Toug Guy Syndrome

One of the most iconic sports photos of the past 15 years is the photo of Nolan Ryan with Robin Ventura in a headlock. The reason the photo is so cherished and sought after is because it displays an aging Ryan in the twilight of his career absolutely manhandling the much young Ventura as if it was an easy task. This photo was a symbol of Ryan's career as he never backed down and was known for being a tough guy. Unlike today's pitchers who simply back pedal, throw their glove, and wait for teammates to intervene Ryan welcome batters who dared rush his mound. Nolan Ryan was a tough guy.

Prince Fielder is not.

Last night His Royal Fatness got beaned by Guillermo Mota in the 9th inning of a game in which the Dodgers were beating the Brewers 17-4. Fielder was clearly upset but instead of taking any serious action he opted to grin like a moron and walk to 1st base. Incident over right? Not even close. Fielder decided his best course of action would be to try and rush the Dodgers locker room after the game as if he was going to bust the door down and lay waste to the whole room. Fielder did this because he suffers from a disease common in modern athletes, TGS, otherwise known as Tough Guy Syndrome.

Instead of rushing the mound and dealing with Mota like a man Fielder instead chose the route in which he would look like a tough guy, by trying to take on security and needing to be held back by teammates, but would never really need to engage in any sort of physical contact.

Fielder is not the only one who suffers from TGS however as today it is an epidemic that is sweeping across professional sports.

Football players, basketball players, baseball players, and worst of all hockey players suffer from TGS. They all try and pretend like they are tough guys who will hand out severe punishment if they are messed with but in the end they are all Cotonelle soft.

One recent moment which will serve as a perfect example of TGS was the 2009 NBA Finals. The participants were Pau Gasol (a lanky Spaniard) and Mickael Pietrus (a Frenchman). Gasol went up for a dunk and Pietrus fouled him from behind. Gasol stepped forward and bumped chests with Pietrus who stood his ground with no retaliation. Now you may be sitting there thinking 'what's wrong with that?' Let me tell you.

You don't bump chests with another man and start swearing at them unless you are going to actually do something otherwise you look like a punk. Yes it proves that you have seen enough movies and rap videos to have learned how to ACT tough but not to actually BE tough.

If you aren't going to actually do something about a situation then don't react at all. Either walk away and be the bigger man or throw a punch and let people know that you don't suffer from TGS but in fact you actually are tough.

It is not just Frenchmen and tall lanky white guys that suffer from TGS though. TGS can affect people of any shape or size. Look no further than the NFL for proof. These so called 'tough guys' who threaten one another verbally on the field and constantly let people know that they are not to be messed with are the same men who cry to officials when calls don't go their way and sulk to reporters about playing time, bad calls, and their role within the team.

Professional athletes put on a front to try and pretend that they are 'hard' or 'mean' when really they are just overpaid cry babies who's last goal in life is to get into a physical altercation where they aren't wearing their pads or equipment.

Prince Fielder is yet another tragic victim of TGS and as sure as I breath not the last.

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Being Realistic

I often get accused of having no love for Toronto teams because my favorite team isn't the Toronto Blue Jays and I hate the Maple Leafs. Well there is one Toronto team that I love, the Toronto Raptors.

I have been a Raps fan since the organization was created in 1995 and will continue to be a fan even if they continue to remain mediocre. Yes I love them but they are a mediocre team that will never win a championship until certain things change.

Before I continue with the Raptors there is something I want to go over quickly. Basketball is the one sport in which 1 single person can have the most impact. While 1 person can make a difference in baseball, hockey, or football they cannot win a championship by themselves and they cannot carry a team by themselves.

This is because basketball is a 5 on 5 sport where 1 player can play the entire game if needed. This means that the best player on your team can always be involved in the game and having an impact. This is obviously not the case for the other sports mentioned.

The point I am trying to make is that when looking at a basketball team the success the team will achieve can closely be linked to who their best player or players are. In the NBA analysts usually look at the best 3. This philosophy has always been popular but has gained increased usage since the Boston Celtics won the NBA championship in 2008 with the "Big 3."

So any basketball team will be judged based on who their best 3 players are. In the case of the 2009 NBA Champion LA Lakers their best 3 players would be Kobe Bryamt, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom with Kobe being the best player.

Now that I have gone over that let us return to my Raptors.

The best 3 players on the Toronto Raptors are Chris Bosh, Jose Calderon, and Hedo Turkoglu with Bosh being the best. Now these 3 players are not good enough to win an NBA championship. They are good enough to be a competitive team that will make the playoffs but they lack the talent to win a title.

This is a fact that cannot be disputed. In order to prove my point I need only compare them to the other teams in the Eastern Conference. So here is a list of their main competition and their best 3 players.

Boston - Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen

Cleveland - LeBron James, Shaq, Mo Williams

Orlando - Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, Jameer Nelson

Miami - Dwyane Wade, Michael Beasley, Jermaine O'Neal

Washington - Gilbert Arenas, Caron Butler, Antawn Jamison

All of these teams have a better "Big 3" than the Raptors. Are all of these teams championship contenders? No. The Heat and Wizards do not have the talent to contend for championship titles but I feel they have a better chance than the Raptors.

The main problem that the Raptors face is that they treat Chris Bosh as if he can lead them to a championship. I personally feel like Bosh will only ever win a title as the 2nd best player on a team as I don't think he possesses the skills to lead a team to a championship. Now I may be wrong on this but so far in his career there is no evidence to prove me wrong.

Don't get me wrong he has the stats. He is a fantasy league All-Star but that is because he is the primary scoring option. To further prove my point look at the list of 'best players' that have led their teams to titles since the Raptors became an organization:

Michael Jordan

Tim Duncan

Kobe Bryant

Kevin Garnett

Dwyane Wade

Shaq

Note: the 2004 Pistons are the exception to the rule here as while they did not have 1 amazing player they had a starting 5 of really good players a feat I feel may become impossible as the NBA evolves.

These are all GREAT players. Hall of Fame players. They are the kind of players that can take over a game and put a team on their back and win. They can demoralize a team with their play and can strike fear into their opponents with their mere presence. Chris Bosh is not that type of player.

The Raptors are trying to stay competitive in a tough Eastern Conference but it is getting tougher. They need to make a move that will change the balance of power and make them NBA Championship contenders. They need to stop trying to appease Bosh by signing guys like Turkoglu and instead make a play for a 2010 free agent. Get that 'best player' that will lead the team to the Finals and a title.

Until they do this they will remain a mediocre team with no hope of winning a championship.

I am not saying this because I am a pessimist. I am just being realistic.

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No Love for CB4

A few months back a story came out that Chris Bosh had not been paying his child support to a woman who he had impregnated and conceived a child with. Bosh, who makes millions of dollars a year, felt that this woman didn't deserve his financial support and refused to pay. Now I didn't write anything about this because Bosh is a Raptor and the Sports Informer is all about favoritism and bias. The man plays for my team so I refrain from bashing him.

Well Baby J had told me numerous times that I needed to write about the situation and out Bosh as a crappy dad and a cheap ass. I told him the second Bosh left the Raptors I would do it. Now Bosh hasn't left the Raptors...yet but I am still writing this because I am fed up with his shitty attitude and how much hype surrounds him.

So the main action that triggered this rant of a post was Bosh's twitter updates. I follow Chris Bosh on twitter along with over 100 other athletes in all major sports. 99% of the guys who update their twitter talk about how they are working in the off-season and how they are getting prepared for next year. What does Chris Bosh talk about? Xbox and Music.

The man is obsessed with Xbox and trying to "lay down tracks" with seemingly every star player in the NBA. Now I know this may seem stupid because maybe he just doesn't talk about going to the gym but at some point he needs to think. He has 40,000 followers, obviously some are Raptors fans, and yet no updates on the team or his thoughts on next season.

Now he did get excited when Hedo got signed in Toronto but that lasted for all of about 4 minutes then he got back to his Xbox talk.

This bothers me so much because as a fan of the Raptors I like to think that each year they are going to be good and be competitive. What I don't want to think is that the star player of my team cares more about his fucking Halo 3 rank than he does winning games.

Just to show you I am not lying click this link and it will take you to his twitter page where you can see his updates: http://twitter.com/chrisbosh. Here are a few of my favorite ones:

"Headed to TO for the weekend. I hope the city is ready to have a good time!"

"@KevinDurant35 Let's play 2k9 DM me your xbox live name, we should setup a live stream and let the people watch! lol"

"About to get on the xbox360 tonight..xbox live name XBOSHLIVE ! Let's go halo 3 time!"

Now I don't just hate him because he comes off as lazy, believe me there are many more reasons. The main one being that he is constantly lumped in with Wade, LeBron, and Carmello. Now I realise that this is because they all came into the league at the same time together but something needs to be pointed out. Those 3 guys win.

Of the 4 of them Bosh is the only one to not make it out of the 1st round of the playoffs. In fact Bosh is 3-8 in his career in the playoffs. Wade won an NBA title as the best player on a team. LeBron is the 2nd best player in the NBA, Kobe is better deal with it, and Mello led his Nuggets to the Western Conference Finals this year as the best player and showed serious improvement.

Bosh isn't the same caliber of player as these other guys. Don't get me wrong he is a good player, almost a career 20 and 10 guy, but he will never be the best player on a championship team. Never. If Raptors management was smart they would realise this and stop pumping his tires and making him think he is the savior of a team or some sort of new hope.

If I were in charge of the Raptors I would trade him and try and build a new team. Now before you get all up and arms and try and say that Bosh's numbers are rare make sure you take a closer look at the NBA. Here are some players who have comparable numbers to Bosh. Some of them are great players while others will surprise you. The important thing to note is that none of these players will demand the money Bosh will demand in 2010.

Dirk Nowitzki 25.9 and 8.4

Dwight Howard 20.6 and 13.8

Al Jefferson 23.1 and 11.0

Tim Duncan 19.3 and 10.7

Antawn Jamison 22.2 and 8.9

Zach Randolph 20.8 and 10.1

Pau Gasol 18.9 and 10.6

David West 21.0 and 8.5

Amar'e Stoudamire 21.4 and 8.1

Yao Ming 19.7 and 9.9

David Lee 16.0 and 11.7

You're telling me that the Raptors couldn't trade Bosh to the New York Knicks and get David Lee plus a draft pick and another player? The Knicks would be all over that in a heartbeat. Bosh is good but his numbers are attainable by cheaper players. Keep in mind also that he is the primary scorer on the Raptors where as Gasol, West, and Lee are not. These guys still get their points despite not being the primary option.

It also needs to be mentioned that Bosh is the "RuPaul of big men" according to Shaq.

So there it was Baby J. My post attacking Chris Bosh. I called him a bad father, lazy, over rated, and also ugly. Now let's just hope he never sees this or else he might kick my ass.

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NBA Draft Recap

Tonight were the first two rounds of the NBA draft and they gave me a lot to talk about. Lots of interesting picks and a tonne of story lines. Let's get right to it:

Breaking the Rules

OK well he didn't officially break the rules he just worked around them. I am of course talking about Brandon Jennings who instead of spending the mandatory 1 year in college opted to play professional basketball in Italy. Many thought that this would hurt Jennings' stock in the draft as no one got to see him play but he ended up going 10th to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Everyone was watching Jennings to see where he would go because if he fell below 20th then his little experiment would have failed. But he went 10th and now has shown youngsters that they no longer need school and can just go to Europe.

I am alright with this because I feel the minimum in college should be 2 years or not at all. What Jennings did may not be in his best interest for the future but for now it seems to have worked.

On Guard

This year an NBA record was broken as 17 of the first 30 picks were guards. Picks 4-7 were all point guards as were picks 17-21 and in total there were 11 point guards picked in the 1st round. This is pretty telling of the current state of the NBA as it is no longer a leage dominated by big men as it was in the 70s and 80s. Now it is all about guards who can slash into the lane and then kick out for open looks.

In a league where so many teams has shitty centers only 2 were drafted in the 1st round. The most startling thing is how important a good center is. Look at the NBA Finals. Pau Gasol and Dwight Howard, who are two of the best centers in the league, were there and played big roles. I find it odd more teams don't try and get better centers.

NY Fans Show No Class

What is wrong with the people of New York? Do they have any class what so ever? They boo'd when the Knicks picked Jordan Hill because they wanted Stephen Curry. Idiocy. Hill is a great player but because he isn't from NY he gets treated like shit by the fans. Curry won't even be that good of a pro in my opinion as he is way too small and is viciously over hyped by the media. Yes he put up big numbers but that was at Davidson.

The fans aren't like this only at the NBA draft either as every year you can expect Giants and Jets fans to be booing whoever their teams pick no matter what. Jets fans boo'd when they took Nick Mangold and now he is a Pro Bowl player. Smarten up assholes. The Knicks blow and any player you bring in to help you should be praised.

Shaq Not Gonna Do It

I am sorry to all those bandwagon Cavs fans out there but Shaq isn't gonna win you a championship next year. Yes he can still put up his numbers (17.4 ppg 8.2 rpg in 72 games last season) but his defense is lacking.

The reason the Cavs lost to the Magic was because they couldn't defend the pick and roll of Orlando. Now they bring in Shaq who couldn't stop the pick and roll if his life depended on it. Seriously if you are reading this now keep this in mind, the next person you see after reading this and yourself could run the pick and roll on Shaq, it's that bad.

Bringing in Shaq is a good way to make your fans happy but it won't get the job done. It may have worked 4 months ago but now it's just a hope.

International Flavor

The NBA is truly an international game and its reach was expanded tonight as two players, Hasheem Thabeet and Omar Casspi, became the first men to represent their home countries in NBA history. Thabeet for Tanzia and Casspi for Israel. Each year the NBA gets more and more international stars and this year was no different as Thabeet and Ricky Rubio made sure more superstars will be from outside the USA.

Value Picks

A lot of guys fell really far tonight and teams were able to pick players they never dreamed would still be available. Here are just a few of the better value picks that were made:

Jordan Hill at 8

Jrue Holiday at 17

Wayne Ellington at 28

DeJuan Blair at 37

Blair is the biggest, both literally and figuratively, as many experts had him going in the top 20. I am not exactly sure why he fell so hard but the Spurs somehow got him at 37 and that is an absolute steal.

Trades

There were a few trades today and yesterday. Some big names moved and I am sure more trades will be coming soon. Here is a recap:

- The Hawks acquired guard Jamal Crawford from the Golden State Warriors on Thursday for guards Acie Law and Speedy Claxton

- The Memphis Grizzlies have agreed to send Darko Milicic to the New York Knicks for Quentin Richardson and cash considerations.

- The Denver Nuggets have traded a future first-round draft pick to Minnesota for the rights to North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson.

- The New Jersey Nets have traded Vince Carter and Ryan Anderson to the Orlando Magic for Rafer Alston, Tony Battie and Courtney Lee.

Something That May Interest Only Me

Tonight Ricky Rubio became the first person to ever be selected in the NBA draft that was born in the 90s. He was born in 1990 and is only 18 years old. When I first heard this it made me feel really old even though I am only 22. All these damn punk kids making something out of their lives and having millions of dollars. Its just the worst.

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Don't forget that tomorrow night I will be doing my running diary of the NHL draft starting at 6:45pm EST. Just keep clicking refresh allll night.

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NBA Finals Recap

Much like my Stanley Cup Finals recap from yesterday I am going to be going over some of the main issues I had with the series and then some observations I made. The series was not as entertaining as the Stanley Cup Finals but considering it wasn't Kobe vs LeBron it was still solid.

The Legend of Kobe

I wrote a few weeks ago that if Kobe Bryant and the Lakers won the NBA championship this year that Kobe would become the 3rd best guard ever. He did and he is. Kobe was unreal all series scoring at least 30 points in every game and leading the Lakers in assists as well. A lot was made of his scoring in the series but for me the biggest plays he made were passes in game 4 when he found Derek Fisher in overtime for the big 3 and Pau Gasol with the behind the back pass. Kobe really showed how well rounded his game is.

As for his legacy he can now say that he won a championship as the best player and end all the talk of him not being able to do it without Shaq. I am a Kobe fan so I was pumped when they won although his Jordan style jumping and fist pumping was pretty weak. Be original.

Superman Goes Invisible

So did Dwight Howard use UPS or Fed Ex to mail in his performance in game 5? Seriously it was one of the saddest displays I gave ever seen. A player that at times can be so dominant look so awful is just sad. Howard scored just 10 points and added 11 boards in 39 minutes. He got into foul trouble and look scared. If he wants to make the next step in his career he going to have to start showing that he can do more than just dunk and block shots out of bounds.

While I am on the subject why don't any big men use the Sky Hook? All it did was make Kareem Abdul Jabbar the greatest scorer of all-time and yet no one uses it today. If Dwight Howard would add a sky hook into his game he would win the next mvp award hands down. It would easily add 6-8 points per game to his stat sheet. Makes 0 sense to me why no one uses it.

Difficult Decisions

The Lakers are going to have to come down off the championship high quickly because the organization has some tough decisions to make. Both Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza are becoming free agents and it looks as though 1 of them is going to have to go.

Odom is the true definition of an X factor because if he is playing well the Lakers don't lose but he is so inconsistent. Ariza is an emerging star and played amazing all playoffs. Ariza is only 23 while Odom is 29. Odom wants to be a starter and may not like having to play behind Gasol and Andrew Bynum but he has stated many times he wants to live by the beach meaning he will either be a Laker or a Clipper and no one wants to be a Clipper. As for Ariza he will demand close to $5 million a season and will be worth every penny. If I am the Lakers I choose Ariza over Odom.

Greatest Coach Ever?

With the Lakers win coach Phil Jackson passed Red Auerbach for most titles won by a head coach with 10. Jackson aka the "Zen Master" won 6 titles in the 1990s with Michael Jordan and the Bulls then came to LA and won 4.

Orlando coach Stan Van Gundy says Jackson is the greatest coach in NBA history. Van Gundy called Jackson's 10 titles an "incomprehensible" achievement, adding: "The guy wins all the time."

As much as I hate Van Gundy you have to agree with him as Jackson is now the undisputed best NBA coach of all-time. The question now becomes is he the greatest coach in professional sports history? That's something I wont get into but has been talked about since the win.

The Magic is Gone

The 2009 NBA season was the best season in the history of the Orlando Magic franchise. The Magic won more games this season than it ever had (59) and had to beat 2 sixty win teams (Celtics and Cavs) to get to the NBA Finals. The craziest part was they did that without their all-star pointguard as Jameer Nelson was forced to sit due to a serious shoulder injury. He played during the NBA Finals but was a non-factor.

The Magic are still a young team and have the pieces to get back to the Finals next year. Howard, Nelson, Rashard Lewis, and Courtney Lee are all coming back and provide the foundation for a solid core.

Team leader Hedo Turkoglu will likely opt out of his contract and test free agency which will hurt the team but provide some cap room to manouver. Although the Magic will have to contend with the Cavs and Celtics again next year they very well could get a second kick at the can if they can stay healthy and get some more depth.

Lots of Luck

Many people are saying that the Lakers didn't win the title on talent alone but instead won it because of a ridiculous amount of good luck. Haters point to:

- Yao Ming fracturing his foot in the 2nd round

- Kevin Garnett being hurt which killed the Celtics

- LeBron's supporting cast failing allowing the Magic to get to the Finals

- The Utah Jazz releasing Derek Fisher and allowing him to sign with LA due to family issues with his daughter

- The Grizzlies GM Chris Wallace basically giving them Pau Gasol for nothing

When all put together like that I can see how some people could argue the Lakers got lucky however the fact remains that they won. All of those factors are out of the Lakers hands so all they had to do was show up and win which was exactly what they did.

The series itself brought some drama and some controversy but most importantly it was a chance to watch one of the 15 greatest players of all-time, Kobe Bryant, do his thing. Players like Bryant come around so rarely that it is important to take advantage of the times when they are here. Maybe next year the Lakers could repeat or maybe Dwight Howard improves his game and leads the Magic to a title, who knows?

40 games in 40 nights is over and now Stan Van Gundy can go back to his full-time job of directing, producing, and starring in low bidget porn.

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