12 comments Three Columns For Tuesday

I couldn't decide which of these columns to cover for today, so I just decided I was going to cover them all. Today we find that Woody Paige loves Tim Tebow, Jay Mariotti hates Jewish people, and Tracy Ringolsby really hates Alex Rodriguez.

I will start off first with the Tracy Ringolsby column on Alex Rodriguez. Tracy's picture says, "sure I may be named Tracy, but you can tell by my cowboy hat and serious demeanor I will rustle up a can of whoop-ass on you for mocking my name."

He opens that can of whoop-ass on A-Rod. Before I go defending A-Rod (again), I want to call him a cheater, a liar and a person who does tend to get under the skin of others because he just has something about him that makes you want to punch him in the face. That being said, Tracy Ringolsby finds a few new things to blame on A-Rod that aren't his fault.

Maybe it was an inadvertent misstep that led President Obama to fail to mention Alex Rodriguez’s name during the Yankees visit to the White House on Monday — or maybe the teleprompter just skipped a page — but if Rodriguez wants to be respected, the best advice he can be given is to learn to respect others.

Maybe they should send A-Rod back to pre-school and they can teach this to him. I am sure it would make a great reality show series on MLB Network. I have no other ideas at this point because he has played in MLB for a long time and hasn't seemed like he will change now or ever.

This is the guy, remember, who had it leak out during the clinching game of the 2007 World Series that he was going to exercise the option to void what remained of his contract with the Yankees (which led to his new deal). What the heck? His team wasn’t even in the World Series that year.

So it would have been perfectly fine for A-Rod to leak the information he was opting out of his contract if his team was in the World Series that year? It really would have been fine to leak this information while he was still playing? How come I don't believe this?

I never had a problem with that information being leaked at that point. The media went ape-shit over this information being leaked, but what is conveniently forgotten is that the media didn't have to report the information. They chose to make it a story by reporting it. Also, Brett Favre spends entire summers monopolizing the spotlight and taking the focus off of anything else going on in football, but no one accuses him of not respecting the game of football. Hell, Favre even had a commercial come out during the Super Bowl lampooning his annual retirement/non-retirement dance, which reminded us all he had not made a decision on his status for next year. Other stories take away from important games, it just happens sometimes.

What Favre did/does is not as severe as what A-Rod did, even though I didn't have a problem with the news of his opting-out being leaked in 2007, but there have been plenty of stories that have been important and come out during important games in all major sports. Usually, the players don't get as much blame as A-Rod has gotten for what happened in 2007. It's not like the media had to report it.

And that wasn't the first time A-Rod put his own needs ahead of an organization. Tom Hicks, the man who is attempting to sell the Texas Rangers, was able to cover the Rangers’ share of Rodriguez’s 10-year, $242 million deal signed before the 2001 season, despite Hicks’ bankruptcy problems.

So it is A-Rod's fault that Tom Hicks paid him so much money and now is going through bankruptcy problems? Should A-Rod have asked Hicks if he could afford it before he signed the contract or asked to inspect Hicks' books to make sure the long-term financial future of the company looked good? This situation isn't his fault. Blame Hicks, not A-Rod.

It’s the working stiffs with the Rangers, the ones who had their future caught up in a Hicks-created retirement plan, who are left with nothing to show for their efforts.

And somehow, someway, that is A-Rod's fault? So it is A-Rod's fault Tom Hicks paid him so much money, then mismanaged his business to where he was losing money, and now Hicks' employees are suffering...because of Alex Rodriguez and his greed? Should he have attended board meetings with Hicks? Why doesn't massive contract given to Chan Ho Park by the Rangers get some blame also? Because it is Chan Ho Park and not Alex Rodriguez?

Not that it would matter to Rodriguez. He lives in his own little world, and he is oblivious to anyone else.

Why should it matter to Alex Rodriguez that the owner of the Texas Rangers is having money problems? It isn't his job to run the Rangers. When an athlete signs a contract with a team, does that mean he is also liable for any financial problems that team may encounter? Should an athlete pay a financial auditor to make sure a team is financially secure and can afford the contract offered to him before signing on the dotted line?

It should be noted that Oakland pitcher Dallas Braden’s public whining about the Rodriguez snub was almost as ridiculous as Rodriguez’s inability to properly navigate his way around the bases.

I actually thought A-Rod's asshole response to Braden's public whining was kind of funny. You don't run over the mound, but if Braden is going to call A-Rod out publicly, I think to mock Braden's career victories is asshole/funny kind of payback. I realize I am in the minority on that.

Rodriguez's act of arrogance in Oakland wasn’t his first ( and most likely won’t be his last) inability to show respect to the game and its participants.

A-Rod meant to walk across the pitcher's mound. He was being passive-aggressive and just an overall asshole. He was trying to get under the skin of the opposing team, which is sometimes seen as a good thing. Bert Blyleven wrote an entire article three weeks ago about "gamers" and how their teammates love them because they got under the opposing team's skin intentionally. When A-Rod does it, everyone hates him, because pretty much no one likes A-Rod. Still, there is a thin line between a "gamer" who tries to irritate the other team and what A-Rod did by walking over the pitcher's mound.

Among other things, there was that May 30, 2007 game in Toronto when Rodriguez, on second with two outs, is alleged to have yelled "Mine!’’ on a pop-up, prompting Toronto third baseman Howie Clark to step back from underneath the ball, allowing it to drop and permitting a run to score.

I firmly believe that if a player like Eric Byrnes or Daren Erstad had done that, they would have been lauded for doing whatever it takes to win and trying to get under the other team's skin. Doing what A-Rod did is no different than the second baseman or shortstop pretending to prepare to catch a relay throw from the outfield or feign the ability to catch a line drive that is over their head in order to confuse the baserunner.

Sure, A-Rod verbally confused Howie Clark by calling "mine" and it was a dick move, but I really do think if another player had done that it would be looked at in a positive light. A-Rod strikes me as the kind of guy who tries to so hard to be a part of the group, he just fails in many ways. He's the guy who sees his friends picking with each other and then makes a joke about someone's mom, wife or girlfriend that is over the line. It's like he lacks a social skill necessary to tell the exact difference in gamesmanship and just being a jerk.

Rather than going over part of the mound, just enough to make Braden overreact and look like an asshole for calling him out, where A-Rod could also saying it was a mistake and he didn't mean to, A-Rod goes over the entire mound and then pretends to not know the rule. He sucks at being passive-aggressive.

At least ``Tommy,’’ his personal attendant, was exonerated from wrongdoing. Remember Tommy? When Rodriguez was with the Texas Rangers, he wasn’t about to accept anything but total attention from the clubhouse folks so he had his own attendant with him at all times. He initially took ``Tommy’’ to New York with him, but after a year, Tommy’s ballpark presence ended.

A-Rod is not the first or the last player to request a personal attendant in the clubhouse. This column is going from a "today's players doesn't respect the game of baseball" column to a "let me list all the things that piss me off about A-Rod."

It has to eat at Rodriguez now to have to play alongside Derek Jeter. Those who were around him in both Seattle and Texas say the easiest way to set Rodriguez off would be to say something complimentary about Jeter.

Again, this has nothing to do with Alex Rodriguez respecting the game. Tracy Ringolsby is listing things he doesn't like about Alex Rodriguez again. He's a jealous person who has some weird social quirks that make him an easy target when he screws up, but I am not sure if that means he doesn't respect the game.

But Rodriguez is hardly alone in not showing respect for the game.

Yet this entire article was about Alex Rodriguez and doesn't name another single player who doesn't respect the game. It seems that A-Rod is actually alone in not respecting the game.

Don Baylor was hit by more pitches than anybody in the history of the game who did not wear padding, and yet he charged the mound only twice.

So any player who charges the mound doesn't respect the game? Don Baylor also intentionally got hit by the pitches, so there was no need to charge the mound because he WANTED to get hit:

"I could have been hit another 100 times if I hadn’t gotten out of the way. I didn’t go up there to get hit. I went up and crowded the plate to take away the outside strike and make pitchers come in to me. It evolved into part of my game. Hit me, I’ll steal a base on you." - Don Baylor in The News Tribune (Larry LaRue, 05/27/2005)

Yet Ringolsby goes on as if Baylor didn't seem to want to get hit.

Instead, Baylor and other like-minded players would send their message in a more emphatic manner. They would slide hard into the second baseman or shortstop on a play at second base, and let the middle infielder take the message to the pitcher in between innings.

The gritty, hustling way to take care of this issue is to attempt to injure a player who had absolutely nothing to do with you getting hit by a pitch. That's the professional way to show respect for the game. If someone from one team punches you, go punch someone else on the team in the hopes the message gets around. Nothing shows respect for the game of baseball by trying to "cleat" a second baseman because the pitcher hit you with a pitch. Maybe that shows respect in Ringolsby's eyes, but it also doesn't make a lot of logical sense.

Maybe what it all boils down to is, quite simply, Rodriguez is the high-priced poster boy for an age of self-indulgence.

That could very well be it. Thank God we have old-school writers like Tracy Ringolsby who wear cowboy hats and tell us the respectful way to play the game of baseball. It was very selfish of A-Rod to sign a contract with a Major League Baseball team without attending board meetings or investigating the financial statements of the team he was signing with. I know that for sure. Why didn't he check out the Ranger's financial books first? That is his job and all as a baseball player for the Rangers.

If so, he wears the label well.

I can't figure out if this article is really about respect for the game of baseball is eroding or is more about how Tracy Ringolsby wants to bring up a few more things, like the financial state of the Texas Rangers and the evolution of charging the mound after being hit by a pitch, so he can blame Alex Rodriguez for them.

-Jay Mariotti has a "Dez Bryant" story of his own that happened to him. Sadly, no one asked Jay Mariotti if his mom was a prostitute because I would have paid to see his face when he was asked that.

"Are you anti-Semitic?"

The editor asked the question and then stared me down, convinced I was guilty, all because a sports-franchise owner didn't like me and sometimes pressured the newspaper into intimidating me.

I am 100% positive that whatever Jay Mariotti did to make this sports-franchise owner dislike him was absolutely deserved. Also, it is pretty obvious this sports-franchise owner is Jerry Reinsdorf. He is Jewish and has two teams in the city of Chicago where Mariotti used to write for the Sun-Times.

In another meeting in his office, the same editor forearm-shivered me into a wall as I tried to leave the room and escape his wrath.

I love how Jay Mariotti does everything in his power to make himself always seem like the victim. He takes shots at sports figures and then acts shocked when they come at him to take ownership of his remarks.

These incidents happened several years ago at the hopelessly chaotic Chicago Sun-Times, and I relate them now because I, too, have had a Dez Bryant experience.

Oh no, you can't. Jay Mariotti wasn't a 21 year kid who had an interview question asked about his mother. He was a grown man who was being taken to task for remarks that he had made about someone else. Dez Bryant did nothing to deserve the question he received from the Dolphins. I am sure Jay Mariotti did something to deserve the "intimidation" he got.

Then Mariotti goes on to talk about how bad the question to Bryant was...it was a kind of asshole-ish question, but if a team is going to spend millions of dollars on a draft pick they probably want to find out everything they can about the player. It doesn't excuse the question, but we also shouldn't act like this is a normal job interview that was being conducted.

Bryant clarified. "I got mad -- really mad -- but I didn't show it. I got a lot of questions like that: Does she still do drugs? I sat and answered all of them."

To be fair, his mom was fairly well known to have used drugs when Bryant was young. This is part of Bryant's story he has told, so he may have gotten asked about it at some point.

So why wouldn't Goodell, in the same context and interest of league preservation, ban Ireland from work for a significant period and sock the Dolphins with the franchise equivalent of a six-game suspension -- say, a $3 million fine? That's the approximate figure Roethlisberger would lose during his ban, right?

This is apples and oranges. Ireland was out of line, but I am not sure a $3 million dollar fine to the Dolphins is appropriate here, simply because Ben Roethlisberger got a similar fine (in the form of a suspension) for his conduct in Georgia this spring and Las Vegas last summer.

Why? Because more is at stake than just maintaining a discipline equilibrium in how players and management are dealt with. Ireland, you see, is white. Bryant is black.

I wouldn't have even thought about this until now.

But NFL executives are under pressure not to waste big bucks on bad people. So they look under rocks that, in the end, are meaningless to the issue at hand. If Dez Bryant catches the football, scores 12 touchdowns next season and behaves himself off the field, no one will care if his mother is a supermodel or an alien from outer space.

I agree the question was out of hand, but a team is investing large amounts of money into these players. They want to be able to probe the players to make sure the investment is worth the risk they are taking on the player. If Bryant plays well, then no one will care, but if a player's family has a history of violent crime or affiliation with gangs, but a team can't ask about that...then 3 years later that player is involved as the victim or perpetrator in a violent crime, the team will have wished they could have asked more probing questions. It's just a fake scenario and Ireland's question was out of line, but we can't ignore the investment teams are making in these players either. I am not excusing the question, but the team really wants to know what kind of player they are going to be drafting.

No one had my back when I was called "anti-Semitic.''

Because no one likes Jay Mariotti. At some point he has to realize this.

The commissioner better have Bryant's. A lot of people, particularly in the black community, are watching and waiting.

I am not sure this is a black or white issue, but more of an issue about what is appropriate to ask a player prior to the draft and what is not appropriate to ask a player prior to the draft...no matter how much Mariotti may want to not believe this is true, it isn't a racial issue nor does it have anything to do with if Jay Mariotti was asked if he was an anti-Semitic person.

-Woody Paige does not like it when you question Tim Tebow's ability to play in the NFL. Let Woody clear his throat as he answers a question about Tim Tebow and goes off on the questioner a little bit.

Would you mind leading us all in a rendition of "Happy Trails" for Broncos coach Josh McDaniels after his idiotic 25th pick in this year's NFL draft of Tim Tebow? Does he really think Tebow is a franchise quarterback? I'd rather take my chances with Brady Quinn and draft a center or nose tackle with that pick. I'm not a general manager or a head coach, but I do know that if you're going to draft a QB in the first or second round, you had better expect him to be your franchise player. Tebow is not that.

— Robert, Atlanta

Ready for some sarcasm on the part of Woody Paige? I don't hate Tim Tebow, but one of the reasons I wouldn't be terribly sad to see him fail in the NFL is just so self-righteous guys like Woody Paige will have to eat their words when they are absolutely sure Tim Tebow will be a great success in the NFL. It is like they take personal offense to the idea he may not succeed. I love Ndamukong Suh, but I don't get all pissy when someone says he may not be a good NFL player, yet sportswriters get incredibly emotional over Tebow's future success in the NFL. They like him personally and let that affect their writing.

Robert: I bow to your expertise and welcome your opinion from Buckhead,

There's the sarcasm.

How in the name of God Shammgod (former NBA player) can you sit there staring at your computer screen in Atlanta and claim Tim Tebow won't be a franchise quarterback? Based on what? Your barber told you so?

How about this is based on the fact the following are the quarterbacks drafted in the 1st round since 2000. Let's see how many appear to be franchise quarterbacks (By the way, franchise quarterback is a pretty tough standard to meet anyway, so I am just going to say competent quarterbacks):

2000: Chad Pennington (yes)
2001: Mike Vick (yes, though I could debate this)
2002: David Carr (no), Joey Harrington (no), Patrick Ramsey (no)
2003: Carson Palmer (yes), Byron Leftwich (no), Kyle Boller (no), Rex Grossman (no)
2004: Eli Manning (yes), Phillip Rivers (yes), Ben Roethlisberger (yes), J.P. Losman (no)
2005: Alex Smith (no), Aaron Rodgers (yes), Jason Campbell (no)
2006: Vince Young (no...not yet), Matt Leinart (no), Jay Cutler (yes)
2007: JaMarcus Russell (no), Brady Quinn (no)
2008: Matt Ryan (yes), Joe Flacco (yes)

I am not going to do the 2009 draft because it is too early to tell. Based on data since 2000, of the 23 quarterbacks taken, 10 of those can be considered "franchise" quarterbacks. So less than 50% of the quarterbacks taken in the 1st round since 2000 (excluding 2009) are considered franchise quarterbacks and of the 23 quarterbacks taken, just 12 of them are projected to start for an NFL team this year.

So Robert from Atlanta has some pretty good data backing up his claim that Tebow won't be a franchise quarterback. Woody doesn't give a shit though.

I vividly remember writing in 1982, when the NFL strike was going on and I decided to travel around to see college players (Eric Dickerson, Herschel Walker and several others), and I wrote a column saying: "I have seen the future of pro football, and his name is John Elway."

So because John Elway succeeded in the NFL, and Woody Paige thought he would, this means Tim Tebow will succeed also?

Five Super Bowls. Hall of Fame.

Retarded reasoning. Half-ass thinking.

Tebow's assistant coach at the University of Florida in his senior season (and a main reason Tebow returned) was Scot Loeffler, a former NFL quarterbacks coach and one-time Michigan quarterback and Michigan assistant. He played with Tom Brady and was a graduate assistant helping Brady his senior year. Loeffler worked with Chad Henne, the Dolphins' starter. Loeffler has compared Tebow favorably to both guys.

Well I didn't realize an assistant coach at Florida compared Tebow to Tom Brady. That makes all the difference in the world coming from an unbiased source like this. Perhaps we should have asked Tebow's parents for their unbiased opinion as well on their son's future prospects in the NFL.

Tebow did have a low start-up point on his throws in college, but he hired three former NFL coaches, and he has corrected the hitch.

Some claim he will go back to it. I don't believe so.

See, that's Woody Paige's opinion, not a concrete fact. Tim Tebow may end up being a great quarterback in the NFL, I will still make fun of the media's love for him throughout his career, but the opinion of Woody Paige that Tim Tebow won't go back to the hitch in his throwing motion he had in college is pure opinion. I don't Tebow, but to be able to predict anything he can/will do in the NFL is just speculation. I took a look at Tebow a few months ago and I never ruled him out as being a great NFL quarterback. I don't like him as a first round pick at all, but I may be wrong.

How many times have you talked to him, Robert? Let me guess.

That's just being an asshole. Just because a person hasn't talked to Tim Tebow doesn't mean a person can't predict his future in the NFL, just like meeting him doesn't mean a person can predict his future skill level in the NFL. If this was the case, there would never be a quarterback bust.

How many times have you seen him play in person? How many of his coaches and opposing coaches and NFL coaches have your talked to?

Doesn't it sound like Woody is being unbiased and unemotional about his opinion of Tim Tebow? It is like someone has insulted Woody Paige's family, he is taking real offense to the mere suggestion Tebow isn't a franchise quarterback. This is a great example of a sportswriter getting too emotionally involved with a player, which compromises what little objectivity sportswriters are supposed to have.

When he comes into a room, you can tell he's a quarterback. There's a je ne sais quoi. But there's a special quality.

He's charismatic and a nice guy. That can't be denied. Ryan Leaf looked like a quarterback and other quarterbacks have had that aura. It doesn't necessarily lead to success.

When he was in high school, Tebow attended a "Friday Night Lights" weekend at the University of Florida. After a meeting of young players and coaches, the Gators' strength and conditioning coach took Tebow downstairs to the weight room for a cheeseburger.

As the two sat there having lunch, Tebow asked what the Florida record was for most leg lifts. Mickey Marotti, the coach, replied: "Oh, 18, I think, by some lineman." After he finished his fries, Tebow walked over to the weights, did 19 lifts, and left.

That's a great story and it shows just how strong Tim Tebow is. Unfortunately, this goes to show Tebow's dedication and weight-room work ethic, but isn't a great example of he can read NFL defenses or be an NFL quarterback.

Did the fact Peyton Manning couldn't lift a ton of weights make him less likely to succeed in the NFL?

He has a body that punishes defensive linemen. He can run better than Elway did.

That's great. Unfortunately, Tebow's job as a quarterback isn't to punish defensive linemen or fun the ball, but to play quarterback. Sure, there will be running involved, but NFL defensive linemen are a lot bigger than college linemen, so they will be punishing him back. Tebow isn't the most elusive guy in the open field from what I have seen either, so a coach isn't going to want his quarterback to take the punishment and run like Tebow did in college. I just thought I would mention this.

I will tell you who to compare Tebow to: Steve Young.

Fine. But this doesn't mean he will be as good as Steve Young. He reminds me of a less mobile and bigger Steve Young. He doesn't appear to be as mobile nor as much of a natural passer as Young was coming out of BYU. I am not hating on Tebow, just being honest. He may end up being great, but these are the facts for right now.

But the NFL didn't think much of him, and people thought the left-hander would have to play another position in the pros. So Young went off to the USFL (signing with the Los Angeles team owned by Denver cable mogul Bill Daniels) and was great.

They didn't like him because he was left-handed and "too athletic", not because they questioned his actual ability to play quarterback.

When Montana was hurt, and later when he was traded, all Young — who didn't have a strong arm, but could throw hard and could run harder — did was become the most accurate passer in NFL history and win a Super Bowl (with Mike Shanahan as his offensive coordinator).

So naturally this means because Mike Shanahan was an offensive coordinator for the 49ers when Steve Young was the quarterback there, and Woody Paige just compared Tebow to Young...then Tim Tebow will be as good as Steve Young. It's a natural progression in Woody's mind.

Shanahan loves Tebow.

Just not enough to draft him at #4. Just not enough to the point where he wouldn't rather trade for a 30-something quarterback and trade draft picks from a team that needs draft picks. Just not enough to do ANYTHING to try and get Tim Tebow to play for the Redskins.

That must not be enough for you, Robert. You would prefer an inside linebacker. The Broncos just signed a veteran inside linebacker, and they still have Mario Haggan on the team, and they will be fine there.

This is exactly why people don't like Tim Tebow. I can't believe how personally Woody Paige is taking this criticism of Tim Tebow. It's not even about whether Tebow will succeed or not anymore, it is that Robert from Georgia DARED to criticize Tebow's potential.

Football and sports are entertainment. What's more entertaining in the NFL than the drafting of Tim Tebow?

A winning team.

McDaniels will bust himself to make Tebow a better quarterback, and I know Tebow will bust everything he has to prove people wrong who are somewhere off in Atlanta.

I will never question Tebow's work ethic. I just question how his skills translate to the NFL since 50% of 1st round quarterbacks since 2000 (not including 2009) have busted.

Tebow is not that? You don't know. Maybe I don't know. But I do know you and I and everyone else reading this mailbag will pay attention to him, more than Sam Bradford or Colt McCoy or Rolando McClain, and there will be anti-Tebowers and pro-Timmys.

So is it about entertainment or making the Broncos a good team? It seems like this entire rant has been about making the Broncos good, not the entertainment factor, but not Woody is arguing that Tebow will be an entertaining guy. If he wants entertainment, get Tebow to headline at Vegas.

Besides, when I shook hands with Tebow the other day, I was stunned by the large size of his hands. He's not going to fumble.

Unfortunately, how big a player's hands are doesn't have everything to do with whether he fumbles a lot or not. Fumbling is also based on how the quarterback holds the ball, plus even a quarterback with big hands will fumble if a defensive end gets a hand on the ball while the quarterback is winding-up to throw.

All through this answer to the question, Woody did not once mention Tebow would succeed because his skills translate to the NFL. It was all about who Tebow reminded Woody of, how strong Tebow was, how big Tebow's hands were, and how overall large Tebow's body is...but nowhere was quarterback ability mentioned except to directly compare Tebow to other great quarterbacks.

This is one of the reasons people have turned against Tebow a bit. Sportswriters, announcers, and others throw away all modesty and fawn over him and take it as a personal offense to indicate he may fail. He may not fail in the NFL, but drop the pom-poms.