All posts by Jim

Putting a Fork in Indiana

For a while now, I haven’t been posting as much as I would like to on this blog, but haven’t done anything about it.  The problem is not that I don’t have enough material or desire to write, but its more because of I didn’t know how I wanted to write.  As I constantly read stories and article written by guys like Rick Reilly and Adam Schefter, I felt inspired to offer my point of view on whatever interested me at the time.  But instead of using that as a starting point, I tried too hard to emulate the structured and formal work that they did.  I realize now that isn’t what I wanted to do.  I found myself sitting in front of my computer for hours on end just thinking of something that people wanted to read about – usually whatever was headlining on ESPN that day – and how I was going to voice my thoughts in a way that was similar to the writers on the major sports networks.  That was mistake, and I’m going to give this another try.  From here on out, I won’t be spending hours at a time researching statistics just so I can spit them right back out and tell you what they mean.  This blog is going to be an outlet for my thoughts on sports – as outlandish and brutal as they may be – and if you don’t enjoy that, I completely understand if you stop coming here.  If you’re going to stick around, you’re obviously very intelligent and I appreciate the support.

Now that I have that off my chest…

Does anybody really think that the Pacers even have a fighter’s chance against Miami?  It’s understandable to say yes only if you’re associated with one team or the other, but I really don’t want to hear the same old cries of “It’s not over ‘til it’s over” or “It’s a seven game series.”  Save your breath.  Even without Bosh, they should bully Indiana and end the series in 4 or 5 games.  Beyond that is a different story, as they have nobody down low to match up against the Tim Duncans or Andrew Bynums that lie ahead.

LeBron James eats Danny Granger for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  He has done this his entire career, and I don’t expect it to change. When LeBron was in Cleveland, he played defense on Granger 4 times a year, and locked him down every single time.  The matchup isn’t any better on the other end of the court; all you have to do is look at LBJ’s stats in Game 1.  Using this argument alone, I feel like I can rest my case.  There is nobody on the Pacers that can stop the best player in the world from completely taking over the game – not to mention D. Wade – and that’s why their season ends right now.  Mark it down.

Seeing this series go the other way would be one of the more ridiculous things I have seen in sports.  I don’t doubt that Indiana is a very good team, and I understand that they had the 3rd best record in the east, only 4 games back of the high-and-mighty Heat.  This doesn’t change my opinion at all.  They played out of their minds for the last six weeks of the regular season, and used their physical nature to win games (against a weak conference).  I can’t fathom Miami being outmuscled; Wade and James won’t let it happen.

I’m willing to listen to arguments, although I doubt there will be many.  The general public knows that a Heat victory is almost a certainty, but they are not so hasty to consider the Pacers dead.  I am.

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Baseball a Clean Slate for Hamilton

Josh Hamilton is knocking the hell out of the ball again.  That’s not news to anybody though – every educated baseball fan knows that he is among the elite hitters in the league right now.  Over this past offseason, a story broke that Hamilton “relapsed” when he went out for a drink at a bar with a family member in February.

This isn’t news either – or at least it shouldn’t be.

The big sources that people go to for sports news (ESPN, Fox Sports) tend to ride the same story as long as they can squeeze something juicy out of it.  The examples are plentiful: Tiger Woods and his infidelity, Tim Tebow and his faith, Alex Rodriguez and his steroid use.  There is nothing wrong with milking a story for all its worth, but sometimes the media goes too far.  It’s not hard to see how some reporters twist and bend stories to their liking, usually because they try to either glorify or demonize someone.  What other explanation is there for a man as genuine as Tim Tebow receiving so much hate, or Ozzie Guillen’s press conferences being laughed at like dirty jokes from a stand-up comic?

I should have known that the media would take a similar approach with Hamilton.  Two years ago, he was the feel-good story of the MLB.  He had managed to control his addiction to alcohol and numerous drugs through his faith.  He even published an autobiography, titled “Beyond Belief” which goes into detail about his struggle with addiction and how he has learned to overcome it.  He was the classic darling who overcame a troubled past, and went on to have great success.  The thing is, his story is incredible enough without knowing the terrible details of his darker days.

As soon as he was able to play in the MLB in 2007, he had immediate success.  He batted .292 in his rookie year as a Cincinnati Red, then went on to Texas where he made the All Star Game four times in four years.  In 2010, he hit .359 with 32 home runs, which was enough to earn him the AL MVP.

Through 21 games this year, Hamilton already has 9 home runs and is hitting .388.  Of course the season is in diapers, but those numbers show that he is still among the elite sluggers of the MLB and this most recent “relapse” is really nothing to worry about.  I understand that Josh Hamilton went through some really dark times and they are nothing to joke about, but if he chooses to go out for a drink with some family and it doesn’t escalate any further than that, I don’t see what the big deal is.

I think now we should start viewing him as a great baseball player first, and a recovering addict second.  In my eyes, the “incident” this February was not an incident at all, and has nothing to do with his career as a professional baseball player.  People need to give credit where credit is due and recognize him as a great baseball player instead of a tortured soul.  He has already gotten himself out of that hole and to me, he has proven that we should all stop expecting that he’ll fall back in it.

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Draft Hinges on Cleveland

by Nick Wershing

With the top two picks in tomorrow’s NFL draft locked up, the only thing anyone seems sure of is that there are only three elite players left: USC Tackle Matt Kalil, LSU Corner Morris Claiborne, and Alabama Running Back Trent Richardson. Most experts expect the Vikings to take either Morris Claiborne or Matt Kalil with the third overall pick. This brings us to the Browns. Supposing the Browns don’t trade out, and the Vikings go with Kalil, they seem to have three options: they can go with another of the elite players in Richardson, they can bring in the top weapon in the draft in Oklahoma State’s Justin Blackmon to help Colt McCoy, or they can bring in a new quarterback in A&M’s Ryan Tannehill.

Richardson is the hot pick for experts right now, seeing as he is touted as the best back since Adrian Peterson. If Richardson can be anything like Peterson, this pick is a home run. Richardson clearly has the ability to run both between the tackles and bounce it outside, but what makes him more dynamic are his ability to catch the ball out of the backfield and his willingness to stay in the backfield and block. Richardson is a do-it-all back. There are only a handful of teams at this spot that would not take Richardson. If the Vikings did not have Peterson, they would be taking Richardson one spot earlier. So why is Richardson not a lock here? Well, let’s look into this further… Continue reading

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