- 02:25 AM
- 12/22/24
This stance by the BBWAA wreaks of laziness. Posnanski's pleas to understand the conflict of interest tells me one thing - the BBWAA has no desire to hold its members accountable for their decisions. Thank you, littleLebowski, for cutting to the chase here. If the BBWAA is so concerned about these incentive clauses, between players & management - not BBWAA members - stop associating your organization with the awards. Don't attempt to dictate to other parties the terms of their contracts. But if the BBWAA starts to do this in 2013, it will just damage the BBWAA's credibility - not the players or owners. It's like the BBWAA can't police themselves, so all temptation must be removed.
posted by MrNix at 05:02 PM on December 06, 2007
Why is basketball more susceptible to this phenomenon than football? You rarely hear commentators or stars criticizing football in the same way. I agree with lilnemo, it has to do with guys having hemets on in the NFL and the league having a philosophy that you don't really see the person inside the uniform during the game. Ex. you can't take off your helmet on the field. Also, due to the nature of the sport, you have about 30 guys that are starters (offense, defense & special teams) on a team and only a few individual players are exceptional impact players on, and off, the field. After all, a good QB isn't a good QB without at least a decent offensive line. I think most people remember Archie Manning as a great college player who never had a chance to be a great pro, because the Saints teams he was on were so weak. Or a great defensive player can't stop an offense singlehanded. It takes a great team concept to be a great team in the NFL. The NBA works not completely opposite this, but close. The league - heck, the sport - is designed that 1 player can dominate a game. They don't necessarily win titles, because they can meet a strong team that can neutralize a great player. The team with the best player on the court usually wins. But a single great player, or a very good player having a great year, can turn a franchise around. Most teams are only 8 or 9 players deep, and their faces and bodies are exposed for everyone to see. I've heard many comments about tattoos on NBA players and very few about tattoos on NFL players, but I don't think that it is any less prevalent in the NFL. But we all see it upfront in the NBA during the games and we don't in the NFL. So the individual NBA player becomes the face of the franchise. Philadelphia is a great present example - Iverson was that franchise, but he had for several years, not been the top player able to carry a franchise like he used to be. But he sold out the building and was a draw on the road and ownership was considering selling the team, so all marketing was about AI - can he go out and score 40 tonight. This is in a town that never sold out the building on a consistent basis - even when Wilt or Dr. J was there. So when the team stopped selling out the building and was just plain bad, he was dumped. Too late, definitely, that's what ultimately cost Billy King his job. But it shows that the personalities drive the league, because good or bad, the sport is marketed by its faces.
posted by MrNix at 06:16 PM on December 05, 2007
This is so sad, my basketball team is devolved to who is the bigger douche!?! A pox on both their houses!! Cablevision has screwed up this franchise so badly, as if the sexual harrassment trial wasn't enough to make them get rid of both of these fools. Then Marbury's dogfighting comments and now he wants to go home after his lousy performance at home against Miami. If he's got something on Isiah, outside of photos of him killing someone, will it make any difference? James Dolan won't fire Isiah. Marbury should have been benched 2 years ago. He's not a draw, he doesn't play any defense, so they suck with him, so what's the big deal if they suck without him. I just wish David Stern could fire everyone from the ownership on down. Maybe, install a GM, like Rozell did with the Giants in the seventies... please I'm begging for help...
posted by MrNix at 03:45 PM on November 14, 2007
I still don't think Ben Wallace should be included on the overpaid list, the Bulls are a very young team, he gives them a physical presence and leadership in the paint. As for the salary cap issue, the whole league was over the cap last year. Only 3 teams were below 53.1 million in payroll. Since you can resign your free agent players for max money & the cap is a "soft" one, rather than a "hard" cap like the NHL & NFL, the only # that matters is the 10% rule. Which is that all trades need to balance out within 10% of the total players salaries.
posted by MrNix at 12:54 PM on September 04, 2007
4 former Celtics on that list. Not surprising. At least they're former Celtics. My Knicks have 2 current players on the list :( Plus Marbury, the leader of this bunch, can't keep his foot out of his mouth and is only happy when hogging the ball and missing jumpers. At least the Celtics are rolling the dice and taking a shot at the Eastern Conference - albeit, a flawed one. The Knicks are just frittering money away in a quest to become 1st round fodder for Chicago or Cleveland. Theo Ratliff will make $12 million this year Hey, that's a win for both teams - esp. Minn. Minn. is going to be bad this year & that cash will go bye bye in 08-09. They should draft in the top 3 next year, so McHale can't screw that up.... oh, forget it, they're screwed.
posted by MrNix at 11:23 AM on September 04, 2007
I don't know much about Smith, but it sounds like he makes Jerry Jones look like The Desert Fox. Uh, Smith is the GM, Spanos is the owner. A lousy one, indeed for letting this get to this point. I don't think Marty is going to win a SB, but you can't fire him now.
posted by MrNix at 04:23 PM on February 13, 2007
On the other hand, how many teams do you see in the NBA that run picks, weaves, and constant motion in order to break a man free down low. The game now is to force the ball inside, then when the double-team comes, you kick out to a shooter. Frankly, the NBA ought to keep the 3-point shot as it is now, but do away with the idiotic zone defense. College teams have played zone forever and plenty of coaches (Bobby Knight, Coach K for example) can run motion offenses just fine.
posted by MrNix at 03:51 PM on February 13, 2007
Larry Bird was only outside shooter since the 3 point rule!Before every team had at least 3 excellent outside shooters. While I agree with some of what you wrote - 3 sec. violation espcially - the thing that has been lost from the game is the mid-range jumper. The lost art of the 15-foot jumper is why you have shooting percentages drop. It looked as if teams had 3 excellent outside shooters on each team, because guys shot the ball in their shooting range, not behind the 3 point line. Since the 3 point shot was introduced throughout basketball (Not just the NBA), why is it that shooting is getting worse? Because on all levels players are taught to shoot the 3, instead of developing the mid-range game needed to develop as good shooters. Doc Rivers is saying that teams only guard the low post and the 3 point line and not the space in between, so that's an area of the court which can be exploited. I don't know if Doc is the man to come up with a system to do that - his track record says no - but I get his premise.
posted by MrNix at 03:10 PM on February 13, 2007
Mitchell report is Out
I think that we, as a society, have an obligation to monitor and if necessary ban PEDs or other "advancements" that can cause brain cancer, rage, and (my favorite) shrunken testicles among other things. Does HGH cause those things? I'm not so sure it does. Do steroids, properly adminstered by a medical professional, automatically cause those effects? I honestly don't know. Maybe, 30 years from now some of this stuff - HGH - will be viewed as a benefit for humankind. I just think that the "PED era" of sports is really just starting. Baseball is trying to cover its butt with this and I truly believe that the American public doesn't want to know what the numbers are in the NFL. From what I understand, there isn't a reliable test for HGH out there right now. So, outside of catching dummies who pay with personal checks, how is this helping to clean up the sport?