What Does a Guy Need To Do?

Every once in a while, the laser-like focus of the sports media on football confuses and frustrates me.  Over the last week, the collective sports world paid more attention to a Drew Brees record in the NFL’s air equivalent of the steroid era than a baseball feat not seen since 1967.

While I don’t want to diminish Brees’ accomplishment, the NFL has become more of a passing league than at any other point in his history.  Tom Brady, currently at 37 consecutive games, could surpass Unitas by the end of the postseason this year.  A record looks noticeably less impressive when someone else will achieve the same mark just a few weeks later.  And yet, Brees invited his suspended coach, GM, and interim coach to see his feat.  The sports world, always baiting its breath for the next big thing in football, trotted out arguments placing Brees in the “greatest of all time” conversation.  Considering two quarterbacks (Brees being one of them) broke Dan Marino’s passing record last season, we should accept that while Brees reached a milestone, that marker looks significantly less impressive now than it would have five years ago.

But Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown in baseball for the first time since 1967 this season.  And yet, did anybody pay attention?  ESPN.com and Yahoo! Sports put Robinson Cano’s two home runs on their front page of the websites after Game 162.  Sports Illustrated ran a feature about the Oakland Athletics, a Cinderella story.  Yet again, both Oakland and Baltimore have been Cinderellas this year in baseball.  While impressive, Cabrera’s performance this season will be one of twelve Triple Crown winners in the modern era of baseball.  In a century, I guarantee a good baseball fan could find you 15 Cinderella stories who, at season’s end, can match the A’s and the O’s.  Cabrera, as I wrote last week, won the Triple Crown in a time when batters choose between average and power rather than excel in both areas.  Even if the A’s are more impressive to you, admit the mystique of the Triple Crown, not seen in 45 years, trumps the pleasant surprises in Oakland and Baltimore.

But, Cabrera might not have done enough to grab anybody’s attention.  Sportswriters, acolytes of sabermetrics and Moneyball, see Mike Trout as more valuable than Cabrera.  His Wins Above Replacement stat, the best attempt by statisticians to encompass all facets of a player’s game into one number, dwarfs that of Cabrera.  Admittedly, Trout plays fantastic defense and has scored more runs than Cabrera.  In those areas, he has legitimate bones of contention for an MVP award.  Trout also steals bases at will, having been thrown out only four times the entire year on 50 attempts.  Stats could be brought up until the Second Coming, but for a player to truly be “valuable” he must do the most to guarantee team wins.

In that sense, I find it hard to believe Cabrera shouldn’t win the award.  Not only has he accomplished a great feat, but his team won their division.  Trout hit with a .286 average in August and September, unlike Cabrera’s .332 average with 18 HR and 51 RBI.  In addition, the common sense test suggests the Angles might be a third place team without Trout, whereas the Tigers likely don’t win their division without Cabrera.  Not only has Miggy played better down the stretch, but Pujols, Trumbo, Hunter, and Morales provided immeasurable protection for Trout, while Cabrera’s only real protection came from a streaky Prince Fielder.  The Angels might have more wins than the Tigers, but the “most valuable” player deserves recognition for being able to carry his team to a top finish.  Trout couldn’t bring the Angels to the top of the mountain, while Cabrera did.

As for the attention, I can’t believe we didn’t hear more about his Triple Crown win.  At the beginning of the season, folks tripped over themselves proclaiming Josh Hamilton the winner of the Triple Crown after a torrid start.  And now, crickets.  An occurrence so unique in a sport with so much tradition deserves more than a by-line on the side of your website come Game 162.  Imagine if he played for the Yankees…we as viewers would be inundated with every at bat, every column, and every shred of sports news focusing on the Triple Crown in New York.  But Cabrera dominated in the AL Central, a blue-collar town without the tabloids and fanfare of New York.

There is another thread out there: race.  I’m always very hesitant to jump into that boat, since sensibilities can be offended so easily.  But, given the immense attention lavished on Josh Hamilton at the start of the season, part of me wonders if the American public can’t relate to Cabrera.  Whether that’s a racially based sentiment remains unknown, but I do think a guy named “Michael Collins” would receive double the attention were he to win the Triple Crown. 

Regardless, it’s time one of the best seasons in the last 40 years receives the attention it deserves from the media.  Drew Brees and Mike Trout did huge things this year, and belong in elite company (Trout’s stats have never been reached in baseball before now).  But, the Angels finished in third and the Saints are 1-4.  Cabrera won his division with a scorching last two months and did something no one has seen since Lyndon Johnson was president.  You wouldn’t know it based on the sports media right now.

Bit #1: The Infield Fly Rule

On Friday night, in the first Wild Card play-in game in baseball history, the Atlanta Braves suffered from a tough call by an umpire.  The left field umpire called an infield fly despite miscommunication by the shortstop and left fielder, resulting in the fly ball dropping down for a supposed hit.  All of a sudden, pandemonium ensued.  The infield fly rule meant the hitter was out, and the Braves faced runners on second and third with two outs, instead of bases loaded with one out.

The call might be within the rules, but it’s horrible.  According to the rule, an infielder must make “an ordinary effort” to catch the ball.  The rule started because infielders would let short fly balls drop, forcing runners to run, and the fielder could turn easy double plays.   In an ironic twist, the rule in this instance hurt the offense, directly contradicting the original intent of the rule.  The St. Louis shortstop ran over 200 feet away from the plate, definitely into left field.  That’s an “ordinary effort” for an infielder?  Maybe if elephants ran the bases.  But, the umpire also appeared to call the out too late.  The rule directs umpires to call infield fly early, so that the fielders know.  On the tape, he doesn’t make a sign for an infield fly until the shortstop is about to let the ball drop between him and the left fielder.  Doesn’t look too early to anyone this side of contacts.

But, the Braves had plenty of chances to win the game outright.  The real story concerns what happens after…

Bit #2: Fans Behaving Badly

The Atlanta fans delayed the game for half an hour after the call.  Beer bottles, cans, and other debris found their way onto the field, and just kept coming.  While any sports fan understands frustration and the knee-jerk reactions following frustration, I can’t believe so many fans continued chucking things onto the field.  For one, doing so does nothing to change the umpires’ mind.  So that’s unreasonable, but additionally ridiculous is that spectators should not be inserting themselves into games like that.  Unless threatened by a player, fans are there as spectators and passive participants.  Taking anger out on the Braves in the form of delays for a call they couldn’t control makes no sense.  Thankfully, that doesn’t happen all that much.

In Kansas City on Sunday, however, the irrationality hit higher levels.  When Matt Cassel, the embattled Chiefs quarterback, remained on the ground after a big hit in the fourth quarter, an audible section of Arrowhead Stadium began to cheer.  Didn’t sound like everyone in the stadium, of course, but spots “fanhood” should never denigrate into willful appreciation of serious injuries, especially for your own players.  Might I be pleased if the Cowboys lose Romo?  Sure, it helps my team win.  But any respectable fan should not wish bodily harm on opponents.  The players don’t…they are the first on the field to gather together, show concern, and even pray for an injured player on the field.  As Chiefs lineman Eric Winston said Sunday afternoon, “We are not gladiators and this is not the Roman Colosseum.”  Fans should remember that, always.

Bit #3: RGIII Injury

Well, the honeymoon might be over.  The hope that Robert Griffin III might last the season fully healthy looks dented after he suffered a mild concussion on Sunday against the Falcons.  While details remain sketchy as to the future, Griffin might play next Sunday.  He needs to learn, however, that in the red zone running out of bounds will not unnecessarily hurt the team.  Michael Vick has yet to learn that lesson, but Griffin has time to do so.  His first serious injury should help his perspective on always going for the first down marker on the run.  While I applaud that resolve, situational awareness also counts. 

For the ‘Skins in general, they team looked good until the Griffin injury.  At the very least, the game remained close at that point.  Even afterwards, Kirk Cousins looked to be decent on a big play to Santana Moss.  But, Cousins also threw two interceptions to finish the game, so Griffin needs to be in the game for the ‘Skins to win.  Alfred Morris turned in a great performance with 115 yards on 18 carries, and the defense forced a huge pick-six by Ryan Kerrigan.

Even so, two areas still remain.  The Redskins cannot convert on third down, going 1 for 9 yesterday, which I have mentioned every week this year.  Compare that to the 9-for-17 mark by the Falcons on the penultimate down, and we can see how decent teams make the next step.  The secondary also stunk for about the fifth week in a row, as Ryan threw for 338 yards.  The secondary gave too much space to all-world tight end Tony Gonzalez, who gashed the Redskins for 13 receptions and 123 yards.  As an additional comment, does Madieu Williams know football involves an oblong object thrown through the air?  You wouldn’t know it the way he plays coverage and lines up every receiver for a big hit.  Before too long, I bet Williams costs us due to a big hit on defenseless receiver, since he doesn’t watch the ball.

Bit #4: How much longer for Auburn?

Two seasons ago, Auburn won the national championship behind a junior college transfer who arrived under a cloud of suspicion.  The year before, Auburn hired the former head coach of Iowa State, a perennial Big 12 bottom-feeder.  But, as in all sports, championships erase woeful thoughts or reasonable expectations, and Gene Chizik has kept his job with almost nothing to show for it.  The best victory of Auburn’s without Cam Newton was a 16-13 upset of South Carolina in October last year.  Otherwise, Chizik’s team has been remarkably pedestrian compared to the rest of the traditional SEC powers.  Two 8-5 season sandwich the national championship season, at this year Chizik will be lucky to reach eight wins.

The only win for Auburn this year came at the expense of FCS stalwart Louisiana-Monroe, who while beating Arkansas the week before, should not be scaring a team of Auburn’s ability.  A 24-7 loss to the listless Razorbacks on Saturday cemented the thoughts of many that Auburn might need to fold in the cards for this year.  The team ranks dead last of all FBS teams in points scored per game and 112^th in passing yards.  The defense has played well, averaging 23.6 points against, but those numbers pale in comparison to the resident powers of the SEC.  While I know Gene Chizik deserves some leash after the championship, a 1-4 start does not bode well for his job security.  Expect him to be on the hot seat after this season, since Auburn won’t accept these kinds of results for very long.