Cruel Times for a Kid Pitcher

Posted by on March 27th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

It was all there right in front of him.
 
Top pick in the baseball draft, a likely mega-signing bonus, and a fast lane to the future with a ballclub that desperately needed pitching.
 
All there, and now it’s gone, at least for the foreseeable future.
 
Brady Aiken, Cathedral Catholic High School pitching star, will be released from the hospital this weekend, after undergoing Tommy John elbow ligament transplant surgery.
 
So talented, such a bright future, now no contract, no draft status, and no baseball for the next 12-to-16 months.
 
The bad news to a really good young man just will not go away.
 
The top pick in last June’s draft, taken number 1-by the lowly Houston Astros, it was right there that everything went off track.  He had pitched Cathedral Catholic to a banner season, going (7-0) with a 1.06 ERA and a torrid 228-strikeouts in 111-innings.  Carefully handled, rested between starts, kept on a fairly consistent pitch count, it seemed as if everything had fallen into place.  Instead his career has fallen apart.
 
He never signed with the Astros, caught in the middle of a war of words about a pre-signing physical, in which a deformed, or smaller than normal elbow ligament showed up on scans.
 
What was a $6.5M signing bonus package was pulled off the table, replaced by an insulting 1M-offer.  Then when the story leaked out, the Astros, who had built a reputation for cheapness in gutting their once famous franchise, upped the offer again, to $3.5M.  The acrimony would not go away.  Then at the deadline, with the team taking hits from everywhere, they upped the offer a second time to $5M.  The family, insulted, rejected it.
 
Aiken had been recruited to UCLA, but if he enrolled, he would not be eligible for the draft again till 2017.  He elected to stay out of school, and attend the IMG baseball academy, to continue to train, and pitch in exhibitions, awaiting next year’s draft.
 
He had pitched internationally for the US under 18-team, beating teams in Japan and Taiwan with no signs of health issues.
 
But last week, in his lst exhibition outing for IMG, he came off the mound after 12-pitches with pain in the elbow.  A torn UCL-ligament, and immediate surgery.
 
No one knows the full story.  Was he handled and pampered in high school because the family knew of the ligament issue?  Did they sit on the story, and hide it from all the teams at the top of the draft, because clubs cannot give pre-draft physicals?  Did they believe the ligament would hold up since he had never had problems?
 
The Astros, who had every right for the physical after the draft pick was made, no longer look like the villains they were initially.  They get an additional draft pick this coming June for not having signed him.  But the pitcher no longer has a future.
 
Sports medicine is spectacular, and Aiken will be back on the mound sometime by the first of the year.  Whether he can become an even better pitcher with a stronger ligament is open to debate.  
 
Sports medicine surveys show 82% of the pitchers who have the TJ surgery get to pitch again.  Baseball says 25% of pitchers on rosters last year in the majors had the surgery and got back to the show.  No one really knows however, if they come all the way back and become dominant again.
 
What a cruel year it has been for Brady Aiken.  No contract, no draft slot now for this coming season, and no team to pitch for.  A good kid deserving better than the bad hand he has been dealt with that elbow.

 

NFL in L.A.

Posted by on March 26th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

The NFL owners meetings have broken up.
 
Commissioner Roger Goodell has given ‘lip service’ to the NFL-to-LA story  He has provided bullet-point thoughts, generic as they may be, about the 3-teams with Stadium problems, and the city that doesn’t have a team.
 
So he implores the San Diego Mayor and his Task Force to continue full speed ahead with their ideas about financing a new stadium at the Qualcomm sight.  He praises St. Louis and its civic leaders, for the aggressive approach they have taken to building a new Rams Stadium.  And he monitors, renewed efforts in Oakland, involving now the city and county, about how to pay for a 55,000-seat Raiders Stadium.
 
The NFL owners will meet in May, and by then San Diego, Oakland and St. Louis may have their plans and ideas in place, to present to Dean Spanos, Stan Kroenke and Mark Davis.
 
This will be a challenge in California, where dollars seem tougher to come by when it comes to local financing in San Diego and in Oakland, but less of a challenge where the state of Missouri and St. Louis seem really linked to get it done.
 
There is an alternative idea that is floating around out there.  Though the NFL continues to deny, at least in public, the discussions are taking place, they have had to at least think about this.  Reality says expansion should seriously be considered.
 
Los Angeles, the number 2-market in the world, and the biggest city in Canada,Toronto,  are open territories, with lots of money, and probably lots of investors.  Think of the NFL expansion fees fellow owners could rake in from Canada and LA.  Think of the revenue streams that could be created with a clean piece of paper in Los Angeles, and a dominion wide franchise that Oh-Canada would wrap its arms around.
 
The NFL owns LA, and the new owner of the Buffalo Bills, Terry Pegula, says he would not fight a franchise going in the other side of Lake Ontario, eventhough some Canadians would possibly give up Bills tickets to root for the home team at the Skydome-Rogers Center.
 
Expansioin would solve lots of issues, even if 34-is an odd number.  You’d be gaining two huge television markets, and a truly new network partner to the north.
 
You would solve the relocation threat, and still work with the Rams-Chargers-Raiders to solve their stadium problems.  You would no longer have the mortal sin on your soul of allowing another city to hijack established franchises from cities that have supported those bad franchises.
 
Yes Goodell has already activated his Committee on Los Angeles.  What he should do next is explore this alternate solution, and form his Expansion Committee.  
 
Take a different look at the profit model from the entrance fees expansion owners would pay, the new TV haul of revenue with additional contracts, PSLs, skybox money, merchandising money, plus the good will you’d create by preserving teams in towns, whose loyal fans don’t deserve to lose their franchise in the middle of the night.
 
New teams in two new markets seems like win-win, for Los Angelinos, les Canadians, and the Bolts-Silver & Black, and Rams fans.  Just do it…

Instant Replay: Use or Non-use

Posted by on March 25th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

I don’t understand their way of thinking, these NFL owners, and the refusal to use the advanced technology at hand to improve NFL games.
 
They wrap up their spring owner’s meetings in Arizona today, having decided not to expand the use of instant replay to get additional calls right, important calls that impact the outcome of games.
 
Instant replay, as complex as it might seem, has helped the credibility of the game, become a great aid to officials, who at times struggle to keep up with all the action on the field.
 
Replay works well to determine possession of the ball, in-bounds plays, end zone plays, touchdowns-non touchdowns, fumbles, interceptions and more, things that change momentum of the game that impact the outcomes.
 
And now with hi-def television, the enormous advancement in technology, comes the question, why not use replay also to evaluate major penalties?
 
Was that really pass inteference on that big pass play?  Did the receiver shove off?  Was he interfered with in his route or attempt to catch the ball?  Those 30 and 50 yard penalties in games are big momentum changers.  Why not use the technology to make sure the call is correct?
 
Ditto too for the other big game changers, the personal foul penalties.  Hits to the quarterback, and blows to defenseless players.  In this case, NFL officials have to weigh ‘intent’ vs ‘accidental’ contact.  But again replay could help.
 
Was the pass rusher shoved in the direction of the quarterback?  Did the quarterback move and therefore put himself into the line of getting hit in the head?  Was the hit to the defenseless player with a shoulder (legal) or a helmet (illegal)?  Did the victime move at the last minute into the blow?
 
The competition committee said ‘no’ to 21-different ideas about using instant replay on penalties.  It wouldn’t delay the game further.  Coaches would have to burn a challenge and be sure before they risked a timeout.  We’re not talking about constant interruption of games.
 
Instant replay, a chance to further help the game with the biggest plays that surely impact the outcome of games..
 
Upon further review, I think the competition committee made the wrong call.  

Rivers Watch

Posted by on March 24th, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

I never once believed the stories it would happen.  Of course I have never understood why they haven’t taken care of him yet.
 
‘They’ are the San Diego Chargers.  ‘He’ is quarterback Philip Rivers.  ‘It’ is the flurry of trade rumors that the New York Jets or Tennessee Titans would trade their high first round pick for the Bolts quarterback, to give San Diego an opportunity to draft Oregon rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota.
 
The timeline is simple.  It is March.  Rivers is headed to the walk year of his big money contract.  The franchise is threatening to move to LA.  The team has not yet opened contract extension talks with him.
 
You could connect the dots, and say lame-duck quarterback, and yes lame-duck franchise.  But it is way to early to even consider any of that.
 
History will show other great quarterbacks have left clubs.  Peyton Manning, with a Super Bowl ring, left the Colts and wound up in Denver.  Of course, John Elway spent his entire career wearing Orange and Blue.
 
But the Chargers have to be careful on this one, buyer beware.  If you move Rivers in any type of deal, are getting equal value if you trade the quarterback and your 17th pick in the first round, to get to the 2nd spot Tennessee owns, to draft Mariota?
 
And buyer beware too of the learning curve-developmental process a Marcus Mariota would have to go thru once he steps off the plane and onto an NFL training camp field.  Yes his (36-5) won-loss record at Oregon is superb.  And so are those record setting 134-touchdowns he piled up in rewriting the Pac 12-record book.
 
But understand this.  He has never taken a snap under center, instead running the warp-speed video game shotgun spread offense at Oregon.  There is a learning curve here.  Just ask the grizzled old journeyman veteran Michael Vick, or the trendy kid quarterbacks, Robert Griffin III, Cam Newton, Geno Smith or EJ Manuel.  It takes time.  Its takes getting sacked.  It takes picks.  It takes hits too.
 
Granted Rivers price tag on the next short deal he gets will be in the $18-20M a year range, but that is the going price for great quarterbacks, and he still is a great one.  Granted he hasn’t done what his running mates have done, Roethlisberger, Brees, and Brady, win Super Bowl rings, but that is more on the GM’s office on the second floor at the Fortress than at the guy under center.
 
But Chargers fans, who always have an opinion, also tend to have short memories.  Once Dan Fouts retired, San Diego signed on and went thru 17-quarterbacks before Stan Humphries arrived.  And when he left with a career ending concussion, it took 17-more quarterbacks walking thru the revolving doors, till the Brees-Rivers combo arrived.
 
Nobody knows in the secretive world of Tom Telesco, why the team hasn’t gotten a new contract done, especially when they needed cap space to get free agents, who could have put them over the top.  No extension, no restructuring, which could have been a step towards an extension.
 
Mariota may turn out great, but I also have flashbacks that the last phenom to come out of Oregon, was the flameout of Joey Harrington.  Great stats, but a product of the system, not the product of great raw talent.  Till Mariota shows he can do this, you always have doubts.
 
For every Andrew Luck, there is a Jake Locker.  When you think of Eli Manning, don’t forget Vince Young or J’Marcus Russell.  There is a Tony Romo, but there was also a Ryan Leaf.
 
Appreciate what you have, and make sure you Chargers fans never forget Billy Joe Tolliver, Mark Vlasic, Craig Whelihan, Bob Gagliano, Sean Salisbury, Tom Flick and David Archer.  That’s what happens when a Fouts leaves, a Humphries gets hurt, or a Mariota type bombs.
 
Don’t buy the Bolts trade rumors.  Don’t understand why Tom Telesco has not yet bought additional years with Rivers at quarterback.  Chargers, don’t let this guy get away.

Monday Aztecs Basketball – A Special Time

Posted by on March 23rd, 2015  •  0 Comments  • 

The season is over, I accept that.  A 27-win campaign, playing the likes of Arizona and Duke and Washington, and Cincinnati, was a pretty good run, especially for a team with suspect shooting and overall offensive issues.
But it was another great campaign, and a run down the streets of March Madness, even if ended with a bashing by basketball royalty, the (68-49) Duke Blue Devil beatdown.
Steve Fisher, the Aztecs coach, is such a joy to be around.  A man of integrity, experience, intelligence.  A proven commodity.
He put on a clinic in Philosophy 101 at the Media press conferences in Charlotte, explaining the life’s experiences he had, good and bad at Michigan, and what it meant to him upon arriving at San Diego State.
The man who delivered the Fab 5-to Ann Arbor, and then had his career sidetracked by that same group of kids, because of their involvement with a dirty booster, that cost him his job, holds no grudges.
In fact, he used the Fab 5-calling card to get into the homes of blue-chip recruits, the players and families, wanting to learn about the coach and how he built Michigan, and what he intended to do with their sons, if they became Aztecs.
It was fascinating to hear him talk about beginning on the recruiting road at SDSU, coming off that (0-14) first season, and how he went into homes and learned that a recruit wasn’t good enough to play for close friend Rick Majerus at Utah, but would consider SDSU.  Fisher’s response, “I want Majerus type players”, and he went out and got them.
Yes Duke out manned State in the 2nd round of the tourney yesterday.  NBA type recruits, like Jahlil Okufor and Justise Winston will do that to most any team team.  They went a combined (39P-23R) againgst an overwhelmed Aztecs team.  But think of what is up ahead for San Diego State.
You say good bye to a blue-collar guy like JJ O’Brien.  Dwayne Polee finishes his career with a good year and a half of excitement under his belt.  Aqeel Quinn, the Northridge transfer, proved what walk-ons could be if given coaching and the chance.
The Aztecs return 11-players off this team, all who played lots of minutes and lots of roles.  Sky Spencer and Angelo Chol.  Winston Shepard and Matt Shrigley.  The bench bunch led by Malik Pope, on the brink of stardom, and the well tested Trey Kell, each who have had a few shining moments.
Then you add those who sat and learned, sat and got healthy, guard Kevin Zabo and big forward Zylan Cheatem.  And the incoming recruits, guard-Jeremy Hensley and power forward Broderick Jones.
A ton of talent as next year probably begins next week for all those kids.
Though Duke marches on, after trampling State, think of where the Aztecs are now.  An annual rite of spring to play in March Madness.  Think of the roster now compared to back then.  Think of what Steve Fisher has accomplished from that 5-win first season and that winless conference record..
There are no Syracuse type academic scandals; no North Carolina type arrests, no St. John’s drug issues, no USC apathy..

Special coach, special man, making special kids out of these recruits in a very special basketball program each season.

Aztecs basketball, better today for what they learned yesterday.

 

1 … 455 456 457 458 459 … 503