Shawn Crull, Thad Vandeventer and Brent Young. Three guys who love sports and love to express their opinions about sports. We are the Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin in sports media today. Also follow us @byoungsports, @shawn_crull and @thadvandeventer.
UPDATE: MLB Network Radio responded to my Facebook post and directed me to a different salary website: http://www.baseballprospectus.com/compensation/cots/. It was here I found that Tulowitzki was making $20 mil as opposed to the $16 mil I had him at for this year. Therefore, I needed to make a change and it was in the closers role. Hopefully, this one will work. :)
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MLB Network Radio's Power Alley duo of Mike Ferrin and Jim Duquette put out a challenge to all baseball fans - create your dream team based on the following rules:
The most difficult part of this was making sure I only had three guys UNDER 25. I have three guys UNDER 25....but three guys who are also 25. :)
Here's my roster:
Pos
Name
Salary
Age
C
Jonathan Lucroy
$3,400,000
28
1B
Anthony Rizzo
$5,000,000
25
2B
Jose Altuve
$2,687,500
24
SS
Troy Tulowitzki
$20,000,000
30
3B
Josh Donaldson
$4,300,000
29
LF
Bryce Harper
$2,500,000
22
CF
Mike Trout
$5,250,000
23
RF
Giancarlo Stanton
$6,500,000
25
SP
Madison Bumgarner
$6,750,000
25
RP
Zach Britton
$3,200,000
27
$59,587,500
Not bad, eh? The salaries are their 2015 salary so don't get caught up on guys like Stanton and Trout. That is their salary for this year. I'm playing by the rules. :)
Give it a try yourself. Post your lineups here and on Facebook at MLB Network Radio's page.
Yes, I realize it’s Tuesday but Monday Musings took the day off yesterday to celebrate President’s Day. Therefore, I give you a Tuesday edition of Monday Musings
Non-sports related intro – Sunday night was an epic night of television as NBC televised SNL40, a reunion celebrating 40 years of Saturday Night Live broadcasts. Cast members from all 40 years returned to take part in this show. I loved it. Yes, it made me feel old as I watched some of my favorite cast members’ return, but all-in-all it was fantastic. Instead of listing numerous highlights, I thought I would list the very few things I didn’t care for in the broadcast:
The sports montage did not show the episode with Walter Payton and Joe Montana. How on earth can you leave out those two icons? I was very disappointed I didn’t see Walter and Joe dancing with the Church Lady.
The Californians skit was WAY too long. I understand the concept of getting as many cameos as possible, but did we really need to drag it out long enough for Taylor Swift to show up? Just give us Betty White and be done with it.
The Eddie Murphy return….anticlimactic. When Chris Rock spends five times as much time introducing Eddie as Eddie does in speaking – that’s a problem. Do something Eddie. You’re the greatest stand-up comedian of all time – tell us a joke. Don’t just say ‘thank you’ then go to commercial. Very disappointing.
Speaking of SNL40, it totally kicked the NBA All-Star Game’s tail in the ratings. Honestly though, what All-Star Game is worth watching anymore? The Pro Bowl stinks. The NHL game is much like the NBA game where no one plays any defense. The MLB All-Star Game would be the best if it weren’t the stupid stipulation of home field advantage in the World Series. A couple more thoughts on the game itself (what little I watched of it):
The uniforms were awful. Why would the league EVER consider uniforms without a name on the front? Horrible. I didn’t mind having both names on the back, but it made the uniforms look like they belonged in a cheap pickup league. Terrible.
Adam Silver needs to seriously consider moving the 3-point line back further. This year’s game set a record for most 3-point shot attempts and makes. A combined total of 133 3-point shots were attempted. C’mon. The numbers have steadily increased the last few years. Why? Because IT”S TOO CLOSE. Make it more difficult. I beg of you Commissioner.
Carmelo Anthony. I don’t even know where to begin on this. The AS Game was “hosted” by NY/NJ. Carmelo, playing with the Knicks, was a de facto host. Therefore, he felt it necessary to play in the game. He played 30 minutes. What’s the big deal, you ask? He’s now shutting himself down for the rest of the year “due to injury”. What?!?! You’re going to play 30 minutes in a meaningless game but then not play for your actual team the rest of the year? Sadly, this is a sign of today’s athlete. And I’m not sure I like it.
Another NBA note, and this might not be popular in my hometown, but the Pacers need to be serious sellers this week. The NBA trade deadline is Thursday and there are some contracts the Pacers can shed themselves of this week. David West? Buh-bye. Roy Hibbert? Buh-bye. George Hill? Sadly, but buh-bye to you too. Clear some cap space, acquire some young talent and/or draft picks, DO NOT LET PAUL GEORGE PLAY THIS YEAR, get in the lottery and build around PG. It’s not worth the time to continue to be mediocre. Making the playoffs as an 8 seed, getting bounced in the first round and picking 16th or 17th does you NO good. You’ve got the one major asset in PG, build the team around him.
In case you missed it, and it’s probable that you did, the Blackhawks hosted the Penguins in the Sunday NHL showcase on NBC. It was a fantastic game that came down to a shootout. If you don’t understand the rules, let me explain. The teams play three 20 minute periods. If they are tied at the end of regulation, they play overtime (both teams receive at least one point in the standings, but that’s for a different column). Overtime consists of 4-on-4 play for five minutes. In regulation, it’s 5-on-5. This opens up the ice and allows for more scoring opportunities. If the teams are still tied at the end of OT they proceed to a shootout. This consists of “penalty shots” (one-on-one, player vs. goalie) with at least three taking place until one team wins. This particular game went to a shootout and Patrick Kane’s shootout goal was ridiculous. In the famous words of “Uptown Funk”, Don’t believe me? Just watch.
Speaking of the NHL – Saturday night was the NHL’s alone. No NBA, NFL or any other games going on that night. Yes, the NBA All-Start Festivities were taking place, but real competition only took place in the NHL. And ESPN showed ZERO NHL highlights that night. Are you kidding me? Just another reason that ESPN is losing its luster…
Brandon Bostick was released by the Packers this weekend. Poor kid. He botches an onside kick and loses his job. Just goes to show you the win now, cutthroat mentality of the NFL.
And finally, PITCHERS AND CATCHER REPORT THIS WEEK!!!! Baseball is back baby!!
Most of my friends consider me an “old school” guy when discussing all things sports. My childhood hero was Walter Payton and my Dad always made a point to make sure I noticed when he scored a touchdown – he just handed the ball to the referee. It wasn’t about “me”; it was about the team and winning. Die to self. All the old school clichés. I bought in hook, line and sinker.
However, in the mid-80’s, the flamboyance of athletes was starting to take shape. And as a high school student I was very impressionable. As someone who devoured any sporting event that was on television (we only had the three channels because we lived out in the farm lands and didn’t have cable television) the influences were abounding. Front and center were the Miami Hurricanes, the bad boys of college football. My disdain for them ran deep. Anyone and anything that spit in the face of “true sportsmanship” was my sworn enemy. The U, as they called themselves, were #1 on my hated list.
Knowing this, the fact that one of my all-time favorites athletes is Michael Irvin, is completely backward. In spite of most of our opinions aligning in one direction, there are anomalies that exist. Here is my chance to let you behind the veil as to why this specific one occurs. Some others, like being a pro wrestling fan, thinking Jose Canseco was a flat out stud, and rooting for Alabama football are stories for another time. This time it’s all about The Playmaker.
I stumbled across “The Road to Canton: Michael Irvin” last night on the NFL Network and I was hooked. It brought back all the memories of why I liked Mike (pun intended) and gave me even more information on the man and his triumphs and tragedies. My fondness for Irvin didn’t start until he became a Cowboy. As mentioned earlier, I couldn’t stand the Miami Hurricanes so my partiality towards Irvin didn’t start there. So how did it happen? I need to give you more back story. My older brother and I loved to compete against each other. Surprise, I know. So much so that we tended to take opposite ends of major college rivalries just to compete with each other. The most intense was USC-UCLA where my brother was a Trojan fan and I was a Bruin fan. UCLA happened to have a quarterback when I was in college named Troy Aikman. I have been, and always will be, a mark for Troy Aikman. He’s even one of my favorite analysts on television now that he’s retired. The Dallas Cowboys drafted Aikman number 1 overall in 1989. Obviously my affection for Troy carried into the professional level. And that’s where I began to learn about Michael Irvin.
Charisma. It’s a characteristic that draws us to people. Michael Irvin had it. My fascination with a player who would woof and talk smack seemed oddly fun. Maybe it was the little part of me that wanted to have the chutzpah to do that myself. To be good enough to talk smack, then back it up with my play. Before I saw it all as preening and arrogance, but now I saw it differently. Don’t get me wrong, I still don’t like self-aggrandizing athletes. For me, it was just different with Michael. He was the Triplet I was drawn to even though I had been (and still am ) a huge Troy Aikman fan.
As I learned more about Irvin, through books like “Boys Will Be Boys” and through NFL Films and all the media attention paid to those Cowboys, I grew fonder for Michael. My two favorite trait about Michael as a player were one, that he was the hardest worker on the team. Jeff Pearlman recounts this in his book, “Boys Will Be Boys” and reiterates here. In the NFL Network special teammates would be astounded at how Irvin could spend all night partying, and then come to practice the next day and point at every teammate and ask “Who’s going to outwork me today?” That’s fantastic. The second was when Jimmy Johnson became the coach of the Cowboys. They had worked together at Miami so Johnson had an instant ally in Irvin. And Michael let JJ know in no uncertain terms, which players needed to go. Michael, to me, was all about winning and being the guy everyone looked to in those tough times to lift them up. He must have been the greatest teammate.
Yes, I do understand that Michael had his demons. Something else he taught me was the valuable lesson of forgiveness. It’s difficult in society now to forgive. Fans still call Kobe (and I include myself in this) a rapist. I’m working on it. But Michael has owned up to his transgressions; and has vowed to make himself, and his sons, better people from it. Just watch the greatest Hall of Fame speech of all time and you’ll see what I mean.
There you have it, the clincher – the Hall of Fame speech. Brings me to tears every time. And those are the reasons why Michael Irvin is one of my favorite athletes of all time.
As you may, or may not, know basketball has never been a huge passion of mine. College basketball is intriguing come conference tournament time leading into the NCAA Tournament, which is fantastic. The NBA has never been high on my list of sports to watch in the winter. I much prefer an NHL game of watching off season programs on the MLB and NFL. Don’t hate – it’s just a preference.
However, on this Monday, there is a ton to talk about in the basketball world. So this edition of the Monday Musings will be dedicated to hoops!
First and foremost, I need to mention the passing of a legend – Dean Smith. If there was a Mount Rushmore of college basketball coaches Dean Smith would be in the discussion (Wooden, Coach K, Bobby Knight, Rupp, etc...) and probably be on it. However, the measure of a man is not in the number of wins accumulated or championships won, it’s the impact he has had on other lives. While watching all the retrospectives on his life, the biggest point made by his former players was the influence Coach Smith had on them as men. It was more important to them to discuss his impact on them as men than as basketball players. That speaks volumes. His willingness to break down the barriers of segregation in his recruiting at a time where it wasn’t looked upon very fondly in the Carolina’s was courageous. But that is the kind of man Dean Smith was. Look at his coaching tree here. It is vast and it is extremely impressive. Again, it shows the impact on lives that Dean Smith had as the coach of North Carolina. Michael Jordan said it best, he stated that Coach Smith was "more than a coach — he was a mentor, my teacher, my second father."
ICYMI, the most ridiculous foul call took place during the Illinois-Michigan State game in East Lansing on Saturday. Let me set the stage for you – Illinois is up 30 with about :30 left, yet the foul Trice of MSU. Because the Illini are over the limit Trice goes to the free throw line for a 1-and-1. He shoots and makes the first free throw, but as he does Jaylon Tate blocks him out from the potential rebound. Smart play. It happens on every free throw ever shot. Well, this time, apparently Tate caught Trice in an awkward position and bumped him in a sensitive area. Trice, the MSU players, and the coaches all complained. The referees then went to the monitors to check the situation. Now, a common foul cannot be called on a replay but a technical foul and/or a flagrant foul can be called. As an Illini fan I’m watching this incredulously, because Tate made a play everyone makes. The referees conferred and decided that A) the play was made during a dead ball and B)the contact was excessive and unnecessary. Therefore, a technical foul was called on Jaylon Tate. Now, Michigan State is down 2 points with another free throw from the initial 1-and-1, THEN they get two more free throws AND possession. John Groce, as every other Illini fan watching, was apoplectic. It was the worst call I’ve ever seen. Luckily it didn’t cost the Illini as Michigan State couldn’t shoot free throws to save their lives and Illinois won the game. You tell me – was this a “dead ball play”?
Kentucky had quite a game against Florida on Saturday night, pulling out a 68-61 victory in Gainesville. It looked to be one of the tougher games left on their schedule, including the upcoming game at LSU on Tuesday. The debate is whether or not it’s good for UK to go undefeated into the tournament. I, for one, applaud Kentucky’s embracing of the possibility and their desire to want to go undefeated. In case you’ve been living under a rock in the state of Indiana you know that the last team to go undefeated and win the NCAA Tournament was the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. A few teams have come close including the 1990-91 UNLV Running Rebels, the 1991-92 Duke Blue Devils and the one closest to my heart, the 2004-05 Illinois Fighting Illini. I maintain that it was a good thing that Illinois lost in their last regular season game at Ohio State before the Big Ten Tournament started. I believed there would be too much pressure in both tournaments having been undefeated. But I’m also a crazy, psychotic Illinois basketball fan too so I didn’t want the pressure either. The manner in which Kentucky is embracing the challenge is refreshing. The question is – IF they go into the NCAA Tournament undefeated, then lose, will they backtrack and wish they had lost earlier in the year? I hope not. Embrace it and face it.
Paul George – I’ve been on record fro m the very beginning that the Pacers need to officially shut him down for the year. And I’m not about to back away from that opinion. Currently, they are 2.5 games out of the 8th spot but have FOUR teams to jump to get there. For what? A sweep at the hands of Atlanta? What good does that do in any manner for the Pacers? Nothing, in my opinion. I know Larry Bird is a competitor and wants to win now, but you HAVE to think long term. Squeezing into the 8 seed and missing out on the lottery only exacerbates the possible mediocrity. With Hibbert and West possibly on their way out the time is now to rebuild around George. Other than Solomon Hill and possibly Hill, who else is on the roster that you are willing to commit to long term? Exactly. Make some moves now, clear some cap space, and hope to get near the top of the draft to nab a young 7 footer. It just makes sense.
Finally, a couple of quick hits:
Girls Sectionals start this week. There are some great matchups. Go out and support your local girls basketball team.
The hottest team in the Midwest right now may be the Butler Bulldogs. What a great job Chris Holtmann has done with this squad.
Blake Griffin out for a while with a staph infection for the Clippers. That does not bode well for a team struggling right now to stay in the playoff picture with the MVP candidate in the lineup. We’ll see how this shakes out.
Sports fans are passionate. We root for and back our teams and players. They are OUR guys, OUR team, and OUR city. They are so much a part of the fabric of our lives that we refer to them (team/players/etc.) as ‘we’, indicating ownership. And with as much as we invest in our teams emotionally and financially many people buy into a sense of ownership. We will defend them to our deaths!
But at what cost?
Or, better yet, do we rationalize actions because of our fandom?
The New England Patriots won Super Bowl XLIX in a fantastic game that came down to the final play. Yes, I was rooting for the Patriots. Mostly because I had picked them from the beginning of the year to win the Super Bowl (over Seattle no less) and wanted to finally get one right.
And then I came into school Monday. The air of devastation, as Colts fans walked the hallways, was palpable. You could see the grief in their faces. The ‘enemy’ had won. I saw it all over social media the night of the Super Bowl and into the next few days – “I guess cheaters do win” and “I hate the Cheatriots” were some of the most common responses. And I found myself wanting to begin to defend the Patriots. Of course, being a Bears fan, there was no skin off my back with New England winning the Super Bowl. In fact, four University of Illinois alumni won Super Bowl rings on Sunday which is another reason I was rooting for the Patriots. But the bitterness of Colts fans began to rub me the wrong way. In my opinion, they were riding the “high horse” as the moral standard for the NFL and it left a bad taste in my mouth,
Let’s go back to 2007. The NFL sent a memorandum to ALL 32 NFL teams about videotaping procedures because the practice was getting out of hand. Team would video the opposing teams’ defensive signals and then try to decipher them in order to beat them. It reminds me very much of the old baseball practice of sign stealing. It happens ALL the time. Does that make it right? No. Am I condoning cheating? No. All I am trying to say is it was commonplace in 2007. Did the Patriots throw caution to the wind by continuing the practice AFTER the memo was sent out? Yes, and they got caught with their hand in the cookie jar. But AGAIN – they weren’t the only team doing it before the memo and if you truly believe they were the only team trying to do it after the memo I have a bridge to sell you.
The Patriots got caught, paid the hefty price and moved on. But this city skewered them and labeled them as cheaters. I get it – it’s the rival…well, not really, but that’s a different conversation. It’s the ONE team that prevented the Colts themselves from becoming a dynasty. At the same time, the Patriots were in the midst of the greatest salary cap run in NFL history, winning three titles in four years. So now they become the Evil Empire to ALL of the NFL fans who aren’t Patriots fans and are labeled “cheaters”. (Oh, by the way, did you know the Broncos got fined in 2010 for doing that very same thing? Bet you didn’t. Neither did I.)
Fast forward 8 years to 2015. The Patriots won their first Super Bowl since 2004 but it couldn’t go without some controversy, right? Deflategate, as it’s called now. Is it possible for more hot air to be wasted on a few measly PSI? Heck no! Colts fans were leading the charge because it was against OUR team. How dare they? Puh-lease! It has since come out that the starting QB of a Super Bowl winning team bribed someone to alter the footballs before the big game. At the same time, the NFL’s “golden boy”, Aaron Rodgers states that he likes the football inflated to more than the rules allow.
To which I answer – who cares?!?!? A few measly PSI is not going to allow the defensive back cover the wide receiver more closely. It’s not going to afford the WR the opportunity to run a better route. Who cares?!?!
It was just another opportunity for the Patriots hates to climb on board the bandwagon claiming of their cheating allowing them to…..what’s that word? Oh yeah, WIN. It’s jealousy, all jealousy. Remember, I’m a Bears fan. Do I think the umpteen victories Aaron Rodgers has over the Bears are tainted? Not in the least. So quit crying about deflated footballs and let’s move on to more important issues….
Like police activity. In case you missed it, and I think you haven’t, the Colts have had a laundry list of players/team personnel arrested by local police. They’ve had EIGHT personnel issues in the last 12 months alone. THAT’S a problem. And we haven’t even discussed the owner, who gave the franchise a black eye with his DUI arrest last year. What Colts fans fail to realize is how lucky they became when the Ray Rice controversy played out right after Irsay’s arrest. The bungling of the Ray Rice incident completely overshadowed a large problem with the Colts owner and it would have been the biggest NFL story at the time.
You can’t have your cake and eat it too. The off-the-field episodes cannot outweigh the success on the field. Promote a great kid like Andrew Luck all you want (and he is great) but facts are facts. The Colts have to get their house straight – pronto.
And Colts fans need to look in the mirror. As much as you’d like to believe it, videotaping and deflating footballs are not in the same hemisphere as DUI’s, assaults and using PED’s. They just aren’t.
My older brother and I used to get into scraps growing up. It was all about competition. But we also played the blame game when we got into trouble. My Dad, when talking to us about our discretions, would always use the adage from the Bible, “take the log out of your own eye before you remove the speck from your brother’s”.
Maybe Colts fans should get some Visine before slinging arrows at the Patriots…
This question may be the most heated topic in sports fan discussion. Quite honestly, I believe it depends on your favorite sports as to where your allegiances lie in this argument. Personally I would choose the Army- Navy football game as the greatest rivalry in sports. Why? Who is the one person you want to beat the most? Your brother. Add in the pageantry of the Midshipmen and Cadets entering the stadium and the singing of BOTH fight songs after the game has ended and that gets my vote.
Why do I bring this up? I call it the Brady-Manning Effect. In 2002 the NFL realigned the divisions with the addition of the Houston Texans. The Indianapolis Colts were moved to the AFC South, no longer residing in the same division as the New England Patriots. In 2001 a young QB named Tom Brady received a chance to finally start in the NFL and took the Patriots to a Super Bowl victory. In a perfect world, the Patriots and Colts would have stayed in the same division and we could have seen Brady v Manning twice a year until Peyton went to the Broncos. From 2001 until now, the Colts playing the Patriots was must-see television because they have been the model franchises in the AFC.
Luckily for us, the NFL used the scheduling rules to arrange the Patriots and Colts to play each other nearly every year. From a marketing standpoint this was brilliant. Who wouldn’t want to watch a match up of the two best quarterbacks in the NFL? The ratings for those games bore it out. So the NFL kept going to that well and from it created a rivalry. Not of teams, but of players. Living in Indianapolis I can guarantee you that Colts fans would call the Patriots their biggest rival. But how is that possible if they aren’t even in the same division? Because the NFL made it happen. Realistically it’s not a Colts v Patriots rivalry. It’s a Brady v Manning rivalry.
I’m an NHL nut. The older I get the more I love watching hockey. I’ll watch it over college basketball any day of the week. I am also an unabashed Chicago Blackhawks fan. We covered this in an earlier post so I’m not a bandwagon fan. Anyway, last week the Blackhawks were schedule to take on the Pittsburgh Penguins on NBC Sports Network. Initially, I didn't think anything of it until I went to watch it and realized it was the Wednesday Night Rivalry game. Huh? A team from the Western Conference versus a team from the Eastern Conference is a “rivalry”?
The Penguins entered the NHL for the 1967-68 season. They were placed in the West division and stayed there until the 1981-82 season when they were moved to the Eastern (Wales) Conference. They played the Blackhawks once in the playoffs before realignment of the divisions which put Chicago in the West and Pittsburgh in the East. In 1992 the two teams met in the Stanley Cup Finals where Mario Lemieux and the Penguins defeated my Blackhawks 4-0. Does this make a rivalry? Doesn't appear so. But alas, leave it to the NHL to try and turn Penguins v Blackhawks into a rivalry by using the Brady-Manning Effect. How so? Before the Wednesday Night Rivalry game NBCSN schedules a show called NHL Rivals. This episode lauded the rivalry that is the Penguins v Blackhawks. Looking back you can see that the two teams really don’t have a rivalry. So what did NBSCN do? They turned into a Crosby v Toews show. The two best players in the NHL featured in the show – one Stanley Cup and two Olympic gold medals (Crosby) vs TWO Stanley Cups and two Olympic gold medals (Toews).
Sounds a little like the Brady-Manning Effect, doesn't it? Smart move by the NHL.
My dad passed away in 1996 at the age of 51. I was 27 years old. It was the most difficult experience of my life. There were some dark times, but I made it through. Now I'm a Dad and I talk about him as much as I can to my boys so they can know my father without ever having met him.
Passionate. One of the best adjectives I can pick to describe my father. If he believed in someone or something he was extremely passionate about it. His faith, his family, and music were among the many things he loved in life. He also loved baseball. I picked up on this very quickly as a kid. About this time of year I always began to inquire about Little League and when we could sign up and begin practicing. My dad taught me long division by teaching me how to calculate batting averages because of my love for baseball. His passion trickled down to his son, particularly about baseball.
Growing up in central Illinois, around Peoria, baseball allegiances were split right down the middle. You were either a Cubs fan or a Cardinals fan, since we were about halfway between the two cities. As I always like to say, my Dad brought me up right and we were a Cubs family. I loved listening to Cubs games on WGN. I’ll always be a Jack Brickhouse guy (over Harry Caray) because of hearing his voice so often as a kid. We didn’t have cable television where we lived so we relied on the radio. On Sunday’s the local CBS station would show the WGN feed and we hurried home to watch them after church. Obviously, judging based on my birth year of 1968; my formative Cubs fan years were pretty slim. There were a couple of years where they started out strong and players like Bill Buckner, Manny Trillo and Bill Madlock gave us hope for the future. Alas, it never panned out.
My Dad was also a fan of history. He made sure me and my brother understood the history of the Cubs. It didn’t take much convincing on my part. I devoured any information I could get about baseball and the Cubs. I loved to hear stories about the 1969 Cubs and even though they didn’t win the pennant, my Dad spoke so lovingly about that team. His favorite player was Ron Santo, but he still glowed about Banks, Williams, Jenkins, Beckert, Hundley, etc.… It was clear Ernie Banks was the de facto “guy”. His nickname was Mr. Cub, for crying out loud. I soaked up all the information I could get my hands on about the Cubs. I wanted to play CF for them, or at least broadcast their games on the radio as an adult. My love for the Cubs is unbounded.
Fast forward to 2015. In speaking with many others who have lost loved ones, the most common theme is “it gets easier over time”. And while I agree with that, it is still a wound that can be opened up depending upon events in life that hit you directly in that spot. For example, when Walter Payton died I was devastated. Yes, he was my hero. But it also reminded me of all the time my father and I sat and watched the Bears together as a kid. My knucklehead brother became a Rams fan, so Bears games were special time with just my Dad and me. It was those memories that made me sad that my hero died but also that my Dad wasn’t around to grieve with me.
Ron Santo’s death was very difficult for me. As I stated earlier he was my Dad’s favorite Cubs player. And as we watched Ron fight through Diabetes and leg amputations, we knew his time was short. When I got the news that Ronnie had passed it was a punch to the gut. I felt numb. And all of those recollections of my Dad came flooding back. I cried doubly hard, some for Santo and a lot more for my Dad. These were the times the wound of death was reopened and the pain and hurt returned. Granted it was never as great as it was at the time of his death, but it hurt nonetheless.
The difference between Ron and Ernie was we knew Santo’s time was short. Ernie resembled the father of the relationship. He was immortal. One of the hardest lessons I’ve ever had to learn as an adult? My parents were mortal and wouldn’t live forever. As Cubs fans, we felt the exact same way about Ernie. He was Mr. Cub. He’d endure and be present when the Cubs won the World Series. It would be epic.
I had just returned home last night after broadcasting two high school basketball games and received a text from my brother. It was a link to a 670 The Score report that Ernie had passed away. It all came back. The one guy we thought would always be around was gone. It stung so sharply. The heart (Santo) and the soul (Banks) of those Cubs teams that built our parents fandom were now gone. The links between my parents’ generation as Cubs fans and my generation of Cubs fans were gone. Passing the torch to my sons became more difficult. The history of the beginnings of my life as a Cubs fan is now just a story. No Ronnie to listen to on the radio. No Ernie to see at the games lauding the Cubs to play two. And no Grandpa Crull to tell my boys stories of his Cubs teams.
RIP Ernie. I’m going to go cry a little more and try to heal my wounds.
According to the statistics of the game, both teams
combined ran 135 plays. To put the weight of the world on your shoulders
because of one play is too much weight to bear. We can watch the replays of the
game until we are blue in the face and notice numerous plays that affected the
game.Twice in the first quarter, your
team had the ball inside the 10-yard line and could not cross the goal line. Is
that your fault? No. Take anyone of the five possessions that resulted in field
goals and convert ONE of those into a touchdown and all of this becomes moot.
We all make mistakes. Trust your instincts.
It is extremely easy for talking heads to sit on their
rear ends and criticize your decision to go after the ball instead of blocking
for Jordy Nelson. One, we’ve never been in that position as wannabe athletes.
Yes, sports media personalities love to bring attention to themselves and prove
how smart they are by carefully dissecting plays. At which point they can easily
enlighten us, the viewer, as to how the play SHOULD have played out. Most
viewers have never even played football beyond a high school level and have
zero notions as to the intricacies of the professional game. Being a tight end,
your instincts and job tell you to catch the football.Those instincts took over and the ball was
hanging in the air. You went after it. It didn’t work out like you planned.
Dust yourself off and live to fight another day.
I’m sorry.
I’m sorry for all of the idiots who hide behind the
façade of Twitter, Facebook and other social media sites to rip you to shreds
for the play. As you know, we fans can get very emotional about our teams and
the results of their play. The problem is the entitlement fans feel they are
deserved because of their fandom. It doesn’t work that way. Those fans that
have taken to social media to hate on you are one, not true fans. True fans
stick by their teams and athletes through thick and thin, in victory and in
defeat. Secondly, they are cowards.To hide
behind the veneer of social media where there are no repercussions for misuse
and/or hate mongering is completely gutless.
Don’t let this define you.
Yes, this is rather obvious and you will hear it often.
But I took the time to look up your journey to the NFL. Starting at a tiny
Division II college, Newberry College, in Newberry, South Carolina struck a
cord with me. I attended a small Division II college in southwest Missouri,
Southwest Baptist University. I befriended many of the football players at my
school. They were great athletes, however, many of them were playing the game
in order to get an education. There weren’t any delusions about the possibility
of playing in the NFL. One guy got an invite to Cowboys camp, but it opened my
eyes to the difficulty of making it in the NFL. You went undrafted in 2012 but
continued to follow your dream, work hard and were eventually signed by the
Packers in 2013. Your story is a fantastic story. Mr. Bostick, you play at the
highest level of professional football! According to the NCAA the probabilities
of making it to the professional level are astounding. Only 6.5% of high school
athletes play in college. And only 0.9% of those athletes make it to the
professional leagues. Added up, the chance of a high school athlete to make it
to the pros is 0.03%!! You, sir, are one in a million. Kudos to you. You have
defied the odds and made it to the NFL. This is but one play in your career.
Don’t let it define you.
Brandon, I am rooting for you. My hope is to see you on
the field next year for the Green Bay Packers living your dream of being a
professional football player. Let this moment be the fire that motivates you to
continue to prove all the naysayers wrong.
I am a baseball guy. From day one it has always been my favorite sport and always will be my favorite sport. If you know anyone who participates in the sport of baseball the notion of superstition is very real. Baseball players are a very superstitious sort. Look no further than Wade Boggs, Hall of Fame Third Baseman, and the fact that he ate chicken before every game as a barometer of superstition in the sport. If you have a great game and you took a certain route to the ballpark – you’re taking that very same route every day until the streak wears off. It’s a natural practice of most athletes, but I believe baseball players take it to the next level. Even ordinary hacks like me participate. When I played slow pitch softball I would succumb to superstition. I like to blow bubbles while playing so I had a few pieces of Dubble Bubble in my hand as I went out to the outfield one night. I grabbed one too many and didn’t want to throw it away so I stuck it in my sock. I had a great game. Guess what I did for the rest of my softball career (which is now over, in case you’re curious)?
Why am I telling you these stories? Because I also believe superstition can be part of fan behavior. And I am a prime example of that hypothesis. I firmly believe that whether or not I watch a game has a direct impact on the outcome of a game. Now, is that superstition or a strange form of superhuman power over the sports universe? Good question. It doesn’t help that most of the teams that I root for are not winning franchises, i.e. the Chicago Cubs, Bears and the University of Illinois sports teams. I am such a fanatic about my teams that it becomes difficult to watch them without getting upset. As a father of young boys I don’t want my sons to be as emotionally involved in their sports teams as I am. Why? There is a fine line between being a fan and having your self-esteem attached to the record of your favorite sports teams. I can get VERY angry watching my teams when they are losing – and the Chicago Bears took it to a new level for me this year. I want my sons to be fans without over investing emotionally.
Back to superstition – because I get so emotionally invested watching my teams, there are instances where I have to turn the television off so that I do not get upset. I feel it’s better to walk away than have my anger towards my team affect my emotional state in my home life. Funny thing is, after turning the game off my team will turn it around and start playing well and possibly win. Here’s the craziness of it all – I feel like I did my team a favor by not watching them which allowed them to win. I had a direct impact on their victory by not watching. Is that superstition?
Case is point – the 2001 University of Illinois football season. They started off the year with three straight victories, including a defeat of #25 Louisville. Their first conference game was against #17 Michigan at the Big House. They lost. Still unsure of how good this team was they won their next two games over Minnesota and Indiana. Neither of those victories carried much weight since those teams were at the bottom of the league. Still unsure of how good this Illini team was they headed a showdown with Wisconsin the next week. Things were going swimmingly until the 4th quarter when Wisconsin made a run and took the lead. I was obviously distraught and turned off the game thinking that this was just another Illini team that couldn’t quite get over the hump. Luckily, I underestimated the clutch play of Kurt Kittner and Brandon Lloyd. The Fighting Illini came back and won the game 42-35.
The following week Illinois was in West Lafayette facing Purdue. As if being emotionally invested in your team isn’t enough, playing an opponent in the area where you live intensifies the passion of the game. Needless to say, when Purdue jumped out to a 13- lead midway through the second quarter my anger/superstition kicked in and off the TV went. Of course, the Illini responded to my turning off the game by running off 38 straight unanswered points for the 38-13 victory. Hmmm, did the clicking off of my television set make its way to the visiting sidelines at West Lafayette? Did Illinois then tell themselves, “Its ok, Crull’s not watching anymore. No more pressure.”? Clearly that wasn’t the case, but it felt like it to me. Is that superstition or just plain craziness? That, my friends, is the power of sports.
Fast forward to the next week; Illinois is playing Penn State. I wait patiently for Illinois to get behind, which they do, 21-7, at halftime. Click. Illinois comes back to win in the second half. I’m enjoying this self-induced power over Illinois football. The next week, at Ohio State, rinse and repeat. Luckily, the season finale against Northwestern wasn’t close and the Illini won the Big Ten Conference and made it the Sugar Bowl as part of the BCS.
Unfortunately the Sugar Bowl did not turn out like the rest of the year. LSU got up on the Illini quickly and in typical fashion I turned the game off. However, this was not a fairy tale ending. Apparently my powers only worked in the Big Ten season and couldn’t overpower the SEC.
Regardless, I finally decided to look up the word superstition online. The definition is “a widely held but unjustified belief in supernatural causation leading to certain consequences of an action or event, or a practice based on such a belief.” Fairly accurate, no?
And that’s not even my best superstition story… sometime ask me about the 2005 NCAA Tournament Midwest Regional Final between Illinois and Arizona. :)
