1.Wednesday night was the slowest sports night of the year, and ESPY night on ESPN. What
are your thought on the ESPY's, are they meaningful to the sports community and fans, or no?
Spencer-
Honestly the ESPY's aren't really that important, in the grand scheme of things, to the sports community and fans. It is a good concept, honoring the biggest sports stories, moments and players in the past year, but it retrospect it doesn't really mean much. For example Kevin Durant won the ESPY for Best Male Athlete this year and some people were like, appalled it wasn't Peyton Manning. I get that, but in retrospect we all know how how great Kevin Durant is at his sport and how Manning is at his sport and how other guys are at their respective sports. We love sports year after year because there are great players, memorable plays, drama and a the chance for upsets. We don't need the ESPY's to put a ranking on them or hand out awards for them, they are all fantastic in their own way. I will say though Stuart Scott's speech was phenomenal. That's a guy I have looked up as an aspiring sports journalist so to see him talk about his struggle with cancer and what keeps him going was just inspiring.
Ty-
2. Rory Mcilroy won The Open Championship this weekend shooting a -17 to hold off Sergio Garcia. Obviously we all heard the story about his father's bet that he would win it before he was 26, and it was his third major win in his young career. Is Mcilroy officially the face of the golf world, is he well on his way to being the face of the golf world, or does he have a long way to go to be the face of the golf world?
Ty-
That was a great showing by Rory Mcilroy and he is a very talented golfer. I guess you could say he has gotten his mojo back after breaking up with Caroline Wozniacki but no he is not the face of golf. I don't think that most people would even think of Rory if you told them to name a random golfer. Obviously he has a long way but I'm not even sure if he will ever be that. Tiger woods is obviously still the face of golf. When he is playing people watch and they don't watch if Tiger is hurt. Tiger hasn't done anything significant in years and it is still mainly about him. Woods still could play for another 10 or so years so it could be hard to say. 3 majors in the span of time is great but he would truely have to be transcendent to reach Tiger Woods status.
Spencer-
First off, congratulations to Rory Mcilroy! He was dominant all weekend at The Open and did what he needed on Sunday to hold his lead and win. That being said I don't think he is the face of Gold just yet, especially with guys like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson still playing, but he is certainly well on his way to being the face of the sport in my mind. He already is one of the more recognizable professional golfers as it is and winning majors like this weekend only helps his popularity balloon even more. At the age of 25 and three majors under his belt already he has an even brighter future ahead. By the time Woods and Mickelson call it quits, he will be the guy who draws the biggest crowds and that the world collectively cheers for.
3. This past week SEC Network's Paul Finebaum talked about his upcoming book "My
Conference Can Beat Your Conference: Why the SEC Still Rules College Football," which explains that The University of Texas was set to offer Nick Saban a coaching contract for over $100 million. Although Nick Saban denies that he was offered any kind of contract from Texas worth that much, do you believe it is true? If you were in Nick Saban's shoes would you have taken the money or comfortability with a dynasty you build?
Spencer-
No reason to believe that what Finebaum wrote in his book about Texas offering $100 million to Saban isn't true and on top of that I could certainly see it being factual. Obviously we heard all the news about how hard Texas was pushing for Saban this off-season and there was the rumors that Saban was looking at homes in Texas and what not, so this was a big story at the time. Since then Saban has signed on long term to Alabama and stayed with the program he has turned into a dynasty, which I understand. It is a tough debate of what the right thing is in this circumstance. No doubt that right now Saban is one of if not THE best coach in the college game right now so he is going to be a hot commodity to any team. $100 million dollars, which mind you in unheard of for a coach, is A LOT of money to turn down but then again he has the security, history and comfortability of Alabama to consider. It's not like he would of been leaving Utah for Texas. That would be a no brainier even if Utah had become a championship contender in your coaching tenure. It comes down to what is important to him. He denies being offered that kind of money but if he saw his legacy with the program he has built as more important then I don't blame him for that at all. It's not like he's making chump change at Alabama either, he's still bringing in millions each year.
If it were me though I'd probably have taken the money and headed to Texas. The way I look at it $100 million dollars is a lot of money for one, so call me a sell out if you must. What is more important to me than the money though, is that I'd be going to a school that will set me up to have the same success that I've been having at Alabama. Texas is a program that expects the best every year, they have a lot of fan and booster support and recruits want to play at Texas. Saban would still be bringing in top recruits year after year especially at a point in his career where people know who he is and want to play for him. Basically the success would carry over to another storied and successful program so add that in with the money and it would by Ta-Ta to Alabama for me.
Ty-
Yea I really don't believe this story at all honestly. It is pretty hard to believe that anybody would turn down 100 million dollars to coach any team. But I would seriously doubt that the guy who said that he wasn't going to leave the Miami Dolphins for Alabama, then did just that, days later, wouldn't have left? Not sure who would believe that. Money isn't everything and Saban is getting paid a ton of money to coach Alabama but going to Texas would have been a great choice. Texas is as big if not bigger name than Alabama and Saban would have roots to recruit in Texas and still have lower expectations than he does at Alabama. So I really don't believe this story at all because to me it would mean that Saban didn't care about money or thought rationally.
4. The MLB All-Star break is over and the trade deadline in fast approaching. There was talk all off-season about David Price being traded from Tampa Bay since he is in the final year of his contract. With the Rays 7.5 games back in the American League East division do you see Price being dealt by the trade deadline or do they hold onto him with the hopes of getting back into the pennant race? If he's traded where do you see him going?
Ty-
I think that they definitely trade Price. I'm not sure if he wants to be traded but it makes sense for the Rays to do it. I do think that the Rays could come back because that division is not good so they could come back but I doubt it. If he does get traded it will be to the Dodgers because they have the prospects and have always been a team willing to trade for proven talent. Price would be a great addition to the Dodgers and it would help solidify them as a team that could win a world Series.
Spencer-
Well in our podcast last week I picked the Rays as a team that could make a run at the division so I'm going to say that Price won't be traded and will remain a Ray through the deadline. No doubt Tampa Bay got off to a slow start but right before the All-Star break they were turning things around and now out of the break they started off with a three game sweep of the Twins and are only 7.5 back of the Orioles in the AL East. So suddenly things are looking interesting again for them. I say unless things start to fall apart for them here in the next week before the deadline and they drop to 10 or more games back then Price will still be with the Rays. If that happens though no doubt he'll be traded and he would likely be traded to a team with a lot of prospects like the Cardinals or Dodgers. Keep the Athletics in there as a dark horse though cause they have the prospects and as we saw them do earlier this season they are willing to take these free agent pitchers to be, to make a run at the World Series while they got a shot.
5. What we learned
Spencer- Jon Lester deserves to be paid and the Red Sox need to back up the money truck for him
Despite a mostly dismal season from Boston there has been one positive and that is Jon Lester. He has been a model of consistency and as the season has worn on he has seemed to get stronger. Over his last nine starts Lester is 5-1 with a 1.41 ERA with just a .85 ERA in his last seven starts. On Sunday he threw eight scoreless innings against the Royals and for once got a lot of offensive support as Boston cruised to a 6-0 win to complete a sweep of Kansas City. Some other fun stats on Lester over this nine start run, opponents have made 80 outs and reached 18 times via hit, walk, error or hit by pitch against his fastball in that area (courtesy of http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/93221/lester-looks-like-hes-locked-in?ex_cid=espnapi_public). Lester has also gotten great mileage out of his curveball. He has 22 strikeouts on the last 66 two-strike curveballs he’s thrown (a 33 percent “putaway rate” (also courtesy of http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/93221/lester-looks-like-hes-locked-in?ex_cid=espnapi_public).
I could go on and on like this with stats from how dominant he has been this season, but the biggest thing he has been is consistently dominant, which is what you want from an ace pitcher. Ace pitchers are so key in today's pitcher dominated league, so for Lester it is no different. 29 teams in the league would kill someone to have an ace like Lester, but as we've seen to this point there is one team that wouldn't go quite that far to have him, and that team is the one that currently has him...The Boston Red Sox. As Lester continues to dominate it only makes the case for him getting paid even greater. If Boston doesn't want to fork up the money then they will be playing against him 19 times a year for the next five season when he ends up in New York pitching for the Yankees. So this is my message to you Boston...
Give Lester the money. There are three players on that roster that deserve the money they make. The first is obviously David Ortiz. He has been the power for this Red Sox lineup for over a decade and we all know how great of a hitter he has been over his career as well as the number of historic moments he has been the star of. The second is Dustin Pedroia. Behind Ortiz he is arguably the face of the franchise. He is a heck of a second basemen, especially considering his size, and has more heart and guts then anyone in the league. He has been a great player in Boston and he even took a pay cut to stay in the city he loves. The third is obviously Lester. That guy has been a great pitcher and
proved he can compete at the highest level year after year. This season, statistically, could be his best yet so it's not like he has shown signs of falling off or losing some of his ability. Not to mention his post-season numbers, which include a .43 ERA in through three World Series starts. Ridiculous.
The bottom line is that Lester has given nothing but his best for Boston through eight and a half seasons. He is one of the best pitchers in the league right now and he deserves a contract that compensates him for his value. I don't care if guys like Cole Hamels and Clayton Kershaw have set the value of good starting pitchers very high, because the value of a an ace like Lester in very high. There shouldn't even be a disagreement in my mind. The Red Sox front office is blind if they don't see what he is worth. I know they are trying this new thing where they don't give out crazy amounts of money to guys and just piece together a roster on shorter less expensive contracts and develop their youth, but at the end of the day you are the Boston Red Sox. You have the fourth highest payroll in baseball even with that strategy of signing players. There is no denying that fundamentally having an ace takes a team a long way. It shouldn't be so hard to find a common ground here between Lester's representatives and the Boston front office. I know right now talks have ceased and Lester wants to focus on the season, but that can easy change if they offer him a deal that he can't refuse. I understand that it's not smart to overpay guys who are over 30 as the enter the end years of their prime and start aging. But you do it for a guy like Lester if you have to because you don't want him playing against you in the three or four dominant years he has left. You bite a bullet with a guy like Lester. You have to. So figure it out Boston, because honestly if you don't pay him and he walks at the end of the year, my loyalty to the Red Sox may change.
Ty- Yeah Free Agency was Cool but NBA Summer League.....
I know everybody gets caught up in all of the things that happen during free agency. But if you are a basketball nerd like I can be sometimes, then maybe you paid a lot of attention to what happened in NBA Summer League. Yes it's only summer leagues and guys can struggle and still be fine in the NBA and guys can dominate and not play a single minute in an NBA game but still it can be a good sign for some teams. So here is my 3 observations that I took away from Summer League.
1. The Glenn Rice Jr and Otto Porter has Washington Wizards fans like "Ariza who?"
Or at least that is what i'm saying. Yea the Wiz signed Paul Pierce but he is getting up there in age. So it is a good thing that their two small forwards went crazy in Summer League and led the team to the Summer League semi-finals. Rice Jr was named the MVP of Summer League after averaging 25 points a game and 7 rebs on 46 percent shooting. While Otto Porter Jr averaged 19 points and 5 rebounds on 48 percent shooting. Both will probably get minutes in the regular season and if they play even a little like this in the regular season than it will really help the Wizards contend in the East.
2. Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett looked pretty good
This bodes well for the Cleveland Cavaliers because either these two guys net them Kevin Love or they contribute into the season. I would personally keep these guys into the season and if it seems like they need Love to put them over the hump then do the deal. I just think that the Cavs should just want to see what these guys can do against NBA talent. Bennett maybe not so much but something tells me he was more of a late bloomer who dealt with injuries more than a bust. But Wiggins might add something defensively and in the open court that you won't know until the regular season.
3. The Bull's Tony Snell and Doug McDermott both looked ready to help a championship caliber team.
Both guys looked very good offensively. It still stands of McBuckets will be able to guard guys well enough to play for Tom Thibadeau but his play was encouraging. Tony Snell seems like he could be headed down the Jimmie Butler route, into a player that develops into a great contributor. He can score from a lot of places on the floor and has the length and athleticism to guard guys like Butler. He might end up being a little bit of a better scorer than Butler and will add some depth to the SG and SF position off the bench.
Spencer-
Honestly the ESPY's aren't really that important, in the grand scheme of things, to the sports community and fans. It is a good concept, honoring the biggest sports stories, moments and players in the past year, but it retrospect it doesn't really mean much. For example Kevin Durant won the ESPY for Best Male Athlete this year and some people were like, appalled it wasn't Peyton Manning. I get that, but in retrospect we all know how how great Kevin Durant is at his sport and how Manning is at his sport and how other guys are at their respective sports. We love sports year after year because there are great players, memorable plays, drama and a the chance for upsets. We don't need the ESPY's to put a ranking on them or hand out awards for them, they are all fantastic in their own way. I will say though Stuart Scott's speech was phenomenal. That's a guy I have looked up as an aspiring sports journalist so to see him talk about his struggle with cancer and what keeps him going was just inspiring. Ty-
The Espy are not important at all. It really is just a made up reward for sports. Granted every award show centers around An award that was made up at some point. But either way it isn't that prestigious of an award and i doubt athletes care too much if they win one or don't. I do think that it is cool for what it is and now that it is a live show it makes it a lot better to watch and live tweet. I guess I do agree with all of the awards that were given out and it is cool to look back on on some of the biggest sports moments in the past year. The thing that it usually lacks that other awards shows have are performances which make no sense but I still would have watched it. Either way I doubt that sports fans really care about the ESPY's and probably shouldn't. Drake was surprisingly good though and the "Side Chicks" song was funny.
Ty-
That was a great showing by Rory Mcilroy and he is a very talented golfer. I guess you could say he has gotten his mojo back after breaking up with Caroline Wozniacki but no he is not the face of golf. I don't think that most people would even think of Rory if you told them to name a random golfer. Obviously he has a long way but I'm not even sure if he will ever be that. Tiger woods is obviously still the face of golf. When he is playing people watch and they don't watch if Tiger is hurt. Tiger hasn't done anything significant in years and it is still mainly about him. Woods still could play for another 10 or so years so it could be hard to say. 3 majors in the span of time is great but he would truely have to be transcendent to reach Tiger Woods status.
Spencer-
First off, congratulations to Rory Mcilroy! He was dominant all weekend at The Open and did what he needed on Sunday to hold his lead and win. That being said I don't think he is the face of Gold just yet, especially with guys like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson still playing, but he is certainly well on his way to being the face of the sport in my mind. He already is one of the more recognizable professional golfers as it is and winning majors like this weekend only helps his popularity balloon even more. At the age of 25 and three majors under his belt already he has an even brighter future ahead. By the time Woods and Mickelson call it quits, he will be the guy who draws the biggest crowds and that the world collectively cheers for.
3. This past week SEC Network's Paul Finebaum talked about his upcoming book "My
Conference Can Beat Your Conference: Why the SEC Still Rules College Football," which explains that The University of Texas was set to offer Nick Saban a coaching contract for over $100 million. Although Nick Saban denies that he was offered any kind of contract from Texas worth that much, do you believe it is true? If you were in Nick Saban's shoes would you have taken the money or comfortability with a dynasty you build?
Spencer-
No reason to believe that what Finebaum wrote in his book about Texas offering $100 million to Saban isn't true and on top of that I could certainly see it being factual. Obviously we heard all the news about how hard Texas was pushing for Saban this off-season and there was the rumors that Saban was looking at homes in Texas and what not, so this was a big story at the time. Since then Saban has signed on long term to Alabama and stayed with the program he has turned into a dynasty, which I understand. It is a tough debate of what the right thing is in this circumstance. No doubt that right now Saban is one of if not THE best coach in the college game right now so he is going to be a hot commodity to any team. $100 million dollars, which mind you in unheard of for a coach, is A LOT of money to turn down but then again he has the security, history and comfortability of Alabama to consider. It's not like he would of been leaving Utah for Texas. That would be a no brainier even if Utah had become a championship contender in your coaching tenure. It comes down to what is important to him. He denies being offered that kind of money but if he saw his legacy with the program he has built as more important then I don't blame him for that at all. It's not like he's making chump change at Alabama either, he's still bringing in millions each year.
If it were me though I'd probably have taken the money and headed to Texas. The way I look at it $100 million dollars is a lot of money for one, so call me a sell out if you must. What is more important to me than the money though, is that I'd be going to a school that will set me up to have the same success that I've been having at Alabama. Texas is a program that expects the best every year, they have a lot of fan and booster support and recruits want to play at Texas. Saban would still be bringing in top recruits year after year especially at a point in his career where people know who he is and want to play for him. Basically the success would carry over to another storied and successful program so add that in with the money and it would by Ta-Ta to Alabama for me. Ty-
Yea I really don't believe this story at all honestly. It is pretty hard to believe that anybody would turn down 100 million dollars to coach any team. But I would seriously doubt that the guy who said that he wasn't going to leave the Miami Dolphins for Alabama, then did just that, days later, wouldn't have left? Not sure who would believe that. Money isn't everything and Saban is getting paid a ton of money to coach Alabama but going to Texas would have been a great choice. Texas is as big if not bigger name than Alabama and Saban would have roots to recruit in Texas and still have lower expectations than he does at Alabama. So I really don't believe this story at all because to me it would mean that Saban didn't care about money or thought rationally.
Ty-
I think that they definitely trade Price. I'm not sure if he wants to be traded but it makes sense for the Rays to do it. I do think that the Rays could come back because that division is not good so they could come back but I doubt it. If he does get traded it will be to the Dodgers because they have the prospects and have always been a team willing to trade for proven talent. Price would be a great addition to the Dodgers and it would help solidify them as a team that could win a world Series.
Spencer-
Well in our podcast last week I picked the Rays as a team that could make a run at the division so I'm going to say that Price won't be traded and will remain a Ray through the deadline. No doubt Tampa Bay got off to a slow start but right before the All-Star break they were turning things around and now out of the break they started off with a three game sweep of the Twins and are only 7.5 back of the Orioles in the AL East. So suddenly things are looking interesting again for them. I say unless things start to fall apart for them here in the next week before the deadline and they drop to 10 or more games back then Price will still be with the Rays. If that happens though no doubt he'll be traded and he would likely be traded to a team with a lot of prospects like the Cardinals or Dodgers. Keep the Athletics in there as a dark horse though cause they have the prospects and as we saw them do earlier this season they are willing to take these free agent pitchers to be, to make a run at the World Series while they got a shot.
5. What we learned
Spencer- Jon Lester deserves to be paid and the Red Sox need to back up the money truck for him
Despite a mostly dismal season from Boston there has been one positive and that is Jon Lester. He has been a model of consistency and as the season has worn on he has seemed to get stronger. Over his last nine starts Lester is 5-1 with a 1.41 ERA with just a .85 ERA in his last seven starts. On Sunday he threw eight scoreless innings against the Royals and for once got a lot of offensive support as Boston cruised to a 6-0 win to complete a sweep of Kansas City. Some other fun stats on Lester over this nine start run, opponents have made 80 outs and reached 18 times via hit, walk, error or hit by pitch against his fastball in that area (courtesy of http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/93221/lester-looks-like-hes-locked-in?ex_cid=espnapi_public). Lester has also gotten great mileage out of his curveball. He has 22 strikeouts on the last 66 two-strike curveballs he’s thrown (a 33 percent “putaway rate” (also courtesy of http://espn.go.com/blog/statsinfo/post/_/id/93221/lester-looks-like-hes-locked-in?ex_cid=espnapi_public).
I could go on and on like this with stats from how dominant he has been this season, but the biggest thing he has been is consistently dominant, which is what you want from an ace pitcher. Ace pitchers are so key in today's pitcher dominated league, so for Lester it is no different. 29 teams in the league would kill someone to have an ace like Lester, but as we've seen to this point there is one team that wouldn't go quite that far to have him, and that team is the one that currently has him...The Boston Red Sox. As Lester continues to dominate it only makes the case for him getting paid even greater. If Boston doesn't want to fork up the money then they will be playing against him 19 times a year for the next five season when he ends up in New York pitching for the Yankees. So this is my message to you Boston...
Give Lester the money. There are three players on that roster that deserve the money they make. The first is obviously David Ortiz. He has been the power for this Red Sox lineup for over a decade and we all know how great of a hitter he has been over his career as well as the number of historic moments he has been the star of. The second is Dustin Pedroia. Behind Ortiz he is arguably the face of the franchise. He is a heck of a second basemen, especially considering his size, and has more heart and guts then anyone in the league. He has been a great player in Boston and he even took a pay cut to stay in the city he loves. The third is obviously Lester. That guy has been a great pitcher and
The bottom line is that Lester has given nothing but his best for Boston through eight and a half seasons. He is one of the best pitchers in the league right now and he deserves a contract that compensates him for his value. I don't care if guys like Cole Hamels and Clayton Kershaw have set the value of good starting pitchers very high, because the value of a an ace like Lester in very high. There shouldn't even be a disagreement in my mind. The Red Sox front office is blind if they don't see what he is worth. I know they are trying this new thing where they don't give out crazy amounts of money to guys and just piece together a roster on shorter less expensive contracts and develop their youth, but at the end of the day you are the Boston Red Sox. You have the fourth highest payroll in baseball even with that strategy of signing players. There is no denying that fundamentally having an ace takes a team a long way. It shouldn't be so hard to find a common ground here between Lester's representatives and the Boston front office. I know right now talks have ceased and Lester wants to focus on the season, but that can easy change if they offer him a deal that he can't refuse. I understand that it's not smart to overpay guys who are over 30 as the enter the end years of their prime and start aging. But you do it for a guy like Lester if you have to because you don't want him playing against you in the three or four dominant years he has left. You bite a bullet with a guy like Lester. You have to. So figure it out Boston, because honestly if you don't pay him and he walks at the end of the year, my loyalty to the Red Sox may change.
Ty- Yeah Free Agency was Cool but NBA Summer League.....I know everybody gets caught up in all of the things that happen during free agency. But if you are a basketball nerd like I can be sometimes, then maybe you paid a lot of attention to what happened in NBA Summer League. Yes it's only summer leagues and guys can struggle and still be fine in the NBA and guys can dominate and not play a single minute in an NBA game but still it can be a good sign for some teams. So here is my 3 observations that I took away from Summer League.
1. The Glenn Rice Jr and Otto Porter has Washington Wizards fans like "Ariza who?"
Or at least that is what i'm saying. Yea the Wiz signed Paul Pierce but he is getting up there in age. So it is a good thing that their two small forwards went crazy in Summer League and led the team to the Summer League semi-finals. Rice Jr was named the MVP of Summer League after averaging 25 points a game and 7 rebs on 46 percent shooting. While Otto Porter Jr averaged 19 points and 5 rebounds on 48 percent shooting. Both will probably get minutes in the regular season and if they play even a little like this in the regular season than it will really help the Wizards contend in the East.
2. Andrew Wiggins and Anthony Bennett looked pretty good
This bodes well for the Cleveland Cavaliers because either these two guys net them Kevin Love or they contribute into the season. I would personally keep these guys into the season and if it seems like they need Love to put them over the hump then do the deal. I just think that the Cavs should just want to see what these guys can do against NBA talent. Bennett maybe not so much but something tells me he was more of a late bloomer who dealt with injuries more than a bust. But Wiggins might add something defensively and in the open court that you won't know until the regular season.
3. The Bull's Tony Snell and Doug McDermott both looked ready to help a championship caliber team.
Both guys looked very good offensively. It still stands of McBuckets will be able to guard guys well enough to play for Tom Thibadeau but his play was encouraging. Tony Snell seems like he could be headed down the Jimmie Butler route, into a player that develops into a great contributor. He can score from a lot of places on the floor and has the length and athleticism to guard guys like Butler. He might end up being a little bit of a better scorer than Butler and will add some depth to the SG and SF position off the bench.
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