What to do About Rondo?

The Boston Celtics did right by Kevin Garnett, Jason Terry, and Paul Pierce by trading them to the Brooklyn Nets and giving them another chance for them to win another championship, but what to do with their star point guard Rajon Rondo? Rondo who is recovering from a serious knee injury, and who won't be ready to play by the beginning of the season, is still under contract for 2 more years and the team is no where near ready to compete with the likes of the Miami Heat, Chicago Bulls, Indiana Pacers, or even the New York Knicks for that matter.

So the options are limited for the Celtics (they really only have two options) 1) they let Rondo heal up and play him for whatever is left for this upcoming season and build the franchise around him or 2) they let Rondo heal and trade him as soon as he can prove healthy enough to play at or near the level he was playing at before he got injured. My thought is that it all depends on who you ask. If you're a fan you hope ownership keeps him and builds around him, but if you're management you may want to get as much for a top-5 point guard in the league and who is still in his 20's as you can get.

If the Celtics put Rondo on the market once he's healed and is able to show what he can do I can see several teams lining up to trade for the point guard. The mighty Lakers would probably be the best suitor for Rondo since they've needed a point guard ever since the great Kobe Bryant has started to show his age and Steve Nash isn't going to be long in the NBA. The Lakers can go from a retiring Nash to one of the top point guards in the game in just about 2 years. If I'm the Lakers I'm hoping the Celtics decide to move Rondo.

Raise Your Glasses

To the best closer of all time. To the man with 652 all time saves. To the man that has done it all with one pitch and on just one team. To the man that players on opposing teams respect so much that his goodbye tour was filled with tears (some of happiness to see him go and some sad to see him leave.) To the last man allowed to wear the number 42. To the man who has broken so many bats and dominated so many teams in all his time all with class and dignity. To the man with a .70 era in the postseason which is the best in the history of baseball (with a minimum of 30 innings pitched). To the man with the most saves of all time in the postseason with funny enough 42 saves.

I despised him in 1996 and again in 1999, but there's no way to stay mad at Mariano Rivera. Mo (as he has been nicknamed) is probably the closest thing to Roberto Clemente than all the other players who have to emulate the late Clemente. Mariano Rivera's charitable efforts have gone out to help several poor villages in his home country of Panama. He wore the number 42 in honoring Jackie Robinson and when Major League Baseball retired Robinson's number a hand full of players were allowed to keep wearing number 42 and one of those was Mariano and with the effect he's had on baseball I think it's fitting that he's the last active player to wear the number in a game.

So cheers to the greatest closer of all time. It was a pleasure for me to be able to say "I remember when the great Mariano Rivera used to pitch." and how far class and respect is able to take a person. In my opinion none of his records are going to fall. Mo is going to go down in history as the most decorated relief pitcher of all time and I'm good with that.

Allow me to Look into my Crystal Ball

I woke up to a varying amount of outrage on Facebook over a report that Robinson Cano wants a contract of 10 years and 300 million dollars and immediately I thought to myself "That's a lie. It's a ploy by either side to get leverage on the other side." Robinson Cano knows that he isn't worth 300 million dollars. Even though the money isn't the problem in my opinion those 10 years would make Cano 40 by the time that monstrous contract would expire and seeing what Albert Pujols is going through in Los Angeles I don't see another 10 year deal being given to a player in his 30's.

Robinson Cano has value considering he's the best player on the New York Yankees, but not 300 million dollars worth of value. He hasn't won an MVP, he hasn't won any post season MVP. He does have 2 gold gloves, 4 silver slugger awards (given to the best hitter at each position), and is a 5 time All-Star. All of these accolades show that he is a quality player and he does make second base look way easier than what it really is; Cano will stay with the Yankees. Cano will get a 5-7 year deal bordering 200 million (from 170m - 200m).

Outraged Yankee fans should know better than to believe reports that are coming out before the season is even over. This is about the time where rumors tend to flare up as negotiation tools all to get leverage. Soon you're going to hear that there is a "mystery team" that is thinking about giving Cano something closer to the 300 million than the Yankees are willing to go. It's a tug of war and both sides will come to an agreement somewhere in the middle between the highest offer the Yankees are making and the lowest Cano is willing to go.

I Guess Winning does Solve Everything

Last night Jason Giambi hit a walk-off two run home run to propel the Indians past the White Sox and put the Indians in a better position to make the playoffs as one of the Wild Cards, but what people don't bring up is that Giambi was one of the several names that were found to have been using Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Ray Lewis killed somebody, but got away with it and won two Super Bowls and is now a man of God and no one talks about the blood on his hands. Donte Stallworth was a wide receiver in the NFL and also got away with killing someone by paying off the family of the person he killed and is yet still available to be picked up by any NFL team. Stallworth got his win just by being a professional athlete. Lewis may have or may not have pointed a finger at someone else and paid them off to take the blame. Giambi released a prepared apology through the New York Yankees (the team he was on at the time).

So no matter whether you're a juicer, or a killer, or an expert at receiving DUI's as long as the athlete airs his two minute apology and ends up winning anything at all and have the media kinda over look their off the field indiscretions any player can be "forgiven" and allowed to continue taking part in receiving millions of dollars and may even land in the Hall of Fame of their respective sport. I'm not saying that such players shouldn't be allowed to make a living I'm just saying that these players need to have their dirty laundry follow them around wherever they should land and not have fans take it so easy on them because they have earned the stains on their bed sheets.

Is 3 Weeks too Early to Panic?

The Washington Redskins, the New York Giants, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and the Pittsburgh Steelers are all 0-3 which means they've played 3 games and have lost all 3. The reason why they've lost differ, but for the most part all of these teams have been a disappointment. There are about 6 teams that are 1-2 (1 win 2 losses) that have also been a disappointment since they have a fan base that has put lofty expectations on their team. The 1-2 San Francisco 49ers have been flat, the play of Colin Kaepernick has been as none existent as the defense's ability to stop the run, but at least they have 1 win. The Washington Redskins with their own "quarterback savior" Robert Griffin the 3rd have yet to pick up a win and I'm wondering if the Washington fan base is getting a bit scared that he isn't all that was said about him or if their coach is the problem.

Who would've thought that Eli Manning would have 8 interceptions which leads the NFL and the New York Giants offense as a whole would have 13 turnovers through just 3 games? During the preseason I watched a coupe of Giants' games and didn't really see a consistent enough offense out of the Giants, but never would I expect them to look and play this woefully. All the teams that are 0-3 have different reasons why they're 0-3 and the last team to make the playoffs after starting a season with an 0-3 record were the 1998 Detroit Lions and the 1998 Buffalo Bills and neither of those teams won a Super Bowl. So t

Today is Roberto Clemente Day

Today is Roberto Clemente day in Major League Baseball. Roberto Clemente was one of the greatest Hispanic players of all time not just because of the statistics that he put up while playing the game, but because of the humanitarian efforts that he put while alive. As a player Roberto Clemente had all the tools necessary to be successful at playing right field he had speed, athleticism, and a rifle for an arm that cut down a number of runners trying to take an extra base. To this day I think I've only seen one or two players with arms that would be in the same category as Clemente.

Clemente did so much for kids back in his native Puerto Rico and all over Latin America building schools, play grounds, and baseball fields. The day of his death he was on his way to Nicaragua to deliver aid to people affected by a massive earthquake. Players try to memorialize Clemente by wearing the number 21 which Clemente once wore. Puerto Rican first baseman Carlos Delgado was one of those players as was Dominican born Sammy Sosa and American born Paul O'Neill also wore the number 21 in honor of Roberto Clemente.

I wish I were born in time to have watched Mr. Clemente play live it would've been a thrill to watch as every hit he collected lead to his march to 3,000 hits. If isn't obvious Roberto Clemente Walker is in the MLB Hall of Fame and is a hero in Latin America as he is in Pittsburgh. Today, there is an annual Roberto Clemente award which recognizes players who go out of their way to help others just like Mr. Clemente did when he was alive. Congratulations to Mr. Clemente for being the kind of player I wish my favorite ball player would like to be like.

The WORST Owner in Sports

Jeffrey Harold Loria, the current owner of the Miami Marlins is the absolute worst owner I've ever seen and his treatment of his players is appalling. His behavior does not go with how an owner is supposed to behave. Most owners in sports usually shy away from controversy and media ire, but it seems like Mr. Loria thrives under such conditions. Loria is 100 times worst than Jerry Jones (owner/general manager of the football team the Dallas Cowboys). Loria oversteps his boundaries to the point where he's making calls as to who will be called up to the majors (which is usually the general managers job). Yes, the Marlins have two World Series championships, and yes Loria was the helm for the latest one in 2003, but the way he runs his organization is chaotic at best.

Loria's mistreatment of a sports franchise started when he was part owner of the now contracted Montreal Expos. Rumors had it that once Loria took over the Expos his plan was to move the Expos out of Montreal especially after he failed to capture a new stadium for the Expos, but how did Loria expect to get a new stadium when the stadium the Expos played in still hadn't been paid off yet? Once Loria found his way to get out from the Expos by selling the team to Major League Baseball he was able to buy the then Florida Marlins from John Henry who then bought the Boston Red Sox.

I can't imagine being a Florida/Miami Marlins fan. The ownership wins a World Series and the very next off season the team is stripped down with the general manager working at his owner's orders replaces the players that just won a championship with a bunch of rookies. And the fan based has to sit through more years of futility until the prospects that replaced the veterans can make a miracle run instead of building a potential dynasty.

But the last couple of years Loria has just dropped a heaving, filthy, disgusting deuce on the Marlins and their fans. First, the Marlins finally get their stadium in Miami that has a bunch public funds tied to it so the fans have put up or are going to put the money to maintain the stadium and have to pay to watch the lowly Marlins play way under .500 baseball. Then with their new stadium came a bunch of high priced moves signing veterans that have talent and most of them have a winning pedigree which Loria decides to hire Ozzie Guillen to manage. Anyone following baseball knows that Ozzie Guillen is not a manager for veterans he'd be better off managing rookies. After only one season, Loria decides to strip down the team AGAIN this time because "this isn't working. This team needs a new direction." Never gave the players (who he promised he wouldn't trade) that he signed a chance to perform and traded the majority of them to the Toronto Blue Jays.

This year the Miami Marlins had a Minor League hitting coach Tino Martinez, who Loria had hand picked for the job, got out of hand with several minor leaguers and Loria promised never to reveal who the players were in their internal investigation, but then "sources" revealed the names to the media anyways. One of the players who's been around several teams and was hoping to break through with the Marlins Chris Valaika spoke up against Tino Martinez and because he did Loria decided to overrule his general manager (which rarely happens) and leave Valaika in the minors and calling up another player instead as punishment for his testimony against Tino Martinez. The day Loria sells the Marlins there's going to be a parade and the day will be of celebration that he's gone.