Watching the Phillies-Brewers game last night while semi-boycotting the NBA playoffs; Cole Hamels was absolutely dealing. I stand by my prediction that he ends up winning the Cy Young, but Jake Peavy is going to need to actually lose some games for that to happen--or stop K'ing 10 a game. He's been looking dominant as well. Hamels was perfect through six, but walked Rickie Weeks to lead off the seventh and then lobbed a grapefruit for J.J. Hardy who sent his TWELFTH home run--this one a scorching line drive to left field--of the season out to break up the no-no. Weeks had obviously ruined the perfect game. By the way, twelfth is one of those words that if you stare at it for long enough, it just becomes weird. **And even more awkward than that last sentence, it turns out it was Hardy's 13th homer. Couple of quick (maybe) thoughts (after the jump) before I run down the 1/3 season Cy Young contenders (NL today, AL later)...
1. LeBron James should have been the MVP. Think about where the Cavs would be without him. They scored six points against the Nets in the fourth quarter last night. SIX! I bet I could score six points against Jason Kidd in 12 minutes of gametime, just by lobbing up crazy threes and getting lucky on two. He and Big Z were the only two to score more than 10 points on the game, and the formerly resurgent Larry Hughes shot a disgustingly abysmal three of 17. I still don't think the Nets take this series to seven, but it will be interesting to see how LeBron responds (and more importantly, how he gets his teammates to respond) with a little more pressure on them. It was just assumed they'd win in Cleveland and one more win for the Nets makes it awkward.
2. Unbelievable game that I pretended not to watch last night between the Spurs and the Suns. Although I really wish we could do something about these damn things starting at 9pm. Sucks to be EST, I guess. Anyway, Nash and company gave it their all but as Manu said to Sager after the game, it was like the reverse of Game 4, where the Spurs won the first 42 minutes and somehow still lost the game--same thing happened to a technically overmatched Suns team last night, which is a shame. I swing both ways on the Amare and Diaw suspensions--yes they had to be suspended; that's what the rule says. But it sucks that the rule is there and that in a game of this magnitude...well, you've heard plenty of opinions on this. Like Barkley said last night too, be interested to see how Nash and Marion look in Game 6 (tomorrow night) after getting 45+ minutes each last night.
3. Is it just me or are there an obscene number of near no-hitters that have happened thus far in the MLB season? (I would say six plus innings counts as a near no-hitter right?) Bergmann for the Nats against the Braves three nights ago, Huddy at the Nats the next night, Hamels last night, Buehrle already threw one, Maddux had one going til I f'd it up with this post, King Felix did seven innings at Boston, Chuck James went six no hit innings against the Pirates last Saturday, and I'm sure there are more that I'm missing.
4. Do you think that Dr. Feelgood and Mr. Brownstone are friends? Assuming they even know each other? Did they compete for clients? Or just hang out and do H together?
Cy Young Contenders
NL
Jake Peavy - Leading MLB strikeouts with 71, tied for second in MLB ERA with 1.64, tied for third in NL with 5 wins (12 way tie, 2 others have 6 wins). Peavy has tied his own Padres record for strikeouts in a game with 16 at Arizona on April 25...Last night he actually lost a little ground to Hamels as he broke his streak of four straight games with 10 K's or more...Downside? His pitch counts have been pretty high, although I think with Greg Maddux and Bud Black around he should be fine.
Cole Hamels - Second in MLB/First in NL in victories with 6, second in MLB in K's with 70, 26th in ERA at 3.30. Hamels has looked absolutely electric lately, taking a perfect game into the seventh last night against the red hot Brewers, striking out 15 in a complete game win at Cincinnati on April 21st...Downside? Problems with the gopher ball (which leads to his ERA remaining high--rarely gives up no runs) and certainly injury prone, with a degenerative disk in his back.
Tim Hudson - 4th in MLB in ERA at 1.77, tied for 11th in the NL with K's with 43, tied with Peavy at third in wins with 5. Huddy has been completely resurgent this year, having gone less than seven innings only once this year, and having every single one of his starts be of the quality variety...He struck out 12 at Florida on April 25th, a season high...Sporting a very nice 2:1 GB/FB ratio on the season, he's had his splitter looking absolutely filthy to this point. Downside? We remember 2006, but other than that, not much. Hudson's a gamer, and while he's a good number of years removed from winning 20 games (7), he went sub-2 ERA in 2003.
It's a pretty tough call at this point; if the season ended today, Peavy has to get it (and just throw Hudson the COY bone), but I'm going to stick by my preseason prediction that Hamels would win the NL award. Peavy has the track record--won the ERA and K legs of the Triple Crown before--but Hamels was insane in the second half last year, and if he can come close to reproducing that after his big first half, then I think he takes it. Both Peavy and Hamels stink of injury risk with the number of pitches their tossing, and their semi-dependence on the K (Peavy moreso than Hamels), so Huddy could easily "backdoor" this thing. Huddy and Peavy also have the advantage of a much stronger bullpen than Hamels, which can affect the number of W's.
Next time I get some work I don't feel like doing I'll take a break and peer over the A.L. Contenders and talk about the "Blister Sisters".
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Random Thursday Thoughts / NL Cy Young
Monday, May 14, 2007
Jinxing Maddux and Ridiculous Comments in Big D
I figure by the time this gets posted I will have done enough to jinx Greg Maddux's bid for a perfect game/no hitter, one of the check boxes remaining for the lock-job Hall of Famer to accomplish. He's five innings deep right now against the Reds, with only 46 pitches as I started typing this, but I figure with the way technological information gets across the web and TV these days, I'm the last of his worries. You're all but guaranteed a "live look-in!" during the seventh inning, which will inevitably result in an immediate hit against Maddog.
He's actually pitching for the guy that is chasing me in my points-based fantasy league, but I don't really care. As a Braves fan, Maddux has given me enough where I'm willing to take the cave on a win for the other guy if it will guarantee that he gets a no-no. Especially since Maddux once said there's no chance that he'll ever toss one, because he doesn't strike enough guys out. He's been very close though, going into the eighth with Atlanta against Houston before Lance Berkman took him deep way back day and he had one with LA last year before they had to yank him because of a rain delay (OUCH.)
Top of the sixth, Alex Gonzalez tries to make some noise, but Maddux gets a broken bat grounder that sneaks past him--Khalil Green makes the play easily. Annnnnd there it goes. I literally feel like I personally just cost Maddux his no hit bid. Jose Valentin. Are you kidding me?
Back to the basketball then, where Steve Kerr is wondering if "we are literally going to show [Eva Longaria] during every game for the rest of Tony Parker's career?" I mean, uh, yes. Why the hell wouldn't we??
Anyway, I know there was something I wanted to talk about, and that would be the inane comments coming out of the Dallas Cowboys training camp. Terrell Owens has not only said that he learned "Nothing, really" from his only year under Bill Parcells, but he also pointed out that "having a new head coach is good for everybody."
Sure, TO. No doubt. If by "everybody" you mean just you. Or maybe you just mean that ludicrously huge ego of yours that didn't like having someone else, your boss namely, being the center of attention on your team. I mean, look, we all knew it wasn't going to work out with Parcells and TO, right? Didn't we, and by we I mean everyone from Joe Fan up to John Clayton, say this wasn't going to pan out well, way before the season ever started? And am the only one who thinks that TO is happy because his coach has a laid back attitude (read: lacking the testicular fortitude) to actually bust his ass about being a diligent football player? I don't think Wade Phillips is a pushover or anything, but I think he's a helluva lot closer to Mooch than Tuna in terms of how much control he gives his players. Which is great. More freedom in the workplace. No problems here.
Except.
(And there's always an "except".)
When Dallas loses three straight games during the course of the season, or Tony Romo hits some sort of sophomore slump, and TO starts bitching. What then? Is this loose, let it all ride attitude really going to be good for the team then? Of course not.
Not to mention there's a quote from Parcells that came out this past weekend where he says that signing TO wasn't his idea and that he did the best he could with what he had; Owens sarcastically contradicts this, acting like Tuna wanted him there the whole time. Get f'ing real, Terrell.
He does not get real, with this little number: "I could have played better, but I'm not the one to really harp on why I had the season I did," Owens said. "I'm not going to say why I had the drops I had. I knew the reason, but I didn't take the time out to make that an excuse. ... I played through an injury that I didn't really talk about, I didn't care to talk about."
So, I'm confused. Because that makes it seem like you kind of had an injury (the finger) but we all knew about that. So what's the reason that we don't know about that you seem to imply? Parcells' presence? His willingness to go along with Jerry Jones' gamble is the reason you didn't play as hard as you did? Because that's the message I'm getting from the quote. Or maybe I'm misreading it. Like I misread when you popping 30+ painkillers, not implicitly understanding that it was an accident.
What's my point to all of this? Besides the fact that TO sucks? Basically that it's bullshit to see Bill Parcells, one of the greatest coaches of our generation, getting tossed full body under the bus here. On one hand we have a receiver who has played for the Niners, the Eagles and the Cowboys. At every stop, he has either permanently embittered his coach, his quarterback, or both in the cases of Philadelphia and San Francisco. On the other hand, we have a well respected leader and coach, who has appeared in three Super Bowls and won two of them; he has been awarded AP Coach of the Year twice and has produced remarkable turnaround and success at every stop in his career.
Look, I know that TO is great for soundbytes and ratings and whatever, but please, national media, do not feed the animals. Or at least wait until Thanksgiving when Wade Phillips becomes an uptight asshole.
Friday, May 11, 2007
Worst. Halladay. Ever.
Dear Mr. Ricciardi:
I hope this letter finds you well. As can be anyway, given the state of affairs surrounding the shell of a baseball team that you are currently fielding.
You see, sir, don't f*** with me.
Again, that is. You lied to your own freaking fans by acting as if nothing was wrong with B.J. Ryan in the preseason, then following that up by acting like presenting something that isn't false does not qualify as a lie as long as you know the truth. Um, sir, that's not a good line. No one north of the border bought it, and I, for one, was just insulted.
Hence the news that Mr. Halladay will be heading to the disabled list. I suppose you think that appendicitis is just some accidental, fluke type thing that fits in line with what's streaming through your clubhouse right now, right? Well, sir, wrong.
Please stop lying to your fans. And no, I don't care who's protege you are.
Yours Truly,
Karma
P.S. That shit that Vernon Wells pulled was hilarious. Holler at him for me.
How Do You Say "Let Down" In German?
USA Today is reporting that the inevitable, Dirk Nowitzki winning the NBA MVP Award, has come true. Heading into the postseason I was fine with this happening. Now, um, not-so-much. You may or may not have seen the little Boom Dizzle fueled engine that could steam out of Oaktown and plow through Dallas last week, but in case you missed it, the Mavs are donecakes. So how the hell are we supposed to give the MVP to a guy who's team can't even win in the first round as a number one seed? Yes, Golden State was a highly touted eight seed that no one gave enough love to, but then again so were the Nuggets, and Timmy! and crew didn't give them a second thought after that first L.
Isn't this the same argument used against Kobe and LeBron for not winning the award? That their teams didn’t do well enough in the regular season to warrant them being given the Most Valuable Player award? Kobe might be gone, but Bron is looking more and more like he could be taking the Cavs to the Finals this year—despite the pesky presence of a Detroit team that looked close to unstoppable in the second half.
And I’m not jumping on the Bill Simmons’ anti-Dirk bandwagon here. But I’m not knocking it either. I just don’t see why this award has to be given to during the playoffs and based entirely on what is done in the regular season; why can’t the playoffs become an increasingly important aspect of voting for the MVP? If the Cavs somehow make the Finals (yes the East is much, much, much worse) and win, or even make it close against the Jazz, er, Spurs or Suns, why shouldn't he be getting the award? Oh right, because he supposedly coasted for half the season...which would explain what exactly? The huge hot stretch of games the Cavs went on in the second half, or the fact that maybe the King was smart enough to save some energy for the postseason?
There can still be a postseason MOP, a Finals MVP, hell, we can establish a first round MVP for all I care, but lets at least let the MOST VALUABLE PLAYER award be affected by the most important time of the year, when the players that are MOST VALUABLE to their teams really shine.
Ricky Smokes Weed? No Way.
According to Chris Mortensen at ESPN.com Ricky Williams has tested positive for pot (again). In other news, Paris Hilton is a drunk whore and the Detroit Pistons own the Eastern Conference. Shocking, huh?
The best part was one of the article's sources who tried to play doctor:
Remember, he's been diagnosed with social anxiety disorder -- that's a real disease and a good percentage of those folks self-medicate with substances like marijuana, often at the moment they are about to have a high level of social interaction
Of course it is. And weed, like xanax and other self medicating roofies, are the "real" cure. And what's more socially interactive than pissing in a cup with some other dude watching you? Seriously, Ricky, grow up or move to Jamaica; Ronnie Brown is not handling this well.
Thursday, May 10, 2007
The Night Before, Pacman? Really.
The Pacman apparently visited a strip club the night before his meeting with Commissioner Roger Goodell. I mean, I don't even know what to say about this, much less think. What runs through your mind to make you think, "Okay, going to meet the commissioner to try and make sure he doesn't tag me with some monster suspension. Yeah, I'm pretty f***ing tense, so a strip club wouldn't be a horrible idea, right? I mean, sometimes it turns out bad, but I just won't make it rain tonight. Yeah. That's it. No rain and everything will be juuuuuuust fine."
Everyone does stupid shit, no question about it. But this is absurd. This is like staying up all night drinking before going to court for your DUI charge, except instead of a little plastic card we're talking about millions of dollars and your livelihood being at stake. Yes, I understand DUI's aren't anything to joke about and that people die as a result a lot of times, but what in Pacman's mind convinced him that he wouldn't get any publicity for traveling around New York City. Does he read the newspapers??? Granted the football paparazzi isn't as prevalent as the actual celebrity type, but man, there was zero chance this didn't backfire in his face.
Deron Williams Fanclub
The best part is that his player news is live updated. (I think). Hey, look who writes the player news....nigh
Oh, and yes, I have a pretty big mancrush on Deron. Thanks for asking.
Wednesday, May 9, 2007
Deron Williams = Stud
I spent all basketball season long talking about how much I freaking heart Deron Williams. And he's stepping up even bigger in the postseason now...with a monster shot on Baron Davis to tie this game 2 with 2.3 seconds left. Barring a Warriors field goal to win it (which would mean you're not reading this because I feel like an ass...whew) there is one hell of a game going on in Salt Lake City right now. I should note that the upper level somehow doesn't appear to be completely sold out, or maybe I'm hallucinating that. Not that I'm hallucinating right now, as far as you know. Either way, why not ship some Hawks fans out there, huh?
Do they realize they could have picked between Williams and Chris Paul ???? I don't have the energy to really put enough question marks at the end of the sentence to really justify the stupidity of taking Marvin Williams at that spot. Marvin will be great but, I mean, come one. This isn't fantasy basketball and you're not trying to build to trade. Man, what a mistake.
Anyway, overtime coming in Utah and I'll be honest, I just found myself doing a fist pump when Deron buried that shot. I thought I wanted to adopt the Warriors because, as someone over at ESPN (I believe) said, if the Warriors-Suns somehow landed in the conference finals and either one won the Title, it would change basketball. Now I remember, it was Wilbon on PTI saying that if D'Antoni won a championship with his Martz like basketball coaching (offensive genius, not the arrogant part) then he would cement his legacy in the NBA by changing the way most teams (Yes, Mr. Popovich, we are pointing those fingers at you) play and how the playoffs so often morph into a slow it down, defense fest. Couldn't agree more. I think the Jazz are good enough offensively to get loose with the Suns too, so I'm sticking with Deron. Just pissed I didn't have the stones to think Dallas would lose, other wise I would have stuck the Jazz in the Finals.
You Don't Know What Cool Is....
So I decided I was going to try and spend somewhere between 30 minutes and an hour writing about various things--either blogging or indulging my own creative desire to actually crank out a novel; yes I'm sure you care--so I'll admit that my heart isn't totally in a Roger Clemens post.
But that being said, the guy is kind of a money grubbing d-bag, no? I mean, yes, he's easily one of the five greatest pitchers of all time right; if you want to argue that I'll just concede and say five greatest right handers of all time, and then you'll lose, so don't bother. But still. How many times can you dogpile various teams that you plead allegiance to before it just becomes blatantly obvious that you're only in this for the money. Which I suppose is what makes him and Bonds, despite the fact that they are the greatest pitcher/hitter of our/their/this generation of baseball, so damn hate-able. And easily hate-able at that. Clemens is vastly more popular than Bonds (if only right now because there are so many freaking band wagon Yankees baseball fans) but personally I can't stand the guy.
Matt Snyder, a.k.a. Show got in a little cross-comment-board, light verbal sparrage about who was in the wrong with the overspending of money in baseball. Besides the fact that I disagree with him on this one, I'm really just whoring out his link here but also pointing out that I don't really care one way or the other how much the Yankees attempt to spend/spend on their team payroll in their sad chase for the next World Series title; desperation is a stinky cologne my friends.
What I do care about is that they continue to bring together the worst group of d-bags ever imaginable. I mean, we're talking about a team where the now-mellow Don Mattingly at hitting coach is actually the only guy I like on the whole damn team. I was feeling for A-Rod and all the unnecessary media hype he got pegged with...until I saw him skipping rope around first and whiffing high fives on walk off celebrations. That and he's off the hook until September so I'm over it. But Clemens? Nah. He's just obnoxious at this point.
Yes we get it. You "train" so hard that you don't need the whole off season to prepare. You're body is in such "great shape" that you can just take two or three weeks to fire up the ole "weightroom" and be ready to pitch against the AL East. P.R.A.B.S. For the record, I don't think he will be that good this year--people talk about the offense getting him wins but what about the bullpen giving those right back? I'm thinking good K's, low IP, 7-10 wins and (I'm going topshelf on this one) a 4.20 ERA. He can cough up 4-5 earned runs in six innings and easily get a dubya with that lineup behind him. Assuming the bullpen holds up at all anyway.
All I'm trying to get across is that if this keeps going every year Rocket is going to get more played out than 24 (I really can't believe I just wrote that); he's making way too much money for the amount of time that he's actually putting in with the team and the whole attempt to act like he's doing this because he's either 1) a true Yankee, 2) Gyllenhals on Pettitte or 3) feels like he owes New York, well, I'm just not buying it. He wants 10-15 million dollars tacked onto his bank account. I think he knew damn well he would've gotten a mixed reception in Boston--if he hadn't been perfect those fans would have gone at his throat with him leaving for four out of five days--and Houston isn't going anywhere. Not with the Cubs and Brewers in that division. WOO capitalism and whatnot, but I think it just sucks when we have two "legends" sullying the quality of our national pastime. As I noted in the Josh Hamilton post below, we just don't have much in the way of heroes these days.
Some other baseball (fantasy and otherwise) notes of interest:
Rafael Soriano is absolutely filthy. Mike Gonzalez is great but if Wickman is gone for a long time, than I say Soriano gets the closer gig. I know Gonzo closed for the Bucs last year but I think Bobby would go with the righty if he absolutely had to make a choice.
I'm going to find the damn link where I called Brewers to win the N.L. Central, Braves to win the N.L. East and Cole Hamels to win the NL Cy Young. None of the three are out of the question. I know, laugh about Hamels, but I don't care. Kid is absolutely filthy and he's only going to get better (unlike Rich Hill who just can't keep up what he's doing, despite my man love for him).
James Shields is straight legit folks. He looked very good against the D-Rays and now has only one non-quality start on the season. He only struck out four but if Johan doesn't go nuts on Friday night then he'll be within striking distance of the AL lead (he's currently the leader I believe). Go get him if he's somehow available in your league.
Aside from giving up a home run to Dave Roberts (awkward and embarrassing!) John Maine pitched well again. Stupid Giants let the stupid Mets win on a stupid fielding error. (Hint: Not a NY fan)
Alex Gordon is for real, man. His eye at the plate, despite the unreal number of strikeouts, is there. He will start hitting and I'm expecting a monster second half, so if you can go get him and stash, please do so.
How the f*** can a fantasy team comprising of nine players put up an OPS of .500 for one night. It's the second night in a row that it's happened to a different team of mine. Ugh.
Jonathan Broxton bounces back from a bad outing last night to go 1.1 innings scoreless; would have liked more K's.
Francisco Cordero is the best closer in the majors. There I said it. Have a nice evening.
Cocaine One Helluva Drug
(ED Note: Since The Carolinian's website apparently sucks more than Free Paris Hilton E-Petition, I've just decided to post some of the older articles on here. This one was originally published sometime before now. If you've tried to read any of these and have had trouble, you're not the only one.)
No, seriously, it is. If you don't believe Rick James, just ask Josh Hamilton. The former No. 1 overall pick for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Hamilton was one of the most can't-miss prospects of the last 15 years until he got a hold of the stuff. Or, to put it more accurately, the stuff got a hold of him.
Hamilton graduated from Athens Drive High School in Raleigh and in the 1999 Major League Baseball Amateur draft, was selected by Tampa as the first overall pick just ahead of future World Series MVP and Yankee-killer Josh Beckett. To say that this draft, headed by Hamilton, was loaded is a massive understatement, as it featured an N.L. rookie of the year (Jason Jennings), an All-Star second baseman and local star (Brian Roberts) and two currently emerging potential All-Stars in Alex Rios and Chris Duncan. Oh yeah, it also featured All-Star and K-machine Ben Sheets; not to mention eventual A.L. Cy Young winner and the most highly paid pitcher in baseball history, Barry Zito (we can debate the merits of that contract elsewhere). The point being though, is that we weren't talking about a down year for the draft - a lot of teams were looking for franchise cornerstones in 1999.
Especially Tampa Bay. The newly formed franchise decided to go with the literal and figurative All American; Hamilton was not only a fantastic baseball player, he was described as Boy Scout-ish both with his appearance, his attitude and his action, the kind of guy you would expect to see helping little old ladies across the street. Drafted primarily as a left-handed hitting outfielder, Hamilton was named USA Baseball's Amateur Player of the Year and Baseball America's High School Player of the Year after hitting .529 with 20 stolen bases, 35 RBI's and 13 homers… in only 25 games. Oh yeah, and he went 7-1 with a 91 strikeouts in 56 innings and a 2.50 ERA. I guess I forgot to mention that he pitched too, right? And had a 97 mph gas can attached to his left shoulder? But you get the point - the guy could do it all and had it all, even refusing, according to Page 2's Jeff Pearlman, to "date extensively or attend the senior prom because, 'I can't have anything bad happen to me now. There's too much on the line.'"
But, and pardon me for doing my best VH1 Storytellers impersonation, the lines were just too much for Hamilton. After inking a deal with the Rays that landed him a record $ 3.96 million signing bonus, the future All-Star arrived in Florida with his parents for Spring Training. An automobile collision before the season started sent his parents back to Raleigh for mom's medical attention and left Hamilton on the sidelines and with plenty of time to kill. He says that shortly thereafter, he took "my first drink - my first drink ever - was at a strip club down there, with the tattoo guys." You always hear about the quick hitting downward spiral, but Hamilton really lived it - going from drinking at strip clubs to using cocaine and getting empty eyed devil skulls tatted all over his body.
I don't have the desire or word count to fully detail everything that happened to Hamilton in the succeeding five years, but if you've ever known someone with a substance abuse problem - friend or family, dealt with these issues yourself, or even read substantial information on the problem, it's pretty obvious that crack and cocaine can do hellacious things to a body, mind and soul. Hamilton was suspended indefinitely from baseball, blew (literally) through all of his money, separated from his wife and estranged his family, went through roughly eight different rehabilitation programs and survived multiple suicide attempts. His body is covered in 26 tattoos running the gamut of topics and spirituality and his mind scarred with the turmoil of five years of literal hell.
But on October 6, 2005, Hamilton started into his first lengthy return to sobriety, and four days after he celebrated a year and a half of being clean, he cranked his first major league home run. Along the way, the Devil Rays left him unprotected for the Rule V draft, the Cubs snatched him away and dealt him to the Reds for cash… which I'm sure has some ironic connotation. Hamilton was reinstated by the MLB within eight months of being clean, having spent substantial time working out in Florida with Winning Inning and attending substance abuse meetings.
That first home run was also his first major league start and over the course of the first three weeks of the season, Hamilton is hovering right around .300 and tied for second in the National League in home runs with five. He also currently leads the Reds in taters and RBI's, and has forced manager Jerry Narron, through his strong all around play, into finding time for him in an otherwise crowded outfield, all while drawing the praise of his teammates for his play and, more importantly, his leadership.
Look, Hamilton's story, since he went on this two-week tear through the majors, has been covered waaaay more than just extensively; he's the ultimate feel-good story right now and with good reason. So I don't even pretend to provide the most personal or extensive account of this tale, and far from the first on the scene attitude - totally impossible with a weekly column in today's world.
But Hamilton has had me wondering for the last few weeks - is he a prime example of the newly forming version of the American success story? And by that I don't mean the ability of an athlete to rise about tough conditions to succeed, because that story is as old as the sports themselves. What I do mean to look at is the idea of any American overcoming addiction, doing a 180 and "coming out on top," or whatever cliché you want to insert there. See, the thing is, addictive behavior isn't ever cured. It's only remised and often not recognized because of the general attitude of anonymity that recovery encompasses.
Well, in everyday life that is; but how many celebrities and other semi-famous people have you seen enter rehab in the last 365 days? I don't have exact count by any means, but I know it's a ton. Just look at our most recent celeb-story-nation-crushes in Brit and ANS-two victims of their own self-delusion and grandeur. I don't necessarily have a distinct point to all of this, meaning that I can't possibly pretend to know that people in recovery will become the next wave of American "heroes." What I do know is that for some time now, we've seen two things happen: First, our heroes (especially in the athletic sense) have dissipated through media overexposure and what appears to be a genuine decline in leadership and focus; secondly the basic fabric that composes the American yarn of success has seemed to become a little old and worn out. Yes, we still revel in the glory of someone rising above their upbringing to succeed, but generally speaking, there isn't the type of aura surrounding these stories as in years past.
Meanwhile, the drug culture and consistent over-abuse of all kinds of chemical substances continues to grow exponentially in our culture. I'm not trying to shout from a soapbox here either, 'cause I'm as guilty as the next guy, but we, as a culture, are kind of running down the pipe blindly in the understanding of the long term effects of so many of these drugs. All I'm saying is that as the culture becomes more and more aware of the constantly growing problem (1 out of every 8 people suffer from a substance abuse issue of some kind) and more and more capable of assisting those who suffer, I think we'll see a new more moral form of hero and/or role model, particularly in the arena of athletics, where fame and the associated temptations come so freely.
But hey, maybe, on the other hand, we'll find out that crack, blow, dope and hooch aren't as debilitating as I think and we'll just keep on keeping on. Here's to Josh Hamilton not being the one to prove that theory right.
