Random Rumblings: Anonymity is baseball's biggest problem

We blame the steroids. We blame the late starts to the World Series. God knows we blame the excessively long games. But baseball’s biggest problem took center stage Sunday afternoon, when the most interesting person in the sport was standing at a podium and not at the plate or on the mound.

No, Rickey Henderson is not what’s wrong with baseball.

Not having a Rickey Henderson is the issue.

If this is the cleanest the sport has been in a long time, it’s also the quietest. The best player on the planet, Albert Pujols, has a chance to become the first Triple Crown winner in 42 years and I feel like I know nothing about the guy. Same goes for Hanley Ramirez, who has the tools of a young Ken Griffey Jr., but is about as interesting as the Public Access channel. Take any of the game’s young stars. Mauer, Lincecum, Fielder; we don’t hate any of ‘em, but we sure as hell don’t love ‘em either.

If Henderson was playing today, he’d be tweeting from the outfield. Some would love him, plenty would loathe him, but at least people would have an opinion on a ball player. Look at the other sports. We’ve known everything about LeBron since he was in high school. Brett Favre is a twelve month story. Gossip rags follow Tom Brady everywhere. Baseball is no where close. These players have Peter Gammons wishing he could cover NFL training camps.

Henderson confirmed that he was all done with baseball on Sunday, and if the sport doesn’t act quickly, the fans will follow him right out the door. Sometimes when people talk about golf, they ask what the PGA Tour would be without Tiger. The answer’s simple.

It would be baseball.

• Receiving an endorsement from Terrell Owens is about as beneficial as republicans getting one from George W. Bush, but you’ve got to hand it to the often-controversial Bills receiver. At least he’s willing to step up and pledge his support to Michael Vick at a time when so many other players are scared to hurt their image.
  
  And when Owens points out that “there's a number of guys around the league that have done far more worse things than that and gotten a second chance,” he’s absolutely on the mark.
  
  
• You know what’s more indicative of the racial problems in our country than Sergeant Crowley and Professor’s Gates’ little run-in last week? The fact that Ben Roethlisberger is accused of raping a woman and no one seems to believe her. Because if it were Santonio Holmes or any other black guy in the NFL, I guarantee the media would be taking the alleged victim’s claims a little more seriously.
  
  
• Whenever Hank Aaron speaks about performance-enhancing drugs, it should be pointed out that he has admitted to taking amphetamines – once.
  
  Right. Once.
  
  
• For the record, Stephon Marbury gave better quotes this week via uStream than any athlete has given in a long time. And in between long periods of laugh-out-loud commentary, he did offer great insight about his personal life, particularly his time in Minnesota.
  
  He talked about being a teenager who had gone from the projects in Coney Island to Georgia Tech and then over to Minnesota and basically admitted to just being homesick. It felt like the realest thing I’ve ever heard an athlete say and I respect that.
  
  
• Let me close with the hypocrites of the week: The four major sports leagues and the NCAA, who are suing to block sports betting in the state of Delaware. Do these leagues realize fantasy sports play a major role in any sport’s popularity? They can’t honestly think we all play fantasy for free, right? And I hope they all know their most passionate fans are paying attention to the sports betting odds for a reason.
  
  This is a case I can’t see the sports winning. Delaware is facing a huge deficit and many believe the state can make up millions from legalizing sports betting. If that’s the case, then I’m all for it.
  
  Plus it makes Delaware worth visiting.

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Random Rumblings

• Mike Smith and Tony Sparano may have failed to reach the next round of the playoffs, but that doesn’t take away from the incredible impact each had on his team this season, and that puts a lot of pressure on those interviewing for vacant head positions around the league. General Managers throughout the NFL just watched the Falcons and Dolphins reach the playoffs a season after combining for just five wins, which suggests that the right head coach shouldn’t need very long to turn even the worst team around.
  
  It’s not like Smith and Sparano came in with much to work with either. Each had new quarterbacks on the roster, one who had never taken a snap in the NFL and another who had a reputation for throwing like the first basemen on your beer-league softball team. That means that even the Lions, who have one of the best receivers in the league in Calvin Johnson, should have high expectations for their next head coach. And in a place like Cleveland, where the Browns were the sexy pick to reach the playoffs, ten wins will be an absolute necessity.
  
  
• Of course, no matter how talented the roster is, it’s hard to trust anyone running the Cleveland Browns. Anyone who has paid attention to the Jets the past few seasons will tell you Eric Mangini is not a guy who should run the show. Yet Cleveland, obsessed with anyone who has ever had anything to do with the Patriots, have made him the front runner for its head job.
  
  
• By the way, if the Broncos don’t have a head coach by Friday, you can bet Bob Stoops will have interest then.
  
  
• Brett Favre is “leaning” toward retirement again, which is like Oprah leaning toward dieting – the end result is inevitable. I’m sure Brett will change his mind and find a team good enough for him, one that will allow him to run the show even as he throws pick after pick.
  
  It’s embarrassing that A) no one in the mainstream media was ever willing to point out what an egomaniac this guy was while in Green Bay and B) the Jets were completely fine with trading for a guy that had no interest in being a good teammate. There are plenty of sports where camaraderie is overrated. Michael Jordan spent far more time at the blackjack table than he did at the dinner table with his teammates and Manny Ramirez probably couldn’t name ten guys he’s ever played with – both still led their teams to championships. But football is the one sport where a good relationship with the guys around you is imperative.
  
  Of course Favre thought it was okay to alienate himself from his teammates from day one, as if the best way to lead players was to avoid them. Is this the type of guy you want quarterbacking your team next season?
  
  
• Charles Barkley is John Daly with a larger following. And if the state of Alabama ever votes him governor, it should be kicked out of the union.
  
  
• Something doesn’t feel right about this UConn team. It’s almost like two seasons ago where the players were so scared of getting pulled by Jim Calhoun that they could never play to their full potential. Calhoun needs to ease up and remember what worked last season.
  
  
• A healthy, fresh-legged bench player who can play defense, score in bunches and pass the basketball is what the Boston Celtics need. Yet everyone seems to think Stephon Marbury in a limited role will automatically mean failure for the Celtics.
  
  
• I didn’t do one of those story of the year columns because to me, it was so clear-cut that it didn’t even warrant a post: Michael Phelps.
  
  For young people like me, there have been few, if any, points in our lives where it felt great to be an American. We’re in a war most people oppose. The first President that we’ve actually followed is one of the most-hated men on earth. And most people associate American sports with steroids and showboating. But 2008 was one of those years that gave us chills we normally only feel while watching movies. We stopped being apathetic toward politics and turned out in record numbers to vote a black man into office. And over the summer, we watched men swim as though it were the Super Bowl because an American was making history.
  
  The Michael Phelps story is our generation’s Miracle.

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Random Rumblings

• As I write this, I’m flying Jet Blue to Vegas and if you’re asking “why the hell is he blogging when he has satellite TV?” the answer is simple: My screen is broken. I’m the only guy on the plane not watching Boise State.
  
  Anyways, I’ve come to the conclusion that the guy sitting next to me meets all five of the requirements to becoming a UFC fighter.
  
  !) Shaved head with a goatee. Check
  2) Be over 200 pounds. Check
  3) Drink Budweiser. Check
  4) Be very pale. Check
  5) Have tattoos that cover your arms. Check
  
  The strange thing about this guy is his choice of music. He’s blasting his iPod (apparently UFC guys think college football is for pussies) but the only song I keep hearing is that “To the left, to the left” song. Now everyone has their quirks, but this guy is supposed to be a Bud-drinking badass, the type of guy that refers to everyone as “boss” or “chief” and he’s listening to Beyonce.
  
  You tell me who the pussy is.
  
  Then again, I’m the one with Jonas Brothers tickets tomorrow night at MGM.
  
  
• At this point, the BCS’ approval rating makes George Bush look like JFK, but one guy loving the arguments caused by those faulty computers right now has to be new Big East Commissioner John Marinatto. Because everyone is so caught up arguing who should play for the National Title, no one seems to be paying attention to the fact that Marinatto’s league (Note – he doesn’t actually take over until July) is about to send a very undeserving team to a major bowl.
  
  And believe me, only calling the Big East undeserving is like calling the Knicks only mildly interested in LeBron James. If you asked the staff of Cincinnati’s student newspaper to pick the teams to play in BCS games, they’d opt for Ball State over the Bearcats any day
  
  If you ask me, the biggest disgrace about the BCS is that contract stipulations decide who gets to play and who gets shut out of the major bowls just as much as any computer. No matter how deserving, the Big 12 is restricted from sending a third team to a BCS Bowl game because the barely mediocre Big East is guaranteed a slot.
  
  But you won’t find too many people complaining about this mess; no one has time. And that’s just how Marinatto likes it. For Big East football, no press is the best kind.
  
  
• While I’m at it, Marinatto has another issue on his hands, this time in basketball, the conference’s crown jewel.
  
  The league is expected to place at least eight teams in the NCAA tournament this season and is widely regarded as the best in America, but it also is home to Rutgers, which lost to St. Bonaventure and Lehigh in consecutive games and Providence, which is only the second best team in Rhode Island.
  
  Couple that with the miserable St. John’s program and irrelevant ones like Seton Hall and South Florida, and you start to realize that there almost as many really bad teams are there are good ones.
  
  Thankfully, the Big East won’t be judged by its weakest links.
  
  
• There is a loud drunk girl on the plane (she’s not hot) and she keeps telling her friend she needs to find a black man in Vegas. An “Obama man,” she says. I think UFC guy is going to spear her.
  
  I wonder what his fight music is.
  
  
• Stephon Marbury once said he’d like to play in Italy after his NBA career is over. Now it looks like that statement could become a reality sooner than anyone thought.
  
  That is, until Mike D’Antoni decides to place a call to the old country and get Starbury blackballed.
  
  
• I’ve never hidden the fact that UConn basketball is the one team I truly care about, so by extension, I’m a huge college basketball fan. But I have to admit, I can’t blame fans for not filling the gyms for any of these preseason tournaments. The games have been hard enough to watch on television.
  
  Every team lets the shot clock run down and then throws up a wild, low percentage shot. I think a lot of people downplayed the extended 3-point line, but it looks like it’s going to be an issue for even the best teams (see UConn).
  
  
• Well, as I might have mentioned, I’m in Vegas now and won’t be posting until Tuesday or Wednesdays. Check back then for an updated podcast and all new posts!

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Random Rumblings: 10/15

• I was at Fenway for game four last night and will have more on that later... Not that there's much to say.
  
  
• He's as good a businessman as any commissioner in professional sports, but that doesn't make David Stern the best human today. With the country facing as bad an economic crisis as it has ever seen, the head of the NBA has decided to cut 9 percent of the league's US Staff, meaning about 80 people will be laid off.
  
  The announcement came Monday, just after wire reports that said the NBA is looking to play regular season games in London leading up to the 2012 Olympics and will partner with the Anschutz Entertainment Group to design around a dozen arenas in China with the first expected to be finished in 2010.
  
  Stern said the league would continue to hire in other countries.
  
  Of course it will. Stern clearly believes, and has for a while now, that the NBA has milked this country for all it is worth and needs to further its international reach in order to maintain basketball's status as the second most popular sport in world. The league will continue to spend millions to promote itself in China every year and even more in an attempt to gain relevance in the UK.
  
  It's a savvy, cost-cutting move to layoff people in this country, the one that has helped the league go mainstream, but Stern is sending a message that will undoubtedly be sent by many businesses in the coming months:
  
  In a recession, the first thing that goes is decency.
  
  
• It's amazing how popular it has become to trash Penn State because its coach is older than me and the four people who read this site combined.
  
  But the main difference between the Nittany Lions and so many other programs this year is the age of the actual players. Joe Paterno's squad seems to put a lot more juniors and seniors on the field than anyone else, and that will make a difference late in the season.
  
  
• Look, nobody wants to forget about the Isiah Thomas era in New York more than I do, but anyone who thinks Chris Duhon is a better point guard than Stephon Marbury is out of their mind.
  
  Let's make this clear: When healthy, and he apparently is, Marbury is the best basketball player the Knicks have.
  
  
• You know who has figured out its place on the internet? WEEI.com. New England's top sports radio station's website realizes that people aren't going there to see scores or updates, so it has hired all kinds of writers to provide excellent daily columns, as opposed to game stories.
  
  
• For some reason, I thought New Haven's Chad Dawson might finally get some respect in the sports world (he already had it in the boxing world) if he could beat a big-name opponent for a title. Well, he absolutely thrashed Antonio Tarver to remain unbeaten, and probably didn't gain a single new fan.
  
  That's how said a state boxing is currently in. When more people care about MMA, a sport that has more one hit wonders than the pop music industry, than they do about a dominate boxer that actually wins the fights he is expected to win, something is clearly wrong.
  
  Too much parity can be a bad thing, just ask the NFL...
  
  
• Maybe it's just because my fantasy football team is winless, but pro football just doesn't seem as fun this year. There seems to be more big-name injuries than in the past which is causing a lot of teams to underachieve.
  
  And I'm sorry, a Tennessee/Tampa Bay Super Bowl doesn't seem too exciting. In fact, the way it looks now, there is only one team that could make the Super Bowl as exciting as it should be:
  
  The Saints, led by Reggie Bush, who looks every bit as good as he was in college.

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