Ballpark's Biggest Problem

America’s national pastime is in serious trouble.

Long gone are the summer days of 1949 where the playoff push engulfs a nation as two steroid free hall of fame players race for the Triple Crown and a pennant. In the heyday of baseball this stretch built up legends, birthed contenders, and crushed the dreams of fans across the country.

Nowadays the most intense push in baseball’s season is overshadowed by easygoing NFL players running around in shoulder pads and shorts.

By the end of August the boys of summer will be dwarfed by boys who were off from school for the summer. And by September the masses will have largely forgotten baseball even existed.

Setting aside the exponential growth of football for a moment, baseball has its own issues that are causing it to be drained of interest. While the Biogenesis scandal looms over baseball like the Mr. Stay Puft man loomed over New York, baseball faces other problems that could destroy it in time.

We’ll get to those in a moment, for now we must start with the bane of baseball’s existence.

The Biogenesis Scandal.

Just in case you’ve spent the summer spelunking and have just come back to civilization here is a short rundown of Biogenesis.

• About 20-25 players have been linked to the owner of a Miami clinic named Anthony Bosch.
• This clinic owner provided performance enhancing drugs to these players and agreed to turn everything he had over to MLB.
• MLB agreed to pay for Bosch’s legal bills and provide personal security in exchange for information about the players in question. (For the record MLB is getting a free pass from just about everyone on collusion for the greater good of nailing these guys. No sympathy for the users here, just stating a fact.)
• The biggest names on the list are as follows: Alex Rodriguez, Ryan Braun, Bartolo Colon, Nelson Cruz, and Jhonny Peralta.
• Nobody on this list has tested positive for PED’s this year to date.
• Ryan Braun has taken a deal from MLB and has been suspended for the rest of this season.
• Decisions on at least nine others are expected by next week at the latest.

Even after all of the tough talk in regards to cleaning up the game baseball has to get into bed with a questionable Miami clinic owner to try and stamp out this new steroid group.

Baseball will try to bring down the hammer of Thor on these players to discourage future PED use. The upcoming suspensions will lessen the quality of this pennant race (by getting rid of Oakland’s best pitcher and solid offensive cogs for the Rangers and Tigers) for the sake of improving the game in the long haul.

Ultimately that’s a worthy trade off in principle, yet this purge will not have the desired affect.

Dragging the old steroid guys before congress back in 2006 and watching them lie on national television made everyone who hit more than 30 home runs in a year a potential target of roid speculation.

Chris Davis will forever have to answer questions as to how a guy whose career high in homers (33) was topped before the all-star break.

Baseball can purge whoever they want and it is ultimately a good thing that players want the game to be clean. But their lying predecessors have cast omnipresent speculation over the players of today and tomorrow.

The upcoming Biogenesis purge is a public relations farce and baseball isn’t even close to cleaning up the game. 

Out of Touch Off the Field

On paper there is nothing offensive about what Tom Brady told Sports illustrated writer Peter King. There was no condoning of Hernandez’s actions, no hat bearing the words ‘Free Hernandez’ on his head, and no mention of Hernandez at all.

In the public relations world Brady’s quote was perfect. In reality Tom Brady’s quote was unacceptable.

For this first time since Aaron Hernandez was charged with the murder of Odin Lloyd, the face of the Patriots franchise had something to say on the matter. What he said was nothing offensive, though he feigned ignorance to the issue entirely.

The exact context of Brady’s comments looked like this. SI writer Peter King asked Brady “what’s you reaction to Aaron Hernandez’ being arrested and cut from the team, and how will his absence affect your offense?”

Brady answered: “I've seen a lot of things over 13 years, and what I have learned is that mental toughness and putting aside personal agendas for what's in the best interest of the team matters most. My job is to play quarterback, and I'm going to do that the best way I know how, because I owe that to my teammates regardless of who is out there on the field with me."

Yes Tom, one of your premier targets will not be on the field with you next season, but you barely answered the second half of the question.

It is common knowledge that the former Patriots tight end has been charged with murder, yet Brady didn’t give his take on the issue of a former teammate sitting in jail. This quote embodies the mindset of Brady and Coach Bill Belichick perfectly.

If it’s not about football it doesn’t matter.

Except Odin Lloyd is dead and a former teammate, and a former productive teammate, is the one going to trail for allegedly ending his life; that matters.

More importantly that deserves more than a passive dismissal from the face of the New England Patriots current icon.

Nobody is arguing with the Patriots track record of success. The Belichick Brady tandem has won 136 football games over more than a decade. Brady has the fifth most touchdown passes in NFL history.

We get that you guys are successful, but that doesn’t give either of them a free pass to just ignore problems that exist outside of their jobs.

Brady and Belichick have brought three Superbowl trophies to New England by making football the first, second, and third most important things in their lives.

While this mindset is great for winning games it is putrid when it comes to dealing with the outside world. And the Aaron Hernandez situation is the outside worlds crashing down on the ideal non-existent off the field issues for the Patriots strive for every year.

Even while the Patriots mindset is football first, there has to be a higher demand from the reporters asking him questions. Whether these journalists have to burn some bridges to get the honest answer everyone wants, in this instance it needs to be done.

Otherwise the Patriots will continue to focus on football and shut out the outside world. Much to the chagrin of Odin Lloyd and his family.

The Anti-Athlete Role Model Argument

Some early morning channel surfing lead this writer to the channel in which Skip and Stephen A. were discussing Colin Kaepernick’s recent clothing “controversy.”

The former Daily News sports writer took the stance that because Kaepernick is in an elevated position in society, he has to be far more image cautious than the average citizen because of how impressionable members of the younger generation are.

While the point was well defended, the idea of professional athletes being role models for kids is ludicrous.

To plagiarize the late Mahatma Gandhi, we have to be the change we want to see in the world; and placing all athletes on the increasingly fragile pedestal of high moral values is foolish when many of them are not willing or able to embrace that responsibility.

It is easy to blame media sensationalism for why kids act like the questionable people they see on television. Yet an enormous part of sports on every level is sensationalism. The athletic marvels like Blake Griffin jump over cars and Robert Griffin the Third sprinting at an Olympic hurdler pace are huge reasons for why people watch sports.

Combine that with broken households (by societal standards), the current economic mindset, and the increasing prominence of media as a pacifier and kids are hard pressed not to act like who they see on television.

Yet in the midst of these realities one key fact slips through the cracks: kids who are at the age of being impressionable are looking up at the sensational people that we as a society are putting in front of them.

An uncomfortable reality that needs to be addressed in regards to professional athletes as role models is this: society builds athletes up on the foundation of how good they are at their craft rather than the content of their character.

Therefore, if we actually want the people on television to be serviceable roll models for the youth of a nation, it is up to the fans and media alike to make good character of public figures the foundation of public support.

And that is impossible to do in the world of sports because winning cures everything.

While it’s easy to take Tom Brady and his exploits in comparison to Paulie D and his exploits (and believe me that’s a good choice) we have to look at why Brady is viewed as highly as he is.

Because Tom Brady is arguably the best quarterback of all time is the reason why so many impressionable people place him on a moral pedestal that apparently comes with success. The fact that Brady is a big contributor to the national charity Best Buddies is not nearly as prominent as the fact the Patriots quarterback is fifth all time in touchdown passes.

You can be a complete a-hole and still be forgiven by the sports viewing society so long as you win. Michael Vick can mutilate and murder dogs like he did back in 2007 and will be largely tolerated so long as he has a season like he did in 2010.

Ray Lewis can get charged with obstruction of justice during a murder trial, like he did in 2000 and have public perception remain that he killed two people; so long as he wins two Superbowls, is one of the best linebackers of all time, and a reverend in the locker room.

Ben Roethlisberger can allegedly rape a woman like he did back in 2008 (the charges against Roethlisberger were dropped), yet so long as he continues to put up good numbers and keep the Steelers Superbowl contenders he will be forgiven.

Still, Lewis and Roethlisberger are two time Superbowl champions who have reached the apex of success in their sport. No matter what we say about their character, they will be remembered first and foremost as being successful at their craft.

Obviously not all athletes are these heinous villains Vick, Roethlisberger, and Lewis have made them out to be. However, if we as a society really care about the people our kids look up to we will work on directing their attention to individuals of higher moral character; and more importantly making good character the definition of a good role model rather than how successful they are.

The alternative is defaulting to building up athletes and musical artists as saints and tearing them down as they do something stupid because they believe their fans will forgive them if they are successful in their craft.

Yet the saddest thing is in today’s society the athletes are correct to believe their sins will be forgiven if they catch ten touchdowns or make a great album.

There is nothing wrong with wanting people in higher positions to carry themselves better, like Stephen A does with Colin Kaepernick; especially in the image paranoid country we live in today.

However, that does not exonerate society from choosing whom to elevate if in fact the end goal is to have good role models for kids.

This notion leaves us with only two choices. One option is that both media members and fans have to decide that sportsmanship and good character take precedence over winning. The other option is to acknowledge that athletes are not good role models because winning is the most important value in sports; society can’t have the best of both worlds if they actually want better role models for their kids.

The second option is far more appealing if the goal is to be the change we see in others.

Tanking: Boston's Best Move

The thought of a team tanking is understandably egregious for diehard fans. Yet in the case of the Boston Celtics the complete devastation of their roster today with the end goal of building for a better team tomorrow.

In the sports world there is nothing worse than being mediocre and The Celtics find themselves in this precarious position. By trading Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry for Kim Kardashian’s husband and his entourage, Danny Ainge has maneuvered his franchise deeper into mediocrity.

An opportunity to tank next season is staring Danny Ainge right in the eyes. All he has to do is get rid of one of the ten best point guards in the NBA and hope the ping pong balls bounce his way next summer.

The pro-tanking argument goes something like this. As presently constructed, the Celtics lack the star power to contend with the Miami Heat, the defensive prowess to slug it out with the Indiana Pacers, and the team unity to best the Chicago Bulls; so just blow it up, trade Rondo and rebuild a foundation on the ashes of your franchise.

Still while the Celtics will be bad next year, the franchises’ most infamous tanking endeavor still has Celtics fans feeling jilted.

Every basketball fan in the 1997 season knew going into the draft that Tim Duncan was the lock to be the number one overall pick; the Celtics ended up with the second worst record in the NBA that year in hopes of getting Duncan.

As we all know the Celtics didn’t get Duncan, or keep their first draft pick Chauncey Billups. Boston finished with a 36-46 record, finished 12^th in the Eastern Conference, and saw the 1997 season get filed under the ‘post Bird struggles’ paragraph on Wikipedia’s description of the C’s in 1993-1998.

Yet the Celtics tanking attempt faired much better in the new millennium, under Ainge.

The 2007 tank attempt gave Ainge his stripes as a general manager because he helped turn that ugly duckling into a gorgeous swan. The attempt to bomb the 2007 season and land either Greg Oden or Kevin Durant failed. However, the flipping of Jeff Green for Ray Allen helped lead Boston to a title the next year.

Yet the decision on whether or not to go into full blown tank mode depends on moving Rajon Rondo.

The last member of the Umbuntu Celtics is still in town and Rondo is the most alluring trade bait Boston will have for the foreseeable future.

Ainge may not pass on the chance to get rid of Rondo’s 24 million dollar contract in order to maneuver the team into a position to rebuild through the draft seems appealing, the Celtics would have to take the chance of trading their best player essentially for ping pong balls.

Keep in mind that Rondo is coming off of Achilles surgery, so if the Celtics are truly playing for the ping pong balls flipping Rondo for 40 cents on the dollar will enable the creative destruction to take full effect as soon as possible.

If the Celtics are in fact shooting for Andrew Wiggins, Jabari Parker, or Marcus Smart trading Rondo would put them in the best position to get the highest draft pick. And trading Rondo will give the Celtics the first tool to begin the rebuilding process.