By Rick Morris
THE FDH LOUNGE (Wednesdays, 7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) rolls on with yet another star-studded edition filled with the type of variety that can only be delivered by the show where “nothing is off-topic.”
We lead as always with The Opening Statements of The FDH Lounge Dignitaries and our look at This Week in The FDH Lounge before we bring in our first guest, Eric Bolling, host of the brand-new Fox Business Network program Money Rocks. He has been utilized all over Fox Business and Fox News because of his varied and diverse background and now he is the centerpiece of the show being counted on to anchor the Fox Business prime time lineup. We’ll talk to him about his present challenge in building this franchise, everything that has led up to that and probably a bit about baseball as well – since he was a player in the Pirates’ minor league organization before suffering a career-ending injury.
Right after that at the start of Hour Two, we bring on a player who is familiar with severe injury – and the process of rehabbing from it, because one of the most famous surgeries in the world is named after him. One of the greatest pitchers of the last 50 years, Tommy John, comes on our show to talk about his wonderful career and his ongoing business work with Sportable Scoreboards. From there, FDH Lounge Original Dignitary Nate Noy comes on to deliver his detailed breakdown of the 2010 college football season.
We start Hour Three with old friend Colin Delany, founder and chief editor of the outstanding political analysis website epolitics and one of our absolute favorite sparring partners for breaking down the political scene. He just got back from the Netroots Nation conference, so he can report on the mood there as well as the Shirley Sherrod firing, the Afghan war documents leak, an overall look at the midterm elections and so much more. Then, THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER examines some key aspects of the 2010 fantasy football season: injury risks, projected breakthroughs and rookie rankings. We are continuing to lead up to the August 1 release of FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2010, a joint effort of your favorite 21st Century Media Alliance entities – with the fantasy content powered by your pals at FantasyDrafthelp.com, of course!
As always, we urge you to watch the show live (or listen if you’re on dial-up), but if you can’t catch this as it’s happening, you can always catch the FDH archives 24-7 right here or catch us now on iTunes. Also, you can now catch THE FDH LOUNGE VAULT, a compilation of our best interviews and roundtables, now every weeknight from 6-7 PM, also on SportsTalkNetwork.com.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Saturday, July 24, 2010
FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume III, Issue XXIX
By Rick Morris
For the most part, we keep our fantasy content on our fantasy website and fantasy blog and keep this site for content on all subjects. It allows our readers to find specific content more easily that way. However, it has come to our attention that because our new fantasy sports newsletter is published on the older Blogger platform that our readers may be limited in their ability to subscribe to it. There does not appear to be a way to have content on the FantasyDrafthelp.com blog forwarded to an aggregate news reader -- however, we know that we have that ability here. So we will link to that newsletter each week right here when it is published. Here is this week's newsletter.
For the most part, we keep our fantasy content on our fantasy website and fantasy blog and keep this site for content on all subjects. It allows our readers to find specific content more easily that way. However, it has come to our attention that because our new fantasy sports newsletter is published on the older Blogger platform that our readers may be limited in their ability to subscribe to it. There does not appear to be a way to have content on the FantasyDrafthelp.com blog forwarded to an aggregate news reader -- however, we know that we have that ability here. So we will link to that newsletter each week right here when it is published. Here is this week's newsletter.
Friday, July 23, 2010
MLB power rankings for mid-July
By Rick Morris
Start of July power rankings in parentheses.
TOP TIER (Playoff Contenders)
1 New York Yankees (1)
2 Tampa Bay (6)
3 Atlanta (4)
4 Texas (3)
5 San Diego (5)
6 Boston (2)
7 Cincinnati (7)
8 St. Louis (11)
9 Chicago White Sox (17)
10 Los Angeles Angels (8)
11 Colorado (15)
12 Los Angeles Dodgers (12)
13 San Francisco (16)
14 New York Mets (9)
15 Philadelphia (14)
16 Detroit (13)
17 Minnesota (10)
SECOND TIER (Playoff Longshots)
18 Toronto (18)
19 Oakland (19)
20 Florida (20)
21 Milwaukee (21)
22 Chicago Cubs (23)
23 Washington (22)
24 Kansas City (24)
THIRD TIER (The Dregs)
25 Houston (27)
26 Cleveland (28)
27 Seattle (25)
28 Arizona (26)
29 Pittsburgh (29)
30 Baltimore (30)
BIGGEST RISERS: Chicago White Sox (8 spots), Colorado and Tampa Bay (4 spots), St. Louis and San Francisco (3 spots)
BIGGEST FALLERS: Minnesota (7 spots), New York Mets (5 spots), Boston (4 spots), Detroit (3 spots)
Start of July power rankings in parentheses.
TOP TIER (Playoff Contenders)
1 New York Yankees (1)
2 Tampa Bay (6)
3 Atlanta (4)
4 Texas (3)
5 San Diego (5)
6 Boston (2)
7 Cincinnati (7)
8 St. Louis (11)
9 Chicago White Sox (17)
10 Los Angeles Angels (8)
11 Colorado (15)
12 Los Angeles Dodgers (12)
13 San Francisco (16)
14 New York Mets (9)
15 Philadelphia (14)
16 Detroit (13)
17 Minnesota (10)
SECOND TIER (Playoff Longshots)
18 Toronto (18)
19 Oakland (19)
20 Florida (20)
21 Milwaukee (21)
22 Chicago Cubs (23)
23 Washington (22)
24 Kansas City (24)
THIRD TIER (The Dregs)
25 Houston (27)
26 Cleveland (28)
27 Seattle (25)
28 Arizona (26)
29 Pittsburgh (29)
30 Baltimore (30)
BIGGEST RISERS: Chicago White Sox (8 spots), Colorado and Tampa Bay (4 spots), St. Louis and San Francisco (3 spots)
BIGGEST FALLERS: Minnesota (7 spots), New York Mets (5 spots), Boston (4 spots), Detroit (3 spots)
Midseason motorsports update: NASCAR
By Rick Morris
The biggest story of the year in NASCAR concerns the man at the top of the season’s leaderboard – a Chase qualifier from 2006 to 2008 who tumbled to 19th last year.
Kevin Harvick has rebounded in stunning fashion and has rounded out his game to levels unforeseen by just about anyone. For example, he did not average a Top-20 finish on restrictor plate tracks in ’09, but won the Bud Shootout and also the July Daytona race this year. His name was not among those widely speculated as those having a decent chance to dethrone four-time defending champ Jimmie Johnson, but he has established himself on that short list with a fury as the top driver at present.
Elsewhere on the landscape …
^ Jeff Gordon (second at present), Jimmie Johnson (third), Denny Hamlin (fourth), Kurt Busch (fifth), Kyle Busch (sixth), Matt Kenseth (eighth), Tony Stewart (ninth), Carl Edwards (tenth), Greg Biffle (eleventh) and Clint Bowyer (twelfth) are all in position to qualify for the Chase as was expected by most observers. Kyle in particular is putting the fluky 13th-place finish of 2009 behind him strongly. Jeff Burton (seventh after a 17th place finish in ’09) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (13th after a 25th place finish in ’09) are also sitting in Chase contention at present with decent comeback campaigns. Lil’ E still has a current winless streak of more than two years; however, his recent Nationwide series win at Daytona is expected to deliver momentum to he and his team. We shall see.
^ Of the other drivers widely expected to be in contention for the Chase, Mark Martin is in 14th place and won’t need to run too much better than he has thus far to edge into the qualifying. Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne are positioned not far behind him. Brian Vickers’ blood clots sadly cut short his campaign and took him out of contention altogether. Juan Pablo Montoya has been a huge disappointment, following his breakthrough finish of eighth in 2009 with a plunge back to 21st at present.
^ As expected, David Reutimann, phenom Joey Logano and Martin Truex, Jr. are on the absolute periphery of Chase contention at the moment. They are joined at that level by surprise Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray, who predictably was not able to sustain that early level of success.
^ AJ Allmendinger and Sam Hornish, Jr. continue their fitful transitions from open-wheel racing and each has to be eyeballing what would be significantly greener pastures back in IndyCar right about now.
NASCAR chairman Brian France has indicated that the series is considering tweaking the Chase rules for 2011 to try to ensure that more drivers are in strong contention leading up to the final races. This would of course dilute the effect of strong racing all throughout the Chase, which is the exact element that has allowed Johnson to more or less coast to the title at the very end frequently through the course of his four consecutive victories. Such a modification would be reminiscent of the creation of the Chase in the first place, when Matt Kenseth floated through the 2003 season with only one win but claimed the title anyway and led series officials to believe that a playoff format was necessary. Unsurprisingly, Johnson thinks little of the proposed changes, which would cause the championship to be decided over a smaller sample size over the last month or so. He likes the system just the way it is – and why wouldn’t he?
The biggest story of the year in NASCAR concerns the man at the top of the season’s leaderboard – a Chase qualifier from 2006 to 2008 who tumbled to 19th last year.
Kevin Harvick has rebounded in stunning fashion and has rounded out his game to levels unforeseen by just about anyone. For example, he did not average a Top-20 finish on restrictor plate tracks in ’09, but won the Bud Shootout and also the July Daytona race this year. His name was not among those widely speculated as those having a decent chance to dethrone four-time defending champ Jimmie Johnson, but he has established himself on that short list with a fury as the top driver at present.
Elsewhere on the landscape …
^ Jeff Gordon (second at present), Jimmie Johnson (third), Denny Hamlin (fourth), Kurt Busch (fifth), Kyle Busch (sixth), Matt Kenseth (eighth), Tony Stewart (ninth), Carl Edwards (tenth), Greg Biffle (eleventh) and Clint Bowyer (twelfth) are all in position to qualify for the Chase as was expected by most observers. Kyle in particular is putting the fluky 13th-place finish of 2009 behind him strongly. Jeff Burton (seventh after a 17th place finish in ’09) and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. (13th after a 25th place finish in ’09) are also sitting in Chase contention at present with decent comeback campaigns. Lil’ E still has a current winless streak of more than two years; however, his recent Nationwide series win at Daytona is expected to deliver momentum to he and his team. We shall see.
^ Of the other drivers widely expected to be in contention for the Chase, Mark Martin is in 14th place and won’t need to run too much better than he has thus far to edge into the qualifying. Ryan Newman and Kasey Kahne are positioned not far behind him. Brian Vickers’ blood clots sadly cut short his campaign and took him out of contention altogether. Juan Pablo Montoya has been a huge disappointment, following his breakthrough finish of eighth in 2009 with a plunge back to 21st at present.
^ As expected, David Reutimann, phenom Joey Logano and Martin Truex, Jr. are on the absolute periphery of Chase contention at the moment. They are joined at that level by surprise Daytona 500 winner Jamie McMurray, who predictably was not able to sustain that early level of success.
^ AJ Allmendinger and Sam Hornish, Jr. continue their fitful transitions from open-wheel racing and each has to be eyeballing what would be significantly greener pastures back in IndyCar right about now.
NASCAR chairman Brian France has indicated that the series is considering tweaking the Chase rules for 2011 to try to ensure that more drivers are in strong contention leading up to the final races. This would of course dilute the effect of strong racing all throughout the Chase, which is the exact element that has allowed Johnson to more or less coast to the title at the very end frequently through the course of his four consecutive victories. Such a modification would be reminiscent of the creation of the Chase in the first place, when Matt Kenseth floated through the 2003 season with only one win but claimed the title anyway and led series officials to believe that a playoff format was necessary. Unsurprisingly, Johnson thinks little of the proposed changes, which would cause the championship to be decided over a smaller sample size over the last month or so. He likes the system just the way it is – and why wouldn’t he?
Midseason motorsports update: IndyCar
By Rick Morris
The IndyCar series, in its second year of reunion under a common banner after almost a decade-and-a-half of ruinous internecine warfare, is regaining some of its momentum with a spirited points chase among many talented drivers. While the exodus to NASCAR has not been reversed to the necessary amount yet, the circuit is regaining its footing with an enthralling chase involving many top drivers.
^ Australian Will Power, whose previous best finishes had been sixth in 2006 and fourth in 2007 under the old Champ Car banner, has had his breakthrough year as a part of Team Penske and currently leads all drivers.
^ Dario Franchitti, who captured his second Indianapolis 500 crown this year, won his second consecutive IndyCar series title last year (with his disastrous and ill-advised ’08 stint in NASCAR in-between) and is hot on the heels of a third straight championship with his current second-place status.
^ Scott Dixon has finished the last four seasons in the top four in points – the last three first or second, highlighted by a 2008 championship – and is keeping his “dependable threat” streak alive into this year with a third-place standing at present.
^ In a comparable vein to Dixon, Ryan Briscoe finished fifth and third, respectively, in his past two seasons – the first two with Penske – and is in fourth at the moment.
^ One of the most accomplished, and quite possibly the most famous, driver on the circuit, Helio Castroneves, continues to run strong in pursuit of his elusive first series championship. Since 2002 with Penske, he has never placed lower than sixth (and has placed lower than fourth only twice), yet has not come any closer to the top than his 2002 and 2008 runner-up finishes. Presently, he is in sixth place. In some ways, with his three Indy 500 titles, his career has been the opposite of Mario Andretti, who managed a single Indy 500 win but was a four-time series champion.
^ Also conversely to Helio, Tony Kanaan is probably the best active racer never to win at Indy, but did capture the series title in 2004 and only spent a single season outside of the top four between 2003-2008 (and only a single season outside of the top three between 2004-2008). His sixth-place finish in 2009 and seventh-place standing at present raise questions about whether he can return to the top amidst the deeper field of today, though.
^ Dan Wheldon, who peaked (at least thus far) with a win at Indy and for the series title both in 2005, ended the run he began in 2004 with no series finishes outside the top four in 2008. Like Kanaan, he fell off in 2009, to tenth place and is in ninth at current.
^ The Marco Andretti treadmill continues on, with the streak he has been on since the start of his IndyCar career in 2006 of finishing between seventh and 11th currently intact with a tenth-place record.
^ Danica Patrick, splitting her time with the NASCAR Nationwide Series, hasn’t been a factor in eleventh place, but given that she’s only placed as high as fifth once (last year), the hype exceeding her production is nothing new.
The Penske and Ganassi teams continue to dominate, with occasional resistance from Andretti. The races have been exciting, but have suffered from the same “if a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound?” sensation suffered by the NHL – which also has most of its national broadcasts on the sparsely-carried Versus network.
The series has healed some remaining wounds from the sport’s longtime civil war as longtime IRL honcho Tony George – probably more responsible for the state of affairs than any other individual – resigned from the board of directors in January. And the legacies of both the road-dominated Champ Car and the oval-dominated IRL are both being celebrated as IndyCar is awarding a trophy named for AJ Foyt to the racer who tallies the most points on ovals this year and the award named for Mario Andretti will go to the equivalent road-track racer.
The IndyCar series, in its second year of reunion under a common banner after almost a decade-and-a-half of ruinous internecine warfare, is regaining some of its momentum with a spirited points chase among many talented drivers. While the exodus to NASCAR has not been reversed to the necessary amount yet, the circuit is regaining its footing with an enthralling chase involving many top drivers.
^ Australian Will Power, whose previous best finishes had been sixth in 2006 and fourth in 2007 under the old Champ Car banner, has had his breakthrough year as a part of Team Penske and currently leads all drivers.
^ Dario Franchitti, who captured his second Indianapolis 500 crown this year, won his second consecutive IndyCar series title last year (with his disastrous and ill-advised ’08 stint in NASCAR in-between) and is hot on the heels of a third straight championship with his current second-place status.
^ Scott Dixon has finished the last four seasons in the top four in points – the last three first or second, highlighted by a 2008 championship – and is keeping his “dependable threat” streak alive into this year with a third-place standing at present.
^ In a comparable vein to Dixon, Ryan Briscoe finished fifth and third, respectively, in his past two seasons – the first two with Penske – and is in fourth at the moment.
^ One of the most accomplished, and quite possibly the most famous, driver on the circuit, Helio Castroneves, continues to run strong in pursuit of his elusive first series championship. Since 2002 with Penske, he has never placed lower than sixth (and has placed lower than fourth only twice), yet has not come any closer to the top than his 2002 and 2008 runner-up finishes. Presently, he is in sixth place. In some ways, with his three Indy 500 titles, his career has been the opposite of Mario Andretti, who managed a single Indy 500 win but was a four-time series champion.
^ Also conversely to Helio, Tony Kanaan is probably the best active racer never to win at Indy, but did capture the series title in 2004 and only spent a single season outside of the top four between 2003-2008 (and only a single season outside of the top three between 2004-2008). His sixth-place finish in 2009 and seventh-place standing at present raise questions about whether he can return to the top amidst the deeper field of today, though.
^ Dan Wheldon, who peaked (at least thus far) with a win at Indy and for the series title both in 2005, ended the run he began in 2004 with no series finishes outside the top four in 2008. Like Kanaan, he fell off in 2009, to tenth place and is in ninth at current.
^ The Marco Andretti treadmill continues on, with the streak he has been on since the start of his IndyCar career in 2006 of finishing between seventh and 11th currently intact with a tenth-place record.
^ Danica Patrick, splitting her time with the NASCAR Nationwide Series, hasn’t been a factor in eleventh place, but given that she’s only placed as high as fifth once (last year), the hype exceeding her production is nothing new.
The Penske and Ganassi teams continue to dominate, with occasional resistance from Andretti. The races have been exciting, but have suffered from the same “if a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound?” sensation suffered by the NHL – which also has most of its national broadcasts on the sparsely-carried Versus network.
The series has healed some remaining wounds from the sport’s longtime civil war as longtime IRL honcho Tony George – probably more responsible for the state of affairs than any other individual – resigned from the board of directors in January. And the legacies of both the road-dominated Champ Car and the oval-dominated IRL are both being celebrated as IndyCar is awarding a trophy named for AJ Foyt to the racer who tallies the most points on ovals this year and the award named for Mario Andretti will go to the equivalent road-track racer.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
FDH Lounge Show #111: July 21, 2010
By Rick Morris
The long national nightmare of the LeBron story is behind us (however momentarily) as THE FDH LOUNGE (Wednesdays, 7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) proves yet again the mantra that “nothing is off-topic.”
We open as usual with The Opening Statements of The FDH Lounge Dignitaries and our look at This Week in The FDH Lounge before we bring in a representative of a wonderful charity. Patches of Light provides vital assistance of many, many different kinds to families with critically ill children. CEO Mindy Atwood represented this organization at the recent Major League Baseball All-Star Game as part of baseball’s salute to charitable efforts. She’ll join us to discuss everything that this extraordinary foundation is doing to help those who need it most.
At the top of Hour Two, an author with a very useful book makes his first trip to The FDH Lounge. Scott Singer, whose tome How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business has met with numerous critical raves, comes in to talk about successfully navigating challenges in business – and life. Then, a week before his former Reds teammate Sean Casey comes into The FDH Lounge, we welcome a member of one of baseball’s most storied families. ESPN baseball analyst Aaron Boone had a lengthy career in the majors and made it through heart surgery rehabilitation in the last year. He’ll be on to talk about his saga and his analysis as the baseball season chugs into the second half.
We start Hour Three with a return guest who we really enjoyed having on previously. MLB.com Senior Writer Jonathan Mayo authored the book Facing Clemens: Hitters on Hitting Against Baseball’s Most Intimidating Pitcher (with a foreword from ol’ Rog himself!) and maintains the B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful blog for MLB that is one of the most indispensable resources on baseball prospects that can be found anywhere. Post-Strasburg, what are the prospect developments that you need to know as a baseball fan? He will tell us that and much more. Then, THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER examines the Overvalued and Undervalued Football Players of 2010, as well as the players with the biggest variance of opinion among prominent magazines and websites this year. We are continuing to lead up to the July 31 release of FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2010, a joint effort of your favorite 21st Century Media Alliance entities – with the fantasy content powered by your pals at FantasyDrafthelp.com, of course!
As always, we urge you to watch the show live (or listen if you’re on dial-up), but if you can’t catch this as it’s happening, you can always catch the FDH archives 24-7 right here or catch us now on iTunes. Also, you can now catch THE FDH LOUNGE VAULT, a compilation of our best interviews and roundtables, now every weeknight from 6-7 PM, also on SportsTalkNetwork.com.
The long national nightmare of the LeBron story is behind us (however momentarily) as THE FDH LOUNGE (Wednesdays, 7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) proves yet again the mantra that “nothing is off-topic.”
We open as usual with The Opening Statements of The FDH Lounge Dignitaries and our look at This Week in The FDH Lounge before we bring in a representative of a wonderful charity. Patches of Light provides vital assistance of many, many different kinds to families with critically ill children. CEO Mindy Atwood represented this organization at the recent Major League Baseball All-Star Game as part of baseball’s salute to charitable efforts. She’ll join us to discuss everything that this extraordinary foundation is doing to help those who need it most.
At the top of Hour Two, an author with a very useful book makes his first trip to The FDH Lounge. Scott Singer, whose tome How to Hit a Curveball: Confront and Overcome the Unexpected in Business has met with numerous critical raves, comes in to talk about successfully navigating challenges in business – and life. Then, a week before his former Reds teammate Sean Casey comes into The FDH Lounge, we welcome a member of one of baseball’s most storied families. ESPN baseball analyst Aaron Boone had a lengthy career in the majors and made it through heart surgery rehabilitation in the last year. He’ll be on to talk about his saga and his analysis as the baseball season chugs into the second half.
We start Hour Three with a return guest who we really enjoyed having on previously. MLB.com Senior Writer Jonathan Mayo authored the book Facing Clemens: Hitters on Hitting Against Baseball’s Most Intimidating Pitcher (with a foreword from ol’ Rog himself!) and maintains the B3: Big, Bald and Beautiful blog for MLB that is one of the most indispensable resources on baseball prospects that can be found anywhere. Post-Strasburg, what are the prospect developments that you need to know as a baseball fan? He will tell us that and much more. Then, THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER examines the Overvalued and Undervalued Football Players of 2010, as well as the players with the biggest variance of opinion among prominent magazines and websites this year. We are continuing to lead up to the July 31 release of FANTASY FOOTBALL DRAFTOLOGY 2010, a joint effort of your favorite 21st Century Media Alliance entities – with the fantasy content powered by your pals at FantasyDrafthelp.com, of course!
As always, we urge you to watch the show live (or listen if you’re on dial-up), but if you can’t catch this as it’s happening, you can always catch the FDH archives 24-7 right here or catch us now on iTunes. Also, you can now catch THE FDH LOUNGE VAULT, a compilation of our best interviews and roundtables, now every weeknight from 6-7 PM, also on SportsTalkNetwork.com.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Midseason motorsports update: Formula One
By Rick Morris
The most dominant racer in Formula One over the past decade – and one of the greatest open-wheel drivers in history, for that matter – returned to the track this year after three seasons away and has not come close to living up to his former greatness (ninth place at present). Of all the intriguing storylines in F1 this year, that one must be at the top of the list.
In the absence of Michael Schumacher from 2007-09, a host of top young drivers filled the void in exciting style, with perhaps the most impressive being 2008 series champion and 2007 series runner-up Lewis Hamilton, who leads the standings thus far this year.
Here’s more of the landscape at the top:
^ Jenson Button, who never tallied higher than third during the Schumacher Era (in 2004), continued to progress the past few years en route to the 2009 title and a second-place spot thus far this year.
^ Mark Webber, a journeyman all throughout his career up until last year’s breakthrough fourth-pace finish, is in third this year.
^ Sebastian Vettel, who did not hit the big time until just after Schumacher’s retirement, came in second in 2009 and is fourth thus far this year.
^ Fernando Alonso, who beat out Schumacher for the title during his last two years in the sport in 2005-06, could have told the mighty German that he was in for a rough time against this enhanced competition. He finished fifth in ’08 and fell to ninth last year, although he has rebounded back to fifth thus far this year.
^ Like Alonso, Felipe Massa had his best season at the end of Schumacher’s run, placing third in 2006. He fell back slightly to fourth in ’07, bested both of those seasons with a second-place finish in ’08, plummeted to 11th last year and has come back slightly to eighth thus far in ’10.
^ After spending five consecutive years between second and fourth place in the series from 2000-04, Rubens Barrichello has also had a rougher time against this crop in recent year – and is currently in 11th place – although he did place third in 2009. That finish certainly looks like an outlier relative to his recent seasons, though.
Schumacher does have some legitimate excuses in terms of the Mercedes equipment he has had at his disposal – an amusing reversal, some would say, from his days of dominance at Ferrari. However, given his rust and the possible effects of age, the risks that he took to his legacy upon his return appear very real at this point.
The season began in the aftermath of a serious skirmish between many of the top teams and the sport’s governing body regarding a proposed budget cap and the fairness of how it would apply to both the top teams and the ones lower on the totem pole. The differences were ultimately papered over through 2012.
In big off-track news, F1 will be reestablishing its foothold in North America – such as it is – with the return of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal this year and the reestablished US Grand Prix, to be held for the first time since 2007 in Indianapolis. It comes to Austin, TX for the first time on a ten-year deal beginning in 2012.
The most dominant racer in Formula One over the past decade – and one of the greatest open-wheel drivers in history, for that matter – returned to the track this year after three seasons away and has not come close to living up to his former greatness (ninth place at present). Of all the intriguing storylines in F1 this year, that one must be at the top of the list.
In the absence of Michael Schumacher from 2007-09, a host of top young drivers filled the void in exciting style, with perhaps the most impressive being 2008 series champion and 2007 series runner-up Lewis Hamilton, who leads the standings thus far this year.
Here’s more of the landscape at the top:
^ Jenson Button, who never tallied higher than third during the Schumacher Era (in 2004), continued to progress the past few years en route to the 2009 title and a second-place spot thus far this year.
^ Mark Webber, a journeyman all throughout his career up until last year’s breakthrough fourth-pace finish, is in third this year.
^ Sebastian Vettel, who did not hit the big time until just after Schumacher’s retirement, came in second in 2009 and is fourth thus far this year.
^ Fernando Alonso, who beat out Schumacher for the title during his last two years in the sport in 2005-06, could have told the mighty German that he was in for a rough time against this enhanced competition. He finished fifth in ’08 and fell to ninth last year, although he has rebounded back to fifth thus far this year.
^ Like Alonso, Felipe Massa had his best season at the end of Schumacher’s run, placing third in 2006. He fell back slightly to fourth in ’07, bested both of those seasons with a second-place finish in ’08, plummeted to 11th last year and has come back slightly to eighth thus far in ’10.
^ After spending five consecutive years between second and fourth place in the series from 2000-04, Rubens Barrichello has also had a rougher time against this crop in recent year – and is currently in 11th place – although he did place third in 2009. That finish certainly looks like an outlier relative to his recent seasons, though.
Schumacher does have some legitimate excuses in terms of the Mercedes equipment he has had at his disposal – an amusing reversal, some would say, from his days of dominance at Ferrari. However, given his rust and the possible effects of age, the risks that he took to his legacy upon his return appear very real at this point.
The season began in the aftermath of a serious skirmish between many of the top teams and the sport’s governing body regarding a proposed budget cap and the fairness of how it would apply to both the top teams and the ones lower on the totem pole. The differences were ultimately papered over through 2012.
In big off-track news, F1 will be reestablishing its foothold in North America – such as it is – with the return of the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal this year and the reestablished US Grand Prix, to be held for the first time since 2007 in Indianapolis. It comes to Austin, TX for the first time on a ten-year deal beginning in 2012.
FDH Fantasy Newsletter: Volume III, Issue XXVIII
By Rick Morris
For the most part, we keep our fantasy content on our fantasy website and fantasy blog and keep this site for content on all subjects. It allows our readers to find specific content more easily that way. However, it has come to our attention that because our new fantasy sports newsletter is published on the older Blogger platform that our readers may be limited in their ability to subscribe to it. There does not appear to be a way to have content on the FantasyDrafthelp.com blog forwarded to an aggregate news reader -- however, we know that we have that ability here. So we will link to that newsletter each week right here when it is published. Here is this week's newsletter.
For the most part, we keep our fantasy content on our fantasy website and fantasy blog and keep this site for content on all subjects. It allows our readers to find specific content more easily that way. However, it has come to our attention that because our new fantasy sports newsletter is published on the older Blogger platform that our readers may be limited in their ability to subscribe to it. There does not appear to be a way to have content on the FantasyDrafthelp.com blog forwarded to an aggregate news reader -- however, we know that we have that ability here. So we will link to that newsletter each week right here when it is published. Here is this week's newsletter.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
FDH Lounge Show #110: July 14, 2010
By Rick Morris
During the dog days of summer and baseball’s All-Star break, fear not: THE FDH LOUNGE (Wednesdays, 7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) always has your entertainment needs covered.
Right off the bat, even before The Opening Statements of The FDH Lounge Dignitaries and our look at This Week in The FDH Lounge (which will actually kick off Hour Two this week), we bring in a very special guest: legendary pro wrestler and announcer Jerry “The King” Lawler. He has been continuously in the spotlight longer than anyone not named Ric Flair and we’ll talk to him about all of the changes he has seen and experienced since the early 1970s. Then, we welcome another very special guest: TMZ on TV Co-Executive Producer Charles Latibeaudiere. We’ll touch on all of the big celebrity stories currently percolating on TMZ.
In Hour Two, we bring your most comprehensive coverage of the aftermath of LeBron’s “Decision” and all related events that you will find anywhere. Based as we are in Cleveland, we certainly have some unique insights on the subject – and plenty of information that the rest of the media just isn’t providing. Fear not, we will fill that void as we always do.
In Hour Three, we examine whether America’s embrace of soccer during the recent World Cup could mean anything that the sport deemed “the beautiful game” by so many could reach its potential on these shores at long last. We have not one, not two, but three ideas along those lines (the third one is the best: bringing the top Euro soccer clubs to America and pairing them with US cities for a short-season league) and we’ll break down the pros and cons of each. Then, THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER examines your FDH Five Fantasy Guidelines for 2010.
As always, we urge you to watch the show live (or listen if you’re on dial-up), but if you can’t catch this as it’s happening, you can always catch the FDH archives 24-7 right here or catch us now on iTunes. Also, you can now catch THE FDH LOUNGE VAULT, a compilation of our best interviews and roundtables, now every weeknight from 6-7 PM, also on SportsTalkNetwork.com.
During the dog days of summer and baseball’s All-Star break, fear not: THE FDH LOUNGE (Wednesdays, 7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) always has your entertainment needs covered.
Right off the bat, even before The Opening Statements of The FDH Lounge Dignitaries and our look at This Week in The FDH Lounge (which will actually kick off Hour Two this week), we bring in a very special guest: legendary pro wrestler and announcer Jerry “The King” Lawler. He has been continuously in the spotlight longer than anyone not named Ric Flair and we’ll talk to him about all of the changes he has seen and experienced since the early 1970s. Then, we welcome another very special guest: TMZ on TV Co-Executive Producer Charles Latibeaudiere. We’ll touch on all of the big celebrity stories currently percolating on TMZ.
In Hour Two, we bring your most comprehensive coverage of the aftermath of LeBron’s “Decision” and all related events that you will find anywhere. Based as we are in Cleveland, we certainly have some unique insights on the subject – and plenty of information that the rest of the media just isn’t providing. Fear not, we will fill that void as we always do.
In Hour Three, we examine whether America’s embrace of soccer during the recent World Cup could mean anything that the sport deemed “the beautiful game” by so many could reach its potential on these shores at long last. We have not one, not two, but three ideas along those lines (the third one is the best: bringing the top Euro soccer clubs to America and pairing them with US cities for a short-season league) and we’ll break down the pros and cons of each. Then, THE FANTASYDRAFTHELP.COM INSIDER examines your FDH Five Fantasy Guidelines for 2010.
As always, we urge you to watch the show live (or listen if you’re on dial-up), but if you can’t catch this as it’s happening, you can always catch the FDH archives 24-7 right here or catch us now on iTunes. Also, you can now catch THE FDH LOUNGE VAULT, a compilation of our best interviews and roundtables, now every weeknight from 6-7 PM, also on SportsTalkNetwork.com.
Dream Sporting Event: Real American Soccer (Part III)
By Rick Morris
As a part of last summer’s “Dream Sporting Event” series, I broached the subject of how soccer could potentially be elevated into an upper-tier sport in America. I even threw out a motive for why the Powers That Be might be interested in such a project:
“The premise is that FIFA would decide to make real penetration of the American soccer market its “Manhattan Project” as a means to expand its reach in a true global sense by tapping into the world’s most dominant consumer market. FIFA does have it within its reach to apply the pressure needed on the world’s soccer circuits and tournaments to be able to make this league happen.”
The league, as I imagined it, would be a short-season, every-other-year league comprised of the world’s best players. I’m not going to recap it in its entirety, so I urge you to click through to read about it.
Part II of the series was posted just prior to this one and it concerns an expansion of the English Premier League that would incorporate four American franchises. But I think Part III contains the best idea of all. (Unsurprisingly, some would say) it wasn’t my idea.
Our Senior Editor Jason Jones hatched a plan that would involve the best of the best club teams in the world coming over to America for a short-season league with playoffs to follow. Given that the best teams are in Europe, I’m limiting this to 16 teams from that continent. Because of the strength of the various leagues, I’m including four teams from England, four from Italy, four from Spain, two from Germany and two from France.
Similar to my Part I plan, it would only involve play in odd-numbered years, given that it would otherwise overlap with the World Cup and the European Championships in even-numbered years.
The only point where my plan differs from Jason’s – for the better, I believe (I can say that since I already admitted that he had the best overall idea!) – is that he envisions a draft every time the league convenes, with cities re-choosing from a list of the top teams in the world every time the league plays. I believe strongly that his idea, while admittedly building interest in a “what are they going to do?” type of way, would undermine the bonds that would exist between these American cities and the teams involved. I believe that if each city “kept” a team for the purposes of this biennial league/tournament, that there would probably even be some interest in what the teams did in their own leagues, inasmuch as there would be at least a partial reflection back on the US “sister city.”
So I assigned the top club teams from each league to American cities, taking regional ethnicities into strong account. Teams from the Spanish league will obviously draw better in certain areas and the same with German and Italian teams, etc. Ethnicity was not a uniform reason for these assignments, but it did factor into many of them.
Here are the teams from each league that would be most likely to make the cut in a given year and the American cities to which I have assigned them:
Germany: Columbus (Bayern Munich), St. Louis (Werder Bremen), Milwaukee (Hamburger SV), Indianapolis (VfL Wolfsburg), Cincinnati (VfB Stuttgart) Minneapolis (Borussia Monchengladbach), Baltimore (Borussia Dortmund)
Italy: Philadelphia (AC Milan), Chicago (Fiorentina), Miami (Internazionale), Pittsburgh (Roma), Detroit (Juventus), Providence (Sampdoria), Oakland (Palermo)
Spain: Los Angeles (Real Madrid), Seattle (Barcelona), Dallas (Sevilla), San Diego (Villareal), Houston (Valencia), Phoenix (Deportivo La Coruna)
England: New York (Manchester United), Atlanta (Chelsea), Denver (Arsenal), Washington D.C. (Liverpool), Cleveland (Aston Villa), Charlotte (Tottenham Hotspur), Nashville (Blackburn), Orlando (Manchester City)
France: New Orleans (Lyon), Boston (Bordeaux), San Francisco (Marseille), Las Vegas (Lille), Tampa (Auxerre)
Remember, not all of these teams can qualify, just 16 each time, so not all of these American cities will be represented each time. Additionally, on the chance that any underdog teams that are not listed above make a strong run in their respective leagues, a “supplemental draft” could take place in the March before the league starts with the following cities (listed in no particular order) being allowed to sift through these additional potential participants:
Kansas City
Anaheim
Austin
Buffalo
Memphis
El Paso
Birmingham
Portland (games played in Corvallis, roughly 90 miles away)
Oklahoma City (games played in Norman, roughly 25 miles away)
Louisville
Four divisions would be carved out each time the league convenes, since it is unlikely that the same 16 teams would be represented on a regular basis. Each division would contain one team from England, one from Italy, one from Spain and one from either Germany or France. There would be six regular-season games, three against the rest of a team’s division and three against another division. The one team that a team would not play from the other division would be the one from its own country (i.e. an English team would not play another English team from another division in the regular season). The theory behind this is that the teams already play one another in the regular season of their own leagues and that this league is all about delivering fresh matchups. For these purposes, French and German teams would not play one another in the regular season also, but this cannot be avoided under the rest of this setup. Divisions would take geography into some account, but not to a huge degree inasmuch as there are only three home and three road games in the first place. They would be comprised taking into account existing sports rivalries between cities. These are some potential rivalries to guide in the divisional formulation.
Cleveland-Pittsburgh
Cleveland-Columbus
Cleveland-Cincinnati
Cleveland-Detroit
Columbus-Detroit
Cincinnati-Detroit
Chicago-Milwaukee
Tampa-Orlando
New York-Boston
New York-LA
New York-Philadelphia
New York-Miami
LA-San Francisco
Oakland-San Francisco
Oakland-Denver
Boston-Los Angeles
Miami-Orlando
Chicago-St. Louis
Detroit-St. Louis
New Orleans-Dallas
New Orleans-Houston
New Orleans-Atlanta
Dallas-Washington D.C.
Philadelphia-Washington D.C.
Philadelphia-Dallas
Based on current UEFA club rankings, for the sake of argument, I was able to construct what a 2011 season might resemble. These rankings were used to project the top teams from each league and thus, the participants in what would be the inaugural version of this league.
Division A
New York (Manchester United)
Los Angeles (Real Madrid)
Philadelphia (AC Milan)
Boston (Bordeaux)
Division B
Washington D.C. (Liverpool)
Dallas (Sevilla)
Pittsburgh (Roma)
Columbus (Bayern Munich)
Division C
Chicago (Fiorentina)
St. Louis (Werder Bremen)
Denver (Arsenal)
Seattle (Barcelona)
Division D
Atlanta (Chelsea)
New Orleans (Lyon)
Miami (Internazionale)
San Diego (Villareal)
And here is a potential league schedule. The first half of regular-season games would all be in-division. It is almost certain that ESPN/ABC would quickly snarf up at least partial or perhaps full broadcast rights for such a league.
Thursday, June 9
New York at Los Angeles
Friday, June 10
Philadelphia at Boston
Washington at Dallas
Saturday, June 11
Pittsburgh at Columbus
Chicago at St. Louis
Denver at Seattle
Sunday, June 12
Atlanta at New Orleans
Miami at San Diego
Tuesday, June 14
New York at Philadelphia
Los Angeles at Boston
Wednesday, June 15
Washington at Pittsburgh
Dallas at Columbus
Thursday, June 16
Chicago at Denver
St. Louis at Seattle
Friday, June 17
Atlanta at Miami
New Orleans at San Diego
Saturday, June 18
Boston at New York
Philadelphia at Los Angeles
Sunday, June 19
Columbus at Washington
Pittsburgh at Dallas
Tuesday, June 21
Seattle at Chicago
Denver at St. Louis
Wednesday, June 22
San Diego at Atlanta
Miami at New Orleans
Thursday, June 23
Dallas at New York
Los Angeles at Washington
Friday, June 24
Columbus at Philadelphia
Boston at Pittsburgh
Saturday, June 25
New Orleans at Chicago
St. Louis at Atlanta
Sunday, June 26
San Diego at Denver
Seattle at Miami
Tuesday, June 28
New York at Pittsburgh
Los Angeles at Columbus
Wednesday, June 29
Philadelphia at Washington
Boston at Dallas
Thursday, June 30
Chicago at San Diego
St. Louis at Miami
Friday, July 1
Denver at New Orleans
Seattle at Atlanta
Saturday, July 2
Columbus at New York
Pittsburgh at Los Angeles
Sunday, July 3
Washington at Boston
Dallas at Philadelphia
Monday, July 4
Atlanta at Chicago
San Diego at St. Louis
Miami at Denver
New Orleans at Seattle
Saturday, July 9
Seed #3 vs. Seed #6
Seed #4 vs. Seed #5
Wednesday, July 13
Semifinal Match #1
Semifinal Match #2
Sunday, July 17
Championship Match
Honestly, if you couldn’t get a good degree of American interest for a virtual all-star league like this one, you could pronounce the game hopeless on US soil once and for all.
As a part of last summer’s “Dream Sporting Event” series, I broached the subject of how soccer could potentially be elevated into an upper-tier sport in America. I even threw out a motive for why the Powers That Be might be interested in such a project:
“The premise is that FIFA would decide to make real penetration of the American soccer market its “Manhattan Project” as a means to expand its reach in a true global sense by tapping into the world’s most dominant consumer market. FIFA does have it within its reach to apply the pressure needed on the world’s soccer circuits and tournaments to be able to make this league happen.”
The league, as I imagined it, would be a short-season, every-other-year league comprised of the world’s best players. I’m not going to recap it in its entirety, so I urge you to click through to read about it.
Part II of the series was posted just prior to this one and it concerns an expansion of the English Premier League that would incorporate four American franchises. But I think Part III contains the best idea of all. (Unsurprisingly, some would say) it wasn’t my idea.
Our Senior Editor Jason Jones hatched a plan that would involve the best of the best club teams in the world coming over to America for a short-season league with playoffs to follow. Given that the best teams are in Europe, I’m limiting this to 16 teams from that continent. Because of the strength of the various leagues, I’m including four teams from England, four from Italy, four from Spain, two from Germany and two from France.
Similar to my Part I plan, it would only involve play in odd-numbered years, given that it would otherwise overlap with the World Cup and the European Championships in even-numbered years.
The only point where my plan differs from Jason’s – for the better, I believe (I can say that since I already admitted that he had the best overall idea!) – is that he envisions a draft every time the league convenes, with cities re-choosing from a list of the top teams in the world every time the league plays. I believe strongly that his idea, while admittedly building interest in a “what are they going to do?” type of way, would undermine the bonds that would exist between these American cities and the teams involved. I believe that if each city “kept” a team for the purposes of this biennial league/tournament, that there would probably even be some interest in what the teams did in their own leagues, inasmuch as there would be at least a partial reflection back on the US “sister city.”
So I assigned the top club teams from each league to American cities, taking regional ethnicities into strong account. Teams from the Spanish league will obviously draw better in certain areas and the same with German and Italian teams, etc. Ethnicity was not a uniform reason for these assignments, but it did factor into many of them.
Here are the teams from each league that would be most likely to make the cut in a given year and the American cities to which I have assigned them:
Germany: Columbus (Bayern Munich), St. Louis (Werder Bremen), Milwaukee (Hamburger SV), Indianapolis (VfL Wolfsburg), Cincinnati (VfB Stuttgart) Minneapolis (Borussia Monchengladbach), Baltimore (Borussia Dortmund)
Italy: Philadelphia (AC Milan), Chicago (Fiorentina), Miami (Internazionale), Pittsburgh (Roma), Detroit (Juventus), Providence (Sampdoria), Oakland (Palermo)
Spain: Los Angeles (Real Madrid), Seattle (Barcelona), Dallas (Sevilla), San Diego (Villareal), Houston (Valencia), Phoenix (Deportivo La Coruna)
England: New York (Manchester United), Atlanta (Chelsea), Denver (Arsenal), Washington D.C. (Liverpool), Cleveland (Aston Villa), Charlotte (Tottenham Hotspur), Nashville (Blackburn), Orlando (Manchester City)
France: New Orleans (Lyon), Boston (Bordeaux), San Francisco (Marseille), Las Vegas (Lille), Tampa (Auxerre)
Remember, not all of these teams can qualify, just 16 each time, so not all of these American cities will be represented each time. Additionally, on the chance that any underdog teams that are not listed above make a strong run in their respective leagues, a “supplemental draft” could take place in the March before the league starts with the following cities (listed in no particular order) being allowed to sift through these additional potential participants:
Kansas City
Anaheim
Austin
Buffalo
Memphis
El Paso
Birmingham
Portland (games played in Corvallis, roughly 90 miles away)
Oklahoma City (games played in Norman, roughly 25 miles away)
Louisville
Four divisions would be carved out each time the league convenes, since it is unlikely that the same 16 teams would be represented on a regular basis. Each division would contain one team from England, one from Italy, one from Spain and one from either Germany or France. There would be six regular-season games, three against the rest of a team’s division and three against another division. The one team that a team would not play from the other division would be the one from its own country (i.e. an English team would not play another English team from another division in the regular season). The theory behind this is that the teams already play one another in the regular season of their own leagues and that this league is all about delivering fresh matchups. For these purposes, French and German teams would not play one another in the regular season also, but this cannot be avoided under the rest of this setup. Divisions would take geography into some account, but not to a huge degree inasmuch as there are only three home and three road games in the first place. They would be comprised taking into account existing sports rivalries between cities. These are some potential rivalries to guide in the divisional formulation.
Cleveland-Pittsburgh
Cleveland-Columbus
Cleveland-Cincinnati
Cleveland-Detroit
Columbus-Detroit
Cincinnati-Detroit
Chicago-Milwaukee
Tampa-Orlando
New York-Boston
New York-LA
New York-Philadelphia
New York-Miami
LA-San Francisco
Oakland-San Francisco
Oakland-Denver
Boston-Los Angeles
Miami-Orlando
Chicago-St. Louis
Detroit-St. Louis
New Orleans-Dallas
New Orleans-Houston
New Orleans-Atlanta
Dallas-Washington D.C.
Philadelphia-Washington D.C.
Philadelphia-Dallas
Based on current UEFA club rankings, for the sake of argument, I was able to construct what a 2011 season might resemble. These rankings were used to project the top teams from each league and thus, the participants in what would be the inaugural version of this league.
Division A
New York (Manchester United)
Los Angeles (Real Madrid)
Philadelphia (AC Milan)
Boston (Bordeaux)
Division B
Washington D.C. (Liverpool)
Dallas (Sevilla)
Pittsburgh (Roma)
Columbus (Bayern Munich)
Division C
Chicago (Fiorentina)
St. Louis (Werder Bremen)
Denver (Arsenal)
Seattle (Barcelona)
Division D
Atlanta (Chelsea)
New Orleans (Lyon)
Miami (Internazionale)
San Diego (Villareal)
And here is a potential league schedule. The first half of regular-season games would all be in-division. It is almost certain that ESPN/ABC would quickly snarf up at least partial or perhaps full broadcast rights for such a league.
Thursday, June 9
New York at Los Angeles
Friday, June 10
Philadelphia at Boston
Washington at Dallas
Saturday, June 11
Pittsburgh at Columbus
Chicago at St. Louis
Denver at Seattle
Sunday, June 12
Atlanta at New Orleans
Miami at San Diego
Tuesday, June 14
New York at Philadelphia
Los Angeles at Boston
Wednesday, June 15
Washington at Pittsburgh
Dallas at Columbus
Thursday, June 16
Chicago at Denver
St. Louis at Seattle
Friday, June 17
Atlanta at Miami
New Orleans at San Diego
Saturday, June 18
Boston at New York
Philadelphia at Los Angeles
Sunday, June 19
Columbus at Washington
Pittsburgh at Dallas
Tuesday, June 21
Seattle at Chicago
Denver at St. Louis
Wednesday, June 22
San Diego at Atlanta
Miami at New Orleans
Thursday, June 23
Dallas at New York
Los Angeles at Washington
Friday, June 24
Columbus at Philadelphia
Boston at Pittsburgh
Saturday, June 25
New Orleans at Chicago
St. Louis at Atlanta
Sunday, June 26
San Diego at Denver
Seattle at Miami
Tuesday, June 28
New York at Pittsburgh
Los Angeles at Columbus
Wednesday, June 29
Philadelphia at Washington
Boston at Dallas
Thursday, June 30
Chicago at San Diego
St. Louis at Miami
Friday, July 1
Denver at New Orleans
Seattle at Atlanta
Saturday, July 2
Columbus at New York
Pittsburgh at Los Angeles
Sunday, July 3
Washington at Boston
Dallas at Philadelphia
Monday, July 4
Atlanta at Chicago
San Diego at St. Louis
Miami at Denver
New Orleans at Seattle
Saturday, July 9
Seed #3 vs. Seed #6
Seed #4 vs. Seed #5
Wednesday, July 13
Semifinal Match #1
Semifinal Match #2
Sunday, July 17
Championship Match
Honestly, if you couldn’t get a good degree of American interest for a virtual all-star league like this one, you could pronounce the game hopeless on US soil once and for all.
Dream Sporting Event: Real American Soccer (Part II)
By Rick Morris
As a part of last summer’s “Dream Sporting Event” series, I broached the subject of how soccer could potentially be elevated into an upper-tier sport in America. I even threw out a motive for why the Powers That Be might be interested in such a project:
“The premise is that FIFA would decide to make real penetration of the American soccer market its “Manhattan Project” as a means to expand its reach in a true global sense by tapping into the world’s most dominant consumer market. FIFA does have it within its reach to apply the pressure needed on the world’s soccer circuits and tournaments to be able to make this league happen.”
The league, as I imagined it, would be a short-season, every-other-year league comprised of the world’s best players. I’m not going to recap it in its entirety, so I urge you to click through to read about it.
I reference that column here because of a very thought-provoking idea thrown out at Sports by Brooks: an American incursion into the English Premier League. With the World Cup upon us, Brooks tackles the quadrennial question of why soccer has never lived up to the billing of its backers in this country.
The idea is radically different from my own in terms of concept application – but the concept itself is the same: bring top-flight soccer to America in order to appeal to a sporting audience that yawns at anything but the highest level of competition. Now, I do share in the general skepticism that soccer could ever elevate past a certain level in this country, owing in general to the pace of play and level of attention that is demanded, but we will never know for sure until we are seeing (at least many of) the best of the best battling it out on the pitches.
The way to do this would be to expand the EPL from 20 teams to 24, keeping the rest of the format the same. American franchises would be best utilized in New York, Seattle (which has already become an ideal soccer market in one year of having an MLS franchise) and the Los Angeles & Houston markets to tap into vast Latino interest. A case could be made for switching out Houston and Toronto in order to bring another country’s fanbase into the mix. Scheduling would not be super-easy to be sure, but you could bring over four UK-based teams at a time to rotate through the American (or North American) games and send each of the American/North American teams on lengthy road trips through the UK in order to reduce travel issues.
Relegation would be an obstacle, to be sure. The poorest-performing Premier League teams are sent down to a lower league, with others promoted in their place. The only way to make the American or North American teams work in this equation would be to replace any of them worthy of being sent down with MLS franchises, so as to keep the number of representatives on this continent constant.
In the end, Brooks’ idea is equally as valid as mine and probably more realistic – keeping in mind that neither is especially realistic in the short term because powerful entities often are afraid to roll the dice on change. The league is already the most viewed worldwide, seen regularly by half a billion people in 202 countries. So the barons in charge of this venture could be forgiven for thinking that it can’t grow any bigger. I disagree strongly. Drop the New World into the mix and watch the printing presses cranking out money go into hyperdrive.
As a part of last summer’s “Dream Sporting Event” series, I broached the subject of how soccer could potentially be elevated into an upper-tier sport in America. I even threw out a motive for why the Powers That Be might be interested in such a project:
“The premise is that FIFA would decide to make real penetration of the American soccer market its “Manhattan Project” as a means to expand its reach in a true global sense by tapping into the world’s most dominant consumer market. FIFA does have it within its reach to apply the pressure needed on the world’s soccer circuits and tournaments to be able to make this league happen.”
The league, as I imagined it, would be a short-season, every-other-year league comprised of the world’s best players. I’m not going to recap it in its entirety, so I urge you to click through to read about it.
I reference that column here because of a very thought-provoking idea thrown out at Sports by Brooks: an American incursion into the English Premier League. With the World Cup upon us, Brooks tackles the quadrennial question of why soccer has never lived up to the billing of its backers in this country.
The idea is radically different from my own in terms of concept application – but the concept itself is the same: bring top-flight soccer to America in order to appeal to a sporting audience that yawns at anything but the highest level of competition. Now, I do share in the general skepticism that soccer could ever elevate past a certain level in this country, owing in general to the pace of play and level of attention that is demanded, but we will never know for sure until we are seeing (at least many of) the best of the best battling it out on the pitches.
The way to do this would be to expand the EPL from 20 teams to 24, keeping the rest of the format the same. American franchises would be best utilized in New York, Seattle (which has already become an ideal soccer market in one year of having an MLS franchise) and the Los Angeles & Houston markets to tap into vast Latino interest. A case could be made for switching out Houston and Toronto in order to bring another country’s fanbase into the mix. Scheduling would not be super-easy to be sure, but you could bring over four UK-based teams at a time to rotate through the American (or North American) games and send each of the American/North American teams on lengthy road trips through the UK in order to reduce travel issues.
Relegation would be an obstacle, to be sure. The poorest-performing Premier League teams are sent down to a lower league, with others promoted in their place. The only way to make the American or North American teams work in this equation would be to replace any of them worthy of being sent down with MLS franchises, so as to keep the number of representatives on this continent constant.
In the end, Brooks’ idea is equally as valid as mine and probably more realistic – keeping in mind that neither is especially realistic in the short term because powerful entities often are afraid to roll the dice on change. The league is already the most viewed worldwide, seen regularly by half a billion people in 202 countries. So the barons in charge of this venture could be forgiven for thinking that it can’t grow any bigger. I disagree strongly. Drop the New World into the mix and watch the printing presses cranking out money go into hyperdrive.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
All the best to Stevie Y
By Rick Morris
As I’ve said a million times before on multiple platforms, Steve Yzerman is my all-time favorite athlete, and yeah, a hero of mine. He got me into watching hockey years ago and got me into his Red Wings. Excerpting from my column about him at the time of his Hall of Fame induction last November:
“I would like to mention why he is my favorite. He had outstanding God-given talent, but also radiated class and became, in my opinion, the greatest leader in team sports. His two decades with the captain's ‘C’ set a record by quite a wide margin, one that I believe will never be approached, much less surpassed. Hockey players as a whole tend to be the humblest and classiest in team sports and Steve Yzerman exemplified that better than most. I do not believe that we will see anyone quite like him ever again … The best way to sum up what he means to his fans is this: the best word that comes to mind when we think of his is ‘respect.’ The Canadian Olympic team chose to vacate the #19 during the Turin Games when Yzerman withdrew from the team for health reasons -- and that's saying quite a bit, because so many players of this generation wear that number out of respect for him. Respect, there's that word again. And as the Red Wings have become over the last decade hockey's version of the New York Yankees, the single most polarizing force in the sport, rarely if ever will you hear opposing fans speaking ill of Stevie Franchise. They will bash the ownership, or other Wings players, or Wings coaches, but not The Man. They know in their heart of hearts that they would kill to have him wearing their colors -- and we who love him know how fortunate we were that he wore ours.”
And it pretty much goes on in that vein.
This is, of course, being re-posted after reflection on Stevie Y being hired to run the hockey operations by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Selfishly, I would have liked to see him still with the Red Wings, still in line to take over one day. But realistically, Ken Holland, the best GM in the league, is nowhere near ready to be put out to pasture and his assistant, Jim Nill, is also the best at his job in the league. Icon or no icon, Number 19 wasn’t taking over anytime soon.
So as a commodity already in some demand across the league because of his legendary quiet-but-effective leadership, his star rose to new heights when he put together the organization to lead Team Canada back to Olympic gold in February. More offers, better offers, were going to keep coming. So the day of his departure was going to be inevitable, as much as I was in denial about it – much like how I was in denial about his retirement four years ago.
At a time like this, you can either take the low road, like Penguins fans who will go to their graves MF’ing Marian Hossa for leaving them when he was a hired-gun deadline-rental in the first place, or you can give the departed the respect they deserve. I am very pleased to report that Red Wings fans have almost without exception chosen the second option, the classy one. There are even a lot of folks on message boards proclaiming that they are adopting Tampa Bay as their favorite team in the East, their “1A” franchise in the league, if you will. I have seen traces of this phenomenon previously when Nebraska football fans joined the outstanding message board devoted to my alma mater, Bobcat Attack, and adopted us as their “1A” team when we hired Frank Solich as coach – after he had been driven out of the Cornhusker state in such a despicable manner.
Well, I can report that I am completely on board with this movement. I am adopting Tampa Bay and will root for them in all situations not involving the Red Wings. This isn’t the first time I have done this, as I used to root for Ottawa during their underachieving but star-filled days, sympathizing with them and seeing similarities to the pre-’97 Red Wings who the hockey world always buried with glee. But this adoption has actual meaning behind it. Steve Yzerman will be propagating the “Red Wing Way” – something that he had a very strong role in helping to create over the past quarter-century – in a new place, further validating the ways that this organization helped to redefine winning in the NHL. My all-time favorite athlete now has the opportunity to completely reshape a franchise from the ground up and I feel that I have to support him.
Famously, New York talk show host Joe Benigno of WFAN in New York disagrees with me and he more or less hijacked a segment of Episode #72 of THE FDH LOUNGE (Wednesdays, 7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) to inform me of this. I disagreed with him then as I disagree with him now. Having a “1A” does not dilute your love and your passion for your favorite team. In circumstances not involving your “1,” I see nothing wrong with showing interest in another team. I would root for Tampa Bay to win the Cup if they are not up against Detroit. If they are, of course I stick with the Red Wings.
And you know what? There’s no doubt in my mind The Captain would understand – and approve.
As I’ve said a million times before on multiple platforms, Steve Yzerman is my all-time favorite athlete, and yeah, a hero of mine. He got me into watching hockey years ago and got me into his Red Wings. Excerpting from my column about him at the time of his Hall of Fame induction last November:
“I would like to mention why he is my favorite. He had outstanding God-given talent, but also radiated class and became, in my opinion, the greatest leader in team sports. His two decades with the captain's ‘C’ set a record by quite a wide margin, one that I believe will never be approached, much less surpassed. Hockey players as a whole tend to be the humblest and classiest in team sports and Steve Yzerman exemplified that better than most. I do not believe that we will see anyone quite like him ever again … The best way to sum up what he means to his fans is this: the best word that comes to mind when we think of his is ‘respect.’ The Canadian Olympic team chose to vacate the #19 during the Turin Games when Yzerman withdrew from the team for health reasons -- and that's saying quite a bit, because so many players of this generation wear that number out of respect for him. Respect, there's that word again. And as the Red Wings have become over the last decade hockey's version of the New York Yankees, the single most polarizing force in the sport, rarely if ever will you hear opposing fans speaking ill of Stevie Franchise. They will bash the ownership, or other Wings players, or Wings coaches, but not The Man. They know in their heart of hearts that they would kill to have him wearing their colors -- and we who love him know how fortunate we were that he wore ours.”
And it pretty much goes on in that vein.
This is, of course, being re-posted after reflection on Stevie Y being hired to run the hockey operations by the Tampa Bay Lightning. Selfishly, I would have liked to see him still with the Red Wings, still in line to take over one day. But realistically, Ken Holland, the best GM in the league, is nowhere near ready to be put out to pasture and his assistant, Jim Nill, is also the best at his job in the league. Icon or no icon, Number 19 wasn’t taking over anytime soon.
So as a commodity already in some demand across the league because of his legendary quiet-but-effective leadership, his star rose to new heights when he put together the organization to lead Team Canada back to Olympic gold in February. More offers, better offers, were going to keep coming. So the day of his departure was going to be inevitable, as much as I was in denial about it – much like how I was in denial about his retirement four years ago.
At a time like this, you can either take the low road, like Penguins fans who will go to their graves MF’ing Marian Hossa for leaving them when he was a hired-gun deadline-rental in the first place, or you can give the departed the respect they deserve. I am very pleased to report that Red Wings fans have almost without exception chosen the second option, the classy one. There are even a lot of folks on message boards proclaiming that they are adopting Tampa Bay as their favorite team in the East, their “1A” franchise in the league, if you will. I have seen traces of this phenomenon previously when Nebraska football fans joined the outstanding message board devoted to my alma mater, Bobcat Attack, and adopted us as their “1A” team when we hired Frank Solich as coach – after he had been driven out of the Cornhusker state in such a despicable manner.
Well, I can report that I am completely on board with this movement. I am adopting Tampa Bay and will root for them in all situations not involving the Red Wings. This isn’t the first time I have done this, as I used to root for Ottawa during their underachieving but star-filled days, sympathizing with them and seeing similarities to the pre-’97 Red Wings who the hockey world always buried with glee. But this adoption has actual meaning behind it. Steve Yzerman will be propagating the “Red Wing Way” – something that he had a very strong role in helping to create over the past quarter-century – in a new place, further validating the ways that this organization helped to redefine winning in the NHL. My all-time favorite athlete now has the opportunity to completely reshape a franchise from the ground up and I feel that I have to support him.
Famously, New York talk show host Joe Benigno of WFAN in New York disagrees with me and he more or less hijacked a segment of Episode #72 of THE FDH LOUNGE (Wednesdays, 7-10 PM EDT on SportsTalkNetwork.com) to inform me of this. I disagreed with him then as I disagree with him now. Having a “1A” does not dilute your love and your passion for your favorite team. In circumstances not involving your “1,” I see nothing wrong with showing interest in another team. I would root for Tampa Bay to win the Cup if they are not up against Detroit. If they are, of course I stick with the Red Wings.
And you know what? There’s no doubt in my mind The Captain would understand – and approve.
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