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.

Spring Training: The Delusional Baseball Fan's Favorite Time of Year

The middle of February is a great time for baseball fans. The weather is starting to get warmer (except in Buffalo, which doesn't get the weather memo), the grass is turning green, and opening day for baseball is just six weeks away. Hope springs eternal for every fan of every team, who truly believe that this is the year their hometown heroes are going to win the World Series. The same votes of confidence are muttered by rabid supporters every season. Seamus, a 30 year old pub owner from South Boston, says, "If Josh Beckett stays healthy, and our offense is able to hit with some power, the Red Sox are gonna go wicked fah in the playoffs." Tony, a 45 year old cheesesteak entrepreneur from Philadelphia, claims, "Yo, if that wimp Brad Lidge can get his fragile mind right and nail down 40 saves, the World Series is in the bag for the Phillies." Vinny, a 24 year old chop shop employee from Queens, is almost certain that "If the back end of our rotation steps up, our stars stay healthy, and Jeff Francoeur gets lost on the way to the ballpark, the Mets are easily gonna win the title. Fogedaboutdit." Then there are Cubs fans. We won't talk about them.
Preseason optimism is one of the elements that makes baseball so great. Sure, it is very easy to believe YOUR team is going to win it all before even one game is played. But what about if you're a fan of a team that has no chance? If you're a Nationals fan, do not tell me about how "dominant" your ballclub will be this year. The Nationals won 59 games last year (out of 162). They could be in a division all by themselves and still be mathematically eliminated from the playoffs two weeks into the season. As a Pirates, Blue Jays, or Athletics fan, one would have to be truly disillusioned to think their franchise is going to take home the trophy this year. So please, if your team is not going to compete in this upcoming campaign (admit it, you know who you are), do not set yourself up for disappointment when your club starts the season 12-45.

Give the Refs a Break

If you have ever been to a hockey game, you will notice that the refs get booed when they take the ice before every period. This made me think of how unfairly most referees and umpires are treated. If they make a mistake, they are subjected to the anger of the fans, players, and coaches alike. They regularly hear insults and taunts, and may occassionally have objects thrown at them.
What fans need to remember is that referees make the correct call virually 99% of the time. If they make a bad call every now and then, it's just a mistake, and they feel just as bad about it as the fans that get angry. They have to make tough decisions and calls on plays transpire in a fraction of a second. They see things that the average human would never spot. Also keep in mind that unlike the players, the officials do not get to rest until the game is over. The hockey refs have to stay on the ice all 60 minutes, while the players change shifts every 90 seconds or so. In baseball, the umpires have to stay on the field the entire game without sitting down. Imagine being a home plate umpire and having to stand for three hours in full gear in 95 degree heat. These conditions are hardly worth the low salaries that they make. Next time you think about getting on a referee, keep this in mind.

Do We Really Care?

The past few years I have noticed that sports networks dedicate a lot of time, perhaps too much, on stories that the public and most sports fans probably aren't interested in. One large network, ESPN (I believe it's now called the Favre/Tebow Network), is particularly guilty of this. Last summer, when quarterback Brett Favre was considering returning to the NFL to play for the Vikings, ESPN set up trucks, cameras and a news anchor in his front yard, which resembled a stakeout. From his lawn, they provided virtually 24-hour, up to the minute coverage of anything that Favre did. When Favre came out to mow his lawn, it became breaking news. Everytime he left his house, video came on the station. Every time he sneezed, all programming was interrupted to report on it (ok I may have made that last one up). My point is that as a sports fan, I don't tune in to see if Brett Favre is washing his car or ordering a pizza. I watch to see highlights and stories that are far more important and actually pertain to sports, not their private lives.
Another example of this is when Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo was dating Jessica Simpson. ESPN spent more time talking about the couple's trip to Cabo than the Cowboys' upcoming playoff game. ESPN also spent 20 minutes yesterday talking about Tim Tebow's first workout for pro scouts. His workouts are important, but they dedicated the entire time to talking about trivial details, such as discussing and showing video of him taking snaps from directly under center, which he will have to do in the NFL, as opposed to in the shotgun formation which he did while at Florida. It is not a big deal, considering anyone with two hands can easily take a snap. Seeing as it's 3 months away from the draft, is that really important? No, it is not. When sports fans turn on ESPN, they want to see highlights and more pressing stories that have more importance. I'm not saying they need to completely cut out those other stories, but they don't need to dedicate an overwhelming amount of time to them either. Instead of telling me every move Favre is making, just let me know when he signs with someone. Rather than documenting everything Romo and Simpson did in Cabo, just mentioning that they were dating would suffice (if I cared about the Cowboys).

Heart concerns

Last Thursday, Southern Indiana basketball player Jeron Lewis collapsed during a game and later died. On Sunday morning, Chicago Bears defensive end Gaines Adams was admitted to a hospital and pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Both of these players died of heart complications. While these two men died just recently, there have been several cases of collegiate and professional atheletes dying from heart conditions. The heart has to work harder for someone with a larger-than-average body, such as basketball and football players, putting tremendous strain on it. These recent deaths lead me to wonder how these tragedies keep happening. How did Adams's fatally-oversized heart go unnoticed? If all athletes go through rigorous physical examinations, how do glaring health problems like heart issues go undetected? Wouldn't the heart be one of the most throughly-examined parts of the body? Before any high-level athlete steps on the field, they should have to perform mandatory heart screens to try to prevent these sort of sad stories from happening again.

Baseball Hall of Fame Voting

Last Wednesday, Andre Dawson was voted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame after being eligible for multiple years. Once a player retires, he has to wait five years to become eligible for induction. To gain admission, a player must receive votes from 75 percent of the sportswriters who are chosen to vote. A player is eligible for fifteen years after he retires. It took Dawson nine years (after he became eligible) to be voted in, even though his career statistics probably should have made him a Hall of Famer much sooner.
The issue I have with Hall of Fame voting is the voters' tendency not to vote in a player in his first year of eligibility, no matter how good they are. Some of the greatest players in the history of the game, including Babe Ruth and Joe Dimaggio, did not make it on their first try. This year, Roberto Alomar did not make it in his first year of eligibility, even though he is one of the top 5 second basemen of all time. The issue I have is why wait to put a player in? If they are deserving, why do voters make them wait 2, 3 or even 10 years? Once a player retires, his statistics aren't going to change. If he is voted in next year, then he was deserving to be voted in this year too.

Alex Chaet's Sports Blog

Welcome to my blog. I will be posting my opinion on current issues in sports at least once a week.