11.05.09 12:32 pm by Pat
Before the 2009 Major League playoffs officially started, I was listening to ESPN Radio and Bud Selig was being interviewed on the Mike and Mike in the Morning show about the season and the upcoming post-season action. At one point he was asked about a salary cap as well as an international draft to prevent the inevitable bidding war that takes place between Boston and New York on the top international prospects. He was all in favor of the international draft which would allow all teams a shot at those players. He, however, was still opposed to a salary cap and said that it was not necessary to keep the league competitive and pointed out that since 2000, 23 of the 30 MLB teams have made a post-season appearance. A few weeks later on ESPN Radio I heard Colin Cowherd go on a rant on how a salary cap won’t help MLB and how more money just leads to more problems. Colin lost me somewhere between comparing team spending to income levels for families and how teams (if a salary cap were put in place) would just spend the money on scouting, coaching, facilities, etc. I could go on all day on how much I disagree with the sentiments of both Bud and Colin, but that isn’t the point of this article. I have always been a believer in leveling the playing field in professional sports and think that spending limits are needed to keep “small market” teams competitive. Hearing the stat about 23 out of 30 from Bud made me think about my stance on the salary cap. I decided that I needed to do a little more investigation into the numbers behind it to help support, or perhaps debunk, my thoughts on the salary cap and MLB.
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10.28.09 12:25 pm by Bernie
Philadelphia Phillies fans will have their say again on Halloween when Alex Rodriguez steps into the batter’s box. As they did in Game 3 against the Dodgers and Manny Ramirez, they will chant “Steroids” in that long, drawn out way that fans have started using in recent years. It started with Barry Bonds, and is now carrying onto the likes of Manny, A-Rod and David Ortiz.
While I, or anyone else for that matter, cannot stop the Phillies fans from chanting it, it does point to the growing hypocrisy amongst fans these days. Lenny Dykstra admitted to his steroid use and even talked to the Commissioner’s office about it after his playing days were over. So they are not above having a player who used performance-enhancing drugs on their roster either. I am willing to bet that every team in Major League Baseball has, at one point or another, had a steroid user on their team. It wasn’t until recently that MLB finally decided to do something about it, and that was only when the federal government stepped in.
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10.15.09 11:00 pm by Alex, Pat and Bernie
Bernie joins Alex and Pat to discuss baseball’s league championship series’ and make their picks for the ALCS, NLCS and World Series. Follow us on Twitter: twitter.com/thesportsgeeks. Also, send us your questions/comments/feedback: podcast@thesportsgeeks.com. We’re listed on iTunes so click here and subscribe. Thanks for listening!
NLCS: Bernie (Dodgers in 7), Pat (Dodgers in 6), Alex (Phillies in 7)
ALCS: Bernie (Yankees in 7), Pat (Angels in 7), Alex (Yankees in 6)
WS: Bernie (Yankees in 7), Pat (Angels in 6), Alex (Yankees in 6)
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8.03.09 2:13 pm by Matt
During All-Star 2009, LeBron threatened to “clean up” the Dunk Contest. He hinted that if the rules were tightened up and he talked some fellow superstars into it, he’d participate.
Here’s the thing: sure, LeBron can jump high. REALLY high. But there’s just a limit to how high people can jump. Through the legs and a variant thereof is the go-to move in the finals every year, which leads to boredom, which led to a push toward creativity, costumes, and chicanery of all sorts.
Since LeBron and his superstar competitors can only repeat the through-the-legs so many times, I’m here to bring some ideas to the table for an All-Star filled Dunk Contest.
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6.13.09 8:26 pm by Will
Editors Note: I’m happy to introduce a new writer to theSportsGeeks.com. This is Will’s first, but hopefully not last article here, and its very impressive if I do say so myself. -Alex
As a Boston Red Sox fan, I was very excited about this week’s series between my beloved Sawx and the hated Yankees. NESN, the network that carries Sox games in New England, knew that the clash between the titans of the AL East was something that fans like me would get really amped up about, so they started showing commercials for the games about a week in advance. The one that really struck me was one that featured Jason Bay. It showed him sitting in the locker room, talking about how exciting the prospect of a Sox-Yanks series was. He mentioned how “[Red Sox-Yankees] is the biggest rivalry in sports.” Jason was very, very incorrect.
Before I point out 10 rivalries that are bigger/more ferocious/more important than the Sox and Yankees, it would be unfair to completely discount the intensity of their feud. The Boston and New York clubs have a humongous, all-consuming rivalry that is probably the biggest in American professional sports. Sure, someone could make an argument for Cowboys-Redskins, Mets-Phillies, Celtics-Lakers, or Maple Leafs-Canadiens, (I know that last one isn’t exactly “American” sports, but they play in the NHL, so whatever.) However, oftentimes these rivalries go stale for extended periods, because, unlike baseball, other American sports have salary caps, which makes it difficult for teams to amass the same kind of talent that the Sox and Yankees attract every off-season by virtue of their greater resources, keeping each team competitive and relevant every single season, something that teams in the NFL, NBA, and NHL just can’t do. For example, the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacremento Kings had the biggest rivalry in the NBA for a short period in the early 2000′s. Shaq called them the Queens, Phil Jackson called Sacremento a “Cow Town,” and the two played in one of the most entertaining and controversial NBA playoff series of all time, the 2002 Western Conference Finals, which included a Robert Horry buzzer beater in Game 4, and a Game 6 that disgraced NBA referee Tim Donaghy has insisted was fixed by the referees in the Lakers’ favor. This series was followed by a 2003 preseason dust-up between Rick Fox and Doug Christie. Then, Shaq got traded and the Kings faded away, and the rivalry was dead. The Sox and Yanks will never fade away, until a salary cap comes in, or they are purchased by a more frugal ownership group, neither of which looks like happening anytime soon. Also, very few, if any rivalries in American sports have the history, mythology, and twists and turns that are intrinsic in the Red Sox-Yankees rivalry. However, The Sox and Yanks fans don’t share the same devotion, investment, and antipathy towards the opposition that some rivalries on this list suggest, nor does the rivalry have the same extreme outlandishness of others. Sox-Yankees is a great rivalry, but not as great as the ten that I will present to you (in no particular order).
New Zealand vs. South Africa – Rugby
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