Listen in as Anthony Stalter and I discuss Brett Favre and “Lionsgate,” the firing of Mike Nolan and how it will affect the 49ers fantasy players, Tony Romo’s injury, the Larry Johnson and Kellen Winslow suspensions, and a couple of this week’s good fantasy matchups (SD/NO and NYG/PIT).
Click here to listen to the podcast.
(The opening and closing music is Ryan Adams’ “To Be Young,” which you might recognize as the opening music to “Old School.”) [iTunes link]
For good reason, the Tampa Bay Rays have been the talk of the 2008 MLB Season. Not only are they a rags-to-riches story, but they also are a young, likeable club and one hat is easy to root for. We love pulling for the underdog and the Rays certainly fit the bill.
Of course, they’re not the underdogs anymore. As soon as they beat the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS, they instantly became World Series favorites because they’ve created the best storyline. Not to mention, they come from a better conference, arguably have better overall talent and they’re the hotter team, as well.
But as they proved in their 3-2 win in Game 1 of the World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies are competing for a title, too. Nobody outside of Philly is talking about this club and for those who missed Game 1, it might have come as a surprise that the Phillies have thrown the first punch in this series.
The media (and I’m throwing myself into the mix here too considering I dedicated my column to the Rays this week) needs to start paying attention to the Fightin’ Phils or else we might wind up missing an even better story than the 2008 Rays. Philly has been a long-suffering sports city that is craving a title as much as anyone. And with phenomenal ace Cole Hamels (7.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 5 Ks) and a solid lineup that features all-everything 2B Chase Utley (2 for 4, 2 RBI, 1 R), the Phillies might just close in on that title. (Although they’re going to need Ryan Howard to start hitting because Tampa won’t be held to just two runs every night.)
It’ll be exciting to watch the Rays’ magical season continue to play out, but ignoring the Phillies’ story would be a mistake.
Offseason Movement: The Magic were courting Corey Maggette for much of the offseason, but settled instead on Mickael Pietrus. With Jameer Nelson, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis surrounding Dwight Howard, the team needed an athletic off guard who can defend and Pietrus has the potential to be that guy. I say “potential” because the 26 year-old never quite fit in with Golden State, but the Magic are gambling that it had more to do with Don Nelson than Pietrus’ limitations. He’s a good shooter from the corner, and if he can improve his handle, he could develop a nice attack-the-basket game. He has all the tools to be a stopper defensively, but has thus far shown a propensity to commit way too many fouls.
Keep Your Eye On: Jameer Nelson
With Keyon Dooling gone, Nelson will likely be asked to play more minutes than he did last season (28.4). In the playoffs, he responded well to increased PT, posting 16.2 points and 4.7 assists in 33.3 minutes. Nelson is not a traditional playmaker, but he’s a good fit for what the Magic are trying to do. The team needs shooters to give Howard the space to work down low, and Nelson can most certainly shoot it (42% 3PT last season). At 26, it’s going to be interesting to see if he makes the next step or if his game has already topped out.
The Big Question: Does Orlando have enough of a bench to compete with the East’s best?
I really like Orlando’s starting five, but the team projects to have Anthony Johnson, J.J. Redick, Keith Bogans, Tony Battie and Adonal Foyle anchoring the bench. Those names don’t exactly strike fear in the hearts of Eastern Conference opponents. With Nelson, Pietrus, Turkoglu, Lewis and Howard, the team can compete with any group of starters in the East, but it remains to be seen if the bench can hold its own with its counterparts.
Outlook: Good. Orlando has done a nice job of assembling a team that can compete in the East, but I wonder if/when the team will start to pay for the monster contract they gave Rashard Lewis two summers ago. Will it limit their ability to re-sign Turkoglu next year? If not, the team will be way over the cap and limited to mid-level exception-type players for the foreseeable future. If management is will to spend like that, fine, but if they’re going to start cutting costs to stay below the luxury tax threshold, they’re going to have to make some tough decisions. And the team can’t afford to lose a player of Turkoglu’s stature. If the team is going to make the leap and become one of the league’s best, it is going to have to re-sign its stars, draft really well from late in the first round and spend its mid-level wisely.
Today, AskMen.com released their list of the world’s Top 49 Most Influential Men of 2008. Over 200,000 voters participated to help determine which men in the public eye most influenced the way they bought, dressed, and thought in the past year. Athletes made up 25 percent of the list, the most of any other category (music, politics, fashion, etc.). Their respective rankings are below:
46. Alex Rodriguez – New York Yankees
45. Sidney Crosby – Pittsburgh Penguins
41. Lewis Hamilton – Formula 1 Racing
40. Brett Favre – New York Jets
30. Rafael Nadal – Association of Tennis Professionals
25. David Beckham – Los Angeles Galaxy
21. Usain Bolt – 2008 Olympics gold-medal sprinter
20. LeBron James – Cleveland Cavaliers
18. Kobe Bryant – Los Angeles Lakers
9. Cristiano Ronaldo – Manchester United
3. Michael Phelps – 2008 Olympics gold-medal swimmer
While I’m not sure how much Michael Phelps affected how males bought, dressed, and thought over the past few months, these athletes have certainly garnered interest for what they represent, their sport. Although the criteria might have to be worded differently next time around (at #48, David Simon, creator of The Wire, definitely affected how our culture thinks), I agree that these individuals have helped sports in general more than their peers. For example, Lewis Hamilton broke Formula 1’s color barrier, Rafael Nadal has reinvigorated tennis, and both Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps momentarily united the world in celebration with their success in the Olympics.
It’s pretty interesting to see how much sway Kobe and Favre still have while sports such as golf, UFC, and boxing lacked a representative on the list.
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times has pointed out that the presence of black players in this year’s World Series will hopefully inspire future generations of African Americans to pick up the game.
For all the millions baseball has poured into reviving its sport in the inner cities of America, into trying to reclaim a place alongside football and basketball in popularity among young African Americans, the World Series has sent an entirely different message.
That changes tonight, when Rollins and the Philadelphia Phillies open the World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays.
In the 2005 Series, the Houston Astros had no black players. The Colorado Rockies last year had one, an obscure relief pitcher.
But this year, the competing teams both feature African American stars, to the delight of the players involved and to the officials charged with luring black youth back to the baseball diamond.
“It’s got to be huge, just to see these faces on TV,” Tampa Bay pitcher David Price said, “so young African Americans can relate and see something to shoot for.”
Blacks accounted for 8.2% of major league players last season, according to a diversity study by the University of Central Florida, the lowest annual percentage since the study began in 1990.
Growing up, I remember admiring guys like Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, Frank Thomas, Kirby Puckett, and Ozzie Smith. There are still many great African Americans in the game, but the sport has become a cultural blend of talent, rather than a stage for only one or two ethnicities. Still, it’s startling how rapidly baseball’s popularity has decreased amongst African Americans, as they are more likely to play football or basketball.
On a broader scale, we’ve seen the same thing happening with American males and tennis. Kids want to relate to the athletes they admire, and the fact that there hasn’t been a dominant male American tennis player in this century has hurt the sport. The same is happening with African Americans and baseball. I recommend watching the current Costas Now on HBO. He interviews Hank Aaron and Willie Mays and the two legends field questions and listen to opinions from the likes of Jimmy Rollins and Dave Winfield about the current African American presence in baseball.
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