Are Americans Finally Embracing the Beautiful Game?

The round of sixteen is set to begin at the World Cup.  In a surprise development, one of those sixteen squads is the United States.  Surviving the “Group of Death” is no mean feat for a talented and gritty team.  The United States entered the World Cup ranked 13^th in the world, which signals that they have the ability to play with the best.

 

Belgium will test the United States and the country will tune in to see how the Red, White, and Blue perform.  Win or lose, but not draw since the sister kissing portion of the World Cup is over, the Men’s National team has sent the message that they are a legitimate threat in international competition.  This is welcome news for most U.S. sports fans but is already being misconstrued as a turning point in America’s soccer interest level.

Coverage of the World Cup routinely includes the cliché question: Has the U.S. finally joined the rest of the world and embraced soccer?  The particularly hipster commentators substitute futbol for soccer.  The answer is no.  Americans love to cheer for America, surprise.  Soccer continues to lag behind football, baseball, and basketball with hockey and auto racing more enthralling for the average U.S. fan than soccer.

 

World Cup interest and ratings have been high in Brazil but they were also high in South Africa.  The U.S. television market is embracing sports as a whole.  The DVR proof nature of live sports makes them an integral component in today’s Netflix world.  It is in the broadcast network’s interest to prop up the World Cup as a phenomenon.  The key is to ignore the hype and recognize the World Cup for what it is for the average U.S. sports fan, temporarily compelling.

The World Cup is a single sport Olympics.  The U.S. is competing for world bragging rights and viewers love that backdrop.  Swimming receives high ratings every four years during the Summer Games but no pundits claim that American audiences finally get it and are joining a global community.  Michael Phelps was a tremendous storyline and source of pride at Beijing in 2008.  He commanded the airwaves.  It did not result in a lasting interest in televised swimming stateside.

           Of course, Phelps was the favorite and Americans love the scrappy underdog.  Soccer provides Americans with the rare opportunity to be a considerable underdog, at least in perception.  Hockey also provided the U.S. with that opportunity in 1980.  Despite tape delay, the “Miracle on Ice” remains a treasure in the country’s collective sporting memory.  The U.S. may produce another treasure in Brazil, which will generate some soccer interest, but August is rapidly approaching and with it the NFL season.

Dewayne Wade, Not LeBron James, Will Determine Miami’s Future

The Miami Heat is in a precarious position.  Entering the NBA Finals, they were underdogs according to Las Vegas, but the two time defending champions were expected to contend with San Antonio.  That did not happen.  Other articles have detailed how the Spurs dissected the Heat’s defense more thoroughly than an honor’s biology lab dissects a frog.  This piece in particular is a great X’s and O’s breakdown of the Finals.

Now that the Finals are over the Heat must address the personnel issues that contributed to their defensive lapses.  The Big Three can all opt out or in and that flexibility creates a fluid situation.  The safe assumption is that all three will opt back in for one more season.  That does not eliminate the opportunity to add an All-Star quality player via free agency.

That player is not Carmelo Anthony.  Adding him would lower Miami’s defensive and offensive efficiency.  However, Kyle Lowry, most recently of the Toronto Raptors, would fill their needs.  The versatile guard averaged 17.9 points and 7.4 assists per game in 2013-14.  Signing Lowry would make Mario Chalmers expendable and a possible trade piece for the agile, defensive, big man the Heat need.

The catch is that Lowry will not be cheap.  Even if he discounts his services to seek a championship, and greater brand exposure, he will command at least ten million dollars a year.  This obstacle is avoidable if one of the Big Three were to opt out and restructure his deal at a severe bargain rate.  Dewayne Wade needs to do this.

 

           This would be the final part in Wade’s championship saga.  He teamed with an aging Shaquille O’Neal to will his way to his first championship.  By recruiting LeBron James and Chris Bosh to South Beach, Wade earned two more titles.  Now his knees have limited his effectiveness.  By gracefully moving aside, he will become the veteran sixth man that supplies energy, grit, headlong forays into the lane, and timely scoring.  In short, Wade has the opportunity to become Miami’s version of Manu Ginobili, albeit a less dangerous outside shooter.  If Wade accepts this role, it will signal Miami’s move to a Spur-esque team first attitude.  After all, if you can’t beat them, mimic them so you can beat the next season in the Finals.

Fisher Today, Zen Junior Tomorrow

Has Derek Fisher thought this out?  By becoming the New York Knick’s head coach, any success will be widely viewed as another by-product of Phil Jackson.  Jackson has targeted two former players.  Specifically, he has targeted his two most widely known cerebral, clutch sharpshooters.  Steve Kerr resisted the siren’s song of New York but Derek Fisher could not resist it.

To be clear, Fisher has the right constitution to move from player to head coach without any experience as an assistant.  Jason Kidd made the same transition this year and guided Brooklyn to the playoffs.  Once Brook Lopez was injured, Kidd utilized a small ball lineup that featured Kevin Garnett at center.  Garnett’s skill set resulted in this lineup moving the ball and attacking from the perimeter instead of focusing on interior touches for Lopez.  Kidd coached to his strengths as a former NBA point guard.

Fisher will do the same.  The problem is that what Fisher knows is Jackson’s Triangle offense.  If Carmelo Anthony stays in the Big Apple, that will be a big adjustment for the NBA’s most dangerous volume shooter.  It is apparent Kerr considered this issue and knew that Golden State would give him the freedom to solve it.  Kerr has met with David Blatt to be his lead assistant coach.  Blatt is widely regarded in coaching circles as today’s foremost offensive innovator.  Combine this with Kerr’s stated intention to have the Warriors run more and to emphasis Andre Iguodala’s talents by getting him out of the corner and it all comes into focus.

            Kerr recognizes that the NBA is now a perimeter league.  The Triangle will not be as effective as an up-tempo perimeter attack that focuses on efficient three pointers and transitions opportunities.  Jackson is arguably the most successful coach in NBA history.  The likelihood that he would hire a former player with no coaching experience and then allow him run a system counter to his own doctrine is slim.  Kerr wanted elbowroom and an offense that does not rely on the elbow.  Personnel and cap structure issue plague the Knicks.  Those issues will be resolved.  The question is if Jackson will allow Fisher to make strategy adjustments that run counter to Jackson’s philosophy.

Lonely at the Top: The Most Powerful Man in the Most Powerful Sport has a Power Problem

Power is difficult to acquire.  It is more difficult to maintain.  While possession may be nine tenths of the law, perception is nine tenths of political power.  Roger Goodell understands this well after the last two months.  The NFL Commissioner has decisively dictated the NFL’s course.  His steadfast approach to the lockout was a significant factor in the owners securing favorable terms.

Three unrelated events have undermined Goodell’s credibility, and with it his power.  The first is the failure of the owners and NFL Player’s Association (NFLPA) union to agree to HGH testing.  With the rising concern over retired player’s well-being and quality of life, the NFL can ill afford anything less than full transparency regarding players gaining unnatural physical abilities.  The public perception of steroid using behemoths mauling their brains at the behest of billionaire owners does not sit well with most Americans.  This perception fails to account for individual responsibility.  Goodell is not personally buckling chinstraps of concussed players and sending them back to the trenches.

 

However, power does not flow from logical reality.  It flows from perception.  No HGH testing hurts the NFL’s image.  This may not have irrevocably damaged Goodell’s prestige alone, but Jim Irsay has produced another problem.  Irsay, who owns the Indianapolis Colts, was arrested March 16^th for driving under the influence and drug possession.  He was pulled over and found to have numerous prescription pills that were not prescribed to him and over 29,000 dollars in his vehicle.  Goodell will discipline Irsay but the perception is that the owner is receiving the benefit of the doubt.  DeMaurice Smith, who is the NFLPA executive director, lambasted Goodell on May 29^th.  “There is a significant credibility gap that exists . . . what troubles our players is the speed and the deliberateness of punishment that they have seen in the past when it comes to a player, there isn’t the same speed or deliberate action when it comes to an owner, and that’s a problem.”

Again, this is a problem with perception not reality.  Any first time offender, player or owner, is typically given punishment once the incident has been resolved legally.  As such, Goodell should wait for the legal system to punish Irsay, a first time offender.  It seems likely that Irsay’s arrest would not have reached flashpoint except for the third event.  NBA Commissioner Adam Silver banned Clippers owner Donald Sterling faster than one could say, “What would David Stern do?”  He wielded his authority far more assertively than Goodell ever has.  The difference is that Silver needed to ban Sterling.  Irsay has drug addiction issues.  He has never been recorded uttering racists comments.

            NFL players have been searching for opportunities to limit Goodell’s power.  Their outrage at the pace of Irsay’s discipline would exist regardless of what Silver did to Sterling.  The problem for Goodell is that his lack of movement stands in sharp contrast to the new NBA commissioner.  The public now sees a NFL commissioner who has failed to limit the amount of steroids in the game and who appears to support a wrongdoing owner far more than Silver ever would support his.  These three events have metastasized into a cancer that has begun to eat away Goodell’s political power.  The coming months will indicate how aggressively Goodell has decided to combat this cancer.  How Goodell decides to address his eroding power, is the question that will determine the NFL's health for years to come.

A UEFA Championship and the Americanizing of Futbol

The 2014 UEFA Champions League Championship was a well-played match.  Only Manchester United rivals Real Madrid for worldwide acclaim.  Atletico Madrid does not have the same panache associated with it but played a gritty match that pushed Real Madrid to the brink.  Real Madrid’s overwhelming athleticism wore down Atletico Madrid and resulted in a lopsided score, 4-1, that belies the intensity of the battle on the pitch.

Atletico Madrid used sent the ball into the box and crashed the goal to keep the keeper off balance.  This worked for a time but Real Madrid used set piece plays, particularly corner kicks, to swing the flow of the game.  Eventually, the preponderance of the match was on Atletico’s side of the pitch.  Real Madrid’s goal in the 93^rd minute knotted the game at 1-1 and sent it to extra time.  The first half of extra time remained deadlocked but during the second half Real Madrid blew the game open.  This scoring explosion sealed the club’s 10^th UEFA Championship.

This same stretch of play should have opened the eyes of U.S. sports fans.  Soccer is the most popular game in the world.  American sports fans are often led to believe that the U.S. should immerse itself in the beautiful game because of soccer’s popularity.  The truth of the matter is that soccer will never capture the American imagination to the same degree that baseball did, football has, and basketball will capture it.

 

Fox Sports has enlisted Gus Johnson, the master of breathless melodramatic play by play, to Americanize soccer telecasts.  Johnson was his usual energetic self but soccer’s rhythm is slower than basketball, which occasionally left Johnson’s calls feeling drawn out.  Johnson is at his best when he fires at machine gun rate not semi-automatic.  Johnson will improve over time but Fox Sports does not need to Americanize soccer.

U.S. fans will immediately recognize many elements that the UEFA Championship contained.  Atletico Madrid’s manager Diego Simeone rivals Jim Harbaugh on the intensity scale albeit he dresses far better.  Likewise, Cristiano Ronaldo preens more than Yasiel Puig has over his year and a half in the Major Leagues.  Scoring a goal is difficult but Ronaldo was over the top with his celebration.  The game was over.  Real Madrid could not blow have blown their 3-1 lead with a matter of minutes left.  Doffing your shirt after a meaningless penalty kick is not channeling Bobby Orr's Flying Goal to win the Stanley Cup, it is mirroring Alex Rodriguez’s vanity.

           However, that goal was noteworthy in one regard.  It was celebrated with the same soundtrack, as Real Madrid’s other goals, Seven Nation Army by the White Stripes.  Using the White Stripes is notably because they originated from the Detroit music scene.  As European futbol fans rejoiced or agonized, a champion was crowned with American music thumping through the stadium.  Perhaps the issue is not if U.S. fans will grow to love soccer.  Instead, it may be a matter of time until futbol’s atmosphere is Americanized.

When Timing Meets Talent: The Link between Lewis Hamilton and Victor Espinoza

Can Peyton Manning still put enough zip on the ball to be effective?  Is LeBron James truly the best basketball player in the world right now?  Is Mike Trout as good as his WAR numbers indicate?  These three questions, all of which are a yes, are easily answered.  Just turn on the games and see for yourself.  However, some athletes toil in sports, which may hide their true capabilities.  That is the case for Formula 1 driver Lewis Hamilton and jockey Victor Espinoza.

Both of these men have stepped into the limelight because of their mounts, not a sudden talent increase. In Hamilton’s case, his racing setup benefited from the new engine, fuel, gearbox, and other tweaks to the 2014 cars.  Mercedes boasts the top two drivers in Formula 1 with Nico Rosberg in second.  Hamilton has used his mechanical advantage to be as dominating as Sebastian Vettel was last season.  The difference is that Vettal’s teammate, Mark Webber, did not challenge him to the degree that Rosberg has pushed Hamilton.

   

The Spanish Grand Prix, pictured below, is a perfect example of this phenomenon.  Rosberg was on the medium compound tires, which improve handling, during the final laps of the race but could not pass Hamilton who was still on the hard compound tires.  Hamilton has won the last four races of the circuit because he has out driven Rosberg.  Hamilton has been in position to do so because the Mercedes team has given him a better car than last season.

Espinoza suffers from a similar fate.  Despite a pair of Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes wins California Chrome's pilot suffers from a low Q rating.  He is at the whim of thoroughbreds and trainers for opportunities to display his gift.  Espinoza has averaged 8,000 dollars won per start in his career.  Compare that to Calvin Borel who nets 3,605 dollars per start.  As an additional comparison, Pat Day was good for 7,392 dollars per start during his illustrious career.  While Espinoza has been a more profitable jockey, he does not have the national cache that accompanies the other two riders.

            Espinoza’s Triple Crown campaign aboard California Chrome will likely change that paradigm.  It is time that Espinoza and Hamilton receive attention for their skills.  They have both been performing ridiculously well and much of that depends upon his mount or car respectively.  This past month has been a reminder that some of the world’s best athletes operate outside of public awareness.  For every Manning or James, there is a Hamilton or Espinoza who simply needs the right ride to display his talent.

2014 NFL Draft: Day 3 Recap

The best way to do this is to jump right into the perceived story of the day.  Michael Sam, the NFL’s first openly gay player, was selected 249^th by the Rams.  He will be a situational pass rusher and special teamer, which fits his positional tweener skill set.  Based on the film, this spot in the draft was possible but there will be rumblings that homophobia was afoot.  As a counter example to this, Northern Illinois quarterback Jordan Lynch was not drafted.  Lynch was a 2014 Heisman finalist but his positional tweener status saw him fall from grace.  Some of the best college players do not have skills that translate to the NFL.  Rejecting these talented players is the unforgiving reality of the NFL Draft.

Another reality is that Michael Sam should be a footnote of this third day of the 2014 NFL Draft.  The true storyline to follow was the SEC three.  Aaron Murray, AJ McCarron, and Zach Mettenberger each found an intriguing home.  Murray is poised for the best long range success.  Sporting Joe has long believed that Murray is a criminally underrated prospect (for more read 2014 NFL Pro Days).  He will learn from Andy Reid in Kansas City and be given the reins after Alex Smith’s run in Arrowhead ends.  McCarron will need to unseat a younger incumbent to succeed in Cincinnati.  Andy Dalton’s rookie deal is up after this season and the Bengal’s confidence appears to be ebbing in him.   The problem is that McCarron shares the same skill set; command of a playbook, situational awareness, and winning pedigree; as Dalton.  Look for Dalton to remain the starter and get a new deal from owner and renowned penny pincher Mike Brown.

Then there is Mettenberger.  Prior to the news of his diluted urine sample at the NFL Combine, he seemed to be the logical fit in Houston.  Coach Bill O’Brien’s system demands a prototypical pocket passer.  The 6’6” Mettenberger is such a player.  Instead, the Texans snatched Pittsburgh’s Tom Savage (6’4”) to fill that role and compete with T.J. Yates and Case Keenum.  Mettenberger finds himself in Tennessee.  Jake Locker is his primary competition so expect Mettenberger to see some playing time this season.

This third day of the draft had plenty of under the radar steals.  Pittsburgh seized an old school two-gap defensive tackle in Tennessee’s Daniel McCullers.  Indianapolis picked Andrew Jackson from Western Kentucky, who boasts three straight seasons with 95 tackles or more.  This linebacker may remind some Colts fans of Old Hickory with contributions to the defense and special teams, a unit that sorely needs improved play for an ascending team.  Yet it was the running backs that made news.  The Patriots added depth with James White from Wisconsin. The Chiefs replaced Dexter McCluster with former Oregon Duck De’Anthony Thomas.  Meanwhile, the Redskins gave Robert Griffin III some Baylor flavor with Lache Seastrunk.  Seastrunk will likely be given the Gionavi Bernard role in new head coach Jay Gruden’s West Coast system. 

Those picks were notable additions, but Jacksonville may have added the best running back they have on the roster with the 222^nd pick.  Storm Johnson, out of Central Florida, joins the suddenly stocked Jacksonville offense.  Johnson has surprising wiggle in the hole and open field.  If he stops fumbling and goes to the hole instead of forcing it outside, he is a load to tackle.  He and Toby Gerhart should form a decent tandem for Chad Henne.

             Every fan base can feel solid about their draft, even the Browns.  Cleveland did not add a notable receiver in the draft but even jaded Browns fans should respect Mike Pettine’s steadfast adherence to the draft board.  Look for the Browns to add an undrafted rookie free agent such as Rutger’s Brandon Coleman and a veteran free agent like Santonio Holmes.  Those moves, and the rest of the undrafted rookie free agent signings, will take place in the coming days.  NFL teams will be occupied with roster tinkering and OTA’s.  Unfortunately, fans do not receive much access behind those curtains.  The Draft is a three-day mirage in the NFL’s off-season desert for fans.  Hopes are high now but the soon to be played 2014 season will begin to reveal the mettle of this draft class.