Maddux Sports Blog

There is a whole lot going on out there today, so we’ll quickly touch on a bunch of them:

1. Roger Federer – Federer closed strong last night to make the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Win or lose, it is the 23rd consecutive Grand Slam he has made at least the semi’s in. Just think about how stunning that is for a second – there are only four Grand Slams a year, so for almost six years in a row Federer has finished at least in the top four of the hardest, deepest tournaments in the year. That’s on three different types of surfaces as well, and they are spread out over eight months. I dare you to name another current athlete that has been that consistently dominant for that long. There isn’t one.

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There are some funny stories in the news today if you are a sports geek – and if you read sites like this then you are a sports geek.

1. Hue Jackson, Baltimore’s quarterback coach last year, has skipped an interview to become the offensive coordinator of the Bears to instead take the job with the Raiders. Why is this funny? Well, when Jay Cutler joined the Bears last year it was talked about like automatic Super Bowls had been given to the Bears. Now, just one disastrous year later, a coach would rather work with the worst drafted quarterback in recent memory on a team that is an absolute disaster in every way with a head coach who punches out his assistants than take over the job of guiding Cutler and his offense. Ouch. The funniest part is that it really isn’t a bad decision. Sucks to be a Bears fan right now.

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Glen Davis says that he doesn’t want to be called Big Baby anymore. Instead, in honor to both his jersey and a certain Cincinnati wide receiver, he wants to be known as Uno Uno. I think he is missing out on one part in the whole issue – that he is a big baby. Davis was a beast in college, and promising at times in the pros, but he really doesn’t seem to have the mental makeup or brain power to stay calm and out of trouble these days.

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I’m not sure that I have seen a player as desperate to get rid of a decent player as the Angels were with Gary Matthews Jr. today. Matthews had two years and $23 million left on his deal. He hasn’t lit the world on fire at the plate in the last three years with the Angels, but he is a very solid defensive player and he is sound at the plate. In other words, though he’s no all-star he’s not exactly a handicap either. Despite that, the Angels not only sent hm to the Mets for a journeyman middle reliever, but they also agreed to pay $21.5 million of the remaining contract. So, the Mets get a very solid platoon outfielder – especially since they aren’t going to have Carlos Beltran for at least a month – and it cost them practically nothing. On the other hand, the Angels are saving a lousy $1.5 million, and they lose outfield depth for it. Terrible deal, but that’s fitting for the offseason that the Angels have had. Wow, this has not been their winter.

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1. Can someone please explain to me what the NFL offensive player of the year award means. I thought I knew – it seem self-evident – but this year’s voting leaves me totally mystified. Peyton Manning won the MVP award in a landslide because he was far more dominant and effective than any other player. It wasn’t really a debate. I’m pretty sure he’s an offensive player. If he’s the best player in the league then he should, I would think, be one of the best offensive players in the league. Apparently not. Chris Johnson won the award with 38.5 votes, while Manning was third with just 1.5 votes. Johnson won this award overwhelmingly, yet he didn’t get a single vote for MVP. Not one. There’s a logic problem here.

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I knew deep down that it was probably the inevitable truth, but I never really wanted to accept it. Mark McGwire is my favorite all-time baseball player who isn’t a pitcher. In fact, he’s probably my second favorite athlete of all time – the first is unquestionably Nolan Ryan. Needless to say, then, today’s news isn’t the best thing I have ever heard. If you have missed it, McGwire came clean on the fact that he had used steroids during his career, and that he did them off and on for ten years. He also used human growth hormones. Not surprisingly, McGwire admitted that he was juiced out of his mind as he shattered Roger Maris’ record and redefined home run glory forever. Brutal.

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I woke up this morning planning to write about the Mariners. I’ve been a long suffering fan of the team, so I am obviously giddy about theoffseason that they have had so far – quite possibly the best in the whole league. Just as I was about to start writing, though, the news broke that things got even better today. Given what the Mariners have accomplished thisoffseason , and the struggles that the Angels have had so far, I don’t think it’s at all unreasonable to call the Mariners the best team in the AL West right now. We’ll take a look at the three deals that have helped them achieve that title, but before we do it’s important to remember that it’s  not like this team has to start from scratch. They were a perfectly respectable 85-77 last year, and that would have had them right in the heart of the AL Central. They still need to be significantly better, but they have a lot of good to build from. Now, the three big moves:

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I’m a big Pudge Rodriguez guy – he’s my favorite non-pitcher of all time, I think. That being said, I was really surprised by the news that he will be joining the Nationals. He has reportedly signed a two year, $6 million contract. I’m surprised that at this time in his career he’d be interested in playing in such a hopeless situation. Or at least that’s what I thought until I considered it more and came up with one big consideration in their favor – Stephen Strasburg. Pudge gets to spend likely his last two years in the league catching for the most exciting prospect in baseball in a long, long time. The Nats get to be sure that their prize star is well-handled, and they get to benefit from the veteran leadership and instant credibility he brings to the table.

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I just finished watching the first quarter of the de facto Big East Championship game. What a great, exciting quarter. I have no idea who is going to win it – presumably the last team to touch the ball. All I know for sure is that Pitt is looking very good. Maybe DaveWannstedt can coach after all. Games like this one are why I love college football more than any sport.

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Big Ten – ACC update – The Challenge is at 3-3 after six games, so things are looking decent for my Big Ten. The bad news is that Michigan State lost the coin flip game. The good news is that Northwestern won one of the games I had penciled in for the ACC. If everything else went according to expectations, then, Big Ten would win 6-5 and finally break the ACC curse. Here’s hoping.

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