Week 17. Let's do this, Pete.
But this was a week for the ages. And lucky me -- I got to see it all in NBC's fifth-floor viewing room at 30 Rock, with nine high-def TVs enthralling the cast of our Football Night in America show.
[Wait a second. Is this King or Mack Brown?]
In Minnesota, Giants, up 19-17 with five seconds left, call a timeout to freeze Ryan Longwell ... Uh, it's Minneapolis. Gotta be a hearty lad here. Nineteen degrees outside ... No Vikes kicker will be frozen today.
[Umm, Pete knows that the Vikings play in a dome, right? It was 71 degrees inside the dome yesterday. "Gotta" be hearty, indeed.]
There are few things in this job I take more seriously than my National Football League MVP vote for the Associated Press.
[His League MVP vote is right behind his paragraph about "all things coffee" that he insists on including in his weekly column. Sorry, Peyton! Get in line!]
My criteria have never changed. The inclusion of the word "valuable'' differentiates this from a player of the year award.
[And the fact that they are separate awards.]
If I'm voting for Offensive Player of the Year, for example, I'm likely voting for the individual who had the best season of anyone on offense[.]
[Yep. Go ahead and re-read that one a few times. I'm not even going to include a joke. Classic.]
For MVP, I ask myself this question: Which player, removed from his team, would have the biggest impact on the team's record?
[Because that isn't a completely arbitrary exercise or anything.]
Matt Ryan? I love him, and I love his candidacy. I can't argue with a soul who'd name him MVP.
[I could. 17th in completion %. 13th in passing yards. 16th in TD passes. 14th in INTs. 11th in QB Rating.]
I have been leaning toward Manning for the past four or five weeks, because I've felt the Colts would have been well below .500 without him....
[Wasn't everyone saying the same thing about the Patriots when Brady went down in Week 1?]
The story of Manning's 11th season is a good story, one he hasn't told this season to anyone else in my business -- to the best of my knowledge.
[I like how people (not just King) think that saying "to the best of my knowledge" absolves them from neglecting to actually research the point they are attempting to make. It is akin to starting a sentence with the phrase "With all due respect," and then assuming that you have immunitiy from whatever critical or insulting comment follows subsequently.]
Now onto the MVP issue. My take is Manning was the keystone to this team starting 3-4 instead of being out of it at 1-6.
[Blah.]
In the final nine games, Manning's 9-0 record led all NFL quarterbacks, Manning's 72-percent accuracy led all NFL quarterbacks, and Manning's 17-to-3 touchdown-to-interception (plus-14) differential led all NFL quarterbacks.
[Finally. There is absolutely a case to be made for Peyton. And this is it. The "keystone" bit? Bag it, Pete.]
Sunday was one of the five worst days in the 49-year history of the Dallas Cowboys.... I came to this conclusion: The Cowboys are the Yankees, in so many ways.
[And by "so many ways," Pete means "I don't like either team."]
New York has spent more money than every other team in baseball for the past eight years and not won a World Series. Dallas has acquired the most famous talent in all of football since 1997 and not won a playoff game. Twelve years, and counting.
[Nice "apples and oragnes" logic fail here.
For Dallas: If x then not y (where y = winning a playoff game).
For the Yankees: If x then not z (where z = winning a World Series).
Because, actually, for the Yankees: If x then LOTS of y.
The Yankees have made the playoffs 13 of the past 14 seasons. Winning playoff games in all of those playoff appearances. Also, the temporal element makes the comparison misleading as well. If Pete were to take the Yankees back twelve years as well, he would stumble upon a few World Series Championships. Nice effort.]
I see the Yankees are interested in signing Warren Buffett, then Bill Gates. But that won't be enough for them. Then they're going to ink three Saudi princes to Triple-A contracts.
[Hilarious.]
Showing posts with label yankees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label yankees. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
You KNEW this was coming....
On the heels of the Teixiera signing, the sports media took umbrage. Lots and lots of umbrage. The umbrage ranged from Mike Lupica's whining to Bob Ryan's bizarrely-written gibberish. But I think that Phil Sheridan's take is my favorite.
The New York Yankees represent the very worst of America.
[Obviously he's making an absurd overstatement just to draw in the reader.]
Overstatement? Consider the times.
[Wait. He was being serious. Oh.]
Cornerstone industries are faltering, taxpayers are being asked to bail out mismanaged financial institutions and their overpaid CEOs, and decent, hard-working men and women are being laid off or worrying that they could be next.
[And it's all because of the Yankees. I mean, the causal relationship is undeniable!]
Now consider the eight-year, $180 million contract the Yankees reportedly handed first baseman Mark Teixeira yesterday. Stack it on top of the $161 million deal signed by pitcher CC Sabathia and the (relatively) modest $82.5 million promised to A.J. Burnett and you have the most egregious display of financial irresponsibility in the history of sports.
[Calling something "irresponsible" doesn't actually MAKE it irresponsible. I am willing to bet that the Yankees operate under a business model that doesn't revolve around "getting distracted by shiny objects."]
If Major League Baseball had a commissioner - that is, an independent and strong-willed leader unafraid to do the right thing - the Teixeira and Sabathia deals would be nullified based on the commissioner's sweeping "best interest of the game" powers.
[Is that a serious suggestion? Is Sheridan for real? Two parties negotiate, which ultimately results in an agreement, and some random third party should come in and nullify the deal based on the "Because I said so" principle? Worst. Idea. Ever.]
What's wrong here is obvious.
[Spoiler alert: It's Phil Sheridan.]
Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball has no salary cap.
[I know! C'mon, baseball. Why can't you be more like the NHL??]
In fairness, MLB did create a luxury tax system that punishes overspenders such as the Yankees and Red Sox and adds revenue to the coffers of teams such as Florida and Kansas City. Of course, that system also gives some of the small-market teams a disincentive to spend money to win. They can pocket their free money from New York and Boston and continue to flounder on the field.
[Doesn't this argument cut AGAINST Sheridan's thesis?]
The Yankees have proved for the last five years that buying the highest-priced players does not guarantee you a title.
[Again. Right?]
Baseball economics always have been bad for competitive balance, but this Yankees spree is the worst ever because of real-world economics.
[Care to elaborate?]
It just smells bad.
[Check. And. Mate.]
In case anyone other than me was interested in ACTUAL analysis of this signing, check out Keith Law's blog entry.
[See? That wasn't so hard now was it?]
The New York Yankees represent the very worst of America.
[Obviously he's making an absurd overstatement just to draw in the reader.]
Overstatement? Consider the times.
[Wait. He was being serious. Oh.]
Cornerstone industries are faltering, taxpayers are being asked to bail out mismanaged financial institutions and their overpaid CEOs, and decent, hard-working men and women are being laid off or worrying that they could be next.
[And it's all because of the Yankees. I mean, the causal relationship is undeniable!]
Now consider the eight-year, $180 million contract the Yankees reportedly handed first baseman Mark Teixeira yesterday. Stack it on top of the $161 million deal signed by pitcher CC Sabathia and the (relatively) modest $82.5 million promised to A.J. Burnett and you have the most egregious display of financial irresponsibility in the history of sports.
[Calling something "irresponsible" doesn't actually MAKE it irresponsible. I am willing to bet that the Yankees operate under a business model that doesn't revolve around "getting distracted by shiny objects."]
If Major League Baseball had a commissioner - that is, an independent and strong-willed leader unafraid to do the right thing - the Teixeira and Sabathia deals would be nullified based on the commissioner's sweeping "best interest of the game" powers.
[Is that a serious suggestion? Is Sheridan for real? Two parties negotiate, which ultimately results in an agreement, and some random third party should come in and nullify the deal based on the "Because I said so" principle? Worst. Idea. Ever.]
What's wrong here is obvious.
[Spoiler alert: It's Phil Sheridan.]
Unlike the NFL, NBA and NHL, baseball has no salary cap.
[I know! C'mon, baseball. Why can't you be more like the NHL??]
In fairness, MLB did create a luxury tax system that punishes overspenders such as the Yankees and Red Sox and adds revenue to the coffers of teams such as Florida and Kansas City. Of course, that system also gives some of the small-market teams a disincentive to spend money to win. They can pocket their free money from New York and Boston and continue to flounder on the field.
[Doesn't this argument cut AGAINST Sheridan's thesis?]
The Yankees have proved for the last five years that buying the highest-priced players does not guarantee you a title.
[Again. Right?]
Baseball economics always have been bad for competitive balance, but this Yankees spree is the worst ever because of real-world economics.
[Care to elaborate?]
It just smells bad.
[Check. And. Mate.]
In case anyone other than me was interested in ACTUAL analysis of this signing, check out Keith Law's blog entry.
[Teixiera is] probably the best defensive player relative to his position on the Yankees now, and could be one of only two or three who are above average depending on how the rest of the roster shakes out. He adds significant power to a lineup that had just two players slug over .500 this past year, and his .410 OBP in 2008 would have led the Yankees by 18 points.
Coupled with the loss of Jason Giambi, the signing of Teixeira means a net gain to the Yankees of four to five wins, considering both his bat and his defense. He also eliminates the need the Yankees had for a right-handed caddy for Giambi, since Teixeira is a true switch-hitter with power and patience from both sides of the plate.
[See? That wasn't so hard now was it?]
Friday, December 19, 2008
Yankees: Hate-able Even Before Yesterday
I usually try to stay away from reading sub-par news outlets because if you think the writing by ‘the big boys’ is bad, it is many time worse as you go further down the totem pole.
Like this gem from Newsday writer Ken Davidoff.
Yankees president Randy Levine, on live television yesterday from the old Yankee Stadium, announced, "Today, we reaffirm the Steinbrenners' commitment to Yankees' fans."
For the rest of the world, of course, it meant just the opposite: Time to hate the Yankees again.
Except that it doesn’t, for two reasons:
1. It logically follows that a team owner, any team owner, who spends $243.5 million on players is emphatically reaffirming a commitment to the fans. What I would give for Carl Pohlad to spend like that (actually, glad you asked, it would include my born-again virginity, my luck Twins hat, visiting rights to my dog three days a week and a perpetual 10% tithe payable directly to the Minnesota Twins at 34 Kirby Puckett Way, Minneapolis, MN).
2. Hating the Yankees never went out of style. It never does. Seriously, it just doesn’t. It’s a classic. Like the little black dress, Charlie Brown’s Christmas and a college football national title game that nobody’s really happy with.
There existed, this past year, the tiniest window in which the Yankees made it difficult to loathe them. But they utilized the power left arm of CC Sabathia and the power right arm of A.J. Burnett to slam that window shut.
This is the first time in fourteen years that the Yankees missed the playoffs. Sorry if I am unable to feel the depths of sorrow for the abject failure as I am for, say, the Royals, Reds or Rangers.
And you know what, even in the 80s I still hated the Yankees…even when they are not a good baseball team they are still the richest and most successful sporting team ever in America. Also, their fans are New Yorkers and assorted other bandwagon hangers-on across the country.
The Yankees could play Al Qaeda and I will still be rooting against the Yankees.
So no, one bad season didn’t make it difficult to dislike the Yankees. If anything, it primed me for extra dislike when they inevitably waved their huge checkbook around to the best players in the Major Leagues.
Yankees bashing is back en vogue.
Again, unlike corduroy or hippie hair, it never went out of style.
Spending $243.5 million on two pitchers, at a time when our country is drowning financially, will create some bad will out there.
Though I may have been subtle in communicating this, the Yankees are not my favorite team. But it is hard to fault them for spending money since, you know, they make a lot of money and, you may have heard, they spent their money on good players who will help them win games and, research shows, winning attracts the fans that make teams profitable. So, like most people, and this might hit you like a striper wrapped in yesterday’s Post, I don’t care that they are spending a lot of money as long as they are NOT asking my elected representatives to steal money from me to give it to them and their business.
I may fervently hope that Sabathia and Burnett turn out like Tartabull and Johnson, but I am not angry that they spent their money to buy players. It’s called the free market.
Oh, and it’s what I wish the Twins would do, too.
Like this gem from Newsday writer Ken Davidoff.
Yankees president Randy Levine, on live television yesterday from the old Yankee Stadium, announced, "Today, we reaffirm the Steinbrenners' commitment to Yankees' fans."
For the rest of the world, of course, it meant just the opposite: Time to hate the Yankees again.
Except that it doesn’t, for two reasons:
1. It logically follows that a team owner, any team owner, who spends $243.5 million on players is emphatically reaffirming a commitment to the fans. What I would give for Carl Pohlad to spend like that (actually, glad you asked, it would include my born-again virginity, my luck Twins hat, visiting rights to my dog three days a week and a perpetual 10% tithe payable directly to the Minnesota Twins at 34 Kirby Puckett Way, Minneapolis, MN).
2. Hating the Yankees never went out of style. It never does. Seriously, it just doesn’t. It’s a classic. Like the little black dress, Charlie Brown’s Christmas and a college football national title game that nobody’s really happy with.
There existed, this past year, the tiniest window in which the Yankees made it difficult to loathe them. But they utilized the power left arm of CC Sabathia and the power right arm of A.J. Burnett to slam that window shut.
This is the first time in fourteen years that the Yankees missed the playoffs. Sorry if I am unable to feel the depths of sorrow for the abject failure as I am for, say, the Royals, Reds or Rangers.
And you know what, even in the 80s I still hated the Yankees…even when they are not a good baseball team they are still the richest and most successful sporting team ever in America. Also, their fans are New Yorkers and assorted other bandwagon hangers-on across the country.
The Yankees could play Al Qaeda and I will still be rooting against the Yankees.
So no, one bad season didn’t make it difficult to dislike the Yankees. If anything, it primed me for extra dislike when they inevitably waved their huge checkbook around to the best players in the Major Leagues.
Yankees bashing is back en vogue.
Again, unlike corduroy or hippie hair, it never went out of style.
Spending $243.5 million on two pitchers, at a time when our country is drowning financially, will create some bad will out there.
Though I may have been subtle in communicating this, the Yankees are not my favorite team. But it is hard to fault them for spending money since, you know, they make a lot of money and, you may have heard, they spent their money on good players who will help them win games and, research shows, winning attracts the fans that make teams profitable. So, like most people, and this might hit you like a striper wrapped in yesterday’s Post, I don’t care that they are spending a lot of money as long as they are NOT asking my elected representatives to steal money from me to give it to them and their business.
I may fervently hope that Sabathia and Burnett turn out like Tartabull and Johnson, but I am not angry that they spent their money to buy players. It’s called the free market.
Oh, and it’s what I wish the Twins would do, too.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
CC = Good Guy = Yankee Championship
Here's an almost completely useless piece in the NY Times about what CC Sabathia *really* brings to the Yankees, courtesy of William Rhoden.
Which team made the best deal for itself on the pitching front? My vote goes to the Yankees.
[Agreed. With respect to PITCHING, Sabathia clearly has more value than K-Rod. He'll give you many more quality innings, he's a lefty pitching in Yankee Stadium, his stats don't look exactly the same as Scott Downs', etc. Rhoden has lots of good reasons to choose from here.]
While the Mets plugged an embarrassing hole in their bullpen, the Yankees plugged an even larger hole — a hole in their soul.
[Or he could go that route. To quote my Friend Who Knows Things, "Brutal."]
Sabathia represents a potential breath of fresh air in a stale, cliché-ridden Yankees clubhouse, one with little personality and even less passion, and no recent championships to compensate for those deficiencies.
[In fact, did you know that the Yankees won 114 games in 1998 largely because of Paul O'Neill's love-hate relationship with the dugout water coolers?]
In 2007, for example, Sabathia complained about the lack of African-American players in the majors. He even pointed a finger at Major League Baseball for not doing all that it could to increase the numbers.
[2009 World Series trophy, please!]
He said later: “I think Major League Baseball should do something about it. I don’t know exactly what they could be doing, but I know it’s not enough.”
[The Yankees clubhouse hasn't had this kind of problem-identification skills in years. Hope you enjoyed your brief stint atop the standings, Tampa!]
Finally a Yankee with an opinion.
[Ha, I know! No one associated with the Yankees EVER has opinions to share! Put your hand down, Hank! Not now!]
Gary Sheffield was the last great truth teller in the Yankees’ clubhouse.
[Great point. My favorite Sheffield "truth" was his proclamation that Jeter "ain't all the way black," and that Joe Torre treated black players differently from white players. I'm surprised that the Yanks didn't go undefeated that year.]
Before that, the passion was generated by the Paul O’Neill Yankees, who played with a verve that has been missing. It’s no coincidence that the championships have been missing as well.
[Two things: (1) Sheffield was definitely not on any of the championship teams; and (2) Why is O'Neill only ever credited for his "verve" as opposed to the fact that he was actually quite good at baseball. Career OPS+ of 120, one batting title, 5 all-star appearances, over 2,100 career hits. Dude could play. Pretty sure it was probably that fact, and not his temper tantrums, that helped the Yanks win titles.]
“That team can play, but something’s missing,” [Kevin Millar] said. “When you play against them and you look over there — other than they didn’t pitch very well — something was missing.” The something was chemistry.
[NO! No, it wasn't! It was pitching! He even just said that! OK, you know what? Forget it. Done.]
Which team made the best deal for itself on the pitching front? My vote goes to the Yankees.
[Agreed. With respect to PITCHING, Sabathia clearly has more value than K-Rod. He'll give you many more quality innings, he's a lefty pitching in Yankee Stadium, his stats don't look exactly the same as Scott Downs', etc. Rhoden has lots of good reasons to choose from here.]
While the Mets plugged an embarrassing hole in their bullpen, the Yankees plugged an even larger hole — a hole in their soul.
[Or he could go that route. To quote my Friend Who Knows Things, "Brutal."]
Sabathia represents a potential breath of fresh air in a stale, cliché-ridden Yankees clubhouse, one with little personality and even less passion, and no recent championships to compensate for those deficiencies.
[In fact, did you know that the Yankees won 114 games in 1998 largely because of Paul O'Neill's love-hate relationship with the dugout water coolers?]
In 2007, for example, Sabathia complained about the lack of African-American players in the majors. He even pointed a finger at Major League Baseball for not doing all that it could to increase the numbers.
[2009 World Series trophy, please!]
He said later: “I think Major League Baseball should do something about it. I don’t know exactly what they could be doing, but I know it’s not enough.”
[The Yankees clubhouse hasn't had this kind of problem-identification skills in years. Hope you enjoyed your brief stint atop the standings, Tampa!]
Finally a Yankee with an opinion.
[Ha, I know! No one associated with the Yankees EVER has opinions to share! Put your hand down, Hank! Not now!]
Gary Sheffield was the last great truth teller in the Yankees’ clubhouse.
[Great point. My favorite Sheffield "truth" was his proclamation that Jeter "ain't all the way black," and that Joe Torre treated black players differently from white players. I'm surprised that the Yanks didn't go undefeated that year.]
Before that, the passion was generated by the Paul O’Neill Yankees, who played with a verve that has been missing. It’s no coincidence that the championships have been missing as well.
[Two things: (1) Sheffield was definitely not on any of the championship teams; and (2) Why is O'Neill only ever credited for his "verve" as opposed to the fact that he was actually quite good at baseball. Career OPS+ of 120, one batting title, 5 all-star appearances, over 2,100 career hits. Dude could play. Pretty sure it was probably that fact, and not his temper tantrums, that helped the Yanks win titles.]
“That team can play, but something’s missing,” [Kevin Millar] said. “When you play against them and you look over there — other than they didn’t pitch very well — something was missing.” The something was chemistry.
[NO! No, it wasn't! It was pitching! He even just said that! OK, you know what? Forget it. Done.]
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
