Nike Rise Commercial

Nike has launched their new Lebron James commercial, named “Rise”, in order to defned their athlete’s most recent decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers and go to the Miami Heat.  Lebron received a lot of anger and hate towards him for switching teams.

            People have said that James has ruined his career by making this switch.  There have been comments about how he has ruined his legacy as an all-time NBA great, that he will never live up to his expectations and that he is a sell-out.  Former NBA players such as Charles Barkley and Michael Jordan have both said that they have lost all respect for James and that he will never be considered to be as good as they are. 

            To combat all these issues Nike released a commercial that not only addresses the issues but shows that Nike and James are not worried about what people have to say.  These address the multiple back lashings that I have discussed in the commercial.  The commercial is a very smart campaign because where in most cases athletes would stand down to the media and admit they were wrong and regret their decisions.  This commercial shows that James is not afraid to face criticism and that he is ready for whatever the media throws his way.  It also show that Nike still fully supports James and will continue to do so no matter what others have to say about James. 

            The one problem with the commercial is that is as opened up James to more scrutiny from other people.   There have been several parodies on the video including one the TV show South Park.  Also the people of Cleveland have come up with their own version of the commercial where the bash James harder than ever before.  They take all the words that James says in his commercial and they twist them so that it hurts his image.  They use phrases such as quitter, trader, back stabber and ending the commercial with the phrase “Quietness” upside down (in the original commercial it ends with “Witness”).  It is a very harsh commercial and I am interested to see how the video affects the media.

            Overall I understand that the city of Cleveland is very upset with James and that they are hurt by his actions and the team is not nearly as good now.  But first and above all, the NBA is a business.  Is harsh as it is to say James does not owe it to the city to keep playing there.  He had every right to switch teams and this happens all the time in the NBA.  The Cavaliers did not bring in any players to help James and he had to carry the entire team on his back.  I believe this is why he left and went to Miami to play with Dwayne Wade and Chris Bosh.  James has no found what he has been looking for the past few years, a load of great players for teammates, which is crucial this day and age in the NBA, and a chance to win the Championship. 

  

Here are the video links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cdtejCR413c

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NvgD9HNTMkM

Randy Dandy

            This week on of the strangest events I have seen in sports took place in the NFL.  The Vikings released star wide receiver Randy Moss after only playing four games with the team.  The Vikings traded their third round draft pick for Randy Moss, which is a very valuable pick in the draft.  I would think that if they did not want Moss they would trade him for something, but instead just let him go, which in essence means they just gave away their third round draft pick.

            As weird as it was for the Vikings to release Randy Moss, the actions by Moss this past two weeks were not much better.  Last week Moss was fine $25,000 by the NFL for not giving any interviews during the week.  When Moss was asked about not giving interviews he responded by saying that they only interviews he would give were the ones where he asked the questions and answered them himself.  That was not a good start but his actions after the game this past Sunday did not help.  The Vikings played Moss’s former team the New England Patriots this past weekend and the Patriots got the better half defeating the Vikings 28 to 18.  After the game, Moss went on a rant talking about how much he missed playing for the Patriots.  He talked about how he missed the employees, players and especially head coach Bill Belichick.  I certainly see how this could upset the Vikings organization.           

            This was not a good move by Moss and it is understandable how the team could be very upset with him.  But releasing a player of his caliber and for what they gave up seems a bit of a rational decision.  He has only played four games with the Vikings and he spent the last three years with the Patriots.  The Patriots have a reputation for being a well-run organization.  While on the other hand the Vikings have been known to be a team that is poorly organized and always in turmoil.  This past offseason they had no idea who was going to be their quarterback and planned for Brett Farve even though he did not show up for training camp.

            The Vikings had also been trying to trade for other wide receivers in the beginning of the season but never could get anything worked out.  The Vikings have also got off to a terrible start this season with two wins and five losses.  The team has been in turmoil all season.

            With that said I think that what Randy Moss said is understandable.  He has tossed into a situation where he was on a bad team, where the coach and the quarterback were fighting with each other, and the team was off to a terrible start.  Especially, after he came from a team where he had one of the best seasons of his career.  I think people should be able to see where Moss is coming from.

            On NFL live analysts Tedy Bruchi and Trent Dilfer, who both are former NFL players, both agreed with Moss.  Even though what Moss did was not a good idea and I understand how the Vikings would be upset, the bottom line is that you cannot let a player as good as Randy Moss go, especially after trading a third round draft pick.  No the Patriots have a chance to sign Moss back to the team if they want and still have the third round pick they got in the trade for him.

A New Champion Will Be Born

            In this year’s World Series, the San Francisco Giants will be playing the Texas Rangers.  Neither of these teams has won a World Series before and both were the heavy underdogs to make it here.  Many people are saying that this is a down World Series and that it will not be as good as previous years.  That the Rangers and the Giants should not be in the World Series because they are not good enough.  Many baseball specialist pick the Philadelphia Phillies not only to go to the World Series but, that they wouldn’t even lose a game until they got to the World Series.

            The mere fact that two of the biggest underdogs in the MLB playoffs made it to the World Series is a good enough reason to watch every second of this series.  Another interesting fact is that neither the Giants nor the Rangers have ever won a World Series.  This means that both teams will lay everything they have down.  They will display the up-most effort and will leave it all on the field. 

            The Rangers had to beat the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, which had the best record in baseball in their first playoff series.  Then they had to face the New York Yankees who have the highest payroll in baseball and were picked to win the World Series before the season even started.  The Giants had to play a tough Atlanta team who they went three and three against in the regular season, so the series cold have gone wither way.  Then they had to beat the Phillies who were predicted to sweep the Giants, beating Roy Halladay who is arguably the best pitcher in baseball.

            If Halladay is the best pitcher in baseball then number two and number three are pitching tonight in game one, Cliff Lee versus Tim Lincecum. Both pitchers have won all the games they have pitched in the playoffs and have done so in a dominating manner.  Both have been virtually un-hittable.  The Rangers and the Giants have also have gotten very hot with their bats and have been hitting well.  Great pitching and great hitting for both teams, what more could you ask for?

            One more aspect is the fans supporting theses teams.  This is a shot for a first championship for either team and the fans know it and are ready to cheer their team on to the fullest.  All the home games for both teams this post season have been sold out and loud.  Also, fans of both teams seem to like to swing towels in the air around their heads to support their team while intimidating the other.  The road teams in each game face a very tough task.  Another interesting fact is that the football teams in both San Francisco and Dallas, the 49ers and the Cowboys, are off to terrible starts on the season, the Cowboys are one and five and the 49ers are one and six.  This makes the Rangers and the Giants the clear focal point for all of the fans in each city.  Michael Wilbon on PTI stated the more Dallas fans would be looking forward to seeing the Cowboys than the Rangers.  Being from Texas I must say that I could not agree more.  This is shaping up to be a great World Series and one that everybody will remember. 

When will it end?

 

Everybody knows that Tim Tebow was the man when he was in college and that he was the biggest name in the state of Florida.  People know about Tebow’s numerous awards such as the most coveted college trophy the Heisman.   People know that he is the all time SEC rushing touchdown leader.  He even had a statue of him built outside of the Florida football stadium while he was still in school.  But many people also know that he was not thought of as being a good NFL quaterback.

            Not only was Tebow such a great athlete but he was also considered to a model citizen with his strong religious beliefs.  He is very vocal about his faith and has maid many retreats to poor countries to help those in need. 

            All this being said, how much attention is Tebow going to get?  How often and how much must he be praised.  Don’t get me wrong, Tebow is both a great person and athlete and I wish him the best, but he has spent the past few years on a pedestal.  He is always the center of the media for every little thing that he does.  This past Sunday Tebow scored his first NFL touchdown on a three-yard rush.  H accumulated 23 rush yards on six attempts for his stat-line on Sunday.  Tebow’s touchdown was on of the top stories on Monday’s sports shows such as “Sportscenter” and “NFL Live.”

            Tebow was not the only NFL rookie quarterback to make a big effort on Sunday.  Colt Mccoy made his first NFL start for the Cleveland Browns.  Mccoy was matched up against the NFL’s best defense in the Pittsburg Steelers.  It was a daunting task for Mccoy as every NFL expert had picked him to fail miserably in Sunday’s game.  Mccoy came out and did the opposite.  Mccoy did not get the win but neither did Tebow.  Mccoy played the entire game for the Browns throwing for 281 yards and a touchdown.  This was the best passing performance against the Steelers all season.  Mccoy did throw two interceptions but this is not uncommon amongst rookie quarterbacks in the NFL. 

            No one wanted to talk about Mccoy’s good performance against the NFL’s best defense.  Instead, the main topic of discussion was Tebow’s first touchdown in the NFL.  I watched multiple highlights on Monday and when the Cleveland Pittsburg highlights were on no one mentioned the performance by Colt Mccoy.  When the Denver Broncos highlight was on Tebow’s touchdown was the focus on the highlight.  Then after the highlight was over Tebow was still a big topic of discussion.  I know that Tebow was an idol when he was in college and I can understand how he would have some hype in the NFL, but how long will he still be the center of attention?  Will every step that Tebow takes on the field always be the center of the media?  There many other players that are going unnoticed while Tebow steals the spotlight for minor accomplishments.

The Very Hot Seat

The Dallas Cowboys are off to a 1-3 start, which is there worst start since 2001.  The Cowboys seem to have multiple problems on the field but the biggest would have to be the team’s discipline.  In the Cowboys’ last lost Tony Romo threw for over 400 yards and three touchdowns, while Felix Jones rushed for over 100 yards.

            Still with these great stats, the Cowboys still came up short against the Titans this past week.  This is why the Cowboys biggest issue is their lack of discipline on the field.  Tony Romo threw three interceptions and Marc Colombo was called with a late penalty for excessive celebration on the touchdown the tied up the game late.  This penalty turned out to be very costly as it set the Titans up with good field position and a late touchdown to give the Titans the edge over the Cowboys.

            With the main problems on the field not being the production of the players but the discipline on the field the main source of the problems, points back to the Cowboys head coach Wade Philips. 

            Wade Philips has a history of being a very passive coach and being mild-mannered on the sidelines during the games.  The problem is that the Cowboys need the very opposite of Wade Philips.  They need a coach that will get in their faces and punish them when they commit penalties on the field or when quarterback Tony Romo throws an interception on a terrible read.  After the Cowboys loss Philips stated the he wants his players to celebrate touchdowns even though a celebration penalty cost them the game.  Philips has also only has one win in the postseason during his four-year tenure with the Cowboys.

            With all this stated it seems to believe the obvious solution to fire Philips and for owner Jerry Jones to look for a new head coach.  But Jones and the Cowboys have previous stated that Philips has nothing to worry about and will retain his job as the Cowboys’ head coach.

            Many people may ask why does Philips have such a secure job?  With all these problems and Philips lack of success in the post season isn’t releasing him the clear-cut answer?  I would think that the sure answer would be to fire Philips.

            But anyone that knows Jerry Jones know that he loves having control over the football team.  He has a history of being over controlling and interfering with the head coaches while they are trying to do their jobs.  Jones has run a numerous amount of successful coaches out of Dallas, some of those being Tom Landry, Barry Switzer, Jimmie Johnson and Bill Parcells.  All of these coaches had very successful tenures with the Cowboys with some of them winning multiple Super Bowls.  But all these great coaches have one thing in common, one thing that may have led all their teams to the success that they had, and that is these coaches had or demanded total control over their football team.  Jerry Jones wanted to have more control over the on-field decisions and this lead the coaches to leave the Dallas Cowboys.

            Wade Philips mild-manner and laid back attitude allows Jerry Jones to do what he wants with the team and have more control.  This in result might be why Philips may not be on a hot seat like most people believe he should.