Florida Gators. During their BCS title run in 2008, Tebow was surrounded by current NFL stars Percy Harvin and Aaron Hernandez. He also had very talented players in Chris Rainey, Jeff Demps, Riley Cooper, and David Nelson. Tebow was pretty good without top talent last season for the Broncos, imagine if a team tabbed him as their starter and then actually started giving him talented targets? He might turn from serviceable to great.

The Jets have nothing to lose by starting Tebow because sticking with Sanchez is getting them nowhere. Let's say they start Tebow for the next five games, just to see what he does with the offense. If it works, you keep going with him. If it doesn't work, you go back to Sanchez or maybe even throw Greg McElroy out there for a few games. As my friend reminded me last night, McElroy played in the SEC in college and did pretty well against those tough defenses. The point is that it won't hurt the team no matter who is behind center because their season is already on the decline. You start Tebow because he proved last season that he could win games, even against Dick LeBeau and the Pittsburgh Steelers mighty defense.

 The only reason Tebow isn't starting right now is because Rex Ryan is stubborn and he refuses to bench a player because the fans and media want him to. Last year, John Fox chose to not be stubborn and it won him the division and a playoff game. A successful Tebow would make management look brilliant for acquiring Tebow and hiring Sparano. Right now both are looking stupid and unwarranted as Tebow averages about seven snaps per game. Mark Sanchez has had plenty of shots to prove that this is his job and he failed. Now give Tebow a shot and let him tebow the NFL. You know he can.

Reference

http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/gamelog/_/id/12482/mark-sanchez
http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/stats/_/id/13200/tim-tebow
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Florida_Gators_football_team
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The Difference Between Valentine and Francona

About a year ago, Terry Francona was dismissed from his position of manager of the Boston Red Sox. The reasoning was because he lost control of the clubhouse and it resulted in a September collapse that left them out of the playoffs. What that means is the young players that he guided to greatness (Pedroia, Youkilis, Ellsbury, etc.) had grown up and no longer looked up to him. They had all made it and were either stars or on the cusp or stardom. Boston management realized this and decided to hire Bobby Valentine to replace him. Valentine is a veteran manager known for managing veteran teams, which Boston became this year. Management wanted Valentine because he commanded respect and was unafraid to speak his mind. He was a leader of men while Francona was a leader of boys.

Last week Valentine was fired. Everyone threw in their two cents on why he got canned. Some were right and some were wrong. Curt Schilling was one of those that was wrong. He said on "Baseball Tonight" that Valentine was doomed from the start and that he was only hired to change the culture in the clubhouse. Change the culture? Oh, you mean clear out the beer and chicken? Any manager could have done that. Heck, Francona could have done that. The real reason Valentine was fired was because he couldn't get the job done. He was brought in to lead an expensive, mostly veteran roster back to the promise land, and he failed miserably. Yes, the team was wrecked by injuries and trades, but the result wouldn't have been much better if there were no changes to the roster. Valentine's outspokenness got him in trouble and a clubhouse that never really wanted him completely turned on him early. This combined with his inability to manage the kids at the end of the season showed management that there was no reason to bring him back. There is a reason he only got a two-year deal. If he couldn't make this roster produce, then they were blowing it up and starting anew, and Bobby V isn't the guy you want overseeing a rebuilding project.

Terry Francona, on the other hand, is the perfect guy to oversee a rebuilding project. Francona is a players manager and a great teacher and guide. Last week the Cleveland Indians began their search for a new manager after firing Manny Acta in late September. The Indians aren't really 'rebuilding,' but they aren't a veteran team either. The job was literally made for Francona. The roster is full of young talent with loads of potential. The front office had two guys in Mark Shapiro and Chris Antonelli that Francona has a great relationship with. To top it all off, Francona's father played his best ball with the Indians many moons ago. The Indians were aware of all of this and that's why they only interviewed two people, Francona and interim manager Sandy Alomar Jr. Alomar couldn't beat what Francona brought to the table, though, even with being a fan favorite from his playing days. Francona essentially won the lotto of baseball jobs. Oh, if you don't believe me when I say he's better with young players, then I'll have him to you himself. During his introductory press conference, he said this, "Dealing with players is fun. Dealing with young players is really fun." Francona has four years to get the Indians to the playoffs. I think: A) there's a good chance the Indians will be in the playoffs next year, and B) Francona will be managing in Cleveland a hell of a lot longer than four years.

As for Bobby Valentine, I think it's obvious that his time in the dugout is over. He took a shot at reviving the Red Sox after a year that shocked all of baseball, but he couldn't do it. Everyone should commend him for that because following Terry Francona in Boston was no easy feat from a fan or player perspective. He is great in the booth as a commentator, and after losing Francona I don't see why ESPN wouldn't give Valentine is old job back. The booth is perfect for Bobby V. He gets to watch tons of baseball and share is abundance of knowledge with the world every Sunday night. He also can critique any player he wants from the broadcast and nobody will turn on him. As a member of the media, no one is going to second guess Bobby Valentine. He may know more about the game than every ESPN baseball analyst put together. With Valentine back in the booth and Francona managing the Indians, one could say the last two baseball seasons were destined to happen. I don't believe in destiny, though. I was just showing you the difference between Valentine and Francona.

Reference

http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/8478982/new-cleveland-indian-terry-francona-hopes-more-rental-manager
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Monday

Dealing with Non-Stop Basketball

By non-stop basketball, I mean continually playing professional basketball with little or no offseason. I am obviously referring to a NBA season during an Olympic year. During this type of year, the best players don't receive a true offseason, instead going off to represent their country in the summer Olympics. It is a tough grind the next season for all who went, especially right after a lockout-shortened season in which there was more basketball days than days off. It is even tougher for those who played in the Finals. This year four players played in both the NBA Finals and the Olympics, and they are LeBron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden. Now that a new NBA season is right around the corner, their coaches will have to watch their workload.

James has already begun limiting himself in order to stay strong for the entire season. ESPN's Michael Wallace reported early this afternoon that the plan is to rest James during training camp and preseason. Training camp is for guys to get back into basketball shape after summer off, but James is already in basketball shape due to his time in London. Miami Heat head coach, Erik Spoelstra stated that the availability of certain players will vary from day-to-day, and James is included in that. James also might miss the first preseason game against Atlanta. This cautious attitude James and the Heat are taking is to prevent James from overworking himself and then breaking down at some point during the regular season. Back in his Cleveland days, James worked so hard to carry his team that by the time the playoffs rolled around he was spent. Haters will say that he choked during the playoffs as a Cav, but that is obviously not the case as in two seasons with the Heat he has made it to the Finals each year, winning one, with a good supporting cast.

Durant, Westbrook, and Harden are in a different boat than James. No plans of rest have been announced, or rumored, for the trio of stars from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Unlike James, Durant, Westbrook, and Harden are still in their early 20s. I don't think Thunder head coach Scott Brooks is even thinking about resting his three best players during training camp and the preseason. I think he is thinking the opposite because Durant, Harden, and Westbrook are unfinished products. Brooks loves the fact that his three guys got to take part in the Olympics and learn from the best in the game, and now he wants to work hard and continue to develop during camp. James is a complete player who is refining parts of his game, and so he can afford to miss time. The three leading men of the Thunder, however, all have their flaws and areas to work on, and need all the time they can get to improve themselves. Unfortunately, there is no time for rest in Oklahoma City. Should Thunder fans be worried of increased injury risk or ineffectiveness because of the team's go mentality? Nahh.

Sure technically speaking Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden are susceptible to injury or tiredness if they take no breaks before the season after non-stop basketball that started the December before and ended in mid August. But then again everyone is susceptible to those things. Worrying about them would be like worrying if you were going to get fired tomorrow because that could happen too, technically speaking. As a fan, you want to see your team improve, and the only way for the team to do that is too push themselves. If Durant, Westbrook, and Harden walked into camp and sat on the sidelines and said "Nah, we're good. Did you not see us play in the Olympics?", what would the rest of the team think. Well they'd think those three think they are above practice and improvement, and you know how everyone feels about practice. If no one thought practicing was important, then we never would have gotten Allen Iverson's famous press conference that consisted of him rambling in disbelief about why he was fielding questions about practice. Bottom line is practice is very important. It builds team chemistry, it gives everyone a sense of accountability, and leads to player improvement. The Thunder are one of the younger teams in the league, as well, and so practice is even more important for the future of the team.

In conclusion, dealing with non-stop basketball differs with each player. You could have someone like LeBron James who is a veteran that has earned his stripes and deserves some of rest after guiding his team to a title and his country to a gold medal. You also have guys like the Thunder trio who are young players that have earned respect around the league yet still need to do more to get to the next level. You could also argue that they deserve some rest for leading their team to the Finals and helping their country capture gold, but the need to improve outweighs the need for rest. While James has done just about everything a pro basketball can do, Durant, Westbrook, and Harden have barely scratched the surface. You will hear the critics going after the Thunder trio now that LeBron has won his ring because he has finally silenced his critics. Non-stop basketball might be no big deal for the young guns of Oklahoma City, but now they have to carry that momentum into another season. The rested King just has to what he's done for a decade.

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