1. Red Sox outfielder Jacoby Ellsbury goes for the pinstripes.....This move doesn't shock me much. The Red Sox under GM Ben Cherington have moved away from the strategy of matching the Yankees dollar for dollar. Being a bit more judicious with their money, shedding onerous contracts (Beckett, Crawford, Gonzalez), and finding complimentary pieces to surround and guide a strong core brought the Sox a World Series Title this year. Coming off a championship, there is no real reason for the Sox to panic. Their formula has proven to be a winning one and they have talented young players like Jackie Bradley Jr. in the outfield and Xander Bogaerts in the infield waiting for their opportunity to shine. They also still have a wealth of pitching from which they could make a deal should they see fit to do so.
This is not meant to downplay Ellsbury's contributions at all. He is an individual who I have been a big fan since he played college ball at Oregon State. He has played through injuries, established himself a Gold Glove-caliber center fielder, and continues to steal bases and a high rate. I believe that the 7-year, $153 million deal he signed with Yankees is not as outrageous as it initially appears. As long as he doesn't allow all the outside issues that come with being a Yankee get in his way, I believe that Ellsbury will live up to this contract. This also doesn't have the amount of emotion that Johnny Damon's Boston departure had. From an outsider's point of view it appeared that Damon had an endless reservoir of goodwill with the fan base and was certainly never labeled soft. It appeared that Ellsbury was not fully loved or appreciated by the fan base. While Damon's departure was met with t-shirts that read "Looks Like Jesus, Throws Like Mary, Acts Like Judas," I don't see anywhere near that type of outrage over Ellsbury's departure. I'm sure the Sox brass and their fans would've liked to have seen Ellsbury end up anywhere else but this is a business after all.
2. Steve Sarkisian bolts Washington to take the head coaching job at USC.....Sarkisian took over at "U-Dub" in 2009, after the Huskies bottomed out in the post-Don James era, going 0-12 in 2008. Sarkisian brought the program back to a level of respectability, going 34-29 (24-21 in Pac-12 play) over five seasons in Seattle. It's a homecoming of sorts for Sarkisian as he spent seven seasons as an assistant under Pete Carroll at USC. During his two seasons as assistant head coach and offensive coordinator, the Trojans were 22-3. This looks like a great hire on many fronts...but then again, the Lane Kiffin hire a few years back looked eerily similar in terms of a former assistant from the Pete Carroll glory days returning to the "Land of Troy" to bring USC back to national prominence. Then again, Kiffin had no track record of head coaching success, bottoming out after a year and a half with the Oakland Raiders and a season at Tennessee. The optimists will point to that fact: Sarkisian has a decent record as a head coach, has won a bowl game (2010 Holiday Bowl), and hasn't accumulated any NCAA violations at his program. But there are detractors out there...and they are vocal.
Sarkisian had many critics in Washington, saying he couldn't the program over the hump and up to the next level. Washington has gone all-in, renovating Husky Stadium to the tune of $281 million and building a brand-new, state-of-the-art 83,000 square foot facility. But Sarkisian finally broke the seven-win barrier after three years in neutral and was never able to get the best of northern rivals Oregon and Stanford. His teams have also lost in the Alamo Bowl (shootout against RGIII & Baylor) and the Maaco (artist formerly known as Las Vegas) Bowl the past two Decembers. Sarkisian also won't bring along the culture change and shock value that Ed Orgeron installed into the program after taking over for Kiffin. USC didn't lose to UCLA because of Orgeron. They lost because they have barely 60 scholarship players and Jim Mora Jr. has done an incredible job bringing it all together at UCLA. I'm not saying the Trojans should've hired Orgeron either. I don't think that would've necessarily been a slam dunk. But I do believe that his 6-2 run as interim head coach underscored the need for a breath of fresh air. Revisiting glory days is always nice but the jury is still out on whether Sarkisian has what it takes to push USC back into the national title picture as their NCAA sanctions finally end.
3. Washington hits the jackpot and hires Chris Petersen as its new football coach.....This is a move that I never thought I would see. Petersen was very happy at Boise State. His family was very happy with their way of life there. Petersen was also wildly successful. His 92-12 record at Boise makes him the winningest active head coach in Division 1-A (Sorry, I refuse to call it FBS.) football. He went to a bowl game at the end of every season of his Boise State tenure, including two trips to the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. Petersen is also the only coach to ever win the Bear Bryant National Coach of the Year Award twice (2006 and 2009). Boise just put millions of dollars into its football facilities. Boise also has equal access to the new College Football Playoff as the Mountain West made enough of an impact to gain a bit of a national profile. Petersen was comfortable and wildly successful. He has turned down lucrative offers from Stanford, Penn State, and USC among others. But apparently, after sleeping on it and consulting with his wife and children, he felt this was the right time to move. According to several sources, Petersen and his family really like the vibe and way of life in the Pacific Northwest. Petersen is also reported to have said that Washington is a better fit for the way he runs his football program. Case in point, in addition to all of his wins, Petersen's Boise State squad has the second-highest APR (academic progress rate) in Division 1-A. Only Northwestern does a better job of graduating its players.
Petersen and Washington seem like a perfect fit. Petersen is a winner and Washington needs to take that next step. They're also a match for Petersen on a personal level as his family is comfortable with the move and Washington has a feverish fan base and a rising program in a major but not enormous metropolitan market. This was the type of splashy hire that we all thought USC could have made. Some believe it's the hire that USC should've made. My hat goes off to Washington. I never thought Petersen would ever leave Boise. I understand that it's all a business but it still saddens me a bit that he departed. It's a great move and I have enjoyed watching "U-Dub" for quite some time. But a part of me is sad as I love watching great college football coaches stay put and remain a constant in the turbulent lives of many young collegians. I also thought Petersen, Gary Patterson (TCU), Mark Richt (Georgia), and Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern) would never leave. With Petersen now crossed off the list, I suppose I'll have to add Gary Pinkel, who just recently denied any interest in the Washington job and pledged his allegiance to Missouri.
4. Robinson Cano signs a 10-year, $240 million deal with the Seattle Mariners.....I'll start with a brief note about the money. Only Alex Rodriguez (with both Texas & New York) has signed a bigger contract. Albert Pujols signed for the same amount with the Angels. This whole thing is a bit hard to fathom. We knew the Yankees wouldn't go over $200 million and I don't believe they should have either. But who could've seen Seattle coming? Seattle has spent years nickel and diming, picking up utility players and spare parts to put around promising prospect and "King" Felix Hernandez. The Mariners have ultimately paid for that approach with dwindling attendance numbers and a lack of wins. Now the Mariners have to overcommit and overpay to make a splash.
There's no denying that Cano is likely the best second baseman in the game right now but was he worth a 10-year commitment? Cano will be 32 next season. That means the last 2-3 years of his deal, he'll be collecting big paychecks in his forties. I'm sure the Yankees had no interest in doing that again. Cano's numbers are spectacular, especially when you consider he had no protection in the Yankee lineup for much of last season. But one has to wonder if the M's are paying for what Cano has done as opposed to what he will actually do for them. Every time we see players sign these megadeals, performance seems to dip almost immediately. Besides, the Yankees just picked up Brian McCann and Jacoby Ellsbury and still need pitching...desperately. The Mariners and their fans are probably pretty pumped but, just like the Yankees, the Mariners still have a whole lot of holes to fill.
5. The United States gets a miserable World Cup draw.....Over the last four years, excitement over soccer in America has grown in ridiculously large and unquantifiable ways. Nearly all MLS teams have their own, soccer-specific stadiums. Half of the MLS clubs had better attendance figures than over a third of the clubs in Major League Baseball. The NBC Sports Network paid an absolute fortune for the rights to broadcast the Barclays Premier League and has centered its entire network around that and the National Hockey League. Fox paid a hefty price to take the World Cup rights away from ESPN/ABC. The only thing missing a deep run in the World Cup. 2002 seems like forever ago and even though 2010's performance was admirable, fans want more. Things have been looking up under Jurgen Klinsmann. And now we find out that the Americans are in a World Cup group with Germany, Ghana, and Portugal. Germany is currently ranked second in the world by FIFA and Portugal is fifth. Ghana may be 24th (the Americans are 14th) but given the US fits, beating them in the last two World Cups. As if the competition wasn't tough enough, the US will log 9,000 travel miles around Brazil to get to the sites of their three group contests. I know there are some that may think this year's "Group of Death" is Spain, Netherlands, Chile, and Australia but the group the US is in is the only group in which all four squads advanced to the knockout round of the previous World Cup. I'm sure I'll have more on this as the World Cup gets closer but I'll stop here for now.
Random wrestling thought of the post: The Rock has a lot of entertaining promos but his riff before Armageddon (and the 6-man Hell in a Cell Match) in 2000 was classic. Click and enjoy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6k_QYTaWe14
Final thought: On Wednesday night I got to once again enjoy my favorite perk as a New Jersey Devils season-ticket holder: the opportunity to watch warmups from the penalty box. It's always great to be close to the action. Hockey players tend to be unappreciated in the US for the amazing athletes they are. I got lots of great photos and had a great time as always. Here's a few to hold you over until next time.
- Meech
