Kyle Stark Raving Mad

September 21, 2012 1 Comment

So when I posted my last blog entry last night entitled “How Clueless is Pirates Assistant GM Kyle Stark?” I didn’t think that my opinion of the Pirates assistant GM could get much lower. I noted that he had been obnoxious and disrespectful to two former Pirates players who approached him about jobs within the organization, one of which had helped the Pirates win at least one World Series. This offended me as a Pirates fan, a baseball fan in general and as a decent human being who will always show respect to my elders.

But just like I should stop being surprised that the Pirates keep having losing seasons and employing people like Kyle Stark, I should probably stop being surprised that Kyle Stark continues to come off even more as an ignorant lunatic.

Late last night, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review columnist Dejan Kovacevic posted on his blog the next clue into Stark’s strange and disconcerting journey down the rabbit hole (and his attempt to drag the Pirates minor league system with him). Kovacevic explained in his Friday column that it was an email sent by Stark on June 28 to his minor league managers and coaches (Pirates GM Neil Huntington was copied on the email; Pirates principal owner Bob Nutting and president Frank Coonelly were not).

The following is the email from Kovacevic’s blog and my analysis/response to Mr. Stark (my comments in bold):

From: Stark, Kyle

Sent: Thursday, June 28, 2012 5:22 PM

Subject: SECOND HALF – OUR WHAT

So what do we need to get done in the second half?

Over the last four days, we’ve reconnected with our WHY — turning boys into men so that we can re-bond a city with a baseball team and change the world through baseball.

Turning boys into men isn’t really the goal here, it’s pretty much to turn young men into competent baseball players who can eventually contribute at the big league level, which is especially important because there’s a lot of baseball yet to play and the major leaguers who are already up with the club are bound to get tired in a month or two. Remember that epic collapse last season? Yeah, it happened around the end of July and we should try to solidify the team’s depth with some confident youngsters to make sure that doesn’t happen again this year. I’ll give you credit for stressing that the team needs to re-bond with city, but it might be saying a bit much to “change the world through baseball.” Let’s just try to change the team with a winning season and go from there.

We’ve refocused and clarified our HOW — relentless, systematic and cohesive. All of these discussions have been tied to the ‘one thing’ that we need to move forward in the second half – we’ve trained them up, now we need to help them trust it and transfer it on the field. 

You say you’ve trained them up, but you better make sure that they don’t need some further training. In fact, they should probably just keep training for the rest of the season because that’s sort of what ball players do. They keep working on getting better and they never stop striving to be better. A few extra grounders and some time in the cage couldn’t hurt…

Which brings us to our WHAT …

As we talk about turning boys into men and developing them as PROs, this requires a few key characteristics. Those characteristics match our PRO values and are vividly captured by Bernie’s story about Olympic thrower Mac Wilkins and his views on what makes an Olympic champion. Mac explained that gold medal winners live by three golden rules — Dream and be creative like a Hippie. Have the discipline and perseverance of a Boy Scout. Be crazy and take risks like the Hells Angels. …

Woah, hang on a second. Those sound like three types of people who have very little to do with each other. And if I’m being honest, I don’t think any one person should possess all of those characteristics. In fact, if I had to come up with a single person that does, it would definitely be this guy…

Kyle Stark’s ideal professional baseball player.

1. Dream like a Hippie — PASSION — Elite people have big dreams, are driven by those dreams, and believe that they can achieve them.

Yes, and hippies take acid, dance around in the mud and listen to Hendrix. Then, they climb to the roof and jump off because the believe they can fly.

2. Prepare like a Boy Scout — RELENTLESS — Elite people have extreme work ethic, train exhaustively to get better, and prepare fully so they can be their best when their best is needed.

Spot on, Kyle. If this was your only suggestion in the email, I’d say the Pirates farm system will be doing quite well with its development by September.

3. Trust like a Hell’s Angel — OWNERSHIP — Elite people trust their preparation, own their strengths and weaknesses, know what they do best and build conviction around it, and compete with reckless abandon.

Well, I agree with you that trust is important and ownership is key, but let’s take a step back with the Hell’s Angels stuff. It’s probably not the best group of people to strive to be…

The biggest impact we can have in the second half is developing more Hell’s Angels.

Of course! Wait, what?

Well, now that I have given it literally no thought, drank some varnish and closed the car door on my head numerous times, this is starting to sound like a pretty solid idea.

We are really good at working before games. We excel at developing Boy Scouts. However, men play in the Big Leagues and that requires the reckless abandon of a Hell’s Angel. 

Exactly. Because when I see successful teams like the Yankees, Reds, Nationals, etc., it always seems like they just don’t give a damn. In fact, last night I saw Robinson Cano field a grounder and intentionally beam the runner with the ball right in the head. Then he stuck his hat down his pants and tackled the home plate umpire. And then, the Nats announced they were going to keep Steven Strasburg in for about 250 (give or take) pitches every game because the best medicine for a surgically repaired elbow is reckless abandon.

This is a mentality that is developed. It is a harder mentality to develop with less control, more gray area, and less science.  However, it is the separation between good coaches and great ones, good development systems and great ones, and good organizations and great ones.  Training guys to unleash what they’ve got is an art and needs to be our WHAT in the second half.

As you do some research on the Hell’s Angels, you come across three main qualities that set them apart and symbolize their mystique:

I’m going to guess 1. Their propensity for brutal violence — including homicide — against other gangs as well as innocent bystanders. 2. Their willingness to engage in drug-and-alcohol-fueled crime sprees. 3. And oh, I don’t know, their U.S. Department of Justice given status as an organized crime syndicate and public perception as some of the scariest people on motorcycles you’d never want to encounter in your life.

1. Swagger — There is an extreme confidence in themselves, their brothers, and what they’re about. They carry a chip on their shoulder and dare others to knock it off. They have an edge. Do our players have an edge? Do we have an edge? What are we doing to develop that edge?

The Pirates haven’t had a winning season in 19 years. That should qualify as a big enough chip on their shoulders. But I guess if you really wanted to piss them off and lose focus on playing baseball you could have Navy SEALs come to camp and put them through a rigorous training regimen that even common military personnel would find taxing. That ought to make men out of them!

2. Reckless abandon — Not only do they have an edge, but they live life on the edge. They’re described as free-spirited, which can be defined as somewhat irresponsible. 

So you want your players to be somewhat irresponsible? Well I guess the Red Sox did get a TON of good media last year after they started being irresponsible in the locker room. I like where your head’s at Kyle…

They risk. They have no fear. They have a care-free and “care-less” attitude. You could argue that on one hand they care so much about who they are and what they do, but on the other hand they could care less in some areas such as what others think of them, of potential risks, of probabilities, etc. They’re more focused on possibilities than probabilities. They’re not consumed or swayed by what others think. They sell out to their purpose and live life fully and in-the-moment (“this pitch”). There has actually been a leadership book written about this approach to life, i.e. living life, experiencing it, and learning from your experiences. 

I bet it’s entitled “The Hell’s Angels: Why Modern Day Politics and Sports Would Benefit From Their In-Your-Face-Style” By Chuck Manson.

Their name comes from World War II fighting squadrons known for their extraordinary and dangerous feats of aviation. Do our players play with reckless abandon? Do we have reckless abandon? What are we doing to develop this mentality?

Well, I suppose we could bring in some Navy SEALs and…oh, already suggested that. I guess we could make them all fly fighter jets and shoot at each other? (And as far as the major league club goes, signing Clint Barmes, Rod Barajas and Nate McLouth in the off-season should count as reckless abandon, right?)

3. Bound by brotherhood — At the end of the day, they are fiercely loyal to each other. It is about the group and the bonds that exist between members. They can fight with each other, but someone external better not say anything negative about them. They love each other. Are our players bound by brotherhood? Are we bound by brotherhood? What are we doing to develop this bond?

That settles it. All players from every minor league team and managers too, grab a knife, cut your hand and shake on it. We’re gonna be blood brothers!

As the calendar turns to July, we are selling out and committing to this approach. We’ve trained them. We need to train their trust now. Our focus should be on developing Hell’s Angels. That requires …

Or you could teach them how to bunt, steal bases, turn double plays correctly and be mindful to know the situation while on defense and offense. Ahhhh, no, you know what? You’re right, that’s what all the other teams do. We need to be different. And…not good…at baseball.

– Building confidence (helping players know what they do well, perfecting those traits so we’re not just working on weaknesses, speaking greatness into them, etc.)

But working on weaknesses would probably be a good idea too. You know, so they aren’t so bad at basic fundamentals. Did I mention bunting?

– Encouraging risk (pushing players beyond their comfort zones, putting them in risky situations, viewing the risk as success rather than its result, celebrating risk taking, etc.)

Damn straight! Who says we can’t all try to stretch singles into triples? Bollocks to the system, let’s skip practice and go base jumping!

– Going alongside them (being a ‘guide on the side’ rather than a ‘sage on the stage,’ asking questions rather than giving answers, celebrating aggressive failure and the lessons that come from it, etc.)

– Adding chaos and intensity to our training (get them out of their comfort zone, add stress, add competition to the work day, etc.)

Yes, the more stress the better. Because I know for a fact that scientists and doctors have no idea if stress can negatively impact a person’s health or not. Whatever doesn’t kill ya only makes you stronger, right Mr. Stark? Besides, playing anywhere from 135-144 games over the course of a summer to try to earn a promotion to the majors while staying healthy and keeping their numbers high enough to avoid a demotion probably isn’t stressful enough. I know, let’s light their gloves on fire and hold their families hostage during games! That should really get them out of their comfort zone!

– Preparing them to compete rather than training all the time (get the focus on the competition, shift our purpose to preparation rather than working a physical technique, outward focus rather than inward, etc.)

But what if they don’t know the physical techniques yet? Yeah, you’re right. They could probably find some Tom Emanski videos on YouTube in their spare time anyway.

– Getting them outside of themselves and into the team (care about someone else, take care of each other, have each other’s back, etc.)

Yeah they definitely gotta have each other’s backs, just in case a rival motorcycle gang rides into town and tries to take their turf!

For this to happen, we must get out of our comfort zones and flex our own Hell’s Angel muscle. We must be extreme in our commitment to these ideas. This is ultimately about developing a mentality and a culture where this becomes our identity. A culture of risk and less control is unsettling for us control freaks! 

…and successful baseball clubs, but go on…

However, it is the answer to letting skill out and WHAT we need to do in the second half.

LB and Bernie will be following up with more details as we move forward. Sell out and commit to this. Coach with swagger, reckless abandon, and bounded by brotherhood and we’ll see those same traits in our players.

HOKA HEY — It’s a good day to die!!!

Yes, I’d say we’re all about ready to commit suicide after that. Thanks for the pep talk Mr. Stark.

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How Clueless is Pirates Assistant GM Kyle Stark?

September 20, 2012 4 Comments

Disclaimer: I want to start this off with full transparency. Most of this blog entry is made up of some puzzle pieces I’ve put together over the last few days. Some of my conclusions are based on speculation and I by no means am selling this as complete fact. My only intention in the following is to make you think a little bit and consider some certain possibilities that seem to be in the tea leaves. That being said, I’ll get right after it.

I’m a big fan of the Pittsburgh sports coverage done by the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. I follow just about all of their beat writers pretty closely because I consider them to be the best at what they do and the most entertaining while they do it. But without a doubt, my favorite writer is columnist Dejan Kovacevic. He’s a sports columnist that writes about every professional Pittsburgh team, as well as the basketball and football teams of Pitt, Penn State and West Virginia.

Lately, Kovacevic has been writing a lot about the second epic Pirates collapse in as many years, and he’s been right to do so. At one point this season, the Pirates were 16 games over .500. Now, they are 74-74. They’ve lost 10 of their last 12 and it certainly seems like it’ll take a miracle to prevent their 20th straight losing season. Some of Kovacevic’s columns have focused on how bad the players have been, while others have faulted coach Clint Hurdle, as well as the Pirates front office. I’ve been most interested in the latter.

On September 13, he wrote a column entitled “Pirates clueless about winning.“In this piece, he absolutely grills Pirates management for innumerable mistakes ranging from poor off-season free agent acquisitions to  improper signings at the trade deadline. But the core of the story focuses around the inability of the Pirates organization to teach good fundamentals to young players so they are adequately prepared once they get to the big leagues. He cites the example of Pirates assistant GM Kyle Stark bringing in United States Navy SEALS to the team’s Florida Instructional League sessions in Bradenton. Rather than have these young players focus on fundamentals they’re clearly lacking, Stark said the goal was “to give our guys a unique training experience to reinforce various lessons we stress all the time pertaining to leadership, team building and mental toughness.” Kovacevic scoffs at this statement (and rightly so) because that was valuable time the young players could use to practice the fundamentals of baseball, i.e. the most basic concepts ball players need to know to succeed at their sport.

Not long after he wrote the SEALS article, Kovacevic explored, among other things, the opinions outside the Pirates organization considering the team’s minor league fundamentals. On September 18, he wrote another article entitled “Nutting correct to seek answers.“The one glaring graf he used as evidence of how poorly other teams view the Pirates minor league development was the following:  I could fill the sports section with examples, or I could simply share what a farm director for another National League team told me Tuesday: “What the Pirates are doing down there is deplorable.” Again, he squarely puts the blame for this on the shoulders of Stark, the Pirates farm director.

That brings me to tonight. Kovacevic wrote a blog entry entitled “Wakeup Call: Do NOT let players off hook.” Here, he writes a few short points on why the Pirates players are also to blame for the team’s epic collapse. But that isn’t what intrigued me, it was one of the comments left by a reader below the story. This is what it said:
BarryVanBonilla
September 20th, 2012 – 12:08 am
By all means, let’s not let the players off the hook. But going back to your recent work, let’s not forget who assembled this team, who teaches it, especially those who have been around long to be attributable to the present regime (by no means excusing the Littlefield and Bonifay reigns of error).There is a cultural problem here, that I have discerned spending time around some of the individuals in question. I want to share some of what I’ve seen and been told, though I wish some of those directly involved would go on the record (since some have nothing fo lose).Your piece of a few days back captured issues I have seen firsthand, and heard from former players.  What I heard was reflective of systemic problems with priorities (team-building with consultants, core strength training, lectures, etc.) that took time away from on-field drills. As for the drills, there were complaints about them being formulaic, with inconsistent quality of training and a lack of effort expended toward making sure players kept doing something until they did it right.The more ephemeral criticisms centered around “too many (development) guys tapping on f******* computers and iPhones and not enough time doing hands-on training.” Also, too much “hairy fairy consultant ****,” presumably at the expense of hands-on training. I heard variations on these same criticisms from multiple individuals, and what I saw of Kyle Stark and his people at Pirate City was pretty uninspiring, inasmuch as they didn’t interact with players as much as with each other and their devices. There was a hell of a lot of standing around by players listening to lectures I couldn’t hear. The other criticism feeds off of the SEALS stuff. The military mindset is very much apparent if you spend time around them, and more so in the telling of people who have spent more time than I have. It has been described as offputting by people, and a lot of players appear not be responding well to it, according to its critics.

The other universal criticism of Stark is that he is not nearly knowledgeable enough about the actual game (as opposed to the theoretical game) to do his job effectively. Two former players told me that they approached Frank Coonelly about jobs with the organization. Both were sent to Stark. One former player told me Stark was an “obnoxious, disrespectful little ****.” My bias having met him is that this captures it quite well and applies to some of his staff as well (one of his direct reports laughed condescendingly at the idea that Kris Medlen would amount to anything, because he is too small, something I find amusing as I write this an hour or so after he tied Whitey Ford’s record of 21 consecutive starts resulting in a win for the Braves).

The other player was more specific (and riotously funny). He met Stark, who asked the guy what his experience was in baseball. He rattled off his years playing and coaching at several levels. Stark looked at (and tapped) on his laptop, asking: “Who did you play for? I haven’t heard of you.” The gentleman pointed to the wall behind them and said, “That’s me right there.” It was a large reproduction of one of the three world series celebrations since 1960 (left vague to protect the irate). Stark appeared not to “give a **** ” as it was described to me. Neither player believes Coonelly bothered to tell Stark who he was interviewing, which is borne out by the descriptions of the incidents.

There is a whiff of hypocrisy here. They talk about legacy, they bring these guys to spring training, put them in the dugout, but when they ask for a job they’re shuffled off to Stark. Now, it may well be that the individuals are not good potential coaches. To me, however, the going on and on about legacy and history, juxtaposed with the way they treat people who were important to the franchise, is telling. Several people told me that Clint Hurdle has had more to do with stressing the legacy than the others.

In sum, Neal Huntington’s team may be getting better, they may suck, but nobody I know (myself included) thinks they have any ability to relate to human beings very well. In my view, absent that ability (or a willingness to subcontract that part of your job to others who do have it), you’ve already failed. No matter how good your “metrics” are, you’ll ultimately wear out your welcome. My own impressions, outside of a select few people, is that this is a soulless, corporate operation that just happens to be in the business of baseball. That starts at the top, and that is why I don’t hold out a lot of hope.

I thought it was just a rant from some unusually intelligent Pirates fan at first, but throughout it, he/she kept declaring themselves close to the organization in one way or another. He/she said they had spent considerable time around the Pirates management and players in question and drew some conclusions from what he/she was told by certain people. Not only that, but below the comment, Kovacevic commented further about the commentator by adding:

“DK: All I’ll add is that I can vouch for this individual’s veracity as someone close enough to make the above comments. Oh, and I’ll add that Huntington promoted Stark and Greg Smith last winter to the titles of assistant GM.”

So, we should be able to conclude that Kovacevic basically backed up the commentator’s validity. These were words written by someone who knew what they were talking about.

(STAY WITH ME, I’M GETTING TO THE POINT SHORTLY)

In the comment, the person really attacked Stark and gave some examples. Primarily, I want you to consider what he/she said about two former players who approached Pirates president Frank Coonelly. Coonelly sent them both to Stark. One said that Stark was obnoxious and disrespectful (TO A FORMER PIRATES PLAYER WHOM THE TEAM PRESIDENT RESPECTED ENOUGH TO REFER). What’s worse, the Stark didn’t even know who the second former Pirate was. That’s when the former player pointed to a a picture of himself in a World Series celebration.

The commentator notes at this point that it was a picture of one of the World Series celebrations since 1960 (this is how he protects the player’s identity). So that player could have been on the Pirates team during the 1960,’71 or ’79 World Series win.

Now in the next graf of the comment, the author writes the following:

There is a whiff of hypocrisy here. They talk about legacy, they bring these guys to spring training, put them in the dugout, but when they ask for a job they’re shuffled off to Stark. Now, it may well be that the individuals are not good potential coaches. To me, however, the going on and on about legacy and history, juxtaposed with the way they treat people who were important to the franchise, is telling. Several people told me that Clint Hurdle has had more to do with stressing the legacy than the others.

This is where the commentator may have given away the identities of the two former players who approached Stark. “…put them in the dugout, but when they ask for a job, they’re shuffled off to Stark.” Earlier this season, I can remember only one instance when former players were brought back and put in the dugout for a game. Those two players were Bill Mazeroski and Bill Virdon. If you don’t remember, here’s the article documenting it. Also, in the commentator’s final sentence of that graf he points out that “several people told me that Clint Hurdle has more to do with stressing the legacy than the others.” I can back this up by a quote from Hurdle reported by MLB.com after Major League Baseball told Virdon and Mazeroski they weren’t allowed to be in the dugout because they exceeded the manager limit.

“I was told that’d be the end of it. It did not surprise me,” Hurdle admitted prior to Wednesday night’s second game of the interleague series with Minnesota at PNC Park. “It wasn’t really within the rules and regulations of the game, which I might have overlooked in my excitement to get them involved.”

It seems completely possible that the two players the commentator noted in his rant were Bill Virdon and Bill Mazeroski.

Both Virdon and Maz fit the criteria of being on one of the three World Series championship teams from 1960-1979. And I’m going to give the benefit of the doubt to Stark when I assume that he knows who Bill Mazeroski is. Pretty much anyone who knows a lick about baseball recognizes the name “Mazeroski.” So that leaves me to believe that Kyle Stark didn’t know who Bill Virdon was.

I know that Bill Virdon wasn’t the most high-profile player in Pirates history. But he did play for the team for 11 years (1956–1965, 1968) and was the manager of the Pirates from 1972-1973. He is a notable player in the team’s history and it’d be a damn shame of Stark didn’t know who he was. If in fact it was Virdon who approached Stark, which then prompted Stark to Google his name, it would only speak more to the fact that Stark is completely clueless and has no business being in the position he’s in

And don’t forget that Kyle Stark was obnoxious and disrespectful to them and was completely clueless as to who one of them was. Can you imagine how terrible it would feel to be one of those old time Pirates greats and have an assistant GM treat you like that? Hell, even if it wasn’t either of those players who were the ones mentioned in the blog comments. If you were a Pirates player who had won a championship with the team during the glory days, when the foundation of the fan base was established for generations to come, and you were treated like that by a current Pirates employee, wouldn’t you just feel the urge to smack him upside the head and give him a lesson about how meaningless he was to the organization now?

I know it’s a very roundabout way to say that the Pirates organization clearly makes bad personnel decisions from top to bottom, but it’s an entertaining way to look at it.Again, I’m not declaring it as fact that Maz and Virdon were the two unnamed players in the comments of Kovacevic’s blog. I could be putting together coincidental puzzle pieces that aren’t actually there. But consider what I’ve provided you and draw your own conclusions and don’t forget that regardless of who the two players were, Kyle Stark treated them like garbage. Either of the unnamed players would have been prime targets for autograph seekers because regardless of their names, they were Pirates. And now, the Pirates are a joke of an organization and the fans deserve better than the last 19 (and soon to be 20) years of losing.

And if I am grasping at straws, then I have at least provided you with Kovacevic’s insight that is clearly undeniable. Either way, I’ve made my point.

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Pirates Recent Skid: Who’s to Blame?

August 16, 2012 Leave a comment

I was 5 years old the last time the Pittsburgh Pirates made the playoffs. What’s more, that was also the last time the team had a winning season. It would make the franchise look pretty bad if I were 12 right now.  Eight-straight losing seasons would be rough. It would make it look eyebrow-raisingly bad if I were 18. Fourteen-straight losing seasons would be downright awful.

But alas, I am 24 and if you do the math correctly, that means the Pirates have not played more than 162 games in a season or finished with a winning record in 19 years. That, my friends, is indescribably bad.

The last time the Pirates were winners, gas cost $1.13 per gallon, everyone started buying Discmans and some kids who are in college now weren’t even born yet.

But 2012 has been a beacon of hope for the Pirates and their fans. Through the first half of this season, all signs have pointed in a positive direction. Although they were only 10-12 in April, the following months transformed them. In May they went 15-13. In June, they went 17-10. In July, they went 17-9. Winning was no longer the exception, it was the rule.

The Buccos spent long stretches in first place in the NL Central and on July 28, they were 16 games over 500. They were officially a playoff contender and even the pundits on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight would talk about the Pirates’ success every night (after they discussed the Yankees of course).

Lately, things haven’t looked as bright. August has begun to look like April. So far this month, the Pirates have gone 5-8 and have been outscored 71-59. In their last 10 games, the Pirates are 4-6. In their last 16, they are 6-10. In their last six series, they’ve won one, split one and lost four.

But what is making Pirates fans panic most lately is last night’s debacle against the Dodgers. The Pirates suffered their worst loss of the season, giving up 11 runs and failing to score. They committed two errors (and a third should have been counted when Pedro Alvarez let a line-drive deflect out of his glove), were 0-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded six. It was a U-G-L-Y game and one that fans won’t forget any time soon.

That loss put Pittsburgh six games back of first-place Cincinnati in the NL Central and they’re now clinging to a half-game lead on Los Angeles and San Francisco for the second wild card spot in the NL. If they lose again to the Dodgers tonight, they could be out of a playoff spot for the first time since July 1.

So who or what is to blame for this recent fall from grace?

Although there is no one definitive factor that has made the Pirates drop off a bit lately, there are a few things to consider.

And to be perfectly clear, the fans in the Steel City shouldn’t panic yet. There are still 46 games left to play and the team is still in a wild card spot. There’s way too much baseball left to make any predictions one way or the other.

 The first thing you might notice is how the Pirates pitching staff has struggled recently. In the last eight days, the Pirates have the worst ERA in baseball (6.25).*In those eight games, the Pirates went 2-6 while giving up 57 runs (50 of them earned).

*In that eight-day span, not all Major League teams played eight games.

James McDonald, who was considered Pittsburgh’s ace in the first half, has been the biggest underachieving starter lately. Dating back to July 2, he has gone 3-5 and his ERA has jumped from 2.45 to 3.77. His last four games have been some of the worst of his season. In those four, he averaged 5.2 innings per game while averaging a whopping 95.5 pitches per game. In the month of August, J-Mac has notched an ERA of 8.71.

The Pirates are currently using a six-man rotation but plan on returning to a five-man rotation on August 23, their next scheduled day off. If McDonald doesn’t improve quickly, he could be swapped from the rotation in favor of someone else and I wouldn’t argue against it.

From an offensive standpoint, the Pirates still leave something to be desired. They have the 22nd-best team batting average in the majors (.246) and the 12th-best in the NL. They rank 20th in runs scored in the majors (482) and 10th in the NL. Pittsburgh is also 22nd in league-wide OPS (.709) while ranking 11th in the NL. They still rank 10th in the majors in home runs (130) but it’s clear that the team isn’t hitting well enough.

The biggest plate struggles have come from catcher Rod Barajas and shortstop Clint Barmes. Barajas is hitting .194 and Barmes is hitting .213. Barmes is actually swinging a better than we was earlier in the season. In March/April, he hit .149 and in May he hit .189.

Both players are every-day starters and they shouldn’t be, especially for their 2012 price tags. Barmes and Barajas are the two highest paid non-pitchers on the team, with Barmes making $5 million this year and Barajas pulling in $4 million in 2012.

The Pirates might not have the most viable option to replace Barmes on a more consistent basis. Rookie Jordy Mercer hasn’t proven himself yet (he’s played in only 20 games) but he might be worth a look in the middle of a pennant race because of Barmes’ lumber ineptitude.

Barajas on the other hand, has a legitimate replacement backing him up every day. Michael McKenry, a three-year veteran, is hitting .283 and is only starting once every few days. In June, July and August, he is hitting .306, .325 and .360, respectively. The Fort, as he is affectionately referred to in Pittsburgh, has been an exciting young talent to watch this season and has only garnered 152 at bats compared to Barajas’ 242. If Pirates manager Clint Hurdle wants to improve a struggling lineup at the plate, McKenry should be the every-day guy until he shows that he shouldn’t be.

That brings me to Andrew McCutchen. It’s tremendously difficult to type a bad word about the guy. He’s been sensational for the Buccos this year, by far the team MVP. He has led the majors in batting average basically all season and he’s a legitimate threat for NL MVP. But I need to cite the fact that he hasn’t quite been the same player since August came along. After hitting .370 in June and .446 in July, McCutchen entered yesterday’s game hitting .289 with a .377 on-base percentage in August. That’s still a better average than all but a few of the Pirates regulars. He has also hit only one home run in August. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still leading the majors with a .359 batting average and that’s really impressive. I no, we shouldn’t expect him to keep hitting .370. But he had a similar cool down last season in the final months and it seems that the Pirates go as Cutch goes. And if the rest of the team is going to continue to bad average as a whole, he needs to keep swinging an unbelievable bat for the Pirates to win consistently. It’s a huge burden on his shoulders, but he’s a star and stars need to help carry a faltering team. If Pittsburgh wants to stay in the playoff picture, McCutchen needs to level off his falling numbers and get back to consistency.

With all of that said, I feel it’s important to note some reasons that fans cannot blame for the Pirates’ recent misfortunes.

  • A single perceived turning point like last season. Although there were a number of factors that led to the demise of the 2011 season, many fans will point to the “Jerry Meals incident” as the turning point for the Pirates. After 19 innings, the Buccos lost a game against the Atlanta Braves on a clearly blown call by home plate umpire Meals. After that night, the Pirates seemed deflated and finished the season 72-90. So far this year, you can’t really pinpoint a single game that has struck a significant blow to the Pirates. Hopefully, the 11-0 trouncing from the Dodgers last night won’t solidify as a favorite for a downfall.
  • Injuries. This has been a healthy season for the Pirates. Up to last night, they have had the fewest disabled list assignments in the National League and were tied for the fewest in the Major Leagues. They have had only nine of such assignments this season, followed by the Reds (10), Marlins (10) and Brewers (10).
  • A difficult second-half schedule. After the all-star break, the Pirates’ second half was regarded as one of the easiest in all of baseball (ESPN’s Buster Olney says they have the second easiest behind only the Reds). At the break, Pittsburgh’s remaining opponents had a .459 winning percentage and included lowly teams like the Brewers (52-63)*, Cubs (45-70)*, Astros (39-79)*, Rockies (43-71)* and Padres (52-66)*. And if their weak opposition wasn’t enough, more than half of their remaining games would be at home. To date, the Pirates are tied for the second best home record in the majors (36-22).*

 *Reflects current record.

  • The number of errors. What used to be a telling stat of futility for the Pirates is now one of relative success. Through 116 games, the Pirates have committed 71 errors. That doesn’t make them an elite fielding team, but it’s good enough to rank them sixth in the NL and 12th overall in the majors. The standouts have been Neil Walker (fifth among NL second baseman with six), Barmes (tied for second among NL shortstops with 11) and McCutchen (tied for first among NL center fielders with one).
  • Joel Hanrahan. The Hammer has still been a hummer this season. Although the starting rotation has struggled a bit lately and the bullpen hasn’t been what it was in the first half, Hanrahan has been as consistent as ever throughout the season. His velocity has been down and he hasn’t had the control he’d like, but Hanrahan still has the third-most saves in the majors this season (33), behind only Tampa Bay’s Fernando Rodney (37) and Baltimore’s Jim Johnson (34). The Pirate’s closer has blown only three saves this season and hasn’t blown one since July 3 (an 8-7 win against the Astros in which Hanrahan was awarded the win).

You may choose to agree or disagree on any of my points, (there are certainly some areas I didn’t have time to address like the Pirates’ recent trades, Pedro Alvarez constantly striking out (he has had 37 multi-strike out games out of 105 played — 35.2 percent), A.J. Burnett continuing to be a stud) but if you’re a Pirates fan, choose to keep rooting for the Buccos. Because you never know the next time they’ll be in line for a post season appearance. And just for good measure, you might want to note that today, gas costs $3.70 a gallon, everyone is buying iPhone 5s and college kids are currently witnessing a winning Pittsburgh Pirates ball club.

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Emotion Ties All Olympic Athletes, Viewers Together

July 30, 2012 1 Comment

When the opening ceremonies of the Olympics got underway on Friday night, I couldn’t help but feel an overwhelming amount of anticipation for the days to follow. As an invested sports fan and writer, there’s nothing better than having something to watch, non-stop, for 17 straight days.

Like most proud Americans, I enjoy watching the events in which the United States is favored – swimming, women’s gymnastics, and men’s basketball to name a few – but in the end, I want to watch everything.  Because regardless of their popularity, every Olympic athlete deserves our attention.

It’s been only four days since the massive Olympic cauldron was lit in London and I’ve already watched handball, basketball, swimming, archery, diving, table tennis, equestrian, shooting, fencing, water polo, badminton, volleyball, beach volleyball, boxing, soccer, gymnastics, rowing, tennis, weight lifting and who could forget, white-water canoeing slalom.

Outside of Olympic competition, I routinely watch three of the above-mentioned sports (basketball, boxing and tennis). But that’s one reason I love the Games so much. It’s not only the coverage of popular and mainstream sports, it’s also the display of the obscure athletes that shine on a world-wide stage only once every four years. Little known athletes and world-wide superstars share common ground here.

The Olympics is the great equalizer.

As much as I enjoy watching familiar faces at the Games, I take equal satisfaction in watching the performances of the unrecognizable athletes who may never again have a chance to be in the lime light. These are the skeet shooters, table tennis players and kayakers who train every day of their lives for one moment in the sun, to represent their country and show the world that just because you never heard of them doesn’t mean they aren’t important.

From a monetary standpoint, it’s clear that one sport doesn’t mean more than another in the Olympics. The worth of a 2012 Olympic gold medal for the 10 meter air pistol event is equal to the worth of a men’s basketball gold medal – about $644. And using the United States Olympic Committee medal bonuses as an example, the amounts of $25,000 for gold, $15,000 for silver and $10,000 for bronze applies to the full gamut of U.S. athletes, regardless of sport.

But more importantly, all Olympic athletes share the pride of representing their country and the backing of their country’s citizens. And when it comes to emotion, the Games provide a level ground from which athletes of all sports fall or ascend from.

When U.S. gymnast Jordyn Wieber fell just short of qualifying for the individual all-around final on Sunday, you could see and feel her devastation. She said “it was a little bit of a disappointment” but the hollow longing in her eyes was palpable. It was more than slight disappointment.

It was agony.

This was the event that she was supposed to own. She knew it and the rest of the world did, too. Weiber was the reigning all-around champion and was heavily favored to win the event, but a wobble on the balance beam and a slight step out of bounds during the floor event dropped her to third place behind fellow Americans Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas. Because a rule states only two members of a country’s team can move onto the final 24, Weiber could not advance. As the U.S. team exited the arena and started doing interviews, Douglas beamed her trademark smile from ear to ear. Raisman cried tears of joy. Wieber wept to the contrary.

It made for terrific television from both an entertainment standpoint and that of identifiable human emotion. It felt very human to experience the conflict the team was going through. Sure, the American group was pleased that two of its members made the final, but at the same time, the team shared the emotional burden of Wieber’s uncanny shortfall.

I found myself identifying just as much with the emotions of German fencer Britta Heidemann when she lost the gold medal in overtime of the women’s individual epee event on Monday. Although this event received next to no press attention, Heidemann was the defending Olympic champion in the event, winning gold in Beijing in 2008, and that made her one of the favorites to bring home the gold again from London.

Admittedly, I know very little about fencing and even less about the specific Olympic events within it. But I didn’t need to know anything about the sport to realize how much it hurt Heidemann to lose gold in OT.

After coming from behind to force a sudden death stage, it seemed like Heidemann held the momentum advantage. But as she aggressively advanced and struck toward her foe, it wasn’t her weapon that touched first. Green lights lit up on the stage, a visible sign of her demise.

After exchanging gracious kisses on the cheek with her opponent Yana Shemyakina of the Ukraine, Heidemann quickly paced into the shadows of the arena, away from the searching cameras. There wasn’t much time to examine the expression on her face, but a split second was all it took to recognize her despondency.

Britta Heidemann moments after her gold medal defeat. (Screenshot from NBC)

In contrast, Shemyakina tore her mask off in celebration after landing the winning blow. A deep and joyful embrace of her coach was followed by her acknowledgment of the roaring crowd, while she wrapped herself in the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag.

Heidemann displayed a smile during the award ceremony; after all, she earned a silver medal for her efforts. But you have to think that it was something of a mask, covering up the disappointment of being within one strike of winning back-to-back golds.

That’s what made it fascinating. How did she really feel after losing the gold, but still achieving silver? Were her emotions of disappointment greater than those of achievement, despite the grin?

 

The human element made it great, not the pure sporting perspective.

It is these moments of indescribable joy and unthinkable disappointment that make the Olympics so captivating. Whether they are the most famous athletes in the world or the least known competitors of little-talked about sports, they encapsulate the raw emotion that anyone can appreciate.

Ultimately, what links the big-time Olympic athletes, no-name Olympic athletes and average people watching on television is pride in our respective countries and the emotion generated by the drive to win Olympic hardware.

Because when our Olympians – recognizable or not – win medals, so do we.

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Death Penalty May Have Hurt Penn State Less

July 24, 2012 25 Comments

When the Joe Paterno statue was taken down outside Beaver Stadium on Penn State’s campus Sunday, a small portion of the recent scandal’s visibility was also removed. No longer would people be able to gaze upon a symbol whose new meaning is deception and human indecency.

But sanctions handed out to Penn State this morning ensured that the football program will continue to serve as a public reminder of those horrible acts conducted by Jerry Sandusky and the subsequent cover up by Penn State officials.

NCAA President Mark Emmert announced that Penn State will be penalized with a $60 million fine, a four-year football postseason ban and vacation of all wins since 1998. The school also must reduce its number of scholarships from 25 to 15 per year for four years.

It was a harsh penalty, but it wasn’t the death penalty. That would have meant football at Penn State would have been suspended completely for up to four years.

During the announcement this morning, Emmert said that the death penalty would have hurt too many innocent people. “Suspension of the football program would bring with it significant unintended harm to many who had nothing to do with this case. The sanctions we have crafted are more focused and impactful than that blanket penalty.”

Many believe that Penn State got lucky in not receiving the death penalty. But I’m not so sure. These sanctions may actually be more impactful than the death penalty when it comes to the football program and public perception of the university. Penn State must now endure the “living-death penalty.”

With these actions, the NCAA is doing more than just keeping the football program from playing in the postseason and limiting recruiting and finances. These sanctions will keep the football program in full view of public scrutiny as it carries out its sentence. It is a public shaming stemming from the infamy that Penn State officials brought on themselves. The Nittany Lion will be shut into the stockade and the world will decide whether or not to let the tomatoes fly.

If the football program was completely shut down for a few years, the talk of Penn State football in any media capacity would die off quickly. There would be no football to speak of. Beaver stadium would be empty every Saturday and no one would feel the usual buzz in the air of a fall day in Happy Valley. Maybe this scenario of talking about nothing would work in a plot line of Seinfeld, but not for the national media. It would be an unsettling quietness, but it would be quiet nonetheless.

Then in a few years, Penn State would return to playing football and recruiting players like it always has. It would be a rebirth of football in State College, rising from the ashes and establishing a new identity forged in the absence of football. Their difficult sentence would be over and a new page would turn, helping people to forget about the previous chapters written before it.

The death penalty would have meant a fresh start eventually.

Instead, Penn State will begin a four-year span of meaningless football and public scrutiny. There will be no break from media analysis for the football program. There will be no fresh starts. There will be no bowl games, no Big Ten Championships and no hope to make the NCAA playoff when it begins in 2014. But there will be plenty of time each Saturday for broadcasters to talk about the events leading to the current situation. Viewers at home and at Penn State games will witness the walking-dead Nittany Lions carry out their penalty every week of the season. Talk may die down as time goes on, but the scandal will always be the 800-pound gorilla in Beaver Stadium.

Public perception of Penn State football won’t be helped by a mediocre team, either. With the loss of scholarships and inability to play for Big Ten Championships, National Championships and bowl games, the talent wells for Happy Valley are bound to hit drought conditions. Elite players won’t want to come to Penn State to play for nothing. These young men will play for Penn State’s competition and make the Nittany Lions’ road to success on the field that much harder.

The football team will be bled to death slowly for the next four years and beyond as fewer and fewer top recruits commit. A team of walk-ons just won’t win many games. In the coming years, Penn State will set a different precedent besides the sanctions imposed against them: Never in college football history will such a pedestrian team get so much media attention.

But public perception and sanctions aside, I believe Penn State will recover from this someday. The next decade will be an uphill crawl for everyone who represents the university – the football team, students, alumni and fans (myself included). Success with honor may not have meant anything to Jerry Sandusky, Joe Paterno and other Penn State brass, but it still means something to the rest of us and it’s our duty not to forget what happened while still moving on to set a new standard of excellence.

Football at Penn State will be relevant some day in the future, but it will be the most publicly scrutinized return to relevance in the history of college football.

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Sidney Crosby: The Best Captain in NHL History?

July 13, 2012 Leave a comment

Sidney Crosby: The Best Captain in NHL History?

By Pete Dombrosky

With fireworks set to launch above the confluence of the Monongahela and the Allegheny in Pittsburgh this July 4th, Sidney Crosby and the rest of the Penguins waited for star free agent Zach Parise to decide where he would bring his talents for the foreseeable future. The Steel City had long anticipated the acquisition of a star winger to pair with Crosby and rumor had it that Parise just might be the man for the job.

But unfortunately for the Penguins, the Minnesota Wild set off some fireworks of their own, announcing they signed Parise and free agent defenseman Ryan Suter for identical 13-year, $98 million deals.

The Penguins’ plan A went up in smoke while sky-bursts lit up the North Shore.

Plan B might include Shane Doan, Bobby Ryan, Rick Nash or even Alexander Semin. Sure, a star forward would be a great gift for Crosby – whose birthday is approaching on August 7 – but he already has about as much as a 24-year-old Canadian could ask for.

On July 30th, 2005, Crosby fulfilled his life-long dream of being drafted into the National Hockey League. Although he grew up a Montreal Canadiens fan, Sid certainly wasn’t any less-enthused about joining the same roster as Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux.

He succeeded Lemieux’s captaincy in 2007 – becoming the youngest ever to receive the honor – and later that season led the Penguins to their first Stanley Cup Final since 1992, while winning the Art Ross Trophy, the Hart Memorial Trophy and the Ted Lindsay Award. Since then, Crosby has won a Stanley Cup, a Maurice Richard Trophy and an Olympic Gold Medal.

On Sunday July 1, the Penguins captain officially signed a 12-year contract worth $104.4 million, making him the highest paid player in hockey (if you average the first nine years of the front-loaded deal).

Yes, Crosby has more hardware than a Home Depot, but he’d be the first to admit that his championships are the most important. That’s why it’s reasonable to assume that what Crosby wants most is to keep adding his name to Lord Stanley’s Cup as many times as possible.

And that shiny new contract might give him a shot at an NHL championship record set in 1971 – the most career NHL championships as a captain. NHL legend Jean Beliveau won the Cup as captain five times – in 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969 and 1971 – during his 10-year captaincy of the Montreal Canadiens from 1961-1971.

Crosby may only have one Cup now, but there are four reasons why he has a chance to eclipse Beliveau’s mark.

1. Time is on Sid’s side. His new contract ensures that he will be a Penguin until 2025. Because there’s little chance anyone else becomes captain while he’s there, Crosby has a lengthy span to win five more Cups with the “C” on his chest.

When Crosby’s latest contract runs out in 2025, he will be 38. Yes, that’s pretty old for a hockey player, but there have been some pretty outstanding men to compete well past that age in the NHL. Chris Chelios was 46 years old when he won the Stanley Cup in 2008 when he and the Redwings beat the Penguins in Crosby’s first trip to the Finals. Former Penguin Mark Recchi was 43 when he won his third Cup with the Boston Bruins in 2011. Igor Larionov and Dave Andreychuk also won Stanley Cups when they were 41 and 40, respectively. Hockey players aren’t necessarily like fine wines, but they can be good enough to win for a long time.

2. Crosby’s contract is structured for team building. Upon first examination of Crosby’s new contract, it might seem like he’ll be handcuffing the Penguins in the first nine years of his deal. Here’s what it will look like: 2013-14 — $12 million, 2014-15 — $12 million, 2015-16 — $12 million, 2016-17 — $10.9 million, 2017-18 — $10.9 million, 2018-19 — $10 million, 2019-20 — $9 million, 2020-21 — $9.6 million, 2021-22 — $9 million.

But because of the structure of the deal, he’ll command an annual cap hit of only $8.7 million per year, the same as his previous contract. Because Crosby was willing to go without a raise for the rest of his career, that leaves plenty of annual cap room for the Penguins to sign additional talent to place around their captain.

Within the current roster, that means the Penguins will have a better shot at signing core players to new long-term contracts when the current deals expire. Evgeni Malkin – who won the Art Ross Trophy, the Ted Lindsay and the Hart Memorial Trophy this season, will be an unrestricted free agent in 2014. The same goes for All-Star blueliner Kris Letang. The following year, Stanley Cup-winning goalie Marc-Andre Fluery will also become an unrestricted free agent. They will be the priorities for Penguins GM Ray Shero. We won’t know what kind of contracts the three will be asking for by then (they’ll most likely be in need of raises at that point) but Crosby’s deal will give the team more wiggle room to lock them up.

In addition, the Pens will have the ability to go after big-name free agents when they pop up. Parise was a prime example. Not only was there cap room to pursue him, Crosby himself was part of the selling point. He called Parise on the Penguins behalf to entice him to Western Pennsylvania. Sid is a big draw for the fans in Pittsburgh, but he’s also an attractive worm on the hook to lure talent to the team. It’s a pretty big selling point to skate with the best player in the world and since Crosby will be in Pittsburgh for the rest of his career, big-time UFAs should be drawn to Pittsburgh for a decade.

3. Crosby is only 24 years old. Beliveau was 33 when he won his first Cup as a captain – 12 years older than Crosby was when he became the youngest captain ever to win a Stanley Cup in 2009. And Sid will be in the prime of his career for at least 3-4 more years. After that, you can expect a decline in his numbers, but a decline for Crosby probably won’t bring him down to human-like stats until he’s in his 30s. Obviously it’s speculation at this point, but it’s a reasonable assumption.

Crosby has seemingly reached his full maturity potential when it comes to his puck skills, scoring and skating, but I still believe he can further progress. Again, I’ll reiterate that he is only 24. Crosby would be the first to tell you that he still has plenty to learn and achieve. He already has a “veteran presence” but the average age of a captain in the NHL is 30. So it’s reasonable to assume that a player reaches full maturity and has the full capacity to become a stalwart leader around that age as well.
You think Crosby is mature now? Just wait six years. His physical abilities might have declined by then, but his intangibles will have escalated.

4. Crosby is one of the best players in the world. Although Evgeni Malkin probably holds the current title of best player in hockey, a healthy Sid can take over a game more so than even Geno can. He has an average of 1.40 points per game, which is first among active players and fourth all time, behind three guys named Gretzky, Lemieux and Bossy. Only once in Sid’s seven-year NHL career has he scored fewer than 24 goals, and that was last season, when he scored eight in only 22 games. His last full season was 2009-10, when he scored 51 goals, tying Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos for the Maurice Richard Trophy for most goals in the season.

Sid has a nose for the back of the net, but he’s also an outstanding playmaker. He has averaged .889 assists per game, putting him behind only Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Bobby Orr and Peter Forsberg on the all-time list. He currently ranks first among active players in that category.

Not only do Crosby’s stats represent his case, he has unquantifiable intangibles that make him extra valuable. He has outstanding vision of the ice. He knows where space is, even if it’s out of his field of view and he can always sense where his teammates are. Crosby has that unexplainable sixth sense of his surroundings that truly sets him apart. Even if his critics think he complains too much, they have to admit he is a special talent.

The main roadblock standing in Crosby’s way is his injury history. Sid missed the better part of the last two seasons with concussion symptoms. He was on pace to set career highs in goals, assists and points when he was blindsided by Washington Capitals forward David Steckel in the 2011 Winter Classic and suffered a concussion. During the next game, Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman smashed Crosby into the glass, worsening the effects from the Steckel hit.

After rehabbing and seeking treatment for the remainder of the season and the following summer, Crosby came back on November 21, 2011, 320 days after the injury occurred. He lasted only eight games however, and was once again put out of commission by a David Krejci elbow. On March 5, Crosby returned again and played in the remaining regular season and subsequent playoff games, appearing to be back to normal.

Will Crosby’s concussion symptoms return? No one knows for sure.

His health will determine his longevity, but the Penguins brass seemed to be confident that Crosby’s concussions are a thing of the past. If they were truly skeptical about his condition, they might not have signed him to such a lengthy deal. That became more apparent when the news broke that Crosby’s new contract isn’t insurable because his concussion history is considered a pre-existing condition.

If Sid can’t finish his contract because of a concussion-related injury, he will still be paid in full, but the Penguins would not receive assistance from an insurance policy. Although this event wouldn’t cripple the team financially because of revenue generated from 251 consecutive sellouts, a big TV deal, hefty sponsorship and deep-pocketed ownership, Penguins management still needed some faith in Crosby’s health to sign him for more than a decade.

Another barrier to this record is the parity in the NHL. It’s been 14 years since a team won back-to-back Stanley Cups (The Redwings in 1997 and 1998). And the last captain to win multiple Stanley Cups? That would be Scott Stevens of the New Jersey Devils when he won his third in 2003; before that was Steve Yzerman of Detroit Red Wings, who won his third Cup in 2002. The last captain to win four Stanley Cups was The Great One in 1988.

For Crosby to win five more Cups in the next 13 seasons, the Penguins would have to average one championship about every two years. The difficulty of that task cannot be overstated. NHL teams just don’t have dynasties like in the days of the two-line pass. It’s highly improbable that there will be a new “Montreal Canadians” dynamic because of free agency. Teams just don’t have the money to pay an entire roster of stars any more. Although future collective bargaining agreements could change the salary cap ceiling in the future, it’s still unlikely that teams could hold onto all of the pieces they used to win one Stanley Cup.

Crosby’s best chance to keep a highly competitive team around him is to have the Penguins sign their core players and a few other star pieces to long-term deals, spreading the salary out to stay under the cap. And in these days where star NHL players make many times the salary of the President of the United States, it’ll be tough to convince the best of the best to sign for less money when they could go to other teams to pad their wallets.

So if the salary cap will be an issue when it comes to signing free agents to play with Crosby, the Penguins will have to be successful in stockpiling young talent from the ground up. As the whole, the organization has been successful recently. It seems to draft well every year and currently, has a wealth of defensive talent in its farm system including Brian Dumoulin, the 20-year-old defenseman who came over from Carolina in the Jordan Staal trade; Scott Harrington, the 19-year-old Penguins second round draft pick in 2011; Joe Morrow, the Penguins 19-year-old first round draft pick of 2011, as well as 18-year-old Derrick Pouliot and 17-year-old Olli Määttä, the Penguins 2012 first and second round draft picks, respectively.

The Pens absolutely need to keep hitting the bull’s eye with their drafts and player development. Not only will these youngsters need to develop to play for the Penguins someday, they also need to be good enough to use for potential trades to acquire other NHL players to address the immediate needs of the team. For Crosby to win more Cups, it’s essential that the Penguins be among the most competitive organizations from top to bottom in the league for the next decade, which is another very tough goal to achieve.

Pittsburgh also needs to sort out their postseason issues. Although they have a combined regular season record of 147-78-21 since winning the Stanley Cup in 2009, the team has gone 12-14 in the postseason since, winning only one series (against the Ottawa Senators in 2010). It’s a terrific regular season record to have, but it doesn’t mean anything if they can’t win games in April and May.

In the 2010 playoffs, the team had trouble scoring goals. It was the same story in the 2011 postseason, but the team had the excuse of an absent Crosby and Malkin. Last season, there was no shortage of offense for the Pens, but there were defensive breakdowns every two minutes and Fluery was abysmal. Hopefully for Pittsburgh, the offseason signing of veteran goalie Tomas Vokoun will give Fluery more rest during the regular season so he is fresher come playoff time.

And defensively?

They just have to be better, there’s no other way of putting it. Maybe that warrants calling up young defensive talent from Wilkes-Barre Scranton to join the full-time roster. Perhaps Pittsburgh should hire a coach to specialize on the penalty kill or change their overall PK philosophy. Maybe they need to find another blueliner via trade. Maybe all four.

But ultimately, the team goes as Sid goes. He is the heartbeat of the Penguins and if he stays healthy for the remainder of his contract, the team makes responsible roster decisions and the hockey gods sprinkle in a little luck, the one they call “The Kid” might very well see his moniker engraved in silver and nickel alloy five more times.

That would be the best present that Crosby could ask for.

Sidney Crosby
                                                                                                                 Credit: Dan4th Nicholas, Flickr Creative Commons
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Stanley Cup Wins by Captain

5 Stanley Cup Wins (1 player)
Jean Beliveau, Montreal Canadians (1964–65, 1965–66, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71)
4 Stanley Cups Wins (5 players)
Maurice Richard, Montreal Canadians (1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60)
Yvan Cournoyer, Montreal Canadians (1975–76, 1976–77, 1977–78, 1978–79)
George Armstrong, Toronto Maple Leafs (1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1966–67)
Denis Potvin, New York Islanders (1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83)
Wayne Gretzky, Edmonton Oilers (1983–84, 1984–85, 1986–87, 1987–88)
3 Stanley Cup Wins (4 players)
Syl Apps, Toronto Maple Leafs (1941–42, 1946–47, 1947–48)
Sid Abel, Detroit Redwings (1942–43, 1949–50, 1951–52)
Scott Stevens, New Jersey Devils (1994–95, 1999–00, 2002–03)
Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings (1996–97, 1997–98, 2001–02)
2 Stanley Cup Wins (12 players)
Sprague Cleghorn, Montreal Canadians, Boston Bruins (1923–24, 1928–29)
Bill Cook, New York Rangers (1927–28, 1932–33)
Sylvio Mantha, Montreal Canadians (1929–30, 1930–31)
Doug Young, Detroit Redwings (1935–36, 1936–37)
Toe Blake, Montreal Canadians (1943–44, 1945–46)
Emile Bouchard, Montreal Canadians (1952–53, 1955–56)
Ted Kennedy, Toronto Maple Leafs (1948–49, 1950–51)
Ted Lindsay, Detroit Redwings (1953–54, 1954–55)
Bobby Clarke, Philadelphia Flyers (1973–74, 1974–75)
Mark Messier, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers (1989–90, 1993–94)
Mario Lemieux, Pittsburgh Penguins (1990–91, 1991–92)
Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche (1995–96, 2000–01)
1 Stanley Cup Win (22 players)
Howard McNamara, Montreal Canadians (1915–16)
Hap Day, Toronto Maple Leafs (1931–32)
Charlie Gardiner, Chicago Blackhawks (1933–34)
Johnny Gottselig, Chicago Blackhawks (1937–38)
Cooney Weiland, Boston Bruins (1938–39)
Art Coulter, New York Rangers (1939–40)
Dit Clapper, Boston Bruins (1940–41)
Bob Davidson, Toronto Maple Leafs (1944–45)
Pierre Pilote, Chicago Blackhawks (1960–61)
Henri Richard, Montreal Canadians (1972–73)
Bob Gainey, Montreal Canadians (1985–86)
Jim Peplinski, Calgary Flames (1988-89)
Guy Carbonneau, Montreal Canadians (1992–93)
Derian Hatcher, Dallas Stars (1998–99)
Dave Andreychuk, Tampa Bay Lightning (2003-04)
Rod Brind’Amour, Carolina Hurricanes (2005-06)
Scott Niedermayer, Anaheim Ducks (2006-07)
Nicklas Lidstrom, Detroit Redwings (2007–08)
Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins (2008–09)
Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks (2009–10)
Zdeno Chara, Boston Bruins (2010–11)
Dustin Brown, Los Angeles Kings (2011–12)

Stanley Cup Winners By Team/Captain

Anaheim Ducks 
2006-07- Scott Niedermayer

Boston Bruins 
1928–29- Sprague Cleghorn
1938–39- Cooney Weiland
1940–41- Dit Clapper
1969–70 No captain
1971–72 No captain
2010–11- Zdeno Chara

Calgary Flames
1988-89- Jim Peplinski

Carolina Hurricanes
2005-06- Rod Brind’Amour

Chicago Blackhawks
1933–34- Charlie Gardiner
1937–38- Johnny Gottselig
1960–61- Pierre Pilote
2009–10- Jonathan Toews

Colorado Avalanche
1995–96- Joe Sakic
2000–01- Joe Sakic

Dallas Stars
1998–99- Derian Hatcher

Detroit Red Wings
1935–36- Doug Young
1936–37- Doug Young
1942–43- Sid Abel
1949–50- Sid Abel
1951–52- Sid Abel
1953–54- Ted Lindsay
1954–55- Ted Lindsay
1996–97- Steve Yzerman
1997–98- Steve Yzerman
2001–02- Steve Yzerman
2007–08- Nicklas Lidstrom

Edmonton Oilers
1983–84- Wayne Gretzky
1984–85- Wayne Gretzky
1986–87- Wayne Gretzky
1987–88- Wayne Gretzky
1989–90- Mark Messier

Los Angeles Kings
2011–12- Dustin Brown

Montreal Canadiens
1915–16- Howard McNamara
1923–24- Sprague Cleghorn
1929–30- Sylvio Mantha
1930–31- Sylvio Mantha
1943–44- Toe Blake
1945–46- Toe Blake
1952–53- Emile Bouchard
1955–56- Emile Bouchard
1956–57- Maurice Richard
1957–58- Maurice Richard
1958–59- Maurice Richard
1959–60- Maurice Richard
1964–65- Jean Beliveau
1965–66- Jean Beliveau
1967–68- Jean Beliveau
1968–69- Jean Beliveau
1970–71- Jean Beliveau
1972–73- Henri Richard
1975–76- Yvan Cournoyer
1976–77- Yvan Cournoyer
1977–78- Yvan Cournoyer
1978–79- Yvan Cournoyer
1985–86- Bob Gainey
1992–93- Guy Carbonneau

New Jersey Devils
1994–95- Scott Stevens
1999–00- Scott Stevens
2002–03- Scott Stevens

New York Islanders
1979–80- Denis Potvin
1980–81- Denis Potvin
1981–82- Denis Potvin
1982–83- Denis Potvin

New York Rangers
1927–28- Bill Cook
1932–33- Bill Cook
1939–40- Art Coulter
1993–94- Mark Messier

Philadelphia Flyers
1973–74- Bobby Clarke
1974–75- Bobby Clarke

Pittsburgh Penguins
1990–91- Mario Lemieux
1991–92- Mario Lemieux
2008–09- Sidney Crosby

Tampa Bay Lightning
2003-04- Dave Andreychuk

Toronto Maple Leafs
1917–18- N/A
1921–22- N/A
1931–32- Hap Day
1941–42- Syl Apps
1944–45- Bob Davidson
1946–47- Syl Apps
1947–48- Syl Apps
1948–49- Ted Kennedy
1950–51- Ted Kennedy
1961–62- George Armstrong
1962–63- George Armstrong
1963–64- George Armstrong
1966–67- George Armstrong

Filed under NHL, Penguins Tagged with

Pete’s Futbol Experiment: Final Thoughts

July 12, 2012 Leave a comment

The 2012 European Championships have been finished for more than a week and the excitement still hasn’t worn off!

Ok, I’ll admit it, the excitement was never there in the first place.

But I feel like I gave soccer (without a U.S. team) a legitimate chance.I watched well over a dozen games over the course of the tournament, even when I couldn’t stand to watch another. I just kept telling myself, “it will get better.”

But it never did, even in the knockout stages.

My roommate, Super Fan Conor, almost had me convinced that watching the games of the Euro 2012 would be at the least, mildly entertaining.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t figure out how to enjoy the games that I watched. There were a number of reasons for this.

1. I was unfamiliar with the majority of the players and history of the teams. This one is 100 percent on me. The underlying story lines provided by the players and coaches drive the action in sports and make it extra compelling. Because I didn’t know who I was watching, I felt no compulsion. Even though I recognized a few of the players because they were the biggest names in the game, they weren’t big enough for me to root for or against them. This is the same situation I find myself in while attempting to watch NASCAR, golf tournaments without Tiger Woods and the WNBA.

2.  Player injuries every three minutes. This was my biggest complaint. Virtually every time there was physical contact between two players, one or both of them would fall to the ground in agony. They would writhe around on the ground, holding their arms or legs and praying for death to come quickly. But suddenly, just as quickly as they plummeted, they would regain their composure, stand up and take off down the field like a deer. I couldn’t tell who was pretending to be hurt and who was “legitimately” hurt because of a low pain threshold.

For as long as I can remember, the best athletes were the ones who could play through pain and win, despite adversity. Athletes are supposed to be tough, both mentally and physically. After watching a few weeks of soccer, the players just seemed too soft for me to truly appreciate what they do. I could be wrong, but I’m just calling it like I see it.

3. Soccer fans throw flares onto the field…routinely. I don’t know how many times it happened, but it was enough for me to take notice and become disgusted by it. It’s bad enough in American sports when fans chuck beer bottles or other food items onto the playing surface or at players.

That should never happen.

But a flare? That’s just idiotic. It’s dangerous and distracting. And every time a flare landed on the pitch, the game needed to be halted to clear it and the smoke it created. This wasted valuable time and potential momentum for the players. These mindless stoppages forced me to start doing something else to fill the monotonous, smoke-filled void. And once the game lost my attention, it lost it for good.

4. Ties. During the group stage, there were five draws. I witnessed four of them. As I reiterated many times during my tweets and previous blog entries…

There couldn’t be draws in the knockout stages, so the issue lasted only through the initial round. But that didn’t make it any less irritating. The NFL is the only major American sport that can end in a tie (only during the regular season) and this occurrence is rare. Since 1974, there have been only 17 games to end in a tie. And believe me, I was furious when I witnessed an NFL game end without a victor. In a tournament like the Euros, every game should be meaningful. And if it means something, there should be a winner and a loser. Period. After all, two soccer teams shouldn’t go into a game with the intention of drawing.

Herm Edwards put it best…

5. Shootouts. I can appreciate the work a soccer team puts in to win a game. There is plenty of strategy and hard work going on during a match and whichever team works harder and implements the better strategy should win the game. A shootout blows all of that to hell. It minimizes the skill of the players and goalies to a guessing match. Basically, who ever is luckier wins the game. And yes, the Super Fans would be quick to note that there is strategy. Some players have tendencies that goalies might or might not know. Those tendencies could determine the final result. But ultimately, who ever gets luckier and guesses better what the opposing player will do wins the game. Hell, there isn’t as much luck involved in a poker game as in a soccer shootout. Yes, the NHL has a shootout to determine winners. But that is only in the regular season and it doesn’t involve nearly as much luck as in soccer.

So soccer, it looks like it’s goodbye. You had a nice run. You gave me something to bet on in the bleak summer months between seasons of fantasy football and fantasy hockey. You dared me to try something European. You even got me to remember a few players’ names.

But when it comes down to it, we just aren’t compatible.

I like action and you like infinite passing and kicking the ball out of bounds.

I like winners and you’re cool with ties.

I call them cleats and you call them boots.

I enjoy watching players with first and last names. You usually settle for one.

Really, the Simpsons illustrate my point the best…

 

Ultimately, we’re both better off parting ways.

I don’t hate you and I hope you don’t hate me. And hell, every time the World Cup rolls around, I’ll swing by while watching the United States put in a meager effort. But until then, take care soccer. You have a world of fans that love and adore you. Keep them close. And if you ever want to swing by the States and see how REAL football is played, I’ll gladly purchase you an extra ticket.

Just don’t bring any flares.

Filed under Soccer Tagged with ,

#Buctober

July 4, 2012 Leave a comment

Late last night, “Buctober” was trending in Pittsburgh.

 

Yes, the city is born again in the success of the Pittsburgh Pirates. After overcoming a four-run deficit against the Houston Astros last night, the newest Pirate to join the team — Drew Sutton — hit a stunning walk-off home run in the bottom of the 9th inning. The Pirates won 7-6 at PNC Park.

Although the game was exciting, the Pirates did something else that has fans taking notice. The team moved eight games over 500 for the first time since 1992, that last time the Pirates had a winning season and made the playoffs. Yes, for the first time in 20 years, the Pirates look like they have a special ball club capable to finishing the season as winners, and perhaps even making the postseason.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself so I’ll leave you to ponder the following.

The last time the Pirates were eight games over 500…

Bill Clinton became President of the United States.

Gas costs $1.13/gallon.

A stamp cost $.29.

The Buffalo Bills lost to the Washington Redskins in the Super Bowl.

Mario Lemieux and the Penguins capture their second Stanley Cup victory over the Chicago Blackhawks.

The Silence of the Lambs wons Best Picture

Compact discs surpassed cassette tapes as the preferred medium for recorded music.

They had these guys on their team…
And this was how the season ended

Filed under MLB, Pirates Tagged with , ,

An Ode to Sidney Crosby

June 28, 2012 1 Comment

I hardly consider myself a poet, but today I felt like I wanted to give a special thanks to Sidney Crosby for agreeing to a 12-year deal worth $104.4 million. What was amazing about the deal wasn’t the length of the contract, but the fact that Sid agreed to never get a raise for the rest of his life. His previous deal paid him $8.7 million a year.

His new deal will pay the same amount.

He could have asked for more money and the Penguins would have given it to him. But he didn’t because he wanted to give the team the cap space to put other quality talent around him.

Sid’s primary goal is to win Stanley Cups.

He knows how it feels to win one and he will never forget how terrific that sensation is. He is a Captain, a leader and the greatest player in the world. Here’s to Sidney Crosby’s unselfish actions. Expect the key to Pittsburgh to be given to him shortly.

An Ode to Sidney Crosby

In sports there are men who come and go,

without much meaning or care.

Then there are men who always know,

the fans who want them there.

—————————————————-

They play hard and say the words,

that are right each and every time.

They carry themselves with pride and calm,

even when things aren’t fine.

—————————————————-

These are the leaders who sacrifice,

for the better good of the whole.

These are men like Sidney Crosby,

who believe that Cups are the only goal.

—————————————————-

In 2005 he came to the Burgh,

touted highly as a star.

Then he proved it with 39 goals,

his stats were right on par.

—————————————————

From then on out he was a leader,

soon getting the “C” on his chest.

But it wasn’t until 2007,

that he proved he was the best.

—————————————————

That’s when he won the Art Ross and Hart,

And was on the NHL first all-star team.

He also won the Lester Pearson,

by winning his peers’ esteem.

—————————————————

In 2009 he helped win the Cup,

in Game 7 on the road.

Becoming the youngest captain ever,

to whom Lord Stanley was bestowed.

—————————————————

But times since then have been rough,

playoffs and injuries have not been kind.

The critics questioned if he was tough,

and if he was right of mind.

—————————————————

But triumphantly he returned,

and looked like the old Sid.

His critics were quietly spurned,

and he smiled like a kid.

—————————————————

Today he signed a contract,

that makes him a Penguin for good.

He could have asked for more money,

like many thought he should.

—————————————————

But in his mind he had no doubts,

about where he wanted to play.

Consol would be his permanent home,

even for smaller pay.

—————————————————

What the future holds for this Pens star,

cannot be truly known.

But a Cup winning team can be built around him,

and a contender will be grown.

—————————————————

So with Sid and Geno and Letang and Flower,

the future is quite bright.

The Penguins currently have the power,

to put up the NHL’s best fight.

—————————————————-

So here’s to Sid’s decision,

like Mario’s before.

To keep the Pens a contender,

for now and ever more.

Filed under NHL, Penguins Tagged with , ,

Paul Martin’s Handling of Head Injury Clouded by Poor Performance

June 21, 2012 1 Comment

Earlier today, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Josh Yohe tweeted some disturbing information about Penguins defenseman Paul Martin:

Josh Yohe ‏@JoshYohe_Trib:

“Pens D Paul Martin just told me that he played the first three games against the Flyers with concussion-like symptoms.”

 “Martin said nothing to trainers until after Game 3. At that point, he was shut down for the rest of the series.”

 “Martin is fully recovered from the concussion and is working out every day in Minnesota.”

“Martin said the concussion took place at some point in Game 1, but he isn’t sure precisely when.”

Yohe later elaborated on Martin’s injury and prospective future with the Penguins in a story you can see here.

In Yohe’s article, he quoted Martin saying the following:

“I wasn’t feeling well during Game 1,” Martin said. “But I never said anything to the trainers. I didn’t feel well in Game 2. Then, after Schenn hit me in Game 3, I felt really bad but still finished the game. The next night, I felt worse. I talked to our trainers then, and told them about the symptoms. That was it. They shut me down.”

“The whole thing was tough,” he said. “I took a test and supposedly did fine. But with what had happened with Kris and with Sid’s (Sidney Crosby’s) problems, I think they were being overly-cautious.”

This should upset every Penguins fan.

My No. 1 criticism of the NHL the past couple of years has been the epidemic of concussion problems that has struck pretty much every team in the league. The main problem I’ve had is how the league has been inconsistent with its punishment of head shot offenders. I’ve also taken issue with the fact that players have not changed how they hit others on the ice; head shots are still happening at a high rate and both the league and its players need to make changes to make the game safer.

But in Paul Martin’s case, I’m not mad at the league nor an offending player.

I’m upset with Paul Martin.

Martin plays on a team that has been at the forefront of the concussion debate for two years. Penguins Captain Sidney Crosby spent two seasons dealing with a head injury and as the face of the league, he garnered plenty of attention for it. He was part of the reason the NHL adopted changes to Rule 48, the rule that deals with the penalization of head shots.

Not only did the Penguins have to suffer through a slow recovery from Crosby, they also faced a similar situation with star defenseman Kris Letang. Letang suffered a concussion on Nov. 26 after taking a big open ice hit from Montreal Canadians forward Max Pacioretty, but returned later in the same game. His symptoms became worse over the next few days and he ended up missing 21 games because of them. Later in the season, he dealt with concussion symptoms yet again after taking a hit to the head by Dallas Stars forward Eric Nystrom.

So the fact that Paul Martin played through the pain and tried to ignore concussion symptoms over a three-game span baffles me. He, as well as every other NHL player, is surely aware of how serious a head injury can be. If not treated properly, it can lead to permanent brain damage that may cause major problems for the rest of a players life — and eventually end it. One only has to look as far as Pat LaFontaine, Scott Stevens, Eric and Brett Lindros, Michel Goulet, Brian Bradly, Nick Kypreos, Adam Deadmarsh, Jeff Beukeboom, Matthew Barnaby, Paul Comrie, Keith Primeau and Marc Savard to understand how devastating a brain injury can be — not to mention the death of Derek Boogaard in 2011, which was caused by an accidental drug and alcohol overdose while he recovered from a concussion.

Now, I also understand why Martin didn’t tell trainers about his concussion symptoms until they were debilitating. In professional sports — particularly in hockey and football — players are taught to have tough-guy mentality. They want to go out there and prove themselves, even if it comes at their own physical peril. After all, nothing says you’re a team player more than playing injured and team players get paid and respected.

And for Paul Martin, he had even more incentive to play injured than most players. He had a terrible year, one of the worst in his career. He wasn’t playing at a level anywhere near where a $5 million-per-year player should play. Because of his let-down season, Martin felt that he needed to play, regardless of injury, to prove that he was better than his season had shown. Going into the postseason, Martin had already begun to hear rumblings from fans and media that the Penguins should trade him in the offseason.

Yohe illustrates that here:

Martin was aware of negative talk from local fans and media outlets, and admitted this may have affected his performance.

“Coming from New Jersey,” Martin said, “it isn’t a fishbowl like Pittsburgh is. All it takes is for someone to write an article and people can jump on board. It’s hard to ignore it. When you’re a player, you notice things. I take pride in my job, and when people are telling you that you aren’t doing your job well, you don’t like it.”

Here’s another telling Martin quote from Yohe’s story:

“Do I think the same team is going to be back in Pittsburgh next year? No. But I hope I’m one of the guys who is back. I want to prove to myself and to reestablish to everyone the player that I am.”

Fans, other players and team management want to see players doing everything they can to prove themselves. Unfortunately, that mindset is quite valued. This tweet from Yohe proves that point:

“Obviously Martin’s judgment can be questioned for playing with the symptoms. Can’t question his commitment to the team, though.”

Martin may have thought he was helping the team by playing injured, but he was potentially doing the exact opposite. The old saying goes “Loose lips sink ships,” but when it comes to head injuries, it’s the sealed lips that hurt the most. No team will ever benefit from a player that is unable to get back onto the ice because of a devastating head injury. It looks like Martin got lucky because he doesn’t seem to have any long-term symptoms of his head shot.

It’s tough to say whether or not Martin will be in a Penguins sweater next season. Many people agree that he should be traded, but his high price tag will make it tough for Penguins GM Ray Shero to move him after the terrible season he had. Pittsburgh has plenty of depth in the AHL that could take Martin’s place next year, but if the Penguins can’t move him and are unwilling to eat the remainder of his contract, he may be on the blue line in Pittsburgh for another year. Ultimately, that will be what saves Martin from being traded, not his ill-advised effort to play through a head injury in the post season.

If Martin is a Penguin next season, I’ll expect him to be better on the ice.

But I’ll expect more from his decisions off of it.

Filed under NHL, Penguins Tagged with , , , , , , , ,

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