Blog Reboot

After about two weeks of radio silence, I’m back to discuss the sports world with you.  Other things (like that stuff I’m actually paid to do Monday through Friday) overshadowed my desire to share with you all my thoughts about the sports world.  So, in typical Dibbles and Bits fashion, I’m heralding my triumphant return with lots and lots of Bits.

Bit #1: Marlins-Blue Jays Trade

I admit, it’s tough to lead off a big post like this with a discussion about baseball.  I have never understood the term “Hot Stove” (used to describe November-December in baseball world) and frankly have no interest to learn.  But, the trade last week between Miami and Toronto deserves lots and lots of scrutiny.

By now you’ve probably heard all that can be said about this trade.  I truthfully do not care too much about the players involved…the Blue Jays haven’t made the playoffs in twenty years.  Forgive me for saying so, but if Roy Halladay couldn’t bring this team into the playoff hunt during the past decade, Jose Reyes doesn’t have a prayer to make any kind of impact.

But for Miami, this offseason qualifies as the biggest con artistry by an ownership group that I can remember.  In a deal that puts 80.3% of the funding on the taxpayers of Miami, the ownership group traded away all their big players.  Reyes, Mark Buehrle, Josh Johnson all moved north last week.  Hanley Ramirez left for a better sunshine team in Los Angeles, and Heath Bell, an afterthought on the minds of many 2012 baseball fans, no longer keeps a Miami address.  As if those names aren’t enough, the Marline actually negotiated with Albert Pujols last year.  The biggest free agent prospect of the last decade wanted to play for the lowly Marlins.  If I’m a Marlins fan, I want to put my taxes towards a winning team, not a feeder system for more traditional franchises.

But, I’ve come around a little bit to another conclusion.  As bad as this might be, fans have done nothing to make the Marlins feel welcomed or to keep them in town.  The new stadium bumped the Marlins only to 18^th in average attendance this season.  In 2003, when the Marlins won the World Series, they averaged just over 16,000 fans per game.  An ownership group would not feel any connection to a city with such flagging interest.  The ballpark, by all accounts, makes up for the poor performance on the field, but when nobody fills it, owners will look to make good on their investment in other ways.  So, it’s nothing new to see Miami wallowing in this kind of mess.  Fire sales after the 1997 and 2003 championships could not be greater precursors to the Marlin Mentality stained across newspapers now: If you care, great.  If not, no one involved cares.

Bit #2: Exciting BCS Prospect

Somehow, Nick Saban continues to find bailouts.  For the second straight year, his team looks primed to make the BCS National Championship Game with one loss.  That he’s been shown over the years to be a man of few scruples obviously irritates the casual sports fan, but the matchup with Notre Dame couldn’t be better.

That said, these aren’t crazy great resumes coming in.  Bama has played a moderately easy schedule this year, and for my money will trounce any team in the championship game should they make it.  Keep in mind they also have the SEC Championship game against #3 Georgia in a few weeks. If you like Notre Dame, you need to admit your team has two quality wins this year (Oklahoma and Stanford), but otherwise the schedule looks mighty pedestrian.  Still, I’m not in the business of bashing Domers, other than to say the best use for the Rudy DVD is scraping dog refuse off your shoe.  Seriously, the matchup between two traditional powers will bring plenty of viewers to the game.  What’s bugged me in the last two weeks has been all the Notre Dame fans saying “would you really want to see Kansas State-Oregon?”  My answer is always “no, but I can’t vote...and your breath stinks.”  On radio shows around the country, Domers call in saying something along the lines of “no way would college football leave us out a title game.”  One guy even suggested the NCAA would effectively rig games to bring Notre Dame into the fold.

This is typical Notre Dame hogwash.  The mistaken belief that your team means anything of substance and thus deserves special attention in 2012 is, to put it bluntly, a joke.  The litany of South Bend failures runs about 15 years long by this point.  But, that does not take away from an impressive and likely undefeated season this year.  Having Notre Dame in the conversation will revitalize college football and might bring back so many of those fans who are tired of SEC schools who spend more on football than on academics.

I hope the Notre Dame-Alabama championship does happen, not because I like either team but images of Bear Bryant and Lou Holtz would make such a championship game more than worth it.

Bit #3: Maryland and Rutgers moving to Big Eleven…or whatever number you want

Fate has ascribed a constant sore to the college football fans of this era.  We must deal with realignment, the consistent discussions and subsequent headaches as teams redraw the map to play in one conference or another.

The latest shoe to drop happened in College Park, as Maryland’s Board of Regents approved a move to the Big Ten (or Eleven).  This move would bring Maryland into the tradition-laden conference of Ohio State, Michigan, and Penn State.  As usual, money brings the move into perspective.  The addition of the Big Ten Network onto televisions around the DC area could represent as much as a $100 million revenue stream.  With Rutgers, the New York market would come into play as well.

While it certainly sounds great financially, this is one of the worst realignment moves I can imagine.  Maryland is bucking their 60-year affair with the ACC to become a lower tier Big Ten school.  Maryland can be compared to Minnesota right now…a team that consistently receives preseason attention but can’t ever break through due to losing recruits to other conference rivals.  The news comes at a strange time, with Randy Edsall’s current version of the Terps drawing more notice for their ugly uniforms than for any aspect of their on-field product.  Clearly, the Big Ten doesn’t care about increasing the competitiveness of its conference, or else it might have moved on Pitt last year (Pitt has actually won a conference championship recently, unlike the Terps).  This realignment does nothing but uproot Maryland fans from the friendly, familiar confines of the ACC in favor of losing to Wisconsin and Michigan State once a year.

Bit #4: Jerry Jones in Dallas

My first NFL Bit today is one I’ve been hoping to write for a while.  But, in consideration to the unhealthy amount of Cowboy fans I call “friends,” I’ve resisted.  No longer.

I’ve made a few comments here and there about Jones as owner/GM.  He wears one hat very well, guiding the team to a new stadium and the moniker of “America’s Team.”  He’s cashed in on the product of the Cowboys, marking his success with the second-highest valuation of any sports team in the whole world.

But, as a GM, he’s terrible.  Cowboy fans know all of his failures, so I won’t repeat them.  But, Jones showed his true inability to judge football talent when, after an overtime win against the Browns at home (take a moment to consider just how absurd that previous sentence is), Jones said he was “really pleased with the offensive line.”  This came after Romo got sacked seven times, the line had four holding calls, and the rushing game averaged 3 yards per carry.

He needs to either have his eyes checked or sell the team, because a coked-out orangutan could see things so differently, as could Jerry’s third grandchild.  Last month, a premium NFL website rated the guards and tackles on Dallas’ offensive line in the bottom five for their position.  This comes from people who make a living watching offensive linemen play, a prospect so unappealing to the layman that you have to put some trust in their efforts.  The Cowboys average exactly four yards per rushing attempt this year, good for 23^rd in the league.  If he’s unwilling to relinquish control, then he’s willing to lead this franchise down the tubes for a little while longer.  Comments like that tell the whole story of his tenure over the last ten year…he’s blind and consistently wrong.

Bit #5: Gary Bettman Needs to Resign

I said in a post about two months ago that Gary Bettman, commissioner of the NHL, deserves to lose his job.  He’s presided over three lockouts during his time, one of which canceled a whole season and the current version of which looks to do the exact same thing.

Over the weekend, Bettman suggested a two week moratorium on talks so that heads might cool down.  Clearly, enough things have cooled, like the heels of players itching to return.  By now, the NHL and union have talked around every important issue, and agreement does not look likely anytime soon.

Bettman’s real incompetence through all of this: he doesn’t understand the game.  The NHL has 32 teams and tries to support itself on a meager television deal, constantly wondering aloud why the NBA’s deal looks so much bigger.  As Bill Simmons wrote today (an article in which he says things I told you all two months ago), the NBA runs on stars.  People want to see LeBron play 40 minutes a game, not Sidney Crosby play one-third of a game.

Bettman needs to step down, because he’s shown an inability to address the latent issues in the NHL model.  We’re here seven years later rehashing the same discussion points as in 2004.

Bit #6: College Coaching Carousel

Over the next few weeks, there could be some very big job openings in college football.  Tennessee, a former national champion reduced to a shred of its glory days, fired Derek Dooley in the middle of his third season.  He lose 19 of 23 SEC games while coaching and holds the fourth worst winning percentage of all Tennessee coaches.

But, consider Penn State.  While it’s always looked like a longshot, Bill O’Brien has done a good job keeping Penn State together and instilling some kind of consistency for a program wracked by NCAA sanctions.  He’s made no bones about his NFL ties and has consistently avoided discussing next year, likely in trying to find a better landing spot.  Morally ambiguous, but certainly opportunistic.  Imagine after 50+ years of one coach, Penn State might have two in as many years.

There’s always USC out there as well…Lane Kiffin guides a listless group that started out the season ranked #1, only to be staring a 6-6 record in the face right now.  Certainly, USC has lost to tough opponents, but with their talent level, the Trojans should be running away with the Pac-12 South.  While I expect Pat Haden to keep Kiffin, it certainly wouldn’t come as a huge surprise to see him leaving another college town in utter disgrace.

Bit #7: Redskins-Eagles

There’s not much to say other than the Redskins benefitted from rookie quarterback mistakes but also from an outstanding rushing game.  Griffin and Alfred Morris combined for 160 yards between them, a dynamic backfield that can run the ball down opponents’ throats or scramble to create plays.  The score also points to Griffin’s ability to pick apart the Eagle defense, though the bomb to Santana Moss was an ill-advised throw that just happened to fall to Moss.  He’s got a cannon, but that ball likely shouldn’t be thrown.

Overall, penalties kill this team.  A huge win like this normally speaks to a properly played game, but the Redskins lost 80 yards on 13 penalties.  The Skins are now the most penalized team in the NFL, a real achievement considering the personalities on the Lions and Raiders.  If this team wants any shot at the postseason, a high stakes victory in Dallas on Thursday will be crucial.  A crowded NFC East will not have much room, but if the Skins can somehow lose only once down the stretch, they might be in line for a wild card berth.  Realistically, however, that has a 5% chance of happening, but it’s fun to dream!