When will the Madness End?

I’ve been trying to avoid this for the last two months now. As I’m sure you have been to. Today was the day that Brett Favre would announce his decision on whether he would or would not join the Minnesota Vikings. Well that was Monday when it was reported and now he is second guessing himself. WHAT!? Are you kidding me Brett? What could possibly keep you from coming back this time? I for one don’t care anymore, but I probably want this to happen more than anyone.

Last year when he was traded to the Jets or as I called them the “Brett’s.” That was not his decision as Green Bay controlled him. When he almost immediately announced his retirement at the end of the season, speculation started on him changing his mind. Only because it happened the year before and it will probably happen again. Sure enough it was Minnesota that initiated the talks, just like the year before when he was in Green Bay. Now of course the Packers weren’t going to trade him to a division rival, but now Brett is free to decide where to go. Where else but the Vikings to stick it to Green Bay for two games. Well, specifically GM Ted Thompson who refused to let Brett back when he changed his mind.

For that reason alone I would love to see Brett come back and either ruin his legacy more or become a hero for a new team. Favre had surgery on the bum shoulder, which signaled that he was coming back. Now because he is reportedly getting text messages from Viking players Adrian Peterson, Jared Allen and Steve Hutchinson he is having a change of heart. Yeah, I guess the pressure can get to even the best of us. He now realizes that he has put himself and an entire franchise into a corner they can’t get out of. If he decides to go, expectations will be Super Bowl or bust. If he decides to stay retired, the Vikings will be stuck with Tavaris Jackson and Sage Rosenfels who I’m sure are not happy at all about the whole situation. It’s a lose lose situation for Favre and Minnesota. I’m just so glad I’m not a Viking fan because I would be real worried about seeing him in purple and not seeing him in purple. Have fun.

The Candy Man wants more Candy

There comes a time when someone will say enough is enough. Well, Lakers owner Jerry Buss came to that point last week when he reportedly removed the Lakers offer of 3 years at $9 million a year from the table for free agent Lamar Odom. Now how did it get to this point? When the Lakers essentially had no plans of bringing back Trevor Ariza, they at least had a back up plan in Ron Artest. I am in no means saying I’d rather have Artest, but it was a decent move when you lose Ariza. But in the Odom situation, what would the back up plan be. Ric Bucher of ESPN said when news of this broke two names I would never imagine being Lakers. Joe Smith and Drew Gooden. Ewww. No disrespect to them, but if those are the options to replace Odom you can forget it.

Cooler heads have to prevail here. Dr. Buss needs to put the offer back on the table and wait for Odom to realize that will be the best offer for him. What happened to the team player in Odom when he said,

“As long as I can keep going to the NBA Finals, count me in.”

The best offer Lamar could get is from Portland. They still have plenty of cap space, but surprisingly have shown little interest in Odom. Dallas and Miami have talked to Lamar, but can only offer the mid level exception of just under $6 million a year to him. Now if you do the math that is only $3 million more than the Lakers offer for two more years. Plus, Miami and Dallas are not considered power houses to win a title. Do you want to win or not Lamar?

It has been reported that in the last twenty four hours Jerry Buss has talked to Lamar and that Miami has already offered him a contract of $34 million over five years. If Jerry puts another year on his offer, he will have to take it. Personally, I would not be holding out like this. It’s the freaking Lakers. That three year deal is very good. Plus you’ll be playing for the Lakers. Not their JV cousins aka the Clippers. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired of athletes coming out to essentially say it is not about the money, I just want to win. The real translation is that it is always about the money and I do want to win at the same time. You can’t have both, well most of the time. Think real hard about it Lamar and don’t forget that I had your back with your candy addiction. Free candy as a Laker should be the incentive for his new contract Jerry. Where’s Wonka when you need him?

MLB Midseason Awards

With the All-Star break being the halfway point in the MLB season it’s time to decide who is worthy of taking home the individual hardware. Be it MVP, Cy Young, Rookie, Manager or my newest one, best story. Lets see who wins the individual awards for the first half of 2009.

AL MVP: Justin Morneau 1B Minnesota Twins

NL MVP: Albert Pujols 1B St. Louis Cardinals

Close second in the AL goes to Angels CF Torii Hunter. What he has done in a lineup without Vladimir Guerrero for most of the year is amazing. Morneau though has been a constant force. Remember, he’s been doing this without Joe Mauer in the lineup for almost the whole first month of the season. .311 batting, 21 HR and 70 RBI. Those are the best all around numbers of any first baseman in the American League. The Twins would not be where they are in the standings without Morneau’s consistent bat. What else can I say about Pujols other than he is a threat for the triple crown. Again. .332, 32 HR and 87 RBI. Fourth, first, first respectively leading in those categories. Is there really anyone else?

AL Cy Young: Zack Greinke Kansas City Royals

NL Cy Young: Tim Lincecum San Francisco Giants

Both of these pitchers are going for the Triple Crown in their leagues. Greinke sports a league leading 2.12 ERA. Lincecum is second at 2.33. Greinke and Lincecum both have 10 wins. Greinke has 129 strikeouts to put him at third. Lincecum leads with 149 strikeouts. I could make a case for Roy Halladay in Toronto or Dan Haren in Arizona, but both have won this award until further notice.

AL Rookie: J.A. Happ Pitcher Philadelphia Phillies

NL Rookie: Andrew Bailey Pitcher Oakland Athletics

It was no fluke that Bailey was selected to the All-Star game. Well, part of it was the Selig rule that every team must be represented, but aside from that this kid has put up some impressive numbers. In 39 relief appearances he has struck out 60 batters in just over 52 innings pitched. A WHIP under 1.00 and an ERA at 1.92. Oh and also getting 10 saves. Not bad considering the state the A’s are in now. Happ is a good story and has backed it up with solid outings. A perfect record of 6-0 while starting the season in the bullpen, but later put back in the rotation to stay. With an ERA of 2.90 and a WHIP under 1.20 while playing in Philadelphia is very impressive. Colby Rasmus of St. Louis deserves some consideration, but I award it to a Phillie.

AL Manager: Jim Leyland Detroit Tigers

NL Manager: Ken Macha Milwaukee Brewers

Now there were a lot of choices in the American League. Especially in the AL West with Ron Washington, Don Wakamatsu and Mike Scioscia. But who had the Tigers in first place at the half way point. No one, so put your hands down. The Tigers were predicted in a lot of circles to finish last in the Central. The bats are back to life and the pitching has not thrown them out of games. Jim gets all the credit for this turnaround. Macha is the only winner at this point in the NL. I expected the Brew Crew to hit their way to the top, but the pitching has turned from a weakness to a strength. Granted they haven’t had any debilitating injuries, but like with the Tigers who thought the pitching would help. Trevor Hoffman was not a bad pickup for that bullpen.

Best Story: Angels

Not only losing a teammate, but with the injuries mounting up and the inconsistent bullpen which was a strength, they enter the break in first place. Scioscia would be a good pick for manager of the year, but he gets credit for best story. This team was written off when Vlad went down, but Torii Hunter and Juan Rivera stepped up. Chone Figgins is having a career year with Jered Weaver leading the starting staff in wins with 10. The bullpen struggled mightily in the first two months, but has turned it around thanks to Brian Fuentes leading the majors with 26 saves. This is one of many good stories this season, but this has been playing out since the season started.

Steve McNair 1973-2009

There is never an easy way to put it, but to say it as you see it. Steve McNair was a great football player. By all accounts a great person in the community and for his family. The way he left will forever be a dark cloud that will hang over him though. To allegedly be unfaithful to his wife will taint what many considered to be a squeaky clean image. This is a tragedy that happens far too much in our society.

Two questions will come up in the aftermath. Does this make McNair’s image any different? Will this have an impact on today’s athletes? This will undoubtedly have an impact on today’s sports stars. Your taught that there is a right and a wrong way. This is the same here. Who would’ve thought that the woman he was seeing was going to buy a gun to kill him and herself. The question is why be with someone when your already married and have four sons to look after. This had the makings of a bad situation that would only get worse. And it did. It was horrible to hear they were both gunned down, but to gradually hear the circumstances of their death was making this disturbing.

His image is and will take a beating. It hasn’t happened full force. It doesn’t make it right though. I don’t like it anymore than you probably do, but that is how those with loud voices will say. Steve McNair will be remembered here as a football player first and this will be second. We won’t be able to forget these details because of the 24/7 news cycle were in. I won’t forget the only Super Bowl appearance he was in with that final drive, just one yard short. We lost a great player, husband, father, and son. Not to mention the young woman whose life was also cut short. The fourth of July was not a great day in 2009.

ESPN “My Wish” Series

A great series on ESPN that comes around once or twice a year. Uplifting stories from kids who have their sports wishes granted by the Make A Wish Foundation with the help of Disney (who owns ESPN). Take a moment to check out these stories. It will put a smile on your face.

MLB All-Star Teams (Done the right way)

Taking a break from the return of the dummy known as Manny Ramirez, I bring you my American and National League All-Star teams. I’ve followed the rules of having 33 players on each roster, a player from every team and selected those that are deserving whether they will play or not. Hopefully the real selections this Sunday will be made correctly and there won’t be any snubs (there will be though). And yes if you haven’t heard, Manny is back. Good grief.

American League

Pitchers
Minnesota Twins Joe Nathan
LA Angels Brian Fuentes
New York Yankees Mariano Rivera
Boston Red Sox Jonathan Papelbon
Toronto Blue Jays Roy Halladay
Texas Rangers Kevin Millwood
Seattle Mariners Felix Hernandez
LA Angels Jered Weaver
*Kansas City Royals Zack Greinke
Detroit Tigers Justin Verlander
Detroit Tigers Edwin Jackson
Boston Red Sox Josh Beckett
Cleveland Indians Cliff Lee

Notable omissions: There are many more closers I could choose, but I think four is good enough. You have to remember if this goes extra innings, you need at least two starters to go the distance. Unfortunately it happened last year, but it was still a great game nonetheless. Cleveland’s Cliff Lee I included mainly because of his ERA (2.92) on a losing team. Probably no Cy Young this year, but he is an All-Star in my mind. Detroit’s Edwin Jackson only has 6 wins, but his ERA (2.49) is second only to Greinke. The rest I can’t leave off the roster simply because they are so good.

Catchers
Cleveland Indians Victor Martinez
*Minnesota Twins Joe Mauer

Notable omissions: The only ones of mention are A.J. Pierzynski of the White Sox and Mike Napoli of the Angels. If Martinez was having a poor season like last year, then I would go with one of those two I just mentioned. How can you go against these two?

Infielders
*2B Toronto Blue Jays Aaron Hill
2B Texas Rangers Ian Kinsler
*SS Tampa Bay Rays Jason Bartlett
*3B Tampa Bay Rays Evan Longoria
SS New York Yankees Derek Jeter
1B Minnesota Twins Justin Morneau
*1B Detroit Tigers Miguel Cabrera
1B Boston Red Sox Kevin Youkilis
2B Oakland Athletics Adam Kennedy
3B LA Angels Chone Figgins

Notable omissions: Yes, Kennedy over Pedroia. Why? Following the rules. Kennedy is the only Athletic on the roster. He is the leader in batting at .291 for Oakland and was batting well over .300 for quite some time this season. Mark Teixeira is well deserving, but not anywhere near a .300 batting average. Morneau, Youkilis, and Cabrera are. Scott Rolen and Brandon Inge are having All-Star seasons. Great numbers, but I have seen Figgins more. He will be an asset if he is on the All-Star team. He can play anywhere and will be a great weapon off the bench for Joe Maddon. He was the bench coach of the Angels before his time at Tampa Bay.

Outfielders
Toronto Blue Jays Adam Lind
*Tampa Bay Rays Carl Crawford
Tampa Bay Rays Ben Zobrist
*Seattle Mariners Ichiro Suzuki
Minnesota Twins Jason Kubel
*LA Angels Torii Hunter
Chicago White Sox Jermaine Dye
Baltimore Orioles Adam Jones

Notable omissions: Only Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury and the Angels Juan Rivera were the toughest ones. If you haven’t heard of Ben Zobrist. You will now. The numbers he has been putting up are phenomenal. Get used to seeing Adam Jones here. He is a younger version of Torii Hunter. Jason Kubel and Adam Lind are having breakout years. I’m satisfied with this group and don’t be surprised if this comes close to the actual roster.

National League

Pitchers
Los Angeles Dodgers Jonathan Broxton
New York Mets Francisco Rodriguez
San Diego Padres Heath Bell
Milwaukee Brewers Trevor Hoffman
St. Louis Cardinals Ryan Franklin
*San Francisco Giants Tim Lincecum
San Francisco Giants Matt Cain
New York Mets Johan Santana
Los Angeles Dodgers Chad Billingsley
Florida Marlins Josh Johnson
Colorado Rockies Aaron Cook
Chicago Cubs Ted Lilly
Arizona D’Backs Dan Haren

Notable omissions: This was by far the hardest position in either league to choose. Here is who I left out who were deserving: Javier Vazquez, Johnny Cueto, Francisco Cordero, Huston Street, Jason Marquis, Yovani Gallardo. Now you see my dilemma. Lilly is the only deserving Cub. That’s why he is here. Too many good closers in this league. To exclude any of the ones I picked would be a sham.

Catchers
San Francisco Giants Bengie Molina
*Atlanta Braves Brian McCann

Notable Omissions: Bengie’s brother Yadier Molina is having an okay season. Frankly I could have gone either way with the Molina brothers. I feel Bengie is the better hitter. Colorado’s Chris Iannetta is having a good season, but not good enough to get in this year.

Infielders
2B Pittsburgh Pirates Freddy Sanchez
*1B St. Louis Cardinals Albert Pujols
1B San Diego Padres Adrian Gonzalez
3B San Francisco Giants Pablo Sandoval
*2B Philadelphia Phillies Chase Utley
*3B New York Mets David Wright
1B Milwaukee Brewers Prince Fielder
2B Los Angeles Dodgers Orlando Hudson
SS Houston Astros Miguel Tejada
*SS Florida Marlins Hanley Ramirez
2B Cincinnati Reds Brandon Phillips

Notable omissions: Plenty that were left off in this category. First base is the worst. Todd Helton and Ryan Howard sorry. Third base, just as bad. Chipper Jones and Mark Reynolds again sorry. Phillips, Sanchez and Tejada are the lone representatives for their team. This is another tough choice, but that pitching staff was crazy hard.

Outfielders
Washington Nationals Adam Dunn
*Philadelphia Phillies Raul Ibanez
*New York Mets Carlos Beltran
*Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun
Colorado Rockies Brad Hawpe
Arizona D’Backs Justin Upton
Los Angeles Dodgers Matt Kemp

Notable omissions: Houston could have Carlos Lee and Hunter Pence represent them, but Adam Dunn is the only National selected and Matt Kemp is more deserving. If Kemp doesn’t have the season he is having, the Dodgers are not in first place anymore. Upton is flying well below the radar and Hawpe is the reason for the Rockies summer surge. A weak position in the National League, but this seems to be the likely group to be selected.

note: * – asterisk indicates starter