Common Knowledge

The King Has No Clothes

"In the part of this universe that we know there is great injustice, and often the good suffer, and often the wicked prosper, and one hardly knows which one of those is the more annoying."

--Bertrand Russell--

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of overcoming it."

--Helen Keller--

"Character can not be developed in ease and quiet.  Only through the experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition be inspired, and success be achieved."

--Helen Keller--

I applaud Dan Gilbert.  His letter that he wrote on Thursday after LeBron James had announced he was going to Miami was a much needed breath of fresh honesty.  Was his letter honest?  Yes.  Was his letter polished?  No.  Was it politically correct?  No.  Did he take the "high road?"  No.  He took the direct, honest, and true road (with the exception of his championship guarantee).  Dan Gilbert spoke as a human being. Dan Gilbert spoke as a fan.  And he does not and should never apologize to LeBron James for his honesty.

The sports media has been quick to make excuses for LeBron James.  Yes.  Lebron James has every right to go where ever he wants.  Yes.  James has every right to announce it in any manner that he wants.  But, just because you have a right to do something does not mean you should do it.  LeBron James owed the city of Cleveland the common courtesy of letting them know he was not coming back before he announced his decision on national television.  He didn't just change teams, he abandoned his hometown (at least that is how it looks since he never gave the city a proper explanation and farewell). 

The media has been quick to point out that athletes have to look out for their careers, their families, and themselves.  This is true.  The media has been quick to point out that it is a business and that as fans we should understand.  It is also true that it is a business.  The media (and some athletes) don't get it.  We don't have to understand.  It is our time, money, and emotions.  If we feel that an athlete (especially an alleged hometown hero) turned his back on the hometown team then we also have every right to be angry.  We also have every right to burn his jersey (as long as no laws are broken), we also have every right to boo him, we also have every right to cheer against him, and we also have every right to never buy anything that has his name attached to it.

I am not a Cavaliers fan.  I am a Bulls fan.  I do not live in Cleveland.  I live in Chicago.  Yet I do feel for Cleveland.  According to the media, Cleveland stands to lose a significant amount of revenue due to Lebron's decision to go to Miami.  Well, I think everyone who feel that LeBron was wrong in how he handled his announcement should help out Cleveland.  We should all make an effort to go to Cleveland and eat at a restaurant, drink at a bar, or buy a sports item (of course of your own team) in Cleveland so that the people of Cleveland do not have to suffer because of Lebron's decision to abandon them.  I will be the first to commit to going to Cleveland for a weekend.  Will you join me?  What do you say America?  Let's show the world that the King no longer exist!  

If you decide to join me here are a few places you might want to check out:

http://caddyshacklounge.com/caddyshacklounge/

http://www.bobgolics.com/

http://www.divebarcleveland.com/

Time For Action

"Don't be too timid and squeamish about your actions.  All life is an experiment.  The more experiments you make the better."

 --Ralph Waldo Emerson--

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure ... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

--Theodore Roosevelt--

Okay.  I am going to go in a different direction than what I usually write about on my blog.  I am going to write about sports.  Sorry.  I can't help it.  I am a second generation Bulls fan and like most Bulls fans I am completely on board with the dream of landing either Dwyane Wade or LeBron James (although I would prefer Wade).  Conventional wisdoms says that the key to getting either one is by landing Chris Bosh.  I think the opposite may be true if the only way to get Bosh is through a sign and trade deal.

If the number one factor for Wade or James is the desire to win then the allure of the Bulls is Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.   The Bulls were a good defensive team last year in large part due to Noah's physical play and shot blocking ability.  That is why the Bulls are better off signing Carlos Boozer than they would be if they worked out a deal to get Chris Bosh, because getting Bosh means saying good bye to Noah and possible Taj Gibson.  I know.  I know.  Most of you out there are probably thinking that I am either ignorant, stupid, or both.  While that may very well be true, there is a method to my apparent madness.

Seven beats five.  Five beats three.  You need a complete team to win.  Noah is not a star but he fits the needs of the Bulls.  Most teams that win championships have three characteristics.  They usually have a superstar/star combo, they have a good supporting cast, and they play good team defense. The Bulls have the star, the beginnings of a good supporting cast, and they have a good defense.  Noah is a big part of that defense.  Now they just need the superstar.  They do not need to subtract in order to add.  Bosh is a good defensive player but he is not interested in playing physical.  Although basketball is not hockey, every team that fancies themselves as a championship contender will have to be prepared to play physical during the playoffs.  I am not sure Bosh is equipped for that job.  Noah is ready, willing and able.

Ultimately, it would be a big gamble to go after Boozer instead of pursuing a trade to get Bosh, but it could be worth it.  It is not about whether Bosh is a better power forward than Boozer because in almost every category such as health, age, length, scoring, rebounding, blocked shots, etc. Bosh is better than Boozer (although I could argue that Boozer is a more physical player with more recent playoff experience).  The real question is whether Bosh and two minimum salary players at the center and backup power forward positions are better than Boozer, Noah, and maybe Gibson.  I would say no ( like Niemi).  The Bulls may be able to get Boozer at a good enough price to go after a good shooting guard that can come off of the bench.  

There is an old saying that "if you want the fruit off of a tree, you must go out on a limb."  Maybe it is time that the Bulls really do something daring and who knows what kind of fruit it might bring.  I am particularly fond of the NBA Championship flavor myself. 

Success is the Soil from which Opportunity Springs

“Success in business requires training and discipline and hard work. But if you're not frightened by these things, the opportunities are just as great today as they ever were.”

--David Rockefeller--

“If you wish success in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother and hope your guardian genius.”

--Joseph Addison--

“A minute's success pays the failure of years.”

--Robert Browning--

“Success has a hundred fathers; failure is an orphan.”
--JFK--

The Sunday before last history was made. The first and then a couple of hours later, the second African-American head coach in the National Football League (“NFL”) won their conference to go to the Super Bowl! I am proud to say that I was at Soldier Field to watch history. Yet, I do not want to miss this opportunity to point out a couple of lessons that those two head coaches have provided without even realizing it.

First, Tony Dungy the Head Coach of the Colts did what I have written about. He built and continues to cultivate his network. Many people believe that a network is either a reason to go to parties in order to pick up the finest sister or it is a gift that is bestowed on them as a consequence of “earning” a spot in an elite university. It is neither. The network that I am referring to is a group of people that are connected by family, university, community, cultural, or emotional ties. One of the reasons for the network is that each person’s success adds to everyone’s success (this concept is a topic for an entire article so I will not expand upon it too much). Suffice it to say that a good network is the roots from which opportunity sprouts.

Several African-American coaches owe the beginning of their success to Coach Dungy. Tony Dungy appears to understand that by giving other African-Americans opportunities to coach he is not doing them a favor. He is in fact helping himself. He is helping himself by first taking advantage of potentially overlooked talent that allows him to better compete, but he is also helping himself by creating a network of other potential head coaches, analysts, and maybe even general managers around the NFL. All of Coach Dungy’s assistant coaches have not been African-American, which means that he also has a diverse network. One finger will never be as strong a one hand or one fist. Tony Dungy has created a number of fingers to reach deeply into the entire fabric of the NFL. There is no way to tell how extensive this network will be in the future, but what is known is that the more successful Coach Dungy’s network becomes, the more opportunities he may have. One of those fingers will be standing across the field from him in Super Bowl XLI.

The second lesson is that there is no substitute for success in the struggle for equal opportunity in this country. No law, no state or federal policy, and no mandate will ever do as much to break down unfair barriers than success. Coach Lovie Smith’s and Coach Tony Dungy’s ascension to the ranks of head coaches that have made it to the Super Bowl could mean a great deal of opportunity for both of them in the future. And it may mean more opportunity for African-American head coaches in the NFL. This would be appropriate since only about 20% of head coaches in the NFL are African-American although nearly 70% of the players are African American.

Coach Smith has been the lowest paid coach in the NFL for the past three years. This is so even though Coach Smith has delivered on the two promises that he made when he became the Bears head coach. He promised to first beat Green Bay and to make the Bears into a playoff team. He has done both. He is the first head coach of the Bears to win back to back division championships since Mike Ditka. He is also the first head coach of the Bears since Coach Ditka to have a winning record against the hated Green Bay Packers. Yet, he is the lowest paid coach in the NFL. That will change soon. I hope that will not be the only change in the NFL.

Good Bye Dusty

"True luck consists not in holding the best of the cards at the table; luckiest is he who knows just when to rise and go home."

                                               --John Hay--

         Last Monday the Chicago Cubs and its manager, Dusty Baker, parted ways.   Officially, Dusty Baker was not fired.  His contract was not renewed.  However, unofficially, there are a lot of sports news and sports talk radio people that are calling it a firing.  Who cares.  What is obvious is that the feeling was mutual.  After two horrendous seasons it was time for a new manager, general manager (which still remains to be seen), and team president.  The Cubs organization wanted Dusty Baker gone and Dusty wanted to leave.  Now if anyone that is reading this article thinks that this is going to be about how a good African-American manager/coach was fired because of a double standard that is inherit in sports, well think again.  Yes.  There is a horrible double standard in sports in hiring and firing of African-American managers/general managers/coaches.  There is also a horrible double standard in the media when it comes to evaluating the performance of African-American managers/general managers/coaches by some fans and most of the media.  But as I mentioned before, that is not what this article is about.  This article is about what really made Dusty Baker have to leave town.

         Two seasons conspired to spell the end of Dusty Baker's tenure in Chicago.  Those two seasons were the 2003 and 2005 baseball seasons.  What am I talking about?  It is simple.  In 2003, the Chicago Cubs came within five outs of doing what nobody ever thought they could do, and that is go to the World Series.  Almost every baseball fan knows the rest of the story.  The Cubs just missed going to the World Series in 2003.  Then the unthinkable happened.  The Chicago White Sox not only made it to the World Series last season, but they actually won it!  Those two seasons changed everything for Cubs fans.  Now before I go further in this article I do feel a need to point out that I was born and raised on the Southside of Chicago so I am a second generation White Sox fan so I do not nor have I ever bought into the media manufactured image of the Cubs as the "lovable losers." 

         The average Cubs fan today has his/her chest stuck out because the Cubs are usually rank within the top 10 or even in the top 5 in attendance in major league baseball regardless of how bad the team plays.  Many Cubs fans have interpreted that attendance figure to be a reflection on how they are such great fans.  Well, I have asserted for years that it shows just the opposite.  In my opinion any fan base that fills a stadium regardless of how bad their team plays shows that they care more for something in or around the stadium than what happens on the field.  I know a lot of Cubs fans that may read this article will immediately say that as a Sox fan I am just hating on the Cubs.  Believe me when I say it.  I am not, especially after last year.  I am just being honest and consistent.  Think about it.  First, if you love your team, like a lot of friends of mine that are real Cubs fans, who I would love to see them see the Cubs win a World Series, it would be hard to keep going to see your team lose and rarely seem to make progress towards being a consistent winner.  Now, on the other hand, if you really don't care about how well the team plays, but you have fun just hanging out at the ball park or have fun drinking after the game at one of the many bars around Wrigley field, then it would not bother you to keep going to see a team that rarely has a winning season.  It is what it is. 

         It is that reality that has actually hurt the competitiveness of the Cubs.  How?  Think about it?  Every baseball team is a privately owned business entity.  Those entities make money in a variety of ways, but the best way a team makes money is by winning.  The more a team wins the more people come to games, the more money is spent of concessions and merchandising.  Since around 1988 the Cubs have been the exception to that rule. Since 1988 the Cubs have had only seven seasons where they won more games than they lost as opposed to having nearly twice as many seasons, twelve, where they lost more games than they won.  Yet, during that same period of time there was only one year where they drew less than the league average.  And that was the 1997 season where they almost lost 100 games and still drew over two million fans and was only a little bit over a thousand fans a game under the league average.  The bottom line is that the Cubs organization, which is owned by a corporation, unlike most other ball clubs does not have to win in order to get people to come out to the stadium.  Now there is no real motivation for the Cubs organization to try to build a championship team or even a winning team.

         That reality changed after the 2003 season.  Cubs fans, especially real Cubs fans, tasted what it felt like to almost have a championship team.  They almost experienced what it felt like to go to games that were deep into post season play.  They almost experienced a World Series.  And take it from a Sox fan that wondered if I would ever see my team play in the World Series, it feels good.  Once you have tasted it, you want to keep experiencing it every year.  After 2003 the patience of the real Cubs fans and the attention of the pseudo fans started to change.  They wanted a winner.  The Cubs continued to draw, but the frustration started to mount, then the Sox won the Series and that was the last straw.  Cubs fans went from "wait until next year" to "win now!"  And Dusty was caught with a good team with a bad farm system so when the injury bug popped up this past year, the Cubs were in no position to deliver. 

         The past caught up with them.  What do I mean by that?  It is simple.  Most good teams that are able to consistently win are built primarily from the farm system.  Some teams use free agency, but most teams that are able to win the majority of their games over a an protracted period of time like a decade or more will get the core group of their team from their farm system so building and cultivating a good farm system is important.  The Cubs farm system appears to have been neglected.  Why was that important to Dusty?  It was important because when Lee, Wood, Prior annd others on the Cubs were injured this year, the Cubs could not bring up players that were good enough to keep the Cubs competitive until their injured stars returned from the DL.  The good teams like the Yankees, Twins, Dodgers and Angels were all able to do that this year and everyone of those teams that I mentioned made it to the playoffs except the Angels, who still won more games than they lost and has made it to the playoffs four out of the last six years.

         I am certain that Dusty Baker will be just fine in the future, but it is a shame that he had to be a casualty of the Cubs' past.  Hopefully, the next manager will not get caught in the same trap, but then what do I care.  I am a Sox fan.

Opportunities Lost

                        

"Seize opportunity by the beard, for it is bald behind."

                                                

                                                --Bulgarian Proverb--

"Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises."

                                                     --Demosthenes--

         Where has all the black players gone in Major League Baseball?  I am sure more than a few people that have watched the game over the past three decades have asked that question.  Baseball used to the barometer of opportunity in sports for African-Americans.  Now it is an after thought.  After the desegregation of baseball in the late 1940's the African-American representation in baseball steadily grew until it peaked at about 25% in the late 1970's. Then the representation declined until it reached its lowest point of about 10%, which is about where it stands today.  Yet that is not the sad fact.  The sad fact is that most African-Americans, especially African-Americans under the age of twenty-five, could care less.  The simple unarticulated truth is that some where between Willie Mays, Reggie Jackson, and Barry Bonds baseball became a "non black sport."

         Before any of y'all start writing comments to chasten me for writing something that appears to be racist, let me assure you that is not my intend or my point.  I do not agree with that sentiment, but the numbers speaks for themselves.  The numbers I am referring to are, for lack of better description, popularity numbers.  Baseball has struggled to keep up in popularity with basketball and football with younger folks especially young African-Americans for the past two decades.  That is a fact.  The reasons for that fact are debatable, but what is true is that baseball must compete with basketball and football in this country for attention and the best athletes.  And baseball is struggling to keep up in most American communities, particularly in the African-American community.

         The reasons for baseball's problems in shoring up its popularity within the African-American community are not as important to me in this article as the fact that the diminishing African-American presence in baseball represents missed opportunities for many athletes in the African-American community.  I am sure some young brother out there may ask the question "how does it represent missed opportunities?"  And my answer is I am glad you asked that question.

         Most good athletes are two to three sport athletes that at some point in either high school or college will choose which sport they will concentrate their attention.  Since many young African-Americans are not that interested in baseball they also may not choose to play it at the little league level through high school and into college so there is no chance of choosing that sport to try to make it as a professional.  In addition, baseball is a sport where fundamentals and technique is more important than sheer talent, which means normally in order for a player to become good or even great at baseball they need time to develop their skills.  If young brothers are not playing baseball at a young age they are tremendously disadvantaged in succeeding in the sport. 

         In 1991 a program named RBI was started with the mission to recapture the attention of the younger generation in the African-American community.  Now there are over a hundred of RBI programs all around the country.  There are at least three RBI programs in Chicago.  Yet, it has not been able to stem the tide of diminishing numbers of African-Americans in baseball.  This is a tragedy because there are a number of young brothers around the country that are missing their calling and the advantages that choosing to play baseball can give them.

         Baseball has several advantages that football (my favorite sport) and basketball does not.  I will name two.  Baseball has the best collective bargaining agreement of all of the American sports.  Its players union also has the most leverage of either of the three major American sports.  I am no expert, but I think the contracts are guaranteed and there appears to be more protection for the average player in baseball than any of the other sports.  But that is just the tip of the iceberg of the benefits to playing baseball professionally as opposed to playing either of the other two major American sports.

         In my opinion, the best benefit to playing baseball professionally is the chance to have a longer paid career.  What does that mean?  Generally speaking a baseball player has more opportunities to make it professionally than basketball and football.  I want to be clear that I am writing about overall or general odds, not specific situations.  Of course a first round draft choice in either basketball, which has a rookie salary cap, and football are much more likely to make big money quicker than a first round draft choice in baseball.  However, when you take into account that baseball players do not have to go to college to be drafted, they are able to be drafted right out high school, and that there is no rookie salary cap or any salary cap what so ever there is more opportunity for the young developing talent to take time to blossom while still making some money.  Ten years ago it was not unusual for teams to pay $100,000 signing bonus for the amateur draft.  This is a lot of money that is paid to people that may never play one game at the Major League level.  The same is not true with football and basketball, even a first round bust will normally play at least a few games before they wash out.  Furthermore, if an athlete has a strong pitching arm that is able to throw a fastball at 95+ mph even more opportunity is typically given to develop and succeed as a professional. 

         The bottom line is that both baseball and our community are losing out on opportunities.  Baseball may be losing good athletes to basketball or football or to nine to five jobs and there are a lot of young brothers out there that were good athletes that did not make it in football or basketball that could be collecting a good salary on some Major League Baseball team right now.  It is a shame.  If you do not believe me; look at last year's World Series runner up Houston Astros.  That team had no African-American players on their starting team.

Is it about Ruth, Steriods or the Media?

“The way to procure insults is to submit to them: a man meets with no more respect than he exacts.”
---William Hazlitt---

Okay. I guess I will make it two weeks in a row of deviating from my usual format. I am sorry, but I could not resist weighing in on the whole Barry Bonds issue. The man does deserve some respect for his accomplishments. People can not reasonably assert that steroids got him all those home runs during his career or even most of his career home runs.

Why is Barry Bonds receiving such a vitriolic reception in almost every ballpark that he visits except his own? Of course I have my theory. No. It does not involve race. Yes. It does involve the media.

I think Barry Bonds has been treated in such a harsh manner for two reasons: (1) the canonization of Babe Ruth by the media, and (2) the demonization of Barry Bonds by the media.

Babe Ruth was baseball’s first mega star. He was larger than life. He was exciting. He was baseball. He was loved by the sports media, especially in New York. And now he is arguably the greatest legend in baseball. Yet, I think it was the infatuation by the sports media that added to his stardom. Yes, he still holds what appears to be an unbreakable career slugging percentage record of .690. Yes, he was hitting over thirty home runs a season when the typical good player was barely hitting more than ten a season. Yes, in addition to his many batting accomplishments he also was one of the most dominating pitchers in Major League Baseball from 1915 through 1918. These things are all true, but there were also things that were true that the media did not talk about and rarely talk about today.

The media rarely talks about the “short porch” in right field in Yankee Stadium that gave left handed power hitters an advantage like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Mickey Mantle, and Roger Maris. The media acknowledges that because of segregation, something Ruth did not control, Babe Ruth as well as players of his day never faced all of the best baseball players. However, the sports media almost never talk about how that affected the quality of pitching and defense in Major League Baseball during that time. The bottom line is that Ruth’s accomplishments more than any other baseball legend tends to be viewed through rose colored glasses because they have traditionally been written that way by the media.

After Ruth retired the old-time baseball establishment set him on nearly an unreachable pedestal as the undisputed greatest legend of baseball. And anyone that has challenged any of his records has been met with criticism and some cases even scorn. Everyone knows about how Hank Aaron was treated when he was getting close to breaking Ruth’s record, but few people may know how Roger Maris was treated during the summer of 1961 when he broke Ruth’s single season home run record. Maris was a Midwesterner in New York that refused to cuddle up to the sports media and they hated him for that. Hmm. That sounds vaguely familiar. During the summer of 1961 the media tried to pit Maris against his teammate Mickey Mantle and then later tried to act as if Maris’s record was less credible than Ruth’s because Maris played in a longer season (Maris played in a 162 game season, whereas Ruth had played in a 154 game season).

For the record I want to get something straight. I am not a Barry Bonds Fan. I am not even a Giants fan. Born and raised on the Southside of Chicago, I am a second generation Chicago White Sox fan. I am not writing about Barry Bonds to defend him regarding the steroids allegations. I will leave that to be determined in a court of law. But I must admit that Barry Bonds has received a hatchet job by the sporting media for years. Why? I suspect in large part because he has never tried to court the media’s favor. The main difference now is that the sports media has a legitimate weapon to use against Bonds. When Barry Bonds was routinely hitting over thirty home runs and over a .300 batting average for years (actually for nearly a decade), it was pretty difficult for the sports media to poke too many holes in his game. Now that the whole steroids mania has hit and Barry Bonds’s name is on the list of accused users, the sports media and Bonds haters have all the ammo they need to go for the kill.

The media only briefly talked about how the other star players that have been accused of taking steroids like Jason Giambi, Gary Sheffield, Sammy Sosa, and even Rafael Palmeiro, who tested positive for steroids, were never and have yet to ever be treated with same amount of venom in visiting ballparks as Barry Bonds. Yeah. I know what some of you folks are saying. None of those guys are close to breaking Ruth’s home run record. Well my response is that is exactly the point!!! Of all of the stars from the “steroids era,” or any era, Barry Bonds is still head and shoulders above the rest of them, with the exception of only two players. Isn’t that worth some respect? Can anyone truthfully say, assuming Bonds did take steroids from 1998-2002, that Bonds still would not have reached over six hundred home runs or even six hundred fifty? Does those accomplishments by themselves at least merit more respect by fans and the league?

At the end of the day, Bonds will continue to be booed and treated with contempt. Maybe he deserves it. Maybe he doesn’t. But ask yourself this question: is Bonds being primarily booed for using steroids or for having a bad image or being a flawed athlete and person with exceptional talent who is currently knocking on the door of the greatest legend of the game? If it is either of the latter two then there are worse crimes.