Weekly Sporties

-Like every other member of the sports media, I have no idea what is going on with Aaron Hernandez. However, unlike the rest of the sports media, I will not spend any time pretending that I do. I know the evidence which has been revealed so far does not paint him in a good light, but I don't know what this could mean for his future. They've been saying arrest warrants are coming any second now, but that has been threatened for a couple days and he remains a free man. It's all very confusing and I have to say the OJ-like helicopter chase around Boston was pretty pathetic for all involved. Still, I have to say the most annoying part of this story is just how many journalists are taking this opportunity to prove that they once got a B+ in that one law class they took in college. I barely trust what they have to say when it comes to free agency and suddenly I'm supposed to trust their judgement regarding the legal system? Also, the blatant stereotyping they are doing is close to making my head explode. I can not tell you how many pundits I have seen on TV bringing up Hernandez's past as if it is even slightly relevant. Yes, he ran into trouble for smoking pot in college but to me that is a totally separate issue. The simple matter is that not all crimes are the same. I have worked with plenty of potheads and none of them were ever accused of killing anyone. And just as many pundits are totally willing to believe Hernandez is guilty because he has a tremendous number of tattoos. Sleeves of tattoos, while not a look I would want myself or for any of my nieces, do not make you a criminal. All of this hand-wringing about who Hernandez may be friends with has once again turned a light on to the tremendous gap between the people who cover sports and the people who play them. I always want to crap on the NCAA because I think it is a bunch of old guys trying to tell a bunch of young guys how to behave but now I see that  problem has managed to work its way into almost every aspect of sports. I know asking for people to wait until all the facts have come in to make draw their conclusions would be asking far too much, but how about we at least only leap to conclusions based on things we do know and not start filling in the blanks with people's insane prejudices?

-At this time last week I thought it was a virtual certainty that Doc Rivers would be leaving the Celtics to coach the Clippers. And I have to say that while I appreciate the job Doc has done here, I would not be heartbroken to see him go. You see, I remember the job Doc did in the pre-Big 3 days (allow me to give you a hint - not great). Thus, knowing this team is going to have a tough season next year because KG and Paul Pierce are probably going to be gone and Rajon Rondo will be out for half the year with a knee injury, I really didn't see the point in paying Rivers $7 million to win 35 games. If the team is going to start rebuilding, may as well go all the way with it. I did think it was a little dickish of Doc to try and force his way out since he had to know rebuilding was coming when he signed a 5-year contract, but if he's not into it than I would rather he leave now. Plus if they could trade him the the team saves a little money, gets an asset they weren't expecting to have and Doc gets to keep coaching a contender - everyone wins. I think the problem for everyone invested in this is that we forgot the other team involved in this was the notoriously cheap and poorly-run Clippers. They don't have a history of paying coaches that kind of money and were probably only in it to keep up appearances for Chris Paul. (Paul's involvement is reportedly what got talks restarted on Friday.) So, things could obviously change but it certainly appears Doc will be around next season. Now everyone is talking about how awkward it will be for Rivers and the Celtics to be reunited, but I actually don't think it will be too bad. First off, guys like Pierce and KG love Doc and will forgive him in an instant. But even more importantly the rest of the team is full of professionals and they will understand this is a business. There isn't a player in that locker room who hasn't been in Doc's position, trying to get out of a bad situation using the only leverage they have. Hell, half of them are probably only mad because Rivers wasn't trying to take them with him. It would be nice if everyone just stayed where they signed a contract but there is no time for loyalty in professional sports and that goes for management as well as the players - this week was just a reminder of that.

-Speaking of coaches trading teams, it is the offseason for most of the teams in the NHL and that means it is time to pass coaches around. I frequently question just how important coaching is in the NHL and the ease at which teams hire and fire coaches does not do much to change my mind. I mean, changing a coach in football can require getting entirely new personnel to run their style of offense and even baseball teams will wait far longer than they should to fire guys simply because they don't want to upset the delicate balance if most of the locker room likes the current manager. Meanwhile, it seems like NHL teams interchange coaches the same way you or I would pass movies or books between friends. It is completely normal for a coach to be fired on Friday and be behind the bench for another team within a week. Somehow it is both the most and least-stable job in sports. It is like being one of Will Ferrell's friends - find your way into one of his movies and you'll never have to worry about landing another acting gig for as long as you live because Ferrell will always give you a cameo in whatever movie he is working on. Thus it feels like NHL coaches never quit - they are just reassigned. Still, I think this one takes the cake - just a couple days after the New York Rangers hired Alain Vigneault (the Vancouver Canucks old coach) as their new coach, the Canucks reportedly hired John Tortorella, who was coaching the Rangers until about two weeks ago. Even though both coaches guided their teams to the playoffs, both were fired because the teams had visions of Lord Stanley's Cup dancing in their heads and came up short. So basically the franchises traded underachieving coaches. And what is even stranger is that it would not surprise me for the move to work out for everyone involved. (Ironically I think Tortorella's big personality will be ok in Vancouver more than Vigneault's under-stated one will fly in New York.) The goods news for both teams is that if these coaching hires don't work out they will have no shortage of candidates, because there are about 22 other NHL teams who could drop their coaches at any second.

-Back in the NBA, one of the lasting images of the NBA Finals will be Miami Heat fans streaming out of the arena during Game 6 when the team was down 4 with about :30 seconds to go. Even though the NBA has started to bring out security for the post-game trophy ceremony that is a lifetime in professional basketball and as you probably know the Heat eventually came back to tie that game, then win it in overtime as many of the fans who had left embarrassed themselves even further by trying to force their way back into the stadium. Basically, this was every stereotype of the Miami sports fan - bandwagon jumpers, quick to quit on the team, only got tickets to say they were there and have no real knowledge of the game or its history which would tell them there was plenty of time left for a comeback - come to life. Now, a lot of people have defended the Heat fans saying it was a work night and those people probably wanted to beat traffic. Normally I would allow you to defend that position. I personally can't think of a reason why I would ever leave a game early (unless you leave in the 3rd quarter you will still sit in traffic), but I will concede there are plenty of perfectly acceptable reasons other people would use to justify leaving a game before the clock ran out. For example, it is not like they play for the team and their alarm clock is going off no matter who wins the game. The problem for all these Heat apologists is that pretty much all of those defenses are rendered moot when you add the context of it being an NBA Finals game. When you have reached this point in the season there is no excuse for leaving a game early. A lot of people hate the Yankees because they feel like they just buy their championships. Well, at least their fans are knowledgeable about the game and stick around to the very end. Most people hated LeBron for "The Decision" based on how he left his old team. I hated "The Decision" based on where they agreed to form this super-team and all Game 6 did was reinforce me feelings. Miami may have another Championship parade coming their way, but all those fans who left the game early don't deserve to be a part of it.

-I've never seen a game there myself, but by all accounts the Coliseum in Oakland is a terrible place for baseball. According to online reviews it has terrible sight-lines and since the stadium needs to be able to also host Oakland Raider games there is not much the team can do to fix the situation. That is why the A's have been trying to get funding for a new stadium for years but simply can't afford it. The team currently has an offer from the city of San Jose who is willing to give them the land and build them a stadium (they even have a naming rights deal lined up), which sounds like just the kind of sweet deal that baseball should want to jump all over. There is just one problem - the San Francisco Giants. You see, the Giants are technically closer to San Jose than the A's and thus have exclusive marketing rights to the area and they aren't interested in all those potential fans switching allegiances if they have a closer option. That is why the Giants aren't allowing the rest of the MLB owners to call for a vote to regarding any A's move (if 23 owners approve the move it will override the exclusive rights the team has to San Jose) and so far spineless Commissioner Bud Selig is doing what he always does - telling the teams to work it out for themselves so he does't have to make a decision and risk making either side mad at him. I'm always fascinated to watch these owner votes because on the one hand thanks to collective bargaining every team makes more money when a team has a full stadium and a sweet deal with their city. On the other, they don't want to set a precedent and allow baseball to plop a team into their backyard. So, the owners aren't in any hurry to address this issue either and that is why this week the city of San Jose sued MLB, demanding they call a vote and allow the A's to move. Ultimately I expect some kind of resolution which allowed the A's to move to San Jose because the teams have been neighbors for this long and fans have made their choice, so it is not like the Giants will see mass defections. This whole situation is about just trying to agree on a price. Still, even though the owners are the ones dragging their feet to avoid any potential conflict, why do I feel like the fans will ultimately be the ones who get screwed over?

-Former Major League slugger Manny Ramirez is still hanging on to baseball, playing overseas in Taiwan. Taiwan has a good baseball culture but I doubt their pitching is the same caliber of the stuff Ramirez has faced for so long, so I think the least surprising news was that Ramirez was playing quite well - hitting for a good average and smacking a few homeruns. The more important aspect was that Manny appeared to be enjoying himself and I think the team liked having him. The problem is that due to some insane Taiwan baseball rules, Ramirez could only sign with his team for 3 months and that time is fast approaching. Therefore, he is leaving his team in Taiwan for a team in Japan, trying to continue his quest to get back to the majors. While still not the same level as over here, Japanese baseball will definitely be a step up in competition for Manny and I think if he proves that he can play at that level a team in America may come calling, at least for a minor league contract. Some say that Manny would never want to play at that level and would only come back for a spot on a major-league roster, but I disagree. Think about it this way - you don't fly across the globe to play baseball unless you really love the game. I don't care how reckless he may be with his money, even Manny couldn't blow through it all this quickly. On top of that I remember when Manny was playing for the Red Sox and had to go down to Pawtucket for a rehab assignment - he had so much fun playing down there he never wanted to come back up, so I bet he would love a minor-league assignment. Don't take this post as an endorsement because I'm definitely not saying the Red Sox should take him back (I think Manny has worn out his welcome in Boston, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Tampa Bay), but if I were a borderline team which needed a DH I would think about it. He could still help a baseball team and if we have learned anything from the history of the sport it is that teams are willing to put up with a lot of quirky traits as long as you hit for power.

-It is totally normal for a recently retired person to look for a new way to occupy their new-found free time once they leave their job. That is why I was hardly surprised that for a couple days after he announced he would no longer play professional soccer there was a rumor that David Beckham wanted to try-out for an NFL team. I'm not totally sure who started this rumor but on the surface it made a little sense because obviously Beckham has a strong leg and that is the main thing you need to be an NFL kicker. While the NFL wouldn't offer the money he would make from soccer it is still a pretty good paycheck and it would give him a chance to grow his brand in America, if that kind of thing was still important to him (the least-talented NFL player is still more popular than the best soccer player). Plus, he's only 38 and guys can kick into their 40s. However, the reason I didn't think this was going to work is that the second thing you need to be a successful NFL kicker is accuracy because goal posts are not nearly as wide as you think they are. Given that a soccer ball and a football are shaped totally different it is actually pretty crazy to assume that just because a person is really good with one that they would be just as lethal with the other. It just goes to show how many people think certain jobs in sports are much easier than they really are. Natural talent does not always translate. It always makes me crazy when pundits try and tell you that guys like Kobe Bryant would be great at football or Russell Wilson could go back to baseball at any time. If that were the case they would have done that, trust me (there is a reason Wilson walked away from football the first time). Anyone who thinks David Beckham could show up to an NFL training camp and start drilling 60 yard field goals has obviously never tried to kick one. (I could't make a PAT when I tried it.) The good news is Beckham quickly shot the rumor down anyway and people went on with their lives. All that being said, I wish we could have seen him try it one time, just to see how he would do.