Free Kicks: No Particular Edition (Edition)

Ravens preview to come later today, but I wanted to get back to Free Kicks this week as well. With a new football league kicking off, basketball and hockey getting warmed up, and the MLB playoffs going, it actually looks like the NFL might get unseated from its perch atop the sports consciousness for at least a couple days. Come Sunday I make no guarantees. Did y’all see Graham Gano in the UFL last night? Good for him. Let’s line up for the kick…

United Football League Great for Fans and the NFL
Call me an idiot (go ahead, you know you want to), but I will go ahead and buy into the UFL. Not, as some have suggested, because it will necessarily compete with the NFL, but because it can complement the NFL. Arena League Football was rather successful for most of its decade of existence, and came relatively close to breaking through as a long-term sustainable sport. The AFL competed with and was absorbed into the NFL to create the modern era of professional football. The USFL tried the same tactic and failed because they pushed too hard, too fast to put teams together and expand the league that their fan base couldn’t support it. And the XFL was WWE with pads. The UFL is following closer to the tactic of the USFL in drawing in marginal NFL talents and trying for real football, not gimmicky sub-sports or raw entertainment.

Unlike the USFL, the UFL isn’t moving too fast, either. With four teams spread across the country, low salaries, and with the clear goal to move players from their league to the NFL, the UFL is following the path of least resistance. They have designed the league to work with the NFL in allocating players’ rights to the AFC and NFC North, South, East, and West, depending on what team they play for. And don’t worry about the quality of play. These players have at least been in training camp before, and many were stars in college (Las Vegas quarterback J.P. Losman is better than at least half of the backup QBs in the NFL), so the product on the field should be solid. The UFL is being cautious and trying not to anger the beast that is the NFL, and it should pay dividends for the league and for fans. If this league can develop into a minor league or a feeder system for players to go to the NFL, it will be worth embracing.

MLS Would be a Boon for Baltimore
Our fair city is one of the few in the country to embrace lacrosse and soccer so completely- not of course to a level on par with football or baseball, but they are not so far down as they are in other parts of the country. People here get excited for how their soccer and lacrosse teams are doing in high school and in college. My friends at Maryland always brag about their soccer team, and I can’t usually remember how Michigan’s team is doing (apparently the men’s & women’s teams are ranked #6 and #8 in the country right now). The point is, if DC United fails to find a stadium agreement with a location close to Washington, Baltimore would be a prime location. I am not saying that the team would draw 30,000 fans a night to the stadium, but it would beat the 15K average for MLS teams (which is also about what DC United is getting right now). If this city has been able to support the Blast for 17 years, they should be able to accommodate an outdoor team.

Could Matt Holliday Be the Next Playoff Scapegoat?
The Dodgers, to my surprise, have outplayed the Cardinals in the first two games of this series, games that I thought the Cardinals would take. However, with Matt Holliday losing the ball in the lights as the Dodgers began a furious comeback, this could be another classic moment for St. Louis fans, frozen in time should they lose this series. It was one of those moments where you pause and wonder whether you have witnessed something that that fan base will be talking about for decades. ESPN would run it alongside Jeffrey Maier and Bartman, with Buckner and Don Denkinger, and profile it every time the Cards went to the playoffs. But it wouldn’t be fair and it wouldn’t be right. After Holliday’s miscue, St. Louis still had just one more out to get with a one run lead. James Loney could have just as easily gotten a double on his own; it was only chance that sent that ball straight at Matt Holliday.

Moreover, without Matt Holliday one can wonder whether this team would even be in the playoffs. He hit .353 in protection of Albert Puhols and provided the Cards with a bar when they needed it the most- and most nights he is far from a defensive liability. St. Louis was in a fight for the division when they got Matt Holliday. Since then, they buried the NL Central. Don’t blame Holliday if St. Louis is watching the playoffs from home on Sunday without giving him credit for the team being able to play yesterday.

Weekend Prediction: I have been going out on a limb week after week, and it hasn’t treated me well. I am 1-2 so far with my lone correct prediction being about baseball. So let me try that one again. Give me St. Louis on Saturday; they will turn things around and keep this series alive.

MLB Division Series Playoff Preview

Not everything in the baseball world is dark and miserable, hoping against hope that there is light at the end of this 12 year losing tunnel. However, if you ask most of my friends and neighbors in Michigan, they would probably disagree with that sentiment. The Tigers fell in 12 innings to the surging Twins, who will truck their physically and emotionally exhausted team to New York to take on the best team in baseball. Not to ignore the climax of the baseball season for the sake of the first half of football season, I thought it might be nice to give some thoughts on the four opening round playoff matchups, and give myself another opportunity to make some bad predictions (however, I have predicted the winner of all the Ravens games so far, with pretty close margins of victory/loss compared to the final result).

Yankees – Twins
The Yankees have it all- solid starting pitchers (though they complain that they want to add more starting pitching, every team says that and the Yankees are in better position than most), a lock-down closer in Mariano Rivera, and a team of position player All-Stars. The Twins come in with almost no advantage save for Joe Mauer and the guts they used to catch up with the Tigers down the stretch. The Rangers, Marlins, and Giants all had records good enough to win the AL Central. That tells me that the Twins will need a little bit more of that 17-4 finish to the season in order to ride this series to a win. Their run will bring back recollections of the 2007 Rockies who rode a 21-1 end of September, including a playoff game against the Padres to take the Wild Card. However, this is not the 2007 Rockies. The Twins were not unbeatable in September and the 2009 AL is a heck of a lot tougher than the 2007 NL. Minnesota will take a game at home, but nothing more.

Yankees advance to ALCS, 3-1.

Dodgers – Cardinals
Does Los Angeles really have a better record than St. Louis? It certainly hasn’t looked like a better team over the second half of the season. There are plenty of teams that missed out on the playoffs entirely that are looking better than the Dodgers have. They did well to put away the Rockies and keep them from the division lead, but this team had the division wrapped up in May, they should not have had to hold anyone off to win this one. Meanwhile, the Cardinals emerged from a crowded NL Central and thumped any other contenders to the curb as they took over mid-season. They have the best pitching duo left in the playoffs in Carpenter and Wainwright, and they are going up against one of the better hitting lineups in the majors. However, so are the Dodgers, but Randy Wolf and Chad Billingsley aren’t exactly earth-shattering pitchers. L.A. flamed out last year, and they give a repeat performance. A few homers from Manny might give L.A. a game, but I am betting that the bats of Matt Holiday and Albert Puhols will keep the Cards on top.

Cardinals advance to the NLCS, 3-0.

Phillies – Rockies
“In the playoffs it is all about pitching.” “In the playoffs you have to be able to win in the clutch.” Take these two (cliché) sayings together and you have why people are worried about the Phillies. In a word, it’s the closer. Brad Lidge is a shell of last season’s perfect self, but everything else about the Phils is either static or slightly improved from last year from a personnel standpoint. Then again, if you are leading by 4 runs in the 9th, who closes it out isn’t all that important. What does worry me is that Philadelphia hasn’t played a meaningful game in a while; this team had the NL East all but wrapped up by August, some ephemeral Marlins and Braves runs notwithstanding. The Rockies haven’t exactly been gangbusters lately, but they were forced to take control of the Wild Card chase and hold off the loaded Giants head to head. This team knows how to win in the playoffs, but the rested and talented Phils have too much starting pitching. J.A. Happ, Cliff Lee, Pedro Martinez, and Cole Hamels make this team too deep for the Rockies to beat… but they will make it tough on the defending champs.

Phillies advance to the NLCS, 3-2.

Angels – Red Sox
The Angels in the playoffs are like the Texans in the regular season. Every year you look at their roster and want to predict success, and every year those hopes are dashed by the perennial powerhouse teams. However, the Angels don’t usually play against a team that has had as many questions as the Red Sox have this last month. Josh Beckett hasn’t been his old self, and Jon Lester is the only Sox starter who I trust to pitch a lights-out game. Tonight he goes up against John Lackey, with Jered Weaver waiting in the wings. If Lester goes down, Boston will have to hope that their postseason pitching finds its familiar magic. The Red Sox will make this one difficult due to their success against the Angels in the past, but the Angels have plenty of bulletin board ammunition after they were robbed by the umpires at Fenway Park earlier in the season. Scott Kazmir is a wild card here. If he gets the ball against his former division foe, it could be feast or famine. If he plays like he has in 6 starts with the L.A./Anaheim/California/Golden State/Greater Western U.S. Angels, the Red Sox could let this one slip. This could be determined on the basepaths, where the Angels steal crazy while the Red Sox catchers couldn’t throw out Magglio Ordonez. This one is by far the toughest one to pick.

Angels advance to ALCS, 3-2.

Free Kicks

With those burdening previews and ensuing vacation out of the way, Free Kicks is back! So far I have wavered on whether to make Free Kicks all about national issues or whether to keep the focus on the Maryland area sports world, but I think I will keep it focusing on whatever strikes my interest that week, Maryland or not. I know some of you might be expecting a brief Super Bowl preview, but I couldn’t possibly put one together- for one, I am not nearly unbiased enough to write one fairly. I want Kurt Warner to win so badly, and I just hate the Steelers. Either way, let’s line up for the kick…

King of the Hill
I love the idea of the Orioles going after the Cubs’ Rich Hill, especially if they can get him for a “player to be named later”. This is a win-win. If he succeeds, the O’s may give up a mid-level prospect but they get a solid starting pitcher in return, which as we know the Orioles desperately need. If he flames out, they dish out some cash to the Cubs and say “so long” to the enigmatic right hander. This team cannot have too many potential starters- as we saw last year, the bare minimum won’t cut it. Anyone concerned about the young pitchers not getting a chance should take a look at the number of starters who went down or just plain stunk last season. I don’t want to hand the ball off to Radhames Liz unless I have to- no harm intended, but the man just isn’t ready yet. I would rather trade or waive a veteran pitcher in July or August to make room for a young starter who is burning through the minors than bring up a young guy in May because we have to. Rich Hill could be a long-term answer for this rotation. Or he could stink. Either way, it is a low-risk, high-reward move by an increasingly active front office.

Stand by Me
I am having trouble with this Gary Williams situation. For one, I simply cannot take the side of the athletic department- by nature, they are beancounters, concerned with how much it would cost to replace Williams more than whether he is a good coach. Secondly, it isn’t as though Gary is a new man than he was 20 years ago. Sure, perhaps he is a bit more grumpy than he was when he was winning titles, but he is still the same man. This conflict erupted when Kathy Worthington emailed the papers to challenge what Williams had said to the press. Yes, what Gary said was wrong- but as Head Coach, it isn’t his job to always be politically correct or watch out for his boss. Ms. Worthington was downright unprofessional when she chose to go over Coach Williams’ head to criticize him. Her statements were not made in the heat of a devastating loss; she sat down and had time to think it through. Have Williams’ teams been competitive over the last few years? Not particularly, but I have a tough time forcing him out, even after this season.

It reminds me quite a bit of Lloyd Carr, the former head football coach at Michigan. He had lost 5 straight times to Ohio State, hadn’t won a bowl game in years, and had just lost to Appalachian State (I’m sure you remember that part). The fans were tired of him, and they wanted his head. No mention of how he was a beloved coach who traced his roots to the glory days of Michigan football under Bo Schembechler, and no mention of his National Championship from 1997. When he was criticized for being “behind the times” or being “too old school for today’s recruits”, the athletic department stood by him. That way, when he did leave at the end of that season, he left with dignity and respect, honored by the fans and the school that booed him during the blowout loss to Oregon. If Gary leaves after this season, more eyes will be on Kathy Worthington and Debbie Yow than Coach Williams, and suspicion will reign. That is not the way he deserves to go.

Obligatory Super Bowl Thoughts
Okay, so I talked to Windsor and apparently I should say something about the Super Bowl beyond who I am rooting for. This looks to be a relatively high scoring game in my opinion, as the Steelers will be able to put up 24 or more against the Cardinals defense. Their defense hasn’t done a great job of pressuring the quarterback without a significant blitz, and Pittsburgh is just too creative not to have ideas of how to score on them- the Cards D has come through great in the postseason, but I still don’t buy it. The key in this game will be whether the Cardinals can keep a threat of a running game going- they had just enough against the Eagles and Panthers, but the Steelers are whole other story. I don’t think they will give James and Hightower any room to operate, and it will fall on the offensive line to protect Warner enough to let him find Steve Breaston in the slot- mark my words, Breaston is the wild card in this game. Fitzgerald will be doubled, and they will have tight coverage on Boldin as well. Breaston will be one-on-one and have to make plays against the linebackers they will foolishly line him up against. I believe this game will end with a combined score in the 50’s. Who will win? I want to say Cardinals, but this is the perfect moment for the Steelers to crush the nation’s collective Cinderella story.

The nod goes to the Steelers, 31-27