Friday, June 26, 2015

HALL, NO! ROSE ABSOLUTELY DOESN'T BELONG

This is for all the apologists. For everybody who wants “the best” to get their due. It’s for those who have spent the past two-plus decades ignoring the lies, hubris and belligerence. For those who can’t discern self-absorbed defiance from true contrition. And it’s for those who think that second chances don’t have to be earned, rather just given away like participation trophies to Little Leaguers.

Most of all, it’s for those who just can’t see that no matter how many times Pete Rose says he’s sorry, he really isn’t. That he will do anything to get into the Hall of Fame.

Except tell the whole story.

El Hombre is astounded that despite this week’s revelations by espn’s “Outside the Lines” program that Rose bet on baseball while he was a player, a large number of people still believes he should be granted a full return to the sport he played so well. That includes admission to the Hall of Fame.

Before the report, which links Rose further to organized crime, there was a growing sentiment among fans and media to reinstate Rose. He was given a role in this summer’s All-Star Game in Cincinnati. And many believed that the retirement of Bud Sellout from the commissioner’s post would lead to a thaw in relations between Majoke League Baseball and Rose. Thanks to the new information, the Midsummer Classic will be tainted by Rose’s presence – even more so than it might by having eight Kansas City players in the starting lineup. Instead of talking about the game, we will be wondering whether Rose has a couple bucks on whether the National Anthem will take longer than two minutes to sing and if Moose and Rocco will have to help him find his checkbook should he fail to cash.

This isn’t just about the fact that Rose threw down money on games in which he played – always to win, of course. It’s about the cascade of lies he has told over the past 26 years in an attempt to convince people he hadn’t done that. It was bad enough that Rose asserted for years that he didn’t wager while managing the Reds. Once it became obvious to everybody but the most blindly ardent Charlie Hustleheads that he wasn’t telling the truth, Rose crafted a narrative of a man who so believed in his abilities that he couldn’t help but back himself. He put down bets on Cincinnati every night, expecting that he could lead the team to victory. What’s wrong with that, anyway?

Many people believed that wasn’t so bad. Forget that he wasn’t exactly going to the OTB to make his plays. No, Rose was dealing with the Big Boys, the kneebreakers. But he wasn’t trying to throw games or hurt baseball’s competitive balance. Or at least that’s what he thought. His consorting with gamblers and bookies and other sundry descendants of Bruno Tattaglia exposed the sport to the thing it feared the most: tainted outcomes. Once he was caught and proven to have gambled while managing, Rose fought back. He denied. And denied again. When he was finally out of ammunition, he tried another tack. Suddenly, he was a contrite man who was sorry for his sins against baseball.

Except he wasn’t.

With each passing year, the avalanche of lies grew. And the saps who believed that Rose hadn’t bet on baseball as a player became louder in their calls for reinstatement. Each time Rose asserted that he was clean while on the field, he pushed himself further from any chance that he should be welcomed back. He made baseball look bad, because its ruling class began to soften about his case. First would be the All-Star Game participation. Then there might be a World Series how-do-you-do. Finally, Rose would get the invitation he coveted since his career ended, when he promised to hunt down anyone who didn’t include him on their Hall of Fame ballot.

Had Rose admitted everything from the start, he would have most certainly been banned. But had he sought treatment for his gambling addiction, spent time speaking to MLB players about the dangers of placing even one bet and adopted a conciliatory tone toward those who proved he was guilty, he would be in the Hall by now. America loves giving second chances, and though Rose’s play caused many to dislike him, a showing of real remorse would have made him a sympathetic figure and would have allowed him to get everything he wanted.

Instead, Rose was bellicose from the start. He refused to give ground, and even when he did concede, he did so only partially. He refused to admit what he had done, so it was impossible to forgive him. Now that we know he bet while he was a player, Rose moves further into baseball’s jailhouse. His original sin was bad enough. His repeated lying after it re-started the clock after every new denial. The debate here is not whether players who scuffed balls, stole signs, corked bats, or took greenies belong in the Hall. It’s that 26 years after his ban, Rose is still trying to get back into the game on his terms. He has given ground grudgingly, refusing to tell his whole story. Until he sits down with a media member who has true gravitas, not some sympathetic simp, and tells the truth, the idea of reinstatement is preposterous.

For some, Rose is a tragic figure, a top-flight athlete whose inner fire led him in directions that were not good for him or the game. That may be true, but Rose’s time to prove that has passed. Now laid bare, he has no choice but to ask for mercy and hope that people will believe he is truly remorseful and therefore worthy of forgiveness. That won’t be easy for Rose. Humility hasn’t been one of his strong suits over the past 50-plus years, so it will be hard to believe if he is telling the truth or merely working another con.

Whatever good will Rose may have accrued before the OTL report should vanish, and the standard for his reinstatement must grow tougher to meet. It’s not just a question of how much time he served. It’s a case of whether Rose has the character to admit his wrongdoings. Unfortunately, that will be much harder for him than hitting a 95-mph fastball ever was.

And the smart money won’t be on him to succeed.

* * *

EL HOMBRE SEZ: So, the Big 12 is talking about expanding to 12 teams, in the hopes of staging a football championship game and of living up to its name. Thanks to the realignment binge that took place earlier this decade, the conference doesn’t exactly have a great list of candidates from which to choose. Try to imagine the excitement generated for that annual Oklahoma-Central Florida clash. Or how much member schools will love competing against BYU’s 25-year olds. Perhaps the Big 12 can force Houston, Cincinnati, South Florida and Memphis to combine to form Amalgamated State U. Or it could convince Connecticut that mid-February basketball road trips to Lubbock aren’t such a bad thing – if you’re used to competing in the Iditarod. Face it, Big 12: You blew it. Either dip into the minors (Hello, Boise State!) or stay with 10 schools and make the most of it. Expansion isn’t a good idea right now…What’s this? The NCAA is going to do something that actually benefits the athletes? Wow! Wednesday, the organization announced legislation that, if approved, would allow players who declared for the NBA Draft to return to school after being evaluated at the Combine, provided they hadn’t hired agents. Sounds like a great idea, and it’s amazing the college folks want it to happen. Not that member schools won’t benefit from having a few more top players on rosters for another year or two. But this is progress – and quite unexpected from a money-grubbing association that sticks it to athletes whenever possible…After watching the young Indians fan catch a foul ball with his hat earlier this week, the Phillies inquired about his availability. The kid considered the offer for a while before announcing that he would rather stick with his Little League squad because it played better ball…After hearing that the winner’s share at next month’s British Open has been boosted to $1.8 million, Greece began scouring the archipelago for anyone capable of hitting a golf ball straight. The hope his that the man chosen will get lucky enough to win the tournament and rescue the country’s flagging economy with the winnings –or at least hold off the accumulating debt for five minutes…Speaking of golf, last week’s U.S. Open was one for the everyman. The course’s generally unkempt (and often brown) conditions looked like so many U.S. families’ lawns, and Dustin Johnson’s three-putt on 18 with big money on the line no doubt cheered all of those country club hacks who have missed a six-footer with a two-dollar Nassau on the line…This just in: espn college basketball promoter Jay Bilious has released his “Best Duke players available” list for next year’s draft. At a network filled with people who have agendas, he stands out – and that’s saying something.

* * *

YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT? The clock has officially started on Sixers GM Sam Hinkie, who somehow convinced the nation’s toughest fans that two years of stinking – although not enough to get the top pick in the draft either time – was the way to build a contender. There is to be no more tanking, no more rosters packed with D-league rejects and other bargain-basement bumblers. Hinkie is to stop accumulating meaningless “assets” (this year’s second-round “haul” was filled with Eurosuspects) and begin to build a winner. That, of course, will be hard to do, since he has alienated agents with his salary-cap shenanigans and his desire to sign minor leaguers over actual NBA players. No free agent worth a damn will want to come to this town to play for a franchise that has zero credibility when it comes to displaying any intent to win. That’s too bad for Hinkie, who can play secret agent all he wants, so long as the Sixers start to win games and prove they are a viable NBA franchise. The good news, at least for buy-and-flip owner Josh Harris, is that the franchise’s value has ballooned 150% since he purchased it. Sounds like it’s time to sell – or maybe Harris and Hinkie can pretend like they want to win some games.

* * *

AND ANOTHER THING: Reports out of New York indicate that Patriots QB Tom Innocent put on quite a show during the 10-hour appeal hearing about his four-game suspension for ordering the deflating of game balls. He was charming. He was prepared. He flashed that winning smile. He even produced a letter of endorsement from New England owner Robert Kraft, sent from Israel and notarized by Moses. Behind the show was an assurance that if NFL commissioner Roger Goodfornothing doesn’t erase the sentence completely, the trouble will really start. There will be lawsuits and grievances filed. Innocent might even hold his breath until he turns blue, something that could inflate his cheeks to more pounds/square inch than those footballs he used against the Colts. Despite a significant amount of evidence against him, Innocent is denying everything. It will be interesting to see if Goodfornothing stands tall or relents in the face of Innocent’s P.R. blitz and Kraft’s displeasure, or if he shows some spine. Given Goodfornothing’s track record, bet on the latter. Innocent will have his sentence reduced by at least two games, if not eliminated all together. Usually, the Commissioner’s job is to protect the shield. In this instance, Goodfornothing could be just protecting his job.

-EH-

Friday, June 19, 2015

NBA COPYCATS MAY GO SMALL NEXT WEEK AT DRAFT

The NBA is such a copycat league that if a team were ever to win a championship using a starting five comprised entirely of boy-band members, every other franchise would be out there, trying to acquire the rights to any Backstreet Boy or One Direction member available. And Menudo? Time to cash in again, fellas.

That characteristic makes Golden State’s 2015 title interesting for more than just its ending of the team’s 40 years of futility. Watching the Warriors dictate terms with a lineup that rarely included someone taller than 6-8 demonstrated the growing feeling throughout the league that traditional personnel ideas are no longer relevant. Center Andrew Bogut played in only four of the six Finals games and was on the court for a mere 74 minutes, or just 24 more than Festus Ezeli. Yes, that Festus Ezeli.

It’s entirely possible that if Cleveland had been at full strength for the Finals and had employed 6-10 Kevin Love at the four spot, the Warriors wouldn’t have been able to imitate an NCAA mid-major outfit and win without a conventional deployment. Then again, since Love prefers life on the outskirts, the Warriors could have stayed small and simply hung with the forward outside the arc.

The point is that before the Warriors vanquished Cleveland and continued northeast Ohio’s championship drought, many in the league thought Golden State’s style was more suited for fun than winning big. It was kind of like eating ice cream for dinner. It’s cool once in a while, but when real nutrition and energy are necessary, there had better be something more balanced on the menu.

That’s all changed now, even if LeBron James was playing with a group of players that couldn’t have beaten the Sixers without him. It seemed like every time the ball landed in Tristan Thompson’s hands, he treated it as if it were yellowcake uranium. As the series wore on, Iman Shumpert’s hair got higher, and his shooting percentage went lower. And by about the fourth game, pugnacious Aussie Matthew Dellavedova was back to playing like the undrafted scrapper he was. Ten years from now, no one will bring up the Cavs’ downtrodden state when assaying the Warriors’ title. They will celebrate it as a triumph of free-flowing, saturation-bombing ball and perhaps as the moment when the NBA abandoned its generations-old addiction to the classic big man.

Which brings El Hombre to next Thursday’s NBA Draft. For the first time in a long while (how’s that for research?!) the crop of newbies is loaded with tall people – and not just tall people who wish they were point guards. El Hombre is talking about real, live centers. Sure, some of them can “step out” and shoot from the outside, but they are primarily designed for interior use. Normally, that would be great news for the league, but thanks to Golden State’s mid-sized championship run, some teams may re-think their desire to have Gulliver in the post.

That means 7-0 Kristaps Porzingis, the pride of Latvia, could be in play for one of the top three picks, instead of falling to the five or six spot, as was originally suspected. Porzingis has a syrupy-sweet shooting stroke and range that extends to Moldova. There’s only one problem: when calling the roll of Latvian expats who have starred in the NBA, there is no entry beyond, “Nobody, Ever”. Porzingis would be the first, and though some make the argument that the preponderance of Lithuanian standouts would confer some sort of Baltic basketball brotherhood on Porzingis, saying that Porzingis will be fine since Latvia neighbors Lithuania is like saying Norman Fell could sing, just because he spent some time next to Frank Sinatra in Ocean’s Eleven. It’s a risk.

Guards D’Angelo Russell and Emmanuel Mudiay, however, do not seem to be potential busts, and given Russell’s expected proficiency in the pick-and-roll, and Mudiay’s ability to drive and kick, they would seem perfect for the NBA’s post-Warrior world.

Still, trying to predict what everybody will do won’t be easy. It looks like the Timberwolves are going big, which means Karl Anthony Towns or Jahlil Okafor. Towns is versatile and has that wonderful (gasp!) upside, but Okafor was described by one NBA exec to El Hombre as having the potential to swell up “like Kevin Duckworth”. Ouch. The Lakers sit in the number two spot, and it will be interesting to see if Kobe Bryant storms into the war room with a rocket-propelled grenade launcher and demands that he make the pick. Retire, already, Mamba. It’s over.

The Sixers have tanked in earnest to reach the number three spot, although how competent can an organization be when it actively tries to have the worst record in the league but only finishes third from the bottom? Whoever the Sixers take had better be worried, because if GM Sam Hinkie decides to trade wins for draft picks again, the pick could be Gilloolyed, in order to maximize the stink. At the rate this rebuild is going, Philadelphia would be wise to plan a parade route – for 2023.

And then there are the Knicks, who have reached such an advanced state of Zen under GM Phil Jackson that they no longer care about the outcome of games. It’s all about the journey. As long as that trip guarantees 25 shots a game for CarMElo Anthony, everything is fine. It doesn’t matter whether New York selects a player who combines the greatness of Wilt, the Big O, MJ and Lebron, so long as Anthony is on the roster, a championship is out of the question. And, while El Hombre is at it, all of that talk about players’ wanting to come to play for GM Jackson was nonsense. He managed outstanding players well while he was a coach. As a GM, he hasn’t a clue. If there is anyone who will scoff at the Warriors’ title’s being the harbinger of a New Way, it will likely be Jackson.

And then he can consult the Dalai Lama about what talisman he should have in his pocket during next May’s Draft Lottery.

* * *

EL HOMBRE SEZ: Big news, NASCAR fans! Dale Earnhardt has proposed to long-time girlfriend Amy Reimann. Immediately after the announcement, Waffle House announced a nationwide contest in which folks can determine which of one of the chain’s restaurants will host the reception…The fallout from the recent FIFA scandal continues to grow. An investigation has found evidence of P.E.D.s in the post-game juice boxes of youth players in five countries. Outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter responded to the report by designating the offending nations finalists to host the 2026 World Cup…If anyone is the least bit upset that Russell Wilson is aggravated with Seattle regarding his contract situation, remember that he has spent the past three years providing high level performance for peanuts. He’ll make just $1.5 million this year. By contrast, the Bears’ Jay Cutler is due a minimum of $54 mil over the course of his seven-year deal to keep Chicago out of the playoffs. Get mad, Russell, get mad…That was quite a strong showing by Eldrick Woods in the first round of the U.S. Open at the Chambers Bay funhouse on Puget Sound. (Side note: where was the windmill hole?) Isn’t it time the golf world realized that there isn’t going to be any miracle major charge by Woods and let golf move on without him? Nobody on the tour fears him anymore, and PGA officials no longer make sure his every whim will be satisfied. He had his time, but it’s over. Deal with it, golf…It’s one thing to populate a front office with executives who never played baseball and quite another to let Sheldon, Raj and the boys think they can use their nerd powers to mess with another team. Then again, if players are going to juice, cork bats, apply KY Jelly to baseballs and steal signs, it makes sense that the Pocket Protector Set will cheat, too. Just as long as they’re not working on a death ray that can shoot out of the scoreboard, everything will be okay…It seems odd that El Hombre has to go over this again, but until the sports media learns what a real dynasty is, he will continue his vigilance. The Zhou folks ruled in China for nearly 800 years (1046-256 B.C.) The Bulgar tribes were brought together by the House of Dulo, which reigned for 2,890 years (2137 B.C.-753 A.D.). And the Celtics won 11 titles in 13 years (1957-69). Winning three Stanley Cup titles in six seasons is NOT a dynasty. It’s a great run, but please don’t succumb to the hype. El Hombre thanks you.

* * *

YOU GOT A PROBLEM WITH THAT? Things are pretty bleak in the world of Philadelphia sports these days, but it doesn’t get any worse than the Phillies, who reached their most recent nadir in Tuesday’s 19-3 humiliation in Baltimore, their 18th loss in 21 games. After that fiasco, which included two innings of relief work by outfielder Jeff Francoeur, the entire front office, manager Ryne Sandberg and his coaching staff should have resigned en masse, or, better yet, subjected themselves to a hot dog cannon firing squad. This crippling hangover from the fat, 2007-11 period shows no signs of abating. Other than Cole Hamels, the starting pitching staff is barely AA quality. The team is last in the majors in runs scored, homers, OPS and RBI. It is still three wins short of 10 on the road. A franchise that was one of the best two or three in baseball during the aforementioned five-year stretch has become a joke. There can be only one viable solution: fire GM Ruin Tomorrow and Sandberg. Ship off all the bumbling veterans, no matter what it costs, so that fans don’t have to be reminded every day of their grotesque contracts. Start over, with proven baseball people, a big-league analytics department and scouts who don’t suggest spending the 10th overall pick in the draft on a high school player who has no National League position. The disaster continues, and there is no sign of its relenting.

* * *

AND ANOTHER THING: Reports are surfacing that LeBron James has spent the past several months doing everything he can to make David Blatt look like Soviet-era puppet Janos Kadar by calling timeouts, making substitutions, vetoing play calls and making Blatt fetch sports drinks for him. This can’t be at all pleasant for Blatt, and it recalls the LBJ state of affairs before his first title in Miami, when he surrounded himself with yes-men and other sycophants who let him do what he wanted. It’s impossible for one person to be GM, coach and star player – not even Bill Russell tried for the triple – and James is proving that. Even if Blatt is replaced by a James crony (hello, Tyronn Lue), it still won’t help matters, because James will remain in control. Even stars need people who can hold them accountable and rein them in. Without that, they have little chance. This is a key off-season in Cleveland, both in terms of holding on to players (so long, Kevin Love) and creating a ruling class capable of saying no at times to James. If everything doesn’t go correctly, expect another year without a world championship on the banks of Lake Erie.

-EH-