NFL Draft

First off I would like to start with a theory of mine. I have a lot of different theories and I will toss them out at random times. I call this theory the Olowokandi Theory and I came up with it years ago when Michael Olowokandi was drafted first in the NBA Draft by the Los Angeles Clippers. My thoughts on this pick was that the Clippers were making a huge mistake. Why would anyone draft a player who played for Pacific, a team in the Big West with no real competition, and yes it is important that there was no real competition. During Olowakandi’s four years at Pacific, Pacific never made the NCAA tournament. Now if a player is that gifted and that good, shouldn’t he be able to take his team into the NCAA tournament at least once. I think you could make that point with any player even with players in the ACC or the Big East. I’m not even talking about the Big West. In the Big West, the Candi Man should have had no problem taking his team to the Big Dance.

I explain this theory to you because it fits really well with one huge problem I had during the NFL Draft. First off, I would like to say the Minnesota Vikings are very incompetent when it comes to drafting. This was proven two years ago when they failed to turn in their pick on time and two teams drafted ahead of them because they got their picks in before the Vikings. The Vikings slipped from about 6th to 8th. That was a disaster, something no fans wants to ever experience and something worth throwing things over. This year the Vikings did it again. Except this time they employed the Olowakandi Theory. The Vikings used the 7th pick in the draft on WR Troy Williamson of South Carolina. Williamson did not have a good career while in college and he climbed a lot of people’s draft boards dramatically after he ran a very fast 40-yard dash at the combine. A lot of people say that it is not his fault that he did not have a lot of catches in college because SC had a run-dominant offense, but I don’t buy it. If he was really that good of a player the quarterback would have thrown the ball his way and he would have just made plays. The way Braylon Edwards made plays for Michigan (how many times did how just out-jump someone or just ripped the ball out of the defenders hands to come down with the ball) or Mike Williams for USC who found a way to get separation and always had a ton of yards after the catch. It’s not like SC was ahead in all of their games and they were trying to run out the clock. To the contrary, they were never a good team and they consistently tried to battle back in the fourth quarter to catch up. How come the quarterback didn’t just throw the ball Williamson’s way to try to let him make a play. I have an easy answer to that question – he did, but Williamson just never made those great plays. The Vikings should have chosen Mike Williams. There were a lot of commentators that were applauding the Vikings for their choice, but last time I checked just because someone is fast doesn’t make them a good receiver. Mark my words, Troy Williamson will not be as good a receiver as Mike Williams, Mark Clayton, or Roddy White in the NFL. It just won’t happen. The Olowakandi Theory never fails.

I would like to quickly touch on the Denver Broncos picking Maurice Clarett. I liked the pick. Yes, the Broncos were reaching and maybe could have gotten him a little later in the draft, but Mike Shanahan wanted him and they made sure they were not going to lose him to another team. And you have to remember that they drafted him with the last pick of the third round. Maurice Clarett was a very good running back his freshman year at Ohio State. Remember, he was only a freshman. I believe he will need some time to get into shape and be able to contribute (because of the two year lay off, I do know he played in the CFL but that doesn’t really count), but I think he proved three years ago that he is a very talented back who can make plays. Maybe he will turn out to be a bust, but all the Broncos will lose is a late third round pick. And one must remember, there are even busts in the first round. But there is also a chance that Clarett will be a special player in the league and you have to give the Broncos credit for choosing him.

One last thing; I love it that my dad is still in love with the Cowboys of the mid-nineties. I do not think he will ever forget about the team of Aikman, Smith, and Irvin. He really wanted the Cowboys to pick Aaron Rodgers at 11 and when he was available at 20, my dad almost had a hard attack that no one was talking about how the Cowboys should pick him. I got to hear the “How Quarterbacks are just not as good these days as in the days of Steve Young and Troy Aikman” story at least four times and I loved hearing it every time. Just to clear things up, my dad thinks the Cowboys need to build for the future and draft a quarterback because he does not think they will be able to do anything until they get a decent quarterback.

Bidding (Part 1)

Other than today (and a damn good post by bbwilrk), there has been little activity here at IDB. All apologies since every once in a while, life smacks us with a a ton of bricks... or keeps us occupied.
Actually, the reason for my disappearance goes to several writings I've been working on, including this post. This post has been in the works for a couple of weeks, mainly because in order to get it right, I wanted to have a ton of resources for you all to check out. Yet, it's just sitting here. So I've decided to make this a series of posts called "Bidding". You may see that I am speaking about something that is stirring in New York, yet has been a debate around the world: stadium politics. Part one will explain the NYC dilemma, as well as paint the picture of profiled stadiums such as Camden Yards in Baltimore. This will explain the issues of public funding an outdoor stadium. Part two will actually discuss indoor venues such as those built in several cities such as Charlotte and Atlanta to discuss the differences in politics for arenas. The last part will provide the few pros and many cons of public funding of stadiums and why New York's fight differs from other cities.

One elsewhere in the country may have heard about the controversy surrounding New York's bid for the 2012 Olympics, sports' grandest one-night (really, sixteen-night) stand. The proposed Olympic Stadium, which would actually open in 2009 as the permanent residence for the New York Jets, would be located on the Hudson rail yards that neighbor the Jacob Javits Center on Manhattan’s West Side.

The New York Sports and Convention Center, would be an expensive project for all involved and would likely become the most expensive entertainment venue in history. With the stadium bowl taking most of the real estate, an expanded convention space, extended subway lines, an office tower and environmental amenities because of the nearby Hudson River, this project's price tag has soared within the past two years - $1.4 billion to near $2.5 billion. Woody Johnson, the owner of the Jets, pledged $600 million on the team's behalf towards the construction of the NYSCC. The remaining $800 million was to come from both the City of New York and New York State, with $400 million each. With this recent price escalation, these newfound expenses have yet to be accounted for.

Recently, the rights to these rail yards, originally owned by the city's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, were sold to the Jets for a reported $720 million after an open bidding process and months of mudslinging between the Jets and Cablevision, which owns nearby Madison Square Garden (along with the Knicks, NY Rangers and the Liberty). Cablevision, which can't even run cable right, has been campaigning against the NYSCC because it would threaten their domain in concerts and other indoor entertainment (and understandably so).

So what the hell does this mean to Dallas, Los Angeles, Indianapolis or Charlotte? Any metropolitan region in the United States?

Everything.

New York has joined the modern stadium politics after the recent stadium construction boom of the last fifteen+ years. For the City itself, it has been over forty years since a stadium for a major league pro team has been built when the Mets opened Shea Stadium in 1961. In the area, none have been built since Giants Stadium was completed in New Jersey just past 25 years ago. In joining this debate, New York now meets the same hurdles as other cities in America have in recent memory. Many scholars and media trace of the recent explosion in stadium construction to the development of retro-style baseball parks as in Baltimore. Oriole Park at Camden Yards, located near the beautiful Baltimore Harbor, is considered a huge success by many local governments as well as sports organizations. Personally, I have been there a couple of times in passing, but the story behind it gives much more of a presence.

• Baltimore, itself as a city, has a negative reputation amongst major cities in the US. High crime rates are mentioned when someone even says Bal’ more. Usually, as urban life goes, when there's crime, there's grime. Without sounding like a public policy class, neighborhoods become neglected when civility is. To begin to come up out of this reputation says much about the efforts made by those responsible for the stadium. This leads to...
• Reason B: When Robert Irsay irked (bad pun intended) and downright angered Baltimoreans when he moved the beloved Colts in 1983, the city's reputation slowly began to creep towards the negativity that I mentioned before. With only one team left in the city after the NBA Bullets moved north to Washington DC in 1973, the Orioles became the sole and dependent identity of professional sports in the city.
• Irsay, whose son Jim assumed ownership after his father's death in 1997, moved the Colts because he wanted improvements made to Memorial Stadium if the team was to remain profitable: lure players and big money consumers. He believed that he was promised a new stadium by the state of Maryland, but the state denied this claim. He figured that if Maryland would not help, then he could shop the team to various cities. Indianapolis had just finished construction on the Hoosier (now RCA) dome, and was committed to enhancing its image as a major league town. A perfect marriage...

Camden Yards serves as a link to this past because of fears of Oriole owner Peter Angelos moving the team out of the city. Baltimore did not want a repeat of 1983, especially with the last team in the city. Construction began in 1989 and was completed in August 1992. The Maryland Stadium Authority, a quasi-government organization provided the funds to secure the land (~$100 million) and build the structure (estimated between $100 and $135 million). The State raised several taxes in order to come up with the money without tapping into already existing funds. Though the MSA owns the stadium and the surrounding land, the profits for the most part go to the Orioles. Hmmm... The MSA also worked a similar deal in bringing the original Cleveland Browns to Baltimore (Ravens) in 1995, packaging a promise for M&T Bank Stadium.

Since 1992, fifteen new baseball parks have been built, one is currently being built (St. Louis) and at least one more prove to be on the way (Miami). Even the Yankees have unveiled models of a new home. Possibly an even more astonishing fact is that only one of these new fields has been built with predominantly private funding (SBC Park in San Francisco). Football? Well, there have been sixteen new fields with two remodelings and one to be built (Glendale, AZ). One has yet to be privately funded.

How the heck did teams get away with public dollars?

Several books have been written on the topic, but the one making the biggest ripples these days is Public Dollars, Public Stadiums. For the most part, the book discusses mainly outdoor venues, and with good reason. Outdoor stadiums, for the most part, are not strong profit centers unless A.) the team is a playoff-caliber team, B.) the stadium hosts more than one outdoor sports team, C.) climate and a slew of other reasons. Because the NFL season is short (a minimum of 10 games, including two preseason games), the venue is mostly empty for the entire year, leaving little opportunity for anyone to make a dollar. Baseball is better in the usage (minimum of 83, with two spring training games at some locations), but if the team is out of contention early, no money can be made. Unless the venue can host other events such as concerts and conventions, there is little to be made in the offseasons. Owners realize this and they don't want to foot the bill all the way, if at all, but play on the civic pride that teams afford their homes for assistance. If they can threaten to leave town for another, it's as bad as being left at the altar for some towns. Washington DC and New York lost two baseball teams because of this, several other cities such as Seattle and Milwaukee lost teams as well.

Part Two coming soon.

This is Your Father's Texas Rangers

You know how people always say, this is not your father’s this or this is not your father’s that. For instance, someone will say, “this is not your father’s Chicago Bulls.” This saying is supposed to mean, that this team is nothing like the team your father rooted for in the past. For instance the team of today may be more athletic, play a different brand or style of the respective sport, or just have a different personality. Maybe, it’s just not an old-school team. The Chicago Bulls are very young, no longer have Michael Jordon, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc or anyone who plays like any of these guys. These Bulls are differently a different kind of team than the Bulls of the early to mid ‘90’s.

Now having said that, I would like to say, and I think I will be the first person in the history of the world to use that phrase in a different way. “This is your father’s Texas Rangers.” And I’m not kidding here. This is the same team that the Rangers fielded when I was 10 years old. 11 years old. 12 years old. Same team. Different names, same team I tell ya. The kind of team that will break your heart in every way possible throughout the season. But before I get into that, let’s examine the similarities of the players on the field. This year’s team, like the team’s of the early 90’s is constructed on power, a powerful infield leads the charge. Who would you rather have at first base, a young Mark Texieria or a young Rafael Palmeiro. A lot of people will hop right up and say Texiera just because Palmeiro is on the downswing of his career, but you must remember he hit just under 600 home runs in his career. Julio Franco or Alfonso Soriano at second? Both can hit and both will hit pitches that are not in the strike zone. Hank Blalock or Dean Palmer? At this point in Blalock’s career, the two are the same exact player. This was before Palmer got badly injured. He never recovered from that injury or a lot more people would be talking about the great Dean Palmer. One little difference in the infield is that of the catcher’s and shortstops, but even those positions are incredibly similar. Michael Young plays SS today, hits third, has some pop, is the most clutch player on the Rangers, is the best hitter on the Rangers, and the guy you want hitting when the game is on the line. Ivan Rodriguez played catcher for the Rangers in the early 90’s, hit third, had some pop, was the most clutch player on the Rangers, was the best hitter on the Rangers, and was the guy you wanted hitting when the game was on the line. Rod Barajas, the Rangers current catcher and Gino Petralli, the Rangers former shortstop both hit ninth and both went yard about ten times a year. In right field, the former Rangers had a young Juan Gonzales, a little before he reached his prime. Today, the Rangers have Richard Hidalgo in right field, a little after his prime. But they way they hit is almost the same. The rest of the outfield produced a little back in the day and it produces a little today. Let’s look at the starting pitchers: a young Ryan Drese or a young Kevin Brown. An old Kenny Rogers or an old Nolan Ryan. A young leftie rookie Chris Young or a young leftie rookie Kenny Rogers. Both bullpens were pretty bad with decent but not great closers. Fracisco Cordero or Bill Russell. Both were great when they were on, but sometimes the would go into a funk and blow a lot of saves in a row.

If history is repeating itself, this Rangers team will blow five run leads at will, will never be out of a games, no lead will ever be safe for either team. There will be games were the lead changes hands three, four, five straight half-innings at the end of ballgames. They will get hot and win ten in a row. Then they will turn it around and lose the next eight. Some days they will hit the ball, but so will the other team. Some days they will pitch well, but so will the other team. The two will come together very seldomly. They will blow at least three games where they were leading by seven and they will come back and win at least three games where they were down by seven. Every close game, and there will be a ton of close and one-run games, will give you the feeling that you are getting punched in the stomach as the relievers keep coming, but none are better than the one’s they are replacing. It will be a cycle of excitement and anger. And every fan will know that this team can win it all if the pitching gets better, but every fan will also know the pitching will not get better. There will be trades made in July. Feeble attempts that band-aid problems and really fix nothing.

Baseball has been back for a week and the Rangers have already played in 6 (out of 8) one run games, Cordero has blown 3 saves, the Rangers have blown a 5 run lead then came back and won the game, blown a 6-3 run lead in the eight and lost in extra innings, played two extra inning games, have played four 7-6 games and two 3-2 games, played a game where the lead changed in four straight half-innings, and are hoping that Chan Ho Park can pitch well tonight to bring the Rangers to 4-5.

This will be a tough, gut-wrenching baseball season for me. I will follow and root for the Rangers all year, but it will hurt and it will hurt really hard all year.

Pray for me!!