Peyton Manning: A Team Player

I'm not a Peyton Manning fan.

But, here's my take on the way he handled himself when rookie coach Jim Caldwell took him out of the game.

According to the AP, Manning was quoted as saying: "It was the plan, the organizational philosophy that we were going with, and, as players, we support that."

He was SOOOO unlike that Minnesota QB.

Baseball, Football: Random Thoughts

So, the Philadelphia Phillies finally acquired Toronto ace Roy Halladay in a complicated four-team trade in mid-December, sending their ace Cliff Lee to Seattle in the process.

A few things about this deal (and the teams and characters in general):

* Division titles and pennants are not won in the off-season. Many are ready to hand the NL East to the Phillies for the third straight year, but... Remember when the Mets, coming off an NLCS loss in 2006 and September meltdown in 2007, acquired two-time AL Cy Young winner Johan Santana?

Everyone wanted to give the division to Santana--and the lefty did his job (16-7, 2.53) in 2008--but the Mets missed the postseason.

Roy Halladay might lead the Phillies in wins in 2010, but it's too early to simply give the NL East to Philadelphia.

* This makes yet another Toronto player who wants to leave his team. Who cares if he took out an ad in the Star to thank his fans? Other athletes have done the same thing before; it's just PR.

And didn't he announce when the trade was made that he wanted to be a Phillie?

Just for karma, let's hope the Phillies crumble in 2010. Athletes who are under contract and then say publicly they want to be traded.... well, let's hope for karma.

* Bob McCown and others keep insisting the Blue Jays have never played a meaningful September game since 1993. No wonder David Wells chastised the Toronto media in his autobiography.

Back in 2000, the Jays had a shot and were in first place in June. They were still in wild-card contention late in September. And gee, didn't Roy Halladay have a 10.64 ERA that year? With Wells and his 20-8 season and Frank Castillo contributing, it was Halladay and Chris Carpenter who were horrible.

Had Halladay pitched well, then who knows, the Blue Jays might have been in the postseason in 2000.

So, who cares about the 2003 Cy Young and other wins? It was in 2000 that he choked.

* Some fans just don't get it. They look at wins and losses, and use that to decide who's better or worse.

Some bloggers see Cliff Lee being "better" than Halladay in 2004, 2005, and 2008.

Lee went 14-8 with a 5.43 ERA in 2004. He was 18-5, 3.79 in 2005. He then won the Cy Young in 2008 with a 22-3 mark and a 2.54 ERA.

Halladay: 8-8, 4.20 in 2004. Then, he was 12-4 with a 2.41 ERA in 2005. He lost out the Cy Young in 2008 by going 20-11 with a 2.78 ERA.

Yes, clearly Lee beat out Halladay in 2008.

But 2004-05?

Sorry, I don't think so.

* Blue Jays will be awful for a while, so why bother showing up for games? Seeing they've traded Halladay, that means they've basically given up on the 2010 season.

And Rogers, a big corporation, has decided not to spend money to compete in the AL East with the Yankees and Red Sox.

Some Toronto fans think they can trust this team again because a Canadian general manager has taken over.

What a joke. Who cares about the nationality of the GM?

And what about their lame-duck managerial situation? Cito Gaston, whom the players revolted against before the end of the season, will be back for one more season in 2010, before moving into an advisory position with the team.

Why bring him back as manager? He's proven before he can't succeed with a young team (his '92-93 championship teams were veteran squads), he can't handle a pitching staff (1991) that doesn't have superstar arms, and now the players seem to have issues with him.

This will be a long year in Toronto.

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Funny how a long season can have so many so-called winners.

In the NFL in 2007--the year the Patriots went 16-0--the Dallas Cowboys were supposed to be untouchable in the NFC.

Yet they were bounced by the Giants in their first playoff game.

Last year, the Giants were supposed to be untouchable in the NFC.

And they suffered the same fate in their first playoff game, at the hands of the Eagles.

What about the 2009 season?

* Chicago got Jay Cutler, and was supposed to contend in the NFC North. Wrong.

* When Mark Sanchez and the Jets were 3-0, and the Giants were also unbeaten, New York fans were dreaming about the possibility of a New York-New York Super Bowl. Uhm, no.

Even Rex Ryan was proclaiming his Jets were for real after they knocked off the Patriots in Week Two. Now, with two weeks left and his Jets 7-7, he was publicly saying they're not a playoff team (despite the fact they still had a mathematical shot at it).

* When the Giants started out 5-0, everyone was saying there were untouchable. Then they lost four straight and everyone wrote them off.

This team though, reminds me of the Super Bowl-winning team that knocked off the 18-0 Patriots.

* When the Patriots blew out the Titans 59-0 to put Tennessee at 0-6, everyone was saying Tom Brady was back and New England was untouchable. Then when the Pats lost to the unbeaten Colts and Saints, everyone wrote them off.

I should say that the Patriots, now 9-5, will win the division, and remember when they won their first Super Bowl against the Rams? They were a five-loss team back then too.

* Denver was 6-0, and then everyone thought head coach Josh McDaniels was a genius for dumping Cutler. Hmm. A 2-6 slide later, and people were chastising him for trash talking with players from opposing teams on the sidelines.

* When the defending champion Steelers were 6-2 after five straight wins, people were saying they were going to repeat.

Well, they then lost five straight, including losses against lowly Oakland, K.C., and Cleveland. Then last week, Mike Tomlin decided to go for an on-side kick with the Steelers ahead by two. It worked out and they won it on a last-second TD, but what does that say about his lack of trust in his defense?

Well, they're 7-7 now, and it doesn't look good.

* The Vikings were 10-1 and were supposed to be a Super Bowl team. Now, two losses in their last three and possible turmoil between the coach and QB... Well, we'll see.

* Now the new flavors are the Eagles and Chargers, the two hottest teams in each conference other than the 14-0 Colts.

* Oh, and the Ravens too. Baltimore is supposed to be a tough team, a contender, despite its 8-6 record (after starting out 3-0). But, the Ravens will be playing in Pittsburgh, a team they've had lots of trouble with.

We shall see.

But I still say it's too early to count out the Patriots. They almost beat the Colts and fell juuuust short on that 4th-and-2 call.

Why the Vazquez-to-New-York trade makes no sense

The AP has reported that the Yankees have re-acquired right-handed pitcher Javier Vazquez, who spent the 2009 season with the Braves.

This makes no sense at all.

Find out why I think so here.

Tale of Two Athletes: Brodeur and Favre

The comments made by two star athletes in two different sports over the weekend were notable--and a sharp contrast--but surprisingly, not much was made in the media of the one that actually was part of the winning team.

On Saturday night in Atlanta, the New Jersey Devils fell behind 3-1 before the end of the first period, with goaltender Martin Brodeur giving up three goals on only six shots. Devils coach Jacques Lemaire pulled Brodeur after the period, and inserted backup Yann Danis to start the second stanza.

The Devils, who had outshot the Thrashers 24-6 in the opening period, didn't quit after their No. 1 goalie was pulled. New Jersey rallied--scoring four straight goals over the final 40 minutes--and pulled out a 5-4 victory.

Was Brodeur upset about getting the quick hook?

As reported by the Associated Press, Brodeur didn't even beg Lemaire to put him back out on the ice. "No, no, no. We needed a kick in the butt. It's all about winning, with me or without me" (AP, Devils lift Brodeur after period, still win 5-4, Dec. 19, 2009).

The star goalie also acknowledged his coach's right in removing him from the game. "After three goals on six shots, we had to do something."

As Lemaire put it, "We changed goalies to make a difference...it was a good opportunity to put Danis in and rest [Brodeur]."

And the Devils did come back despite having their top player on the bench.

Now, Brodeur's unselfishness didn't really get much press.

Still, it was certainly refreshing to know that an elite athlete was putting his team ahead of his own ego.

But on Sunday night, that wasn't the case in Carolina, when another star wasn't having a stellar game. The difference was this player refused to get pulled.

Brett Favre, quarterback of the Minnesota Vikings, was involved in what he called a "heated exchange" in the second half with head coach Brad Childress.

With Minnesota leading the 5-8 Panthers by a score of 7-6 in the third quarter, Childress reportedly thought about removing Favre from the game because his QB was "taking a beating" (AP, Childress considered benching Favre to protect him, Dec. 21, 2009).

Favre had already gotten sacked four times and been hit several other times during the game.

The quarterback, however, strongly objected and lobbed to remain in the contest, and ultimately did.

Alas, the Vikings' defense allowed three touchdowns in the fourth quarter, and the Panthers came out on top, 26-7.

Favre threw for 224 yards and was 17-for-27 with no touchdowns. He had one interception, which came in the Vikings' final possession of the contest, when the game was already out of reach.

As he put it, "Brad wanted to go in a different direction. And I wanted to stay in the game. It's not 70-6, but we were up 7-6. I said I'm staying in the game. I'm playing. ... No way being up 7-6 and getting banged around a little bit would I consider coming out" (AP, Favre, Childress argue, Panthers beat Vikings 26-7, Dec. 20, 2009).

For Minnesota, the loss on Sunday night was its second in three games. The Vikings are now 11-3 following a 10-1 start.

Of course, concerns over Favre's health isn't unwarranted. Last season with the Jets, Favre led his team to a 9-3 start and had people talking Super Bowl--until he started throwing interceptions and the Jets missed the playoffs by dropping four of their final five games.

Naturally, it was within Childress's right to want to keep his QB fresh. Childress, after all, is the head coach. Not Favre.

And the Philadelphia Eagles (10-4), who have the tie-breaker over Minnesota, are now suddenly right behind the Vikings, sitting only one game back for the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

Childress supposedly wanted Favre to get enough rest for their final two games so that they can clinch the No. 2 seed and get a first-round bye in the playoffs.

But Favre wouldn't have any of it.

Now, was it okay for Favre to demand to remain in the game?

Sure, his team was ahead--thanks only to a missed point-after by the Panthers; otherwise it would have been 7-7--but it wasn't as though Favre was lighting it up against the Carolina defense.

Both Brodeur and Favre, of course, will end up in the Hall of Fame after their playing careers are over. Both are regarded as the best at their respective positions. Both have won championships and own numerous records.

In fact, Brodeur, the winningest goalie in NHL history, had just set the league record for goalies the previous night by playing in his 1,030th regular-season contest. And he didn't argue about getting pulled on Saturday. All he talked about was the importance of the team winning the game.

On the other hand, Favre, who owns the NFL records for QB victories and career touchdowns, argued with his coach on Sunday night and kept talking about "I.... I... I..." after the game.

What a difference between the two.

Interview with Bill Ranford

I had the opportunity to speak with two-time Stanley Cup winner Bill Ranford earlier this week, as part of the research I'm doing for my next book project (or one of them anyway).

The 1990 Conn Smythe Trophy winner was gracious enough to take some time out of his busy schedule to do the interview.

Click here to take a look at some of the highlights of the discussion.