By TS
My freshmen year of college at DSU, I had a speech class in the spring semester. During this class, one of the students gave a speech on why baseball needed a salary cap. This student was a die hard Oakland A's fan, and that week the Yankees had signed Jason Giambi, and many people felt that they Yankees were going to win many championships. Six years later, Giambi is finally off of the Yankees' pay role, and they did not win a championship.
The Yankees have gone crazy again this off season and GM's and speech classes around the country have been filled with cries for a salary cap. However, is this time around any different? Are the Yankees going to run the field and win the title for the rest of mankind? If the last six years were any example, the answer is no.
The Yankees will be a very good team. However, there are three big reasons why the Yankees will not be a dynasty team. Steroids, farm leagues, and chemistry are three things that the Yankees do not have.
The first reason the Yankees are not going to be a dynasty is because the game has changed. Good teams today are teams that have upcoming youth that can stay healthy. Getting a huge free agent won titles in the past. However, how many of these players were on the juice? There is a lot of risk playing with older players who have already gotten their big payday. Jetter and A-Rod are getting older, will they be able to keep production up into their late 30's? This question will determine if they Yankees are on a different level.
A lack of minor league development is the second reason why the Yankees may be outdated. The Yankees should have taken half of the money they spent this off season and plugged it into their farm and scout systems. If you think youth development doesn't matter at the big leagues, consider the following:
The Chicago Cubs were owned by the Wrigley company in the early 1900's (hence the stadium name). Wrigley, the owner, decided early into his tenure that he did not want to pay any players without major league experience; he completely destroyed his farm system. Before this time, the Cubs were a championship ball team. One-hundred years later, the Cubs have yet to recover from the break down of their minor league system (which only lasted a few years). Are the Yankees in this much trouble? Probably not.
Chemistry is the last thing the Yankees need. This team is too business minded, it's amazing that Giambi's mustache was allowed last season. Let's not all freak out...this has happened before, and it will happen again. In the last six years, the Yankees signed Giambi, Pavano, A-Rod, The Big Unit, Johnny Damon, and Abreau. This system has failed, and it will fail again.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Keep Your Pads On Gus
By TS
Sunday's Vikings' game against the Eagles will have an interesting twist; if Tarvaris Jackson starts out the game with a bad start, will Brad Childress put in Gus Frerotte? In his last three starts, Jackson has been playing fair football. His completions are up, his passing yardage is greater than or equal to 100 yards, and he is also scrambling for some great yardage. However, the Jackson offense has been shut down in the past, it is very possible the Eagles will hold the Vikings to minimal yardage in the first quarter. If this happens, Childress needs to put in Gus Frerotte, here is why:
Petterson is a better runner with Gus in the game:
Yes, A.P. had a 70+ yard touchdown run in the game against the Giants. His other runs were not the greatest. During the game, Fox showed all the yards Peterson got on each carry and it looked like this: 2,1,2,4,-1,78. The 78 is great, but the Giants were doing a good job shutting him down. With Gus in the game, the long ball was a bigger threat and teams could not tee off on A.P. Peterson was able to chip away 6 to 20 yard runs with consistency against teams. Nothing beats away a defenses' momentum like a long sustained drive down a field.
Shaiancoe is great, but Berrian is better:
Jackson playing has let Shainanoe shine in the offense. Jackson's short passing abilities have led to some big games for Shainancoe. The emergence of Jackson has also hurt Berrian's performance. Did anyone else see Jackson totally miss Berrian wide open for a touchdown in the Falcons game? That was the same type of play that Gus connected with Berrian in the Bears game to turn around the season (only Gus was passing out of the end zone). Ten yards to Shaincoe is good, but 99 to Berrian is better.
Go with who got you there:
Think back to 2001. The Patriots are in the playoffs, Brady hurts his ankle and Bledsoe comes in, and helps the Pats go to the Super Bowl. Does Bledsoe start in the Super Bowl? No, because the Pats were smart and went with the player who got them there over the player with the hot hand. When Gus took over the team they were 0-2, Gus has not played good, but the team has won while he was in charge.
Having Gus in the game would give a steady run game, bring back the long pass, and let him finish what he started. You can also bet that the Eagles have pulled last years film against the Redskins--why reinvent the wheel? The Jackson offense has been exposed in the past. If Jackson starts out poor, Childress needs to go to Gus.
Sunday's Vikings' game against the Eagles will have an interesting twist; if Tarvaris Jackson starts out the game with a bad start, will Brad Childress put in Gus Frerotte? In his last three starts, Jackson has been playing fair football. His completions are up, his passing yardage is greater than or equal to 100 yards, and he is also scrambling for some great yardage. However, the Jackson offense has been shut down in the past, it is very possible the Eagles will hold the Vikings to minimal yardage in the first quarter. If this happens, Childress needs to put in Gus Frerotte, here is why:
Petterson is a better runner with Gus in the game:
Yes, A.P. had a 70+ yard touchdown run in the game against the Giants. His other runs were not the greatest. During the game, Fox showed all the yards Peterson got on each carry and it looked like this: 2,1,2,4,-1,78. The 78 is great, but the Giants were doing a good job shutting him down. With Gus in the game, the long ball was a bigger threat and teams could not tee off on A.P. Peterson was able to chip away 6 to 20 yard runs with consistency against teams. Nothing beats away a defenses' momentum like a long sustained drive down a field.
Shaiancoe is great, but Berrian is better:
Jackson playing has let Shainanoe shine in the offense. Jackson's short passing abilities have led to some big games for Shainancoe. The emergence of Jackson has also hurt Berrian's performance. Did anyone else see Jackson totally miss Berrian wide open for a touchdown in the Falcons game? That was the same type of play that Gus connected with Berrian in the Bears game to turn around the season (only Gus was passing out of the end zone). Ten yards to Shaincoe is good, but 99 to Berrian is better.
Go with who got you there:
Think back to 2001. The Patriots are in the playoffs, Brady hurts his ankle and Bledsoe comes in, and helps the Pats go to the Super Bowl. Does Bledsoe start in the Super Bowl? No, because the Pats were smart and went with the player who got them there over the player with the hot hand. When Gus took over the team they were 0-2, Gus has not played good, but the team has won while he was in charge.
Having Gus in the game would give a steady run game, bring back the long pass, and let him finish what he started. You can also bet that the Eagles have pulled last years film against the Redskins--why reinvent the wheel? The Jackson offense has been exposed in the past. If Jackson starts out poor, Childress needs to go to Gus.
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