MLB All Star Game Tonight 8 PM

Can the National League finally regain some of their dignity? The Midsummer Classic tees off tonight at 8 PM in Anaheim with the winning team claiming home field advantage in the World Series for their league’s Champion. The National League has failed to win an All Star game for the past 13 seasons post an 0-12-1 record in those games. They have lost out on home field for the World Series every time for the last couple of years since the rule’s inception. Can 2010 finally be their year?

For the better part of the last decade the AL has been considered the better of the two leagues because of their far superior offensive numbers and their All Star Game winning streak. However 2010 is quickly earning the epithet “The Year of the Pitcher” and a lot of that can be attributed to all the young talent in the NL. It would seem that pitching has finally come to overtake the Home Run as the centerpiece of excitement in the MLB (a lack of steroid usage may have something… or a great deal to do with it). We’ve already seen 4 No-Hitters including 2 Perfect Games and we’re only at the All Star break. The NL’s starting pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez is 15-1 after years of speculation that the days of the 20-win season were behind us and will face-off against Tampa Bay’s David Price who is 12-4 with a 2.42 ERA. Both of these guys are under 26 and lead a group of young pitchers that will dominate the next decade including Tim Lincecum, Josh Johnson, Clay Buchholz. Phil Hughes and Mike Pelfrey to name a few.

But enough about that. I’m tired of hearing about how much better the AL is than the NL. The National League needs to get off the schnide and win an All Star Game convincingly. It still won’t be considered the better league but it will go a long way to earning some street cred from baseball fans around the country.

George Steinbrenner Dead At 80

Legendary Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away this morning after suffering a heart-attack late last night, shortly after celebrating his 80th birthday on July 4th. Steinbrenner took control on a Yankees franchise that had been suffering from its longest stretch of mediocrity since before the arrival of Babe Ruth nearly 50 years prior. Steinbrenner took a strong-armed approached to managing his franchise and the result was 11 American League Pennants and 7 World Series Championships. He brought the team for barely $10 million and now leaves it with an estimate value of more than $1.5 billion.

George Steinbrenner was renowned for clashing with his players and managers and always put winning first. I came across a fitting quote from Steinbrenner that goes a long way in summing up his legacy.

“Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning second.”

While perhaps earning the ire of many opposing players and fans (as well as some of his own players and fans) throughout his career, Steinbrenner earned the respect of all. He will be missed in the baseball world by friends and foe alike.

Thoughts On LeBron And The Miami Heat

LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dewayne Wade are teaming up to play for the Miami Heat next season with aspirations of unprecedented success as they form the most talented “Big 3” the NBA has ever the seen. I really don’t believe you can pencil this team in for the NBA Finals next season but I won’t get into that here. Instead I’m going to talk about what this move means for LeBron’s legacy.

As a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers LeBron James quickly earned the nicknames “The King” and “The Chosen One” because his immense talent-level gave birth to the dream that he could be the one player to reach the level of Michael Jordan, or even supplant him as the best player in NBA history. After a series of playoff failures resulting from both a lack of help from his teammates and a lack of clutch shooting from himself, fans began to doubt that James could still be the next Jordan. By signing with the Miami Heat instead of Chicago, New York or Cleveland LeBron will now never be able to reach Jordan’s level, no matter how many NBA Titles he wins (which may not be many, but again that’s for another time).

LeBron chose the Heat because of his desire to win NBA Championships (it took Jordan 6 seasons to win his first, LeBron is entering his 7th) but in doing so has sacrificed his chance at immortality. He can never overtake Jordan’s legacy now because even if he wins 4 or 5 rings with the Heat he will receive the same stigma Kobe Bryant has recently been fighting off that will go something like “Well he had both Wade and Bosh”. Instead of passing Jordan, now the best James can hope to accomplish is to replace Scottie Pippen as the best running mate in the history of the NBA. Don’t get me wrong, LeBron will still be regarded as the best player in the NBA (for the next while at least) but think about what it will take for the Heat to win in the playoffs:

The Cavaliers have failed in the postseason recently because no one (James very, very much included) has been able to make big jump shots at the end of games. If LeBron had signed elsewhere he would still be the guy with the ball in his hands at the end of the game when it mattered, that won’t be the case in Miami. If Miami wins any NBA Championships Dewayne Wade will almost certainly be the Finals MVP of those teams (Jordan won 6 Championships and was the Finals MVP 6 times). Wade is a much better shooter than LeBron and has proved it on the biggest stage (don’t forget the 2006 NBA Finals when down 2 games to the Mavericks and trailing in the 2nd half of game 3, Dewayne Wade put the team on his back and made every big shot over the next 4 games en route to 4 straight wins and an NBA Title). Does anyone really think Wade won’t have the ball in his hands for the last shot of every big game? Think about the most lasting images of Michael Jordan’s career? How many are game-winning shots in the playoffs?

When push comes to shove the Miami Heat will be Dewayne Wade’s team, not LeBron James’. I guess we have to think of some new nicknames if Wade ever gets the chance to show that to the world.

ESPN Special: LeBron James "The Decision" Tonight 9 PM

LeBron James will finally make his long awaited decision on which team his will sign with tonight during a 1-hour special on ESPN. Seriously LeBron, get over yourself. What the hell are you going to air for 60 minutes tonight? A simple 10-15 minute press conference will generate just as much publicity and attention but I guess that's just not enough for LeBron's ego. Dewayne Wade and Chris Bosh's announcement that they would be playing for Miami next year sounds humble compared to this. Kevin Durant announced his 5-year $86 million extension with the Thunder with a simple Tweet. I'm both slightly apalled and slightly intriqued by how LeBron's camp plans to fill an hour-long special.

I don't think there can be any more speculation on his decision because everyone is in the dark, everyone. Basically there are 4 destination for LeBron to choose that can each make a defensible argument: Chicago, Cleveland, Miami and New York. I picked the Knicks initially so I am staying with that. If anyone wants more in depth opinions on the subject than I direct you to ESPN's Bill Simmons, who for all his smarmy shortcoming knows his NBA, and his most recent article on the subject at the link below, it's very enlightening on the current subject.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/100708

JaMarcus Russell Arrested For Sippin’ On Dat Lean

Former Number 1 overall pick QB JaMarcus Russell was arrested this past weekend for felony possession of a controlled substance, codeine syrup, and released on $2,500 bail. Russell was severely overestimated coming out of LSU because of his immense size and physical abilities. The first pick in the 2007 NFL Draft belonged to Al Davis and the Oakland Raiders who selected Russell and thereby set the franchise back by 5 years. JaMarcus immediately caused problems by holding out for nearly his entire rookie season and barely saw any playing time in ’07. Russell was pretty abysmal during his Raiders career compiling only a 7-18 record as a starter while throwing only 18 TDs compared to 23 INTs. His career passer rating is a paltry 65.2. Russell was the reason former Raiders Head Coach Lane Kiffin was ousted during his second season at the helm because owner Al Davis insisted Russell start while Kiffin believed him incapable. The Raiders finally benched Russell during this season and actually success with former wash-ups Bruce Gradkowski and Charlie Frye who each won multiple games for the Raiders last year. Russell was released after the season after receiving nearly $40 million from the Raiders over 3 seasons. Several teams including the New York Jets showed mild interest in Russell but none considered him a potential starter. Russell is quickly making a case to be the biggest bust in NFL draft history as I can’t imagine any team in their right mind taking a chance on him after this arrest. This is Russell’s first offense so he probably won’t be sanctioned by the law too harshly. Unfortunately an added character flag may be enough to keep Russell out of the NFL for good.

I guess there’s always the UFL.

Knicks Make First Splash In Free Agency

The first move in the NBA free agent market was made yesterday when All Star F Amar’e Stoudemire signed a 5-year, $99.7 million deal with the New York Knicks yesterday. Stoudemire will be reunited with his former coach from the Phoenix Suns Mike D’Antoni and gives the Knicks a lot more credibility. I think New York made the move to sign Stoudemire to increase their chances of bringing in LeBron James. The Knicks had little to offer James in terms of a winning franchise but had enough cap room to sign two big time contracts this offseason. By adding Stoudemire the Knicks have now narrowed their target to James and to a lesser extent Dewayne Wade as the spot F Chris Bosh would fill is the same as Stoudemire’s.

This move makes a lot of sense for the Knicks. Amar’e was the guy LeBron wanted the Cavaliers to bring in at the trade deadline last year to help make a playoff run and Stoudemire has already said that he will reach out to James and try to recruit him. His presence offers both Wade and James a legitimate running mate and combo-ing either of them with Stoudemire would instantly make the team relevant in the East. Also if the Knicks fail to bring in either Wade or James they have made enough of a splash to generate some excitement with their fans instead of bitter disappointment in not signing James. I think the Knicks now have the same chance as the Chicago Bulls to sign James or Wade but as always with the situation nobody really knows. James is expected to make his announcement either Wednesday or Thursday so it’s wait and see until then.

NBA Free Agency: Are We In For Anticlimax?

12:01 AM this morning marked the being of the NBA free agency period, something almost everyone has been waiting for since the Cleveland LeBron James’ were bounced from the playoffs in the second round. With names like James, Wade, Bosh, Johnson, Pierce, Stoudemire and Nowitzki all on the board the country has been bracing itself for the most intriguing NBA offseason is history. However after months and months of speculation we may be in for one of the most anticlimactic endings to what promised to be the summer’s most hyped event. As teams can finally begin negotiating with players scenarios are beginning to become more clear however that clarity might be disappointing to many of us.

Because the NBA allows a player’s previous team to offer that player more money than anyone else it is becoming more and more likely that stars LeBron James and DeWayne Wade will re-sign with their respective teams rather than move on to somewhere else. The rampant speculation as to where the big stars will go has clouded the facts that these guys want Benjamins and wins (the Cavs and Heat can provide both with a little re-tooling as they both have cap space). Obviously I predicted James would sign with the Knicks and I stand by that possibility if only because it would great for both New York and the NBA in the long run. The other big names like Joe Johnson, Amar’e Stoudemire, Dirk Nowitzki and Paul Pierce have become free agents because they want a maximum contract before a new Collective Bargaining Agreement in reach after next season which will likely lower the amount of money teams can pay players. Those 4 aforementioned players can all expect max contracts from their currents teams and it would be a surprise to a degree if they signed elsewhere, even after testing the market.

At this point F Chris Bosh appears to be the only major name that will move this offseason considering is former team is reluctant to pay him. However having said all of that this recent bout of speculation is just that. Now that players can actually negotiate we can expect much more substantiated rumors than the litany of “source” that have fueled sports analysts for the past month and a half. We’d all love nothing more than to see some major moves this offseason that shape the power-balance of the NBA for years to come. For now, as always, we can only wait.