The Hall of Fame: For Good Players or Good People?

Through the years, there have been a few instances of players not getting into the baseball hall of fame because of controversial events that had little to do with their baseball skills or statistics. The most popular case is that of Pete Rose, who was permanently banned by Bart Giamatti in 1989 for allegedly betting on baseball. Former Chicago White Sox great "Shoeless" Joe Jackson also has yet to be elected to Cooperstown after he was found guilty of the 1919 scandal to fix the world series.

Examples such as Rose and Jackson raise the question of whether players should get into Hall of Fame solely on statistics, or if character should be taken into consideration. Based on numbers alone, Rose and Jackson should certainly both be in the Hall of Fame. Rose was a career .303 hitter who also holds the all-time record for games played, plate appearances, at bats and hits. He also won three world series titles and was a 17 time all-star. I'll say that again...he made the all-star team 17 times. Shoeless Joe Jackson was a career .356 hitter and would have undoubtedly been one of the better hitters of all time if not for his lifetime ban from the game.

In my opinion, both of these men deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. Last time I checked, players got into Cooperstown for being great players, not great people. I'm not defending Pete Rose's gambling, but his numbers say he is a shoe-in hall of famer. The same can be said for Jackson. In fact, there has never been any proof that Jackson was knowingly involved in the fix. He was illiterate and likely did not know the papers he was signing were documents to throw the series. In addition, if character is such a big requirement for getting voted in, then how did less than reputable people such as Mickey Mantle, Joe DiMaggio or Ty Cobb get in?

There is one group, however, that I believe should not get in despite their gaudy statistics: the steroid users. Barry Bonds may be the all-time home run king, but he more than likely used performance enhancing drugs to help him get there. That is much different than just being a jerk (even though he has a reputation as being surly) or gambling on baseball. He did something that physically helped him put up such large numbers. The same can be said for players like Alex Rodriguez, Rafael Palmeiro and Mark McGwire. Make no mistake, these guys are talented, but they did things to give them an edge on the field.

While the steroid users shouldn't be allowed in, I believe players like Rose and Jackson should get there, and I hope to see both of them inducted someday.

It's Time To Love Hockey All Over Again

With a possible NFL lockout looming, where will sports fans find entertainment during the winter? Sure, basketball is all good and well, but it's time to rediscover a sport that doesn't get its due justice here. America, I'd like to reintroduce you to hockey.

How this sport has lost so much attention is beyond me. Perhaps it is due to the lockout during the 2004-05 season. Well, it's time to forgive and forget. It fast paced and hard-hitting, sometimes even more violent than football. In an age where bloodsports like MMA and football are popular, how does the NHL go unnoticed? Perhaps even more impressive is the skill needed to play hockey. The coordination required to make pinpoint passes and shoot laser beam shots while moving full speed on skates is off the charts. Goalies have to stop pucks flying at speeds of over 100 miles per hour while being screened by opposing players. Defensemen have to skate backwards almost as fast as the wings do going forwards.

Yet, despite all of this, most people either refuse to watch or do not realize what they are missing out on. I have a great number of friends who enjoyed watching the NHL Skills Competition they hold during the All-Star break. They were literally amazed at the talent these professionals possess. Yet, inexplicably, they still refuse to watch once the games resume. Sports fans, it is time to give hockey another chance.

NFL Redzone: Is it Ruining Football Viewing?

"Turn to Redzone." That's what my father says anytime we watch football together. The NFL Redzone is a channel that provides viewers whip-around coverage of all the NFL games in coverage. This network is useful for fantasy junkies who can constantly watch their players who are in games that aren't on cable channels in their local market. This is why my dad loves the channel (and to watch the Patriots). Over the course of it's existence, it has caught on and become very popular with football fans everywhere.

Redzone does not come without it's drawbacks, however. While it is a great way to keep up on the action going on around the league, Redzone will only stay with a game for one or two plays before changing over to another contest. As a serious football fan, I cannot watch like this. I like the continuity of one game. Just as I get into the rhythm of one game, Redzone switches to another. For some reason, it's hard to enjoy football if you are watching three different games in a span of ten seconds. I prefer to watch a game from kick to the final whistle. So while Redzone may be great for state heads and fantasy geeks, I'll stick with CBS and Fox for my NFL coverage.

Receivers and Wallets: Big Hits

A few weeks ago, a series of big helmet-to-helmet collisions in the NFL has lead the league to implement a punishment system for illegal hits to the head. While it cost a penalty before, now it will cost the culprit an additional fine and possible suspension. These types of collisions are dangerous, as it is very likely to cause a concussion for one or both the players involved. While these type of hits have always been dangerous, the league is just now making an effort to prevent them.

The three hits in question were Pittsburgh linebacker James Harrison on Cleveland receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, Atlanta cornerback Dunta Robinson on Philadelphia receiver DeSean Jackson, and New England safety Brandon Meriweather on Baltimore tight end Tood Heap. Each of the three defenders were fined several tens of thousands of dollars, and prompted mutiliple-time offender James Harrison to leave practice to mull over retirement for a couple of days. He claimed that if he couldn't play aggressively anymore, he was not sure he wanted to be in the NFL.

The question is, why is the league just now making a large issue out of this? Helmet-to-helmet hits and concussions have been a part of the game since its inception. Concussions have been at the center of debate in the NFL for many years, but the league is just now making motions to prevent them. Some analysts blame the lack of tackling fundamentals of this generation's defenders. Others say concussions are becoming more of an issue. While tackling may not be as good as it used to be, concussions have always been a problem. Troy Aikman and Steve Young suffered multiple head injuries 15-20 years ago, long before this new movement. While I agree with the league to punish helmet-to-helmet hits, I think they should have done this a lot earlier. A lot of mushy brains could have been saved.

Win Now or Pay Later?

There has been an emerging trend in major league baseball the last few seasons that can greatly impact a team's success. This trend involves keeping promising young prospects in the minor leagues for an extended amount of time in order to hold that player's contractual rights for an additional season. If a rookie starts the season with a major league club, he has to accumulate five years of service in order to be eligible for free agency. If he is kept in the minors at the beginning of the season for a certain amount of time, then called up, he has to wait six years to apply for free agency. For example, the Braves decided to put 20-year-old super prospect Jason Heyward (pictured above) on their major league roster to start the season. This means he can be eligible for free agency in 2015. If they had waited nine days from opening day, then called him up, he would have had to wait until 2016, giving his rights to the Braves for an additional year. Many teams have been keeping their young stars in the minors at the beginning of the season so they can put off for an additional season offering them a huge contract. The issue is, however, what if the young player can make an impact on your team right now? Do you hold him down in the minors for financial reasons, or put him on the major league roster to help your team win?
A perfect example of this involves pitcher Tommy Hanson, another Braves elite prospect. Last season, the Braves held him in the minor leagues until June so he would have to wait an additional year to become a free agent. Once he was called up to the majors, he was dominant. The Braves narrowly missed making the playoffs, and many feel they would have made it if Hanson was on the team from the beginning of the season. The Braves possibly sacrificed making the playoffs to save money in the future. A similar incident happened a few years ago when the Tampa Bay Rays left Evan Longoria (not to be confused with Eva) in the minors for about a month. Although it didn't hurt their season, it once again showed some franchises are willing to place money above success.
If a player is ready to contribute at the major league level, he deserves a chance. If he turns out to be as good a player as everyone expects, the team is going to have to pay him a large contract anyway, regardless of whether that player has to wait five or six years. It appears the Braves learned their lesson with Hanson, and put Heyward on the major league team. Sometimes, paying stars large amounts of money is just the cost of doing business.

Expand to 96? I Hope Not

March Madness is just days away, as 65 teams get ready to battle it out for the title. Well, only about ten teams have an actual chance at winning, but that doesn't stop fans from every school from hoping that their program is this year's cinderella story. Kids and adults alike fill out brackets, and stop all productive activity to follow their bracket as the tournament progresses.
Recently, the NCAA has proposed expanding the field from 65 to 96 teams. This would be mainly for financial reasons. More games means more commercials, as well as more tickets and merchandise sold. The only problem is, that many teams would water down the excitement of the tournament. If there were 96 teams, there would be a lot of mediocrity in the early rounds. Who wants to see a 19th seed play? With that many teams, even Georgia may have had a chance to make it this year, and we all know they are far from a competitive team. The early rounds would feature matchups between last place-caliber teams, and no one wants to see that. So, the NCAA should just keep the field at 65 teams and leave the excitement as it is.

Class Movie Review

The movie we viewed in class, titled Loveless, is about a man working a dead end job who has a relationship with two different women. One of the women, Ava, is a young lady he meets at a night club and considers putting into the movie he is trying to make. The other girl is a more mature down to earth individual who used to date the main character, Andrew. Throughout the movie, Andrew goes back and forth between the two women. The conflict is that Ava, his potential actress, seems to be crazed. She claims she can speak with her dead father, as can the rest of her large family. After she gets in a fight with Andrew, her brothers seem to stalk him everywhere. Meanwhile, he continues to try to have a stable relationship with the other woman.
Though I was not able to view the whole movie, the plot was very unique. The stories gradually tied into each other, linking all the characters. While the women characters were very good, I often found myself annoyed by Andrew. He seemed rather lazy and indifferent toward everything that happened to him. The dialogue was very good, keeping the conversations casual and realisitic. Overall, it seems like an interesting movie, though I cannot fully comment since I was not able to finish the film.