Author Archives: Kent Sterling

Indianapolis Colts vs. New York Giants – 10 Areas of Progress Fans Need to See Tonight

by Kent Sterling

55 years after the greatest game ever played, the Colts and Giants will play a disposable preseason game.

55 years after the greatest game ever played, the Colts and Giants will play a disposable preseason game.

Another August weekend, another preseason football game without a meaningful result.  But just because there is no difference between 1-1 and 0-2 as the Colts board the plane from Jersey tonight, that doesn’t mean certain aspects of the game aren’t critical to the development of the team.

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The 2012 Colts are being viewed nationally as a fluke – a statistical anomaly whose 11-5 record should have been 7-9.  Being outscored by 30 throughout the course of an entire season while winning six more games than you lose is seen as a sin against math.

Fortunately for the Colts, football is played by men and not on a spreadsheet.  Repeating an 11-5 record is not going to be easy with a team featuring nearly as many newcomers as last year’s model.

There are 10 points of interest that I’ll keep an eye on tonight as the Colts move a step closer to the September 8th opener against the Oakland Raiders:

10 – Darrius Heyward-Bey needs to make a couple of catches.  Drops have been an issue throughout DHB’s career, and his camp was filled with dropped passes.  He says the right things about his hands, but when it comes time to control the ball, his hands need to do the talking.  If he can stretch the top of the defense, that will open up all kinds of opportunities for fun from the rest of the skill position employees.

9 – Matt Hassebeck stays healthy and productive – You will notice a lot of talk about leaving MetLife Stadium healthy in this list.  There is no more important result during the preseason than health, and Hasselbeck’s health is the only thing standing between Luck suffering an injury, and the Colts falling into a 2011-esque abyss.  The only answer Chandler Harnish’s presence on the Colts roster needs to provide is to a trivia question.  Nothing against Harnish, but Hasselbeck can still move an offense.

8 – The Colts must mount a legitimate pass rush.  Last week’s pass rush yield one second half sack of Bills backup QB Jeff Tuel, who otherwise was 19-for-23, 212 yards, 2 TDs, 0 picks, and a quarterback rating of 134.1.  Nice day for a rookie out of Washington State no one has ever heard of.  Robert Mathis, Erik Walden, and Bjoern Werner need to make the pocket an uncomfortable place for Eli Manning and friends.

7 – Linebackers need to hit like they mean it.  The first two runs last weekend by C.J. Spiller made the Colts linebackers look week.  Granted, they were playing without starters Pat Angerer and Jerrell Freeman, but the way they were gashed didn’t make anyone feel good about their ability to stop the run.  Watching the Chicago Bears on Thursday night, the wallops laid upon the Chargers reminded us that the preseason doesn’t need to be at half-speed.  That was their second game, so maybe tonight the Colts will crack pads with ferocity.

6 – The BC bookend tackles need to play a clean game.  Anthony Castonzo and Gosder Cherilus need to keep the Giants edge rushers away from Luck and Hasselbeck.  It’s been difficult to get an accurate read on either tackle in camp as the defense doesn’t get to hit the red jersey clad QBs.  The Giants will pull no punches, but Damontre Moore was a beast last week.  Indianapolis Cathedral grad Mathias Kiwanuka was a teammates of Colts right tackle Gosder Cherilus at Boston College, so maybe they’ll renew acquaintances.  Jason Pierre-Paul won’t play as he recovers from back surgery, so that will be one less worry for Cherilus and Castonzo.

5 – More productivity from the running game.  Ahmad Bradshaw isn’t going to play tonight, so it will be hard to project this game into a regular season performance, but last week’s average of 4.5 yards per rush was an okay number.  The guy to whom my eyes kept migrating during camp was Kerwynn Williams, who looks great both running and catching the ball out of the backfield.  He was drafted in the seventh round, and looks very similar to a seventh rounder from the previous year – Daryl Richardson of the St. Louis Rams.

There would appear to be four running backs ahead of Williams (Bradshaw, Vick Ballard, Donald Brown, and Delone Carter), but he sure made plays against the Colts defense the last three weeks.  Last week against the Bills, Williams had 21 yards on four carries.  More importantly, the runs were for five, five, five, and six yards.  That kind of consistency moves the sticks, and three of the carries were in the second quarter before roster fillers took the field.

4 – “Sure thing” wide receivers maintain health – Andrew Luck isn’t the only Colts who needs to stay healthy.  Reggie Wayne and T.Y. Hilton need to be ready to go for 16 games for Luck to be productive.  It seems odd to refer to a third round pick in his second year as a sure thing, but Hilton has showed he’s ready to take another step forward in 2013.  His hand are incredible and his top-end speed is blazing.  The Colts may have as explosive a group of skill players in the league, and with a leader like Wayne, they could have room for additional improvement.

3 – If Coby Fleener plays, he needs to hold on to the ball.  He’s looked good in camp, but against the Bills, the fumble and drop were very noticeable lapses.  If Fleener can hold on to the ball and Dwayne Allen returns to the form of his rookie year, the Colts will have a tight end tandem that rivals what the Patriots had before injuries and a murder charge made Michael Hoomanawanui a go-to target for Tom Brady.  Fleener was limited this week in practice due to a concussion suffered against the Bills, so how many reps he’ll get – if any – is to be seen.

2 – Did Curtis Painter get a haircut? – Painter was 5-of-11 for 55 yards as he battles David Carr and Ryan Nassib for roster spots at QB.  Painer looks like he’s the longshot, but Colts fans will remember how capable Painter appeared during preseason games after Peyton Manning finished his work.  I have a theory that people who spend a lot of time worrying about their hair spend less time worrying about what’s important.  A haircut for Painter might indicate that he’s worrying about the important things in life – like perpetuating his employment.  I root for Painter because he and I were both celebrity waiters at a Gary Brackett event a couple of years ago and he was a great guy.  (My status as a celebrity for this event is one of the great mysteries of our time.  I tried to make up for my lack of fame by busting my ass for the table to which I was assigned.  I was every bit the waiter as I was a celebrity.)

1 – An upright and ambulatory Andrew Luck.  There is nothing more essential to the success of the Colts than the health of its quarterback.  The Giants piled up five sacks last week against the Steelers, but four were against John Parker Wilson during the last 10 minutes of the game when he was being protected by five future former NFL training camp invitees.

Line – Game is a pick ’em after opening at Giants -4.  Betting NFL preseason is ridiculous, and all who wager on this game deserve what they get.

Cubs Shortstop Starlin Castro Booted from Game by Dale Sveum After After Brain Fart

by Kent Sterling

Cubs manager tells Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro that his day is over after he slow played a pop-up into a run for the Cardinals

Cubs manager tells Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro that his day is over after he slow played a pop-up into a run for the Cardinals

Not sure who should be blamed for the continued defensive idiocy of Cubs shortstop Starlin Castro, but it’s not manager Dale Sveum.

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In today’s game against the St. Louis Cardinals, the Cardinals loaded the bases with one in the top of the fifth in a 1-0 game.  Matt Carpenter hit a pop up to shallow left.  Left fielder Junior Lake had the play in front of him, but Castro called him off, and made the catch.  The third base umpire made the infield fly rule call shortly before the ball fell into Castro’s mitt.

Jon Jay, the runner on third, did what has won the Redbirds so many games over the years.  He never allowed the expected result determine his action.  Jay tagged up, took a couple of steps toward home, and broke as Castro took a couple of steps without looking toward the infield.  He slid home ahead of the tag, and the Cardinals led 2-0.  When the Cardinals made the third out of the half inning, Sveum told Castro to get dressed.

The Cubs have $48 million tied up in their addlepated shortstop through 2019 with a $1 million buyout (or $16 million in salary) for 2020, when Castro will be 30, so the kid gloves are off.

As a 21-year-old in 2011, Castro totaled 207 hits, and appeared to be ticketed for greatness.  That his mind wandered more than occasionally in the field was at least partly attributed by many to his youth, but those lapses have never stopped – or even slowed.

ESPN’s Bobby Valentine pointed out Castro pays more attention to the crowd and sky to live pitches, and there were some who thought that negative attention might help.  That was two years ago, and the silliness continues.

It’s one thing for a little leaguer to forget to get in an athletic defensive stance before each pitch, but you would think a major league shortstop to whom a team has committed a minimum of $54 million would be able to stay attentive throughout a ballgame.

Castro has led shortstops in errors the last three seasons after finishing his rookie campaign in second place after being called up on May 7.

You can blame Jim Hendry for bringing Castro up before he learned the game properly, Hendry for putting together a farm system that did a poor job of preparing youngsters mentally for the rigors of a major league season, or current team president Theo Epstein for being a little too clever for the room in signing a cork-noodled shortstop to a massive extension years before it was necessary.

Maybe you blame both for all three reasons, but the person most responsible for Castro’s misbehavior is Castro, and he has shown no sign at all of wising up.

Conversely, the Cardinals seem to find a way to steal a few runs every week, and while they are virtually bereft of meaningful power, they lead the National League in runs scored.  That’s called the Cardinal way, and the difference between the Cardinal Way and the Cub Way accounts for the 16 games that separated the two teams going into the game today.

Sveum practiced some tough love today, and whether Castro responds positively is up to him.  With no evidence to suggest learning is possible for Castro, the only logical conclusion is that the Cubs will be hamstrung by yet another ill-conceived longterm deal for a player who is likely to do more to keep them from winning than helping them.

When players are called up to the Cardinals, they are ready to contribute on day one.  That reflects the way general manager John Mozeliak drafts and signs, as well as how the minor league instructors develop young players.  Castro is in the middle of his fourth major league season, and he’s still incapable of being a consistent positive presence.

It’s not pitching, hitting, team speed, or glove dexterity that separates the Cardinals and the Cubs; it’s culture, and right now Castro’s behavior defines who and what the Chicago Cubs are.

A-Rod – or A-Rat – Should Watch “Goodfellas” as a Primer for Behavior

 by Kent Sterling

Jimmy Conway taught Henry Hill a lesson that ultimately didn't take. Alex Rodriguez would do well to take it to heart.

Jimmy Conway taught Henry Hill a lesson that ultimately didn’t take. Alex Rodriguez would do well to take it to heart.

“Never rat on your friends, and always keep your mouth shut.”  Jimmy Conway

It’s hard to take seriously the relentless denials from Alex Rodriguez.  If you believe Rodriguez, he not only hasn’t juiced since 2003, he’s never taken a strike, pissed in the woods, or made an illegal u-turn.  The latest denial is that a person from his inner-circle never outed Ryan Braun or Yankees teammate Francisco Cervelli for PED use, as has been reported by 60 Minutes.

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There is nothing lower than a rat.  Tattling on others recalls the stooges who implicated supposed communists during the Army-McCarthy hearings in the early 1950s.  Senator Joe McCarthy used the fear surrounding the Cold War to fuel his popularity by accusing Hollywood celebrities and others of being communists.  Those who named names were given a pass, and those who didn’t were blacklisted.

Actors, writers, and directors lost their careers because stool pigeons outed people who attended meetings of communists out of curiosity, passion for the philosophy, or the opportunity to meet girls.  It was a shameful period in American history, and people associated with ARod, assuming the reporting by CBS is accurate is an incredible sad moment for baseball, sports, and society.

Any doubt that ARod lives his life only to please himself will be removed should the CBS report be proven true.  It’s one thing to cheat your way to $300+ million in earnings.  It’s another to give up the names of others in an attempt to save your own ass.

My high school principal called not squealing “the code of the criminal.”  He said it to me immediately after I refused to name names in a kooky little investigation into some well-intentioned hijynx gone awry.  I took it as the highest praise I could receive despite the circumstance of the delivery.

When you break rules or laws, you should be prepared to take your medicine should the deal go south.  Telling an authority figure who has the authority to waive any consequence to get bent isn’t an easy thing.  It requires brass balls and a willingness to take the brunt of that authority’s anger or disappointment.  If being a stand up guy was easy, there would be more of them.

The survival instinct in times of woe is strong, and ignoring it requires the kind of intestinal fortitude few have.  I would have expected as much from Rodriguez, as he has always appeared to have the weasel gene in bulk.

A man whose physical strength has come in a bottle or syringe should be expected to show weakness elsewhere in his life, and Rodriguez certainly does.  Not once has he shown any contrition or appeared willing to accept responsibility for his cheating of the game, his teammates, and his opponents by doping.

Deducing why Rodriguez has been so repelled by the notion of honorable behavior isn’t rocket science.  The rewards for his deceit are scheduled to total $476,416,252, if his eligibility is uninterrupted and he reaches all bonus levels.  If loyalty can be bought, certainly deviousness can be too.

Character is revealed during times of strife, and because of how he’s handled the challenge of being caught I think we understand exactly the kind of human being we are dealing with in Rodriguez.

At long last, Alex Rodriguez, have you no sense of decency?

Ahead of the Curve with Sterling & JJ Ready to Roll at 11a

by Kent Sterling

UnknownAs usual, I can’t wait for the best two hours of my week, and what a group of people we have scheduled to join us.

George Hill and Frank Vogel from the Pacers, Jerrell Freeman and Pat McAfee from the Colts, Ball State head football coach Pete Dembo, and the great Rick Venturi to preview the game between the Colts and Giants tomorrow night.

Chris hagan will be flying to New York for the Colts game, so the talented and articulate Jeremiah Johnson from Fox 59 will join me.

It will be lively, fun, and perhaps even provocative.

All the sound will be posted following the show right here, so if you miss the show on 1070 the Fan, you can grab the interviews right here.

 

Charlie Manuel Fired – Ryne Sandberg Named Phillies Interim Manager; Amaro Resets Expectations to Cubs Level

by Kent Sterling

Looks like Ruben Amaro Jr. has been studying the Cubs playbook for filling limited expectations.

Looks like Ruben Amaro Jr. has been studying the Cubs playbook for filling limited expectations.

General managers rarely fire themselves, even when it’s the most obvious answer for the failings of a major league baseball team.  Ruben Amaro Jr. didn’t disappoint in that regard today when he punted longtime Philles manager Charlie Manuel.

Manuel was smart enough to lead the Phillies to five straight National League East titles from 2007-2011, but someone evidently will be better at leading a less talented team to fewer wins.  That’s the kind of circuitous logic that GMs like Amaro spout at meetings around long tables surrounded by yes man in expensive suits.

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“Charlie is a great manager.  We all love Charlie.  But his temperament is not conducive to developing the young core of talent that will serve as the nucleus of the Philadelphia Phillies as we rebuild.  We need a person more tolerant of miscues, mistakes, and missteps.  I propose we ante up Ryne Sandberg to the alter of the God of perpetual defeat!”

“Sounds good, Ruben.  Three cheers for Ruben!  Huzzah!  Huzzah!  Huzzah!”

That’s how a manager as good as Manuel gets the ax less than two years after losing one of the best games in postseason history to the St. Louis Cardinals.  Had Rafael Furcal not tripled to start the game, we might be talking about the Phillies as 2011 World Champions instead of the Cardinals.

So the guy who assembled a team that failed gets to come to work again tomorrow, and the guy who had to play the cards dealt to him takes a career dirt nap.

That makes as much sense as the Chicago Cubs passing on Ryne Sandberg prior to the 2011 season in favor of Mike Quade.  Cubs fans were either outraged because Samdberg earned his shot by winning at every level in the Cubs farm system, or were thrilled because their hero wasn’t appointed to the position as the guy who would guide the Cubs to the bottom of a very deep cavern.

That’s the logic that keeps the Cubs in their rightful position as professional sports’ laughing stock.  Hire the less qualified guy because it’s not fair to the more qualified guy to be sentence to fulfilling the responsibilities of the position.  Hello, cellar!

The Phillies will get the best Sandberg has because that’s who he is, just as they got the best of a very good manager in Manuel.

I wonder if the Philadelphia media will buy into this protracted process with the same enthusiasm the Chicago media has.

Maybe Amaro is a hell of a lot smarter than he is given credit for.

As the Cubs brain trust of Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer have longterm contracts that pay them handsomely.  Because Cubs Owner Tom Ricketts and the media have bought into this lunacy of a five or six year rebuilding plan, expectations for the team are to win 70 wins for the next three years (they have already completed the first and most of a second).

There is no better way to assure job security than to lower expectations to the point where not reaching them is impossible.  Amaro may have taken a page out of the Theo/Jed handbook, and firing the prickly-when-losing and honest-to-a-fault Manuel is a way to control the message of “70 wins in 2014, 2015, and 2016 will pave the way for a generation of excellence.”

That should keep the paychecks coming for Amaro for years.

The only flaw in the system is that if it’s adopted by everyone, somebody is going to have to succeed, as it’s mathematically impossible for all 30 MLB teams to go 70-92.  And then the jig is up.  Winning builds hope, and GMs lose their jobs at the intersection of hopes shattered and expectations unfulfilled.

Texas A&M Chancellor Says Johnny Manziel Should be Able to Cash in on Fame

by Kent Sterling

John Sharp did something few in his position ever do - he showed leadership and backed a student's play in the face of blathering scores of well-dressed lemmings.

John Sharp did something few in his position ever do – he showed leadership and backed a student’s play in the face of blathering scores of well-dressed lemmings.

John Sharp is the chancellor of Texas A&M University, and he is now my favorite bureaucrat of all time.

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Normally, university administrators like Sharp toe the NCAA company line and tend to say the right things – unless we’re dealing with former Ohio State President Gordon Gee, who’s a whole different kind of fellow.

Not Sharp.  Earlier today, he defended Aggie quarterback Johnny Manziel’s right to monetize his fame, and even went so far as to cite the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and said what seems to be obvious to almost everyone but the NCAA, “Sooner or later some court is going to say that ain’t right.”

Yep.

Everyone else on the planet can accept a sack of cash for sitting at a table and signing his or her name to a bunch of photos or balls, but not collegiate athletes.  Oh no, that would cause problems like the players making a buck that the school could have.

So seldom does an administrator defend a kid who runs afoul of the arcane and obstructive NCAA bylaws that this is one of the few stories surrounding Manziel that has actually given reason for hope that logic might prevail without a trip to the U.S Supreme Court.

Manziel hardly needs the money, but allowing human beings the opportunity to monetize their own likeness is profoundly righteous, and the NCAA’s defense of a rule restricting it makes them look completely out of step with reason.

Sharp also said, “He is a good kid. He is an honest kid, he has his heart in the right place.  My mother wishes I was as nice a kid as Johnny when I was a sophomore in college,”

I doubt that Manziel saw himself as the pivot point in a debate over the limits to which amateurism can be extended, when (if) he took cash to sign 4,400 items, according to ESPN’s Outside the Lines, but that’s what he has become.

He’s made the leap from troubled 20 year-old college junior (sophomore in eligibility), who suffered the ignominy of having his private life made painfully public by the irresponsible decision of a father who seemed not to know any better to a pied piped of civil disobedience in a dispute he likely understands only viscerally if at all.

That’s okay.  When you can earn some cash while taking the morally correct road, all the better – even when you are unaware of the morality, there should be no point deduction.

College athletics and the way the NCAA and its member institution exploits student-athletes is about to face a radical change.  A kid who likes his beer and Crown and Sprites (two facts I have no business knowing) is leading a tide of change that schools are combating by requiring kids to not sign anything but school endorsed items.

It’s only a matter of time, and hopefully not much time, before other beloved athletes join Manziel in refusing to honor an unjust rule.

Maybe there will be additional chancellors, presidents, and members of boards of trustees join Sharp’s validation of the rights of the kids whose characters they are trusted to shape.

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Roy Williams Owes North Carolinians an Explanation of P.J. Hairston’s Punishment

by Kent Sterling

P.J. Hairston is likely pleased that Roy Williams isn't answering questions about his penally. Once articulated, it can't be adjusted for good behavior.

P.J. Hairston is likely pleased that Roy Williams isn’t answering questions about his penally. Once articulated, it can’t be adjusted for good behavior.

Teens go to college to learn about math, science, and the arts, but the true value of higher education is usually tied to the life lessons they extract from the rewards of the good choices and the consequences of the bad.

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P.J. Hairston made some strange decisions over the summer, and the lesson he’s learned is that if you are the best player for a team coached by a guy who earns more than $2 million per year for winning games, the coach isn’t enthusiastic about meting out penance.  Nor does he evidently enjoy questions about it.

While Hairston is suspended indefinitely for his series of missteps – misdemeanor marijuana charges and driving without a license in June – charges were dropped after he completed a drug assessment program (a gun was also found outside the vehicle but was not tied to Hairston).  The car was a loaner from Fats Thomas, a man who has been tied to cars driven by Hairston before during a traffic stop.

Hairston was then charged with speeding and careless and reckless driving in late July on his way to Charlotte July 28th.  He was going 93 in a 65 mph zone in a 2008 Acura that apparently had not been rented by Fats.

Williams responded to questions about Hairston at a charity golf event yesterday by telling the Raleigh News & Observer, “Not talking about P.J.  I’ve read about it all damn summer, I’m tired of reading about, tired of talking about it. If you want to talk about anything else, I’ll talk about anything.”

When a coach doesn’t want to talk about something, it usually means that he knows he’s going to be hammered for what the answer would be.  In this case, it’s the indefinite suspension that might keep Hairston from playing meaningful games, and then again might not.  A responsible media doesn’t let a state employee get away with vague answers to specific answers – nor should they.

College is a wonderful incubator for developing adults in an environment where mistakes aren’t penalized as harshly as in real life, but Hairston’s complete lack of ability to understand that actions have consequences puts Williams in a spot where continued irresponsibility by Hairston will be owned by Williams.

After the first mistake, the rest are owned by the coach.  Given the relentless media reports of academic fraud emanating from Chapel Hill, it’s logical to think that Williams might flex his muscles to show that he’s not running some renegade program.

The NCAA is investigating the Fats/Hairston connection to see if the convicted felon is supplying impermissible benefits to Hairston.  Interestingly, Fats was also connected to the Duke Rape Case as a bouncer of the club from which the strippers were hired.

It’s easy to understand the logic of selected morality for star players, and a coach’s willingness to see the good in a kid who chooses poorly now and again, but a man in charge of the most visible part of a taxpayer subsidized university owes those investors a specific explanation of the penalty assessed to a kid whose behavior reflects poorly on the institution.

Baseball Is Wrong for Considering Replay for All Calls

by Kent Sterling

imagesEvery call on the field may be reviewed if a proposal submitted to Commissioner Bud Selig by Major League Baseball Executive Vice President Joe Torre is approved.

What a nightmare.  I’ll pack a pillow next time I attend a game.  That’s exactly what baseball needs is another reason to slow the action even further.

Baseball – and any event for which tickets are sold – must be about the satisfaction of those who buy tickets, and for more than 100 years baseball was a very popular game without the introduction of insidious replay to determine the accuracy of home run calls.

Now, if Torre gets his way, every call but balls and strikes will be subject to review.

And that is ridiculous.  Getting calls right is of urgent importance to whom?  Players, managers, and gamblers?

Perspective is needed when discussing reasons to slow down play, and that’s not a problem that only baseball owns.  NFL games are delayed again and again for minutes on end as referees review calls.

They trot as far as 80 yards and back on their way to the monitor, which inexplicably is stationed on the 20 yard line, and the referee watches the replay himself while the video is played over the Jumbotron for the fans, and the booth officials have already seen the play a half dozen times.

You couldn’t design a more complicated and time-consuming protocol for review that didn’t include running to a concession stand for a cup of coffee.

Both the NBA and college basketball games end amid a bizarre and entirely unnecessary ritual of reviews to check the clock and correct possession calls.

Baseball wants to head down the same slippery slope of either allowing managers to challenge calls, or routinely take a look at all calls throughout a game and correct those that the umpires blow.

The world will go on either way, it will just go on more slowly if this wrongheaded proposal is adopted.

At some point in our society, we decided that everything must be done correctly every single time regardless of the meaninglessness of the outcome.  Parents, instead of applauding a score of 97 on a math test, demand to know why their kid missed a lone problem.  Cities spend tens of thousands of dollars to install cameras at intersections so that people who (GASP!) don’t come to a complete stop before making a right turn on red are issued violations.

There is not art to correct.  There is no elegance in perfection.  And there is no debate in absolutes.

Sports are all about those things, and when we decide that the exactitude of officiating is more important than the enjoyment of watching the game, the pigs are in the tunnel.

Spectator sports are doomed if the motivation for the continued expansion and intrusion of replay continues.  Americans will have perfectly officiated contests that will be played in empty stadia.

Correcting problems that don’t exist seems to be a fascination in American life these days.  Think back to every sporting event you have ever watched.  Did you wake up the following morning in a different way or place because of a good or bad call?  Sports are supposed to be a diversion for the mundane need for perfection in our workplaces – not an extension of them.

Go to the game, relax, drink a beer, and don’t worry so damn much about whether the well-meaning guys officiating the contest are any more perfect in their jobs than the players are.

Some problems are meant to be corrected, and others actually enhance the enjoyment of the effort.

Men covering each base doing their best to accurately get the call right, and move the game forward is good enough for me.

Mark Minner Named Radio Voice of Butler Bulldogs Hoops

by Kent Sterling

Minner-Announcement_re-articleWork ethic + dedication x timing (squared) = a great play-by-play job one year after graduating from college.

Mark Minner has worked hard in secondary roles broadcasting Butler and other sports events, and stands at the crossroads of good fortune and opportunity as he has earned the gig as a play-by-play voice in the Big East.  He’s a member of the Butler Class of 2012, and as anyone with a passing knowledge of Butler knows, outsiders need not apply.

That narrowed the herd of applicants, but there is absolutely nothing at all wrong with hiring a youngster to describe college games.  In fact, I love hiring some youth into what is mostly a good old boys club of broadcasters.  Big time jobs rarely open, and when they do, a line of 58 year-olds forms around the arena.  Nothing wrong with 58 year-olds, but media needs some young blood.

Minner will follow Brandon Gaudin, the new Georgia Tech football and men’s basketball play-by-play voice.

“Mark has been a key piece of our Athletic Department since he enrolled at Butler five years ago,” said Associate Athletic Director Mike Freeman.  “He has great talent as a broadcaster and is an incredibly driven person. Teaming Mark with color analyst Nick Gardner will keep our broadcasts at a passionate and professional level that our fans are used to.”

Indianapolis Colts Owner Tweets Non-Dynamic Pricing Strategy for Colts Tickets

by Kent Sterling

UnknownAhh, Twitter.  What would we write about in August without Indianapolis Colts Owner Jim Irsay explaining the inner workings of his team – from the dressing down his “commanders” received following the 24-point loss to the Buffalo Bills, and today’s effort to justify the pricing strategy for tickets, parking, and concessions.

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To be fair, in the tweets below (presented in the order they were posted from top to bottom), Irsay made no mention of parking or concessions, but I think the same principle applies.

I had no problem with the ticket pricing structure until I read these tweets.  The logic that season ticket prices are a lump sum item without regard to the individual value of the games is unassailable, but the admission from an NFL owner that some games are worth more than others was a first.

When the guy to whom you hand a check feels compelled to explain why you shouldn’t feel like you are being cheated, you need to check your pockets.

There is nothing like an admission that preseason games – and some regular season games – are worth less than the price printed on the ticket to enrage and enflame a minority who have nothing better to whine about than being disappointed by exactly the same kind of ten snaps an shut it down performance Colts fans have paid to watch for 30 preseasons.

I’ll try to explain the pricing structure for all NFL fans why preseason tickets coast the same as regular season tickets:

Because you will pay it.

People so often make the mistake of equating the cost of an item with the value of that item.  $300 sunglasses cost $32 to make.  The reason they cost $300?  Because you will pay it.

If no one bought expensive sunglasses, they would suddenly become moderately priced sunglasses.  Tickets work the same way.  The value of NFL season tickets is entirely due to the what the market will bear.

Irsay doesn’t sit atop a throne on West 56th Street and ordain the prices.  He and his management team, or commanders if you want to stick with Irsay’s vernacular, sit and discuss where the demand for tickets is strongest and weakest, and make adjustments to the previous year’s pricing model, and you write your check.

So, who is to blame for the prices being what they are?  Every person who goes into his or her pocket to buy tickets.

If you don’t see any value in attending those games, don’t go.  And don’t give the tickets to friends.  Eat the tickets.  The resulting lack of concessions and parking cash will cause an examination of the empty seats, and an adjustment will be made.

Going to the games and whining because the result was exactly as you would expect is just as nutty as Irsay’s explanation of the preseason ticket pricing.

If you pay $100 per ticket per game, you pay $1,000 for your season ticket.  If it would make you feel better to pay $120 per regular season game, and $20 for each preseason game, go ahead and look at it that way.  The check you send the Colts will be $1,000 regardless, but if it stops the incessant carping and the even more baffling explanations, I would prefer that.

Or, if Irsay would enjoy pursuing a dynamic pricing strategy based purely on supply and demand for each and every game, the heads of Colts fans will explode in unison the first time they try to figure it out.

Or, just view your season ticket bill as a Colts Tax assessment.

Whatever the hell justification you use to justify the expense of paying a lot of cash to watch the Colts, go right ahead.  Just shut up.

This annual debate is turning into the latest version of the daylight saving time debate. The only difference is that Mitch Daniels never took to Twitter to explain the rationale for joining the rest of the country (minus Arizona and Hawaii) in the semi-annual ritual.  He just handled it.