Messi

I mentioned to my boss who coaches youth soccer that while I was enjoying the World Cup it still bugged me that I had a hard time appreciating the great players because I didn't understand and couldn't easily identify what made them great.  He forwarded me this article on Lionel Messi.  You should appreciate it because it dives into the numbers like we would expect to do with baseball or basketball players.  Maybe a little too deep.  But this would arm you with the information to tell someone why Messi is the best, and by a wide margin.

The highlights of this article are these:  1) Messi shoots more efficiently from outside the penalty area than most players shoot from inside it,  2) Messi leads the world in both "weak" kick goals and long-range goals, 3) Messi scores on unassisted plays as well as the world's other top players score on assisted plays, 4) Messi leads the world in both taking on defenders and in dishing the ball to others.  All by wide margins.

http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/lionel-messi-is-impossible/

I think part of our problem is appreciating small athletes.  Lebron James is 6-8 270, Peyton Manning is 6-5 230, Mike Trout is 6-2 230, Lionel Messi is 5-7 150.  Can we appreciate an athlete who dominates the world's most popular sport and is 5-7?  Messi has won world player of the year 4 times.  He has starred for 3 Champions League winners, 6 La Liga Spanish League winners, and 2 Club World Cup winners.  But can we rank him with the world's greatest athletes?  The majority of sports fans in America never will, we love measurables too much.

S

Anatomy of a Baseball Train Wreck

How does your team that you think can contend for a division championship find themselves with the worst record in baseball after two thirds of a season?  The Rangers will field their 52nd player of the season tonight, by far the most players used in baseball in 2014.  This is why Jon Daniels and Ron Washington will get a pass.  Here's what it looked like in spring training:

1B - Prince Fielder
2B - Jurickson Profar
SS - Elvis Andrus
3B - Adrian Beltre
C  - Geovany Soto
LF - Shin Soo Choo
CF - Leonys Martin
RF - Alex Rios
DH - Mitch Moreland
SP - Yu Darvish
SP - Matt Harrison
SP - Derek Holland
SP - Martin Perez
SP - Colby Lewis
Setup - Tanner Sheppers
Setup - Robbie Ross
Setup - Neftali Feliz
Closer - Jokim Soria

Instead we lost all of these for all or most of the season: Fielder, Profar, Soto, Moreland, Harrison, Holland, Perez, Sheppers, and Ross.  In addition Feliz went to AAA and Choo decided to have by far his worst season as a pro.  We lost starters 2 through 4 and all 3 setup men, the whole right side of the infield, our only experienced catcher, and our DH.

Since most of the high level prospects were traded the last 4 years during failed playoff runs, there was little to fall back on.  I don't think I've ever watched a team have this kind of luck.  The good news is that Fielder, Profar, Soto, Moreland, Holland, Perez, Sheppers, Ross, and Feliz should be back, and there are some good prospects 1-2 years away.  The little 20-year old 2nd baseman Odor looks like a real player.

There is hope, but the lost season of 2014 goes on and on, and on and on.........

S

Local Kid Feel Good Story

Back in 2004 I was following a local kid pitching at Allen High and making the Youth Team USA roster, pitching in international competitions against kids from Cuba, etc.  He was all-state as a sophomore and junior and headed for a good draft spot.  At the beginning of his senior year he blew out his elbow and underwent Tommy John surgery.  I remember the sick feeling I had when I heard about it.  Then I lost track of Shawn Tolleson.

It turns out that he had an offer from Baylor, which they honored.  He recovered from the surgery, pitched 3 years for Baylor, got drafted in a low round by the Dodgers, and made his way through their system, making the majors in 2012.  In 2013, his back went bad and more surgery followed.  The Dodgers waived him, and this spring he got a call from the Rangers.  Shawn Tolleson is now pitching on an almost nightly basis in the bigs, carrying some pretty solid numbers, throwing 93-94 for the worst team in the AL, living with his wife in Allen.  It all seemed highly unlikely back in 2004.  Pretty cool.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/t/tollesh01.shtml

S

Attention for the Eagles

Lots of attention on the Allen Eagle football program as we approach the season.  Yesterday Tom Westerberg was named national coach of the year by the National High School Coaches Association:

http://highschoolsportsblog.dallasnews.com/2014/07/allens-tom-westerberg-named-football-coach-of-the-year-by-the-national-high-school-coaches-association.html/

Here is the cover of the regional Athlon High School Football Preview magazine:

S

Simmons on Dirk

I keep explaining why I love Bill Simmons and why you should buy his book.  Here is a recent article from his Grantland site, on Dirk Nowitski.  This is typical Simmons, telling you his belief and backing it up:

Dirk is one of the 20 best basketball players of all time by any calculation. He’s the best foreign player ever not named Hakeem. Of the 10 best forwards ever, he’s behind Bird, LeBron and Duncan, right there with Doc, Elgin and Pettit, and ahead of Malone, Barkley and Rick Barry. He won an MVP and a Finals MVP. He made four first-team All-NBA’s and five second-team All-NBA’s. He won 50-plus games for 11 straight years, topped 60 wins three times, made two Finals, beat LeBron and Wade in the Finals, and won a Game 7 in San Antonio during Duncan’s prime.

And it’s not like he had a ton of help. In 15 years, he played with only four All-Stars: Jason Kidd (2010), Josh Howard (2007), Steve Nash (2002 and 2003) and Michael Finley (2000 and 2001). Amazing but true: Dirk never played with a Hall of Famer in that Hall of Famer’s prime.

During Dirk’s decade-long peak (2002 through 2011), he averaged 24.5 points and 8.8 rebounds and came damned close to creating the 10-Year 50-40-90 Club (48% FG, 39% 3FG, 89% FT). His career PER (23.48) ranks 19th all time, just behind Doc (23.58) and Bird (23.5) and just ahead of Kobe (23.36). And he was an absolutely phenomenal playoff performer: 25.6 PPG (12th all time), 24.2 PER (12th), 22.6 win shares (16th), stellar 46-37-89% splits in 135 games, and a couple of epic multigame hot streaks in 2006 and 2011. Along with Pettit, Hakeem and Elgin, he’s one of four players in the shot-clock era who averaged 25 and 10 in the playoffs. And he’s an underrated leader, a famously fantastic locker-room guy, an insanely hard worker and someone who, by all accounts, everyone loved playing with at every point of his career.

S (buy his book!)

Dirk & Melo

NBA free agency this year was certainly entertaining, with a large group of the best players up for auction, including number 1 himself.  The best polar opposite situation was Dirk's with the Mavs and Carmelo's with the Knicks.  Despite earning well over $100 million over the last 11 years, Carmelo went for the largest guaranteed cash, and will go back to a Knicks roster with practically no talent.  Even Phil Jackson was caught in the PR squeeze, having to pay $22 million per year to a player who is a volume shooter, has little all-around game, and obviously doesn't care about championships.  The basketball move for him would have been Chicago where he could have a decent chance of cementing his legacy as a winner playing for a strong coach and very sound roster.  But he apparently can't make it on $18 million per year.

Meanwhile, Dirk, like the stars down the road in San Antonio, took a large discount so he could be surrounded by better players and have some shot at another long playoff run.  This team isn't a championship contender, but it's good enough to keep the fans interested and might make some noise.  He and Duncan, along with Parker and Ginobili, are rare birds indeed, loving the game, loving their coach and teammates, and their city, willing to "make do" with $10 or $12 million a year, and chase championships.  Melo had his chance to be taken seriously, and he whiffed.  He will keep piling up points and losses, while the example of the Spurs and Dirk is utterly lost on him.

S

Kyler Murray - Elite 11 Update

Kyler Murray participated with 19 QB's last week in the "Elite 11" competition in Oregon.  From what I read he started slowly and moved up throughout the week, ultimately finishing as the 4th ranked QB among the group.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2127174-elite-11-2014-ranking-the-top-5-qbs-following-star-studded-competition/page/3

S

Futbol Thoughts

After watching some soccer over the past few weeks I've got a few thoughts:

PROS:

• My favorite thing about the games are the pace.  What I mean is that we don't suffer the maddening play stoppages seen in other sports.  You are in an out in less than 2 hours with minimal breaks.  It keeps the tension and interest high.
• I like how the drama builds as you go through the match, knowing how hard it is to score.  Combined with the lack of stoppages you find yourself really drawn in.
• It's a skill sport where the fastest and most agile clearly have the edge.  You can easily identify the great players, and they consistently produce.  I appreciate the athletic/skill level and we know that most of the best athletes in Europe and South America play the sport.

CONS:

• The officiating is awful and because of the low scores referees frequently have too much hand in determining the winner.  Too many missed or blown calls and way too much flopping.
• Too many times teams score and sit on leads, making much of the game unwatchable as they drop back into "prevent" mode.
• It's still too much of a frustration sport where you might get 8 shots on goal in 90 minutes and come up empty most of the time.  I think they need to lighten up on the offsides rule and let everyone run free.  But that would be too radical I guess.

All in all, I can appreciate and enjoy the World Cup, but I certainly don't see myself ever watching run of the mill league matches.

S