Yanks Give Themselves an Early Christmas Gift

The big news yesterday is that the New York Yankees have given themselves and early Christmas gift by signing switch-hitting first baseman Mark Teixiera to a massive 8 year, $180 million deal. This move, as reported throughout the sports world, now gives the Yankees the four highest-paid players in the entire league. Tex, along with recent signing CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter hold the four largest contracts in Major League Baseball.

So here's the question: is this bad for the sport? In about 2001, the Yankess began to shift from a semi-big spending team that had just won four titles in five years, largely with homegrown players like Jeter, Jorge Posada, Bernie Williams, and Mariano Rivera, to a super-big spending club. The result: just two World Series appearances since then, with losses to the big-spending Arizona Diamondbacks (who promptly blew up their own roster to save money) and the small-market Florida Marlins (who blew up their roster of the next several years, despite it not being an expensive group).

Despite the Yankees signing every big name free agent under the sun, the success just hasn't been there. One explanation is that the Yanks teams that were winning didn't have all of the ego issues that we see today, Because they had some lower paid role players, the group functioned more as a team than as a collection of stars. Meanwhile, teams like the Red Sox, although they spend a lot, still have quality players coming up through their systems and spending a lot of time learning their place within the organization. Thus when they reach the Big League, they are ready to contribute in whatever way the team sees fit.

The Yankees have had minimal success with their prospects. Pitcher Chein Ming Wang has been very good, but guys like Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera have been only decent, not stars. Others, like Nick Johnson and Drew Henson, never panned out at the pro level. The jury is still out on pitcher Phil Hughes, among other recent Yankee call-ups. So while the Yankees had all-stars at most positions, they lacked depth on the bench and in the rotation, and haven't good role-player guys, i.e. bench players that can make an impact both in the game and in the lockerroom.

So should the other teams around the league and their fans be outraged at the money the Yankees are throwing around? Well as the Rays last year and the Rockies in 2007 and the Marlins back in 2002 have all proven, a well-run organization with strong player development can still reach the promised land. And while they may not always win, they can be plenty competitive with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox. Until their players leave for the big money, that is.

No post tomorrow. Merry Christmas and I will be back on Friday. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.

My Football Fanhood on the Line this Weekend

The reason we watch pro sports isn't just for a love of the game, it's because we all find rooting interests in certain teams. Sometimes you almost have to invent a rooting interest because your favorite teams aren't involved in the game, but it's rare that you'll ever watch a game and legitimately not care who wins. Sometimes you pick a team based on their colors or mascot, sometimes you pick a side because of a certain player that you like or dislike, or a coach, etc. In the end, we always find someone to root for because "rooting for a good game" just loses its appeal rather quickly.

I have a personal rooting interest in five NFL teams. I know that seems like a lot, but there's a very specific hierarchy for these teams (that I will get into in a later post) that dictates who I will root for when any of them meet. Suffice it to say my rooting interests fall in this order: Broncos, Texans, Vikings, Saints and Dolphins. Since I moved from Denver to Houston, the order of the top two is slowly shifting, but it's not quite there yet. It certainly doesn't help that I, like most other Broncos fans, am becoming jaded with the Broncos lack of playoff success and even playoff appearances since John Elway retired.

This weekend, four of my five teams play in games with significant playoff implications. In two of these games, my favored team is an underdog according to oddsmakers, and in the other two no line has been set because the games are too close to call. Let's take a look:

1. Denver Broncos (+9) at San Diego Chargers - This game should have been meaningless. The Broncos have had seemingly countless chances to wrap up this division once and for all, and failed at every turn. Now they are 9 point underdogs on the road with the playoffs on the line. Forgive me if I don't exactly have confidence that the Broncos will even cover, much less win. Prove me wrong, Broncos. Please prove me wrong.

2. Chicago Bears (No Line) at Houston Texans - While the Texans are officially out of the running and coming off an embarrassing loss at Oakland last week, they can help me out big time by beating the Bears. The Vikings need either a win (see below) or a Bears loss to clinch the NFC North, and while it looked like the Packers were going to pull it off last night, alas the stubborn Bears persevered and now we have this situation. Lousy Packers.

3. Minnesota Vikings (No Line) at New York Giants - Yes, the Giants have nothing to play for and yes, everything is on the line for the Vikings. But after the way the Giants played in last year's "meaningless" finale against the unbeaten Patriots, and the way it propelled the Giants into the playoffs on such a high note, there is no doubt in my mind that they will be playing all-out on Sunday. And that does not bode well for a Brad Childress-coached team with a penchant to choking.

4. Miami Dolphins (+2.5) at New York Jets - The Dolphins are a great story, and usually stories like these end with success, but going on the road in bad weather against a division rival with the division title on the line sounds kind of scary. It could also be a fairy tale ending waiting to happen, but Vegas (i.e. the betting public) doesn't appear to see it that way. I've hated Brett Favre since his Packers faced my Broncos in the Super Bowl in 1998, but the least he can do for me is throw away one last game before wavering obnoxiously into the sunset. Please, Brett?

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.

Wha... what just ha-happened?

This is the question that a number of NFL teams have to be asking themselves today after questionable performances over the weekend. The big losers are a number of playoff hopefuls that held their postseason destinies in their own hands and failed to come through.

-Denver Broncos - Yes, they are my hometown team and thus my primary rooting interest, so they may be listed higher than they should. But consider what we're looking at here: the Broncos reached an 8-5 record with a stunning win over the highly-touted (at the time) New York Jets on the road. At this point Denver held a 3 game lead in the second-worst division in football (just ahead of the despicable NFC West) and looked like a virtual shoe-in for the playoffs. Two weeks later, the Broncos will be going on the road to face a suddenly hot Chargers team with the division title on the line. This after somehow blowing a home game to a Buffalo team that has been phoning it in for about 8 weeks. Ay carumba!

-Dallas Cowboys - Sure they got bailed out on Sunday by the collapse of two other teams on this list (see below), but the Cowboys simply didn't show up for their home finale (and the last game ever at Texas Stadium) against the Ravens when they controlled their own destiny. For a defense that many thought had turned the corner, that fourth-quarter performance was just dreadful.

-Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Last year, the Bucs stumbled into the playoffs in a weak division and coasted to another first-round loss with a sub-par performance against the eventual champion Giants. This year, the Bucs blasted out to a 9-3 record but have since lost 3 straight, including a game at home Sunday against a very mediocre San Diego team that could have helped not only the Bucs but the Broncos, too, and now the Bucs need help to make the playoffs. This team had no business laying an egg like this after the good fortune of Dallas losing on Saturday.

-Philadelphia Eagles - Against a team that is hard-pressed to score 10 points in a game, and with the benefit of knowing the Cowboys lost and they now controlled their own destiny, the Eagles offense sputtered (again) and came up short at Washington. Now Philly will have to beat the aforementioned Cowboys at home and get lots of help to make the playoffs. Not that a team this inconsistent has any business making the postseason.

-New York Jets - Wow. Just, like, wow. This team has completely fallen off the tracks and now looks like a mortal lock to miss the playoffs. I guess Packers fans can breathe easy (thanks to their old coach Mike Holmgren and the Seahawks, no less) that their old (figuratively and literally) QB will not be winning a Super Bowl for the wrong team this year. This Jets team is three JP Losman decisions away from riding a 4-game losing streak and sitting at 8-7 today.

-Minnesota Vikings - The Vikings get a slight pass for facing a playoff team in the Atlanta Falcons that had a lot to play for, too. That said, Adrian Peterson continues to come up small in big games (with three fumbles, two lost yesterday) and this team could have sealed their division at home yesterday. Now they have to hope the Bears blow it against the Pack tonight, or else it will come down to the final week.

-Pittsburgh Steelers/Carolina Panthers - Yes, they were both on the road playing against the best teams in their respective conferences, but considering what was on the line, these are huge missed opportunities for these teams. Now both will likely have to go on the road to rematch these games for the conference title, and they both have the knowledge that they've lost there already. The Steelers looked like the inferior team on Sunday against Tennessee, and they'll have their work cut out if this AFC title game comes to pass. The Panthers, on the other hand, had the game almost in hand but couldn't come up with a big offensive or defensive play late to pull it out. Regardless, the Giants and Titans have a lot of confidence going forward now.

-Arizona Cardinals - Yes, they've already clinched their exact playoff position, but COME ON! That was one of the worst played games I've seen all year. This team will be extremely lucky if it can win it's first round game, and their only chance is that it's at home. Talk about mailing it in after clinching. Good luck against the Falcons, guys!

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.

Big Football Weekend

It's a big weekend for football this week as college bowl season has gotten under way and the NFL playoff hunt has kicked into full gear. On Saturday, two results really stood out to me. First, my alma mater Colorado State captured the coveted New Mexico Bowl title, defeating the Fresno State Bulldogs in a shootout between two teams with mediocre passing games and solid running games. Apparently, the run defenses decided to head to the offseason early. Here are a few thoughts shared by my brother Tony, another proud CSU alum, after watching yesterday's game (my comments are in bold):

-Gartrell Johnson was a beast, but give some credit to the blocking as he had lots of running room all game. His lack of breakaway speed was clear in the first quarter when he was caught from behind on a 50+ yarder, but he showed a surprising burst with the 77-yard TD run that sealed the win in the fourth quarter. It would be disappointing if Gartrell doesn't get a shot in some NFL team's training camp, even if just as a FB. -I completely agree. After what we've seen out of La'Ron McClain, a big, strong fullback for the Baltimore Ravens, it's clear that there's a place in the NFL for guys like Gartrell. He probably won't be drafted, but he may get a look as a free agent in someones camp.

-Billy Farris is really not much of a quarterback. That long TD pass to Greer in the fourth was well under-thrown and it lucky that it didn't get knocked down. He was not on target on anything he threw down field the rest of the game, except for the TD pass to [tight end Kory] Sperry. Hopefully CSU has someone better at throwing the ball on more than dump-offs next year. -Clearly the Rams cupboard was pretty dry at the quarterback position after last year's graduation of Caleb Hanie, so let's hope that head coach Steve Fairchild, a former quarterback himself, can find (or has found) a young QB to start grooming.

-Speaking of the TD pass to Sperry, that was a ballsy call by Steve Fairchild, but I think it was the right one. They had time to run the play and still kick a FG if they failed. The only way they would've not had a chance was with a sack or a completion short of the end zone, but Fresno had not been getting much pressure and the pass was clearly going only one place. The game was clearly going to be a shootout, and field goals would not lead to a win. -It was a great call, and a really great catch. It actually looked like Sperry was able to get both feet in on the play. That was best throw of the day by the erratic Farris as he put it right where it needed to be to give Sperry a chance without really risking a pick.

-I was disappointed to hear Sperry is only projected to be a 6-7 rounder. Somebody will be getting a steal if they take him that low. -He has the physical skills to be a solid receiving threat at TE. I have to wonder if his lack of stats this year was a matter of poor quarterbacking this year or if he was still getting healthy after that major knee injury last season.

-The defense struggled against the run, but was okay against the pass. There were a few passes where CSU definitely showed a lack of speed in the secondary, but otherwise they played pretty well. You have to wonder what Fresno QB Brandstater was thinking when he threw that screen pass right to DE Tommie Hill. It's indicative of your problem stopping the run when your defensive line gets pushed backwards three full yards on a QB sneak. -Both defenses struggled against the run and that may have been a case of, as the commentator said, not being used to contact after three weeks without games. Then again, evidently neither defense was all that good this year overall, so maybe it was just a case of poor play. As for Brandstater, for a guy that the commentator's say is a projected 5th rounder, he really didn't show me much. The few times he passed in the game (other than the two-minute drill in the fourth quarter when the Rams were in the dreaded prevent defense), he seemed inaccurate and his decision-making was suspect.

-Also give props to the defense for coming up with some big stops in the second half. Fresno had opportunities to drive down and expand their lead to two scores, but the Rams D kept it from happening, and when the team first took the lead, they came up with another big stop. -Again, if it was a case of the teams just getting used to contact, then it makes sense that their performance would improve as the game went on. The problem with Fresno State's defense is that even when they were in regular-season form, they still couldn't stop the run.

-Nice to see the Rams have a nationally-recognized player in Freshman All-American LB Mychal Sisson. Without a growth spurt, Sisson may only make it in the pros as a safety, but that's still years off. -The key to success for all college programs is not only bringing in big-time recruits, but also finding gems in lesser-touted players. Sisson may just be one of those gems.

-Special teams were a mess. Three good kickoff returns were called back on penalties, and the punt returner muffed three punts. At least he was finally benched for the last punt. -Alex Square had a rough day, to be sure, muffing three punts. The penalties on kick returns certainly made things more difficult than they needed to be on offense.

-It was good to see Kyle Bell make an impact on the game, recovering the on-side kick at the end of the fourth quarter. -Bell is a really disappointing story. He was a budding superstar in the Rams' last bowl season, but that knee injury clearly took its toll. I can only assume it's his health that is the reason for his dropoff. I hope he gets fully healthy and maybe, just maybe, gets a shot with a pro team.

-What is with Gary Kubiak's names for his kids, Klint and Klay? I hope their middle names don't start with K! -No comment.

-I stand by my belief that the FBS needs a playoff system, but I think the bowls are worth keeping around. The BCS bowl games can be between the teams who lose in the tourney. The New Mexico Bowl may not mean anything to most of the country, but it was an exciting game and was meaningful to fans of the teams that played in it. With 119 teams in the FBS division, letting 68 of them play one more game on national TV (the only time some of the teams will play on national TV all season) isn't such a bad thing. -I disagree with this, at least to the extent that I think the current bowl system is just flat-out bad business. I will discuss this in a later post.

Thanks to Tony for his insight. It was great to see the Rams have a performance like this on the national stage, and clearly they are moving in the right direction as a program. I think Sonny Lubick must be proud, wherever he is.

One last note: Let's just guess, probably on the high side, that the over/under for the Ravens vs. Cowboys game last night was 40 or 42. That's high for a game between two good defenses, but we'll go with it. If you had taken the under on the game, don't you think you would have basically spent that money before the fourth quarter started? Thinking about how smart you were and how easy that game was to call? Little did you know, the two teams would combine for 34 points (!) in the fourth quarter and ruin your night. Then again, I think the Cowboys night was still quite a bit worse.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for the blog, please post below or I can be reached at chrisf884@gmail.com. Thanks for reading.