Free Kicks

Well, I called in sick today with what feels like the flu so I am not sure how this post will turn out. However, I didn’t want to miss a week and then hear about it from Falco and Windsor. Anyways, without further or due, let’s line up for the kick…

Sorry, Matt
Matt Stover is clearly upset and disappointed with the Ravens indications that they want to acquire a new kicker to replace the 41-year old veteran. However, as much as we all love Matt, we have to realize that his time has come. His field goal average (81.4) was the worst it has been since 1998, and well below the league average. Additionally, he has become increasingly erratic from outside 40 yards, leading to the acquisition of Steve Hauschka to take over the longer field goals and kickoff duties. I know I have written about this before, but with Stover going public it seems like the perfect time. Matt has meant a great deal to this organization, but at a certain point it becomes about a player’s ability and not nostalgia. NFL players are paid for what they will do for the franchise, not what they have done in the past. I am sure everyone in the organization wishes he could still perform, but he has not shown any indication that he is worth a brand new contract.

Who Will Sign T.O.?
Well apparently Jerry Jones isn’t completely impervious to reason, and has elected to released malcontent wide receiver Terrell Owens. Jerry Jones might be a jumpsuit away from being a younger Al Davis, but there is no question he made the right call- both for the lockerroom and production on the field. It is much easier to run an offense when you don’t have to force the ball to an egotistical wideout, particularly when your quarterback is not the most accurate in the league. However, the list of teams unlikely to sign the receiver is very long. Please rule out the Vikings- head coach Brad Childress wasn’t even on speaking terms with the receiver when he was the offensive coordinator in Philadelphia. I personally don’t think that Tennessee will pull the trigger, either. Can you imagine the ripping that Owens would give that coaching staff after their conservative offense fails to score enough to win? Tennessee already has gotten a hold of Nate Washington, and the draft is so stacked with receivers that I doubt the Titans will feel the need to take that risk.

An owner would have to be out of his mind to sign a 35 year old receiver who will demand that the offense be tailored around him and his ego. Al Davis, step right up.

A-Rod’s Convenient Hip
This might be the best injury… ever. Alex Rodriguez has an excellent excuse to duck away from this steroid issue for another 3 months after discovering a torn labrum and a cyst in his hip. The Yankees don’t want him to get surgery and instead play through the pain, but we know how that plays out- A-Rod scuffles for 2 months and then the pain gets worse or the injury gets worse and he elects to have the surgery anyway. You know Alex wants the surgery. He gets to wait out the media on the steroid issue, and watch the Yankees struggle a bit more than usual in April, and then have Rodriguez return as a savior to the franchise. He will be seen as spurring on the June-July turnaround that the Yankees have had in recent years, and his success will take much of the steroid pressure off of him. Winning solves everything, especially if it seems like you are the reason. Go under the knife, A-Rod, and everything else will take care of itself.

Apologizing for Steroid Use is Just Smart Business

Add me to the small list of people not gushing over the apologies of some of these steroid users in baseball. Not because I think it is an unforgivable sin (I am not even sure it is one at all), or that they don’t feel really really bad about how all of this went down, or even than they want to turn public opinion around to make their lives easier. The fact of the matter is, apologizing makes smart public relations sense. In a game where millions of dollars are at stake and a player’s appearance to fans matters as much as their production on the field, public opinion is everything. Denials do nothing to ingratiate a player to their fan base, while a tearful (almost, but not enough to actually cry and thus appear weak), sincere reconciling of one man’s past with his present, splattered all over the most high-coverage venue his agent can find.

I believe this all started with Jason Giambi and his kind-of sort-of acknowledgement that he took steroids. After that, there was no story. Unless someone wanted to pry out who he got them from or how prevalent it was in the sport (far less juicy stories than the one-man drama), there just wasn’t a story there worth devoting resources too. Moreover, as a fan there is only so much hating you can do. After he has admitted it and come clean, it feels awkward to lash out and rip him for it, like the kid in school who would drop his books and laugh about it- what left is there to make fun of? Andy Pettite took this to a whole other level. He has garnered not only forgiveness, but it appears even that people forget that he took steroids at all. His lengthy, heart-wrenching (it had that impact on me, I will tell you) apology and press conference, in addition to his reputation as a stand-up individual just nullified any negative publicity he had received in conjunction with the steroids scandal.

Compare this to Roger Clemons, Barry Bonds, Mark McGuire, et al. Their denials have just made suspicion turn into certainty, and made them villains in the eyes of many baseball fans. How different this situation might be if Roger Clemons had said that he “briefly” took steroids because he was feeling pressure to succeed and felt like he needed the edge, but after a year or two he stopped because he got his life back in order. Whether that is true or not is a moot point. The fact of the matter is that by admitting a small offense he is canceling out the larger offenses described by Brian McNamee. Barry Bonds might be the only exception to this, as he was known in the media as a bad character and not a man you wanted to be around anyway. However, even he could have held an interview where he “bore his soul” for the camera and talked about his tough exterior and how lonely he feels underneath and how the only way to make himself feel special was to go out and break records. Would you feel the same about Barry after that apology?

Which brings us back to Alex Rodriguez, and the possible fall out for Miguel Tejada. Scott Boras has seen this pattern, and he knows what happens to those who deny compared to those who confess something -anything- for the camera. I am certain that he told A-Rod that the only way out of this to salvage his reputation was to bear all in an interview that would not be as hard on him than one with the major networks. NBC News, 60 Minutes or even Dateline would have looked to fry him and put him in a real tough spot, but ESPN was going much softer than they could have with Peter Gammons. Boras is a smart man, and he did his client a huge favor by guiding him in the direction of apologizing. Do I believe it? I have no idea, I just know it is good business sense.

It has yet to be seen what this means for Miguel Tejada, but if I was his agent I would have one piece of advice- confess, and make it sound awfully sincere. Not even prosecutors would have the leverage to send him to prison after that.

Why Should We Forgive Alex Rodriguez?

As we all know, Alex Rodriguez tested positive for "performance-enhancing drugs" in 2003, and it was not released until now. In his interview with Peter Gammons, Rodriguez said he was sorry he took steroids and that he is clean ever since. He also pointed out that he was young at the time and didn't know any better.

Frankly, I don't believe you. I also don't care.

Rodriguez is not sorry he took drugs, he is sorry he got caught. He is angry about the fact the media is all over him. In that interview he kept calling out people in the media for unfairly attacking him. The fact is he lied constantly and he would have buried this forever had he been given the chance. He only apologized days after the report came out, before he said to "talk to the union." When he said he was young when he did this, he was 27 years old. He had been in the league many years, had the largest contract in the history of baseball, and knew exactly what he was doing.

I agree with him that this positive should never have been released, nor should he get punished for something that happened that long ago. He also gets a terrible rap from Yankee fans. But that does not change what he did and what he denied doing for years.

Already we have praised Rodriguez for coming out and apologizing. This seemed to be the norm after the Mitchell Report came out and players left and right came to apologize for their sins. But why should we forgive steroids users and the union that protects them who are destroying the integrity of the game? It does not change the fact they used steroids and possibly affected other possible careers with their cheating. We have destroyed the Hall of Fame possibilities for Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco, and Rafael Palmeiro because of their actions. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens are facing possible federal charges. Known users like Sammy Sosa and Jason Giambi stopped and their careers have never been the same. All of these men knew exactly what they were doing and made millions off it. Why should Alex Rodriguez be treated any differently? Just because he apologized? He has made millions off his play which may have been tainted, and if it were up to him, nobody would have ever had to know.

Think of it this way. Had the report not been released, it might have been Alex Rodriguez eventually saying "I have never used steroids. Period." Rodriguez, you may get some people forgiving you, but you don't deserve it. You better pray the Hall of Fame voters can forgive you some day.

(Photo credit: Askmen.com (Rodriguez), NY Times (Palmeiro))

Star Treatment

Let me set the scene for you in case you didn’t get to see the game last night. It is the bottom of the 8th, and the Orioles lead the Yankees, 6-1. Daniel Cabrera is cruising through the game, and Bobby Abreu is at the plate. Abreu lines to right field, bouncing to Nick Markakis as he launches a rocket to Juan Castro covering second base. Castro tags Abreu out as he attempts to slide into seond, but is called safe. It was a close play, I will admit that much. However, the umpire was in perfect position to see the Orioles shortstop apply the tag to Abreu’s back. Nevertheless, I take a deep breath and await the next pitch, this time to Alex Rodriguez.

“Plunk.” Rodriguez is hit in the shoulder and takes a long walk around the backstop, milking his time for all it’s worth. At first I wondered whether it was retaliation, but for what? Either way I expected nothing more than a bench warning. I watch Daniel Cabrera suddenly stare open-mouthed at the umpire behind home plate- he has been tossed from the game. He raises his arms in genuine disbelief as Dave Trembley comes out on the obligatory argument.

Cabrera is known as one of the wildest pitchers in the major leagues. He regularly ranks among the top of the majors in walks and hit batters as Joe Angel indicated, and had made close to 100 pitches in the game by this point. If you don’t expect Cabrera to make a bad pitch, then you don’t know your pitchers. And clearly they must, as the strike zone seems to shrink when the umpire sees Cabrera step up to the mound. There was no warning, not hesitation, no angry rant before tossing Cabrera from the game. The moment A-Rod was plunked, Cabrera was gone.

And for what? Retaliation? So what if Rodriguez had fired a home run at this previous at bat? The Orioles were leading by 5 runs; there was no sense in making things interesting by adding another batter. Did the umpire think that Cabrera was trying to send the Yankees a message? Look, if A-Rod can put up with divorce, Madonna, and the crippling paralysis he endures every October, he can certainly handle a wild pitch. Moreover, this is not Trembley’s style. He wants to win- he would never risk a game by hitting batters. I have seen the O’s get banged up by wild or vindictive pitchers and managers, but I have never once seen Trembley go after them in response. He believes in the purity of the game. He would gladly take his bases and not give them back to the opposition.

It is no secret that the calls get fewer and farther between when you are playing the Yankees. It is what we in Maryland experience whenever the Terps travel to Cameron Indoor, or when the Patriots visit the Ravens (I still get chills from last year’s stolen win).

What followed this travesty in judgment? Jim Johnson was forced in early without having warmed up, and quickly loaded the bases and allowed two more runs to score, aided in no small part by Adam Jones’ fielding mistake. A bad call or a rash decision can have a tremendous impact on a baseball game. The down time allowed between plays allows tension and distraction to sink in; it is incredibly difficult to keep your focus through the long pauses between pitches. Sure enough, in the 9th inning Sherrill continued the team’s implosion, allowing a walk, single, and double, struck out A-Rod, allowed a two-run single before striking out the last two batters to end the game.

Not only was Cabrera forced to exit a game he could have completed, he was charged with two more runs to ruin one of his only strong performances of the last two months. The Orioles were compelled to use up their two best relievers in Johnson and George Sherrill in a game that should have been over at that point.

After Cabrera was ejected I sat down to start writing this post and I heard something on the radio behind me. “…and it doesn’t look like the Orioles will get the call.” Don’t hold your breath.

(AP Photo)