A-Rod: Just A Dopey Guy Who Can Play Baseball. Nothing More, Nothing Less.

It's February in the sports world, and with no blockbuster trades brewing in the NBA, the media (ESPN, really) needs something to talk about. SportsCenter is doing a cool piece on each state's Mt. Rushmore of Sports, which is kinda cool. I just saw Alabama--Hank Aaron, Bear Bryant, Bo Jackson, Willie Mays (played 3 yrs for Negro League team in the state).

In terms of purported "news", the story of the day is obviously A-Rod's admission that he did steroids, and his press conference yesterday from the Yanks Spring Training facility in Tampa, FL. There's a fair amount of outrage at the idiocy of some of Rodriguez's comments/responses yesterday (my cousin did it, I didn't know what I was injecting, etc.), but this story is being blown way out of proportion. Not because steroids in baseball isn't news, but because people just don't like A-Rod. So my advice to Alex is this: Shut the f up. Work on getting the Yankees back to the post season, and when you do, try hard to play well. That's it. If you succeed with this, everyone will love you, and all past sins will be forgotten. Every time you open your mouth (kinda like TO), you say something stupid and perpetuate everyone's belief that you're just a douchey guy who can play baseball really well.

All of us (led by the media) place unreasonable expectations on pro athletes just because they're in the public eye and make a lot of money. We expect them to all be great human beings with well developed emotional intelligence and intellect, a deep motivation to be honest and forthright, interesting, likeable and soulful, and also able to express their opinions and feelings in an articulate manner.

Despite their physical and athletic attributes, all these guys are flawed human beings, just like the rest of us. And the truth is, most of them are just not that likeable--at least the ones who get face time on TV. Shaq, Charles Barkley, and others are the exception, not the rule. It's just that some guys are better than others at shutting the F up and not saying anything that isn't plain vanilla. A-Rod really should stick to the Michael Jordan script and only talk about the game and the effort he's putting in to get better. That's it. If he does those things, Yanks fans will love him.

And btw Yankees fans, to quote the great Artie Lange "waaaaaaaaah." Rodriguez is arguably the best player of the modern era, and he's in his prime, so stop complaining. Who cares if he's a douche. If he fixes his post season woes and brings some titles to the Bronx, y'all will love him. I guarantee it. People forget that Joe Dimaggio wasn't the most likeable fellow in the room, but everyone remembers him as a hero, and maybe the best Yankee ever.

My last point: to the extent you care, or want an asterisk next to people's names, etc, as far as I'm concerned, the entire era of baseball--going back to the late 80s with folks like Bo Jackson, Pete Incaviglia, Cory Snyder, McGwire, Clemens, etc--should be identified with steroids. It didn't start in the late 90s. It started 10 years earlier. Does anyone remember how many home runs were hit in 1987? A zillion. Unless it's obvious (Manny Trillo, for example), presume everyone who played during this era guilty, and stop asking folks like Albert Pujols, who very well might've "supplemented", what they think. That's like asking OJ to opine on murder. It just doesn't matter. What matters is championships :)

So please, for the sake of our enjoyment of sports during these shitty economic times, let's stop talking about this. I'm sick of it.

Bye Bye 2008 Season

I know it's been more than 3 weeks since the Eagles lost the NFC Championship game to the Cardinals, but it took me a while to feel like talking about it. I was also busy setting up the new home for my Eagles blog--bloggingthebirds.blogspot.com.

In my first-ever blog post on the Eagles, I noted that I would track the highs and lows of the 2008 campaign. Little did I know that the 2008 season would epitomize so well what it means to be an Eagles fan. The season started with some promise, then they ripped my heart out, then they won a couple games in a row, then they ripped by heart out again with the Ravens and Bengals game, they they won a couple more in a row and got themselves back into contention, then they ripped my heart out yet again by losing to the Redskins in Week 16. And then, the NFL Gods sprinkled some pixy dust on the Eagles in Week 17 and they made the playoffs. It was a season of ups and downs, with the team breaking the franchise scoring record, but at times seeming so inept that the Lions could've beaten them.

By the time the playoffs rolled around, people were back on the wagon. Reid and McNabb were back in the playoffs, the Defense was dominating, and people were talking about the Eagles being this years version of the NY Giants. After a Wild Card win in Minnesota, and then a win at the Meadowlands against the defending Super Bowl champs, I honestly believed they had a chance.

Which brings me to the NFC Championship game, against the Cardinals. Yes, the Cardinals, who beat the favored Falcons in Phoenix, and then travelled to North Carolina and whooped the Panthers. While they were playing well, so were we, and so I liked our chances. I shouldn't have been so quick to forget the heartburn that this team caused me, as this game was the perfect microcosm of the entire 2008 season. All three units were miserable in the first half, and the Cardinals took a double digit lead into the second half. My heart was ripped out, and I was already planning for 2009. The team woke up during the short halftime break, however, and came out fired up. The defense started shutting down Kurt Warner and his offense, and McNabb lit the place up and pulled the Eagles back on top.

Late in the 4th quarter, the Cards got the ball back, trailing 25-24, and scored a TD and the 2pt conversion. 32-25 Cardinals. Heart palpitations on hold, as the Eagles got the ball back with plenty of time on the clock. Unfortunately, on par with the entire season, the offense couldn't get the job done, and the Cardinals advanced to their first Super Bowl in team history. Heart ripped out, again.

After watching the Cards play a solid game against the Steelers, I feel a little better about losing to them. But still, we were the better team, and we blew it with our crappy first half on all sides of the ball, and we blew it late in the 4th quarter with our shitty WRs and a QB who buckled with the entire offense on his shoulders.

Anyway, the team did have a good run this year. Afterall, we knocked both the Cowboys and the Giants out of the playoffs, and that feels good. But another year goes by with another team that's not the Eagles winning the Super Bowl. That sucks.

I am looking forward to next year, as I think the team did make some great progress this year. Reid and McNabb will be back, we found a star in Desean Jackson, Westbrook should be healthy, and the Defense had a great year. In terms of personnel changes, I would bet that we see some new blood on the O-line, at TE, an RB that Reid trusts and can take some of the load off Westbrook, and likely a pass rushing D-lineman. And of course, if the opportunity comes to land a #1 WR who is not a sociopath, we should take it. The team still lacks a #1. I can guarantee you that either of the Cardinals starting WRs would've made the catch that Kevin Curtis didn't on the Eagles final drive of this season. I guarantee it.