by Joe Ruffolo
@BrewMastrJoe
The last 7 baseball seasons haven't been kind to the Cubs. Some might argue, they haven't had a good season since World War II.
But I'm going there.
(See the many blogs before this one)
Since the reconstruction of the baseball side of the Cubs franchise, fans of these "Lovable Loser's" have been waiting patiently for this tree to bear its fruit.
Very patiently.
I can't help to wonder, is this all just hype? Excuse my pessimism on the subject, but is drumming up all this interest a way to sell an underdeveloped product in a underdeveloped ballpark?
I'll tell you what isn't underdeveloped. Kris Bryant. Oh, and the Cub's farm system.
But I digress. Back to the pessimism.
We all know how ESPN works. They're the proverbial hype-man of the sports TV world. It's almost comical really. Whenever they have a barn burner of a Monday Night Football game, watch the promos. It's no different than watching that little guy on the big stage, yell into a mic, running back and forth going on and on about how amazing "this" is.
I'm just hoping that's not the Cub's season in a nutshell this year.
Since Theo was brought on, I lowered my expectations to the point I was no longer emotionally invested into any competitive game the Chicago Cubs played.
Not even a fist pump when they would win a one-run game.
A lot of the celebrating I had done in the '03, '07, '08 has now been relegated to the offseason.
The offseason?!?
When they drafted Kris Bryant, if you were my neighbor, you'd think the Bears just traded Cutler for Rodgers. When we dealt "The Shark" to the A's last year, I was so used to the veteran-for-prospect flipping, it was just business as usual for Cubs fan.
But I still celebrated that move like it was 1908.
Ugh.
After 4 seasons of celebrating "off-season" moves, I'm ready to finally re-invest emotions into the Cubs.
Or am I?
It's very exciting to finally know I can re-invest my emotions and time back into the Cubs. It's quite refreshing really. I was there when they were at their peak with Lou Pinella. And then watching it all crash down (in person) in 4 errors, and topped off with, a Manny-Ramirez-steroid-induced home run. To see this team go from glory, to being deconstructed to a 100 loss team, and back to showing promise, has been a lengthy journey.
My "fan-ternal" instincts are telling me to push my chips to the middle of table and go full boar into this season and expect a Cubs World Series run like never seen before.
But this is why I love sports. The fact that a team can emotionally inspire me to believe in them no matter what they have put me through in the past is a testament of my love for my team, city, and sport.
However, I refuse to open myself up to that.
I will watch my Cubs this year. I will be at the edge of my seat. I will fist pump strike outs, home runs, one run games won by the Cubs, any crazy move Joe Maddon makes, I'll be the first to back it up.
Cubs fever will be sweeping that nation this year, and I have a feeling no matter how much preventative medicine I take, there will be nothing I can do to prevent this disease from infecting me.
Wednesday, March 25, 2015
Tuesday, March 17, 2015
Will the NFL survive the next 30 years?
by Joe Persinger
@BrewMastrJoe
What is going on with the NFL?
Last fall, we all witnessed the reality side-show the "No Fun League" brought upon itself. How did they manage to botch that Ray Rice debacle?
But is there such a thing as bad press?
There is not.
When "deflate gate" happened last January, it's all we could talk about.
Deflated footballs.
I spent a week listening to ESPN, CNN, Jon Stewert, and many other media outlets discuss this fascinating subject and the many facets that went along with it.
Was the NFL concerned?
Of course not. We're talking about football, and there wasn't even a game being played that week!
Can you name any other business in this country that has that kind of pull?
I can, but thats not the direction we're going here.
And even if I did name them, they're revenue stream probably isn't anything close to what the NFL's is.
When the NFL is in crisis, the company always seems to grow stronger. It's like that big ball of sludge in the movie, "The Fifth Element". The more you fire at it, or try to agitate it, the bigger and stronger it grows.
All this news of NFL players retiring at early ages fearing head trauma could affect them later in life.
Should the NFL be concerned? Probably not.
Are we are seeing is the cause and effects of awareness?
Maybe the downside to inflated salaries in a brutal sport?
We are watching this sport evolve in front of our very eyes. I remember 15 years ago, when the league started shifting from 350 pound tree-stump run-stoppers, to leaner, faster, pass rushers. Soon enough, defenses started getting faster, hits were more violent, and franchise QBs, and other skill positions were being decimated by these really fast defenses.
The NFL had to respond.
The "Brady rule" seemed to be the start of the "nerfing" (excuse the MMORPG reference) of NFL defenses. Soon after that, hits to the head, especially hits on QB's, and all the other nerving penalties aimed at defense were now being enforced.
We see where the last 6 years has brought us and that got me thinking.
What's the NFL going to look like in 20 years?
30 years?
Maybe to get an idea of where were going, we need to look where we've been.
30 years ago, the NFL was dominated by rushing offenses. Eric Dickerson, Walter Payton, to name a few.
It was a rushing league.
While the Chicago Bears were dominating the league with the 46, Lawrence Taylor was redefining the right outside linebacker position.
He was getting to the quarterback with such speed and ferocity that most Left Tackles didn't have the foot speed and agility to keep him from the QB.
So now teams were forced to change the way they scout the Left Tackle position to find more athletic big men, to keep these guys at bay.
And now.....
It's a passing league. The only way to be successful is to have a franchise QB.
And not just any QB.
And you need a push rush, to get to said QB.
A few years ago, it looked like the era of the mobile QB was being thrusted upon us. And it was going full steam ahead.
But then they were exposed. Mostly, to the big fast defenses in the NFL.
And their bodies couldn't maintain the high level of play with all that abuse on a weekly basis.
So, you will still see the Pure Pocket Passer sustaining success.
I'm sure the game will evolve to take out the more brutal situations. Kickoffs, Punt Returns, will probably be the next to go.
Maybe were focusing on the wrong side here. Sure, the game will evolve and change.
Parents and players are starting to see what the long term effects of playing such a brutal sport can do to someone. Is it really worth all that money to have to struggle to live later in life?
So in 30 years, when you turn on your Apple TV (in your Apple Car, while wearing your google glasses) and the first play of scrimmage is the away team taking a snap at the 30 yard line before the first second of play has ticked off in the first quarter, are we going to be looking at the best product on the field?
Or are todays kids, going to pick up a baseball or a basketball instead?
The next Tom Brady might be the Seattle Mariners Right Fielder. Maybe the next Meathead Tight End of the New England Patriots trys out for the basketball team in high school, doesn't make the team and ends up being Rob "I peaked in High School" Gronkowski.
Maybe we will actually start to see an American Short-Stop compete with some of these caribbean baseball players who are dominating today MLB games.
Who knows?
There is one thing I know though.
If I ever have a son, I'm going to hand him a baseball in his left hand and teach him to throw it as hard as he can.
After all, baseball isn't nearly as violent as football, and like the NBA, all the money is guaranteed.
And I won't have to worry about my son being hurt, killed, or receive any long-term health affects
from playing baseball.
Well, sort of.
(See all the arm injuries here)
Too bad he's going to be to short to play in the NBA.
@BrewMastrJoe
What is going on with the NFL?
Last fall, we all witnessed the reality side-show the "No Fun League" brought upon itself. How did they manage to botch that Ray Rice debacle?
But is there such a thing as bad press?
There is not.
When "deflate gate" happened last January, it's all we could talk about.
Deflated footballs.
I spent a week listening to ESPN, CNN, Jon Stewert, and many other media outlets discuss this fascinating subject and the many facets that went along with it.
Was the NFL concerned?
Of course not. We're talking about football, and there wasn't even a game being played that week!
Can you name any other business in this country that has that kind of pull?
I can, but thats not the direction we're going here.
And even if I did name them, they're revenue stream probably isn't anything close to what the NFL's is.
When the NFL is in crisis, the company always seems to grow stronger. It's like that big ball of sludge in the movie, "The Fifth Element". The more you fire at it, or try to agitate it, the bigger and stronger it grows.
All this news of NFL players retiring at early ages fearing head trauma could affect them later in life.
Should the NFL be concerned? Probably not.
Are we are seeing is the cause and effects of awareness?
Maybe the downside to inflated salaries in a brutal sport?
We are watching this sport evolve in front of our very eyes. I remember 15 years ago, when the league started shifting from 350 pound tree-stump run-stoppers, to leaner, faster, pass rushers. Soon enough, defenses started getting faster, hits were more violent, and franchise QBs, and other skill positions were being decimated by these really fast defenses.
The NFL had to respond.
The "Brady rule" seemed to be the start of the "nerfing" (excuse the MMORPG reference) of NFL defenses. Soon after that, hits to the head, especially hits on QB's, and all the other nerving penalties aimed at defense were now being enforced.
We see where the last 6 years has brought us and that got me thinking.
What's the NFL going to look like in 20 years?
30 years?
Maybe to get an idea of where were going, we need to look where we've been.
30 years ago, the NFL was dominated by rushing offenses. Eric Dickerson, Walter Payton, to name a few.
It was a rushing league.
While the Chicago Bears were dominating the league with the 46, Lawrence Taylor was redefining the right outside linebacker position.
He was getting to the quarterback with such speed and ferocity that most Left Tackles didn't have the foot speed and agility to keep him from the QB.
So now teams were forced to change the way they scout the Left Tackle position to find more athletic big men, to keep these guys at bay.
And now.....
It's a passing league. The only way to be successful is to have a franchise QB.
And not just any QB.
And you need a push rush, to get to said QB.
A few years ago, it looked like the era of the mobile QB was being thrusted upon us. And it was going full steam ahead.
But then they were exposed. Mostly, to the big fast defenses in the NFL.
And their bodies couldn't maintain the high level of play with all that abuse on a weekly basis.
So, you will still see the Pure Pocket Passer sustaining success.
I'm sure the game will evolve to take out the more brutal situations. Kickoffs, Punt Returns, will probably be the next to go.
Maybe were focusing on the wrong side here. Sure, the game will evolve and change.
Parents and players are starting to see what the long term effects of playing such a brutal sport can do to someone. Is it really worth all that money to have to struggle to live later in life?
So in 30 years, when you turn on your Apple TV (in your Apple Car, while wearing your google glasses) and the first play of scrimmage is the away team taking a snap at the 30 yard line before the first second of play has ticked off in the first quarter, are we going to be looking at the best product on the field?
Or are todays kids, going to pick up a baseball or a basketball instead?
The next Tom Brady might be the Seattle Mariners Right Fielder. Maybe the next Meathead Tight End of the New England Patriots trys out for the basketball team in high school, doesn't make the team and ends up being Rob "I peaked in High School" Gronkowski.
Maybe we will actually start to see an American Short-Stop compete with some of these caribbean baseball players who are dominating today MLB games.
Who knows?
There is one thing I know though.
If I ever have a son, I'm going to hand him a baseball in his left hand and teach him to throw it as hard as he can.
After all, baseball isn't nearly as violent as football, and like the NBA, all the money is guaranteed.
And I won't have to worry about my son being hurt, killed, or receive any long-term health affects
from playing baseball.
Well, sort of.
(See all the arm injuries here)
Too bad he's going to be to short to play in the NBA.
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