Moneyball

Jeremy Brown, a catcher in the Oakland A’s farm system has been promoted to the Major League squad due to Jason Kendall’s suspension. There has been a lot of talk of this promotion on the West Coast because Brown was one of the main characters in the book, Moneyball. His promotion has led to many more people anointing Billy Beane as the greatest general manager of all time. The main characters or players in the book were Nick Swisher, Joe Blanton, John McCurdy, Ben Fritz, Jeremy Brown, Steve Obenchain, Mark Teahen, and Brant Colamarino. All were first round picks. So far Swisher and Blanton have been the only two players to regularly play in the Major Leagues. Mccurdy is a disapointment hitting .252 in single A. Fritz had surgury on his arm last year and is recovering but has not done much anyway. Jeremy Brown hit .261 with 20 hrs and 72 rbi last year. This year he has hit .333, 3hr, and 11 rbi, and a .400 OBP. Obenchain has stunk. Teahen was traded to the Royals and and a lot of people are claiming he is a great young prospect. Colamarino had a great year in AA two years ago but was bad in AAA last year. He was sent back down to AA this year.

I still do not buy into Billy Beane being an amazing innovator and having the ability to draft better than anybody else. I think everyone gives him way too much credit without really seeing how his draft pans out. Let’s look closely at that 2002 draft. I think everyone who has read the book will agree that both Nick Swisher and Joe Blanton were guys a lot of GM’s liked, not just Billy Beane. He wanted Swisher really bad and almost flipped out when he found out he could not have him. At that point he was going to take Blanton away from some other team. That other team ended up not drafting him, but the point is those were both guys that were high on other teams radars. None of the other guys from that draft have done anything yet. I’m not going to pretend knowing anything about McCurdy, Fritz, or Obenchain. Jeremy Brown, on the other hand, is someone we can not judge right now. We will be able to tell about him in the future. Mark Teahan is a guy who is always talked about, especially by Peter Gammons, but look at his numbers, http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/stats?playerId=6011, they are not very good. He is actually not even on the Royals major league club. And we all know the Royals are terrible. If he was really one of the best young players in baseball he would currently be playing for the Royals. Now, he may be another guy that we have to wait on and I don’t want to judge him too early. But as of right now, out of the seven guys Beane drafted in the first round, only two have made it and neither has been that good. And lets not forget that he said he would never draft Jeremy Bonderman, Scott Kazmir, Jeff Francis, and Prince Fielder. I would rather have any one of those three pitchers rather than Blanton and Fielder rather than Swisher. I almost feel with as loaded as the 2002 draft was, you could have put 35 names into a hat and anybody could have picked out 2 major leaguers with those seven picks.

At the same time I do not want to discredit Beane’s system. In the future it may prove to have worked, but all I’m saying is as of right now it has proven nothing.

The major league draft is absolutely ridiculous. I just do not understand the point of the rules. Someone can correct me if I’m wrong, but my understanding is the draft works as follows: Draft picks can not be traded, the MLBPA makes a list of free agents they deem as core players and if one of those players signs with a different team the team that lost that player gets the player’s new teams first round pick as well as a compensatory pick at the end of the first round. In 2002 the A’s lost Giambi, Damon, and Izzy and got the Yankees, Red Sox, and Cardinals first round picks as well as three picks at the end of the first round. The thing that bothers me the most is Why should the A’s profit from not signing their own players? It does not make any sense. And why do those teams get compensatory picks on top of the other teams pick? Baseball is the only sport that does this and I simply do not agree with these rules. To me they make about as much sense as the seeding in the NBA playoffs.

Miseducation

The Jordan Rules seem to be as ever present in Detroit and Cleveland as the Babe's shadow looms over every home plate Barry Bonds stands over this season. Writers and fans will talk up the education of LeBron James as he stares down an 0-2 deficit against the Detroit Pistons. Even a personal fave of mine, Scoop Jackson, waxes academic about how a new LBJ will be born from the fire of a possible sweep at the hands of the franchise that once tormented MJ. With all that being said, I can't help but to wonder if this is all way too predictable. Way too plotted and planned, way too pristine. Way too... unfair. In highly concentrated efforts to make James "The Next One", we've had a heavy dose of Nike commercials asking us to "Witness" the ascenscion of a King. We've shelled out millions towards the sneakers, the Powerade (though I believe he's downing Gatorade during TOs thanks to the league's deal), even more Sprite and even some Bubblelicious for the youngins. There is absolutely no doubt that LeBron is one of the best players in the league. Think Coach K didn't wish he had James playing out his junior year at Duke as opposed to his third season in the NBA? Yet, all we will hear about now is this "education" from finally being in the playoffs and playing head on with a championship contender. I question this not because I don't believe that James is capable. Going back to IDB version 1, Marcellus Sexington and me had debated how well James would fare in the NBA considering the unparalled hype bestowed upon him starting in 2002. I felt then as I feel now that given a veteran presence on and off the court, the committment from Cavaliers ownership & management and the Eastern Conference's power vacuum, James could rise to become the best player in the NBA. A little luck can go a long way as well. Yet, I question this "education" because of how different the circumstances were between Jordan and James.

Can you recall who Jordan was supposed to replace in the kingdom of basketball? When Mike entered the fray in 1984, Julius Erving was still skying in Philadelphia. Pistol Pete's bad knee forced him to retire and passed away suddenly in '88. Magic and Larry were the rivalry that the sport had carried itself on at the time and to this day are hoping to recreate through James, Carmelo Anthony and Dwayne Wade. Though there were plenty of stars and immense talents in the late seventies and early eighties, Jordan was looked to have been on his own plane from teh start. He didn't have to match Maravich's scoring, though it was not something ignored in his first season in the A. He showed an affinity for the dunks that the Doctor made famous and their duel at the Slam Dunk Contest cemented his place amongst the great athletes the league had ever seen. There wasn't player of a similar position drafted in 1984 that could compare to him either. The '84 draft did give us (H)Akeem Olajuwon, Charles Barkley, John Stockton and several solid careerists such as Kevin Willis and "Big Smooth" Sam Perkins. Yet, LeBron and Anthony were hyped from the beginning to be the next Magic and Bird. The '03 Draft did give us another top player in Chris Bosh and solid players like Chris Kaman, Kirk Hinrich and T.J. Ford. Yet, 'Bron had 'Melo. Mike had... Victor Anger.

Now, take a look at the education of Jordan and the actual birth of The Jordan Rules back in 1988. The one-man show had dropped buckets over everyone, including the Pistons that season, but unlike Chicago, Detroit was making a run at the NBA title while hoping to hurt the Boston Celtics in the process. To ensure that NOTHING got in the way of their fated meeting with the Cs, the Pistons swarmed at every opening Jordan would see. They double-teamed him on the ball and frustrated him away from it. They threw their bodies in front of him or at him to prevent baskets. This is what you were supposed to do to any prolific scorer. Yet, there was one more ripple that no team in the current NBA can get away with trying; they knocked him on his moneymaker as often as they could. The style of defense lambasted during the last era of Knick and Heat dominance was what made the Pistons contenders in the late eigties and early nineties. There was no “Shaq-zone” in the paint that discouraged PFs and Cs from patrolling the three foot area in front of the basket. There weren’t clear path fouls to penalize hard defense on a fast break. There weren’t zone defenses (which many fans dislike to begin with) and handcheck fouls that protected jumpshooters and penetrators. In watching LeBron, Kobe, T-Mac, Gilbert, AI, Vinsanity and all of these talented wing players that can attack the basket in addition to shoot on the perimeter, you cannot overlook how different the game has become within the last decade, let alone since the Jordan Rules were implemented.

Other than the fact that current Pistons are making a title run while trying to impair Miami en route to the Finals, not much else is similar. While it is true that the Pistons have thrown different looks at James during the first two games at the Palace, Detroit has to rely much more on athleticism and natural talent within the new NBA than the Bad Boys did in the old NBA. The Wallaces can’t throw ‘bows and Tayshaun isn’t going to push himself in ‘Bron’s grill. James won’t have a 50-point explosion against these Pistons, they are one of the best defensive teams in league history as they have managed to excel within the lack of physicality in this new game. Of course, Phil Jackson and Tex Winter brought the Triangle offense, which turned out to be the anctedote to the Pistons’ D. Can Mike Brown bring a system that can contend against strong defensive teams remains to be seen.

The Jordan Rules assumed that Jordan would come back and make his own run at the title. We don’t know if the city of Cleveland has even one trophy case anywhere in its geography. The Jordan Rules also assumed that he woud turn out to be the greatest player to ever grace the hardwood. Did Mike even know that he would be bestowed this title when he left North Carolina whereas LeBron had been promised greatness before he got a driver’s license? The education of LeBron James is asking us once again to accept that there must be an heir to Mike’s throne. Can we just let the games play themselves out before we anoint another?

Say What?!?!: He may not headline in Canton one day and he may not have been the first receiver selected for the Pro Bowl in the past, but Jimmy Smith will be the first player to have his number retired by the Jaguars... a well-deserved honor for one of the league's most prolific and productive wideouts.

I Disagree

In general, I hate getting into an argument about race and try to avoid it as much as possible, but I don't think you understood where I was coming from at all.

First, just because someone is crying rape does not mean they were necesserally raped. They should not be given the benefit of the doubt every time, but instead their claims need to be validated. Rape is a terrible offense and should never occur, but just saying you were raped when you really were not can hurt the accussed nearly as much actually being raped.

Second, the point I was making was that the whole situation got blown completely out of proportion because an African American woman was blaming rich white males of a heinous crime. The situation was so ridiculous that the whole African American community got in on the action. And they had no proof of anything. If a rape actually occured and nothing happened to those people, then that is a good reason to throw rallies and the such, not before getting any evidence. In all seriousness, every person who went to those rallies can be called a racist. They were racist against white people. Just ask yourself, would that have happened if it was three black guys who were blamed for the rape? As long as your answer is no, then that was an act of racism.

Just some facts that you seem to be missing, the dancer showed up to the event in a very intoxicated state. She chose to get drunk on her own accord before she went. You can not blame the team for that. My point the whole time has been that she absolutely did not get raped. There is just too much evidence against her. Yes, if someone rapes a drunk person, that is just as bad. No one is saying it's not.

Also, I am sorry that if you walk into a room of white people you get judged, but if I walk into a room full of African Americans I would also be judged. That's not something that is exclusive to only African Americans.

There may be a lot more impoverished white people in the USA than African Americans, but that proves my point even more. How often do you hear white people complaining about the cards they have been dealt?

The Asians I was referring to where Asian Americans who work their butts off and advance themselves in this country. And yes I can call them Asians because I am talking about a large group of people, just like I can call people European or African. It is quite obvious to me that Asian Americans are the hardest working people in our country and anything I write about them is only positive.

The biggest point I'm really trying to make is that racism is a two-way street. Everyone is discriminated against, I just feel one group brings it up more than every other group combined.