The Kind-Hearted Smart Aleck

Almost everyone I know has a love-hate relationship with at least one person. When it comes to ESPN talk show host Will Cain, however, my relationship with him doesn't even reach that status. It's more like a tolerate-hate relationship (no, not tolerate hate). This was on full display after Cain made his thoughts on the Chicago-Cubs-ban-a-fan-for-a-white-power-sign known. As most of the sports world knows by now, the Chicago Cubs decided to ban a fan for life after this individual showcased what was viewed as a white power sign behind MLB analyst and former player Doug Glanville, who happens to be black. After Cubs management allegedly investigated the matter, they decided the gesture was indeed intended to showcase a call to white supremacy, hence the lifetime ban. That didn't stop conservative host Will Cain from speaking contrarian, as he often times does. Cain contended that the gesture used by the fan was mainly used for four purposes: 1) A symbol for okay; 2) A si...

Controversy often plays like a shadow to Hall of Fames everywhere. Nowhere is this more evident than with the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. All-time hits leader Pete Rose remains out of the Hall due to post-playing career gambling, yet the all-time leader in "jackass" references, Ty Cobb, is. In my opinion, whether or not a player gets inducted into the Hall of Fame should be based on what they did on the field. Period. Cooperstown isn't home of the Nobel Prize Hall of Fame; they're home of the MLB Hall of Fame and should determine its inductees on the latter, not the former. Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens were two of the most dominant players in their respective eras. Before Bonds went to San Francisco, where the rumors about him taking performance-enhancing drugs started, he won two MVP awards in Pittsburgh, and finished runner-up another year. In the final three years of his tenure in the Steel City, Bonds combined to garner: 308 runs, 452 hit...

A tape has just surfaced of Oklahoma senator and man voted most likely to throw a snowball in a January blizzard to disprove global warming, Jim Inhofe, making a speech on November 17th of last year, his birthday, directed toward ESPN, baseball writers and commentators in particular. The tape, leaked and introduced by ESPN's own Chris Berman, went like this: "'Hi, I'm Chris Berman of ESPN, former host of NFL Primetime , bringing you a video of Republican Senator Jim 'Jack Me' Inhofe telling the world what he thinks about the juiced-ball theory in major league baseball. Let's have a listen...' 'Has anyone heard about this juiced-ball theory in baseball we've got going on? Some people are saying, because of all the home runs that were hit this season, the ball must be juiced, whatever that means. What a bunch of hogwash! It's been what, two, three weeks since the season ended? Have you heard about any home runs recently? No? Me neither! I ...

Sadly, two days ago, in the midst of a 98-game win streak, New York Yankees manager Joe Girardi was forced to resign due to health complications. Interim manager Donald Trump then led his team to a 10-9 victory over the winless Chicago White Sox yesterday, increasing the win streak to 99 games. After yet another record-breaking win for the team, Trump said the following in his post-game press conference: "Can you believe it? 99 games. It's believable, fantastic, tremendous, all of those words, so believdoustastic! I don't like to brag, but let's give credit where credit is due - I'm 99-0. Why is no one talking about that? We're 99-0 in our last 99 games, I'm currently the coach, so like yeah, I'm undefeated in 99 games, even in those 50 games I missed earlier in the season for, uh, legal reasons, and those 48 others I fell asleep during. I'm the best, the greatest, and you can't spell 99 without 1! Google it!" In other news, a recent ne...

While I'll always hold great respect and admiration for Curt Schilling as a pitcher, the more the man speaks, the less respect and admiration I hold for him as a person. His latest blog entry, "Why I will vote for Donald Trump," is just the most recent example of why this is. Let us now dissect this piece ... "Why I will vote for Donald Trump MAY 13, 2016 by Curt Schilling If your response is going to be anything related to ‘no one cares what you think’ stop reading now and go elsewhere. You’re coming here either interested in why, or to add to your list of reasons you don’t like me. I’m ok with both." Fantastic! ...and I'll go with the latter... "I’ve known Mr. Trump for a little over a decade. Our first encounter, and subsequent encounters, had to do with his request for me to appear on the apprentice. We spoke at length every time we got together. I realized very quickly this was a man decisive in action and confident in his ability. I...

I personally have nothing against Washington Nationals' right fielder Bryce Harper. He's one of the game's most exciting and promising young stars. Harper's having a breakout year at the plate, is improving defensively, and is on his way to leading his Nationals to another playoff appearance. However, every now and again, Harper makes me shake my head when listening to a post-game comment of his. Such was the case yesterday, after the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Nationals by the count of 5-0, as Dodgers ace Zack Greinke extended his scoreless innings streak to 43 2/3, lowering his ERA to a major league best 1.30 in the process. After the game, Harper said, "For me, I don't think he (Greinke) was very tough." He also said, "...when you're getting 6 inches off the plate, it's tough to face him." Lastly, Harper added, "I don't want to give him too much credit because I gotta face him again." For the game, Greinke a...

For as much as I enjoy sports, there are times I'll be watching a game, hear a call made by a referee, and think to myself, "Well, that rule's stupid. Who came up with that in the first place and why's it still around?" On that note, here are the top five rule changes I'd like to see in the four major sports (in random order): 5) Hockey: Offsides - I still think approximately 50% of hockey players don't yet understand this rule. What's the point of it really? If a team is offsides, does it significantly improve their odds of scoring a goal? Does it place the defense at a great disadvantage? Or is it just one of those pointless rules that's been around for so many years, no one thinks to say, "WTF is this rule anyway? Let's do away with it!"? I'm guessing it's that third and final option. If one team is always offsides, then they'll be at a disadvantage defensively when their opponent has the puck, so again, what's th...

The World Series between the San Francisco Giants and the Kansas City Royals is officially underway. In light of this, apparently two San Francisco radio stations (KFOG Radio and 96.5 KOIT) have decided to ban Lorde's "Royals" song until the World Series is over. Personally, I think this is kind of a silly move, but, eh, whatever. Well, based on this story, here's a list of what the city of San Francisco would likely do if the Giants faced one of the other fourteen American League teams. Baltimore Orioles - Oreos will not be sold because they sound too much like Orioles. Boston Red Sox - Anyone wearing a red stocking on their head will be banned, including Santa Claus. Chicago White Sox - No one will be allowed to wear socks. If they wear socks with flip-flops, they'll be permanently barred from the city. Cleveland Indians - IDs will be checked at the gate and for anyone with the first name of Christopher or the last name of Columbus, they'll be asked ...

Since the start of the playoffs, like most other commentators,  Pardon the Interruption co-host Tony Kornheiser has been doubting the Kansas City Royals and their chances in the playoffs. After winning six consecutive games in the playoffs to take a 2-0 series lead against the Baltimore Orioles, Kornheiser appeared to finally stop his doubting, and actually said this on yesterday's show: "It seems like, in the playoffs, relief pitchers are more important than the starters. Most all of these teams have solid starting pitching, but these guys only go 6, 7, 8 innings and then have to be taken out. It's the teams with the best bullpens that have an advantage." (paraphrasing) I'd say I agree with Mr. Kornheiser up to an extent, but not fully. While there are exceptions, typically teams with the best starting rotations make the playoffs. Over a 162-game season, most every hitter and group of hitters will go through a slump or two. These everyday players will be set ...

While I'm not against the idea of both leagues adding a second Wild Card team to the playoffs in baseball, I am against the one-and-done format for that Wild Card games. The divisional series are just a best-of-five format, and the championship and World Series are both in a best-of-seven format. I can understand not wanting the season to last too late into October, however if the league is that concerned, how about decreasing the load of regular season games down from 162 to 155 or 150? If we can't decide who belongs in the playoffs after 150 games, we may never fully decide on the matter. Also, while I was pulling for the Kansas City Royals to win last night's Wild Card game against the Oakland Athletics, I don't think either of these two playoff teams, whom played 162 regular season games, should see their season end after a single playoff game. At the very least, it should be a three-game series. The following breakdown just doesn't make a lot of sense to me: ...

Just a couple of weeks ago, as I was watching an ESPN broadcast of a baseball game, former ace Curt Schilling talked about the Kansas City Royals, how they relied too much on speed, and that speed doesn't result in victories come playoff time. Immediately as I heard this, I shook my head and likely provided a confused expression only a mother could love. I later talked to my father about the matter, and with which he agreed, I said that I felt speed was one of the most underutilized and effective tools come playoff time. The fact of the matter is, over the course of a 162-game season, great pitching usually wins over great hitting. This year, eight of the top twelve teams in ERA made the playoffs, with the only outliers being the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at #15 (3.58) and the Detroit Tigers at #24 (4.01). Besides those two, the other playoff teams ranked as follows in that category: #1 Washington (3.03), #3 Oakland (3.22), #6 LA Dodgers (3.40), #7 Baltimore (3.47), #8 Pittsb...

- While many baseball analysts lauded the move made by the Oakland Athletics in acquiring pitcher Jon Lester from the Boston Red Sox while giving up slugger Yoenis Cespedes, I thought it could wind up costing them come playoff time. While we're still a ways away from the playoffs, Oakland has lost five straight, seven out of ten, and now find themselves percentage points (well, point) behind the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in the American League West. Meanwhile, Cespedes hit three home runs for the Red Sox last week. Also, while I said I thought Detroit made the better trade in acquiring David Price from Tampa Bay and they've struggled of late as well, I think they have a bit of a better excuse for their recent struggles than Oakland. When two of your starting pitchers and a set-up man all go down in the same week (Anibal Sanchez, Justin Verlander, and Joakim Soria), that's going to take a toll on any human team (as opposed to the robot team from the future film, The Matr...

Having lost four straight, seven out of ten, placing pitchers Anibal Sanchez and Joakim Soria on the 15-day disabled list, and also seeing former Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander suffer shoulder inflammation which could force him to miss at least one start, all the while being passed by the Kansas City Royals in the American League Central division, the Detroit Tigers have definitely seen better days. However, even when taking all of that into consideration, ESPN's David Schoenfield misses the mark with his recent article, "The implosion of the Detroit Tigers." Schoenfield starts his article with this: "Let's' get this out of the way: The Kansas City Royals are in first place, the Detroit Tigers are in second place. It's the middle of August and we have baseball fever in the AL Central." Let's get this out of the way. The Tigers are half a game behind the Royals and tied with the Seattle Mariners for the second wild card spot. They al...

While Detroit Tigers starter and former Cy Young award winner Justin Verlander has been throwing a bit better of late, the facts are in - he just hasn't been the same pitcher these past two seasons. From 2006 through 2012, outside of a hiccup in 2008 (11-17 and 4.84 ERA), Verlander posted a 113-46 record (.711), a 3.15 ERA, with 1,284 strikeouts and 378 walks in 1,341.1 IP (8.62 K/9, 2.54 BB/9, and 3.40 K/BB). Over the past two seasons, however, Verlander is just 23-21 (.523), has an ERA of 3.95, with 327 strikeouts and 127 walks in 369.0 IP (7.98 K/9, 3.10 BB/9, and 2.57 K/BB). He's also allowed 374 hits in 369 innings over these past two seasons (9.12 p/9), while he only allowed 7.67 hits per 9 innings from 2006 through 2012 (excluding 2008). So, over the past two years, he's allowed about an average of 11 runners on base per 9 innings. Let's compare the states side-by-side now: Record 2006-2012 (excluding 2008): 113-46 (.711) 2013-2014: 23-21 (.523) Difference...

On May 18th, the Detroit Tigers owned the best record in all of baseball at 27-12 - a game and a half up on Oakland for the top spot. In the AL Central, second-place Kansas City was a full seven games behind the Tigers, and Cleveland was in last place, ten and a half games back. Fast-forward about a month to the present day. Detroit is now 36-29 (9-17 in their past 26 games), is just one and a half games up on second-place Kansas City, and only five and a half games up on last-place Chicago. So, what happened? While the team has had some struggles offensively here and there, most of the blame can be placed on the pitching - on both the starters and relievers. Of this group, the first three names that spring to mind are: Phil Coke, Joe Nathan, and Justin Verlander. While Joe Nathan is a veteran closer, he has had some arm troubles in the past and isn't a spring chicken any more. While the man has 13 saves to his credit, he's also blown several games, and has a 3-2 record due t...

Under manager Jim Leyland, the Detroit Tigers have finished with a winning record in 6 of the past 8 season, which is good, considering the fact that before Leyland, the last time the Tigers finished with an above-.500 record was in '93 under Sparky Anderson and the last time they had made the playoffs was in '87. Still, it has to feel to die-hard Tigers fans that they've been getting teased in recent years. The Tigers lost the '06 World Series four games to one, didn't make the playoffs for four consecutive years, before losing in the '11 ALCS four games to two, the '12 World Series four games to none, and the '13 ALCS four games to two. Especially the past three years, it's felt as if the Tigers have had the makeup of a playoff, even World Series-caliber team, yet haven't had the proper ingredients to actually win the World Series. Unless some changes are made, I see this pattern continuing. One area where change doesn't need to be made ...

I've been trying to find a clever analogy to paint just how ridiculous the Tea Party's government shutdown is and think one has finally dawned on me. The Tea Party has stated that Obamacare is ruining this country essentially and have shutdown the government in an effort to get the law repealed, defunded, or delayed. Yet, the law hasn't been fully implemented. This would be like players shutting down baseball before the Wild Card was implemented because it was destroying the game. Such a conversation between a player and the commissioner may go like this: Player: "We've had it! What you did with the Wild Cards has completely destroyed the game and we're not going to stand for it anymore! We go on strike!" Commissioner: "What do you mean?" Player: "You heard me!" Commissioner: "The Wild Cards have destroyed the game? But that doesn't go into effect until next season..." Player: "Yeah, I know. But, just ...

While I haven't completely lost faith in Albert Pujols being an elite hitter, the guy to watch at the plate is Miguel Cabrera of the Detroit Tigers. Cabrera won the Triple Crown last year, posting a .330 batting average, hitting 44 home runs, and driving in 139 runs - the first time any player had done so since Carl Yastrzemski did it back in 1967 for the Boston Red Sox. Scarily enough, Cabrera is having an even better season this year and if he stays healthy, has a legitimate shot at a repeat Triple Crown. Yes, that's right. Through 79 games, Cabrera is hitting an astounding .375 (.045 points higher than last year), with 24 home runs (on pace for 51 - 7 more than last year), and 82 RBIs (on pace for 166 - 27 more than last year). Cabrera may be a liability in the field at times, but he has improved since his move to third base, and with the way he's hitting, it doesn't really matter. Cabrera put together one of the best offensive seasons in the modern era last year a...

Last night, I discovered via Yahoo that there's a Major League baseball team in the state of Indiana. Oddly enough, after reading through this article, it appears as if the team is also from Cleveland with the nickname of the Indians. From this point forward in the world of Yahoo sports reporting, the team shall be known as the Cleveland Indiana Indians. http://sports.yahoo.com/news/four-homers-defensive-gem-carry-230041173--mlb.html

Upon winning the coin toss for overtime in a college football game, I have never witnessed a team choosing to go on offense first. Every single time I've seen such a game, the team who won the coin toss has elected to go on defense first. The reason for this is it gives them the last chance in the first overtime and through that, provides them with the necessary information on what they will need to do on their possession in order to either win the game or move it to a second overtime. If the opposing team scores a field goal on their possession, the team who elected to go on defense first will then know they'll need a field goal to send the game to a second overtime or a touchdown to win in the first overtime.  I understand that, but think I would go about things differently if I were a college coach. It depends on location. If my team were playing at home, I would elect to go on defense first. I'd trust that the crowd would add extra pressure on the opponent on their f...