This is how I view sports, and subsequently how I cover sports. These are lessons I have learned over a lifetime of being a sports fan and 10 years or so of being a sports writer/commentator. I have worked in all different sports at all different levels. I have worked in the front offices of small football teams, for two failed football leagues, I have interned for a NBA franchise, and I have covered the NFL, NFL draft, UFL, CFL, the Detroit Tigers and Lions for a collection of websites.
Again this is just how I view sports, and how those views go into how I cover sports. We begin with baseball.
Baseball
1. Standings do not matter till the ivy at Wrigley Field is green, or there are enough bathrooms for the fan there...whichever happens last
2. One cannot judge a baseball team till it's played 40 games in a season. We know this as the Sparky Anderson rule
3. Anything that happens in one baseball game is statistically insignificant
4. The no hitter is the most over hyped baseball accomplishment
5. I am not a big fan of advanced metrics...nor do I think there is one metric to adequately measure every player on the roster. Depending on where they hit, and where they play different metrics come into play. For guys that hit in the middle of the order RBI remains a valuable tool because they get paid to knock in runs.
6. Money matters...a big contracts raises expectations and when a player fails to meet those expectations he should be called out for it...we call this the Prince Fielder rule
7. No one really knows what a baseball team is worth. Because the books are closed. A team is worth whatever someone will pay for it. I don't really care what Forbes thinks...it is only a guess. Not even a great guess because there evaluations leaves out big pieces of expenses and potential revenue streams.
Football
1. the 40 yard dash is the most over hyped football metric
2. the NFL scouting combine is way more important to the NFL network than it is is assessing talent. The real important things at the combine take place behind the scenes where teams learn who these players are. The coaches, scouts, and GM's have all seen what these players can do on the field.
3. Tight ends should not be drafted in the first round....we call this the Martin Mayhew rule
4. Whatever Matt "the idiot" Millen says about football decisions one should do the opposite
5. NFL GM's should get too hire two head coaches and conduct four drafts before they wind up on the hot seat
6. Character matters otherwise known as the Titus Young rule
7. There is room for a spring football league that is not the Arena League and there is a market in America for the CFL
Basketball
1. I don't know they don't play basketball in Detroit. That South East Michigan team has been irrelevant for a long time now
Hockey
1. Gary Bettman sucks
2. Hockeytown is not in America it is in Canada specifically Montreal.
3. The NHL should have more Canadian teams not less
4. hockey is a nice sport like NASCAR
5. I do not think Las Vegas is capable of supporting a franchise in any sport full time
General Stuff
1. The government at any level has no business building stadiums for sports teams. If someone or a group of someones can afford the team they can afford the stadium in which it plays. This is a shell game where the taxpayers always get the short end of the stick.
2. In the end let's not kid ourselves writing about sports isn't all that important, but it sure is fun
These are the things I have learned over a lifetime of being a sports fan and a half of a career working in and writing about sports.
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