My Hall of Fame Ballot

The ballots are out.

This is why I began writing about sports.  This is the single funnest discussion in all of sports.  Five years ago we took my Father to Cooperstown and had this discussion for 3 days straight.  The Hall of Fame was created to compare apples and oranges, to make objective a discussion which is truly subjective.  The beauty of the Hall of Fame is that it draws a line in the sand and gives absolutely no criteria to define where that line is to be drawn except for the definition itself - Hall of Fame.  Where is the line drawn?  It is drawn between the Hall of Famers and the non-Hall of Famers.  Wait, you can’t use the word you are defining in the definition.  When defining Hall of Fame criteria you have to.  

There are some criteria that are almost definite lines in the sand.  For example, of all HOF eligible players who have amassed 3,000 hits all of them are in the Hall except for Pete Rose (banned) and Rafael Palmeiro (tested positive for PED’s).  This looks real good for Craig Biggio this year - 3,060.  If we were to have this discussion 10 years ago we would have said the same thing about 500 home runs.  This of course being the stat most affected by PED’s (more on them later), a HR is not what it used to be.  There are now 2 eligible 500 HR Club members not in the Hall - McGwire (583) and Palmeiro (569).  As we look ahead to the next few years and see names like Jim Thome and Gary Sheffield the 500 HR is no longer a definite line in the sand.  This does not bode well for this year’s hopefuls who are Steroid Era guys who are just short of the 500 mark - McGriff (493) and Bagwell (449).  On the pitching side, 300 wins still is, and should be, an automatic entry in the HOF stat.  However, Roger Clemens will be testing that line this year also.  

So let’s get into the first determining factor for this year’s vote - Steroids.  The voters how proved that they are going to make the players pay for their (alleged, accused, or tested positive) sins.   Mark McGwire should be a first ballot Hall of Famer, and has only garnered 19.5% of the vote (75% gets one inducted in the Hall).  Palmeiro and Bagwell are already borderline guys but Bagwell is guilty by association and Palmeiro is guilty by testing positive, therefore there is little to no chance that they will ever be inducted.

Here is how I will decide my vote in regards to PED’s - I will take the entire era, call it the steroid era, and judge the players based on their peers.  Accused, tested positive, or otherwise, I will assume that everyone was doing it and judge their performance on the field during that era.  Ballots went out this week and are due on Monday, so with this as my criteria here is my ballot. 

IN (in order) - Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire, Mike Piazza, Craig Biggio, and Sammy Sosa.  

MAYBE NEXT YEAR (in order) - Rafael Palmeiro, Curt Schilling, Jeff Bagwell, Tim Raines, Larry Walker

Out (in order) - Jack Morris, Lee Smith, Edgar Martinez, Fred McGriff

My Justification - I love the sabermetrics of baseball but I will leave out of this discussion.  In fact, I will leave most stats out of this discussion because I am a firm believer is this as a measurement - Is _________ a Hall of Famer?

IN

Barry Bonds - The 2nd greatest offensive player ever.  Bonds is one of eight players ever to join the 300HR/300SB club.  He is the only player in the 400/400 club, so of course he is the only player in the 500/500 club with 14 SB and 262 HR to spare.  

Roger Clemens - With pitcher especially we have to look at both peak quality and longevity, the classic Sandy Koufax vs. Nolan Ryan debate.  In the combination of peak quality and longevity Clemens would rank in the top 3 pitchers of all time, alongside Greg Maddux and Walter Johnson.   

Mark McGwire - In 1999 someone made a video naming the All-Century Team.  In 100 years of baseball they named the 2 All-Century first basemen as Lou Gehrig and Mark McGwire - one of the 2 received less than 20% of the vote to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.  The writers should take their hypocritical pens and mark “yes” for McGwire this weekend.  

Mike Piazza - Offensively speaking he was head and shoulders above anyone who has ever put on the shinguards.

Craig Biggio - Of everyone on my “IN” list Biggio is the one who does not stand out in the that-guy-is-a-Hall-of-Famer measurement; unless you are counting dirt on the jersey.  He was a very good player for a long time, the best 2B in the NL for a decade, has 3,000 hits, and put up good non-steroid numbers in the steroid era.

Sammy Sosa - A home run is not what it used to be, but Sosa clipped off 66, 63, 50, 64, 49 over a 5 year span.  Lest you incorrectly remember Sosa as a one-dimensional player, he batted .306 over that same span.   

MAYBE NEXT YEAR

Rafael Palmeiro - These other Steroid guys need to be sorted out before Palmeiro is even considered.  And with more guys coming on the list every year, it may be a while.  His actual positive test may eliminate him for good, but how many other guys out there have 500HR and 3,000 hits?  Three (Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Eddie Murray - decent company)

Curt Schilling - Good regular season numbers, fantastic post-season numbers (11-2, 2.23 ERA in 19 postseason starts) and great post-season moments.  Schilling is a tricky one and may also benefit from the steroid fallout.

                                                                      The Bloody Sock is at Cooperstown, will Schilling join it?

Jeff Bagwell - A big reason why many of the names at the bottom of this article are not at the top  of this article is the best-of-your-time-at-your-position argument.  This same argument goes against Palmeiro - they were never the best at their position.  Too many good 1B, too many good home run hitter during their time.  Sorry guys.

Tim Raines - His pre-steroid numbers look better and better every year, but he is now too far removed.  Was a great lead off hitter who falls a little short.

Larry Walker - Larry Walker doesn’t scream Hall of Fame, but his numbers are certainly there.  The sabermetricians certainly do like Walker.  According to Bill James’ (pause for a moment of silent honor to the godfather of sabermetrics) HOF meter Walker scores a 148, with a score of 100 being the likely-to-be-inducted line.

OUT

Jack Morris - I am not a fan of voting players into the Hall of the 14th ballot.  He has done nothing over the last 19 years to improve his case for induction.  However, ironically, this may just be his year.  He may get the up-yours-steroid-boys vote from some writers.

Lee Smith - Closer is one of the 2 most overrated positions in sports** so Saves do not get my vote.

Edgar Martinez - Edgar was a great designated hitter in Seattle.  The only way for a DH to make the HOF is if his offensive numbers are off-the-charts, since, after all, he is only half a player*, and Edgar’s offensive numbers are not off-the-charts.

Fred McGriff - Too many good first basemen who could hit home runs.  Does anyone look at Fred McGriff and have the word great come to mind?

* It will come out every once in a while - I HATE the designated hitter rule.

**  Football Running Back is the other.  Catcher and Offensive Lineman being to 2 most underrated.

You Probably Don't Know What You're Missing

The Houston Dynamo and the LA Galaxy will be squaring off next week in the finale of the 17^th season of Major League Soccer - but you probably didn’t know that.  Major League soccer, this year, had the 3^rd highest attendance average of the major US sports, only behind the NFL and MLB – but you probably didn’t know that either.  An MLS match is a great atmosphere in the Stadium and a very good product on the field – but unless you live in an MLS city you probably didn’t know that either.  MLS had a rocky beginning, and that was to be expected, but you probably haven’t noticed that Major League Soccer has found their niche, they are expanding, and their product gets better every year.

In a plan to ride the coattails of the 1994 World Cup the inaugural season of the MLS  was 1996.  They began with 10 teams.  As those of us who have followed American soccer for a long time knew would inevitably happen, the beginning years of the MLS were plagued with bad decisions.  Teams played in enormous, partially filled stadiums.  In an attempt to appeal to the American sports fan they concocted a wacky shootout system to conclude every tie match, apparently believing that ties, though the rest of the world accepts them as part of the game, are un-American.  The commentators were no good, the experience was lame, and the players tried their best.  They put one of their founding teams in one of the 5 worst sports town in America, Tampa Bay, for a league that plays a summer schedule.  They expanded two years later to one of the 5 worst sports town in America, Miami, for a league that plays a summer schedule. 

That was then.

The MLS currently has 19 teams, with an expansion to put a 2^nd team in New York City in the works.  Fourteen of those 19 teams play in soccer specific stadiums, most of them intimate venues with capacities around 20,000.  The recent round of expansions have tapped into some of the best sports towns in America - Salt Lake City, Portland, Seattle, Philly – and are capitalizing on the Canadian love of soccer as well – Vancouver, Toronto, and Montreal.  The atmosphere in the Northwest rivals that of European clubs. 

And speaking of other soccer leagues, the product on the pitch is fantastic.  High profile European defectors like Beckham and Henry, though they move the media needle, are not the main reason for the quality on the pitch.  World class internationals from smaller western hemisphere nations, homegrown talent, and a handful of big name Europeans have combined to produce a great product – don’t let any snobby yet uninformed sports fan tell you otherwise. 

This is now.

The attendance numbers are impressive.  MLS has surpassed both the NHL and the NBA in per game attendance averages (18,807).  The league broke the 6 million fan barrier in 2012.   To put that into perspective, they broke the 5 million barrier in 2011 and 4 million in 2010.  Granted, expansion has a lot to do with those numbers but that is eye catching growth no matter what the reason behind it. 

This year they began a new TV contract with NBC sports, and as we all know it is the TV contracts that drive American sports (and American Universities as is evidenced by the conference shakeups of recent years).  If they can figure out the TV piece of the equation (side note:  even the commentators are exponentially better now), that will be the key to marketing the game outside of MLS cities. 

You may not have noticed that the MLS is a great product.  Maybe you, like me, don’t have the pleasure of living in an MLS city.  Here is some sports advice that you will thank me for later – get on the MLS bandwagon.  You will be glad you did.

The Pinnacle of Journalism - The Sideline Reporter and the Athlete Interview

The brains behind putting sports on television have come up with some great ideas that enhance the sports fan’s viewing experience.  I love the camera that is suspended in mid air above the field.  Whoever decided a few years back that the score and the time/inning/down should always be on the TV screen - brilliant.  It makes one forget that a few years ago they would only flash the score on the screen every once in a while*.  And of course, the best thing to happen to sports since the shot clock - High Definition!  

There are two things, however, that do absolutely nothing to enhance my sports viewing experience and may actually detract from it - and the 2 go hand in hand.  They are 1) the athlete interview and 2) the sideline reporter.  I ask you, sports fans, 2 questions.  

1. Has a sideline reporter ever offered any bit of information or pseudo-news that was worth anything?
2. Has an athlete ever said anything in an interview that benefited anyone ever?

The answer to the first question is a unanimous “NO”.  A friend of mine and I were debating the value of the sideline reporter the other day and he mentioned as proof for the benefit of sideline reporters an instance where the sideline wannabe reporter reported that a running back was on the sideline getting his ankle re-taped and would therefore be reentering the game.  To which I responded, “could we not have deduced that from a camera showing said running back on the sideline getting his ankle re-taped?”  How often have we seen a wide receiver get his head knocked off coming across the middle only to have the sideline reporter tell us that the player has gone to the locker room for further tests.  Did the image of the player in a cart going through the tunnel not tell us that exact same thing? Thanks a pantload...how much are they paying you to do this job?  And since when did this become a job that can only be held by good looking females (sorry Craig Sager, I didn’t mean to exclude you - good looking females or guys dressed like clowns)?  It’s like they are now a more highly evolved verbally astute cheerleader.  Do any reporters aspire to this position?  Does this job scratch one’s journalistic itch?

The answer to question B. is yes.  If you exclude Charles Barkley and inebriated Joe Namaths then the answer changes to no.  

After every single coach or athlete interview I have ever heard I quote Billy Madison to myself, “and everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.”  

My favorite all time sports talk radio show was host was Tony Kornheiser.  Not only is Tony smart and articulate, but he refused to do athlete interviews - and his show was better for it.  

And the worst of all, when you combine the 2 most worthless elements of sports on TV - a sideline reporter doing an athlete interview.  Do they have a school for sideline reporters to learn the mastery of their craft?  “Coach, what adjustments do you need to make in the 2nd half?”  “After a lifetime of training and sacrifice you just won a gold medal for you and your country, what are you feeling right now?”  That’s it.  Ask the brilliantly crafted questions and then all you have to do is just let those coaches and athletes open their mouths and spill pearls of wisdom and insight that will inspire sports fans the world over.  Sideline reporter school is over.  Now go out and Wow America ladies...and you too Craig. 

* I hate the constant scrolling of other scores on the bottom of the screen - smart phones have rendered the ticker completely superfluous and distracting

Give the Boys a Chance to Win!

     We all just witnessed (I hope you were watching) a classic football game.  No, I'm not talking about the track meet in the Colleseum where the game was 3/4 finished before it saw it first punt.  I am talking about the 4 yards and a cloud of dust battle in the bayou.  Epic plays, great defense, a wild atmosphere...and the worst coached football game I have ever seen.

     I was just told by Kirk Herbstreet on SportsCenter not to criticize Les Miles for the decisions he made in this game.  On behalf of Kansas St., Notre Dame, and Oregon fans everywhere I am going to criticize Les Miles.  I know this might sound hypocritcal of me criticizing Les for taking risks since when I coach football I make those same risky decisions and often get burned also - EXCEPT THAT I ONLY COACH FOOTBALL IN VIDEO GAMES!  You are probably saying something about hindsight being 20/20, but my foresight was also 20/20.  On 4th and 12 when I saw the holder pitch it to the kicker only for him to slaughtered by the 'Bama defense, I was wondering about Miles' sanity and the kicker's ability to survive that dog pile.  The onside kickoff in the 2nd half was actually taken straight out of my Madden playbook.  Fourth down and a long 1 in the 4th quarter when they brought in the "wildcat" package I almost woke up my wife with shouts of "No, no, no" (my wife was also almost awoken by these same shouts we heard all the way from Manhattan, South Bend, and Eugene). You don't get that fourth down with that package against that defense.  Of course they went nowhere.

   It was the last 3 minutes where it really broke down for Les Miles.  It was 3rd down and fairly long with just over 2 minutes on the clock.  If they go nowhere on 3rd down they are looking at a 49 yard field goal (not happening).  If they run it and gain a few yards then they are still looking at a 45 yard attempt.  At that point LSU was up by 3.  At that moment in the game LSU's QB was on fire.  To run the ball burns 40 seconds and gives you almost no chance of getting a first down and a slim chance of making the field goal.  THROW THE FOOTBALL, LES!  GIVE THE BOYS A CHANCE TO WIN!  They ran it for about 4 yards.  No one was surprised they didn't run it for a first down (which would have essentially ended the ball game since Saban had burned all his timeouts already).  No one was surprised they went for the field goal.  I was a bit surprised LSU didn't fake the field goal since no one was surprised when he missed the field goal anyway (and by the way, jumping ahead, they would have lost even if he had made the field goal since 'Bama marched down and scored a TD instead of a FG - more on that later).  But here was the strange part about this decision - Les Miles was in the middle of coaching the most aggressive (albeit reckless) game I have ever seen...and then he wussed out.  He fakes a field goal of 4th and 12, he calls an onside kick in the 3rd quarter, yet he can't pass the ball on 3rd down with under 3 minutes to ice the game, beat his rival, and possibly earn a spot in the BCS championship game?

     So Alabama gets the ball back, down by 3, no timeouts, and under 2 minutes on the clock.  They start on about their 30 yard line, need to get to the other 30 or so for a chance at a tie.  At this point I am still feeling real good if I am LSU.  Gary Danielson reminds us that McCarron is 1 for 9 in the 2nd half with 0 yards.  The Alabama offense had gone nowhere the entire 2nd half.  So what does Les Miles do?  HE BACKS THE HECK UP AND GIVES THEM ALL THE SPACE IN THE WORLD!?  Instead of continuing his aggression and shoving it right down their throats, he goes prevent.  Pass complete, pass complete, pass complete, 'Bama in field goal range.  What happens next is the irony to cap off an incredibly ironic game - LSU blitzes (finally) and Saban had called a screen.  TJ Yeldon takes it 28 yards for an historic Crimson Tide TD.

     WOW!

     LSU gets the ball back with under a minute and they are so deflated that they can't even think straight, and they quickly made a mess of the final ticks and the Tiger faithful in Death Valley looked like someone had just pulled a cruel joke on them.  The tragedy of the game, and Nick Saban admitted it after the game, was that LSU dominated the game.  The boys on the field in purple and gold did almost everything right.  Even with all of the bad decisions, with 2 minutes left they looked like they were going to win this game - but their coach didn't give the boys a chance to win.

  Having said all that, unless they get jobbed by the BCS, Oregon will win the National Championship.