What THEY play for...

As a Cowboy fan growing up, I remember living and dying by the outcome of Sunday’s game.

When the Cowboys won it was the greatest thing ever.  There was nothing anyone could say to me to dampen my mood, for I was on cloud nine and the rest of the week was one big rainbow with a pot of gold waiting for me.

  But when they lost, all bets were off.  The most sickening feeling would come over me.  I couldn’t function, eat or sleep.  I would wait to read the latest sports columns, breaking down the games with the experts and trying to figure out what we could do to fix the problem for the upcoming week’s opponent.  While in school, I would count the days until Sunday just wishing there was some way to speed up time in order to get to the game. 

For years I had made myself sick at the outcome of something I could only watch, not control.  I would incessantly talk Cowboys, hated their rivals and destroyed countless possessions of mine whenever a play went bad, a player missed a tackle or my team came up on the short end of the stick.

Needless to say, this pattern went on for quite some time until a switch finally went off in my head and I finally understood that I needed to let my emotions take a back seat and just watch the games for what they were—entertainment and nothing more.

There were two events that occurred in my sport’s life that made me change my mind and my attitude about the game.  The first was the how the heated rivalries between my team and teams like the Eagles and 49ers began to dial down in the mid-90s.  The second was the advent of free agency.

I remember the first big move came when Ken Norton Jr. left the Cowboys for the 49ers.  I thought, as many fans did, that this was the ultimate act of betrayal against all things Cowboy. 

“How could he live with himself?” I asked. 

Then I began to curse Norton, his life, family and career.  I hoped for the most severe injury possible for this traitor.  It didn’t matter that my team had acquired Charles Haley and Deon Sanders in the same manner.  This was the Cowboys dammit and you want to come here, you don’t leave.  They had no right to.  

In a matter of years it seemed all the old rivalries that had taken years to build; all the hatred and bad blood that had been passed down throughout the years seemed disappear.  Everyone I had trained myself to hate started coming to my team or moving to another.  Then my hatred often turned to dismay and disbelief when players would meet in the middle of the field to talk be cordial.

WTF?

And that’s when it hit me.  I was getting mad for all the wrong reasons.  I hated players when my own players did not.  My Cowboys had the audacity to be friends with the enemy, cross the star and shake hands and laugh with the likes of Sanders, Banks, Taylor and so on.  Aikman patted Rypien’s back; Irvin shared pleasantries with Darrel Green and Alvin Harper would hug Merton Hanks.  And then before you know it, they were all gone.  Harper would leave for Tampa, Montana and Allen were Chiefs and the entire game, in my mind, went topsy-turvy.  The rivalries were gone and the contempt had nowhere to burgeon.

I say all this in lieu of autograph-gate betwixt one Tashard Choice and Michael Vick. 

Fans and media members were up in arms that Choice was caught on camera asking the Eagles QB for his signature just minutes after losing a heartbreaking game.  Fans cried foul and demanded swift action against Choice for what they deemed was sacrilegious or something to that effect.  Some even carelessly called for Choice to be removed from the team A.S.A.F.P.

I saw it as a guy asking a guy to sign something for someone and nothing more: something any one of us would do.  But we hold athletes to a different standard.  When they are on the field, we expect them to be the machines we envision them to be in our mind—gladiators hoisting the trophy of a foes’ head high in the air asking if we are entertained.  But the reality that most cannot seem to understand is they are doing a job, much like we do everyday save for the fanfare and attention.

We cannot differentiate between games and battles and fail to allow ourselves to understand that these guys can.  They play for the love, the money and the glory.  They put their bodies on the line play after play, game after game and season after season.  While we see the finished product on the field, we miss the grueling work they commit themselves to off it.  And many times the people we fans declare to hate are the best friends or close associates of those we claim to love.

And because we pay for a hat, jersey, bumper sticker and/or tickets, we feel we have a right to get involved in the process of telling these guys who to like, hang out with, talk to and, yes, get autographs from.

It took me a long time, but I finally came to the realization that what these guys owe me is nothing.  They play sports on a level we fans only wish we could.    The reality is we are all jealous.  We steadily claim that “If that were me, I would…” whenever something bad, tragic or terrible happens with an athlete.

But truth be told, if it were you, how much worse would you be?  I can tell you right now, if I became a rich athlete, the first thing my critics could do for me is kiss my ass.  Because the truth is, they cannot do what I do.  They get paid to criticize what it is I do without realizing that most athletes are versatile enough to maximize their careers as well as do the job of their critics.

Don’t believe me?  How many athletes can make the transition from player to broadcaster?  How many former players are sportswriters, coaches and businessmen? 

Now contrast that with the number of critics that able to take on 200+ pound linemen, can run a sub 4.6-40 or can make a critical hit or free throw in a ballgame when it matters?  They flat-out can’t.  But through some narrowly defined sliver of reality developed between Narnia and Hell, they all think they can. 

They all think they can call the plays in the games, make the right substitutions and make the correct managerial decisions.  They disregard the power of hindsight, their greatest weapon, and forge ahead with certainty and prescience no matter how foggy their rose-colored glasses become.

However, what they need to comprehend, and what I have discovered is we fans make the choice to be fans just as the athletes make the choice to destroy their bodies for their own personal gain and our entertainment.  While we sit in our recliners getting fat and happy while making suggestions and holding on to unreal expectations, these guys are playing through pain the likes we couldn’t imagine.  They take pain injections to give it one more play, get re-taped to make one more yard and have doctors checking them out to see if their brains have stopped rattling around in their skulls long enough to finish one more game.

So at the end of the day, you’ll have to pardon me when I say these guys owe me, you and everyone else out there nothing.  Not one autograph, not one handshake, not one hospital visit, not one donation, not one charitable event or photo op.  When they make a mistake I don’t need an apology because no one requires one of me when I mess up.  If a player beats his wife, he beats his wife.  It is a private matter that becomes public only after we get on a righteous crusade to indict someone often without the added benefit of knowing the facts.

I could care less if an athlete does drugs, drinks and drives or kills someone.  I care that they receive the same justice that I would, I would hope they can get the help they require and I would like for them to be able to continue their jobs without prejudice and malice from the fans and media.  Because the truth of the matter is, isn’t that the same thing we civilians want?  If you get a DWI or are involved in a domestic dispute, should I come to your job and demand you be removed?  Can I scour the paper to find someone to target and boo you as you walk to your car?  Should I gather my friends and protest the manager at Wal-Mart because he was at a strip club at 2 o’clock in the morning and someone was shot, regardless that he was merely a patron in the wrong place at the right time? 

Hell no!

Henceforth, keep this in mind the next time one of your team’s players converses, prays or trades pleasantries with the “enemy” after a game.  It’s not for you and me to tell these people who their friends and foes are.  It is our privilege to enjoy and appreciate what these guys do to themselves for our entertainment.

Yet, the minute we feel betrayed or underappreciated by our “heroes”, then do what so many with common sense have done.  Stop watching and change the ch…  

Fan Mail

Hey everybody.  It’s already been five weeks and you know what that means?  It’s time for fan mail, boys and girls.  And on the slate today we have Cowboys questions, Cliff Lee frustrations and Dallas Mavericks’ inquisitations (just made that up).  So once again without further adieu, let’s see what we got.

Coach, now that the Rangers lost out on Cliff Lee, what is their next step?

-Trish, Paris, TX

That’s a great question and one that cannot be answered easily.  I had always figured that in addition to securing Lee, the Rangers would do an “in the mean-time” with the Royals about Zack Grienke, but they didn’t.  Now that they have lost Lee to the Phillies, and the Royals are going to ask for a king’s ransom in order to move Grienke.  In my opinion, they have to shore up the rotation—maybe Matt Garza or Carl Pavano—could be added to the mix, but none of them will have the effect that having a proven ace the likes of Grienke of Lee would have provided.  The Rangers also need to fill their hole at DH and I’m not sure bringing back half-season Vlad really works for them.  We still have a long way to go before we pitchers and catchers report, and trades can still be made, but how much quality can you really get if you wait that long?

Cliff Lee was a highly anticipated free agent.  He was coveted by the entire league (at least those with the cash) and he basically held up negotiations for an entire league while he and his agent tried to find the right fit.  His first stop was also Cleveland.  Here is my question: why is Lebron James vilified and Cliff Lee not?  What’s the difference?

-Tavis, Grand Prairie, TX

I asked myself this same question and my views are conflicting thus far.  Where I see basketball as more flash than substance, all of the things that surround basketball are so superficial; one has a hard time believing if any of it is real.  And that is the way the average person watching the sport sees it.  These guys are way over the top, make too much money, complain excessively and did I mention they make too much money?  For most people the opposite is true in baseball.  Baseball is seen as the American sport and these guys grind and hustle every play, every inning and every game.  They play 162 games, not including playoffs and earn their keep.  Yeah so you have a Manny Ramirez or a Barry Bonds every now and then, but it’s rare and the game is kept pristine and nothing but good ‘Ol fashioned hard work is attributed to baseball whereas it’s more luck and skill attributed to basketball.  When the public saw James’ spectacle, they saw just another poser trying to grab attention and be bigger than the game.  When people saw Cliff Lee, they saw a good ‘Ol boy taking his time and thinking about his family—nothing more.  What people fail to see is these guys did the exact same thing regardless of how it is perceived.  Lee wanted to go to a place he was familiar with and he wanted to win.  James went to a place where he was familiar with the players that would be coming and he wanted to win.  Oh yeah, they both took less money to go and do what we often accuse high-dollar athletes of not really wanting to do—win. 

What’s the deal with Michael Young?  Do you think the Rangers can move him?  Or better yet, do you think the Rangers should move him?

-M.O., Tyler, TX

I don’t think the Rangers should move him off the team.  However, I do think they should think about moving him to the DH role and leaving Vlad alone.  I know that it is the common belief that just because Mike had a league leading 20+ errors this year, we should get rid of him.  But what irrational people are missing is this guy is the heart of the team.  Regardless of what we fans see, Mike is the leader and the unofficial captain of the squad and how would it look if you unceremoniously ditched a guy that has moved for you twice because you want to get better and free up money.  I think the team would pay a heavy price in the PR department and many, me included, may rethink season ticket purchases.  I think the best thing to do is maybe look at moving Davis to third, keep Moreland at first and let Mike DH with the first option at second base when Kinsler inevitably goes down for a quarter of the season.

What was your take on the Tashard Choice autograph session at the end of Sunday’s Eagles-Cowboys game?

-Norm, Dallas, TX

Honestly, I did not care.  I also didn’t anticipate the big deal it was made into the next morning.  Look, these guys share agents, run camps and work out together and often go out to eat before and/or after the games.  So what he asked for an autograph.  The game’s intensity is not the same as it once was and these guys don’t carry the same hatred as fans and players of yesteryear.  Hell, the only fans that are still mired in hatred are Philly fans and maybe Browns’ fans.  But for the most part, no one cares anymore.  And we shouldn’t either.

  

Has Jason Garret showed you enough to be the Cowboys next head coach?

- Bill, Miami, FL

Jason Garret has showed me that he should have been fired along with Wade.  I’m sorry, and I know that I am in the minority, but this guy was the offensive coordinator the past 3+ seasons and the first eight games of this season.  It’s sorry to me that he gets promoted and then everything but the defense starts working.  It seems to me like he screwed Wade and I’ll never forget that.  In the meantime if he is named coach, give him three years and the same thing will happen to him.

Coach, my fantasy team lost…

-Will, Laporte, TX

 Stop, stop, stop.  If you want fantasy football information, plug in to Matthew Berry on ESPN.  I just play—I don’t give recommendations or get that tied into stats…nerd.

I finally got a chance to watch the Mavericks in their entirety and they looked pretty good.  What do you think they will do this year?

-Mark, Dallas, TX

 Hell, check with me in February after the Superbowl.  I don't really care because I have to see what they do after the trade deadline.  That's usually when they lose me by trading someone I think they need.

Who do you have winning the big BCS games and hypothetically, who should I put 180k on in the National Championship Game?  Hypothetically of course.

-Cecil N., GA by way of Mississippi State

The name looks familiar, but here we go:

Rose Bowl

Wisconsin d. TCU

Orange Bowl

VA. Tech d. Stanford (and Harbaugh leaves)

Sugar Bowl

Arkansas d. Ohio State (doesn’t matter who is playing, I hate Ohio St.)

Fiesta Bowl

Oklahoma d. UConn (UConn makes it close/Stoops will do something stupid)

National Championship Game

Auburn d. Oregon

The NC is the only game I am not sure about.  I think it is one of the best match-ups in a while, but it all varies on what Oregon does the last 5-7 minutes of the second quarter.  If they are not scoring like they normally do, then they will lose.  If they score in the first and second quarter, regardless of what Auburn does (even if Auburn matches them) then Oregon will win running away and the Heisman curse will be alive and well.

And the Winner is...

While listening to one of my favorite morning shows Thursday, I was taken aback by the comments one of the co-host made about a particular Heisman candidate.

The individual, George Dunham of the Dunham and Miller Morning Show, said that if he had a vote, it would be hard for him to place Cam Newton on his ballot because of all the accusations swirling regarding the “pay-for-play” scheme hatched by his father Cecil Newton and former Mississippi State player Kenny Rogers.  The Trust’s mission statement regarding integrity, he argued, was all he needed to sway him towards the “others” in the voting.

But think about this for a second.  Let’s say Cameron did take money.  Let’s say he did have extra benefits and perks and all the things that come wrapped in a bow by boosters and agents.  Let’s say he was ruled ineligible by the NCAA, the epitome of hypocrisy, or Auburn the week of the Georgia game as reported.  Then what?

Does that erase the fact that Auburn, leading up to that game was 11-0?  Would it have erased the fact that over the course of this season, there has been no player, and I mean no player, more dominant than Newton in all of college football?  Would it have made Auburn’s opponents feel any better that had Newton been suspended, all those whippings he and his team laid on them wouldn’t have counted and they could have pretended they had never been beaten like runaway slaves?

No.  And to me it shouldn’t matter. 

In my opinion college football is dirty—always has been and always will be.  It may not be as dirty as it was from the ‘50s through the late ‘80s, but it still is.  And there is no player highly touted, showcased and slobbered over that hasn’t had some type of benefit thrown at them.  Isn’t that the reason some kids take forever or change their minds when it comes to committing?  Aren’t they weighing their options or are they just trying to see who has the earliest English 1301?

Hell no.

They, like any of us out in the world, are looking for the best fit, the best opportunity and in most cases the program that is going to help them progress from Saturday to Sunday.  And I don’t blame them.  I mean if your future is to get paid to play, then why not start now?  Why should we demonize kids for doing what so many before them have done and then have the nerve to rail against them while sitting in their sanctimonious perch looking down their noses?  Why should we talk about how dirty a kid is when their university makes money on them hand over fist through jersey sales, tickets and other means and a kid may get his whole college career tainted for eating lunch with a pro or hitching a ride across campus instead of walking?  Why should we get on these kids when they take their teams to bowl games, help their school make millions and then watch them spread it around to everyone except the people who risk their bodies to earn it?

It doesn’t make sense.

And Cam Newton has now found himself in that category and has to worry about a bunch of self righteous bastards who want to punish him because something sounds fishy.  It doesn’t matter that the NCAA and the school have cleared him of any wrongdoing, some of these people want blood and the only way these non-athletic sports writing jerks can get even is by holding back a vote.  That’s their prerogative, even though I think it is an overly pompous stand to make.

But let’s say Cecil Newton did take money for his son to attend school, he still had to play.  And whether Cam got $18 or $180,000 he still had to play.  He passed for 2600 yards, ran for 1400, and had 48 total touchdowns with a 67% passer rating.  He never had a game where he threw under 50% and had only one game under 55% (vs. Clemson).  He also single-handedly orchestrated a comeback in one of the best college football games of the year against Alabama to advance to the SEC Championship—all this while he and his family were being questioned by the NCAA.  And he was money throughout.

So my challenge to Mr. Dunham is to look at the facts and stats before making a decision to vote against Newton.  Let’s not condemn this kid when we don’t know everything.  Also, don’t blame the kid for the sins of the father.  Maybe Cam didn’t know and maybe he did.  But if there is no money trail and just a litany of rumors, innuendos and a bunch of he said-she said, there should be no reason for voters to hold this kid’s greatness hostage in lieu of their self-righteous piety? 

I estimate the majority of voters will make Newton the Heisman winner because they choose to look at stats and his body of work.  But for that selective few that will vote against him, they will get the chance to ponder their protest votes when those seven words, “and the 2010 Heisman Trophy winner is…” is followed by “Cameron Newton.”   

The Return of the King

While most won’t acknowledge it publicly, for nearly three years the city of Cleveland braced for the Thursday, December 02, 2010 match-up between themselves and whatever team Lebron James flew into Quicken Loans Arena with.

Since 2008, when the buzz was about who would win 2010’s most coveted prize first began heating up, some Cavaliers fans had it in their minds that their hometown hero would spurn the opportunity to move onto another NBA city and increase his chances of winning not one, but multiple championships.  For some reason, they could not fathom that much like hope and opportunity; they would surely lose their basketball savior as well.  They all, Cavs owner as well, waited in anticipation as the free agency period began and the royal treatment was given to the greatest Cavalier since King Charles I.

And then everything changed with the utterance of 17 words on July 9^th.  And at that very moment, Lebron “Taking My Talents to South Beach” James was the most vilified man in Ohio.  Cavs’ fans felt slighted by the man they dubbed The King before he had accomplished anything.  They felt he owed them his loyalty and that he had no viable excuse to leave.  After all, this was Cleveland and he was a native son.  And soon the shock turned to puzzlement to anger to outright hostility.  And for what?

Because a “free agent” decided to leave and explore his opportunities elsewhere?  But Clevelanders, indifferent to their surroundings and history, couldn’t and wouldn’t buy that even though the reasons for James’ departure far outweighed his reasons for staying.

Sure he could have stayed and helped make the franchise a contender, but James alone does not a team make.  How many more seasons was he going to have to listen to management tell him they would bring more talent to help him out only to see an aging Shaq or a defensively inept Antawn Jamison added to the roster?  How much more patience was James supposed to have when he watched Dewayne Wade lead a far inferior team to the finals and defeat the Mavericks while he was at home watching?  How many more seasons was he going to have to wait until the team finally came through on its promises and made significant moves in a very weak Eastern Conference?

Lebron and his people knew the answer before all the questions were laid out.  The Cavs had a history of doing either nothing or just enough so they wouldn’t be criticized for doing nothing.  The problem is they didn’t do enough.  The Knicks saw it, the Pistons saw it and Dewayne Wade definitely saw it.

And now 6 months later Cleveland fans, understandably, are still bitter.  They are angry that this guy left them when (in their minds) they were so close to a championship.  He abandoned them when they needed him most because as some of them put it, he put hope back into the city.  And since he chose to ditch them for his own selfish benefit, he has become Public Enemy #1 because he destroyed the promise and whatever adjective you can fit that would make these people feel better.

And so leading up to the return of James and due to the hysterics of selfish fans, the NBA and the arena have had to go through extraordinary changes to accommodate the safety of James.  No beer in bottles in order to eliminate the possibilities of projectiles.  No overly offensive shirts or posters.  Extra security and undercover officers will patrol the arena looking for troublemakers.

All of this because someone chose do what so many players across the spectrum of sport have done since the advent of free agency: check the market and leave if you get a better opportunity.  And without intentionally offending anyone, James made the decision to leave taking less money in the process because he wanted to do something he was never going to do in Cleveland—win.  And people hate him for that.  For exercising what epitomizes the American Dream to so many.  He had the opportunity to do something that works out for him, and in the end what everyone is going to have to realize is he has to take care of himself, not us.  

Any of us would do it and if someone says they won’t, then you’ve just met a liar.  I would like to meet the person that would refuse a promotion, more money and better opportunities because I guarantee of the American population, that number would be less than one percent of one percent.  It will never happen and that is what these so-called “fans” need to take a look at.  Just because he left doesn’t mean he hates Cleveland, although I understand.  It just means it was time to go. 

And it’s about time for fans to let go.  Burning jerseys and merchandise is just stupid.  First off, you give the person you are vilifying more credence, especially if he just watches it happen.  You also galvanize the new fans to support the person you’ve spat on and they in turn buy the gear to support "their" guy.  Secondly, why would you destroy things you own?  If you don’t like Lebron, don’t buy, don’t watch and don’t listen.

Finally, I was reading an article about the whole atmosphere in Cleveland prior to James’ return and I am reading how fans are making this thing out to be like James turned on Jesus.  On Sports Center archived footage was shown of fans crying and burning things.  They called him out of his name and in some relatively low instances, he, his family and his home in Akron were targets.  These were by so called fans.  But when you take a closer look, many of these fans were late 20s and so on.

So when you juxtapose James’ decision to the fans reaction, it doesn’t make any sense.  And out of the more than 3500 words written about his return, amidst the threats, the security mentions, the quotes from fellow athletes, stars and even the president, five words grabbed my attention: “the 25 year-old superstar.”

For everything that James has gone through in the last 6 months, what cannot be ignored is he is 25; basically still a kid.  A kid that has gone out of his way to do the right things, has never been in trouble, is a model citizen and above all else, has acted like the grown up throughout this whole process.

And we expect more from him as many sports writers have said.  No, we should expect more from fans and they need to accept responsibility for hanging their hopes and dreams on a kid at an age when most of us are still trying to figure out what we want to do in life.

I expect him to make mistakes, just as all of us have.  But I also expect him to take care of himself just as many across the business spectrum do but we don’t worry about them until it’s too late.

In James’ case, it basically comes down to penis envy, originating in Cleveland and resonating in spots throughout the NBA by execs and fans that wanted him on their team.

Through it all, James has stayed largely silent on the issue only releasing a commercial through Nike responding to all of his detractors by rhetorically asking “what should I do?”  And in brilliant fashion he runs the gauntlet of scenarios fans and peers have suggested. At the end, he stares in the camera and asks one final time, “What should I do?”

Fans should realize that they need to take a look in the mirror and ask themselves the same question because I’m sure everyone will get the same answer: whatever makes you happy.