Things I Learned Watching US vs. Spain

1. Dwyane Wade is really, really good. Like really good.

2. No matter how D-Wade is, defenses will still gear up to stop LeBron. Now I know that greatness is measured by championships, but if LeBron can win just 1, I think he has a real shot as surpassing Jordan.

3. Ricky Rubio needs to be the next point guard for the Knicks. I don't care what we have to trade to get him. I can't get the thought of him and Gallinari playing for Mike D'Antoni out of my head.

4. Chris Paul seems like he would be cool to hang out with. No reasoning, no proof, just my gut instinct.

5. Jorge Garbajosa might be the one NBA to Europe defection I'm upset about. He was fun to watch play.

6. If the Americans genuinely care about winning and are willing to put in the work and play unselfish basketball, nobody will ever walk into a game with them as less than 20 point underdogs. Can they be beaten? Sure, any team can. But nobody plays this game like we do.

The Case for October in the Bronx

Fact: The Yankees are 5 games back of both Boston and Chicago in the AL Wildcard, and are undoubtedly all but dead in the AL East race

Fact: The Yanks have seemingly forgotten how to hit in RISP situations (some .200-something avg in these situations and two outs)

Fact: It is highly unlikely that either of the White Sox or Red Sox will finish below .500 for the rest of their games, meaning, even if one of these teams go 16-17 in their last 33 games, the Yankees still need to go 21-12 (.635 ball) to tie. Not an easy feat

However, maybe its my cautious optimism built up over the last 15 years about my team, or it could be just faith in the numbers and the situations.

Boston: The Red Sox are in some serious trouble with Josh Beckett out until Friday. Although the reports had him sleeping on his arm the wrong way, Im more concerned and feel like there's no way this injury causes more than a week and two starts skipped. The Red Sox lineup isnt nearly as scary with Manny Ramirez in the lineup. Their bullpen (anyone not named Jon Papelbon) is an absolute disaster. Without a dominant Beckett, can the Sox rely on a previous September burnout (Dice-K) to anchor their rotation through September?

Chicago: The team is on fire right now, there's no doubt. However, the issue remains that they are in a very tight race with the Twins right now, and with those two teams with a few series' left, we can see some beating up effect that they might have on each other and prevent the other from pulling away. Not to mention the team historically is combustible and really can go cold at any second

Yankees: The bottom line is, they have too many games against the Sox and Sox (something like 10 in total). The Yankees major concern is the offense. Pitching has been above average recently, and with Joba and Pavano (yes, Carl Pavano) back, I would expect it to keep the Yankees in most games, providing for a Sidney Ponson blowup once every two weeks. If A-Rod and Giambi can start hitting at least .50 points better with 2-outs RISP, the Yankees are going to score 2-3 runs a game. For a team thats played so many close games this year with a good bullpen, this is going to make a difference. One thing is for sure however, I'm not ready to sell on the Yankees just yet, but things need to start getting a whole lot more consistent at the dish soon.

The Hunted

This has been an interesting two weeks for me. For starters, I started law school, and I was given all of 5 days from the day they told me I was accepted until the day I had to be in Miami. All told: 1200 miles, a ton of caffeine, and 15 hours. 

Not only that, but it's about that time where I have to come to grips with the Yankees not making the playoffs for the first time since 1994, and that was the strike season that ended with them being 3 games better than any other team in the American League. The last season where they legitimately missed the playoffs was 1993. In 1993, Spike Freaking Owen was the starting shortstop. Think about it...I'm 22 years old and the last time the Yankees weren't good enough to be a playoff team, I was a fan of their starting shortstop because his name was Spike. That's a seriously long time ago.

You would think this longevity would be at least respected by other sports fans (I know better than to think anybody would ever admire the Yankees), but more often than not the reaction is something like, "Haha you guys suck! Way to miss the playoffs! What happened, Steinbrenner own some housing stock or something so he couldn't buy you guys a title?" 

This inability to lose and be at peace is something I've dealt with my entire life as a Yankee fan. Every other fan of every other team in the league has seen their team miss the playoffs in the last 5 years. Some fans, most of whom spend their days either lamenting their team on the banks of the Monongahela River or doing whatever it is Rob Neyer grew up doing, start to expect the losing seasons and have to fight away pessimism. Others, like those in Oakland and Milwaukee have the privilege of watching well-run front offices with actual plans build for the future.

Watching the Yankees lose (and let's be honest, they're 7 games over .500, so it's not like they're the 1899 Cleveland Spiders) is a different experience. It's like you're simultaneously getting hit in the head and the balls at the same time. It's not bad enough that your team isn't going to make the playoffs, but now everyone else in the world is happy because you're unhappy. Something about it is just unsettling. 

My point here wasn't really even about the Yankees. It's about sports in general. Anyone who's as addicted to watching the Redeem Team fight the world as I am knows what I'm talking about. I think we should be at a point as sports fans where we can accept that all the money/talent/selection processes in the world can only guarantee you a chance. Maybe it's a better chance than others have, and you're playing with a stacked deck. But no team in any sport is good enough to beat chance for that long. UNC women's soccer only has 1 title in 4 years after winning 15 out of 17. The Patriots lost to the Giants. USA women's softball just won the silver medal in the olympics as softball was being kicked out of the olympics because nobody could beat the Americans.

There are no "locks" in sports anymore. Globalization has meant the extreme proliferation of obscure sports and the training regimens that can help elite athletes succeed. Much like in poker, when sometimes all you can ask is that you limit yourself to a 10% chance of losing, sometimes the field just sneaks up on you. That being said, I don't think I could be any more excited for the Yankees of next year.

Packers Unfair to Rodgers

If I'm Aaron Rodgers right now, I'm freaking pissed. After sitting the bench for three years he was finally handed the starting job, only to have Brett "Nobody Told Me Mississippi Sucked This Bad" Favre decide he didn't want to share. Rodgers is a perfect example of the way the NFL in particular can unfairly commoditize players.

Don't get me wrong, I don't feel that bad for the guy. He's still playing a game for a living and making a very good living at that. But let's remember, he was a late first round pick. Most late first round picks don't get that much money, and for quarterbacks, there is usually a lot of money tied up in performance escalators (see Quinn, Brady). It seems to me that there's an implied agreement involved when a team drafts a player that the team will at least give them an opportunity to better themselves, professionally and financially. 

You could argue that had Brett Favre not gotten hurt against Dallas last year, Green Bay's unwillingness to deviate from the Favre Directive would have prohibited Aaron Rodgers from even maintaining the value he brought into this league as a first round QB. I've got no problem drafting a QB of the future and letting him sit the bench. It worked for Carson Palmer and certainly for Tony Romo, but there's a time in every relationship when you have to be in or out, and for the Packers and Rodgers that time was before the draft. Either the Pack should have sent him out in a Matt Schaub-type deal, or 100% handed the team over, none of this open competition crap.

Here's an idea, why not get Favre to commit to this year and next (since he wants to play so badly), trade Rodgers, and let Brian Brohm have his two year apprenticeship holding a clipboard as the heir apparent? This way Rodgers can start playing for that second contract that all NFL players are seeking and Favre gets to take a guy who entered the year as the top rated QB in the draft under his wing.