The MLB Trade Deadline: Ruben Amaro Jr., Super Dummy

Charles Klein

Perhaps what I like to do the most on this blog is to clear up misconceptions in the manner in which sports is understood and analyzed by the pundits. The Major League Baseball trade deadline provides plenty of fodder for such articles, which I only take so much joy in writing.

The biggest myth I would like to bust is the idea that Ruben Amaro Jr. is a good general manager. People were over the moon about the Phillies head man last year when he opted to trade for Cliff Lee and did not have to give up any of the Phillies top prospects in the process. I gave the move my approval at this time last year. Damn good deal.

However he gave away all of the positive momentum he gained in the Lee deal last December when he dealt Lee to the Seattle Mariners for three decent but not overwhelmingly good prospects after completing a deal with the Blue Jays for Roy Halladay. The debate over who is the best pitcher in baseball (it's really just between Lee, Johnson and Halladay) will be saved for another article. But one is not taking a definitive step up with replacing Lee with Halladay.

To Amaro's surprise, he found that by midseason the Phillies were in desperate need of a number two starter to slot in behind Halladay in their rotation. Cole Hamels was supposed to be that guy. He has been decent but nowhere near as dominant has he was the season in which the Phillies won the World Series. J.A. Happ was supposed to take the next step this season but was under utilized and ultimately traded to the Houston Astros as a part of the Roy Oswalt trade.

Speaking of that Oswalt bloke, Amaro has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he in actuality has very little clue of what he's doing. The success of the Phillies has more to do with Pat Gillick than anything Amaro has had a role in doing. If he had any skill as a general manager he would have realized that keeping Lee would have been the better option for two reasons:

1. Cliff Lee is a better pitcher than Roy Oswalt. Lee ought to win the Cy Young Award in the American League. He leads the AL in ERA and has thrown almost as many innings as Halladay this season. His strikeout-to-walk ratio alone ought to win him the award.
2. Cliff Lee costs less than Roy Oswalt. Lee is in the final year of the contract he signed with the Indians in which he is due a meager nine million dollars. Chump change when one is talking about a Cy Young caliber pitcher. Having him at that price is like getting away with murder. Oswalt is due $16 million next season as part of a player option given to him by the Astros. Even if Oswalt pitches well he still leaves the team on the hook for an exorbitant sum that ought only be paid to much younger players. The Astros will be paying for part of it, but even then Lee remains the cheaper option.

The Seattle Mariners general manager Jack Zduriencik showed up Amaro by trading Lee for a much better set of prospects to the Texas Rangers. One would assume that Amaro ought to have done better considering the Mariners had the opportunity to have Lee for a whole year and the Rangers would only have him for around four months. But that was not the case. The Mariners got a great set of prospects in the deal, including Justin Smoak, who has been projected to be a Mark Teixeira type first baseman. I can safely guarantee you that he will be a better professional than any of the prospects the Mariners sent to Philadelphia last December.

And I know there will be those who will read this and say "Well the Phillies would not have been able to re-sign him at the end of the season so Amaro did well to get something for him." To that I would offer keeping Cliff Lee and the prospects dealt to the Astros for Oswalt presents a much healthier long term outlook for an organization. Let's be real, the Phillies took one step forward and two steps back with the two deals they made involving ace pitchers. It may help them catch the Braves and give them a shot at getting to the World Series for the third consecutive season (surely the city of Philadelphia will explode if it experiences even more success in the sporting world), but in five years the Phillies may end up regretting ever saying goodbye to Cliff Lee.

Who knows, maybe the Phillies will pay the Mariners seven million dollars and trade them Roy Oswalt in return for some more average prospects in December. I do not think Zduriencik would mind that one jot.

Two-A-Days: Rookie Hazing In The NFL

Charles Klein


For once, I found myself agreeing with egomaniac wide receiver. And I thought that merited it's own article in and of itself. Dez Bryant, the Dallas Cowboys first round pick from last April's draft, angrily reacted to teammate Roy Williams' demand to carry his pads, stating "I'm not doing it. I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player's pads."


Usually hazing is generally funny or light-hearted, resulting in rookies paying for dinners or buying donuts for the team. And to me that is okay, especially if one is that rookie who gets the JaMarcus Russell type contract without playing a down. 


But the whole carrying pads thing or taping the player up to the goal post for general embarrassment purposes is ridiculous. When ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth defended the practices this morning his sole defense was just to say that's how it's always been done. If tradition was society's sole paradigm for acceptable social practices, well, progress would be as undefinable a word as love. 


So bravo Dez Bryant, thank you for taking a stand on an important issue. Hazing in the NFL is just silly.

Two-A-Days: Still T.O.

Charles Klein 

Today's article marks the first of many you will find on this blog in the build-up to the 2010 NFL season, where I will post two NFL-related articles everyday to help you get your fix on the most popular league in America. My inaugural post is on Terrell Owens, and as usual, calling the media out on their usual schmaltz.

There's perhaps nothing more hip these days than for NFL pundits to argue that Terrell Owens has something to offer an NFL team. I was watching Sportscenter this morning over breakfast and I almost choked on my orange juice when Mike Schlereth said that Owens provides a good deep threat for any team. That's only if the team's entire receiving corps is comprised of tight ends.

Yes, Owens did have a 98 yard touchdown catch last season, but he had a very down year by his own standards. There is no doubt that Owens has been one of the league's best receivers for nearly a decade, but there is something to be said for the fact that pretty much every team in the league does not want to have him on their team.

Owens only had five catches of 20 yards or more last season. The years before that 22 (2007) and 15 (2008) present a worrying trend for what one may expect from Owens this season. I'm not just saying this because I generally dislike Owens, it's just the truth.

Now on to that media 'shmaltz' of which I spoke at the top. It used to be okay to argue that a team should want Owens because he was worth all of the trouble he caused. Now the pundits say that he is just such a great worker...

COME ON MAN! The amount of work that Owens put in before never endeared him to his teammates when he was also scoring touchdowns and not dropping them, what makes anyone think that when he is not producing and still demanding the ball that anyone will want to be his teammate?

If Owens signs in St. Louis this year, the team will have someone else to blame for the fact that they will not win more than four games this season. And for that alone, it may be worth their while to bring in Owens. But to me, he's still T.O.

Why Chris Paul's Trade Demands Are Out Of Line

Charles Klein

Allow me to just state this openly before I get into anything else: I am a big fan of Chris Paul. I think he is the best point guard in the league and one of the top five players in the NBA today. But I am not a fan of his more recent comments in which it seems that he is demanding a trade from the New Orleans Hornets because he believes that the team is not doing enough to try and win in 2010-2011.

The era of entitlement in the NBA has been one that has driven a fair few casual fans away from the sport. Star players like LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade etc. have done little to dispel that theory during any points of their careers. James felt like the Cavaliers were not doing enough for him and he left to sign with the Miami Heat. Bryant at one point during his career with the Lakers seemed like he was on his way out of Los Angeles after suffering through a few title-less seasons without having a second star to help him. And we all have witnessed the tractor beam of 'awesome' that is Dwayne Wade pulling in stars like James and Chris Bosh to South Beach.

The supporting cast has become the excuse for any NBA star player to decide to leave a team. Now that the phrase 'supporting cast' has become so ingrained in NBA culture and punditry, so much so that it deserves a place in a Websters dictionary, it is never the star players fault that his team has not won. Which is ironic because much of the blame for a team's failure or praise for its successes is usually for its one big name player. Perhaps basketball is becoming more of a team sport? But as my fellow scribe Phil Fortuna pointed out in his letter to the editor, that does not seem to be the case.

First, let us examine Paul's supporting cast in New Orleans and see how it stacks up against the teams that he said he'd like to join (for those keeping score at home, they are the New York Knicks, Portland Trail Blazers, Dallas Mavericks and the Orlando Magic). And I think using the Miami Heat template for the SuperFriends playing basketball together is a good way to evaluate it.

Paul's implications about the state of the Hornets seem to be off for a few reasons. The first of which is that he actually does have some talented players around him. How all of a sudden David West became a second rate player is beyond me. West averaged 19.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 3 assists per game last season. Those numbers are on par with those of Amar'e Stoudemire (23, 8.9 and 1) and Chris Bosh (24, 10.8, and 2), the top two free agents in this year's free agent class.

Not only is David West a pretty good player, but the Hornets also had a rookie of the year candidate in Marcus Thornton last season. Thornton, a small forward, averaged 14.5 points, 2.9 boards and 1.6 assists in 73 games last season. Hornets center Emeka Okafor was no slouch either last season with 10.4 points per game and almost two blocks per game. The Hornets lack of success last season was down to poor coaching and Paul's injury. Luckily they had Darren Collison, who had a breakout year in the absence of Chris Paul.

Looking at the rosters of the supposed approved teams, Paul's supporting cast does not look to improve all that drastically. The only way I see him having a greatly improved SC is if he is traded to Orlando. Just imagining how many alley-oops Paul would be able to create for Dwight Howard is mind-boggling. If Paul really does want to leave, if I was Orlando I'd do anything to get him on that roster. Jameer Nelson is a good point guard, but let's be real, he's no Chris Paul.

I also think that the Trail Blazers would be a good fit for Paul. Brandon Roy is often overlooked because of where he plays but he is one of the top 10 or 15 best players in the Association. LeMarcus Aldridge is a rising star and if Paul were to join the Blazers he would be able to elevate them into a top three or four team in that conference. But I don't know if the Blazers would be willing to meet the Hornets demands, which ought to be very high.

And on to that. The Hornets ought to demand basically the world for Chris Paul. And I'm not just saying that because he is one of my favorite players. He actually is that good. From what I've been reading and hearing about this whole situation, Paul does not seem to be dead set on leaving New Orleans. What he really needs is some good convincing. And with a new coach and GM (and possibly a lame duck president), I highly doubt any of them want to be responsible for trading one of the franchise's best all-time players. Paul has two years left on his deal. If they cannot build a winner by that time, then he will have every right as a free agent to leave the Hornets. Whether or not the players around him continue to develop (Thornton and Collison) will have a major impact on that.

I personally do not think that the Knicks will be able to put together a good enough package to get Paul. The Hornets point guard does not have a no-trade clause in his contract so he has minimal say in which teams he could be dealt to. And the Hornets have little incentive to care about where they deal him so long as they get a top notch package in return. I think Orlando has the best shot to do that considering how much depth they have on their roster. If I was the Orlando Magic GM, I would just say to the Hornets "You can have nayone you want that is not Dwight Howard."

But for anyone thinking that Paul will be dealt before the season opens, I ask you to actually evaluate the situation before coming to such a conclusion. He has two years left on his current deal and I don't think the Hornets will want to give up two years of having him in exchange for whatever package they can get from another team (unless a truly extraordinary offer comes in).

Clearly the impact of this offseason is already being felt around the league. The alliance of the SuperFriends in Miami has given rise to a terrible potential phenomena in the Association. David Stern incentive-ized players to remain with the teams that drafted them by allowing those teams to pay their player a ton more money than he could make by signing with a new one (vis a vis Joe Johnson). It's truly disturbing to see players decide they want out of their current teams so that they can join forces Captain Planet style with another superstar player. I'm just hoping that does not happen, otherwise the NBA will become even less competitive and more banal. And that does not bode well for the Association.

The Hypocrisy In College Football

Charles Klein

This week has been a bad week for any preeminent college football power. But it's been an even worse week for Reggie Bush. I cannot even imagine what it must feel like to be disowned by one's own university after having given so much life to its athletics. Granted, taking about a hundred grand from an agent is not exactly the sort of pay day that a college athlete should get nor is it the right thing to do. But how Bush must feel when what he did is nowhere near as bad as what some of the other athletes of his caliber have done must be pretty awful.

When USC alumnae O.J. Simpson was convicted of robbery and sentenced to 33 years in a Nevada prison, the university did not remove images of Simpson from around its campus nor did it return its copy of Simpson's Heisman Trophy. And yet Reggie Bush's Heisman and images of his achievements at USC have been removed.

I understand that Bush's actions are inexcusable for a college athlete and that his and O.J. Mayo's examples serve as cautionary tales to would-be offenders currently enrolled at USC. But at the same time one would hope for a bit more consistency in college athletics.

Memo To MLS: Let Landon Go

Charles Klein 


That headline may come as somewhat of a shock for you. After all Landon Donovan was a star in the United States team which shocked the world by winning their group for the first time since the great depression. And he is probably the most marketable U.S. based soccer player around right now. But, plain and simple MLS need to get out of the denial stage and skip a few down to acceptance of this one fact: Landon Donovan does not want to play in your league. 


I understand that the league wants to keep Landon Donovan in Los Angeles so that it may build on the momentum gained from the 2010 World Cup and translate into higher attendance and more money for the Major League Soccer. It makes good sense for the Galaxy to want to hold on to Donovan (especially if the Ronaldinho rumors have any truth to them) and many would see a Donovan departure as an indictment on the league; which it would be.


Anyone who argues what I've just said needs to understand something else. Nearly every other player on the United States national team plays overseas. And MLS did very little to stop it. USA's top talents, namely Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Tim Howard (Everton), Jozy Altidore (Villareal), Charlie Davies (Sochaux), Oguchi Oneyewu (AC Milan), Carlos Bocanegra (St. Etienne) and Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach) all play somewhere outside the United States. The league needs to stop trying to keep players in the United States when its best have been thriving abroad. 


I know that Donovan is still under contract with the Galaxy. I understand that the team has a right to hold him to the terms of their agreement. But at the same time if the team decides that it is in their best interests to sell Donovan the league should not stand in the way of them. Players leaving teams before the end of their contracts is a very common thing in world football and yet Americans have a very hard time understanding how it works. Imagine if the New York Yankees could simply go to the St. Louis Cardinals and say, "We want Albert Pujols, we'll give you $100 million for his rights." That's basically how it works in soccer. Ultimately the team has to decide which option is best for them (unless the player wants to leave, in which case they have very little wiggle room in which to operate). It's a rarity for a league to get in the way of a player transferring to another team. 


MLS needs to do what is right and that is to allow Donovan the freedom he deserves. Considering everything he has given U.S. soccer he definitely deserves it.

A Letter To the Editor: RE Michael's Right... Sort Of

Before I post Mr. Fortuna's letter, I just wanted to say that should you as a reader ever vehemently disagree with anything I write about, do not hesitate to e-mail me a response (or comment on the article) and I will re-post it. I'm always open to criticism and debate. It makes this blog even better.

Dear 4-1-1 On Sports,

The Editor-in-Chief of the 4-1-1 on Sports Charles Klein recently posted an article expressing his opinion on Michael Jordan’s comments regarding LeBron James and his “Decision” to take his talents to South Beach. What some people are getting confused about is if Jordan was comparing Wade and Bosh to Magic and Larry. The answer is no because Wade and Bosh are completely different from Magic and Larry. The only comparisons you can make with Wade is that he’s the lead dog, has won as the lead dog and is a top 3 player in his prime. On the other hand Chris Bosh is not even close to being a legend so his name should not be coming up like that. What Jordan means was that when he played against Magic and Larry Bird is that if he had the chance to he would not team with any one of those two because he wanted to beat them and he wanted no confusion on which the real alpha dog was. In Miami right now it seems to be Wade’s team and LeBron hasn’t said anything to indicate he wants to be the alpha dog there. In short, Jordan was saying if you wanted to ever be considered one of the all time greats that it won’t ever happen now because LeBron turned in his alpha dog license. In response to Jordan’s comments this is what Charles Klein had to say.
“What Michael appears to be heavily implying through his comments is that he did it all by himself in Chicago when in fact that is a bit too much revisionist history. Jordan did not win anything with the Bulls until they brought in Scottie Pippen, voted by NBA players as one of the 50 best basketball players of all-time. Not only that, Jordan had the best rebounder in the game with Dennis Rodman, one of the best foreign players in Tony Kukoc, etc. etc. The point is, as much as other analysts may try to claim otherwise, basketball is a team game."

What I plan on doing is breaking down this quote by Charles Klein piece by piece. First Jordan wasn’t implying that he won six titles by himself; instead he was implying that he won six titles as the lead dog, as a guy who didn’t leave when he could have and as a guy who knew how to lead. Nobody ever mistook Pippen as the top guy because Jordan wouldn’t allow it and he let his actions on the court defend him. There were a couple times when he was faced with free agency in the 80’s and 90’s but he did not bolt. This was before and after Jordan had a championship caliber team. A lot of people forget that the Knicks were targeting and trying to persuade Jordan to play in NY back in ’95.


Charles then states that Jordan didn’t win a championship until they got Scottie Pippen who was voted in as a top 50 player all-time. I agree with that statement to a certain extent, I agree with it to the extent that you need a good running mate to win especially when trying to build a dynasty. This is where I disagree; Jordan didn’t win his first championship until the ’90-’91 season when the Bulls beat the Lakers in the finals. Was Scottie Pippen drafted in 1990? No, he was not; actually he was drafted in 1987 with the 5th overall pick by Seattle. The Sonics then traded the rights to Scottie Pippen to the Bulls for Olden Polynice. When the Bulls traded for Pippen, they had no clue they would be getting a future Hall of Famer. Pippen was a star at Central Arkansas but that wasn’t even a Division 1 school, they were a NAIA school. Chicago was assuming that the type of player that Pippen would turn into would be one of a decent role player. How did he do his rookie year? Forget stats for a minute, he didn’t start a single game! He didn’t become a full fledge starter until his third season. After his third season he was considered to be an upcoming player in the league. The next season is when he and Jordan captured their first of six titles. Now this is where everyone says Jordan had Pippen, well he had him there but according to the NBA he wasn’t even a star yet. His numbers for the ’90-’91 season were as followed: 82 games played and started, 17.8 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 6.2 apg, 2.4 spg and 1.1 bpg. Those are some pretty impressive all-round numbers. So with those numbers how he was not even considered a star yet? There are three all NBA teams and since Scottie Pippen was a forward there were six forward spots to fill. The guys who claimed the six spots were Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Chris Mullin, Dominique Wilkins, James Worthy and Bernard King. Yes, I’m well aware Pippen broke out in the playoffs for 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists per game but that was a “playoffs breakout”. The fact is to state “Jordan had Pippen” is absurd due to the fact that the statement makes Pippen look like a 10 player when he wasn’t even a top 6 forward. The next season in ’91-‘92 he made the NBA all second team with Barkley as the other forward. Karl Malone and Chris Mullin had the first team while on the third team was Dennis Rodman and Kevin Willis. Rodman and Willis were both good but not star Power Forwards which showed the lack of depth at the Small Forward position due to Dominique Wilkins missing half the season. The following season in ’92-‘93 Pippen makes third team with Derrick Coleman? Ahead of Pippen were Wilkins, Malone, Barkley and Larry Johnson who just got done with second year in the NBA. That’s their first 3-peat right there while Jordan was always on the first team. Right before the ’93-’94 season, Jordan left and Pippen led them to the Eastern semi-finals and lost in 7 games to the Knicks. The season after in ’94-’95 the Bulls were in danger of missing the playoffs until Jordan returned and led them to the playoffs in the final 17 games. Charles Klein and everyone makes the “Jordan had Pippen” claim look like the “Kobe had Shaq” claim for Kobe’s first three rings. You can’t compare, Jordan was the lead while Kobe was the second in command. You could use the “Jordan had Pippen” claim for their second 3-peat as Pippen truly became a star once Jordan left for a bit to play baseball but then you don’t have a defense for the first 3-peat. 


When Charles then proceeds to say Jordan had the best rebounder in the game in Dennis Rodman, he is kind of right but not really. Jordan’s first 3-peat he did not have Rodman or one of the top rebounders. The second 3-peat, Rodman was on the Bulls but technically Rodman was only the best rebounder during the ’97-’98 season. The previous two years belonged to Dikembe Mutombo and David Robinson. A more accurate statement would be Jordan had one of the best rebounders in the league. My response is that I agree with the more accurate statement but in the ’97 and ’98 finals Karl Malone outplayed and out rebounded Dennis Rodman but yet the Jordan-led Bulls won both of those finals.
With stating Toni Kukoc was one of the best international players and maybe the best at the time wasn’t stating very much. He was definitely a great 6th man with averages of 13 points, 4 rebounds and 4 assists for the second 3-peat. However, back then there were no star international players except Olajuwon but he played college ball in America so you can’t fully consider him “international”.

The last part I will argue is that basketball is a team game. Now, I’m not going to say flat out that it’s not because team chemistry and players being accepting of their roles are very important. My argument is this, when the game is on the line with 5 minutes to go, you can’t really consider it much of a team game anymore. What you want is for your star player to take over, if he takes over and how he finishes not only determines one game but it can also determine the ability to compete for a title. Jordan loved to take over, that’s what he loved best. LeBron James on the other hand fears it, that’s why there have been plenty of times where LeBron folds and loses. It’s the reason why he decided to play the mega Pippen to Wade’s Jordan. In conclusion, Jordan didn’t have Pippen, instead Pippen had Jordan.


Sincerely Yours,


Phil Fortuna


Northport, New York

The Price Is Wrong, Weeknights at Six with Roberto Mancini

Charles Klein

One of the more disconcerting themes of this transfer window in European football is the amount of money players are changing sides to earn, and the money those teams are spending to do it. It has become so bad that any player claiming that he always dreamed of playing for that club has be understood as utter trash.

And again, it's the usual suspects. Your Real Madrids, your Barcelonas and your Manchester Citys are out buying up the world's talent, one exorbitant fee at a time. Today I read a rumour that City are in for a 20 million pound bid for Didier Drogba. This is all according to the player's agent.

I am not really sure what adding Didier Drogba does to an already attack-heavy roster. City currently have nine forwards on their roster already, three of which cost City over 60 million pounds in transfer fees alone from last summer. City have already spent 77 million this summer on David Silva, Yaya Toure and Aleksandar Kolarov. Carlos Tevez, a new arrival at City, scored 23 goals last season and now will more than likely face competition for the starting job. It seems like he is destined to leave City for the same reasons he left United the summer before.

People usually levy plenty of criticism at me saying that United spends just as much or are just as guilty as the other teams you mentioned of inflating transfer fees. But I always tell them to take a good hard look at the math. What Manchester City have been doing for the past few years blows any money United have spent out of the water.

What City need to focus on is rebuilding their defense rather than sign another striker. I do not rate Joleon Lescott at all (waste of 17 million pounds) and Kolo Toure should not be your best central defender if you want to make a serious run in the Champions League (which is why I tip my cap to Wenger for selling him and signing Vermaelen). Kolarov is a decent signing but City need to sign another center back to truly compete. And that does not appear likely.

If I am Didier Drogba, I stay at Chelsea. Unless City agree to donate 500 billion pounds to the Ivory coast every year that he plays for them, he is better positioned to stay where he is at if he harbors any ambitions of winning trophies.

This year I say it becomes 35 years for the second rate club in Manchester.

New Jersey Devils Sign Ilya Kovalchuk For A Sporting Eternity

Charles Klein

Ridiculously long contracts. It's what the kids are into these days. The Islanders, Flyers, Capitals, Penguins and Blackhawks did it. Now the New Jersey Devils are doing it. The Devils have reportedly signed star winger Ilya Kovalchuk to a 17 year deal. I'm just going to ask you to think about that for a second.

That's only four years fewer than the years I've been alive. Most NHLers are lucky if their careers last that long. While the details of the contract remain shrouded in mystery, the lengths that Kovalchuk and the Devils went to get this deal done are shocking. 17 years is a bloody long time.

I do think that this contract will be like the 12 year deals signed by Duncan Keith and Marina Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks, where the contracts were heavily front-loaded so that neither player would be a major drain on the franchise's cap space as the contracts wind down. The same is likely true of the Devils' deal with Kovalchuk.

This deal indicates one of two things for Kovalchuk. He either really wants to win a Stanley Cup and thinks the Devils give him the best chance to do that, OR the Devils put in an out clause wherein after a certain number of years he has the option to opt-out and return home to mother Russia. While such a contract is unprecedented, it wouldn't surprise me if that was the case.

The Devils may have been more willing to put the opt-out clause in Kovalchuk's deal and that, for me anyway, is why he chose New Jersey over Los Angeles. Were I in Kovy's position, I probably would have chosen Los Angeles for a few reasons: 1) Their corps of young talent is unmatched 2) They were pretty close to advancing in the playoffs 3) and playing at the Staples Center in Los Angeles trumps playing in Newark, NJ.

But having already rejected a pretty nice offer from the Atlanta Thrashers, 12 years $101 million, I suspect that Kovalchuk wanted to have the best of both worlds: to compete at the highest level and if that didn't happen soon, to be able to go home to Russia and get paid. I doubt the Thrashers would have offered Kovalchuk anything like that.

Michael's Right... Well Sort Of

Charles Klein

When I first heard the audio yesterday I found myself in whole-hearted agreement with Michael Jordan, until I had the time to actually think about what he actually said.

"There's no way, with hindsight, I would've ever called up Larry (Bird), called up Magic (Johnson) and said, 'Hey, look, let's get together and play on one team.'

I disagree with this on a few different grounds. Let me just get this out of the way, once and for all, so we never have to talk about it again. CHRIS BOSH IS NOT ON THE SAME LEVEL AS LEBRON JAMES, DWAYNE WADE, MAGIC JOHNSON OR LARRY BIRD. Players like Bosh come around fairly often and I would not put him in the same strata as any of those players. 


What Michael appears to be heavily implying through his comments is that he did it all by himself in Chicago when in fact that is a bit too much revisionist history. Jordan did not win anything with the Bulls until they brought in Scottie Pippen, voted by NBA players as one of the 50 best basketball players of all-time. Not only that, Jordan had the best rebounder in the game with Dennis Rodman, one of the best foreign players in Tony Kukoc, etc. etc. The point is, as much as other analysts may try to claim otherwise, basketball is a team game. 


I guess I was so eager for someone else to further lambaste the so-called 'King' that at first brush I was more than happy to hear that Jordan had bashed James' move to Miami. It further underscores how far James has to go if he wants entrance into basketball's Mount Olympus. While the analogy does not work so well with Bosh, it does with Dwayne Wade. 


Speaking of the original gangsta on South Beach, Wade made some pretty controversial statements yesterday, for which he later apologized. Wade said that if the Heat lose more than three games consecutively that the media will make it "seem like the world has crashed down. You all are going to make it seem like the World Trade has just went down again." 


Someone please dial 9-1-1, we need someone to please help extract Dwayne Wade's foot from his mouth.


Wade apologized today for his comments, stating "I was simply trying to say that losing a few basketball games should not be compared to a real catastrophe. He then sincerely apologized, "to anyone who found my references to the World Trade Center to be insensitive or offensive.''

So far in barely over a week the big three in Miami have made Boston's big three look like Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa by comparison.


One thing has already proven to be true about the NBA's newest 'Big Three' and that is, if nothing else, made Miami Heat basketball a whole lot more interesting. 

2010 FIFA World Cup: Top Moments & Recap

Charles Klein

Now that we are almost a week removed from probably one of the worst finals in World Cup, we can best assess what we witnessed over a month's worth of top shelf international football. Having had a bit of cool-off time as a strong supporter of the Netherlands (and my pre-tournament pick to win it) I can evaluate everything a bit more objectively (although objectivity is never anything I've ever guaranteed here).

Let's start with the final. I had to miss the live telecast because I had to work a Mariners game and so the fact that the tension seemed to be out of it for me probably diminished the excitement of the event. As a footballing contest it was incredibly spare. Most of that is down to the tactics that Bert Van Marwijk decided to utilise for the Netherlands. Instead of trying to play their usual brand of football the Oranje elected to foul the living daylights out of the Spanish midfield, which aside from stacking up an inordinate amount of yellow cards stymied the Spanish pass masters for 116 minutes.

Over the course of regular time, more than a few players were fortunate to play a further part in the final's latter stages. The two guiltiest miscreants were unsuprisingly Nigel De Jong of the Netherlands and surprisingly Andres Iniesta of Spain.

As the video shows below, De Jong was more than fortunate to only receive a yellow card for this challenge:

Not long after this play Iniesta, frustrated by what he believed was persistent fouling by Mark Van Bommel, took the Oranje agitator to ground unseen by Howard Webb. This was a cynical take down with no attempt to play the ball (which was not even close to where Iniesta's foul was committed) and Iniesta was incredibly fortunate not to be booked at all for his challenge. 

Aside from foul controversies, there was very little in terms of gilt-edged chances for either side to grab a hold of the proceedings. It was one of those matches where the commentators continually say things like "All this match needs is a goal" etc. Arjen Robben had the two best Dutch chances of the match, each time failing to put the ball into Iker Casillas' net. 

The first and best chance Robben had came in the 62' when he was one on one with Casillas. Instead of either chipping Casillas or firing a more powerful shot, Robben's substandard effort careened off the outstretched leg of St. Iker and harmlessly out of bounds for a corner. Robben came close again not long after that, but was foiled by Carles Puyol, who by the FIFA rule book was guilty of at least one foul on Robben in the build-up. 

The match continued on into extra time, where Dutch centre back Johnny Heitinga received his second yellow card on a questionable decision by referee Webb. Heitinga appeared to put his hands on Iniesta, who upon contact immediately went to ground. For me if it is not an obvious foul it is best not to call it, especially in that situation. Webb elected to send Heitinga packing and from that moment on it appeared almost inevitable that Spain would find some way of scoring. And in the 116' on a goal from Andres Iniesta Spain won its first World Cup. 

Overall this World Cup will be remembered for its singular moments of ecstasy and disappointment that few sports are better at providing than soccer. 

Best Goal of the Tournament: Giovanni van Bronckhorst vs. Uruguay 

For me this was a difficult decision, but ultimately after much review and debate I decided to go with this goal over Siphiwe Tshbalala's firecracker which opened the tournament and Landon Donovan's winning goal versus Algeria. Van Bronkhorst has not scored a ton  of goals for the Netherlands in his international career, but none proved more important than the one which opened the scoring of their semifinal with Uruguay. 

After all, goals must be evaluated on style first and in the event of a tie, things like import come into play. 

Speaking of Landon Donovan, his goal against Algeria was one of the biggest moments of the 2010 World Cup. If anyone needed proof that soccer (at least every four years anyway) could become popular in the United States, they would need only watch this video: 

Please try and tell me those people don't look excited! Team USA's run in this World Cup, however brief (only four games), provided some of the best matches of the tournament. Whether it was Robert Green's Hand of Clod or the inexplicable foul committed in the box in the late stages of their thrilling comeback against the Green Dragons of Slovenia, the Americans never failed to entertain. It was truly disappointing to watch them lose to Ghana in the round of 16, especially after coming back once again to tie it at 1-1. Few moments like the one in which I heard commentator Ian Darke temporarily lose his cool yelling "GO GO USA" after Donovan's winner will ever eclipse that goal. I was sent sliding on the carpet of my bonus room floor, pumping my fist and yelling to the dismay of my sisters who didn't understand how important a moment it truly was. 

Probably one of the funnier moments of the World Cup, especially if you are not a fan of Les Bleus. Their training ground protest was ever so French. I mean really, what typifies that country's history more than its protests and rebellions? It was only fitting that the most unpopular Frenchman since Louis XVI be sent off in a similar fashion. I'm not sure why Raymond Domenech was allowed to manage this team in the World Cup when his ouster was already signed up for Euro 2012 (Laurent Blanc), but it became abundantly clear that this team would not play for Domenech. 

The greatest act of infamy at this world cup was not a head butt but rather a volleyball spike off the line. In the Ghana vs. Uruguay quarterfinal match, Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez used his hands to deny a certain winner by Ghana in the dying embers of extra time. He was properly punished with a red card for his actions and in his slow trot off the pitch witnessed Ghanaian striker Asamoah Gyan send his penalty kick smack into the crossbar. Suarez's professional foul allowed his team to have another bite at the apple, one they took with relish, advancing to the semifinals to lose to the Netherlands.

The quality of the video is a bit lacking, but it's all I could find.

Suarez was unjustly villainized for his actions. He was booed continually in the third place match versus Germany by the South African fans in attendance. I understand that people were pretty angry about Ghana going out in such fashion, but it was a case of passions overruling rational behavior. Any player in world football would have made the same play that Suarez made to give his team a chance to win such an important match. Furthermore, it was not as if Suarez went unpunished for his foul. He received a straight red card and a one game suspension, par for the course as far as precedence goes for that type of foul. 

And now it is time for me to give out my World Cup Awards.

Golden Boot: Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands)

Silver Boot: Diego Forlan (Uruguay)

Bronze Boot: David Villa (Espana)

2010 World Cup XI

GK: Iker Casillas (ESP)

DEF: Carles Puyol (ESP), Sergio Ramos (ESP), Philipp Lahm (GER), Maicon (BRA)

MF: Wesley Sneijder (NED), Xavi (ESP), Bastian Schweinsteiger (GER), Thomas Muller (GER)

ST: Diego Forlan (URU), David Villa (ESP)

Overall this World Cup was definitely one to remember. Whether you supported Team USA, who reached the knockout stages of this tournament for the second time in three attempts, Espana, who won its first ever World Cup or if you just watched this World Cup to see what all the fuss was about, its almost absolutely certain that there was a little something for everyone. 

While soccer may not have quite taken off in the United States (not that it has to for the survival of the sport in a big picture sense), it certainly had plenty of Americans watching and paying attention to every kick of the ball. Most will be pleased to never have to hear another vuvuzela again (I know I am), even though I, like everyone else, just got used to the annoying noise meaning that a game was on. Getting up at absurd times, drinking alcohol at abnormal hours of the day and being brought together as a nation for a few weeks in support of a national team are things I will never forget about the 2010 World Cup. I can't believe we have to wait four more years for something like these feelings to come back, but it will assuredly be worth the wait. 

And I almost forgot to mention Paul the prognosticating Octopus who picked every single match of the 2010 World Cup in which Germany participated (and the final) correctly. The German Octopus now has his own iPhone application dedicated to him. In a World Cup, anything is possible, even for cephalopods.

No Guts, No Glory: The LeBron James Story

Charles Klein

So we have it. LeBron James is going to play with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami next season. The decision that is supposed to alter the course of NBA history for the next decade was made and pretty much no one was happy about it; except for Miami Heat fans anyway.

The terms of both James and Bosh's contracts have yet to be hammered out, as Miami hopes to complete a sign and trade deal with the Toronto Raptors. James cited the opportunity to play with guys like Wade and Bosh as the main reason for leaving his hometown team. All three are going to end up taking pay cuts in order to try and win a title together.

According to James "All three of us are ultimately going to take less money because we wanted to all play alongside each other, and we feel like we can be great together. And hopefully [Heat president] Pat [Riley] and the rest of those guys, [Heat owner] Micky [Arison], can bring some guys in to help us out, which we believe."


Only a week ago the idea of the three of them all signing for the Heat seemed impossible. Chris Bosh even referred to it as "pie in the sky" (that man definitely has a way with words...). I believed most of the media criticism of the deal that James would not want to go play for Dwayne Wade's team, that his huge ego couldn't take it. I really thought he would stay in Cleveland and if he left it would be to play for the Knicks. 


Instead he goes to Miami where he will provide the final piece to the biggest three in recent memory. Who else the Heat could possibly get to play with them remains a mystery. 


Now that we know the final results of the "LeBron Sweepstakes" we also know the real winners and losers of NBA free agency. The biggest loser in all of this has to be the Cleveland Cavaliers. And to Cavs owner Dan Gilbert, the phrase graceful loser remains a novel concept. 


"I PERSONALLY GUARANTEE THAT THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS WILL WIN AN NBA CHAMPIONSHIP BEFORE THE SELF-TITLED FORMER 'KING' WINS ONE." This statement alone sounds like some high school-aged teenager's facebook status, not something written by an owner of a professional sports team. 


I just wonder where all of this newfound determination that Gilbert speaks of in his letter was when they still had James. Why didn't they do enough to keep James happy? Seven years is longer than most of those sorts of relationships last. Eventually one party realizes how much better they are than the other and moves on. And that's exactly what happened yesterday. 


How can the rest of the NBA look at the Cavaliers and call them a classy organization. Open letters are things best left to impassioned fans and bloggers, not to owners. Dan Gilbert, here's my open letter to you. And I promise I'll keep it short.


Dear Dan Gilbert,


I am sure it hurts to lose a player of LeBron James' caliber. He's probably already done enough for your franchise to merit retiring his number at the Q. Next time you get a player like that do try to surround him with better talent than you did this time around. 


Yours,


Charles H. Klein


p.s. It's really that simple. 


p.p.s. Maybe you ought to blame Delonte West instead...


The other big loser is the New York Knicks. They believed their own hype and it led to their deserved misery. I was listening to Colin Cowherd the other day talk about how New York was going to miss out on James for one obvious reason: New York teams have a much harder time luring players to the city when there is a salary cap involved. The Yankees and Mets succeed primarily because they make so much more money than most teams based on their market size and therefore are better positioned to convince marquee names to sign with them. While the Knicks could have given James as much money as the NBA would allow, he was in a position to make even more if he had signed with Cleveland. Combine that fact with one more: the Knicks don't have anyone else on the roster.


Signing Amar'e Stoudemire did nothing to persuade James that the Knicks were serious about being a good team in 2010. And the Knicks severely overpaid for Amar'e. But that's an article for another time. James clearly did not want another Cleveland where he would have to do literally everything to win a championship. I'm sorry Knicks fans, but even with Amar'e James' supporting cast in New York would have been worse than the one he had in Cleveland, and he would not have been making as much guaranteed money. I know that James could have made a bundle of cash playing in New York, but whose to say that that money won't be available when he is done playing?


Will James win a championship in Miami any time soon? With Orlando and Boston retaining their teams from their trips to the NBA Finals, it does not appear to be an easy road even with Bosh and Wade to help carry it. Both Boston and Orlando have greater depth than the Heat and have more winning experience than the Heat.


One thing is certain: this year will be an exciting one for the NBA.


Cue that Will Smith song...

Why the World Cup trumps all

Justin Thrift

In the entire world of professional sports, across hundreds of pro leagues and into the depths of our many athletic past times, there is no single event greater (or more important) than the FIFA World Cup.

Here’s why:

Yesterday we watched the Netherlands reach the Cup finals in an enthralling match that sent an entire nation into a state of unstable euphoria. It also left another nation in a steep state of frustration, disappointment and despair. If you watched this game, you saw shots of downtown Amsterdam aglow with orange haze, crowds as big as President Obama’s inauguration, and a party more intense than New York’s New Year countdown and Los Angeles’s Laker parade, combined.

Have you ever played the ’90s computer game Roller Coaster Tycoon? The people of Uruguay likely looked like those park guests when you make confusing paths for them to walk on or place them in impossible situations: lifeless, dejected, and tired.

These emotions are some of the more potent that humans can experience over athletics. Sports give us the chance to experience them together, bonded with pride for our teams, players and cities or countries. They join us in moments of passion for our rooting interests and they take over our lives at times. Right now, I can’t imagine anything being more talked about, thought about, or important in the Dutch nation than the World Cup final.

The World Cup embodies all the reasons why we love watching sports in the first place, and it does so in ways that no other professional sports league can.

Here at home, the Dutch victory over Uruguay was not the only big story on yesterday’s SportCenter. As a matter of fact, it wasn’t even the biggest. Lebron James once again took that honor, increasing his streak of complete ESPN domination to over a month—an amount of time that has eclipsed the NBA finals themselves. We’re obsessed with the culmination of Lebron’s decision; half the Nation is drooling in hopes of him rescuing their team from droughts of failure and losing seasons. Everybody seems to have a theory on how Lebron will screw Cleveland over, and who he will do it for. But the reasons are simple: money and championships.

ESPN announced yesterday that not only will James be announcing his decision live on Thursday, but it will be showcased inside a lucrative primetime special. As if the process hasn’t been painful enough for Cavalier fans, this ought to be the icing on the cake. King James, as legions of faithful Ohioans have dubbed their poster child over the past seven years, is not only a native of the land he has played for since his days in youth basketball, he IS Cleveland.

At the World Cup, this kind of betrayal (or “business,” if you like), could rarely occur. It means more than an NBA title or MVP trophy: you’re playing strictly for your nation and the people who live there. You’re playing to make those crowds climax together. You’re playing for the coaches who taught you how to trick a defender. Wherever King James decides to play next year, there’s no place on earth where winning will feel as good for him as Cleveland. No fan base will show him off as proudly as his native Ohioans, the people who he grew up with and dedicated his career to thus far. Over the past few years, Lebron has become synonymous with Cleveland, like Messi to Argentina or Drogba to the Ivory Coast. 

On Thursday, there’s a chance he could severe that bond and add to the reasons why the NBA, like many other professional sports leagues, is nothing more than a scam where those involved benefit more than we could ever imagine.

How would the people of England react if Wayne Rooney announced he needed time to assess his future with England before he could commit to the team? They’d say good riddance, and tell him to bugger off. If your significant other requested some time to think about your relationship, you’d probably pack his/her bags for them. If he/she said they would announce their decision to you and all their potential suitors at the same time, you’d likely feel ill.

This past month, numerous soccer players from around the world went to South Africa with one goal in mind: representing. Many players even turned down the prospect of playing for a top contending country in order to play for their original birth country: when dual citizenship provides a way to get ahead, it’s still pride that brings players back to the country closest to their hearts.

That said, it’s no wonder that 2010s USA World Cup team had people running up 6^th avenue in Manhattan chanting our Nation’s name and flying the flag high at 10 am. As sports fans, we’re thirsty for this kind of unity and passion, and the World Cup brings out the passion in players. It has the almighty ability to make greedy backstabbing players such as David Beckham into loyal servants, even if only for a month.

That’s why the World Cup rules all.

My sympathies go out to you, Cleveland.