Damon

When Johnny Damon signed with the Yankees I immediately rubbed it in the nose of my Red Sox fan friends.  Not only had the Yankees acquired an all-star center fielder, but they took him away from their long time rivals.   But still, something didn’t seem right about bringing in the guy who – for all intents and purposes – ended the 2004 season with a grand slam off the right field foul pole in the second inning of game 7 of the 2004 ALCS.  He was a Red Sox. He was an IDIOT.  His interviews hurt your brain.  He had a bad shoulder and a weak arm (didn’t we already have a center fielder with a weak arm?).  Did this really make all that much sense?

He played well as a Yankee.  Had his injuries and ups and downs – like most players.  I think he was probably worth all of the money the Yankees spent on him going into the 2009 season.  In 2009, Damon had a huge year and had one of the biggest at bats in Yankees World Series history off of Brad Lidge.  His steal of second, and recognition that nobody was covering 3rd in game 5 will forever live in Yankees lore.

But let’s not kid ourselves.  This guy said he’d never play for the Yankees and sure enough, took $12 million more to leave Boston.  This guy tried to retire during his Yankee career.  He tried to quit on his team and his contract.  His age and injuries continue to rise.  One of Johnny’s greatest assets are his legs – and even they’re betraying him.    This is not a knock on him.  He’s getting older.  It happens to all athletes – legends and scrubs.  And after seeing a very comparable player in Bobby Abreu sign for 1 year and $5 million with the Angels before the 2009 season – how could Johnny Damon expect much more?  Neither are great defenders (and I’m being kind), both are very professional hitters, both hit for power, and both could steal a base.

Two years at $13 million a year was his asking price (as he admitted on Francesa today).  Seriously!? And the Yankees offered (maybe not so seriously) two years at $7 million.  If Johnny gets a deal that good I’ll be shocked.  I actually very much think Damon could help the Yankees this year – on a 1 year deal.  But no way would he accept that (as he made clear this past week).  The Yankees have a serviceable player in Brett Gardner who I actually enjoy watching.  Great speed, good defense, good OBP and a chance to grow.  Oh, and by the way, he’s cheap and will be the 9th hitter on a team full of all-stars.  He could be another Cano – if given the chance.  Or he could fail.  As John Sterling likes to say – you just can’t predict baseball.  But to lock in Damon for anything more than 1 year, and for anything more than $5 – $7 million just seems silly.  Today on Francesa on the Fan, Damon admitted he still thinks he could be a Yankee this year. Be it on opening day, or August 1st.  Opening day doesn’t make any sense to anyone but Damon.  But August 1st could happen – depending upon who signs him this spring, what money/prospects it would cost, and assuming the Yankees are in jeopardy of missing the playoffs (which – despite PECOTA projectsions – I don’t think will be the case).

We all know the Yankees will go hard for Carl Crawford next year. They’ve wanted him for a long time. He’s their new Torii Hunter.  So of course they’re not going to lock in to anything more than 1 year with an aging veteran outfielder.   And maybe Randy Winn will hit a few doubles, steal a few bases, and make a nice catch or two.  We all know the Yankees will go get someone like a Hairston or Hinske again before the season is over.  I just don’t see Damon coming back.

Part of me is a bit sad.  He really could help the Yankees win another championship this year.  But part of me is proud of the Yankees for trying to get younger and not buying EVERYONE they can.  Because make no mistake – if the Yankees wanted him – he’d be wearing #18 in the pinstripes.

And thus ends the first post in a long time.  Hopefully I’ll get into a routine and start blogging about baseball, music and other stuff soon.  fingers crossed.

The Madden Curse

So every “expert” you hear talk thinks Brett’s coming back.  I can’t say that it surprises me, though I don’t see how he could possibly play for the Packers now.   Is it worth it?  I mean, I’m not the person to tell one of the most successful quarterbacks in NFL history (not to mention one of the most fun to watch) that it isn’t.  But it isn’t.

Sure it would be nice to have another year of ESPN getting on their knees every time Favre picks up a football or puts a cup on – but I think most fans in the league are going to start to resent him for this.

People killed Tiki Barber for retiring at the top of his game.  I fully understood his desire to retire while he could walk, and still be proud of the way he played.  People couldn’t figure out how Favre could call it quits after one of his best seasons in the last 5 or 6 years.  Because it was a fluke!

The Packers are not that good. Their defense is suspect.  And they have an offense that – this time last year – had Favre, Driver, and a bunch of unknowns.  Are we really to assume that everyone on their team, including a late 30s QB, is going to play up to last season’s results? Its an awfully tough thing to ask for.  My uneducated guess is Brett will probably regress to the gunslinging, interception throwing Brett.  And while he has a ton of leverage in this situation – what team does he go to right now?  The Jets? Carolina? Tampa?

I suppose he legitimizes these teams somewhat – but if you’re not playing to win a championship – then what are you playing for?  Its not the money with Favre.  It really must be the love of playing.  But are you doing a team a disservice to play out 2 or 3 more years somewhere just to get your fill? Maybe. Maybe not.

Lastly – we all know about the Madden Curse.  My feeling is, Favre will play this year and will remain healthy.  But the Madden Curse will take effect on his legacy.  This will be Emmit Smith on the Cardinals.  This is what a player like Michael Strahan retired to avoid.  This is why i’m eternally thankful that the Lions forced Barry’s hand and made him stay retired instead of trading him.

Can you picture Brett doing the Fed Ex Field Leap? Do you want to?

Some brief thoughts about the All Star Game

First of all – I’ll be perfectly honest. I don’t particularly like the All Star Game. While it is the best ASG of all the major sports in America – I just don’t get it. I root for my favorite players on both squads – but then I’m conflicted because the game “counts”. And if I’m a fan of Scott Kazmir or Brandon Webb, my heart was in my throat at around 1AM on Wednesday morning. All I need is my favorite pitcher on short rest missing the rest of the season to prevent a tie in the All Star Game.

Then there’s the title of the event – All Star Game. While I think J.D. Drew is a good player, and I think Dioner Navarro, Christian Guzman, and Evan Longoria are having great years – they are not stars! It’s nice to reward them for their seasons so far. I wouldn’t mind them playing at all if the game didn’t “mean something” and if I didn’t have to watch players of that ilk struggle to score a run for 6 innings.

Some other thoughts:

• I hate the Red Sox as much as anybody. Can’t stand em. I have no problem with the way Papelbon was treated – but I’m not cool with the way his wife was reportedly treated. It’s a sad commentary on a rivalry gone way too far and a society that many times lacks class and tact. Papelbon has talked before. He has a big mouth and most of the time backs it up. He is a champion, and deserves to be treated as such. But when you play in one of the biggest baseball markets, and are always rivals with market 1, you know exactly how every word you say will be interpreted by papers and fans. And if you don’t – well – I guess your name is Alex Rodriguez.
• As for #13 of the pinstripers – no excuse for leaving early. Short of the flu like symptoms that Tim Lincecum faced A-Rod, in Yankee Stadium no less, should have stayed and gave the fans everything the Yankee captain did. Autographs and dedication. I like Alex. I like rooting for my team and he’s a HUGE part of it. I never hooked on with that “boo A-rod” craze. But he should know better now.
• Great job by Terry Francona. He’s the kind of boss you want to have, the kind of friend you want to have, and the kind of enemy you want to have. He treated everyone involved in that game with class and handled a somewhat difficult situation (managing the home team in Yankee Stadium wearing a Sox cap) perfectly.
• I’m gonna miss Yankee Stadium. It didn’t hit me til last night. I’ve been at a ton of games this year, watched the countdown in center field. It’s really gone. Mystique and Aura have been missing for a few years – and it certainly isn’t shiny and new. But I’m going to miss it.
• The National League should’ve won. My favorite Met Billy Wagner cost them the game. I loved it

Second half of the season starts tonight – lets see if the Yankees can make a run at a playoff spot. Won’t be easy with the twins, rays, redsox, tigers, and maybe another sleeper or two in the mix. They’ve pulled this act off before – how many times can they do it? Hopefully at least one more. Pettite vs. Beckett in game 7 of the ALCS would be sweet (especially with Joba in the Pen ready after 5 innings from Andy).

NFL Network/ESPN partnership?

According to a recent Wall Street Journal article the NFL Network may be exploring a partnership with ESPN to air the exclusive NFL Network games on ESPN classic – which has a much wider distribution than the NFL Network.  While no deal is imminent – it appears talks have been going on for a while.

This entire situation is a mess.  Looking at it objectively, you can understand what each side wants.  Of course both sides are being greedy – cable is notorious for being greedy and the NFL is the most powerful sports league in America.

My parents have the NFL network at their house (via DirecTV) and I enjoy watching it when I’m bored and nothing else is on.  But to be perfectly honest – there is nothing on that channel other than the 8 or so live games that I miss when I’m back at my apartment (service by Time Warner).

Hopefully the NFL has finally realized  that the best way to get people to watch your channel is to make it available to everyone.  Hopefully they’ll relent on some of their demands, and the cable operators can meet them halfway.  It worked with the MLB Extra Innings package at the beginning of this season.  Though I feel like i’m being to wide eyed and optimistic.  More likely, this will drag out another year or so – and I will end up missing a handful of games that I would love to watch.

Coldplay – The Encore Debate

I was lucky enough to attend the free Coldplay concert last night at MSG.  I suppose it should have been clear going in, and even clearer now that this show was merely a warm up show for the band.  The show lasted a bit over an hour and included lots of energy, in crowd performances (with stages set up in the pit on stage right and dead center in the mid level), and most of their previous hits.

But Chris Martin’s continual mentions that the show was free so we “couldn’t ask for our money back” was funny at first – until the mistakes in songs, forgotten lyrics, out of tune instruments, etc.  By the end of the set, I had ignored all of those little mistakes – nobody’s perfect – not even rockstars (and I use the term rock loosely) and really enjoyed the show.

They band closed with a song off of the new record.  The song is a great song, but it seemed odd to end on a song that most people won’t know by heart.  But hey, there’s always the encore.  Surely we would hear Politik or Shiver or Scientist.

The lights were out. The crowd going wild. Chanting “Coldplay! Coldplay!”

The lights came up.  Some started to leave.  The crowd that remained grew louder in order to compensate for those non-believers. The “Beat the Traffic” fans. “Coldplay! Coldplay!”

Behind the scrim – footsteps. The crowd goes NUTS! until they realized it was roadies dismantling the equipment.

The saddest part about this show is that a great experience left a sour taste in the (spoiled?) fans’ mouths. All I heard leaving the Garden was disbelief that they left for good – sans encore.  It didn’t ruin the quality of the performance I saw – but it did end the event on a sour note.

So, are we spoiled?  Have encores become so common place that not doing an encore is now the cool exception.  Is it just grandstanding to take a drink of water backstage, come out again and send the fans off on one of your anthemic hits?  Is it a slap in the face to fans who – despite not paying for tickets did pay high concession and merch prices – chanted your name for 1 or 2 more songs (after only playing about 68 minutes)?

In my humble opinion – Joe D said it best: “There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best.”

The end is the beginning is the end…

My blog will mostly be about sports – but in truth will end up including posts about music, pop culture, and current news.

Why do you care?

I’ll try to be funny. I promise. And I’ll try to make interesting points.

Looking forward to comments from anyone out there.

Thanks,

Justin