Tiger's Been Declawed

Tigers Woods entered the final round of The Players Championship today at -6 and just 4 shots back of leader Alex Cejka.  Everything was in place for Tiger to make his usually Sunday charge and win just like everyone expected him to.  But something strange happened on this particular Sunday.  Tiger didn't make his charge, hell he didn't even make any nice shots, and he ended up shooting a 73 and finishing 7 shots back at -5.

I watched all of Tiger's round while channel surfing between the NBA playoffs and the Jays game and every shot I saw him take was a bad one.  He was missing fairways, hitting it into the water, and leaving putts short all day long.

The announcers blamed it on his poor shot selection and one of them even tried to attribute his struggles to the fact that his "biceps are too big to play golf."  I on the other hand think that his layoff has made him soft and he no longer has that killer instinct.

When Woods was at the top of his game he used to walk around with such confidence as if no matter where he was on the leader board on Sunday he was going to win.  All he needed was a red Nike shirt and it was all over.  Now when he is on the course he looks nervous and unsure of himself.

Some might blame the pressure.  Now that he is back there is an immense amount of pressure for Woods to win right away and prove he is still dominant.  I throw this argument out immediately though as ever since he emerged as the best golfer in the world there has always been pressure on him.  Whenever you are picked to win every tournament and if you lose its a disappointment then you know how to deal with pressure.

Tiger should have buried the field today and shown them why he marries hot supermodels and they go home with the locals.  He is above and beyond anyone else in the world and has shown that even on one knee he is still the best.

I fear that while he was out Woods lost that competitive spirit and he still needs to get it back. Over the 8 months he has been doing his physically therapy and has been trying to get better. What he hasn't been doing is competing against other golfers for money, trophies, and prestige.

There was once a time when entering a tournament if I took Tiger Woods and gave you the field you would feel I had the advantage.  In what other sport would this even come close to being the case?  Simply put Tiger Woods is the best golfer on the planet and it's time that he start playing like it.

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No Yao. No Problem.

After Yao Ming left game 3 with a foot injury the Rockets looked out of sorts and could do nothing to stop the Lakers who went on to win the game comfortably.  Once it was discovered that Yao would miss the remainder of the playoffs everyone, including me, counted the Rockets out and figured the series was over.

It seems the Rockets didn't get the message that they were supposed to roll over as today they beat the Lakers like they owed them money winning 99-87.  The score itself doesn't go the game justice as the Lakers were trailing by double digits for the entire game starting at 5:37 in the 1st quarter.  The lead even ballooned to 29 at one point as the Lakers couldn't play defense or get anything going on offense.

The Rockets were lead by Aaron Brooks who scored a career-high 34 points as well as Shane Battier who hit 5 3-pointers and scored 23 points.  Luis Scola had a double double and played solid defense the whole game and even went at Derek Fisher a little bit early in the game.

The big reason the Rockets won though was because they actually tried.  The Lakers obviously took the Rockets lightly and thought that without Yao in the lineup they could roll to an easy victory.  This was made clear by the way that they started the game.  On their first possession they turned the ball over and allowed the Rockets to take the early lead.  A 22-7 run would ensure helped by poor shooting and turnovers by the Lakers.

The scoring play right at halftime best symbolizes the game.  With .07 seconds left Ron Artest launched an inbound pass from half court that found Aaron Brooks all alone underneath the basket.  Brooks proceeded to alley-oop the ball and score right before time ran out.  No Laker was within 5 feet of Brooks as they all watched in shock as Brooks scored what I'm sure will be the Highlight of the Night on Sportscenter.

For a team that many believed would walk to the NBA Finals the Lakers have been underwhelming.  They often look lost on offense and their inability to play defense is going to be a huge problem against LeBron and the Cavs...if they ever make it that far.

I still think that the Lakers are going to get past the Rockets as this game should motivate them as they were thoroughly embarrassed.    However if they want to accomplish that feat they are going to need to learn how to play defense and contest shots.  In today's game there were far too many open jump shots for the Rockets as often no one on the Lakers even bothered to come out and put a hand up.

The next game in the series will take place on Tuesday night at the Staples Center in Los Angeles where hopefully Kobe and the Lakers can get back on track.  It's not that I am a Lakers fan but I really want to see a Lakers vs Cavs final.  Nothing better than watching the two best players in the world go head to head.  However if this is going to happen Phil Jackson needs to make sure that his team doesn't shit the bed again.

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Big Popout

Today I wore my David Ortiz jersey for the first time in months.  There was no particular reason, well other than the fact I haven't done laundry in a few days and it was one of the only clean pieces of clothing I had, but still no special reason.  I put it on and went outside to meet up with my buddy so we could see the new Star Trek movie (actually not bad) and then it happened.

He sees the jersey and asks if there is anyone on the back or if it's just a blank.  With a big prideful smile I turn around to show him the #34 and the Ortiz.  However instead of getting the usual response "nice" I heard "oh wow that's embarrassing."  He actually made fun of my David Ortiz jersey.

I then spent the rest of the ride to the movie theatre explaining how Ortiz is a Red Sox hero and although he may be struggling now every time he is up at bat all I remember is the 2004 playoffs and all the clutch hits and big home runs.  He would have none of it and chose to dog out Ortiz for his weak average (.220) and his lack of home runs (0 so far this season).

I defended Big Papi as best I could but in the end there wasn't really much to say as these days he isn't known as Big Papi but is instead referred to as Big Popout.  Sadly the new nickname is more fitting as Ortiz has lost all of his power and is now just an overweight 33 year old who can't hit a baseball.

To understand how bad it really is look no further than last nights action.  Ortiz took his 100th at bat and still didn't have a home run.  Meanwhile in his first at bat of the season Alex Rodriuguez hit a dinger.  So A-rod did in one at bat what Ortiz hasn't been able to do in 100+ at bats.

The list of players that have more home runs than David Ortiz contains some of the worst hitters of the past decades and even contains a few pitchers from the NL.  Ortiz has gone from serious home run threat to the laughing stock of the league and as a Red Sox fan it is truly hard to watch.

Ortiz's power numbers have been dropping since the 2006 season.  Over the past four seasons he has hit 54, 35, 23, and 0 (that's the 2009 season).  Many tried to attribute the lack of power to a wrist injury that Ortiz suffered last year and has been struggling with but coming into the season he said he was 100%.

The most troubling part of Ortiz's season so far as that he is still batting 3rd in the lineup.  His numbers are pathetic and yet he continues to bat in his same slot.  But what can you do?  He has earned that spot by time and time coming through when the Red Sox needed a hit.  Over the past 3 seasons there wasn't one other guy you would want up there when your team needed a hit and I am not just talking about the Red Sox.  He was considered to be the best clutch hitter in the game league wide.

But he is hurting the team with his lack of production and it is only a matter of time before he gets moved down in the order.  By the end of the season we could see Big Papi hitting 8th or 9th after such scrubs as Jed Lowrie and Julio Lugo.

I remember when I went to the store in Boston across the street from Fenway and my dad told me to pick any jersey I wanted.  I didn't even think.  I went right for Ortiz and knew that this would be a jersey I could always wear with pride.  Hell I almost got in a fight with some poof at the Jays game because he was making fun of my jersey a few years ago.  If that happened today I don't think there is anything I could say in return.  "Oh yeah well he was good 5 years ago" just isn't an effective argument.

For now the faith in me remains strong that he will be able to turn it around but having to watch guys like Jeff Niemann and Dana Eveland blow it by him it doesn't look good.

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What Kind of a Name is Von?

Game 2 of the Lakers/Rockets series was by far the most physical game of the 2009 NBA playoffs so far.  It had everything.  Kobe throwing elbows at Ron Artest's throat,  Derek Fisher laying out Luis Scola and Yao Ming making a Paul Pierce like return after banging knees with Kobe Bryant.

With all of the hype surrounding the game there was one event that went completely unnoticed and undiscussed.  Von Wafer, worst name in sports, was benched by Rockets coach Rick Adelman and then told to go change into his street clothes and wait on the team bus for the entirety of the fourth quarter.

Wafer apparently took exception to this and needed to be restrained by his teammates before going back to the locker room.  

The whole incident occurred because Adelman wasn't giving Wafer the minutes he felt he deserved.  Wafer, who had 7 points in 9 minutes, felt that he could help the Rockets come back and win.  Adelman felt differently however and had Wafer ride the pine.  This is what sent Wafer off and during a timeout he made his opinions well known to Adelman.

Wafer was on the bench for tonight's game and in his pregame press conference Adelman had this to say about the whole situation, "He’s on the team.  We talked about it and it’s over with. He didn’t like coming out (of the game). He doesn’t have to like coming out, but it’s his job to accept that."  Handled like a true professional who has been around the game long enough to know how to handle young players like Wafer.

I have no problem with Wafer wanting to play more minutes, in fact I like his enthusiasm, but he went about it the completely wrong way. You don't cry to your coach and get into his face if he doesn't put you in.  You simply sit on the bench and stay mentally involved in the game and make sure that while you are out on the court you play your best.  Maybe Adelman didn't want to play Wafer because the game was close and Wafer is notorious for taking bad shots. Or maybe he didn't want to play Wafer because he preferred to have players on the court who actually try on the defensive end.  I don't know, I'm not Rick Adelman.

I think Wafer quickly forgot everything that Adelman has done for him and his career.  Before the start of the 2009 season Wafer had played for four different NBA teams and his career high in minutes was during the 2007-2008 season when he played 154 minutes for the Denver Nuggets and the Portland Trail Blazers.  This season Wafer played over 1200 minutes and owes that significant playing time to Adelman who frequently used Wafer off the bench as an energy player.

Wafer is just one of many young players who for some reason have this unearned sense of entitlement.  He hasn't been in the league long enough to challenge the authority of a head coach, especially not one as experienced as Rick Adelman, and needs to realise that he isn't out there playing by himself. He is part of a team that is trying to win in the playoffs and doesn't need this kind of a distraction from a bench player who averages 8.1 ppg.

The only guys who I think could get away with this are guys like Kevin Garnett, Jason Kidd, Shaq, Kobe (if he didn't play for Phil Jackson) and Tim Duncan (if he didn't play for Greg Popovich).  These are the guys who have been in the league long enough to get away with pulling a stunt like this.  Von Wafer isn't on the list and never will be on the list.  He should be lucky he is seeing so much time.

I realise that Wafer is still young and it's the playoffs and he is excited and wants to be on the floor but he needs to realise that he needs to be a role player and that he isn't the superstar.  Maybe if he passed the ball once in a while (averaging 0.8 apg as a guard) he might see the floor more often.  Also maybe he should get a real haircut as the one he is rocking now makes him look like a Ron Artest wannabe aka a douchebag.

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Manny Being Manny

Can I not go one MLB season without having to see a future Hall of Famer get caught for using steroids?  

Mark Mcgwire, Sammy Sosa, Barry Bonds, Roger Clemons, and Alex Rodruiguez have all been caught using steroids over the past few seasons, A-rod being the most recent, and have all lost their credibility and support of the fans.  You can now add Manny Ramirez to that list as it was reported today that Manny tested positive for a banned substance.

As a result Manny will be suspended for 50 games which will cost him roughly $7.7 million of his $25 million salary and also the support of the Dodgers fans and the admiration of his teammates.

The impact this will have cannot be understated as the team will be hurt, the players will be negatively affected, the city of Los Angeles will be hurt, Manny's wallet takes a beating, as does Manny's reputation.  

The Team

So far this season Manny was hitting .348 with 6 homers and 18 RBI.  He was the new face of the franchise and a leader in the clubhouse.  The Dodgers had even dedicated a section of seats to Manny and had named it "Mannywood."  Now the team is embarrassed as its biggest star is involved in steroid talk and has been taken out of the line up.

You cannot replace a player like Manny and this definitely hurts the Dodgers going forward as not only do they lose his bat and presence in the locker room but this will no doubt be a big distraction going forward.

I know the Dodgers won tonight but once they stop playing the Washington Nationals they might be in trouble.

The Players

It is no secret that Manny had a very positive affect on the Dodgers players.  Most of them were young and impressionable and almost all of them looked up to Manny.  It has been reported that guys like Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier followed Manny around like Frankie follows Brody on The Hills.

No doubt these young players will have to deal with the knowledge that their hero and friend is a cheater.  I'm sure that as professional athletes they will deal with the problem in time but no doubt it will weigh constantly on their minds.

Also once Manny comes back from suspension in 50 games how will the players react?  Will they be happy he is back and act like nothing happened?  Or will they shun him like he is the smelly kid in class?

The City

The city of Los Angeles had a pretty rough day in terms of suspensions as Derek Fisher was suspended for his vicious, but amazing, body check on Luis Scola and there was talk Kobe would join him after his elbow to the throat of Ron Artest.

Now they have to deal with the Mann suspension as well.  Manny fever had swept LA since last year when he came over from Boston as the fans loved him and even wore Manny wigs with fake dreadlocks.

There is nothing worse than having your favorite player outed as a cheater and no doubt this really hurt the fans.  It will be interesting to see how they react once Manny returns.

Reputation

Manny looked to be a sure shot at the Hall of Fame.  Manny has 527 career home runs, 1706 RBI, a career batting average of .313 and owns the record for most postseason home runs and RBI.  He is without a doubt the best right handed hitter of all time.  But now what?

Records are great but look at the other players in the steroid controversy.  McGwire and Clemens own multiple records and have all the credentials you could ever want yet neither man will make it in to the Hall of Fame.

Hopefully Manny doesn't fall victim to the same fate and the only thing that helps him is that he has been consistent his whole career and he still has some years left to win back the respect of the fans and the voters.

In this modern age there is no one left who I would be surprised to learn took steroids.  Manny is just another name on a list of players who did what they needed to do in order to reach a higher level of ability.  People can sit there in shock and try and shame Manny but in all honesty I'm over it.  The guy cheated.  Who cares?  

That is just Manny being Manny.

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