Fan's Eye View
Loads Of Sports On TV Today
by GrantC on Aug 15, 2010 6:08 PM EDT
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The return of football to the landscape seems to be coming at the perfect time, as this is the first weekend in a while where it seems like there are more sporting events on TV than I can watch at once - which is a good problem to have.
Tiger never got going this week and although Phil is currently in the leader in the clubhouse, this years PGA Championship is being led by a group of young guys and one old school winner in Steve Elkington that have set up for what looks like an exciting end to the final round.
Between Hard Knocks on HBO and a nearly full slate of NFL pre-season games over the last few days, my eagerness to start the regular season has begun to peak - which culminated this morning with the Colts - 49ers game (as I'm an SF fan first). The pennant races in baseball are also starting to heat up, with possibly the most exciting series of the weekend also featuring my team as the Giants host the Padres. SF won on a walk-off last night and are currently trailing in their day game, as both teams vie for the lead in the NL West and NL Wild Card.
Add in the beginning of the Little League World Series, a big NASCAR race in Michigan, some Hall of Fame inductions, and even USA Basketball getting a win - and this is definitely the first solid weekend of sports viewing in quite a while.
Maintaining the Faith in General Managers
by doron on Aug 3, 2010 11:42 AM EDT
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At Project Franchise, we plan to one day put the power to run a team in the fan's hands. In the meantime though, we, as fans, are left putting our faith in the General Managers that run our favorite teams.
It's a great feeling to rely completely on the decisions those GM's make, and we all know those fans that go a bit overboard for it, thinking their GM's can do absolutely no wrong. Most of us, however, are a bit more objective than that. Still, it's part of being a fan to want to believe in them. They're the ones that can turn our teams into champions or tear them right down. And to those who love sports, and love their teams, all of that is quite the big deal.
With the MLB non-waiver tread deadline behind us, GM's across the league have been in the forefront for their moves and non-moves. We've seen big names traded like Cliff Lee, Dan Haren, and Roy Oswalt. But the trade that stands out to me involves names a lot of people haven't heard of - the swap between the Blue Jays and Astros of Brett Wallace and Anthony Gose. Sure, it stands out because the Blue Jays are my team. It also stands out because of how very rare it is to see prospects swapped directly for each other. But it also stands out because it's one of the rare times that I have had to challenge my faith in my General Manager, Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos.
Anthopoulos took over for JP Ricciardi at the end of the 2009 season, and for the most part, I think he's done a terrific job. He added a lot of talent to the farm system in his trade of Roy Halladay - a big achievement given the restrictions Halladay placed on where he'd be willing to play - and has made significant acquisitions that have aided the major league team already, with Brandon Morrow, Yunel Escobar and Fred Lewis all looking like players that could be part of the next great Blue Jays team.
Another player I thought would be part of that team, though, was first-basemen Brett Wallace. In the aftermath of the Roy Oswalt trade last Thursday, the Jays shipped him over to Houston in exchange for center-fielder Anthony Gose, whom they had just acquired moments ago from Philadelphia. My initial thoughts: outrage.
In Defense of Ruben Amaro Jr.
by doron on Jul 21, 2010 11:37 AM EDT
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Philadelphia Phillies GM Ruben Amaro Jr. has become a frequent whipping boy for baseball fans as of late.
It began back in December when he was generally criticized for how he handled the Roy Halladay-Cliff Lee trade. While few blame him for bringing Halladay, arguably the best pitcher in baseball on board, many thought that he should have held on to Cliff Lee or at least gotten a far better return for him. It continued later in the winter, when the extension he handed out to Ryan Howard, for 5 years/$125M, was panned across the board, for both the amount handed to Howard, and how it would prevent them from being able to resign Jayson Werth, who many figure is the better player. Now, as rumors are running rampant that Amaro is working towards acquiring Roy Oswalt for the Houston Astros in a series of moves that will require him dealing Werth to a third team (the Rays?), Amaro's questionable decisions are being shone under a bright light.
On the surface, all of these points are absolutely fair. Amaro got a poorer package in return for Cliff Lee than the Seattle Mariners did when they traded him to Texas, with less than half of the season, and duration of Lee's contract, remaining. Most metrics indicate that Werth is probably the brings more to the table than Howard, though the ultimate difference between their values isn't huge. And sure, a full-year of Cliff Lee would have been greater than having to acquire the more expensive Oswalt at the deadline and ship away Werth in the process (if that deal does end up going down).
Things haven't gone nearly as well as planned in Philadelphia this season, and the blame for that seems to be going towards the GM. The feeling of course is that having Cliff Lee on the team would have made a big difference, and that's true. Lee's 4.1 WAR season to this point would have been a big boost over the mess that has filled the back of the Phillies rotation so far, and could even be close to enough to cut their deficit in the NL East to a much more manageable number. But let's not forget that this was a team that was holding on to first place in the NL East last year before they even acquired Cliff Lee. Though Lee is gone, they have added Roy Halladay to that team, and still, on paper, boast one of the best offenses in the game. That offense has massively underperformed, only in part due to injuries. The one player people point to in that offense when criticizing Amaro is left-fielder Raul Ibanez, under a big contract through next year. Of course, last year around this time everyone praised the Ibanez acquisition, as he was off to a terrific start for the Phillies.
Can Tiger Just Get Back To Winning Already?!
by GrantC on Jul 19, 2010 1:11 PM EDT
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Thousands of Americans woke up bright and early Sunday morning to watch the end of the final round of The British Open live, and, then, fairly soon after, thousands of Americans went back to sleep. With Phil never in it and Tiger well out of contention on Sunday, golf fans were left to hope that Paul Casey could make a run at the lead and keep it interesting - but by the time the last group made the turn on Sunday (or at least once they got through hole 12), the final result was a foregone conclusion.
South African Louis Oosthuizen won The Open at St Andrews used his impressively straight and long driving record over the weekend to win the Claret Jug going away by 7 strokes, carding a 16 under for the tourney. While Louis, a relative unknown on the world golfing stage, made for a nice story, the entire weekend experience for fans watching back in the states left a lot to be desired. Last year we had Tom Watson, and the year before it was Greg Norman, - big names of a past generation - who each stayed in contention at The Open through the weekend, which added an element of excitement and intrigue that was lacking at this years tournament.
Unfortunately, as an American golf fan, there still is very little that gets you stoked like seeing Tiger, decked in red Nike, charging through the back nine on Sunday at a major. Whether you love him or hate him - and I'm personally stuck somewhere in between - he is still the sports biggest draw and when he isn't near the top of the leaderboard it gets a heck of a lot less interesting. Of course any tournament won by a no-name foreign golfer by a landslide that airs at the crack of dawn is going to leave a bit to be desired, but this was the first time in a while I've been longing for a Tiger run just to make it interesting.
Knicks Move On From LeBron, Rebuild Around Youth
by aramnath on Jul 14, 2010 2:48 AM EDT
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As soon as LeBron made his decision to "take his talents to South Beach" a two-year plan to acquire him in free agency plotted by GM Donnie Walsh and head coach Mike D'Antoni came to an ultimately unsuccessful conclusion.
For the better part of the past decade New York has suffered as a result of poor management and burdensome contracts that had left the organization devoid of financial flexibility. The popular belief in the media has been that Walsh has only tore the Knicks down in the hope of cashing in on a loaded 2010 free agent market.
That certainly was the most ideal outcome.
However, believing that the Knicks have simply tore down their roster without any thought of developing players for the future is fiction.
The Knicks started building a young core with the drafting of Wilson Chandler (23), Danilo Gallinari (21), Toney Douglas (24) over the course of the past 3 seasons. However in their bid to free up cap space to sign a second max salary player this summer the Knicks had to trade future draft picks and also 2009 No. 8 overall pick, Jordan Hill to Houston. Also thanks to Isiah Thomas' trade for Stephon Marbury, the Knicks were also without a first round pick in this year's draft.
As a result the Knicks have had to get creative in order to add to their trio of draft picks. The same day they traded Hill to Houston last season, they sent Nate Robinson to Boston in exchange for Bill Walker, J.R. Giddens and Eddie House. House is no longer with the team and Giddens hasn't shown much since his arrival, but Walker (23) was a revelation last year.
Walker was projected as a lottery pick in 2008, but after suffering his third major knee injury in a workout with the Warriors he dropped into the second round. Walker shot 51.8% from the field in 27 games for the Knicks after being acquired and most importantly, in fitting in with Mike D'Antoni's system, he showed an ability to stretch the court by shooting 42% from the three.
These were all players that Walsh felt the team could build around for the future and would also complement James, Wade or any other star that may join the team by spacing the floor effectively.
Enter Amar'e Stoudemire (27).
Is he worth the 5-year $100 million deal he signed? No. Did they overpay? Yes. Did the Knicks acquire a legitimate star in the league that has the ability to dominate a game inside? Yes and more than anything, New York needed to acquire a player this summer capable of commanding a defense's attention and taking over a game. If nothing else Amare's presence will create much better looks for the Knicks' perimeter sharpshooter.
While Stoudemire's signing provided the team with a much needed offensive spark, the Knicks still lacked, the requisite length and athleticism to operate in D'Antoni's uptempo system and still needed to address depth issues up and down the roster, particularly at the point guard and center position.
OMG ICHIRO!
by alorb on Jul 11, 2010 11:23 PM EDT
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Never before has a fan been so excited for having a player run into them. The commentary alone makes this worth the watch. Hopefully it'll help get ya through the dog days of summer.
LeBron James And The Hearts Of Fans
by GrantC on Jul 8, 2010 9:28 PM EDT
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"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." begins the Charles Dickens classic A Tale of Two Cities and no quote, not title could more appropriately describe the feelings of the fans in Miami and Cleveland respectively. Local hero and the worlds biggest sports star LeBron James took to the tube tonight to announce that he was leaving the city where he had grown up and the Cavaliers organization that drafted him for quite literally warmer waters and the chance of championships in South Beach, leaving fans in his hometown devastated.
Cleveland has long been mocked for its professional sports failures, from the departure of the Browns (who promptly won a Super Bowl as the Baltimore Ravens), to the entire Major League movie series being based on the terrible Indians squads from the early 90's, and it appears that the half-decade euphoria sports fans in the city had with LBJ leading the way has come to an abrupt end. No more dreams of NBA titles and LeBron led dynasty's. The city was just starting to embrace those throwback Cavs jerseys that the new squad made popular, while brushing off memories of Craig Ehlo.
But, alas, it was not to be. LeBron's reign as King has ended and the Cavs will likely now quickly fade to the bottom of the Eastern Conference where they will rightfully dwell for another seeming eternity. Its hard to blame the fans of Cleveland, who have turned out in droves to support LBJ through the years, tossing chalk in the sky, proudly proclaiming to each be a "Witness" to his basketball majesty. And its even tough to critique the Cavs management who did everything they could to build a winning team around him, bringing in Shaq and Antawn Jamison, while preserving enough cap room and money to afford to pay him more than any other team. At the end of the day it came down to location, location, location and winning a championship - which really seem like the things every fan has to respect and understand.
And this is where the city of Miami stole the show. The tropical allure and overwhelming fan support for their local hero Dwyane Wade convinced the star to stay put, which helped to convince Chris Bosh to join him in the hot Florida son, and eventually get The King to migrate south. Heat fans now have an embarassment of riches that surpasses almost anything the NBA has ever seen, with 3 legitimate superstars on the same roster, all in the prime of their careers. Of course all this spending on the "Bigger 3" means that they have no money to stock the rest of the bench, leaving the team one major injury away from bust, but for now Miami fans will rejoice in the prospects of another hot winter in South Florida where the Heat is turned all the way up.
At the very same time fans in Cleveland will sludge through another cold winter watching the miserable Browns as they likely fail to win 4 games, endlessly depressed at the loss of LeBron, vehemently despising his public dismissal of their town and the manner at which he shunned his back.
These are the up's and down's of being a sports fan - the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat.
Its extremely rare that we see it so publicly played out off the court, as it has this season, but its just another sign of the fans becoming more involved in the business end of the sporting world. As the corporate stranglehold - from ESPN to Coca Cola's Vitamin Water - have taken over LBJ's decision process, we can't help but insert some of our own corporate hype... So, if tonight you are a Cleveland fan or just someone looking for a new team to root for that you can put your trust in, we recommend checking out Project Franchise - our fan run squad that will hopefully never let you down, because you're the one in charge... Although we can't even imagine how terrible Usher and the rest of the guys running the Cavs are feeling right now - maybe its worse on the management than the fans after all!
Call Me In Four Years
by GrantC on Jun 26, 2010 6:25 PM EDT
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Well it was fun while it lasted, but the final game of the World Cup for the USA this year reminded us exactly why fans here could care less about soccer 99.9% of the time. The "overtime" loss to Ghana was terribly anti-climactic, with the US spending the last 20 minutes of play down a goal and sleepily trotting up and down the field, taking no significant shots on goal.
All the while the Ghana team flailed and flopped, dragging out the running clock with fake injuries and slow substitutions. After wasting two hours of my life being bored, I have a very hard time understanding how Euro's call it "The Beautiful Game"?! There was nothing pretty about that hot mess. It was 20 dudes slugging around an oversized field where they very occasionally ended up with a ball in a good position to get lucky and try to score. In 2+ hours of play, the Americans were unable to send a single cross into a position to put a good shot on goal against a team that didn't look particularly impressive defensively, leaving our only cheering to an easy Landon Donovan goal off a penalty kick.
Whereas Donovan's heroics in the final minutes of the Algeria match earlier this week was exhilarating, this game was a total let down. The slow play, lack of excitement and unhappy ending resulted in a sporting event that definitely wasn't worth the hype and effort.
While is started off very well and had me believing that US fans may actually start to get into soccer, the end result of 2010 World Cup was extremely disappointing and very unlikely to help push the profile of the sport stateside.
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