Filed under: MLB | Tags: David Wright, Jeff Francoeur, Mets, The New York Post: America's Finest Newspaper
In the summer of 2009, my greatest enemy was not college graduation, unemployment, or the increasing sense of worthlessness that comes with a BA in Creative Writing. No, the bane of my existence was one Jeff Francoeur. Once hyped as the next Chipper Jones, it turned out Frenchy was closer to the fat kid in The Sandlot, once famously commenting that if OBP was so important, they’d put it on the scoreboard. Frenchy was shipped out of town (and the post-Frenchy Braves promptly went 50-30) and sent to the Mets, all of which is prologue to the amazing story in the New York Post today, all about how Jeff Francoeur has been helping David Wright with his mental approach:
This is not just a physical change for Wright, but a mental change, as well. Francouer has encouraged Wright to relax more away from the ballpark, to speak his mind more and to show more emotion on the field.
Bahahaha. Mental approach? Does that how to strike out with the bases loaded and one out? Or hitting into unassisted triple plays? Don’t worry about 2010 Mets fans, Frenchy’s on it!
Viking Jared Allen is a finalist for next year’s Madden cover along with Drew Brees and Reggie Wayne, but the possibility of falling victim to the dreaded Madden Curse doesn’t bother him one bit. Says Allen:
“Madden has never done me wrong and all of my characters in the past have been pretty awesome…A lot of people come up to me and tell me that they’re sacking the crap out of the quarterback in the game.”
Not only is Allen unafraid of the Curse, he’s actively asking fans to vote for him! He wants it to happen:
“If I make the cover, I’m going to straighten my mullet and make it as trashy as possible…You have to highlight the tools that got you there.”
Jared Allen don’t do that! Do you want to join the ranks of Shaun Alexander, Vince Young, and Troy Polamalu, all of whom had disastrous years after appearing on the cover? Not that we’re opposed to the Vikings sucking again (I’m sick of hearing about Favre and Sydney Rice is incredibly overrated), but come one man, you invite the curse, and it will come!
It looks like the Dallas Mavericks dumped forward Josh Howard for his off the court conduct, including missing a game due to having a hangover. Apparently, he showed up for a Jan. 20 game against the Wizards so hungover after a night of partying that he couldn’t participate in a team shoot around or play the game. Howard had a pretty spotty history before that, having mentioned on the radio that he occasionally smoked weed, passed out fliers to a birthday party shortly after a pivotal loss, disparaged the national anthem at a charity flag football game, and was arrested for illegal street racing. Wow.
Howard will now go to the Wizards. Yes, that’s right, the Wizards, who just saw two players suspended for the season because they pulled guns on each other in the locker room. The move works for them though because Howard’s contract will expire at the end of the season. Don’t forget, this is the same Wizards team that just said they’d bring Gilbert Arenas back next year. The future sure looks bright, huh?
This is just the latest in what’s becoming a major problem for the NBA. In the NBA, players are guaranteed their money whether they play well or not. The only way to get rid of players that are there for the money is to either trade them or buy out their contract. In Indiana, we had that situation with Jamaal Tinsely, who really stopped caring once we got the big contract. He was on the team payroll for a year without playing minute until Larry Bird decided to buy out his contract. In the NFL on the other hand, any player could get cut at anytime. If a guy doesn’t care and doesn’t put any effort into playing, he’ll be out on his ass with no problem. Unfortunately, the NBA won’t change, as I could never see the Players Union agreeing to change that rule. It proves again why the NBA is the worst run professional league the U.S.
Tiger finally spoke out today regarding his marital issues that have resulted in a leave of absence from golf that isn’t so good for the PGA. A lot of golfers were justifiably pissed he chose to make his announcement right in the middle of the first big tournament of the season, but the world was demanding Tiger come out of hiding and say something.
What did he say? Basically that he was sorry not only to his wife and family, but to all of his fans, the media, and all of the kids he tries to help. He said he’s been working to control his impulses and has realized that he doesn’t have a separate set of rules from the rest of us. He didn’t go into great detail on his infidelity (thankfully), but he did say that he and wife Elin did not fight before his Thanksgiving car crash, accusations of performance enhancing drugs are completely false, and he asked the paparazzi to leave his family alone. The biggest part of it all for sports fans though was that he’s not sure when he’ll return to playing golf, as he will be returning to rehab. He didn’t rule out the possibility of playing this season. Elin was not present at the press conference (which was really just a statement), but Tiger’s mom was.
I didn’t think Tiger really needed to apologize to anyone in the public forum in the first place, but now that he has, I hope we can move on from this. As far as actual sports are concerned, let’s hope Tiger comes back to golf this year. Sure, the media stories will get super annoying, but the guy is a hell of a golfer and, like him or not, he’s a presence on the course that the PGA needs. Lefty alone can’t quite do it, and guys like Jim Furyk and Padrig Harrington aren’t household names for non-golf fans.
Sure, it was a speech written for Tiger, and yes, it’s going to be talked about for the whole weekend, but I think it finally hit Tiger that you can’t do whatever you want just because you’re a superstar (by hit, I’m mean bludgeoned). Whether or not that was for appearances only is another issue, but does it matter? Let this guy figure this out with his family and get back to doing his job.
Filed under: MLB | Tags: Jerry Manuel, Mets, The New York Post: America's Finest Newspaper
Its not really a great sign when your season starts with stories like this:
David Wright, Jose Reyes and now Johan Santana all have said they expect the Mets to win the World Series. The Mets are turning the page on an injury-plagued 2009 by making one bold statement after another.
That means the pressure is on Jerry Manuel like never before.
The manager has to produce. The Mets must get off to a good start. Manuel will offer up his State of the Mets address today with his first formal press conference of the 2010 season. He has made it clear the Mets have to get off to that good start.
A.) What are David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan Santana going to say? “Might as well pack it in boys. This ain’t our year!” Its the first day of spring training!
B.) Why are they making Jerry Manuel’s first press conference sound like a bigger deal than Obama’s State of the Union? Does anybody really care about what he’s going to say there?
It will be Manuel’s job to get the team ready to win from the first game of the year against the Marlins. There is no grace period. Get it done. It’s that simple.
That’s right, Jerry. One game! Did you know 100% of the teams that win the first game of the year go on to have good seasons? It must be true, because I just made it up! Just look at recent history.
P.S. Hey everyone. I’m going to be blogging here too. I’m an Atlanta Braves fan, so you can expect a lot more posts mocking Jimmy “I’m a massive tool” Rollins and kicking the Mets when they’re down.
Filed under: NBA, Shut Up | Tags: Antwan Jamison, Cavaliers, Celtics, Doc Rivers, Gary Payton, Lakers, Pau Gasol, Phil Jackson
Apparently, Phil Jackson and Doc Rivers don’t like the deal the Cavs made that sent Antwan Jamison to Cleveland and Zydrunas Ilgauskas to the Wizards. Washington is expected to buy him out, leaving the veteran center to return to the Cavs within 30 days. Both coaches are pissed about this, and I’d be too, if it weren’t for the fact that they pull this crap all the time in L.A. and Boston. Says Jackson:
“They’re going to get Ilgauskas back and it’s going to be one of those scenarios that we see in the NBA where you ship a player out, you get another player, then your player retires or they pay him off and then he comes back in 30 days…I don’t know what that does for the league. I think that’s kind of a weird situation.”
Seriously Phil? You got Pau Gasol a few years ago and have since won another championship with him. It’s not like the Lakers are going to miss the playoffs or something because of this, and in fact, they’re still the best team in the West. As for Rivers? His team made a deal exactly like this a few years ago with Gary Payton. Says Doc:
“I actually do have a problem with that though. We did it…but I do think [it's a problem]. I don’t know what you do [maybe] just not allow them to go back to the same team or whatever. … I do think that will be changed eventually, but I do have a problem with it.”
I’m not sure you have two feet to stand on here Doc. I agree, it’s a really stupid loophole that needs to be addressed by the NBA, but it’s really hard hearing it not only from two guys that have made use of similar trade situations, but also have some of the best players in the NBA on their teams. Yeah, it’s Cleveland and LeBron, but we’re talking about two teams that have won the last two NBA championships that have rosters with the names Bryant, Gasol, Bynum, Pierce, Garnett, and Allen on them. Maybe it’s the bitter Pacers fan in me, but come on guys, shut up.
Filed under: Site News
Hello blogosphere! Welcome to the Top of the Bleachers, a totally biased and rant filled sports blog! Does the internet need more people like us? Probably not. We created TOTB mostly out a desire to have an outlet for our own sports commentary, and we’ll warn you now, it’s going to be biased towards not only our favorite teams, but against the teams we hate. Sometimes we’ll probably sound like a couple of haters, but when it really comes down to it, we”ll never diss a fan of another team that doesn’t diss us as fans. Basically, I hate the Patriots, but I can respect a Pats fan for being a Pats fan, as long as they don’t disrespect me. Don’t like? Then don’t read! Alright then! Let’s go!
