NLS Discussion Post: How Much Do An Athlete's Off-Field Activities Color Your View Of Them

The recent passing of Michael Jackson opened an intense debate among the populace. Namely, how much do Michael's alleged chi-mo ways effect the way we, the public, view his legacy. Do the multiple allegations of banging boys change the fact that he may have been the greatest entertainer of our time?

There were many people with whom I talked in the days following his death who said something along the lines of "Fuck him! I hope he burns in Hell for being a pederast!" They didn't think about him as the King of Pop or his huge influence on pop culture. To them he would be remembered as someone who he diddled kiddies. Nothing else he did during the rest of his life mattered in the least.

Other people I talked to felt like the allegations should have nothing to do with how they view Michael The Entertainer. They felt that all his accomplishments and the body of work over the course of his career stood on its own. That his later legal troubles should be a footnote in the legacy of Michael.

Me, personally, am somewhere in the middle. I don't think it can be overstated his influence on pop culture. Modern R&B artists like Usher, Ne-yo, Chris Brown, et al. owe their entire careers to the work Michael put in all those years ago. Groups from New Edition, a J-5 clone, to N'Sync were built in a mold that the Jackson 5 created years ago. Pop music had never seen such a prolific single artist prior to MJ and more than likely won't see one after.

My childhood memories are filled with memorable Michael Moments. I remember how excited I was when Michael guess starred on my favorite TV, The Simpsons. I remember the video premiere of his epic video "Black or White" on Fox. I still get chills when I see clips from the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show. The way he popped out from under the stage and paused a moment to revel in his awesomeness set a bar for half time shows that I doubt will ever be topped(unless you count the Janet/Justin wardrobe malfuction. But that was awesome in a completely different way).

While I will always hold a special place in my heart for MJ, but there was a certain amount of luster removed from his status by the allegations that he fondled a few children. I don't buy the idea that these charges came from people just looking to cash in. Even in such a litigious nation such as this charges of child molestation aren't filed lightly.

Even with the knowledge that he may very well have gone all Catholic Priest on a few kids in his time, I view Michael's career as a net positive. This is interesting for me because I often hold players' off-field/off-court actions against them. Kobe Bryant might be one of the better players ever but he's an asshole and a alleged rapist. Jim Brown may be an all-time great running back and social justice crusader but he also beat the shit out of his wife and girlfriend. Muhammad Ali, might have been the best boxer to lace up a pair of gloves but from what I read in Ghost of Manilla by Mark Shram he was quite the slandering asshole. I have a hard time separating my hate of Karl Malone and his dirty play from my hate of his being repeated dead beat dad.

Despite my feelings that players actions off the field and their deeds on it should both be considered when discussing how great they are, not everyone agrees. I have a friend who cares not about a player's off field transgressions. He feels that whatever accomplishments a player has should be the only means of judging them. That Michael Jordan's habitual gambling was so crippling that he would cheat a grandma to win has no bearing on Jordan the ball player. The Fade Away speaks for itself.

So what say you, faithful reader, intrepid fellow bloggers? Should be judge a player only on the merits of his game? That is what we tune in or pay to see after all. Or do you feel a player should be responsible for his downtime actions? Do you feel being accused of something like rape should forever be a black mark on the resume of a player? Let me know in the comments section. Or my fellow bloggers on this site, write a response post.

Why Do The 2008 M's Suck So Bad? According to Bill Bavasi, It Aint Him.

Much has been written about the Hindenberg style disaster that is the 2008 M's season, picking apart very facet of every loss, complaining about lack of accountability, and generally asking God "Why, do we suck so bad?". Through it all the USSMariner.com has been doing their best to shine a light and expose the true problems that plague this franchise. Too often are the teams problems explained through good/bad chemistry, lack of accountability and the need for veteran leadership when the true cause of this malignancy that hangs over this franchise is ignored.

In the spirit of showing the fan base what is killing their team they had a nice little article on Bill Bavasi's take on why we are where we are(dead last in the MLB in wins). Bill's take was, more or less, that it's not our crappy manager who continues to bat our slap hitting DH in the 3 spot. It also is not due to the fact that the team was built on the premise that a bunch of old no-skill players would do what even Hugh Jackman could not accomplish in "The Fountain" and find the legendary well of eternal youth.

No, according to our GM Bill Bavasi it is because the team lacks a leader to light a fire under them. Someone to hold them accountable for their failings and get them to play at the level they are capable of. He believes the team is a horribly under performing contender just waiting to bust out if just a gritty veteran clubhouse leader who has been through the wars would hold their feet to the fire.

Why does Bill Bavasi believe this? Why, because the talking heads on ESPN all concurred, in their sage-like wisdom, that with the addition of #1 Staff Ace EriK Bedard (prounounced buh-DAR, he's a Canuck, let it go), The Seattle Mariners were favorites to win the AL West. Also tons of sports writers who rarely, if ever, see our team play also spouted in agreement "Best 1-2 punch in baseball!!! Pitching will carry them to a division title!!!!" None of these "analysts" had "the nerve" to pick us anything less than second in the division, Bavasi ranted.

Sadly, as Dave at USSM points out, any sort of real analysis showed that the M's were a paper tiger. In today's sports world, an especially in baseball, the amount of statistical data available to help guide smart decision making is almost endless. There are formulas and programs that can execute said formulas given the proper data that can make fairly accurate predictions of teams given performance.

Now there are many stats I won't try to pretend I understand, UZR, RZR, tERA, etc...but I do understand runs scored and runs allowed. And I know last year the M's scored 794 runs and allowed 813 and I know that normally when give up more runs than you score you are going to have a losing record almost every time. That the M's won as any games as they did last year was not an upward trend but a statistical anomaly.

Some would argue that with Ho-Ram and Dream Weaver off the team and the additions of Carlos Silva and #1 Staff Ace EriK Bedard would shore up our runs given up and allow us to be the contenders were seemed to be before the collapse. While our pitching staff may have been bolstered the defense took a serious hit to any already shaky unit with the loss of Adam Jones in the outfield. Offensively, everyone is a year older and for the majority of our line-up that's not a good thing. Altogether, the upgrade in pitching is washed up by sub-par defense and aging hitting.

When Bill Bavasi says he and is analysts could have never predicted the team so poorly to start the season it reminds of when President Bush says he could not have predicted things falling apart like they did in Iraq. It's the kind if myopic statement one would expect out of someone surrounded by yes-men tuning out all opposing thought points on the subject. Truthfully it's childish. Reminds me of a time when I broke a window by being too close to the house taking batting practice. My parents asked me I just didn't take my swings out in the yard and I told them I didn't imagine the bat'd slip from my hand and go crashing through the window. The difference being my parents didn't buy it and I got in trouble while people seem to continue to buy or at least permit the lies woven by Bush and Bavasi.

Anyone that had been watching this team last season and thought about all that needed to go right for us to be good knew what Public Enemy was saying with "Don't Believe the Hype". In my post on the M's winning their first game I even predicted that the M's would need to be very lucky to be good and that it wouldn't require much for everything to fall apart. I said that the offense is very hot and cold and that the defense is over-hyped and there could be a lot of well pitched games lost to lack of defense and hitting. I thought the expectations that Suxson would regain his form of 4 years ago, Vidro would continue to bat an extremely hollow .300, Wilkerson would do much of anything, an that our expensive veteran pitchers would step up and prove their mettle were very tenuous and more than likely would not happen. And I've been proven right.

So, Bill Bavasi, when you say no one predicted your team to do so poorly how about you pull your head out of your ass before you do so. Then you might see that a 25 year old lowly suite runner with 0 baseball experience accurately forecasted your season. And that should shame you. Because if a dumbass like me is out-thinking you on how to run your team I'd hate to see what some of those bright baseball minds are doing to you throughout the league.