He's back...!

After what has turned out to be one of worst 20 game stretches in the history of Major League Baseball (1-19), manager Edwin Rodriguez of the Florida Marlins stuck his hand into the unforgiving grab bag of reality and wrote his letter of resignation, leaving the throne wide open for the one-and-only (and available), Jack McKeon.

Yeah, thats right, Jack frickin McKeon. Pretty sure the guy is like 80 years old now and still smokes cigars like it's the nineteenth century. But sure enough, Jack Mac (nobody actually calls him that) is once again the perfect match for the Florida Marlins' interim manager position. I say 'once again', because if you weren't aware, or just not quick to catch on, this isn't the first time Jack McKeon has been hired as an interim head coach. This isn't even the first time Jack McKeon has been hired as an interim head coach for the Florida Marlins. This isn't EVEN, the first time Jack McKeon has been hired to take over and revamp a lifeless and uninspired baseball team that is struggling at nearly 10 games below .500.

Should I remind you what transpired the last time Jack McKeon graced his presence in the dugout of a struggling Marlins team, mid way through the season? Champagne showers and a parade held in their honor. Yup, they won it all. A seemingly improbable World Series victory against the New York Yankees in 2003... Dont mind me getting all nostalgic and whatnot. I was stoked.

Although the circumstances for both hirings seem fairly analogous, the 2011 Marlins are battling an issue that the 03' Marlins never had to worry about. A young, arrogant, and egotistical superstar, who is struggling beyond belief and frankly, just can't seem to grow up. If you haven't guessed him yet, I am talking about the 2009 National League batting champion and 27 year old prodigy shortstop -- Hanley Ramirez.

With Hanley Ramirez's uncongenial demeanor adding more weight on Jack McKeon's shoulders than he had ever experienced with the 2003 Florida Marlins, fans around the country wondered what type, color, and size foot he would get off to in his debut as the manager for the 2011 Florida Marlins.

So how did the ultra cool Jack McKeon handle his first lineup card of the season? He just neglected to write Hanley Ramirez's name on it...No big deal.

It was an unconventional decision with a message. Totally Jack's style.

The Marlins lost monday night, something that they have grown very accustom to over the past three weeks. McKeon justified his actions after the game by saying to the press that he didn't feel Ramirez was hustling out of the box, and doing the smaller, more general skills, to the best of his ability. The message was received by Hanley Ramirez as he rode the bench the entire night. He was then placed in the 4th spot of the Marlins lineup the next night. No hard feelings, I guess. Ramirez went 2 for 4 out of the cleanup spot Tuesday night, scoring two runs in a winning effort that snapped an 11 game losing streak. More interesting than the end of one streak though, is the start of another. Jack McKeon had won his first game of the season. Im not saying that this will certainly be the first of many, but in baseball, who really knows.

From my view, I think it's fair to say that this Marlins baseball team is young and talented, but notably unable to focus on the big picture. Their agonizing lack of diligence and discipline will always be their demise if nothing is done. With McKeon's old school fervor for the game of baseball and no bullshit attitude, these young men have a chance to evolve from athletes, to real genuine baseball players. Yes, even Hanley Ramirez

Whether Jack McKeon is able to actualize another magical comeback season for this franchise is a question of great intrigue, and truthfully, doesn't seem too wishful. But for now, I am just happy to see his old ass chillin' in the dugout again. He's a legend, a scholar, and a badass of baseball. Don't be shocked to hear some noise coming from Miami this summer. Noise of course that isn't stemming from Lebron James' and Dwayne Wade's homosexual tendencies.

"Love among the ruins"

A fantastic photograph of a couple kissing in the street amid the hazardous conditions of the Vancouver riots. These riots were of course stimulated by the Vancouver Canucks' game 7 loss to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals. Think they're taking it a little hard...?

Although we would all like to assume that the couple's actions were a statement against violence and authority, it didn't really go down like that. The couple were apparently knocked down and 'run over' by the riot police, and the man was merely kissing his alleged girlfriend to calm her down. The news just has to ruin it for everybody.  

Buster Posey's injury nearly jeopardizes the most exciting play in baseball.

I believe that by now, nearly everybody has seen the footage of the terrible collision that took place on Wednesday, May 25^th in San Francisco. If you haven’t yet, well, here it is. Brace yourself.

The play occurred in the top of the 12^th inning when the game was tied at six runs a-piece. Outfielder Scott Cousins had come off the bench in a pinch hitting roll for the Florida Marlins and reached first base safely on a fielder’s choice. The inning played on, and Cousins eventually found himself standing on the third base bag, 90 feet away from scoring the potential winning run and possibly earning himself a shaving cream pie to the face during a post-game interview. Little did Scott Cousins know, he was only 90 feet away from what has since become one of the most controversial plays of the 2011 MLB season.

On a shallow fly ball hit to right field by Emilio Bonifacio, Scott Cousins tagged up and took off. With Nate Schierholtz’s throw from right center field and Scott Cousins’ 200 pound frame reaching home plate nearly simultaneously, Giants’ catcher Buster Posey didn’t stand a chance. I think he knew it, to. More concerned with Scott Cousins’ thunderous steps down the third base line and the catastrophe begging to happen, Posey didn’t field the ball cleanly. With a quick and clean inhale, which had figured to be his last for the next couple of minutes, Posey found himself on his back and in what looked like to be excruciating pain.

I don’t even know what was more terrifying, the actual collision itself, or the reaction of the Giants’ young star catcher after he was obliterated by roughly 3000 pounds of muscle ton force.

The end result: Cousins was called safe at home, scoring what was ultimately proven to be the winning run of a thrilling 12-inning baseball game. Buster Posey was taken out of the game after the disastrous play at the plate had left him with a broken left leg and severe ligament damage in his left ankle. It has since been confirmed that Buster Posey, one of the brightest young catchers in the game today, and one of the San Francisco Giants’ greatest assets, will not return to the game of baseball again, for the rest of the season.

Whoa -- Can you say ‘dev-uh-stey-ting’?

It’s difficult enough to watch a player’s season go right down the drain, especially a player of such great caliber like that of Buster Posey. But the way that it all unfolded for Buster Posey, the way that he dauntlessly stood his ground to protect what was his, to protect what was his team’s, to protect what was the city of San Francisco’s. For Buster Posey to fall victim of such cruel punishment for performing his job with such valor and intrepidity – well, the whole thing just seems corrupt.

That’s baseball though kids. Hell, that’s professional sports.

We have seen it happen in nearly every other league multiple times. The one contentious play that causes everybody and their mothers to talk about rule changes. After just witnessing an NFL season jammed with concussions and questionable hits, sports enthusiasts have seem to become accustom to this league-wide chatter regarding safety standards and the adjustment of the games’ most natural tendencies. Well folks, the 2011 MLB season has been suffocated with a brand new issue that has baseball fans everywhere, including myself, completely hysterical. After understandable concern for the well-being of Buster Posey and the other catchers around the league, MLB personnel (most notably Buster Posey’s agent as well as the Giants’ manager Bruce Bochy) have filed complaints to the league officials regarding the rules, or lack thereof, and concerning the proclivity of what is extensively known by followers as, ‘the play at the plate.’


Yeah -- Way to go, Scott Cousins


Although what happened to Buster Posey is unfortunate, I can't say that I can completely empathize with the catcher's plight in this situation. Call me cold-blooded, but I am merely a spectator. A fan who is trying to squeeze out all of the excitement that televised baseball has to offer.  In a sport that seems to be stranded somewhere in between the end of one era and the beginning of another, baseball’s somewhat edgeless exterior needs to hold on to the one play that is so naturally glorious, time seems to slow down for the two split seconds in which it transpires. At this moment, baseball is just too vulnerable to let go of something as brilliant as this. With any adaptation to the etiquette involving the play at the plate -- well, baseball might just lose a fan.


Simply put, I don't think there is much the league can do about this situation anyways. With no real rules already existing in place, finding a point of intent would appear to be a challenge on its own. Fellow catchers around the league, including the outspoken A.J. Pierzynski, have stated that they would prefer it if Joe Torre and his gang of wolves refrained from implementing a rule change into the game to assist in avoiding collisions at home plate.


"It's unfortunate Buster got hurt," Pierzynski says. "But it's part of the game and every catcher has been through nasty collisions."


Bobby Valentine, a baseball analyst for ESPN, has spoken about ideas to change the fundamentals of blocking home plate, as well as applying the tag from a different angle. These changes in catching techniques could help in adjusting catchers to be less defenseless to destructive encounters at home plate. I believe that this is the best insight that has been released thus far and probably the best that we will ever get.


What happened to Buster Posey last Wednesday night was freakish and momentarily discouraging to the game of baseball. But Buster Posey will eventually heal and return to the game of baseball where he has made a name for himself in just less than one full season of experience. Call me a purist, but I strongly believe that change is not the answer to the severe consequences that Buster Posey payed as he observed the basic practices of the position that were taught to him in little league. The answer is merely to recognize the event that took place as a reality of the game. We shall recognize it as the day our eyes were opened to the genuine extent of danger and peril that is associated with the catcher position.  


For the sake of the game, I can only hope that aspiring catchers, as well as catchers currently in the league, can learn from this incident, and the fans can continue to indulge in the greatest component of gamesmanship that nearly any sport has to offer. 


Please Bud Selig, don't screw this up. 

The End is Here

By Jason Sigelakis


This Era’s End is upon us. 

The funeral took place on Wednesday, May 11 with a coup de gras dunk by Lebron James that slammed the door on more than the Boston Celtics’ hopes of winning a second championship in four years. It slammed the door shut on the Post-Jordan Era of stars, their window of opportunity no more. Shaquille O’Neal, Kobe Bryant, Tim Duncan, and Kevin Garnett, the Four Greatest players of this Era, are all used to playing basketball deep into June. They had grown accustomed to it, even expected it. 

Now? 

Their teams are all on the outside looking in, able to do nothing more than watch as leading men of the New Era---LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Kevin Durant, and Russell Westbrook---battle deep into the playoffs and try to will their teams to the ever elusive Larry O’Brien trophy. 

Just three years ago, the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Los Angeles Lakers, and San Antonio Spurs, teams which had won 11 of the past 12 titles, duked it out with an NBA Finals berth on the line. 

Now?

These Conference Finals will feature four completely different teams and superstars. The greats of this generation (save for the ageless Dirk Nowitzki), especially the Four Greatest, all played like shells of their former selves this postseason. 

Shaq played a total of 12 ineffective minutes against the Miami Heat, and has been on a sharp decline since 2006. 

Kobe can only dominate single quarters, no longer games, and was held to 23 points per game (in part due to retro defensive efforts from Jason Kidd) against the Mavericks, a team he once outscored BY HIMSELF through three quarters. 

Duncan, considered the Greatest Power Forward Ever by many, got shoved around in the paint by Zach Randolph and Marc Gasol.

KG followed his 28 point, 18 rebound effort in Game 3 against the Heat with one of the worst performances of his 16 year career (7 points on 1-for-10 shooting). 

This postseason has been hard to stomach, having grown up watching these players rack up All-Star selections, MVP trophies, and Championships, while thoroughly demolishing anyone standing in their way. But everyone who follows basketball cannot deny that their end is here. 

And we are all witnesses. 

Truth be told, the Post-Jordan Stars are just too old to carry their teams anymore. 

Father Time has---as expected---taken away much of the athleticism and energy that the Post-Jordan stars, now all in their 30’s, lack. Their will-power is greater than ever, seeing The End creep closer and closer as each season puts more wear-and-tear on their aching legs. These aging stars’ bodies no longer react as quickly or efficiently to what their instincts command.  

And this is why their brilliant era has reached its final chapter. 

A change this drastic should come as no surprise to anyone familiar with the history of the NBA. Generational shifts always occur after a period of a select few players and teams seize control of the league. Fortunately, the NBA has a way of neatly splitting these eras into decades, with the 1950’s, ‘60s, and ‘70s each having their own unique identities. Magic Johnson’s Lakers and Larry Bird’s Celtics revived and ran away with the league for the better part of the 80’s before seeing their reign end prematurely, snatched away by HIV, Father Time, and Michael Jordan. 

The 1990’s was belonged to the heralded “Dream Team Era”, where members of the Dream Team dominated the league from the late 80’s through late 90’s, with Jordan at the forefront.

From 1991 through 1999, a player from the Dream Team won every MVP award. 

From 1991 through 1998, Jordan and Scottie Pippens’ Bulls captured six titles, while Hakeem Olajuwon’s Rockets won two of their own. 

But no good thing lasts forever. Even that spectacular era came to an end. 

By the time the 1998 lockout hit, these superstars---well into their 30’s---“hit the wall” with no second-wind, due again to the expected culprit, Father Time. The league post-lockout looked drastically different from the one a mere two years prior. 

This is when the Post-Jordan Stars, all drafted in the mid 90’s, put their permanent stamp on the hardwood. 

Finally, their time was upon them. 

The Post-Jordan stars earned every MVP award from 2000 through 2008 and headlined news stories for their on-court performances and off-court behaviors.  

All-NBA teams featured the usual suspects (the Four Greatest, Tracy McGrady, Steve Nash, etc.) year after year. 

Every Finals from 1999 through 2010 featured either O’Neal, Bryant, or Duncan, with the Lakers and Spurs winning NINE of the past TWELVE titles. Eviscerating the NBA in such a way is on par with the accomplishments of the great Lakers and Celtics teams in the ‘80s and Bulls teams in the ‘90s. 

Towards the end of the decade, however, power started to shift.

Suddenly, fans were more likely to watch Deron Williams play on All-Star weekend than Allen Iverson.

The 2008 Redeem Team featured nine players drafted in 2002 or later. 

LeBron James earned back to back MVP trophies in 2009 and 2010.

Leaders in statistical categories and All-NBA teams are now headlined by players drafted in 2003 or later. 

In eerily similar parallels, this Post-Jordan Era, in similar fashion to the Dream Team Era, comes to a close with looming Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations, and with Phil Jackson retiring for a second time, now with 11 rings instead of 6.

The Post-Jordan stars’ trump card was that their experience and team chemistry always prevailed over youth and athleticism in the playoffs. However, with only the Dallas Mavericks competing this postseason with Post-Jordan superstars (Nowitzki and Kidd) at the helm, a changing of the guard is nearly complete. Sure, the Mavs can still win this year, prolonging the inevitable for another year. But is it realistic to expect players to be as motivated next year if their veterans finally achieve their career-long goal of a championship?

Making circumstances even more dire for Post-Jordan stars is that James, Wade, Dwight Howard, Chris Bosh, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Paul, and Deron Williams are all in their primes, and as witnessed last summer and this season, are no longer content to sit idly by on their couches in June watching traditional powerhouses win year after year.

The NBA’s molding in the near-future becomes all the more interesting when factoring in the emergence of Rose, Durant, and Westbrook, each only 22 and already leading their young teams to the Conference Finals, a trend expected to continue for years. 

The 2011 playoffs are the kick-start to what we’ll be treated to in the coming years. Sure, older teams can still retool without having to go through the dreaded rebuilding stage. But this will take savvy trades and free agency signings in order to add youth and speed, with superstars needing to take more of a backseat role on their teams (think David Robinson’s latter years with the Spurs). With a new CBA in the works, this will be an even more daunting task due to further salary cap restrictions.

Father Time, as always, snatched the Keys to the League away from the superstars we’ve grown so accustomed to watching. This means their twelve year supremacy has finally come to an end.

This Era’s End is upon us. 

The league is ready for new dynasties, new superstars, new blood. Another change, creeping up for the past four years, is finally here. The torch has passed hands, the throne wide open. The NBA is ready. Are you?