Odds and Ends from this Weekend

I’m not generally one to say, “I told you so”, but to the dude who called me an idiot when I wrote that Tony Romo is average and the most important stat in quarterbacking is Game-Altering Mistakes…HAH! Romo proved again this weekend that he is the most overrated player in the NFL because he routinely makes more mistakes than his team can afford. In a year when two rookie quarterbacks have led teams coming off of losing seasons to the playoffs, it’s fitting that Romo’s previously anointed Cowboys will spend the postseason at home. The impromptu trick play to Witten was fantastic, but that moment of quarterbacking brilliance cannot overcome two backbreaking fumbles and a game full of questionable decision-making. Yes, Tony Romo is still a very talented young player, and maybe he will eventually grow out of this turnover-prone phase, but in the meantime, Romo had better home that Jim Johnson and Steve Spangnuolo get head coaching jobs somewhere, because with the way he struggles against their pressure defenses, the Cowboys will never succeed consistently against in the NFC East.

Moving on…

From now on, I am just going to start referring to the Detroit Lions as “Baxter”. Every time that I think they have hit the pinnacle of embarrassment and ridiculousness, they eat a whole wheel of cheese and poop in the refrigerator. Today, the Lions promoted Tom Lewand and Martin Mayhew to President and General Manager, respectively, and in the immortal words of Ron Burgundy, “I’m not even mad, that’s amazing.” It really is nothing short of amazing that this team continues to operate as if it is being run by a blind three-legged dog. I am awestruck at the complete lack of vision, intelligence, common sense, and any other attribute that you might expect to find among the brain trust of a competent professional football organization.

I'm Worried...

It's official, I am legitimately worried about the Pistons, and myself. It's a bit too early to call this Iverson experiment a complete failure, but this season smells like 1-4 series loss to the Cavs in the second round. Strangely though, this is not what really worries me about this Pistons. As soon as the Iverson trade went through, I decided that this season was going to be a total crapshoot. The 'Stons had a coin flip's chance of being buried amongst that dregs of the Eastern Conference and a coin flip's chance of jumping up and joining the Celtics and the Cavs.

Quick aside: The 2008-09 Cleveland Cavaliers are unquestionably the most frightening team I have seen since Jordan's Bulls. LeBron has enough talent around him now that he thinks he can win every game, so he actually tries to win every game. I had always thought that the "If LeBron ever gets good teammates..." argument would turn out like the "If Barry ever had an offensive line..." argument" where Lion fans would pontificate about how unstoppable the '91 Lions would have been if they could have switched O-lines with the Cowboys, but Lions management would somehow not realize this and continually not address the offensive line. Well, Danny Ferry has learned from our mistakes. Barry has an offensive line now and we are all screwed. Snap back to reality...

So far, the Pistons seem to have more Chicago Bulls than Boston Celtics in them and I am dangerously close to thinking about giving up on the 2008-09 season. That explains my worries about the Pistons, but my real concern here is my worries about my own well-being.

It is currently 2008, almost 2009, yet for NBA purposes I am already concerned with the summer of 2010. But it gets worse...I am already worried about the summer of 2010. I don't like how everyone has made the assumption that just because the Pistons will have money during that epic summer they will end up with a top shelf free agent. Sorry, but LeBron is not coming here. If he wants to be a "global icon", he will go to New York. If he wants to win 10 titles, he will go to Portland. If he wants to throw the biggest possible middle finger to the people of Cleveland, he will go to Detroit. So yea, I guess we do have a chance, provided that some yahoo in the Mistake by the Lake decides to chuck a beer a Bron Bron and incite a Palace-style riot. But on the off-chance that doesn't happen, here's the top 3 guys that I would like to see the Pistons go after, as well as reasons why they would not come to Detroit:

- Dwyane Wade: Leaving South Beach for Metro Beach? I don't think so
- Chris Bosh: Joe passed on him in the 2003 draft. This time, he passes on Joe.
- Joe Johnson: The catalyst of the resurrection of basketball in Atlanta, a market that will continue to embrace that team...Why would he leave?

Either the Pistons are screwed, or I'm crazy....

NHL vs. Versus

By Pete McGrath

Just watched the Wings lose to the Avalanche on Versus. While losing is never fun, I really hated having to watching them lose on Versus. The fact that the NHL isn’t on ESPN is one of the most inexplicable blunders of the Bettman reign of terror. While my biggest gripe is of course the fact that ESPN is so widely available, the Versus broadcast itself pisses me off for so many other reasons.

Leading off, the main camera on Versus is always too close to the ice. I realize the rationale in getting closer to the play- easier to see the players and easier to see the puck. However, this makes it hard to see the play develop. It’s hard to catch the precision of the tape to tape cross ice pass with this zoom in effect. In this day and age, most people have pretty nice TVs, so seeing the puck is not the problem people make it out to be. This is not to say I don’t mind the occasional on ice angle shot. With those shots, you get to see up close the speed and violence of the game. In fact I wish all sports showed more of these. It gives you a front row seat in your living room or local bar.

Doc Emrick, the announcer who growls his Rs, drives me up the wall. He’s always like “Lidstrom with a drrrrrrrive from the blue line that sails wide.” So many announcers out there think by growling the Rs it gets people excited. Not me. I suggest the league lets the local guys call the game. I would much rather hear Mickey and Ken call the game than those two clowns, or anyone in the World Series besides Tim McCarver. Also, it would be cool to hear out of town broadcasters call the occasional Wings game. I had MLB TV a few years back to watch the Tigers games while I was away at college, and I always enjoyed hearing the Boston guys or Vin Scully’s take on the game. Could’ve done without Hawk and DJ though.

Lastly, the ‘in studio’ portion of the broadcast leaves much to be desired, although it is much improved from their first year. The set Versus used the first year looked like it was constructed for a public access channel, and made the whole league look second rate. Luckily the NHL was able to side step that land mine by having their games on Versus, so nobody saw it. The set now looks alright, although not as good as TNT’s, CBC’s, or ESPN’s.

Now let’s get to the guys behind the set. Keith Jones always sits somewhat sideways, which is a annoying, and provides serviceable analysis at best. Brian Engblom fails miserably in his attempts to be a poor man’s Barry Melrose, both in his skill as a broadcaster and his pitiful excuse for a mullet. There are so many talented hockey guys over on ESPN, and they need to be the centerpiece of the NHL’s broadcast team. Steve Levy, Linda Cohn, John Buccigross (who writes a kickass column by the way), and Barry Melrose all know the game and are much better personalities on camera.

Lastly, for the love of God, get Don Cherry on TV in America.

GAM is the new OPS

At the same time that I decided that Tony Romo is average, I came to the realization that there is one thing and one thing only that separates average NFL quarterbacks from great NFL quarterbacks (it has been a big night for me). It is the ability to not make critical mistakes at crucial times. More than arm strength, accuracy, mobility, or toughness; the ability not to fuck up is what separates the men from the boys. This is what keeps Tony Romo out of the ranks of the elite. The reasoning is very simple. It’s based on the sabermetric philosophy famously described in Moneyball: You only have 27 outs in a baseball game, so it follows that the best players are the ones that make outs at the lowest rate. This doesn’t translate perfectly to football, as football statistics do not explain the game nearly was well as baseball statistics, but the same principle applies. Each offense will get about 60 plays from scrimmage in an average NFL game. You would figure that a quarterback is probably doing pretty well if he can make less than 5 serious mistakes in those 60 plays. These mistakes can be anything from throwing an interception, to taking a sack, to making the wrong audible, to fumbling, to making the wrong read, to missing an open receiver, the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, because the list of game-changing errors is so extensive, it is impossible to measure it without breaking down the tape of every NFL game. Ron Jaworski was not available for comment, so we are going to have to estimate these numbers for now. Let’s just call this estimated statistic “GAM” (Game-Altering Mistakes). Look at the quarterbacks that have won the last 10 Superbowls: John Elway, Kurt Warner, Trent Dilfer, Tom Brady, Brad Johnson, Ben Roethlisberger, Peyton Manning, and Eli Manning. Not all of those passers were tops in QB rating or passing yardage in their championship seasons, but I guarantee that all of them would have been top 5 in the category of fewest GAM. Romo has all of the tools to excel as an NFL quarterback, but his penchant for giving games away has him glued firmly to the middle rungs of the quarterback hierarchal ladder. Until he improves in this category, Romo isn’t going anywhere and neither are the Dallas Cowboys. Last night’s win against the Cowboys was a step in the right direction, but this win was due more to the efforts of DeMarcus Ware and Tashard Choice than to the endeavors of Tony Romo. I am not saying that Romo is terrible; all I’m saying is that when measuring by the most important stat in quarterbacking, Tony Romo is probably closer to Kyle Orton than he is to Peyton Manning.

Tony Romo is Average

Tony Romo is an average NFL quarterback. I have decided that this fact is unequivocally true. This is a bit of a weird moment for me to realize this, as I watch him lead his Cowboys to a victory over the New York Football Giants on Sunday night. But watching Romo play and considering the talent that he has around him, I have decided that he is what is commonly referred to as a “system quarterback”. He is an average quarterback who is made better by having a terrific offensive line in front of him and all-pro talent flanking him at every skill position. I would argue that Tony Romo currently huddles up with more offensive talent that any other quarterback has in the last 10 years. Terrell Owens, Roy Williams, Patrick Crayton, Jason Witten, and Marion Barber are collectively better than any 3-WR, TE, RB combination in the recent past. Let’s compare Romo to a couple of quarterbacks who have recently had great sets of skill players around them.

In 2004, Peyton Manning came close to matching Romo’s supporting cast. He had Reggie Wayne, Marvin Harrison, Brandon Stokley, and Dallas Clark, but a rookie running back in Joseph Addai. All Manning did that year was toss a record-setting 49 touchdowns and win 13 games before falling in the playoffs to the eventual Superbowl champions. Tom Brady also came close last season, with Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth, but Laurence Maroney and Benjamin Watson were far from the consistent threats that Barber and Witten are. All Brady did that that bunch was break Manning’s record with 50 scores and lead his team to a 16-0 season and the Superbowl. Where’s Romo’s 50-touchdown season? If two elite quarterbacks can put together record setting seasons with less talent around them, why isn’t Romo doing the same?

The answer is simple: Romo is not an elite quarterback; he is an average quarterback. Just because he makes John Madden soil his pants every time the Cowboys play on Sunday night, it does not mean that he deserves to be mentioned in the same breath with Brady, Manning, or any other elite NFL QB. Sure, he can freelance and make Top 10-worthy plays, but so can Tyler Thigpen. Other than having sex with Jessica Simpson on a regular basis, what does Tony Romo do that the average NFL quarterback isn’t capable of? One-to-one, would you really switch him out with many other quarterbacks in the league? For example, here are five quarterbacks that are generally considered to be at or below the level of Tony Romo that I would rather have running my team this season: Drew Brees, Jay Cutler, Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger, and Kurt Warner. If you put Romo on the Saints, Broncos, Giants, Steelers, or Cardinals, do those teams win any more games than they already have? I’m not saying that Romo is terrible; I’m just saying he’s average. In order to be considered above average, I believe that a quarterback needs directly influence more wins than he does losses. So answer this question for me, on just his own merits, has Romo caused the Cowboys to win more often than he has caused them to lose? No. What is holding Mr. Romo back? He is middle of the pack at best in the most important (yet unmeasured) statistic for NFL quarterbacks. More on this tomorrow…

The E-Jax Era

I have spent the last 20 or so minutes trying to talk myself into the Edwin Jackson era in Detroit and honestly, I'm not there yet. I'm sorry, but I really liked Matt Joyce. I understand that the Tigers need to trade offense for pitching, but why did it have to be Matt Joyce for Edwin Jackson? And I know, "You can't teach 97 mph". That's fine, as long as you can teach him to keep his BB/9 in single digits. There is no debate that Jackson has great stuff, but so did Ricky Vaughn before he got glasses. Who knows, maybe E-Jax is just one visit to Dr. Yaldo (anyone who listens to the radio in Detroit should know who this is) away from a 20-win season. Honestly, this really isn't the part of the trade that I am struggling with. Jackson has great stuff and he's only 25 years old, I understand the potential for greatness here. The thing that really gives me problems is this: Who is going to play left field next year? Carlos Guillen? Please Mr. Dombrowski, do not make me endure a season of the Guillentine putzing around in left. I am a huge Carlos Guillen fan and I think he would be perfect as a DH, but that arm and those knees would be an unmitigated disaster in the outfield.

Let me take a step back here, I like this trade... relatively. At least the Tigers got something useful in return for Joyce. You have no idea how happy I was when I heard that JJ Putz is the newest member of the New York Metropolitans. Matt Joyce AND Jeff Larish for a "closer" who spent the entire second half of last season proving how unreliable his health is? No thank you. I guess this trade is just the lesser of two evils for me. My hope is that it leads to one more move, trading Gary Sheffield. I literally leapt with joy when I read that the Rangers had interest in acquiring Sheff. Unloading him would pave the way for Carlos Guillen to move to where he belongs: in the dugout whenever the Tigers are in the field. Maybe give Jeff Larish a shot in leftfield, or platoon Ryan Raburn and Marcus Thames; either of those options would be preferable to no-cartilage Carlos roaming the expanses of the Copa's outfield.

Tigers Off to a Solid Start

Today, Dave Dombrowski traded for Gerald Laird, signed Adam Everett and restored my faith in his team construction skills. After spending last offseason building the world’s greatest slow-pitch softball team, Dombrowski’s budget was cut, forcing him to go back to basics and build his team the right way. He addressed two needs with players who are perfect fits and committed only $4 million to next year’s payroll. He has plugged two of the holes in the Tigers’ ship, surprisingly without making any major long-term commitments. The Laird trade is a perfect example. Dombrowski gave up 2 pitching prospects for a catching sure thing. Laird may not be an all-star, but going into the season, the Tigers know exactly what they are going to get from him. There’s always risk in a trade, I would be lying if I wrote that I wasn’t afraid that trading Guillermo Moscoso might come back to bite the Tigers, but there is a damn good chance that neither Moscoso, nor 17-year-old Carlos Melo will amount to anything useful in the Majors. Laird is exactly the kind of player that the Tigers lacked last season. He plays solid defense, hits the ball to the gaps, and doesn’t make stupid mistakes. I’m not going to say that he is a better player than Pudge Rodriguez, but he is definitely a better fit for this Detroit team. He knows his role and he will perform admirably in it. Ditto for Adam Everett. He will be a perfect stopgap for the next year until Cale Iorg is ready to take over. Everett has a bit of a checkered injury history, but when healthy, he is an elite defensive shortstop. Sure, he can’t hit is way out of a paper bag, but neither could Edgar Renteria. Personally, I would like to see when Ramon Santiago could do with 500 at-bats worth of playing time at shortstop, but I understand his value as a speed/defense guy coming off of the Tigers’ bench. Overall, these moves are a nice start to the offseason for Detroit. Dombrowski has already said that he would like to add some bullpen depth and I would like to see him go after another starting pitcher as well. The 2009 season is a marathon, not a sprint, and although I can’t say that the Tigers are ahead of the pack, at least they haven’t stumbled coming out of the gate.

Be Careful what you Wish for Windsor...

By Pete McGrath

The other night, three of my buddies and I took a field trip to Windsor to see the Spitfires take on the Saginaw Spirit. It easily made it into my top five sporting experiences. OHL hockey is fast, and since the players are hungry to get to the next level, they play very hard. We saw some good goals, some good checks, some good saves, and most importantly a solid face-to-face fight. However, the real star of the game to me was the arena.

The Spits play in Windsor Arena, an old school arena that looks like a barn, and is nicknamed (you guessed it) - "the barn." The Windsor Arena has everything that fans today supposedly do not like. The concourses are small and crowded. The only place to buy a t-shirt or a jersey is a small, cramped stall right next to the door that opened up directly to the cold Windsor night. The bathrooms are pretty small, and they didn't have the little privacy dividers between the urinals. The concessions stand only offered the standards- popcorn, pop, fries, no beer (bummer), nachos and hot dogs. There are no ice daiquiris here, and there is no build in Buffalo Wild Wings or Little Caesars or Big Boy or Ferris Wheel. There is no jumbotron playing the "Over?" speech from Animal House. The aisles to the seats are narrow, the steps are steep, and the seats themselves are not the movie theatre style you see in most stadiums today. In fact, my buddies and I sat on a wooden bench with no seat backs. I'm sure the locker rooms are small, and the players have to walk past the fans to get there. And the arena smells. The locker rooms and players benches come right up to the concourse, so as a fan the smells of the game are in full effect. Anyone whose ever been around hockey knows that nothing stinks up a room like one hockey bag, so imagine how ripe it is around forty players.

After almost 80 years of faithful service, the Windsor Arena is being replaced by the new Windsor Family Credit Union Center (why every arena is a center now I don't know- I think Colosseum, Arena, and Forum are a lot cooler.) The arena will feature more seats, over 1,300 upholstered club seats, over 30 private boxes, and a restaurant that lets fans eat while watching the game. The arena features four ice sheets and a fitness center, which is a good contribution to the local youth hockey leagues. The rationale behind the 62 million dollar arena is a chance for Windsor to get more Rush concerts (Canadians love their Alex, Geddy, and Neil) and more hockey tournaments. Perhaps the CHL's championship, the Memorial Cup, will come to town once every ten years. Plus, fans should be wowed by all these new modern amenities and club seats. But are those amenities really worth it?

There was something about the old barn that made all those shortcomings into strengths. It was a little crowded in the concourse, but I was only there entering the game, leaving the game, and buying popcorn during the 2nd intermission. Judging from the what I saw of the outside of the arena, I thought the concourse could have been expanded a bit if that was such a problem. I really liked how I wasn't bombarded by merchandise and concession stands all trying to take my money when I made my way to the rest room- or excuse me, wash room in Canadian lingo.

The bathroom itself was a little crowded, but all bathrooms are at all sporting events. This might be the biggest lie that all new stadiums use to get taxpayer money. Comerica Park was constructed with this promise, and it was pure bullshit. No matter how big the bathrooms are, whenever a bunch of guys all get up at the same time, the bathroom is going to be crowded. It's not as if these bathrooms with the stalls and the new urinals are any cleaner either. Guys are guys, and we tend to miss, so despite the new bathrooms, there is still urine all over the floor in any guys room at any sporting event. This will not change with the new arena.

Moving back to the concessions, I have seen a lot of reviews of stadiums online, complaining about the lack of concession options. I have never understood this. I enjoy good food as much anybody. I am a good cook(I can make other things besides pasta and red sauce), and I appreciate all types of food. However, a sporting event is not the place for me or anyone to try to expand the palate. Hot dogs, pop, popcorn, nachos, and candy are all an arena really needs. This is all the Windsor Arena offers, and it offers them at a fair price. My large popcorn was only 2 loonies, instead of an arm and a leg.

The Windsor arena lacks some other modern amenities as well. There is no jumbotron here, but I think this is a good thing. The jumbotron has dummed down American crowds. American crowds cheer when their told, like when the "noise" meter comes on the screen at Joe Louis. It also takes people's focus off the game. It was refreshing for me to be able to just cheer on the players all by myself. Also, I loved how the DJ played the "Law and Order" thunk thunk after the other team got penalties. The seats themselves were not the movie theatre style you see in many stadiums today. Our "seats" were just a wooden bench, but they actually provided a lot of leg room. The aisles were narrow, and the steps were steep. While new arenas don't like this set up, they're a plus in my eyes. Narrow aisles mean more seats for fans, and steep steps means you get right on top of the action and a much better sightline over the fans in front of you. From our seats about ten rows up we could see the whole ice surface.

I'm sure getting dressed in a small locker room gets old, and I'm sure it seems a little odd to be tripping over fans while getting to the locker room. But in today's sports world where the players are so separated from the fans that pay ungodly amounts of money to see them, it was cool to see the players walk right by. And after attending so many games in generic antispetic buildings, I was caught off guard by that hockey smell walking by.

However, that smell was the best part of the night. After a number of Wings, Pistons, Tigers, and Lions games I've been to over the years, I have begun to feel like I am at a movie theatre where the main show happens to be the game. To be honest, it really isn't that much fun to go to a professional sports game these days. I'm usually really far away from the playing surface, I cheer when I'm told, and I think nothing of paying 8 bucks for a beer. That Friday night in Windsor was different. For the first time in a while, not despite, but because of crowded seats, old fashioned bathrooms, packed concourses, limited (and cheap!) concession stands, cheap merchandise, alack of jumbotrons making me into a lemming, and that brutal whiff of the players walking by, I didn't feel like such a stooge for shelling out a ton of money for a dead atmosphere. I spent 20 bucks total and I actually felt like I was at a hockey game for once.

Like Tiger Stadium, the Boston Garden, the Chicago Stadium, the original Comiskey Park, and many other historic venues throughout the country, Windsor Arena is being replaced by a supposedly better building. Unlike those buildings however, the Windsor Arena will remain open for youth hockey leagues, which is great news for a preservation buff like me. However, Windsor wanted all the modern amenities and new stadium, and paid for it with taxpayer money. They got their wish of expensive club seats, expensive suites, an overpriced restaurant, newer bathrooms, and nicer seats. But to me, and by many people who feel that those old buildings were a lot better than the new generic ones that replaced them, those amenities are not amenities at all. It seems to me that Windsor just traded in its Cadillac for a Chevy. I guess this proves that old adage true. As the cliche goes- "be careful what you wish for, you may regret it/ be careful what you wish for, you just might get it." You got your wish Windsor, but when you fall victim to the movie theatre effect that happens to me all to often, you will regret it.

I have to write something about The Wire...

Disclaimer: This post has nothing to do with sports…read it anyway.

Tonight, I finished The Wire, the single greatest, most transcendent television show that has ever been created (that is not an opinion, it is a fact). I will try to write this post without the need for a spoiler alert, but be if you haven’t finished the show yet, read on at your own risk. Anyway, I have spent a while trying to find something to which to compare this show, but honestly, I’ve drawn a blank. After all of my pondering, the only thing that came to my mind was a prayer that I was taught as a child:

Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Anyone who has seen The Wire knows that there is nothing religious about it, but I think this quote from St. Francis of Assisi sums up everything that the show stood for. The Wire taught us that there are some things that we can change and try as we might, some that we can’t. Not everyone has the serenity to accept these things, ahem, Jimmy McNulty, but in the end, we all have to accept them, whether we like it or not. The show isn’t about cops chasing drug dealers, it’s about how a city devolved into an inescapable and self-destructive cycle. It’s about how cheating is the only way to win, but in the end, everybody loses. It’s about unflinching hope, fueled by impossible promises. It chronicles the failures of idealists, yet fosters idealism in all of us. It’s about how most of those with the courage to make change, lack the wisdom to know which changes to make. It’s about how the whole would be greater than the sum of its parts; that is, if the parts gave a shit about the whole. It’s a painfullly depressing take on the state of urban life in America. The saga of The Wire itself aligns perfectly with the plot of the show. Those who do things the way they should be done, those who refuse to play ball, can make their mark for a short time, but their path to the top is inexorably blocked. The Wire never won awards. It was never at the top of the ratings heap. Praise for The Wire has been relegated to the inner circles of critics and those who happened to stumble upon this hidden masterpiece. The Wire has about as much of a shot at an Emmy as Lester Freamon has of being named Police Commissioner. My only hope is that the The Wire wasn’t right about everything, that righteousness and irrelevance do not always go hand-in-hand. Rare is the book, movie, or television series that has the potential to change minds and lives. The Wire has that potential. With the explosion of TV on DVD, it is suddenly possible for the life of this show to extend infinitely beyond its time on HBO. The Wire has presented one of the most poignant and jarring social commentaries of my generation, my only hope is that society has the prescience to drop it in its collective Netflix queue.