Christmas Eve night, the NFL Network started a team-by-team series of all-time Top 10 lists. Naturally, as is fitting, the network in its infinite wisdom led off with the clubhouse leader in the Lombardi Open, the Pittsburgh Steelers. Now, this got me thinking of the guys I thought would be or should be included on such a list. At around 4:00 p.m. that afternoon, I had posted this list on a friends' Facebook:
10) Jerome Bettis
9) Jack Ham
8) Mel Blount
7) Lynn Swann
6) Hines Ward
5) "Mean" Joe Greene
4) Mike Webster
3) Franco Harris
2) Terry Bradshaw
1) Jack Lambert
Naturally, that was a pretty solid list by any objective measure. Now, let's compare that with NFL Network's list:
10. Jerome Bettis
9. Lynn Swann
8. Hines Ward
7. Troy Polamalu
6. Mel Blount
5. Jack Lambert
4. Rod Woodson
3. Franco Harris
2. Terry Bradshaw
1. "Mean" Joe Greene
So, I didn't do too badly with my projections, as 8 of the 10 guys on my list made it to the NFL Network list. Here are a few observations:
I figured all the players on the list would meet two criteria: one, that they would all be Hall Of Famers or will be once they become eligible and, two, that they would all have Steelers Super Bowl rings. Eventually, I will be proven right on the first count and, with the exception of Woodson, the second count proved to be true.
I figured Hines Ward would be on the list above Swann and that they would be the only two wide receivers on the list. Ward has already eclipsed Swann's and Stallworth's numbers and has his own cache of SB jewelry. That's also the criteria they will look at when he is inducted into the Hall Of Fame.
If there was going to be a Steelers player who never won a Super Bowl with the team on the list, it might have been nice to add Ernie Stautner. Don't get me wrong, Woodson deserves the honor for his complete body of work (although, I don't know if I put him higher than Mel Blount). But, if you are going to put a token player in there who never got a Steelers Super Bowl ring, a tip of the cap to the pre-Super Bowl Steelers would have been nice, especially when there was a player, like Stautner, who labored in virtual obscurity his entire career and still managed to receive Hall Of Fame induction.
All things considered, I had "Mean" Joe Greene way too low on my list. He was the first player drafted in the Chuck Noll era, so he was the one player who can be pointed to as starting it all. That said, how come Jack Lambert appeared as low as he did on the list? What position, above all others, are the Steelers noted for in their history? Jack, almost assuredly, deserved to be in the Top 3 on this list.
In retrospect, I am a little surprised that Bettis made the list over Ben Roethlisberger. Now, perhaps it's because Ben's body of work still needs to be rounded out before we can really put him on such an elite list. But, as more than one of the interviewees pointed out (Scotty Ferrall, most notably) he came within a shoestring tackle (by none other than Ben, of course) of being the goat in that 2005 playoff game vs. Indianapolis. Had that ended differently, there would have been no way Bettis makes the list, despite numbers that will one day include him in the Steelers Wing in Canton.
I am also surprised that Lambert was the ONLY linebacker to make the list and that 3 defensive backs made the list. That, as someone who holds Steeler linebackers in higher regard than the Pope himself, just shocked me. Not that perhaps one day Troy Polamalu wouldn't warrant inclusion on such a list. But, between you and me, I think it might have been slightly premature to have included him, for many of the same reasons that Ben was excluded, on this list at this time.
And, if Terry Bradshaw had seen this list prior to its airing, I suspect he would have been more than a little upset that Webster wasn't included. Iron Mike was EVERYTHING a Pittsburgh Steeler should ever aspire to be: tough as nails, fierce as hell with a non-stop will to win. Iron Mike fit that criteria as well as anyone who has ever donned the Black and Gold. His exclusion from this list puzzles me.
All that said, the folks who put together this list had to have been beating their heads against the wall trying to round it out.
Brent Musberger, a football broadcaster who, personally, has never done great things to endear himself to me, made a pretty astute, if not obvious, statement when he suggested that putting together a Steelers Top 10 list was impossible. Tough thing was, those were the rules. On balance, their effort was and is praiseworthy, even if not perfect.
Kudos to the gang at NFL Network. Might not have been a walk off homer. But, it was certainly a ground-rule double in the bottom of the 9th, at least. We'll be looking forward to seeing some of the other Top 10 lists as they are rolled out.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
Roger Goodell's Effort To Let Players Wear Dresses and Comfortable Shoes During Games
The title might be a little long. But Roger Goodell, so-called "Commissioner" of the National Football League probably wants this.
Want evidence? Here's the case in point: 8:22 left in the 3rd Quarter of the Oakland v. Pittsburgh game yesterday. Oakland's Jason Campbell drops back to pass and tosses a half-hearted, 8-yard pass that ends up being intercepted and returned to the Oakland end zone for a Pittsburgh touchdown. Yet, the play was nullified by a roughing the passer call on the Steelers James Harrison, the same James Harrison who has been fined three times just this season for hits on players the league felt were excessive.
Brilliant! And the fire always follows the smoke, right? Roger Goodell wants the millions who watch his league's product week in and week out every fall to believe that. But even CBS Sports color analyst Dan Fouts questioned the validity of the call after the fact, remarking that it was a borderline call costing the Steelers a touchdown. I guess that since Harrison was the one making the hit, that it was time to throw another log on the fire. Very well.
Either way, Fouts was speaking from knowledge at that point in the game. The officiating crew had already dropped 13 penalty flags and had another seven coming before the game's end. That's 21 penalties called, or, one penalty roughly every 2:52 of the game. That, as former Kansas City and Buffalo Head Coach Marv Levy might say, is a little over officious.
My view is that if Roger Goodell ever wanted to making a lasting statement on the quality of the officiating in the NFL, he could do what Major League Baseball does and go to full-time officials who wouldn't be moonlighting as bank presidents or corporate executives, among other worthwhile life endeavors. They would be in charge of the on-field policing of a multi-billion dollar entertainment empire. That doesn't sound like a product that should be left in the hands of "weekend warriors". Officiating, at that level, isn't the place for those seeking a part-time job. Professional football requires professional officials. It requires those who would make the officiating of the game a full-time pursuit.
And what exactly is the story with Goodell and his "risk management" of the NFL anyway? I was responding to a friend on Facebook about this. The following is the verbatim text of what I told the friend, edited for brevity:
"Football is a horribly violent game. Never mind the fact that it's the most popular game in America, it's still horribly violent. There was nothing illegal about Harrison's hit, and the videotape and Dan Fouts both agreed the call was bogus. It cost the Steelers a TD. What if that had happened to Oakland? It would have snuffed out a comeback. That is why it's a bad call. But Goodell is crapping his pants because of some perceived injury risk. I'll let him in on a secret: if you suit up and play football, you are greatly enhancing your injury risk anyway once you line up. These guys play, they understand the risk and play anyway. Goodell is a piece of work. He's a bean counter, not a football guy. He needs to be gone."
And that sentence says it all. Goodell fails to grasp the intrinsic nature of the product that he is selling. People get hurt. A few of the unfortunate have been seriously hurt enough to end their career. Or, their ability to walk or breathe without an artificial apparatus helping them. Maybe Goodell means well in trying to eliminate all the risk of injury in football. It's simply too bad that it is unrealistic to expect that ever to be the case. Players will continue to get hurt, even on clean hits.
The NFL needs a commissioner who understands the basic nature of the game and understands that the game cannot be governed by some "risk management" spreadsheet in a binder at the league office.
I know my friends in Pittsburgh might not agree with this. But, the one guy who, I believe, possesses both the native intelligence and the playing career I believe are necessary attributes to lead the National Football League is Cris Collinsworth, who currently provides color commentary for NBC's Sunday Night Football and analysis for Showtime's Inside The NFL. He comes across as someone who understands the basic nature of football and he is someone who played the game at its highest level. He is also someone who might be able to withstand the intellectual demands of the job and weigh that with the demand for good public relations from the commissioner's office.
Either way, Roger Goodell has proven to be a failure as National Football League Commissioner. With a looming work stoppage seemingly inevitable, does the National Football League really want to entrust the business of this league to someone who clearly doesn't know the nature of the game, among other faults this man has in his current professional capacity.
I could go on and on about Roger Goodell. It would require much more writing and many more articles. But, as a football fan, you should already know where this writer stands. Roger Goodell is bad for football and even worse as Commissioner of the NFL. He needs to pack his bags.
Want evidence? Here's the case in point: 8:22 left in the 3rd Quarter of the Oakland v. Pittsburgh game yesterday. Oakland's Jason Campbell drops back to pass and tosses a half-hearted, 8-yard pass that ends up being intercepted and returned to the Oakland end zone for a Pittsburgh touchdown. Yet, the play was nullified by a roughing the passer call on the Steelers James Harrison, the same James Harrison who has been fined three times just this season for hits on players the league felt were excessive.
Brilliant! And the fire always follows the smoke, right? Roger Goodell wants the millions who watch his league's product week in and week out every fall to believe that. But even CBS Sports color analyst Dan Fouts questioned the validity of the call after the fact, remarking that it was a borderline call costing the Steelers a touchdown. I guess that since Harrison was the one making the hit, that it was time to throw another log on the fire. Very well.
Either way, Fouts was speaking from knowledge at that point in the game. The officiating crew had already dropped 13 penalty flags and had another seven coming before the game's end. That's 21 penalties called, or, one penalty roughly every 2:52 of the game. That, as former Kansas City and Buffalo Head Coach Marv Levy might say, is a little over officious.
My view is that if Roger Goodell ever wanted to making a lasting statement on the quality of the officiating in the NFL, he could do what Major League Baseball does and go to full-time officials who wouldn't be moonlighting as bank presidents or corporate executives, among other worthwhile life endeavors. They would be in charge of the on-field policing of a multi-billion dollar entertainment empire. That doesn't sound like a product that should be left in the hands of "weekend warriors". Officiating, at that level, isn't the place for those seeking a part-time job. Professional football requires professional officials. It requires those who would make the officiating of the game a full-time pursuit.
And what exactly is the story with Goodell and his "risk management" of the NFL anyway? I was responding to a friend on Facebook about this. The following is the verbatim text of what I told the friend, edited for brevity:
"Football is a horribly violent game. Never mind the fact that it's the most popular game in America, it's still horribly violent. There was nothing illegal about Harrison's hit, and the videotape and Dan Fouts both agreed the call was bogus. It cost the Steelers a TD. What if that had happened to Oakland? It would have snuffed out a comeback. That is why it's a bad call. But Goodell is crapping his pants because of some perceived injury risk. I'll let him in on a secret: if you suit up and play football, you are greatly enhancing your injury risk anyway once you line up. These guys play, they understand the risk and play anyway. Goodell is a piece of work. He's a bean counter, not a football guy. He needs to be gone."
And that sentence says it all. Goodell fails to grasp the intrinsic nature of the product that he is selling. People get hurt. A few of the unfortunate have been seriously hurt enough to end their career. Or, their ability to walk or breathe without an artificial apparatus helping them. Maybe Goodell means well in trying to eliminate all the risk of injury in football. It's simply too bad that it is unrealistic to expect that ever to be the case. Players will continue to get hurt, even on clean hits.
The NFL needs a commissioner who understands the basic nature of the game and understands that the game cannot be governed by some "risk management" spreadsheet in a binder at the league office.
I know my friends in Pittsburgh might not agree with this. But, the one guy who, I believe, possesses both the native intelligence and the playing career I believe are necessary attributes to lead the National Football League is Cris Collinsworth, who currently provides color commentary for NBC's Sunday Night Football and analysis for Showtime's Inside The NFL. He comes across as someone who understands the basic nature of football and he is someone who played the game at its highest level. He is also someone who might be able to withstand the intellectual demands of the job and weigh that with the demand for good public relations from the commissioner's office.
Either way, Roger Goodell has proven to be a failure as National Football League Commissioner. With a looming work stoppage seemingly inevitable, does the National Football League really want to entrust the business of this league to someone who clearly doesn't know the nature of the game, among other faults this man has in his current professional capacity.
I could go on and on about Roger Goodell. It would require much more writing and many more articles. But, as a football fan, you should already know where this writer stands. Roger Goodell is bad for football and even worse as Commissioner of the NFL. He needs to pack his bags.
Monday, October 11, 2010
What if The Browns Were Forced to Stay in 1995?
Sometimes, the best blogging material just happens out of casual conversation. Happens to me all the time.
A friend of mine mentioned something on his Facebook about how the current Cleveland Browns shouldn't have been allowed to maintain the former records of the team that was allowed to move to Baltimore following the 1995 season. And he has a very good point because that team bears no resemblance to the team currently know as the Cleveland Browns and probably won't for quite some time, if current trends persist.
The rest of this post is the response to my friend (edited here for clarity):
When the Washington Senators moved, both times, the records went to Minneapolis and Arlington with them.
But, the NFL, in its infinite wisdom, decided that the Browns were too sacrosanct for the records to follow them to Baltimore. Really? If they were that sacrosanct, why would the NFL allow Cleveland to hang in limbo for 3 years while Baltimore got what amounted to an expansion, yet fully established, team?
If the NFL ever had any actual brains, they would have told Art that he was going to suspend his operations and that he was guaranteed an expansion team in Baltimore for the 1999 season. And they would have told Cleveland that the Browns were theirs, but that a new stadium was going to be built or the city would forfeit the team if construction hadn't commenced before the team in Baltimore started playing. This would have been beneficial to all parties involved because it would have:
1) Lit a fire under the City of Cleveland to build the stadium that Art Modell should have built or arranged to have been built in conjunction with the city.
2) It would have kept Art Modell in as the owner in Baltimore. He went belly up because he ended up having to defend his actions in court and he had to maintain all the overhead of running a team right after moving to Baltimore, instead of not having to pay player salaries and operating expenses for three years while he got his new team up and running. Modell would still be the Ravens owner had he been forced to do this by the league.
3) It also would have forced the City of Cleveland to build their stadium somewhere other than where it is right now. The city has been complaining for years about lakefront development. Well? One of the largest single pieces of real estate in Cleveland that could have been used for lakefront development happens to have a very huge monolith on it that gets used only about a dozen times a year. The rest of the time, it sits there... empty and useless.
4) If the city had been pig headed enough to insist that the new stadium be built on the same site, it would have forced the team to move temporarily. The only logical place to have done that would have been to Columbus. That would have been a boon to the market share of that club in that town. That would have been particularly true if the same front office that went to Baltimore had stayed in Cleveland. What was it that the Ravens won in 2000. Now I remember... they won a Super Bowl. That team, quite frankly, should have been the Cleveland Browns.
Bottom line is that there was more than enough stupidity in the Browns move to go around.
Art didn't want to lose his team. Very well. He got his team and his Super Bowl ring... and lost everything eventually anyway. And there are some who think this moron should be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. Holy crap, would that be a mistake.
The City of Cleveland should have insisted that that Browns team be legally enjoined from playing anywhere other than Cleveland or in any other uniform other than the Browns uniform. Instead, they allowed Art to leave and take his toys with him and took the chances at starting new, but with the old colors and records in tact. The reality is that the product that is parading around as the Cleveland Browns in 2010 has no actual connection to any team that was the Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1995 when the real Cleveland Browns were allowed to die by the NFL. The ones out there now are impostors, plain and simple.
And the NFL should have forced Art Modell and the City of Cleveland to play by its rules. In the end, it is their team, their property and they allow those who want to be involved in their league to play by their rules ultimately. Don't think so? Ask Jerry Jones or Al Davis.
They should have forced Art to accept an expansion franchise if he wanted to own a team in Baltimore. The reality with that is that the league would have ended up doing Art a favor in that he'd probably still be the owner of the team he was forced to sell after he got his Super Bowl ring.
And the league should have forced the City of Cleveland to build a new stadium as a condition of keeping their football team, as I had mentioned before. In return, the league could have taken over operation of the club until a suitable owner could be found (Major League Baseball later set the precedent for this when they took over the operations of the Montreal Expos until a new owner was found, who then moved the team to Washington, DC under much different circumstances that the move that involved the Browns). If the team had to temporarily relocate while the new stadium was being built, it would have saved the real Cleveland Browns while it would have allowed the team to take over the Columbus market at a time when the team was in a ascendant period.
Alas, none of this happened.
Cleveland got the colors and name and records. Is it really the same team?
Paul Brown's Browns are long since deceased and have been since his firing in 1962. Sure, his players managed to remain competitive through the '60s as proof that a Doppler Effect exists in sports when one coach is replaced by another. But my own father's allegiance to the Browns faded away after Paul Brown was no longer there and no team after that recaptured his interest.
And the "Dawg Pound" teams of the '80s, the last consistently good Browns team? That team failed three times to bring Cleveland the prize of a Super Bowl and it was the best they could do. And the "Dawg Pound", as the physical structure of the old Cleveland Stadium bleachers was so dubbed at the time, is now a reef in the middle of Lake Erie where the fish population happily go to spawn.
Instead, the Browns today are a laughing stock. The team hasn't come close to earning the fan base they have and they appear to be in a state of perpetually arrested development.
Browns fans are throwing out their hearts and souls, but for what? It's a team they love that isn't loving them back and doesn't appear to have any inclination to doing that any time soon.
A friend of mine mentioned something on his Facebook about how the current Cleveland Browns shouldn't have been allowed to maintain the former records of the team that was allowed to move to Baltimore following the 1995 season. And he has a very good point because that team bears no resemblance to the team currently know as the Cleveland Browns and probably won't for quite some time, if current trends persist.
The rest of this post is the response to my friend (edited here for clarity):
When the Washington Senators moved, both times, the records went to Minneapolis and Arlington with them.
But, the NFL, in its infinite wisdom, decided that the Browns were too sacrosanct for the records to follow them to Baltimore. Really? If they were that sacrosanct, why would the NFL allow Cleveland to hang in limbo for 3 years while Baltimore got what amounted to an expansion, yet fully established, team?
If the NFL ever had any actual brains, they would have told Art that he was going to suspend his operations and that he was guaranteed an expansion team in Baltimore for the 1999 season. And they would have told Cleveland that the Browns were theirs, but that a new stadium was going to be built or the city would forfeit the team if construction hadn't commenced before the team in Baltimore started playing. This would have been beneficial to all parties involved because it would have:
1) Lit a fire under the City of Cleveland to build the stadium that Art Modell should have built or arranged to have been built in conjunction with the city.
2) It would have kept Art Modell in as the owner in Baltimore. He went belly up because he ended up having to defend his actions in court and he had to maintain all the overhead of running a team right after moving to Baltimore, instead of not having to pay player salaries and operating expenses for three years while he got his new team up and running. Modell would still be the Ravens owner had he been forced to do this by the league.
3) It also would have forced the City of Cleveland to build their stadium somewhere other than where it is right now. The city has been complaining for years about lakefront development. Well? One of the largest single pieces of real estate in Cleveland that could have been used for lakefront development happens to have a very huge monolith on it that gets used only about a dozen times a year. The rest of the time, it sits there... empty and useless.
4) If the city had been pig headed enough to insist that the new stadium be built on the same site, it would have forced the team to move temporarily. The only logical place to have done that would have been to Columbus. That would have been a boon to the market share of that club in that town. That would have been particularly true if the same front office that went to Baltimore had stayed in Cleveland. What was it that the Ravens won in 2000. Now I remember... they won a Super Bowl. That team, quite frankly, should have been the Cleveland Browns.
Bottom line is that there was more than enough stupidity in the Browns move to go around.
Art didn't want to lose his team. Very well. He got his team and his Super Bowl ring... and lost everything eventually anyway. And there are some who think this moron should be enshrined in the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. Holy crap, would that be a mistake.
The City of Cleveland should have insisted that that Browns team be legally enjoined from playing anywhere other than Cleveland or in any other uniform other than the Browns uniform. Instead, they allowed Art to leave and take his toys with him and took the chances at starting new, but with the old colors and records in tact. The reality is that the product that is parading around as the Cleveland Browns in 2010 has no actual connection to any team that was the Cleveland Browns from 1946 to 1995 when the real Cleveland Browns were allowed to die by the NFL. The ones out there now are impostors, plain and simple.
And the NFL should have forced Art Modell and the City of Cleveland to play by its rules. In the end, it is their team, their property and they allow those who want to be involved in their league to play by their rules ultimately. Don't think so? Ask Jerry Jones or Al Davis.
They should have forced Art to accept an expansion franchise if he wanted to own a team in Baltimore. The reality with that is that the league would have ended up doing Art a favor in that he'd probably still be the owner of the team he was forced to sell after he got his Super Bowl ring.
And the league should have forced the City of Cleveland to build a new stadium as a condition of keeping their football team, as I had mentioned before. In return, the league could have taken over operation of the club until a suitable owner could be found (Major League Baseball later set the precedent for this when they took over the operations of the Montreal Expos until a new owner was found, who then moved the team to Washington, DC under much different circumstances that the move that involved the Browns). If the team had to temporarily relocate while the new stadium was being built, it would have saved the real Cleveland Browns while it would have allowed the team to take over the Columbus market at a time when the team was in a ascendant period.
Alas, none of this happened.
Cleveland got the colors and name and records. Is it really the same team?
Paul Brown's Browns are long since deceased and have been since his firing in 1962. Sure, his players managed to remain competitive through the '60s as proof that a Doppler Effect exists in sports when one coach is replaced by another. But my own father's allegiance to the Browns faded away after Paul Brown was no longer there and no team after that recaptured his interest.
And the "Dawg Pound" teams of the '80s, the last consistently good Browns team? That team failed three times to bring Cleveland the prize of a Super Bowl and it was the best they could do. And the "Dawg Pound", as the physical structure of the old Cleveland Stadium bleachers was so dubbed at the time, is now a reef in the middle of Lake Erie where the fish population happily go to spawn.
Instead, the Browns today are a laughing stock. The team hasn't come close to earning the fan base they have and they appear to be in a state of perpetually arrested development.
Browns fans are throwing out their hearts and souls, but for what? It's a team they love that isn't loving them back and doesn't appear to have any inclination to doing that any time soon.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
George Steinbrenner... a Tough Act to Follow
Thanks to all of you for weighing in on my Facebook over the last day on my views on the passing of George Steinbrenner. It has allowed me to take a long view of his life and how, if certain things would have worked out differently, how thing might have been different in my home here in Cleveland.
My view of George is positive despite the warts. What he did in Lorain was largely unacceptable. Lorain is still trying to figure out what to do for recovery to this day. But, if we blame George and AmShip for the start of the slide there, we can also blame USX and Ford for completing his work. Today, Lorain is ripe to rise from the ashes. They are looking for the person or people who will take the risk and develop something that will allow Lorain to become a viable center of commerce again. If anyone wants to put a bee in Alan Spitzer's bonnet, a good time to do that might be sooner than later.
George set a high bar for all baseball teams and, yes, he did exploit the system for the benefit of his team. So be it. That's the way the system works. It didn't seem like Dick Jacobs had much trouble keeping up when he owned the middle-market Indians, although it would be interesting to see whether he'd be doing things the same way now. One thing's for sure, the Dolan family simply lacks in comparison in their carnival act ownership of the club
It also would have been interesting to see if George had become the owner of the Indians. I'm not completely sure that George would have had the same success. But, I am sure that he would have seen to it that the team was equipped for success in Cleveland the same way that he set up the Yankees for success. I believe that he would have set up the Indians for an unparalleled level of success that they had not seen before.
I also believe that he would have been a champion for Cleveland and that, working with political and community leaders, he would have been a go to guy for improving his hometown. I suspect that he would have been instrumental in developing what became the Gateway Project much sooner and would have done so under the big tent including the Cavaliers and Browns. I also suspect that Art Modell would have been convinced by George to be part of the project and that chances would have been that the project would have been the early catalyst for much of the new stadium development we have seen in pro sports over the last 20 years. It might have saved Cleveland the pain of the embarrassing loss and hiatus of the Browns.
I know that much of what I've said here is much ado about speculative history. So be it. If you think of it, the great things George did to return the Yankees to glory had the cloudiness of a heaping helping of suspicion toward others over those years. No doubt that drama would have played out here in Cleveland. But the great mountains of interpersonal drama play out often in the world of successful professional athletics. If Cleveland would have been the locale of that drama in return for a few World Series trophies, I surely would have dealt with it. And, if you are a Cleveland sports fan, you would have, too. I can assure you of that.
At the end of the day, for all his personal and professional gaffes, George was a success and leaves a standard that will be difficult for others to top.
My view of George is positive despite the warts. What he did in Lorain was largely unacceptable. Lorain is still trying to figure out what to do for recovery to this day. But, if we blame George and AmShip for the start of the slide there, we can also blame USX and Ford for completing his work. Today, Lorain is ripe to rise from the ashes. They are looking for the person or people who will take the risk and develop something that will allow Lorain to become a viable center of commerce again. If anyone wants to put a bee in Alan Spitzer's bonnet, a good time to do that might be sooner than later.
George set a high bar for all baseball teams and, yes, he did exploit the system for the benefit of his team. So be it. That's the way the system works. It didn't seem like Dick Jacobs had much trouble keeping up when he owned the middle-market Indians, although it would be interesting to see whether he'd be doing things the same way now. One thing's for sure, the Dolan family simply lacks in comparison in their carnival act ownership of the club
It also would have been interesting to see if George had become the owner of the Indians. I'm not completely sure that George would have had the same success. But, I am sure that he would have seen to it that the team was equipped for success in Cleveland the same way that he set up the Yankees for success. I believe that he would have set up the Indians for an unparalleled level of success that they had not seen before.
I also believe that he would have been a champion for Cleveland and that, working with political and community leaders, he would have been a go to guy for improving his hometown. I suspect that he would have been instrumental in developing what became the Gateway Project much sooner and would have done so under the big tent including the Cavaliers and Browns. I also suspect that Art Modell would have been convinced by George to be part of the project and that chances would have been that the project would have been the early catalyst for much of the new stadium development we have seen in pro sports over the last 20 years. It might have saved Cleveland the pain of the embarrassing loss and hiatus of the Browns.
I know that much of what I've said here is much ado about speculative history. So be it. If you think of it, the great things George did to return the Yankees to glory had the cloudiness of a heaping helping of suspicion toward others over those years. No doubt that drama would have played out here in Cleveland. But the great mountains of interpersonal drama play out often in the world of successful professional athletics. If Cleveland would have been the locale of that drama in return for a few World Series trophies, I surely would have dealt with it. And, if you are a Cleveland sports fan, you would have, too. I can assure you of that.
At the end of the day, for all his personal and professional gaffes, George was a success and leaves a standard that will be difficult for others to top.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Celebrate Hockey Day In Canada on Saturday
One of the best ways to celebrate the greatness of a sport is by profiling it at the grass roots level and showcasing those who are the strongest representatives of the sport...everyday men and women and boys and girls for whom the game will always be just that...a game.
On Saturday, the CBC will train their cameras on the small town of Campbellton, New Brunswick on an inlet of Tracadish Bay to celebrate the simplicity of an event which amounts to be nothing more than child's play...the game of hockey.
For one day a year in Canada, a small town is featured to be shown in the context of a sport that is more than sport. It is an agent of community unity. A focal point of local pride. Campbellton will be putting its best foot forward this Saturday to display its love for an activity well-ensconced in the toy box of life.
And that is what will make the 13 1/2 hour celebration of the game on frozen pond such great television. It will feature ordinary folks doing their best to extend the legacy of hockey, a game of universal appeal that only has the strength it has from the thousands of communities across the globe like Campbellton, New Brunswick.
For those who have had enough of the drama of sports...the steroid scandals in baseball...will Brett Favre ever retire?...where will T.O. play next?...Hockey Day In Canada puts the game of hockey on stage for all to see in its simplest form of the community ice rink that is ubiquitous in villages, towns and cities all over the world. It's a program enveloped in the trio of games played by those who have made the simple sport a way to make a living at its highest offered level.
For those who have access to NHL Network, the programming from the CBC will begin at noon on Saturday. The first three hours will focus on Campbellton and there will be more features in between the play of the NHL games being shown that day.
Give Hockey Day In Canada a look on Saturday. It's one of the best showcases on all of television of the basic goodness and goodwill of sports.
On Saturday, the CBC will train their cameras on the small town of Campbellton, New Brunswick on an inlet of Tracadish Bay to celebrate the simplicity of an event which amounts to be nothing more than child's play...the game of hockey.
For one day a year in Canada, a small town is featured to be shown in the context of a sport that is more than sport. It is an agent of community unity. A focal point of local pride. Campbellton will be putting its best foot forward this Saturday to display its love for an activity well-ensconced in the toy box of life.
And that is what will make the 13 1/2 hour celebration of the game on frozen pond such great television. It will feature ordinary folks doing their best to extend the legacy of hockey, a game of universal appeal that only has the strength it has from the thousands of communities across the globe like Campbellton, New Brunswick.
For those who have had enough of the drama of sports...the steroid scandals in baseball...will Brett Favre ever retire?...where will T.O. play next?...Hockey Day In Canada puts the game of hockey on stage for all to see in its simplest form of the community ice rink that is ubiquitous in villages, towns and cities all over the world. It's a program enveloped in the trio of games played by those who have made the simple sport a way to make a living at its highest offered level.
For those who have access to NHL Network, the programming from the CBC will begin at noon on Saturday. The first three hours will focus on Campbellton and there will be more features in between the play of the NHL games being shown that day.
Give Hockey Day In Canada a look on Saturday. It's one of the best showcases on all of television of the basic goodness and goodwill of sports.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Herb Score, R.I.P.
When you're a sports fan, you remember the voices that gave a team character. For the Cleveland Indians, that voice belonged to Herb Score.
Herb Score passed away this morning at the age of 75 after being in declining health for several years.
But, for me, Herb wasn't only a great Indians pitcher and even greater broadcaster and play-by-play announcer, he was a good a decent man.
I had the privilege to get to know Herb, his wife Nancy and the rest of his family when I worked for his daughter, Susan, at Our Lady of the Wayside, an agency which provides services to the mentally and physically challenged in Northeast Ohio. Susan had her share of problems. She was born with Down's Syndrome and had the full array of incumbent physical issues that went with that particular diagnosis. Nevertheless, she had an angelic spirit and was a truly beautiful human being.
Many families would allow the circumstance of having a disabled family member tear them apart. This never happened with the Score family and Susan's spirit was evident and transcended her family. But, I'll bet that spirit was a two way street all along. Even after Susan passed in 1994, the Score family was still very involved in the Our Lady of the Wayside community.
But the Herb Score that I knew best was obviously the one that many Clevelanders knew as the voice of the Indians. He was masterful and was a voice of reason in the frenzy commonly known as sports fandom. He was all about the home team, but was never a "homer" and always took great pains to avoid provincialism in his calling of a game. In the Terry Pluto book "The Curse of Rocky Colavito", he discussed his method of calling a game. Calling the home team "we" was verboten. So was second guessing the action on the field or the description of the action from the play-by-play booth. Herb believed in brevity and not adding too much description to the action, allowing the imagination of the scenario of the play on the field to be subject to the listener's discretion.(You can read a more detailed explanation of Herb Score's broadcast career in "The Curse of Rocky Colavito" by Terry Pluto, pages 176 to 188.)
Nevertheless, his description of the game was always engaging and many of Cleveland's finest sportcasters: Bob Neal, Joe Tait, Nev Chandler and Tom Hamilton had the opportunity to work with Herb. For Herb, he was gracious and thankful to work with these talented professionals while they endured his absence of graceful speech.
Herb was a great ambassador for the Indians. Just as the Tigers had Ernie Harwell. Or the Pirates Bob Prince. Or the Reds Joe Nuxhall. Or the Brewers Bob Uecker. The Indians had Herb Score and he was blessed to have the chance to serve in that role.
As we all get older, the distance from our youth grows longer. Today, mine got that much longer with the passing of Herb Score. He was a Cleveland original, a Legend, and a man to whom it will be hard to say goodbye.
Rest In Peace, Herb Score.
Herb Score passed away this morning at the age of 75 after being in declining health for several years.
But, for me, Herb wasn't only a great Indians pitcher and even greater broadcaster and play-by-play announcer, he was a good a decent man.
I had the privilege to get to know Herb, his wife Nancy and the rest of his family when I worked for his daughter, Susan, at Our Lady of the Wayside, an agency which provides services to the mentally and physically challenged in Northeast Ohio. Susan had her share of problems. She was born with Down's Syndrome and had the full array of incumbent physical issues that went with that particular diagnosis. Nevertheless, she had an angelic spirit and was a truly beautiful human being.
Many families would allow the circumstance of having a disabled family member tear them apart. This never happened with the Score family and Susan's spirit was evident and transcended her family. But, I'll bet that spirit was a two way street all along. Even after Susan passed in 1994, the Score family was still very involved in the Our Lady of the Wayside community.
But the Herb Score that I knew best was obviously the one that many Clevelanders knew as the voice of the Indians. He was masterful and was a voice of reason in the frenzy commonly known as sports fandom. He was all about the home team, but was never a "homer" and always took great pains to avoid provincialism in his calling of a game. In the Terry Pluto book "The Curse of Rocky Colavito", he discussed his method of calling a game. Calling the home team "we" was verboten. So was second guessing the action on the field or the description of the action from the play-by-play booth. Herb believed in brevity and not adding too much description to the action, allowing the imagination of the scenario of the play on the field to be subject to the listener's discretion.(You can read a more detailed explanation of Herb Score's broadcast career in "The Curse of Rocky Colavito" by Terry Pluto, pages 176 to 188.)
Nevertheless, his description of the game was always engaging and many of Cleveland's finest sportcasters: Bob Neal, Joe Tait, Nev Chandler and Tom Hamilton had the opportunity to work with Herb. For Herb, he was gracious and thankful to work with these talented professionals while they endured his absence of graceful speech.
Herb was a great ambassador for the Indians. Just as the Tigers had Ernie Harwell. Or the Pirates Bob Prince. Or the Reds Joe Nuxhall. Or the Brewers Bob Uecker. The Indians had Herb Score and he was blessed to have the chance to serve in that role.
As we all get older, the distance from our youth grows longer. Today, mine got that much longer with the passing of Herb Score. He was a Cleveland original, a Legend, and a man to whom it will be hard to say goodbye.
Rest In Peace, Herb Score.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
The NFL Fining Players For, Well...Playing? Bad Idea
I was sitting with a friend of mine last night at my high school alma mater's football game (Bay High School in Bay Village, Ohio) where his son is a sophomore offensive lineman who gets some varsity playing time at guard and tackle. He had his daughter sitting in his lap and she couldn't quite understand the violent nature of the sport. Her dad said something to the effect of "football is just a very rough sport".
And in that short exchange, my friend and his daughter pretty much summed up the nature of football: it is a violent sport filled with collisions. Sometimes those collisions are so violent that it causes permanent injury, careers to end suddenly and a lifetime of pain that just doesn't go away.
The comments of Pittsburgh Steelers safety Troy Polamalu this week regarding the fines levied against teammate Hines Ward over "unnecessary roughness" spoke volumes and elicited a typically buttoned down response from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. The comments were a clarion call coming from the relatively soft-spoken Polamalu, who looks like he just just stepped of the beach from a day of surfing.
The guys who play in the NFL have to know that...and most do. They accept the fact that their next hit could very well be their last. And they accept that after year upon year of repeated violent contact. And they still suit up and go in...they aren't willing to be pussies about the situation.
Goodell doesn't seem to understand this concept. Now, with all these fines being levied against NFL players for "excessive contact"...or whatever the new buzz words are...you'd think that players would tone it down to avoid further financial "hardship", right? Maybe some would. But that is not the nature of the game.
And the fines are coming on relatively routine plays, many of which cause no injury to any of the players involved. It's the place from where Polamalu's concern rises.
Maybe the commish is on a money grab. Maybe Good Ol' Rog is losing at the track and needs to make good on covering his sloppy betting habits.
But whatever it is, the entire matter of fining players for just playing the game is just plain stupid.
Somewhere, Pittsburgh Steelers Hall of Fame linebacker Jack Lambert is getting a chuckle out of this...but he still knows that quarterbacks should wear dresses. Most players in the NFL share Lambert's sentiment. It's too bad that sentiment disconnects before it reaches the commissioner's office.
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