Phillip Rivers for MVP, and another thing...

I find the NFl to be borderline comical at times. No other league is as self congratulatory and seemingly fearful of actually entertaining fans, and like The Canadian Music industry they are even more fearful of new comers, individual thinkers, or non-conventional players. I mean look at Daunte Culpepper; he is only 3 years removed from a 4700 yard, 39 TD season, in which he broke DAN MARINO'S mark for combined yards by a QB, yet he couldn't find a job? Kurt Warner has done nothing but virtually dominate the league yet every year, whomever his coach is, he tries to replace him with some highly touted rookie who is supposed to be the next big thing. So far, he has ended up with his job back each time and once again he is back in the Super Bowl. Why no love? Well in Warner's case, he came form nowhere and in my estimation NFL "experts" have no room for people to fly under their radar. It calls into question their genius status and opens the "who else did we miss" can of worms. Very unsettling if you make your living telling people how it is. 

This season, my favourite player has been given the cold shoulder by the NFL's collective braintrust. That man's name is Phillip Rivers and the league owes him a huge apology. Here is why: ALL he does is win! OK, so this San Diego had to win 4 straight to make the playoffs...Done! Was it Rivers' fault they were 4-8? Of course many would be quick to point the finger, but in 4 of those games, he turned the game over with less than a minute left and a lead only to watch his porous defence cough it up. In another we all saw the famous Ed Hocheley call where he essentially decided he wanted Denver to win so he ignored a fumble that the whole world saw and changed a rule to support his error. That looks more like a 13-3 season than an 8-8, but who am I, right? He is no Brett Favre or Donovan McNabb. Those guys are warriors, right?

Speaking on McNabb, what is the big deal with this guy? Does he have naked pictures of EVERYONE of influence in the NFL? He is constantly raised up on this pedestal of being able to win the big game when it matters, 1-5 career mark in Championship games, and a loss in HIS ONLY Super Bowl appearance be damned!!!! Now he is throwing his defence under the bus as not having come through against Arizona...I guess he forgot that while he was laying eggs and getting benched the D kept HIS SEASON alive. Philip Rivers is 15-3 career in December and January (.833 pct), McNabb is 34-20 for a .629 winning percentage. McNabb lost 4 NFC title games and a Super Bowl and is labeled as an all time great, whereas Jim Kelly lost 4 Super Bowls (meaning he won 4 COnference Championships) and is forever known as a loser.

Can anyone tell me why McNabb is held in such high regard while QB's with better numbers, better winning % and who have never blamed defeat on their teammates are labelled as having bad attitudes (Rivers) and losers (Kelly).

Perhaps the NFL should take the blinders off...

TIgers gearing up baby!

As the winter meetings unfold, I am getting a bit excited about the TIgers yet again. What frustrates me is that as I read about the exciting news, I am stunned by how ignorant other posters are...

Many focused on the picture of Carlos Guillen that was used...and they were truly pathetic so I had to comment....

"The comments are about the picture? You are all very sad..especially the loser who wrote, Not naked or a girl...Thank God I am not you...you sound soooo bloody lonely...

Since this is about the Tigers and not all of your pathetic social lives, great moves all around. Inge is better than Carlos at 3rd...Laird is a real catcher who wants to catch and Guillen is awesome anywhere. HUGE upgrade from Renteria and his minor league arm and 95 year old Pudge. Cry all you want about me insulting Pudge, I know he is a legend and household name, but so is garbage and it stinks when it gets old as well! (J. Cornette)"

Honestly, please stop regurgitating whatever you read online..use it to come up with your own analysis. DOn;t end up like Joe Morgan, who is so self absorbed he cannot even grasp what he witnesses first hand if it does not jive with his narrow view of baseball and is perhaps to afraid to accept the truth, or perhaps it is simply bull headed-ness. Whatever it is, he is a joke

Sports fans in the internet age

I just want to comment on some of the fans who post on MLB.com. Currently I am reading a post about the Yankees plans to sign CC Sabathia and have to admit, I am really sad for the state of things. Why? Well...

1. Can some of you not have 1 original thought? Repeating over and over again how the Yankees should trade for Jake Peavy is like saying that someone should plug the hole in a sinking boat. You are not a baseball insider for stating the obvious, in fact you look like a bunch of mindless idiots as you have all foregone grammar, spelling and the English language...

"... Make a Push ON TEX OR GET MANNY POWER" wtf does that mean? Can you not simply write in English?

"...AJ HELL GET HURT IN 009 WHEN HE DOESNT HAVE HIS BEST STUFF IS LIKE YOU WATCHIN IAN KENNEDY TROWING NOT PITCHING" This is incredible! Sorry if you wrote this, but you are an absolute moron!!!! Seriously, punctuation is an amazing thing, you may want to try it!!!

Stop believing everything you read! AJ Burnett is garbage and he only shows up in contract years. He barely had a winning record while in Toronto and the second he was able to piece together a good year, he walked, expecting more money...he is like a teacher..not serviceable for years on end, and once he is, he expects immediate financial returns. He essentially stole $15 million from the Blue Jays yet would he offer some of it back for his mediocre performance? Of course not! So why do you feel  you deserve more for having 1 good year out of 4????? The Yankees can have this piece of garbage..enjoy!!!

What is most troubling is that these fans are giving up on Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes without even giving them a fair chance...had Glass man Wang and Joba not totally sucked last year perhaps he would not have been counted on to hold it together. And yes Yankee fans Joba Chamberlain is garbage! Deal with it! For such a passionate bunch you are really ignorant about talent! Booing A-Rod for hitting .350, driving in 120 and hitting 35-45 homers a year while you support Giambi? You have got to be kidding me...somebody needs a collective reality check.

You are not getting Texeira, nor Sabathia so I hope you enjoy another year without the playoffs..and seriously, learn to read critically. Do not just blindly follow whatever talking head you happened to read this morning!

How greedy can teachers get?

OK, so once again I am reading about how the teachers union are unhappy with their wage and are threatening to go on strike...my first reaction is to wonder why we condemn athletes etc for being greedy and striking yet we just blindly throw money at teachers whenever they cry. My second is to ask why do teachers need a union anyways? I mean what other profession do you only have to work 66.7% of the year and earn a full years salary? What other job affords you the time off to be with your family or to develop your skills by taking courses. Further, upon completing these courses, the board has to give you a raise, no question asked. If I were to spend my money on a course in enhance my skills, my boss would thank me profusely, but it would be a cold day in hell before he simply handed me a raise. in fact, he'd probably laugh if I even suggested it. 

Now we are in the throws of a huge economic crisis, yet almost like clockwork, the teachers union is at it again. At this point I just want to say how sad I am that even teachers I respect on other levels have bought into this ridiculous propaganda that tells they they are worth more than others. Are you serious? 

So if you are so deserving of this massive wage increase, please, tell me, where is the money coming from? 

How do you justify “deserving” more while everyone around you either loses jobs or takes significant paycuts? You can hardly be surprised that people are pissed off at the greed being demonstrated 
Lose the hard work rhetoric. It is insulting and makes you all look like whiners; by using this as leverage you are insinuating that nobody else works hard. 

Stop with the teachers get no respect junk- I respect you as much as I respect Doctors, Garbage men, retail workers..anybody who takes pride in their work because what you do is of no more value than what anybody else does and to claim it is is completely self righteous and arrogant. EVERYBODY’s role is equally as important because without them society would not function properly…get off your moral high horse. 

There are giant head sized holes in walls of classrooms, yet you do not care to fix that stuff…yes, you getting a HUGE raise prevents the board from spending money where it is ACTUALLY needed. 

NEVER EVER complain about parent’s roles in education anymore. I was always of the mindset that parents are responsible for the downfall of the education system, however I now realize that it is the greed of the teachers, demanding more while giving less that cause these impoverished parents taxes to go up (Yes teachers, these are the people who are directly affected by your greed..the bureaucrats and upper class people have LAWYERS they pay to get them out of paying taxes, while the lower end have no loopholes and cannot afford to pay lawyers to find them.) As a result they get hit harder because it is this money that the government counts on to cover this wage increase. 

Finally, how embarrassing is this- city workers, and government bureaucrats agreed to a wage freeze because the ECONOMY IS IN BAD SHAPE..you guys refuse to do that, instead are holding the government ransom, threatening yet another strike…and the only people who suffer are the parents who will be forced to pay out more in taxes to help you enjoy your cushy lifestyle and also for Daycare because they will have to work while you are on strike, so someone has to watch the kids. Merry Christmas you greedy buggers!!!!!!

Confused and Frustrated

I officially declare that I do not get people. It seems that over the course of the last 6 months I have watched my group of friends dwindle to almost nothing. People I have stood by through any issues they may have had have suddenly decided that I am not worth the same amount of effort (or even a portion of that effort). I literally sent out 5 emails to people I considered really good friends this morning who simply vanished after ditching something I had stressed was very important to me…Of course I am not referring to everybody I know as that would simply be idiotic, but MANY of those I thought were close friends have let me down so badly that I question what their intention was all along.

I was forced off my baseball team by someone who claimed to be my close friend; a guy who has had his share of issues and has driven most of those close to him far away. Not me. I was loyal and tried my best to understand what he was going through, provide an ear to listen and offer any support I could afford to give. How was I repaid? By being yelled at constantly, having everything I do critiqued in an ultra negative fashion, and called names. My final straw was an evening in which my wife made him dinner and while ate, he did nothing but tell me I was doing things wrong, had alienated the team and was hated by almost everyone…he was just sayin'…of course, it was more important to protect the identity of people he just met than to help his FRIEND, which told me that he is not REALLY my friend. He would much rather have the approvals of a group of strangers while throwing his friend under the bus…

I was told that specific people hated me on this team and even after talking to them; nobody thought to speak to Kirby (his name for our purposes here) to ask him to stop spreading such “obvious lies”. The team got hammered every time out, yet NOBODY bothered to ask why I was absent…instead they just listened to Kirby's convoluted version of events all the while claiming that this did not represent their actual feelings. I fought for that team (keeping players on it so we do not forfeit) only to have everyone believe the words of a known liar over me. He abandoned his responsibilities and dumped them on me, which I gladly did in order to keep the team going. He complained bitterly about almost everyone on the team, while I tried to explain that it was a rec league. He refused to carry equipment or pick me up (Both thing s he had agreed on in the beginning), forcing someone else on our team to pick up these responsibilities. Yet as the season wound down, I get emails stating that Kirby has made a decision on MVP etc…who cares???? Really… Why should he have any say since all he did was hurt the team? Whether anyone will admit that or not, is a different story but I can say with 100% certainty that his treatment of me ruined the teams chances of success…too bad nobody actually cares what happened. This is reason number 1 as to why you must look out for you and NOBODY else...NOBODY else cares about you, so you had better

People cannot simply handle someone who is honest. My advice on matters such as this…sit down, be quiet and never encourage or discourage anyone…NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR IT. That's not true actually as they listened to Kirby, despite the fact that he would scream, yell swear and pout. Apparently whatever he told them had far more impact than what I tried to do in person…I must have been lying when I said “nice try” or “don't worry about it”. I really meant, “You all suck compared to me”…sorry for the confusion!

That actually rings true in most cases. You cannot have any sort of opinion that clashes with anyone else's if you want to be friends with him or her. Everyone has to agree wholeheartedly as any difference in opinion is deemed “difficult”. We live in an era where you have to be a yes person and pander to those who are lacking the confidence to handle any criticism. I have far too many of these people in my life so in a way, this is a good exercise for me…trimming the fat and eliminating the stresses in my life. Most of my stresses are people related so this is an excellent way to start!!!

I am looking forward to the birth of our daughter for a number of reasons…first and foremost; I am excited about raising a child with my wife. I feel that we both have the skills and personalities to raise a beautiful, healthy, well-adjusted and intelligent little girl and it will give my life a new focus, which is so desperately lacking. No longer will this sort of thing bother me, as I will have bigger fish to fry so to speak. I will not raise her to be soft, and lacking in self-esteem. I will try and instill the value of logic, common sense, compassion, understanding and selflessness, but at the same time conviction and determination.

I pray that the world recovers and you know longer have to dumb yourself down just to be happy. I will use this blog as an outlet for any negative energy I have as despite the façade of everyone loves everyone else that seems to be pervasive, it is just that, a façade. Most are no sooner out of earshot when those they were with begin the slam fest. I call it the “ME, fuck you” generation and it is a scary place to live. Not too mention, lonely.

I wonder what happened to my jerseys?…again, a little effort seemed too much to ask….

My Summer Love Affair is drawing to an end

It is amazing how quickly sports can play with your emotions. For me it was over in 7 days; the first 7 days of the season. 0-7. How? There was so much promise. So many new exciting faces to compliment the foundation that was already built. So many young players "ready" to take that next step to greatness or simply getting the chance to it on the grand stage. Hopes were sky high in Tigertown, but before I even returned from Florida it was spiraling down the drain...7 straight losses took what was such a promising season and crushed it right before my eyes. Finally a summer where I would have enough free time to actually get back into the game and it was over after the first blink.

Do not get me wrong, I love a good chase but this season has felt like chasing a moving object...each time we (yes I refer to myself as part of the team) draw to within striking distance, the wheels come off and we end up further back then we started. Verlander turns it around, Rogers goes in the tank. Dontrelle has been a bust, so was Jacques Jones, Shef looks 225. Mags has been hurt, Polanco has been solid, Guillen had been an all star until injuries seem to have gotten the best of him. Cabrera and Granderson have been two of the lone bright spots, but the most troubling areas of the season have been the bullpen and the D. How can you win if you cannot field the ball? Conversely how can you win if you cannot hold a lead or at least stop the bleeding??

I am not one to point fingers, but I am hoping that some valuable lessons have been learned and that next year will be the year that this should have been...

All that being said, I am a very lucky guy for having rediscovered my love of this amazing game. The grace, the beauty, the power, the speed and most of all the familiarity and consistency. No matter how my day went, no matter what the weather was like I could count on my Tigers 162 out of 175 consecutive days (with a few rainouts sprinkled in...). They never give me attitude, they never complain about how I do things, they do not question my loyalty, they just are. Bless you Boys!