Las Vegas

Las Vegas deserves their own pro sports team. Yes, they have lower level teams such as a Triple A minor league baseball team, but I think it's time that the city gets to take on a top level team. The city has hosted the NBA All-Star game before to test the waters and all went well. The MLB has thrown Las Vegas into the hat of nominees for expansion cities during the nineties. Unfortunately, nothing has quite caught on.

Las Vegas has two million people in the metro area, which is the twenty-eighth largest metro area in the United States. That's not counting the tourist that come there. It's the largest tourist spot in the United States and I'm sure that a few of these people are sports fans. The MLB classified the city as a mid-sized market city at best, but I disagree. With the right marketing to tourists, they could bring in the same amount of fans that a large market team does.

One of the requirements of a city gaining a pro team, is an owner local to the area with a large amount of money to run a franchise. Las Vegas has plenty of people that fit this category. The Maloof family is based out of Las Vegas and currently own the Sacramento Kings. They are looking to move the team out of Sacramento, but have considered Anaheim to be the most likely option. The Kings then would become the Monarchs (the Maloof brothers reportedly copyrighted the name Anaheim Monarchs). Why not move the team to Vegas?

Also Steve Wynn lives in Las Vegas and owns a lot of successful projects out there including many hotels. Why not a pro sports team? Other notables in the Las Vegas area are Benny Binion, Andre Agassi, Larry Ruvo, and even Penn & Teller have mentioned during interviews about possibly investing in a sports teams as partial owners.

I doubt the NFL would be an option unless a team commits to moving to Las Vegas. I also don't believe the NHL would likely move there because of the lack hockey already there, except for a minor league hockey team. This is why I think the NBA or the MLB are the more likely options.

The NBA because of the successful All-Star game already there and the current resident/NBA team owners, the Maloofs already residing there. Another reason is that the NBA seems to be more open to their teams moving with the Sacramento Kings rumors, the Seattle Sonics becoming the Oklahoma Thunder, and the Charlotte Hornets becoming the New Orleans Hornets, all in recent years.

The MLB would be another option with the American League West being short a team compared to the other divisions. Nearby in Phoenix, the Diamondbacks play in a great stadium built for nearly the same weather that Las Vegas has. With a retractable roof, it's great for sunny, nice weather games, but also air conditioned for hotter weather.

I say bring on another expansion. Let me introduce my proposed team, the Las Vegas Outlaws. With red, black, and white colors and a cool logo, I can see their apparel selling to tourists and locals alike. With the right marketing and the right investors, I believe this franchise can be very successful.

Expanding To 18

One of the issues that was being discussed in the talks between the NFL and the NFL Players Association was expanding the schedule to eighteen games. Doing so would bring in more revenue via television and ticket sales to the teams, but is this really a good thing? No.

The argument the owners have made is that there are already twenty games being played per team every year, counting the four games played in pre-season. In order to play the eighteen, the owners are suggesting to cut two pre-season games to keep the total of twenty games played before playoffs. Sounds okay right? Wrong.

The counter arguments by the players makes a lot more sense to me. First off, in the first four games of the pre-season, players don't play as much as they do during the regular season. This includes bench players. With so many players on the squad trying to make the final roster, players don't usually play more than a quarter to two quarters at most. Playing in two more regular season games means more time on the field to all the players that make the opening day roster.

Well it's only eighteen games right? MLB plays 162 and they don't complain. Well MLB is different that NFL. MLB injuries come from long term circumstances and over use or exertion. Most of the injuries in the NFL are impact based that happen instantly. A lineman for example is subjected to the same force as a car crash when they bash into other linemen. Adding two more games doesn't just mean more of a chance of injuries, but it also means the stronger possibilities of not being able to finish the season or even shorter careers.

Another negative factor is players such as linemen have had shorter life spans that doctors believe are related to football. Linemen are dying too often in their late forties and early fifties. With an extended schedule, who knows if this could get even worse.

I can also imagine painkiller addictions could go up as well. With players having injuries, aches, and pains that last well after their careers are over, an expanded season could worsen injuries and batter the bodies even more of the players, resulting in more painkillers being taken.

Last, but not least, I believe that from a statistics category, records will fall and it would be disasterous. More running backs will be getting closer to two thousand yards rushing per season, one thousand yards will mean less and less, wide receivers getting one hundred catches will be good still, but not great, etc. With twenty-two percent more games a season that during the time of legends like Jim Brown, records back then can't be compared to now.

The big controversey when baseball expanded their season was that the season went from one hundred fifty-four games to one hundred sixty-two. A five percent increase in games in the last one hundred years.

Expanding to eighteen games would be disasterous on many levels for the NFL. This is one of the reasons I side with the players during the current arguments with the owners.

The Greatest Sports Movies

Movies have played a big part in molding America in the last one hundred years. They have inspired people to become politicians, activists, doctors, and more, but they have also inspired people to play sports.
So What makes a great sports movie then? One that inspires? One that makes you laugh? One that makes you cry? I don't believe that there is a single element that makes a sports movie great. Just as in life, sports has many emotions running through it. The stories of triumph, tragedy, and everything in between. So I will present my favorite sports movies...

*Baseketball: I know it's strange to call this a sports movie, but I think it is. It's a comedy movie written by the Southpark creators and it revolves around a new sport they created that mixes baseball and basketball. I like the pop culture references that are similar to those that Parker and Stone use in Southpark, but this could be the only downfall to this movie. Fifty years from now, I don't think someone watching this movie will get the references such as "How do you think Shaq got rich? Playing in college, everyone knows that." The movie is upbeat, great soundtrack done by Reel Big Fish, and even a good acting performance by Jenny McCarthy.

*Rudy: It's the ultimate underdog story in sports movies. An undersized football player works his whole college career to play in that one game. His teammates ultimately support him even though he wasn't the most popular player on the team when he first joins the Norte Dame squad. Rudy makes a tackle in the end of the movie that is probably the biggest tackle in a football movie ever. Superb acting by Sean Austin and Jon Favreau.

*Bang The Drum Slowly: A sad movie based on a catcher for the New York Yankees. Robert DeNiro stars as the terminally ill player that is friends with a pitcher who becomes a teammate not only on the field, but off the field. Sort of Lou Gehrig like story, but with a DeNiro twist.

*Dodgeball: Look I know what you're thinking. DODGEBALL? Yes. It's a sport, albeit one played mostly by children, but still a sport. Also with Ben Stiller, Vince Vaughn, and Christine Taylor's performances, and lines like, "Nobody makes me bleed my own blood," this movie was funny.

*Any Given Sunday: True, none of the teams are real NFL teams, but you still had to be intrigued by the drama. A lot of the best scenes in the movie were what happens behind the scenes of a football team. Also Al Pacino gives a great performance as an aging head coach and Cameron Diaz does a good job as a ruthless woman running a team in place of her deceased father. Performances by Dennis Quaid and Jaime Foxx also bolster up this movie that falls under most movie watchers radars.

*Major League: A comedy about an owner whom is trying to create a team of misfits, so attendance will drop and she can move the team to Florida-this movie was released before the Marlins and Rays joined the MLB. This group of unknown players, take the team and the city of Cleveland to the playoffs. All-star performances by Charlie Sheen, Wesley Snipes, Tom Berenger, Rene Russo, and James Gammon bolster the movie as well.

*Happy Gilmore: Yes this is an unrealistic movie, but it's funny. Where else would you ever see Bob Barker punching away at Adam Sandler? Sandley plays the title character, Happy and represents an "every man" persona that a lot of people have. Happy could be any of us-if we could hit the ball three hundred yards.

*Field Of Dreams: This movie poses as a baseball movie until the final scene of the movie when it's revealed what the movie is truly about. I won't ruin it for those who haven't been able to catch it yet, but make a point to watch it. Kevin Costner stars in yet another baseball movie...sort of. He hears voices that sound out one of the more popular movie catch phrases of all time, "If you build it, he will come." Costner's journey leads him to James Earl Jones' character in Boston and eventually to players of the 1919 Chicago White Sox, including Shoeless Joe Jackson played by Ray Liotta.

*Rocky: I know Slyvester Stallone wrote this one, but it's his masterpiece. The music, the action, the acting by Stallone and Carl Weathers. This movie is classic. It's what every boxing movie should aspire to be.

And my number #1 movie....
*Bull Durham: Another Kevin Costner sports movie, but this one is the best and most realistic of any baseball movie. Star writer Ron Shelton penned this script and actors Costner, Tim Robbins, and Susan Sarandon take it to a higher level. Costner is Crash Davis, an aging catcher on the verge of breaking the minor league home runs record, but hoping to play just one more season. He's brought into Durham to teach Nuke LaLoosh (Tim Robbins) how to pitch and step up to the major league level. Susan Sarandon is the ultimate fan/groupie that falls for both men and changes their outlooks on their life. A love story, drama, comedy, and in general a good sports movie rolled into one.

Swiss Cheese Red Sox

Championships aren't won in April, but they can be lost in April.

Some writers, before the season began, deemed the Boston Red Sox the odds on favorite to win the World Series this season. Nearly an eighth of the way into the new season and the Red Sox look like they could possibly end up with the worst record in the American League East. But how?

On paper the team appears loaded. Countless all-star appearances among the players on their roster. Talent, rings, veterans, and youth are everywhere on this roster. So how does a team that appears to be so good, do so poorly? It's a combination of factors. I believe General Manager, Theo Epstein saw holes in his roster and signed the big name free agents this past off season to plug the holes.

Example one: Jonathan Papelbon, "star closer" for the Red Sox is on the decline and not many people have taken notice. His ERA in past seasons hovered between the high ones and low twos. His 2010 season showed a different Papelbon. His ERA jumped to nearly four-3.90 to be exact-his walks nearly quadrupled from two seasons before, and he nearly doubled the amount of wild pitches he threw in his whole career. From a saves standpoint, he still remained in the high thirties, but they quality of his saves depleted. His saves were coming in games with three run leads instead of one run leads in the past. Even this season, he has three save in his teams total six wins, but all three saves were in games with three run leads and a lot less pressure.

The other "star" the Red Sox harbored in their bullpen was Hideki Okajima. An All-Star reliever in 2007, and putting up great stats in 2008 as well, Okajima fell from their. His ERA doubled and his WHIP went from under one to a horrible 1.71.

Epstein saw these holes and signed steady veteran Dan Wheeler and former All-Star Bobby Jenks. The problem with this is they have now filled their bullpen with 3 pitchers who would have trouble pitching more than an inning and aren't used to pitching in any other situations other than with a lead. Wheeler was a more solid signing, but Jenks not only brings his declining numbers with him, but the drama of his "break up" with the Chicago White Sox. Even as a Red Sox, Jenks still found himself trading verbal jabs with White Sox manager Ozzie Guillien and general manager Ken Williams.

Example two: David Ortiz, the loveable left handed, power hitter of the Red Sox World Series runs in 2004 and 2007. "Big Papi" seemed to be the driving factor that led the offense to post season play, but Ortiz is no longer the factor he once was. Still productive, Ortiz' numbers dropped nearly twenty home runs in production and fifty RBI's. His batting average plummeted to .238 in 2009 and despite rising back up to .270 in 2010, was nowhere near his .300 plus numbers during their World Series runs. Pitchers feared throwing Ortiz inside, but not anymore. His bat has slowed down now that his once strength, is now his weakness.

Epstein went out and traded for Adrian Gonzalez. Gonzalez is probably the most under-rated star player in baseball, at least up to this point, but it doesn't show confidence in Ortiz. Also, even though it's early Adrian's swing has changed. He has gone from pitcher friendly, Petco Park, to left handed hitter friendly Fenway. As many younger hitters have done in their life, he has changed his swing to try to hit more home runs. His once smooth swing is now a giant, sweeping uppercut. With his ability I believe he'll be able to adjust, but being seventeen games into the season so far, I don't know how hitting coach, Dave Magadan hasn't noticed.

Example Three: Jacoby Ellsbury, the speed of the team, is injury prone. He has talent that can be scary, but at times he's very breakable. Last season he played only eighteen games. The two seasons before that he never reached more than one hundred fifty three games and even then played in games with a slight injury. This season he's already played in sixteen games, but his average for the past two seasons hasn't been above .200.

To melody the situation, the Red Sox stole Carl Crawford from Tampa Bay and from the clutches of the Yankees and Angels. He's probably the Red Sox most solid signing, but has started out only hitting .149. This is one of the contributing factor to their poor start. Still, I believe Epstein saw the potential of Ellsbury being hurt again and had to find a way to ensure that his roster still had speed.

Other smaller holes/replacements are also on the team at the catcher position, but my point is that Epstein foresaw a rough time coming ahead and tried to plug the holes through veterans. In doing so, he has sacrificed possibly the team's future by trading their star prospect Anthony Rizzo to the San Diego Padres and tied up the Red Sox budget for years.

When all is said and done, I believe the Toronto Blue Jays will end up with a better record this season. They have young talent, hunger, and less drama. Sometimes "star" names aren't always the answer.

Class, Hustle, Respect

If you're a professional sports player, chances are you're talented in your chosen sport. Writers, fans, and haters may say a particular player sucks, but in reality, they're probably better than 99% of the rest of world in their sport.

Despite this talent, all players are different in their approach to the game. Some players train relentlessly; some will study video or game film; and then there are those who waste away their talent. In many cases these are the douche bags of the sports world. Most of them burn out after a few years of success. Some of these players will bounce back after their initial fall and learn to appreciate the game the way it was meant to be played. Class, hustle, respect.

It's the players that play this way, that tend to be the ones I respect and ultimately like the most. It's a lot harder to hate a player when they play with these three qualities. Even when a fan does claim to hate a player with these attributes, most of the time it's because they play for a team that is a rival to their favorite team.

In baseball, my favorite player is Kirby Puckett. He hustled his butt off, smiled when he played, was always there for his teammates, and never took his talent for granted. His will alone won Game Six of the 1991 World Series, leading to the Minnesota Twins taking the whole Series in seven. When you watched him play, you wanted to play just like him. It was hard to cheer against him, even if he was on a team that you didn't like.

Legends that were given/worked for their talent that was at an even higher level than those around them, are often remembered for their hustle and respect for the game. Joe DiMaggio was a Hall Of Fame player, but will be a legend because of his class, hustle, and respect. In an organization of stars, Hall of Famers, and everything in between, Joltin' Joe is always going to be remembered as one of the biggest Yankee legends.

This is probably the reason I am a Yankees fan the most. True the Yankees are one of the most hated teams in sports, but they are also one of the most loved in the world. The Yankees play on a higher level when it comes to prep work for their games. David Wells wrote in his autobiography that even though he was a playing baseball for years before joining the Yankees, when he joined the Yankees, it was as he jumped into a new level of baseball.

This is why Alex Rodriguez is considered by many Yankees fans, "not a true Yankee." He has talent, but he doesn't try every game, he creates conflict amongst his teammates, and makes it seem that he should be praised for even showing up to the game.

There are exceptions to the rule of having class, hustle, and respect to be a "legend to be remembered." This is usually done by star players that are known to be characters. Babe Ruth was larger than life and is still probably one of the most widely known baseball players of all time. He smoked, drank, ate everything in sight and slept around with prostitutes and all of this was before the seventh inning stretch. Certain players have this persona or quality that will keep them remembered, but not necessarily for all the right reasons. Babe Ruth might be well known still today, but it was Lou Gehrig that tore a hole in the hearts of the Yankees fans when he announced his retirement.

Players today tend to come off more theatrical, partially because this makes them more marketable to sponsorship deals. If Bengals wide receiver, Chad Ochocinco, didn't change his last name and remained Chad Johnson, would he have received deals with Reebok, danced with Cheryl Burke on Dancing With The Stars, and been the focal point of his own reality show? He had the talent to become one of the greatest receivers of all time, but with his poor work ethic, he will be remembered for a long time, but not as a legend.

I will never say an athlete like Kobe Bryant sucks in ability, but he will never have the same level of respect or be considered the legend that Magic Johnson is. Magic is the Mr. Lakers. Kobe, no matter what he does for the rest of his career, will not reach Magic's level. Magic played the game the right way. He inspired others. He hustled. Off the court, he was just as large in life as he was on the court. Off the court, Kobe will be remembered for Colorado, dating an underage girl (although he did marry her when she turned eighteen), and his almost yearly "trade me" demands for a six year period, that eventually forced the Lakers to choose between Kobe and Shaq. Magic never acted childish in a manner that forced the Lakers to trade off stars such as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy, or Jamaal Wilkes to keep Magic.

I, as many people, have said that "Player X" sucks, but I don't mean compared to an average person such as me. I once played in a pick up basketball game with Sean Rooks, a lifetime back up center for various teams and often a twelth man on a squad. I personally witnessed him make everyone look bad by playing an outside game that fans never got to see when he was picking up Shaq's towels on the bench. On a talent level, Sean Rooks is a bottom of the rung type of player in the NBA, but compared to the average street court hero, he was light years better.

In my book, players like Kirby Puckett, Derek Jeter, Joe DiMaggio, and others like them will always be at the top of the legends list. They make others want to play like them, inspire them to want to be better players, and earn the right type of respect from their peers and fans.