Entries Tagged 'Sports' ↓

Forget Mike. I wanna be like Favre, offered $2M a year for the next 10 years to NOT work. I’m in negotiations to make that happen. I’ll let you know how it works out.

There’s plenty we do not know about this saga in Green Bay. It makes little sense to me. Why would Green Bay not want this guy back quarterbacking their team for another year? Why would Favre not negotiate a deal that pays him to sit back without risk of injury? True, he’s due to earn $12M this year. Twelve million this year beats $20M over the next ten years. Surely Favre could get that amount elevated. Rumors were that it went to $25M over a 5 year period, but I suspect that wasn’t true. Such an offer as that would have/should have been very tempting to him, and his family.

There are 32 NFL teams. That means there are 32 starting quarterbacks, not all of them very worthy. In any given season there are probably a handful of teams that aren’t real solid at that position, meaning they really don’t know who should play at that position. There are many others who aren’t solid because they don’t have a player who is capable of doing the job at an above average performance level consistently. So rare are these creatures, it baffles me why Green Bay wouldn’t want Favre back.

Are they worried they’ll lose Rodgers? How can his stock be that high? He’s not started an NFL game yet.

Are they worried the locker room will be divided? I really fail to grasp that notion. Brett Favre walks into the locker room as the starting QB and we’re supposed to think some in the locker room might mumble under their breath, “What a jerk. I can’t believe they’re not letting Aaron play.” I’d like to meet the player who would do that. Better yet, I’d like to give him an IQ test.

It’s possible that GM Ted Thompson so hates Favre that he simply refuses to let Favre back into the Pack? Today, anything is possible!

Another interesting part of this story is the belief that Ari Fleischer seems to be advising the Packers’ communications efforts. And that Favre’s agent, Mr. Cook, is silent. We need Scott Boras or Drew Rosenhaus to be on point with this deal. Then we’d really get some great quotes.

No matter what happens, Favre is going to come out great financially. I so wanna be like Favre!

I hear Engelbert Humperdinck singing…

Please release me, let me go
For I don’t love you anymore
To waste our lives would be a sin
Release me and let me love again

I have found a new love, dear
And I will always want her near
Her lips are warm while yours are cold
Release me, my darling, let me go

(Please release me, let me go)
For I don’t love you anymore
(To waste my life would be a sin)
So release me and let me love again

Please release me, can’t you see
You’d be a fool to cling to me
To live a lie would bring us pain
So release me and let me love again
(Let me love, let me love)

Headline: NASCAR Squeezes Horsepower Down On Toyota Motors

My neck isn’t red. I don’t drink beer. I don’t have a Confederate flag flying at my house. I don’t have any tattoos. I don’t use tobacco. I have all my teeth. I don’t wear wife-beater T’s. Well, you get my drift.

I do watch NASCAR. I’ve never been to a live race, but I do often watch it on TV. I find the telecast of NASCAR intriguing. The sport is a fantastic marketing machine. No sport televises as well. Not even close.

I’m up-to-date enough to know that Toyota has been on a roll this season winning 14 of 21 races. I know the Chevy teams have been complaining that they want the “new” engine so they can be competitive. I don’t profess to understand why Chevy didn’t give it to them. But I really don’t understand NASCAR’s latest move to ratchet down the horsepower of the Toyotas.

In a game where pushing to be your best and do your best seems the goal - it seems odd to penalize a team (any team) for performing better than the others! Rather than have the other (non-Toyota) teams dig it out and elevate their game to compete, NASCAR decided to put a harness on the Toyota teams so the poorer performing teams would have a fighting chance.

It’d be like the NFL taking draft picks away from the top 4 teams in each conference so the other teams could better compete. I don’t get it. But then again, I don’t have an eagle on the hood of my Trans Am.

“I opened the door for a lot of people, and they just ran through and left me holding the knob,” said Bo Diddley to The New York Times in 2003.

Mr. Diddley died today from heart failure. Last year he suffered a stroke and a heart attack. Perhaps he died from a lack of respect. He considered himself the father of rock and roll. According to the New York Times he was disappointed that he was never able to collect royalties from artists who borrowed his sound.

We’ve heard this before. In fact, quite often. People are bitter that their greatness is unrecognized. They are legendary in their own minds and want to be considered that in the minds of us all. Reality is what it is. Bo Diddley may have been great. Phenomenal even. But the public determines who gets credit. And who doesn’t. They determine who gets paid. And who doesn’t.

Mike Vanderjagt came to Dallas from Indy. The Cowboys have experienced their fair share of egos, but number 13 was by far the greatest of the out-of-control egos! He was 13-18 through 10 games when coach Parcells said, “See ya!” Today, he returns to the Canadian Football League where his talents are appreciated.

He once described his accomplishments to Dallas media as “mind blowing.” He said if he hadn’t gotten on with Dallas when he did it wouldn’t be a problem, because he’d just go to Canada and be the highest paid kicker ever. He took some crap in Indy because he was such a lousy teammate. He took crap here in Dallas for the same reason, coupled with his ineptness. But his greatness isn’t fully appreciated. Just ask him.

It’s very common to read of some famous person who resents not being fully appreciated for how great they are. They try to demand their rightful place in history. Authors, painters, musicians, athletes, scientists, politicians - few, if any endeavors, are exempt. Every industry is full of under-appreciated greatness. None have been able to sway the masses with their complaints.

Whining is ineffective in selling others on our greatness. Few people are swayed toward more highly regarding a whiner. Dead or alive, greatness is bestowed on people by others. Greatness cannot be self-appointed. If it could, we’d all be great. And sadly, we aren’t.

When people refuse to recognize your greatness you have but two choices:

Accept it.

Whine about it.

Well, maybe there is a third option. Be so great that everybody sees it!

Postscript - Humility helps. The Dallas Star’s captain is a perfect example. Read more here.

Dallas is down 3 games to nothing in the best of a seven game series. The winner of the series goes to the NHL championship finals - to play for the Stanley Cup. Unfortunately, the Detroit Redwings are hosing down the Dallas Stars who appear completely outmatched. Dallas now must muster up the courage, determination and tenacity necessary to keep moving forward - and they must fight the temptation to quit, give up and call it a season.

Why not go down swinging? Embrace the moment, enjoy the challenge and fight your way through the darkness of defeating thoughts. Enduring that challenge can pay off big. If not this season, then next.

Some argue, “Why fight when there is no hope of victory?” Winners have to resist the temptation of such logic. Competitive people ignore the odds and the logic of the challenge. They press forward without regard and struggle for the sake of struggling. Sometimes, we need to fight simply for the sake of fighting. Giving up isn’t a habit desired by any competitive person.

In game 4 the Dallas Stars will continue to battle. Here are just a few reasons why the Stars will be saying, “Why not?”

1. Pride. This team is too proud to just hand Detroit an easy victory.

2. Hope. The hope that momentum will change and a single game can be won (at home) can drive most of us, but it really can inspire competitive professional athletes. One game. That’s the hope right now.

3. Making your opponent pay. Competitive people - in every area of life - relish making their opponent pay the price. If Detroit wins, they’ll earn it. If Dallas wins, they’ll earn it.

4. If it must end, end it on your own terms. Dallas may well lose game 4 and be swept by Detroit. And if they do the Dallas Stars will fight to the bitter end knowing that how they finish this season can carry over into the early fall when the next season begins.

Dallas now has nothing to lose so they can go for broke. Detroit won’t force Dallas to surrender. Detroit will have to battle the Stars until there’s no time left on the clock.

It’s not over, but it feels like it. That feeling is what must be fought - the feeling of “what’s-the-use?”

There is still one game worth fighting for. The young players are gaining priceless playoff experience. The entire roster is learning (some of them, again) how much work - both mentally and physically - is required to keep advancing in the playoffs. The Dallas Stars will be a much better team next season because of this year’s playoff run.

I’m proud fan of this team. They’ve played better than any of us expected. They’ve gone further than any of us thought possible. They’ve simply met a team that has superior skill and talent. Detroit is vastly better than this year. Detroit is better than anybody in the league this season - and that includes Sid and the Penguins, Detroit’s likely opponent in the finals.

If it ends Wednesday night in game 4 - it’ll end with Dallas battling to the buzzer - even though giving up would be far easier!

Mike Babcock coaches the Detroit Red Wings - the opponent of the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Finals of the NHL, remarked about what it will take to win this series: “We’ll be prepared, but in the end it’s going to be will and determination and being relentless.”

Is that always the case?

No. But when you get down to the final 4 teams it may be true. Talented players make the difference. Barry Switzer always said that better players win games, not coaches. Arrogant coaches will tell you different, but having coached a bit at the amateur level - I can tell you Barry has it right. Good talent can be poorly coached, and the talent can win (I’m proof). Good talent with average coaching will beat average talent with good coaching most of the time.

Babcock is right I think. Four teams are left in the NHL playoffs: Pittsburg Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings and Dallas Stars. Any one of them can win the Stanley Cup. Each of them are at the half-way point of the journey having defeated two teams each. Sixteen teams started the quest. Four remain. It almost always boils down to a test of wills. Grit, determination, tenacity and relentless pursuit will all play a major role in whoever hoists the Cup.

Living in Dallas - I’m hoping the tenacity of the Stars runs deep.

A few weeks ago I read an article that listed some of the salaries of the Dallas Mavericks. As I’ve confessed before, I’m not an NBA guy. So, the numbers were shocking to me. I knew the elite NBA guys made enormous money, but I had no idea that no-name guys were making such fortunes. I’m naive.

Next season here’s a short list of salaries of some Dallas Mavericks:

Jason Kidd - in excess of $21 million
Dirk Nowitzki - in excess of $18 million (if I’m Dirk, I’m unhappy
Josh Howard - almost $10 million (that’ll buy lots of pot and birthday parties)
Erik Dampier - almost $10 million
Jason Terry - over $9 million
Eddie Jones - $2 million
Didier Ilunga-Mbenga - almost $2 million

Today, sports talk radio is buzzing about the firing of coach Avery Johnson and the idiocy of Josh Howard. Rightfully so, after the New Orleans Hornets shamed the Mavericks into an early off-season golf tournament. But that’s not my point. Money is my point.

Did you know that the Dallas Mavericks paid Shawn Bradley $5.2 million this season? He was waived by the Mavericks in October 2005.

He’s got to have the best job in America. $5.2 million for doing absolutely nothing. He’s a player who was never worth the money. But when you’re 7 feet tall and able to walk upright - NBA teams pay you big money. I’m just a foot too short.

Steve Ott is the Dallas Stars player in the picture above (#29 with his mouth agape). Stu Barnes is the other player. Stu makes $900,000 a year. Both are well worth the money. Today, Ott (nicknamed, “Otter”) signed a 2-year deal that will pay him $1.35 million next year and $1.5 million the following year. Chump change compared to NBA contracts, but still good money. And he’ll earn every penny of it by being a player who makes a positive difference for his team, the Dallas Stars. If anything, Steve Ott’s money is unreasonably low - but only slightly. He’s only 25. His next contract will likely be higher if his career continues to advance as it has.

Brad Richards is the highest paid Star earning $7.8 million each year. Goalie Marty Turco makes $5.7 million a year. Mike Modano and Brenden Morrow each earn over $4 million a year. Goes to show you how vast the difference is between NBA contracts and NHL contracts. Kids, if you have a choice between hockey and basketball - play basketball. It pays much better. And you don’t have to know how to ice skate.

These contracts seem ridiculous - and they are. An ABC News story reports on what people earn. An actress who plays a detective on TV earns $7 million. A real detective in Georgia earns $40,000 annually. The average American earns about $37,000 according to the story.

I love sports. I love the NHL. So, I think Steve Ott, Stu Barnes and most of the other players are well-worth the money. Brad Richards has proven to be a great addition to the Stars, but no - I don’t think he’s worth the money. He is the fortunate recepient of a big contract that goes with being the MVP of the playoffs a few years ago when his team - the Tampa Bay Lightning - won the Stanley Cup. He’s still a young guy, but he’s smart enough to know that his next contract won’t likely be as large.

For years I’ve long thought the back-up quarterback on an NFL team has the best paying gig in all of sports. His body doesn’t take a beating. He earns a big contract - assuming he’s in the #2 spot directly behind the starter. And his career can last, and last, and last. But, he’s worth it because his team needs the insurance of having a capable person direct the team if the starter should be injured or unable to play.

Professional athletes aren’t paid unreasonable money only because they can do something most others can’t. They’re paid unreasonable money because people will pay to be entertained. And they’ll pay big money to have their $37,000 a year life entertained. The professional athlete - and other entertainers - can earn big, unreasonable amounts of money because their are millions of $37,000 a year people (and some who earn much more) willing to support their team, sport, TV show, movie, concert, recordings, or whatever other diversion they provide.

If only I were 7 feet tall…

Avery Johnson, coach of the Dallas Mavericks, is thought to be on thin ice with owner Mark Cuban. Avery has a habit of being given technical fouls during games. T’d up may have a different meaning for Avery in this off-season though. “T” stands for technical foul normally. However, “T” stand for TERMINATED now. Will it happen? Should it happen? I don’t know.

The Mavericks are on the brink of elimination to the New Orleans Hornets. The entire city of Dallas smells defeat. The team appears to have quit. If they have any fight left in them, they’re hiding it quite well.

Avery is from New Orleans. The Mavs are down 3 games to 1. Game 4 is tomorrow night in New Orleans. At least Avery will be home when his team is eliminated.

The media - and others who claim to understand the sport - feel that the window closed fast on Dallas following their meltdown against the Miami Heat a few years back. Their opportunity to compete for a league championship may now be long past. It goes to show you that teams don’t often get the opportunity to compete for championships. When they do, they’d better take every advantage of it.

For somebody like me - who knows so little of the sport - it seems that this roster is not built for a championship run. But even so, the coach is probably at risk of being unemployed this summer.

I don’t particularly enjoy listening to Avery. His voice alone would annoy me if I were a player. But he surely knows his stuff. I hear he’s power hungry and controlling. I don’t know if he is or not. And I don’t know if another coach can have success with these same players. I do know Cuban will have an easier time T’ing up Avery Johnson than he would in T’ing up any of the players who are signed to multi-million dollar contracts.

I suffer my own sports-mania. I’ve seen all or parts of every playoff hockey game in this year’s quest for the Stanley Cup. I’m part of an extreme minority - at least, here in Texas. My mood can change depending on the performance of teams that I care about. Last night, I felt badly for Calgary - as they allowed the Sharks to blow them off the ice. I was pulling for the Flames. I felt worse when the Flyers eliminated one of the best - if not THE best - player in the league by knocking off the Washington Capitals. Like many hockey fans, I wanted to see Ovechkin play against Sidney Crosby. Well, it’s not going to happen. Two game sevens that didn’t quite turn out as I had hoped. But my vested interest, as a fan, is in the Dallas Stars. They’re a team I’m familiar with - a team I follow - and a team whose identity is clear to me. It wasn’t always so.

If you’re not a hockey fan, that’s okay. In fact, you don’t have to be a sports fan at all to understand how important identity is. Some teams are like companies, and individuals. They don’t know who they are.

Last night the TV remote barely left my hand. I was watching hockey and switching over to the Dallas Mavericks game, watching them get waxed by the New Orleans Hornets. Earlier in the day I had heard of the Texas Rangers getting their hides tanned soundly by Boston. In Dallas, the Cowboys are almost always in the news. So I began to consider the issue of two professional teams with a reasonably clear identity and two with no identity.

“Who are we?”

I think it’s an important question for people, companies, teams or groups of all sorts. I’ve spent a few years coaching amateur hockey. From pee-wees to college-aged guys. In some cases I was able to pick my team. In other cases, players were assigned to me. No matter, I still gave every team an identity. As the head coach I had a vision of the team that I began to impose at the first practice. Sometimes the identity was slightly altered by what the players could do - or what they could do best. I can honestly say that I never coached a team without any identity. I never have had a team that could not answer clearly, “Who are we?”

I’m puzzled how a team like the Dallas Mavericks or the Texas Rangers can be so lost - when it comes to knowing who they are. These organizations spend millions of dollars and months of preparation to find the athletes they want. They assemble their rosters with great care, and due diligence. How can they not know who they are? Or what they are?

I’m not a basketball expert, but I can see. Jason Kidd seems best when he’s pushing the ball up the court aggressively. That reckless abandon run and gun game seems to suit him, and a few other players, best. But not Dirk. It appears to me that the team has no idea of who they are - or what they’re supposed to be. And they’re now down 2 games to zero in the opening round of the playoffs. They’re on track to be one and done.

Coach Parcells used to say, “You are what you are.” I understood that to mean you can do what you can do and you can’t do what you can’t. I think that is always true. Basic and oversimplified perhaps - but true.

If you’re a professional basketball team that can’t play great defense, and you can’t run ‘n gun and you can’t play an inside game - that’s who you are. If you’re a team that can shoot (and risk going cold like all shooting teams), then that’s who you are. But what if you’re a composite of so many different things that no one thing properly identifies you? Then you’re the Dallas Mavericks. Or Texas Rangers.

It’s easy to see when a team is struggling with, “Who are we?”

The Dallas Stars, on the other hand, are a team that has become more clearly defined as the season has worn on. They struggled slightly at the trade deadline when they brought in a stud centerman, Brad Richards. Word was, they were looking for a scoring winger to hook up with Mike Modano. Something else happened on the way to the playoffs though. According to today’s Dallas Morning News, Mike Modano struggled in March with the changes made to his personal identity as a Dallas Star centerman. But today, he’s got his own identity straight - and so does the team. They just had their first successful round 1 of the playoffs in a few years. I feel good about this team because it’s easy to see - they feel good about themselves by knowing exactly who they are, and what they’re good at.

In spite of early playoff meltdowns, the Dallas Cowboys are coming around to answering more fully the question, “Who are we?” Owner Jerry Jones is as competitive as they come. That’s good for the Cowboys and for Dallas. He’ll do what he must to win. Few people doubt he’ll make a poor choice in Saturday’s NFL draft. The Dallas Cowboys know they have their quarterback, Tony Romo. Like every team they’ve got a few questions in specific areas - but over all, they know who they are, and what they are. They know and believe they are a team on the rise.

The Dallas business community is made up of many companies that have no idea of who they are, or what they are. The objective to make money isn’t enough. How will you do it? Who will people think you are if you don’t know yourself?

Careers work in the same way. Who are you? It doesn’t have to be - nor should it be - entirely defined by what you do. Teacher, architect, lawyer, businessman - those shouldn’t define you entirely. They can make up an element of who you are. But there must be more.

If you’re a teacher, what makes you different from other teachers? What makes you better?

And the bottom line is really a question of uniqueness (a word that I constantly find myself thinking about and using in conversation). What makes you unique - in a good way?

The Texas Rangers are unique in that they’re currently the second from the worst team in Major League Baseball. That’s unique, but it’s not good. The Dallas Mavericks blew a shot at the championship a few years ago by letting the Miami Heat come back and defeat them. That was unique. It was not good though.

The Dallas Cowboys have a unique quarterback, a unique owner, a unique coach and some other unique parts (think Terrell Owens).

The Dallas Stars have a unique group of young defensemen. They have a grittiness, a toughness and a resolve that is unique of good playoff teams. They have a unique goaltender. They have unique co-General Managers (interim co-General Managers at that). They have a unique work ethic typical of other playoff teams. They have a unique mix of veteran players and first year players. They have a unique captain who can score, defend, fight and go to the most dangerous areas of the ice. They have a uniquely pesky player. They have hungry old-timers and starving youngsters. They’ve been described by their coach, their GM’s and the media as a “committee.” They are 28 players (not all of them active or playing) who do things as a team. They know their place. They work hard to contribute to the team’s goal. They know who they are - individually and collectively. And it shows.

Half of the Dallas-based professional sports teams are on the upswing:

The other half - not so much, buddy. They’re sucking wind.