I Know Why the Caged Tiger Sings

With the U.S. Open in about a week, golf fans and assorted people that check in from time to time are wondering if Tiger's back in top form.

After previous talk of sex addiction, among other problems, he slowly but surely came back after the torture he suffered from his "problems" and the media two years ago.

Yes, I even wrote about it while it was happening. Terribly.
[This was back when the blog was only about three weeks old and I had no idea what I was doing with it. I want to puke knowing I wrote some of this stuff in the very beginning.]


This Sunday, Tiger Woods 'rallied' as ESPN referred to it to win the PGA Memorial Tour, tying with Jack Nicklaus for PGA Tour wins. After watching replays and such, he did look like the old golfer everyone started hyping about back in the late 90's. Some of those shots were being marveled over by oldies and newbies alike, and honestly, I'm pretty happy for him. Why? The media and every other big thing isn't riding on his back like before.

Let's look back for a little bit. When this whole thing with his ex-wife happened, he was a poster child for a lot of male products like razors. He was a huge male icon in the world of golf; the whole world was watching him. People might not understand the game of golf, but they knew him and knew how good he was. When the infidelity scandal happened, everything just went out the window. His endorsements went sour, his image was tainted, and then all comedy outlets raised all kinds of ...

All of the coverage was probably enough for a weaker man to commit suicide. Over the next four months, he shot out of the public eye, fired his caddy, finalized his divorce, and ended his endorsement deals. Throughout this, the media still attacked him, making all of these accusations based on reports made by neighbors, relatives, and other people closed to him. Soon after, he practically went into hiding and started fixing himself. Apparently he went to therapy for this so-called "sex addiction" (which I still think is strange on how there's an addiction to that), and he then began working on his material again.

To put it simply, Tiger Woods came back to the game on a clean slate. And it's helped him.

In the past year, he's come back slowly but surely, and is golfing very well. In golf age, he's still relatively young at 36, and he looks like he's got a clear enough mind to keep going for a long while. Even the old guys like Nicklaus still have faith in him.

That's what so cool about life. You can start over again in some facets if you want to. Sure, there are going to be idiots out there constantly heckling you, but what Tiger Woods has done to overcome the things he went through two years ago and nabbing titles is pretty impressive. All we can do now is wish him the best in the U.S. Open.

Welcome back to your form, sir.

--AZ

The Draft: Worth, Significance, Time

Last night, the MLB Draft began its incredibly long process in recruiting young talent from college and high school to have a major league career. Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, the #1 overall draft pick from the past two drafts have been holding up with the Washington Nationals (the Tommy John was just a speed bump).  That's pretty cool, I guess.
What about those other guys?

That's what I begin to have a problem with.

Don't get me wrong, the Draft can be incredibly important in sports like the NBA, NFL, and MLS, but in the NHL and MLB, you have to ask questions on the significance of the draft.
With the first leagues that I mentioned, note that those leagues do not have an extensive minor league system. The major problem that I have is that the shining talent who were drafted out of, say, LSU or Michigan could never see the light of day in the big spotlight. For instance, say an LSU outfielder was drafted in the third round in his senior year. There's a pretty big chance that he could never make it past AA or AAA (which would be worse because that's a step before the big leagues). For another example, say a kid from Michigan was drafted in the sixth round out of high school and hockey is all he wants to do. He may be stuck in the AHL for many years after signing, and might not even make it to the NHL for a long enough pro career.

If I worked hard for something, I'd wanna get it within a few years if you get what I'm saying.

Not like this...but humor me.

With something like the NFL Draft, sure they have the preseason and their own forms of tryouts and such, but you at least get a chance to play against the big guys before the cutting time comes. In MLS, you play with the reserves (even the big time guys) who don't start the games. In the NBA, they have their D-League, but there's always the chance of being brought up due to the roster length and injuries.

Another issue I have is certain drafts only broadcasting the first five rounds or so. From what I know, MLB has about 40 rounds or so (dead serious) and hundreds of men are drafted every year. I know...it almost sounds like World War 2 every year. Luckily, they have the choice of signing or not (too soon?). Some boys will go to great length to get there.
Oh look, I'm pointing fingers at Bryce Harper again. He drops out of high school, gets his GED, goes to Junior College and then gets what he wants. That's almost like...the process mentioned :20 into this video. It's a bit extreme. But I guess that's what people will do for love.

But anyway, back to time consumption.
Is the draft for everybody?

The few times I've watched any draft, I started falling asleep. Yes, me, the one who writes about sports. I've even dozed through the NFL Draft. There are some hardcore people out there who do follow the college sports and can follow the draft religiously. I'm not really at that level. It's not because I'm a woman, it's just the logistics of the whole thing is a massive turnoff. It's like a huge game of Stratego played across the country. It's a game intense enough to make you wet your pants in fear.

You see, I don't get entertainment out of that kind of pain. Other people wouldn't want it, either. Unless if you really, truly follow the sport and watch NCAA like it's your absolute job, then the draft is not for you. This isn't a career yet, so I can't say that I like the draft. Yet.

To me, the draft is just something that happens. It's almost like the Circle of Life. You get caught up in it, but this "circle" drops you off somewhere in which you find your role. It's something you can't avoid. If you don't get it, then don't try too hard to understand it, because your head will really hurt since there are all of these guys you don't know coming out of the woodwork. Some women would like that, but only in person.
Anyway.
The draft is incredibly complex and can often be a waste of time for some talent. While it's an accomplishment to be drafted, certain dreams won't always come true. In other cases, people's heads will hurt as to how the process works.

Hopefully I won't be one of those people soon enough.

--AZ

Why I (Sadly) Stopped Caring about the NBA This Season

This is replacing an NHL prediction post (which I normally do write about, but antihistamines said 'no' to that happening). I think it's pretty good though.

66 games.

One more number and you have a hell of an explanation (see what I did there).

To me, it was more like 66 games of "let's pretend that the season actually mattered." I'm not saying it because the 76ers (my hometown team) didn't make it. I really didn't even care about that. It just seemed like the whole season was thrown together amidst a whole bunch of legal hullaballoo.

In my eyes, there has always been a thing about lockouts and how they can totally ruin a league or a season. The NBA hasn't had a great track record when it comes to coming to terms in their Collective Bargaining Agreement. In the past fifteen years, four lockouts have happened. Two of those lockouts lasted from five to six months, bleeding into the regular season. This year's wasn't as bad as the one during the 1998-1999 season, but it required a lot of stupidity and business explosions to get it pretty darned close.
____________________________________________________

There are a lot of simple things that a lockout can do to a league:
-- Lesser interest
-- Lower attendance figures
-- Lousy team chemistry, due to possible forbidding of team practices (unless behind closed doors)
-- Amount of sponsorship decreases due to inability to resume contract negotiations with companies.

It's pretty nasty from a business/marketing standpoint as well as the standpoint of the media and the audience. What's even worse is how things have to get thrown together for a late start even after the CBA was finalized mid-season. You know what? The NHL is a good example of this occurrence. I'll mention the NHL in this post because it's a darn good example and I feel bad that I didn't write anything about the Stanley Cup Finals this year.

Just like the NBA, the NHL doesn't have a great record when it comes to this stuff. In a history that has seen a shortened season, a canceled season, and a players' strike, you almost have to wonder what's going to happen in the upcoming offseason since their CBA will be expiring soon. Yes, I said it. Soon. As in "we're going to be watching more worrisome coverage on ESPN and the NHL Network about the NHL CBA after the Stanley Cup Finals cease" soon.

But anyway, the National Hockey League knows what it's like to lose fans. Franchises know what it's like to lose massive revenue due to no play and no endorsements. Players...well, players can flock to another league somewhere outside of North America. However, this was kind of a big deal. In fact, many of the players were the points of blame for the lockout. According to reports, salaries for many players were ridiculously higher than what team salary caps offered, and that there was not a good amount of control between the owners and the teams themselves. There was also an issue about supply and demand when it came to ticket sales and how there was a loophole in financial statements. It got super complicated.

For one thing, the lockout certainly separated the fans from the bandwagon riders. Plus, for all of eternity, Lord Stanley's Cup now has a bald spot on it (it's okay, Big Bowl...I had one too).

Back to the NBA...for a league to have experienced four lockouts, it's going to take a while for certain organizations to recover even though the NBA Playoffs are doing substantially well (and all of the Sonics fans back in Seattle are crying). The five months of the lockout were five months lost as far as business goes, and hopefully their recent CBA is good enough to renew without argument next time around. As far as many fan bases, certain cities can draw some massive crowds (Boston, LA, Dallas, Chicago, etc), but there are some cities that had to beg and plead for crowds (New Jersey, New Orleans, Charlotte--I don't have to get into that one) not only because of poor play, but because they didn't have anything to show for it before the season even started. I think I would have cared more about the NBA season if it was hyped after the CBA was approved and ratified. It's like everything ran into itself once the ratification process happened.

Don't get me wrong, I'll probably watch the NBA Finals and everything, but I'm not going to take it seriously. This year was a speed bump.

Do you agree?

--AZ

(Insert Japanese Drums in This Post Here)

Here's another example of the term that I love to hate--sports entertainment.

Now that I'm done gagging, I am going to talk about something that you wouldn't think I would ever talk about in a sports blog: reality television. No, really, I am. You would be shocked to see what most critics and writers are considering 'sports' in the world of reality television. In this post, I'm going to talk about an underground sensation that nerds and freerunners all over the country are absolutely gaga about.

 

This structure is known as Mount Midoriyama, a mountain that only the strongest and most determined of competitors have scaled.

This is the passion of the people that take part in what Americans call "Ninja Warrior." Known as SASUKE in Japan, it's a semi-annual competition in which 100 men (sometimes women) attempt to complete three obstacle courses in a specific time to reach Mt. Midoriyama and scale it to become champion. It started about fifteen years ago and began American broadcasts on the G4 network a couple of years ago.

Since the beginning of the American broadcasts, it has gained a following among different American athletes. Even U.S. Olympic gymnasts Paul and Morgan Hamm have taken part in the competition. In the past three years, numerous American freerunners (those parkour guys) have taken the competition by storm, impressing even the big guys known as the "SASUKE All Stars" of the competition. Now, a newer "Mt. Midoriyama" has been built...for American competitors in Las Vegas called American Ninja Warrior.

How do I know this?

It was on NBC this week, all with cheesy music, graphics, and an even cheesier announce team.

The kicker among all of this is when I haven't seen an ounce of advertising for it. I stumbled across the darned thing by accident. That's how much I think NBC Universal actually cares about it. Remember the revamp of American Gladiators? I'm surprised that lasted as long as it did, brother! Basically, they have four regions in which competitors do a full obstacle course, and the top fifteen competitors go to Vegas to compete for $500,000 and the title of American Ninja Warrior.

But anyway, to my point....

Japan is definitely known for having a crazy niche of having some crazy ideas that have a tendency to work in American markets. (NINTENDO. That is all.) The world of reality television has indeed taken a priority in American markets over the past fifteen years, as most are cheaper in budget as opposed to sitcoms, and most have a particular draw: ridiculous concepts that people will actually subject themselves to in order to get money and fame. Shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race have been on television for years and years and years because of their uniqueness and their capability to draw people to see different sides of humanity when it comes to survival (and the reward of money, of course).

In the case of SASUKE, it's an athletic competition that not only gets the draw from seeing physical feats, but watching people from comedians and celebrities, to fishermen, college students, and law enforcement officers take part in this.

That's pretty much the only place where the similarities are: the draws.

The main difference in which something like this won't fly in the United States is that athletic/survival competitions are really a thing of the past. The only reality TV shows that exist on American sets (aside from game shows like Jeopardy and The Price is Right) now have to do with either dancing, singing, fashion, weddings, New Jersey, or Kim Kardashian. Japan is a smaller country in which they enjoy competition in their programming, especially when it involves an Average Joe doing some hidden talent for all of their people to see.

It's sad that I don't think that American Ninja Warrior will do well as far as ratings go, but like I just said, the concept is kind of old and it's been dying a slow and painful death for several years. Plus, the advertising hasn't been great at all. Do I think something like this is a cool concept? Definitely yes. The reason being is that it's something different for people from different academic and athletic fields to come and show off their hidden talents and athleticism. Heck, maybe stuff like this would aid in the obesity problem because people would go: "I wanna do that" or something else. It would also make the audience appreciate the people who do lower-class jobs a lot more. I just don't think this is what America wants right now, which is sad.

Seriously guys, YouTube some of the SASUKE competitions or watch it on G4. This stuff is surprisingly fun to watch.

Makoto Nagano, a fisherman who won in 2006. Mad respect for this guy.

It's entertaining, and since it requires some sort of athleticism, it is considered a sport in it's own respect. Too bad most Americans have turned a blind eye to it so far.

--AZ

Red Whines: "Old School" is on Life Support

This post is dedicated to Cole Hamels' utter stupidity.

Alright, you want to make a statement? Are you trying to do something totally illegal and get away with it? 

Okay....just make sure that you play the role.
Somebody obviously didn't get that memo.
Hi, Cole Hamels.

The story began in the first inning of the Phillies/Nationals game on Sunday night. Mister Hamels plunked the angst-y teenager Bryce Harper in the back, attempting to make a statement--what kind of statement, nobody is really sure of at this time. Here's the moment that I'd like to call the "facepalm moment." After the game, Hamels' said this (per phillyburbs.com):

"I was trying to hit him," Hamels said. "I'm not going to deny it. I'm not trying to injure the guy. They're probably not going to like me for it, but I'm not going to say I wasn't trying to do it. I think they understood the message, and they threw it right back. That's the way, and I respect it."

What.

 

That was one of the quotes where you just wanted to step through the television as soon as you hear the quote and just smack the person silly. Yes, I'm a self-professed Phillies fan, but in a neutral state of mind, I still wanted to beat the living crap out of him for admitting that. Because of his "manliness--"err, stupidity, MLB slammed a five-game suspension on his pretty-boy behind. You know it's bad when the rest of the team has a hard time backing him up and skipper Charlie Manuel admitted that saying that was the absolute dumbest thing possible.

You see, there's that unspoken rule where you just pretend that the ball somehow left your hand and just happened to hit somebody. You know...an accident? That's like me when I play Duck Hunt and just happen to shoot that stupid annoying dog and just explain to everyone around me that I just happen to have terrible aim and hit the dogs instead of the ducks. Anyway, you just don't talk about that stuff, most especially if it's on the record. There's no such thing as being a "tough guy" when it comes to that stuff; you just look like a tool. Yes, I said it. A TOOL.

(This is where the post title kicks in, in case you were wondering.)

He (somewhere in the media) stated something about "bringing back the old school" in what he did. Apparently everybody did that back then. Really? Everybody? I didn't know that Jackie Robinson was still attempting to break the color barrier there, Cole. This is a different age. From what I know, "old school" sports have been in hospice care and on life support since the birth of social networking. Back then, you only really knew what you read in the papers or saw on the television or what you heard on the radio. Now, you don't have that barrier to really cloak the mystery and pure talent that those gentlemen had in years past. Today, I could probably tweet to Jimmy Rollins saying that he's still a fast son-of-a-gun and have him respond back with a "thank you" or something. Twenty years ago, I would just marvel at it and wish to be him. Back in the day, tough guys were tough guys--no questions asked. Today, you hear a lot of "athletes" whine and complain on Twitter over their team or their wives cheating on them (Hey Lito and Jabar, how ya' doin'?) and they just seem like equals, or--if you're classier--completely foolish individuals. This "tough guy" line is blurred, and the "old school" is in this vegetative state that will eventually die when the generations that aren't technologically illiterate die out. Frankly, because we know a lot of the personal lives of athletes, they don't have that mysterious allure to them that the "old school" had. Believe me, I would love to see the old school ways come back, but it's never going to happen. People are a little too public in this global village nowadays.

In my view, there is nothing "old school" about purposely hitting someone. In fact, it's classless and it makes the team (let alone the city) look worse than it actually is. This could actually be the reason why all national broadcasters hate the city of Philadelphia to begin with. One little thing can really screw things up for a team/city/franchise. And "making a statement" like that will put that extra nail in the coffin. That's not cool, guys. It really isn't.

In conclusion, Cole Hamels wasn't exactly smart about this, and now he's paying the price for his stupidity. Hopefully this teaches all of the idiots out there a lesson to keep their mouths shut, yes?

--AZ

Saint: The Bounty Hunter

Saints Head Coach Sean Payton has been suspended without pay during the 2012-2013 season, starting today.

...and Bountygate continues!

To be honest, I really wasn't thinking about writing about the whole New Orleans Saints-bounty paying controversy, but this one fell in my lap for a few reasons:
1) It's like the Black Sox, but with a different spin on it.
2) It reminded me of Mr. T.
3) How did something as awkward as this slip through the system?

We'll explore each one of those points--well, #2 not so much because well, you can't explain that--in relatively brief statements.

I'm hoping that most of you have heard about the Black Sox controversy at some point in your life. If not, Wikipedia can help you. At that point, sports were a pretty clean slate, and there wasn't anything involving betting on or fixing the game to change the outcome. This scandal really set the bar for betting in sports and showing how incredibly nasty betting could be when it isn't monitored. The result of the scandal eventually led to eight men (actually more men outside of the team were suspended because they had knowledge of this) being banned from baseball forever because of accepting these actions. After knowing what happened here, do you think that the upcoming suspensions of coaches, team owners, and players could lead to something more serious?

After much though, I think I might actually go into number 2. The whole 'pain' thing? That's sort of what this is all about. The players were actually paid to go out and seriously injure the other team. That's a huge no-no in my book and in many other people's books. I bet if they did stuff like that for young girls' sports teams, I wouldn't be alive right now. That's just inappropriate and unacceptable. The main reason why the NFL actually found out about this whole bounty thing is that Gregg Williams, the Saints' former defensive coordinator, was the man involved in an audio leak mentioning this whole debacle. Since the NFL voluntary workouts begin today, people are beginning to wonder whether players will begin suffering the penalties as well. Usually the release of the season schedule (which occurs around this time) will bring out the "new law," as it were, from Goodie himself.

Finally, how on earth did this go on unnoticed as long as it did? This actually doesn't beat the heck out of me. When you think about it, all defensive players go out on the field looking like they're ready to kill the quarterback. That's why the alleged "targeting" of Brett Favre looked normal in the NFC Championship game in 2010. That's why the other alleged targeting looked normal too. This case isn't a question of who was involved with the actual bounty or not, since this was going on with the uninvolved party having knowledge that this was going on behind the scenes. In fact, there have been allegations beginning in the 2009 season. Holy. Crap. Goodie was obviously not in a good mood after hearing about this and how long it's been going on, because he not only suspended Sean Payton for the 2012-2013 season, but he has suspended Williams (who has moved on from the Saints) indefinitely, and even suspended their interim coach (Joe Vitt) for several games next season....

The Saints had to surrender draft picks starting after the first round.

WHOAAAAA

Yes. This could only get worse, my friends. And it could start this week. The fact that this stuff is worse that anything we have ever seen--most notably on the professional level--will mean that we are going to be seeing punishments and penalties never seen before. Is is safe to say I'm looking forward to it in the curious way? I'd hate to see some people get punished even though they weren't directly involved with it, but this is a case where you need to know the consequences for any kind of infraction.

Enjoy your week...for now.

--AZ

Red Whines: Why Filters are Always Necessary

(Per ESPN.com: Miami Marlins head coach Ozzie Guillen has been suspended for five games, effective immediately.)

This, and another topic have brought me out of school-induced hiatus. Both involve massive amounts of stupidity. However, I think this one takes the cake as far as stupidity goes.

For those who follow baseball, people already know about Ozzie Guillen. He's a open guy, and he will definitely speak his mind if you give him that inch. Heck, you should know enough of that if you follow him on Twitter.

With that said, if he as a head coach was traded, then you know that there's some sort of catch to this smelly fish. He's been infamous for saying loopy things in the past, especially to the point where co-workers even get pale in the face out of embarrassment. Our newest embarrassing comments include none other than Cuban ex-dictator Fidel Castro.

"I bullcrap, therefore, I am." -- He never said that, but c'mon...

Okay, he just stepped into a pile of Communism.

Paraphrased, what Guillen basically said that he praised Fidel Castro for his work as a leader.

WHAT.

Okay. He REALLY stepped in it this time.

Seriously? I understand that we're a free country and everything, but you also have to realize that Communism is still somewhat taboo all around the world--ESPECIALLY in the United States. Here's another sucker: WELCOME TO THE STATE OF FLORIDA: A REGION WITH A HUGE HISPANIC AND CUBAN PPOPULATION. Wow. You cannot blame senility on this one, Señor Guillen. It's time to buy a filter.

There are just times (in my honest opinion) where apologizing isn't going to do much good. Especially when it involves you being in a sport that is played by a lot of Cubans. Those Cubans were at one time or another a part of that Castro era of Communism. It's almost as if you're pointing a finger or two at them for letting Castro wreak his havoc on the island. It also doesn't help matters when Cuba has the capability of inducing chemical warfare. Okay, I might have taken that a bit too far, but still, it was pretty darned stupid to say something like that.

Was the suspension right? Yeah, from a media standpoint it definitely was. For the average layperson, it's either a suspension or a fine that will bring "justice." However, this never really stopped him from saying else incredibly inappropriate or harebrained. That's where buying the filter comes in. We understand the need for honesty in some cases, but when it comes to taboo, please, for the love of Peter, no. I understand that Twitter can be used for the people that just have the small comment to make on something small on TV. But like...the lack of filter even shows on there. It doesn't look good either if you're a well-known name. You just keep digging that hole for yourself and then nobody feels like dealing with you.

"I'm very sorry."
Oh...I guess that'll make it all better. YouTube and ESPN and everyone else will have to erase everything they've said and posted about you.

Ugh. Silly people saying silly things.

--AZ