Roger Goodell: State of the Union

Tuesday night, President Barack Obama will address his flustered nation, attempting to soothe their economic, health care, and environmental worries.  Obama will likely be realistic with Americans at times and overly comforting at other points.  Americans are not the only group that needs comforting and reality spoken to them at this time: NFL fans need a good ‘ol fashion speech. 

Roger Goodell (NFL), Bud Selig (MLB), David Stern (NBA), and Gary Bettman (NHL), the big four commissioners in professional sports, work behind the scenes for primarily all of their duties.  They seem to only make public appearances during their respective sport’s championship game as they pass out the trophy or when they must discipline an athlete and SportsCenter plays clips of their punishment rulings nonstop.

Roger Goodell should shadow the annual State of the Union address made each January by the Prez and provide an NFL State of the Union.  Fans fear that a lockout looms next fall and the awkward two-week break before the Super Bowl serves as a perfect time to cool the nerves of non Pack or Steel fans.  On second thought, as a big Bears fan, for the sake of my health, not having to suffer through another Lovie Smith press conference or Jay Cutler interception parade may do me well. 

Football fans hope that there will be football on Sunday come next fall but we really don’t know what the chances are of both sides settling.  If Goodell were to actually make this speech, he’d likely spend the whole time telling us that “there will definitely be an NFL season in 2011” and football fans have “nothing to worry about”; however, fans want to know the IFs.

If there is a lockout, how will the 2011 Draft work?  What will happen to players contracts: will they be paid for not playing, will a deal with three years left on it still have three left after the strike season?  How big of an impact will a strike season have on college football attendance and TV ratings?  Most importantly, if there’s no football on TV, what in the world are we supposed to do on Sunday? 

Serving since 2006, Goodell is by far the least tenured of any of the big four comishes.  Selig, Stern and Bettman all have seen lockout-shortened seasons.  Goodell obviously won’t ever have a State of the Union address for NFL fans; however, my point is that transparency is essential.  A solid line of communication between four parties (Goodell, the owners, the players and the fans) could prevent Goodell from falling into that list of current commissioners with strike shortened seasons under their belts.  If the players and owners can communicate effectively, they will have established a form of bipartisanship that the U.S. Congress continues to search for. 

Obama may not fix America, but in the name of any football God that rests up there, lets hope Goodell can fix the NFL. 

Skies Look Cloudy for Ohio Baseball

 Ohio sports fans have little to cheer about right now, but that doesn’t mean springtime will bring anything more exciting.  Baseball lovers inevitably get their hopes up in April, but Reds and Indians fans seem likely to get theirs crushed.     

Cincinnati is coming off a division title; however, they are also coming off a three game sweep out of the ALDS against the Phillies.  That’s the fourth consecutive year that the NL Central champion has been swept out of the playoffs: Cubs (2007), Cubs (2008), Cardinals (2009) and Reds (2010).  Perhaps the Red did not win the division as much as everybody else in the NL Central simply lost it last season.  The Indians lost 93 games last season, so Tribe fans have smaller expectations entering 2010 than Reds fans; however, both teams appear primed for a troubling season thanks to their horrible off seasons.  AL Central and NL Central teams amped up their rosters as Chris Antonetti and Walt Jocketty’s BlackBerrys saw little activity this winter.

In the Senior Circuit, the Brewers additions of Zack Greinke and Sean Marcum make the Milwaukee rotation a legitimate force that should get real consideration for a possible playoff run when teamed with an offense that finished fourth in NL runs scored (750) in 2010.  Milwaukee also seems poised to hold onto Prince Fielder (who will be a free agent at the end of the 2011 season) and make a stab at a run this year.  Although the Cubs seem stuck in an awkward phase of expiring contracts (4 more years of Alfonso Soriano, 2 more years of Carlos Zambrano, and 1 more year of Aramis Ramirez and Kosuke Fukudome), general manager Jim Hendry made some solid additions that may not make the Cubs instant division favorites, but certainly propel the club into a better direction.  Chicago’s North Side team looks slightly more like the Rays after acquiring former Tampa Bay first baseman Carlos Pena and right-handed pitcher Matt Garza (or was that Joaquin Benoit that the Cubs traded for).

In the American League, the Indians watched their central division foes prime themselves for a division run. White Sox sign free-agent left-handed power bat Adam Dunn and resign gold glove first baseman Paul Konerko.  Meanwhile, the Royals restocked their farm system by acquiring youngsters Lorenzo Cain, Alcides Escobar, and Jeremy Jeffreys in exchange for departing with 2009 Cy-Young Zack Greinke.  The Tigers added Victor Martinez to their core of young ballplayers (Austin Jackson, Brennan Boesche, and Will Ryhmes) and the 2010 AL Central Champion Twins … well they’re coming back with Gardy and co.

Reds rotation troubles make them look questionable for a repeat in 2010.  What follows are Cincy’s five probable starters in 2011 with their 2010 ERAs in parenthesis: Edinson Volquez (4.31), Bronson Arroyo (3.88), Johnny Cueto (3.64), Mike Leake (4.23), and Homer Bailey (4.46).  Note: Dusty Baker hinted that Aroldis Chapman might remain in the bullpen for all of 2011.  When you’re facing top-heavy rotations in your division such as Carpenter-Wainwright and Greinke-Marcum, the Reds’ lack of an ace, much less two aces, may prove to be a fatal flaw.  They scored the most runs in all of the National League last season (290), but their bats grew mighty quiet in the three game series against Halladay-Hamels-Oswalt in which they scored all of 4 runs on 11 hits during the three game Philly sweep. 

Indians fans have had very little to cheer about since they won the ALDS over the Yankees in 2007 with the help of some pesky bugs and next Summer looks as if it will follow the recent trend.   San Francisco Giants fans had plenty to cheer about in October despite pre-season skepticism from the “experts”; therefore, you never really know what to expect from the Indians lineup that appears weak at first glance. 

The Browns and Bengals seasons have finally come to a close and Cavs fans recently saw their team lose 10 straight to cement themselves into the bottom of the entire NBA standings.  Looks like the pride and joy of Ohio right now is … the Blue Jackets.