The recent outcry against A-Rod has me concerned. Why is there such hatred towards A-Rod? Why are there 15 articles about the problems with A-Rod? The guy is a standup baseball player who stays out of trouble, plays hard, puts up tremendous numbers, and as far as we know doesn't use steroids.
My theory is the media. He plays in New York and he is an easy target for the New York media since they haven't won a World Series in 5 years? The Boston media jumps in and rubs it in, which I would do if I was a Sox fan. I mean the way that they have continued to blow the "Slap Play" from last years playoffs is unbelievable. A-Rod was called out and that should of been the end of it. Now it is listed as one of the most controversial plays in baseball? What was the controversy? And finally you have all the small markets jumping in and trashing A-Rod due to their combined hatred of the Yanks and any high salary player.
Now, I'm not defending A-Rod's past playoff performances, since I have seen him strikeout time after time during the stretch run against the A's in late inning situations with the game on the line. Heck, Jim Mecir and his club foot earned himself a 3 year deal with the A's due to his ability to get A-Rod out, but nobody else. Has there ever been a right handed specialist since Mecir? I feared Raffy and Edgar tens time more than A-Rod back in the day.
I just think that the media is going way overboard with this. Over at hardballtimes.com, http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/fall-from-grace/>John Battain, breaks the reasons on why everyone is jumping on the "I hate A-Rod" bandwagon and what A-Rod should do.
On a different note, I want to make a note of my two lock of the week picks for college football. USC-11.5 over ND, and LSU-6 over Florida. While Weis is a good coach, he can't make up for the talent difference between ND and USC. ND might be able to beat up on Big Ten schools that have a grind em out offense, but with USC, you have to score TDs. On a bad day (which they have had two so far), USC will still score 38 points. Do you really think ND can score that many points? Maybe, but the chances are slim and this isn't Pittsburgh or Purdue. I was licking my chops once I saw that the line was below 14. And LSU will probably only score 24 points against an above average Florida defense, but Florida can't score against a good team. And if you see a line above 3 points in the Big Ten, take the underdog if it isn't Indiana or Illinois.
And my final gambling note of the week is how can the Ravens be favored by 6? Will they even score that many points? Vegas always over-values the Broncos, Ravens, and Green Bay, based off of things that they have done in the past. And for some reason this year, Vegas keeps on riding the Arizona bandwagon. Lets see how this compares to Eric's picks on Sunday.
7 comments:
I think it is easy to explain.
First, everyone hates the high salaries of the Yankees and the competitive imbalance it seems to create. Who is the poster child for this? A-Rod, no question.
The second part, then, is that he had to resort to "cheating" - slapping the ball from the glove - in order to try to get on base in October.
$25M/year + cheating = a person very unpopular.
It's the same kind of equation for Giambi, Bonds, and other stars that don't "earn" their money when it is important.
I agree with you on the slap play - it is not a controversy. A controversy has two sides - like Jeffrey Maier, or Rich Karlis's kick in the 86 AFC championship. No one believes that A-Rod should have been safe.
Now - your post on college FB. You make good arguments. If you believe that ND can't score 24-27 points on USC......
then that means USC needs to score 44-47 to cover the over/under. The O/U on this game is 71!!!!!!!!
I've never seen that in a non-Hawaii game.
It's your call, but you unwitting make the case for the under...
Also, in the LSU/Fla game. I do believe you - LSU will only score 24, and Fla will not score.
So the over/under is 47 - will Florida score 23? 20? You think not - nay nay, as John PInette says. Therefore, are you taking the under here as well? It would make sense.
NFL: Too bad both GB and Arizona are on byes this week. You are right about Vegas overestimating them - but it's not Vegas, it's the public.
And I wouldn't get too crazy about Bal -6 vs. Cle. I have a feeling this will be a >10 point game, but it could be either way. Either Bal finally comes out to play, or Wirght throws 2 early INTs and the Ravens pack it in. I don't see this coming down to the end.
I'm shocked that you would relate A-Rods play to Giambi and Bonds. So anyone that runs outside of the basepath is now in the Giambi and Bonds category? What??? But I'm not really faulting the Boston media in making this a big deal because as an A's fan I will never let an Angels fan live down F-Rod dropping the ball and allowing us to score. Nor will the A's media people.
And John Battain makes a great point that A-Rod is an outsider so he will get all the blame since they can't blame Torre, Jeter, Williams, and company.
Back to college football. That over/under on the USC game is interesting, but I did say that if USC has a bad day, they will still score 38 points. So if they are on, they will easily post 44-47. The under is a sucker bet. I'm sure that Brad will tease this line to 77 and take ND and the under and it will come down to some last second junk TD to make it 56-21. That's not a bad prediction there. I'm going with it.
And I agree with you on the Florida over/under.
About A-Rod and his hatred, oh lets count the ways (reasons)
1. Wanted to play for a winner, then signed a mega deal with Texas - who sucks. You can't say that you "didn't do it for the money" with a straight face and expect the savvy sports fans to buy it
2. Forced his way out of Texas because he finally wanted to be part of a winner.
3. Each team he has left has had great success with him gone.
4. A huge article in the Sporting News detailing how many in baseball view him as a fraud. Basically the Texas players were constantly shouted at and talked down to when he was there. A great part on the story had him yelling to a guy in a Spring Training game "Take a secondary lead, c'mon!!!". So the next year with him gone a lot of guys started yelling that to each other in a mocking fashion. Is it a coincidence that teams have had success when he leaves if that is the attitude he brings to the park everyday??? Hmmm....
5. Tries soooo hard on his image. He wants to be the golden boy ala Cal Ripken Jr. but yet it seems relly forced with him. Ken Griffey Jr (in the early 90s), Big Mac and Sosa (pre roids) were really likeable, it wasn't forced at all with them.
6. He shrinks in the biggest moments. I totaly agree with your "who is feared" in a lineup argument. Regardless of his stats, Matsui and Sheffield put far more fear into me than Arod.
7. Publicly calling out Jeter who was supposedly his "boy" before. Trashing him in Esquire because he only bats #2 in the order. Guess who put up all those numbers in the 2 hole this year??
8. The slap play. It wasn't just the play, it was that look on his face afterwards of "You can't really be calling me out right?? He dropped the ball ump!! I'm Arod!!!" He was pumping his fist like he was doing his part to start a Yankee rally. Yet, it was all so forced and fake. Give me a freaking break. Now, was it the end of civilization as we know it?? No. But it was really bush league. You couldn't have two more opposite images from that ALCS. On the one side you had a supersuperstar whining after he salpped the ball out of a pitchers glove. On the other side you had Schilling dominating with no ankle.
As far as ND and USC. Doesn't USC's defense suck? It seems like 11.5 is a lot to give up on the road against a team with a decent offense. I actually would take the over. I think Charlie will find a way to score points. It may not be enough points, but they'll score.
Jay,
1. Not defending if TX was the right team, but he was going to get paid by either TX or the Mets. TX did show some signs of some very good pitching free agents and prospects that just didn't pan out. When you have all those bad contracts on top of his large contract, you are sort of stuck. The Mets would of been in the same boat. And the Mariners were not going to re-sign him.
2. Don't know if forced is the right word. TX wanted to get rid of that salary just as bad as A-Rod wanted to leave. Sort of like the Manny situation, except that there were two takers with large budgets for A-Rod.
3. Great success? Who the Mariners? They made the playoffs once since he has left. Texas? Um, they still suck.
4/5. Nothing to say here since I agree that he is trying to hard to be careful on what he says. He is not a leader, so when he tries to mouth off to his players he sounds terrible in doing so. Its scary how much he reminds me of Ripken. Remember Ripken was just as annoying, by not talking to teammates, staying in a separate hotel, and only commenting to the press with scheduled press conferences. Nothing was natural with either of these two guys.
6. That brings up probably an idea for another column on who is your most feared hitter in late innings situation. I would have to go with Nixon, Todd Walker, Varitek, Manny, Ortiz, Edgar, Gibson, and Vlad.
7. True.
8. As stated before I can understand why Sox fans love it. And excuse me while I puke over the Schilling comment.
And on the USC thing, I guess some people really do over-estimate college coaching. It is all about recruiting talent. Is the USC defense suspect? I guess. But its the USC offense that puts the pressure on the other teams offense. Field Goals are not good enough to win. You have to come close to scoring TDs in 50% of your possession to compete. Is USC's defense that bad? No. Can Weis develop a plan to either stop the offense or keep scoring on his end? Probably not. 11.5 points is nothing for this USC team.
1. No, I think you are in error, Derek. I distinctly remember people saying that the Rangers overbid for A-Rod, and it was effectively "Texas bidding against themselves". I believe I heard multiple stories of A-Rod's agent conning Texas's management to get that deal. The Mets were not in it at the end.
3. I always bought #3 until Derek brings up that fact. Texas still is under .500, even with the fast start.
7. I forgot the Jeter part.
8. Jay is right on 8, but can we please do it without so much Red Sox cheerleading? Geesh, you sound like Sports Guy.
This will be a fun game to watch...USC v ND, just to see who can crow about it on Sunday.
My prediction: USC 41, ND 27
I guess they will cover.....
1. Well you are right and wrong, Eric. The Mets were in it close to the end, I believe in the $180 range. Then TX came back with $200 million, and then came over top of themselves with $250. But who cares. Either way, TX still seemed like a better option than the Mets at that time. Everyone and their mothers at the time thought TX would be contending with their improved pitching and A-Rod, but their pitching absolutely imploded once he got there. Helling, Oliver, and Rogers all went into the toilet after having solid seasons before, and Zimmerman went down as their closer. The next year they brought in Valdez (back when he was highly thought of) and Park to firm up the top of their staff, with Burba in the 4 hole, and a bunch of crap in the 5 hole. It got so bad for them that they had to slide in Irabu as their closer. Ugh. Was it A-Rod's fault that their pitching went into the shitter?
Valdez? Which one?
Was it Oil Spill I or Oil Spill II?
(on the 1990 Indians, we had both Sergio Valdez and Efrain Valdez in our bullpen. That's how Steve and I identified them - is McNamara bringing in Oil Spill I or II?)
John McNamara. Wow. I distinctly remember reading an article in the Plain Dealer in the Spring of 1990 (on the way to a golf match in our college van) that McNamara had the utmost confidence that he would lead the Tribe to the series......
Post a Comment