Wild American Gooner

When Sports Are More Than Just Sports

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Oh, How Outsiders Must Hate Boston Right Now

Sports fans around the country must really hate Boston right now. I’ll be the first the admit that I’ve been seriously spoiled in my professional sports fandom. Not only do we win more often than not and possess money to dump on free agents, but we are wonderfully obnoxious about it all – think Bill Belichick deciding to get an extra touchdown rather than kneeling the ball. The last two days have been a spectacular microcosm for the relative power and arrogance of Boston sports that I hope never ends.

To recap, the Patriots routed the NFC North-leading Lions 34-9, doing Patriots things like sitting Sports Illustrated cover boy Jonas Gray for being late to a practice with no consequence at all and running up the score with a needless touchdown. I love that Bill Belichick left Gray active for the game even though he had absolutely no intention of playing him. It may have left the Patriots with one fewer player, but he made the Lions, TV announcers, and millions of fantasy owners wait the whole game to see how long the in-house suspension would last. And how annoyed must Steelers fans be, not to mention fans of any team needing a good running back, that LaGarrette Blount wryly worked his way back onto the Patriots with a serious of childish acts that ultimately will carry no consequences?

At the same time, we had our much overlooked New England Revolution playing in the Eastern Conference Final against the New York Red Bulls and taking the first leg 2-1 on the road on a dubious Jermaine Jones goal. Hate us for scoring goals like that. Hate us for acquiring World Cup star Jones on a literal coin flip. And hate us for not caring one bit that we have a legitimately great soccer team right now – even the owners of the team, the Krafts, couldn’t be bothered to watch the Conference Finals.

There was a Celtics loss in the evening – we have to have one bad team, right? – but before the night was over there was news that the Red Sox had landed Hanley Ramirez for 5 years and 90 million dollars. Given their pursuit of Pablo Sandoval, the move was surprising, but maybe they’d gotten impatient with Sandoval, or believed his price was too high.

Wrong. We all woke to the news that Sandoval too was headed to Boston, for 5 years and roughly 98 million. Wow. The Red Sox spent almost $200 million in twelve hours on a pair of third basemen when the biggest need on the team is very clearly pitching. Somehow, Ben Cherington went in and stole the two best hitters on the market before everyone’s eyes. And it can be argued that he didn’t need to. You can sure hate us for that.

Cherington seemingly sold Ramirez on playing left field, a position he has never played in his big-league career. This is the same player who put up a stink for having to move from shortstop to third base not too long ago. Ramirez also will join an absurdly crowded outfield, although he won’t be the one worried about that. So what convinced him then that this was the place for him? The answer has to be money. Most teams can’t afford to spend money on superstars they need, but the Red Sox do it for players they want.

Sandoval on the other hand chose Boston over similar offers from two other teams, including the Giants, for whom he’d won three World Series titles and become a cult hero. He chose a worse team in a city with notoriously harsh critics in a more challenging league over his home team that didn’t try to undercut him. I can’t begin to understand why he’d make that decision, but I’m sure glad to have his switch-handed hitting bat in the lineup.

On a quick tangent, the Red Sox now have to sort out the mess in the outfield and acquire frontline starting pitching. I think it has to start with Jon Lester. Wouldn’t that be the cherry on top of this month if he signed? And then go after Cole Hamels with a package that includes Deven Marrero (whose path is now blocked for at least two years) and a couple other top prospects. Yoenis Cespedes probably has to go somewhere, so if the Phillies want him, he could be a chip. Next, trade some combination of outfielders for a second-tier pitcher.

I think out of the outfielders left, I want to keep Betts, Victorino, Nava and Castillo. We can’t bank on Victorino being healthy, but if he turns out to be anywhere near what he was two years ago, he’d be a valuable piece in right. And Nava’s left-handed bat and versatility could come in handy as a fourth or fifth outfielder. That leaves Craig, Holt, Bradley Jr., and Cespedes on the outside looking in.

At one point early Monday morning, 4 of ESPN’s top 6 headlines were Boston related. And frankly, although it was a pretty great day to be a fan, it wasn’t particularly out of the norm. We’ve had many days like that in years past. You should hate us for being obnoxious and arrogant. But I hope this run of excellence across the Boston sports never ends.

I don’t know if I necessarily believe that a culture of winning breeds winning, but I believe that a culture that expects winning demands winning. And as fans, we more than any other fan group won’t put up with losing at this point. Lose and we won’t accept it.


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UNC Too Much for Davidson

Davidson hosted a very talented #6 UNC team at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, ultimately falling 90-72. The lower bowl was close to full with roughly equal amounts of Davidson and UNC fans, but Davidson fans were making most of the noise in the early going.

However, on the court, it was UNC whose play did the talking. Davidson got off to a fast start, with Peyton Aldridge ’18 hitting a couple triples in the opening minutes, but after the first media timeout, UNC locked down on defense and Davidson had trouble getting shots up, much less good shots.

UNC’s size proved a problem for the Wildcats on both ends of the court as Kennedy Meeks (19 points, 12 rebounds) and Brice Johnson feasted on the size differential, getting easy buckets on the offensive end and altering shots on the other end. Meeks in particular was impressive for the Tar Heels, going 9-13 from the field and also chipping in a pair of  blocks. On the perimeter, UNC’s guards were using their length to close out every Davidson shooter immediately. As a result, Davidson shot a season-low 30% from 3 and were quite limited with what they could do offensively.

The Davidson player who shone the brightest today was Aldridge, the freshman from Leavittsburgh, Ohio, who finished with a career high 25 points (6-10 from deep) and 6 rebounds . He was active on both ends of the floor, but excelled on offense, where he looked to attack from the opening tip. He was remarkably poised for a freshman, and considering the circumstances, his performance today was excellent.

Defensively, Davidson did okay given the quality of opposition. Rebounding wasn’t as big an issue as it could have been, as everybody chipped in to box out the UNC big’s. However, Davidson wasn’t able to disrupt the rhythm of national player of the year candidate Marcus Paige, who was able to create quality shots for his teammates, and for himself when he wanted to.

After Davidson had hung around for the opening quarter of the game, where UNC pulled ahead was when Davidson let them get out on the break midway through the first half.  When the Wildcats were careless with the ball, or took a bad shot, UNC were down the floor in a hurry. Their athleticism was unlike anything Davidson has seen this year, and UNC took advantage of any hesitancy or indecision.

The second half was much of the same for UNC, who looked comfortable throughout. J.P. Tokoto put an exclamation point on the victory with a ridiculous alley-oop in the final minutes, showing off the athleticism that plagued Davidson all day.

UNC’s defense locked in on Brian Sullivan ’16 and Tyler Kalinoski ’15 throughout and didn’t allow them much space to shoot. Because the Tar Heels didn’t double team anyone on the block, they were able to stick on Davidson’s two best scorers and prevent them from getting going. While Sullivan and Kalinoski did take a number of shots, they were rarely clean looks at the basket. The two captains found other ways to contribute today, but without their scoring, Davidson was always going to have a hard time.

From today’s game, it became clear that Davidson needs to focus on developing their inside-out game over the next month of non-conference play. When UNC didn’t have to worry about anyone scoring on the post, or anyone driving the lane, they stuck to Davidson’s shooters like glue as good Atlantic 10 teams will. Sure, the Wildcats didn’t shoot their best from deep, and to an extent, this team will always live and die by the three against teams like UNC. But they missed the 3’s today because they weren’t always good looks. To get those, the Wildcats need to find ways to get the ball inside more effectively. Davidson has the shooters to compete on a high level, but the offense isn’t quite there yet this year.

I spoke with Brice Johnson in the locker room after the game and he spoke quite highly of Aldridge, saying that he thought players like Aldridge would ensure a smooth transition into the Atlantic 10. (Unfortunately, my audio recorder malfunctioned, so that’s why I don’t have direct quotes).

Davidson’s next game is a trip to UCF on Wednesday night.


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Wildcats Overcome Slow Start to Topple Lenoir-Rhyne in Exhibition

(Written for The Davidsonian in my capacity as sports editor. I will post everything I write on this blog as well as on Davidsonian.com)

Davidson Men’s Basketball opened their 2014-2015 campaign with an 83-56 win over Division II foe Lenoir-Rhyne at Belk Arena in an exhibition game. This was the first time the Wildcats took the new-look floor marked with the Atlantic 10 logos below the free-throw line, and after a sluggish first half, Davidson looks ready for the new challenge.

Trailing 33-30 at the break, The Wildcats got going in the second half thanks to improved play from guards Tyler Kalinoski ’15 and Brian Sullivan ’16. The two captains were each held to a lone field goal in the first half, but at the first media timeout of the second half, they’d combined for 9 points to swing the game in the Wildcats favor. Once the Wildcats got going in transition by forcing turnovers, they were able to find a rhythm in a hurry, building a 20 point lead less than 11 minutes after halftime. Overall, the Wildcats shot 65% in the second half.

Jack Gibbs ’17 was the undisputed star of the day for Davidson, scoring 26 points on an array of 3’s and drives, going 8-10 from the field. The sophomore guard, named a team captain this year, looks a much improved player from a year ago, showing off a new level of confidence on the court. The sophomore had his head up at all times in transition and was able to pick the right times to drive and when to kick. Off the ball, he was lights out from deep, knocking down 5-6 from behind the arc. He seems to have made the next step from a successful freshman season.

The Wildcats had struggled in the first half, shooting a mere 35% from the field in the half – including only 4-14 from inside the arc as Lenoir-Rhyne led for the majority of the half. Were it not for 15 first half points from Gibbs, Lenoir-Rhyne would have held a larger lead than the 3 point advantage they took into the break. The Bears dominated the offensive glass in the first half – they had 8 offensive rebounds – despite starting no players taller than 6’6”. That will be worrying for Coach Bob McKillop, who will certainly know that the Wildcats will need to find ways to rebound effectively despite the lack of size the Wildcats have up front.

Potentially even more so than in years past, Davidson’s offense looked especially reliant on the 3-ball in the early going. Every single one of the starters is looking to shoot, and from the first possession tonight – a Jake Belford ’16 triple deep into the shot clock – it became clear the Wildcats are going to be shooting a lot of 3’s this year. Only when Jordan Barham entered the game midway through the first half did anyone look to drive in the half-court offense.

But the real strength of this team will be transition offense. Gibbs and Kalinoski are pests defensively – each had 3 steals today – and every time they force a turnover, the Wildcats will be a threat. Gibbs has the speed to get up court in a hurry, and his ability to drive will force opposing defenses to back off Davidson’s shooters. That is where the ‘Cats will be the most dangerous. Spot up Sullivan, Kalinoski or Gibbs, and they will knock it down with regularity.

One question that looks to be answered is who is going to start at the 4. It appears the answer is freshman Peyton Aldridge. The Leavittsburg, Ohio product was active throughout, looking to shoot early on, and battling down low. He and the rest of the Wildcats struggled rebounding the ball in the first half, but he played much better in the second half, finishing with 11 points.

Nathan Ekwu ’18 also looks ready to contribute right away. The freshman forward from Nigeria is a major physical presence already, sending one Lenoir-Rhyne attempt back in impressive fashion. He grabbed eight boards off the bench, which helped the Wildcats limit the Bears on the board in the second half. He will need time to acclimate, but he will be a big part of the Davidson bench this year from day one, igniting the crowd with highlight plays on both ends.

Now done with preseason play, the Wildcats begin the regular season Saturday at 2 pm against Catholic at Belk Arena. A date with #6 UNC looms on the 22nd, so the Wildcats will be looking to get off to a fast start in preparation for the contest at Time Warner Cable Arena.

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


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Covering My Bases

It has been far too long since I last wrote about sports. School has been getting increasingly busy and extracurricular activities are piling up such that I rarely have the hours necessary to sit down and watch a game – much less write about it. But I wanted to take this brief window I have before Halloween festivities to touch on a bunch of sports topics.

I’ll start with the Red Sox. I definitely wanted the Sox to bring Koji Uehara back as opposed to gambling on a young pitcher or an Edward Mujica-type, but when I saw the 2-year/$18 million contract he signed, my immediate reaction was that is a lot to invest on a forty-year-old pitcher who broke down at the end of this year. Based on market value, and the pitching talent teams would get for that sort of deal, it would seem to be a good contract for the Red Sox. But I’m just not sure how effective he’s going to be in 2016. The two year deal will force John Farrell to look long-term next year with Uehara, and I would not be at all surprised if he tries to limit how often Uehara goes two days in a row. This deal was made with an eye towards immediate contention though, which I’m happy about.

Everybody wants Andrew Miller and Jon Lester back, myself included. But the prices for those two pitchers will be absurd. If the Red Sox splurge on the two of them, there won’t be a ton left to spend. And if they are back, then you are left with a 2015 Red Sox team that looks very similar to the 2014 team. I don’t think the brass will want that. So realistically, I don’t see either coming back. My guess is there will be one minor free agent signing in the rotation and the rest of the changes will come through trades.

To the Celtics. I was able to watch most of Wednesday’s opener and I don’t think it’s hyperbole to say that game very well might be the best the Celtics will play all year. Beyond Rajon Rondo being back to his assist-happy ways, and an improved Kelly Olynyk, my favorite part about this team is the bench. Too often, recent Celtics teams have lacked second-units that look to score. Marcus Thornton and Evan Turner sure take care of that problem. Add in Marcus Smart’s defense and that second-unit may start to dominate the second quarter. I still think this team will be bad. But they will be able to win games against teams that aren’t 100% focused that night. Teams won’t like playing in Boston this year.

More than anything though, I’m just happy basketball season is upon us. Davidson basketball starts up too in a couple weeks, which I’m pumped for. It’ll be an interesting year for the ‘Cats. There is more talent on our squad than pundits and coaches are giving us credit for – I know the A-10 is good, but there is no way a Bob McKillop coached team finishes 12th out of 14 in the conference. We’re going to have a fantastic backcourt, with Brian Sullivan, Jack Gibbs and Tyler Kalinoski returning to form one of the best guard trios in the conference. And Jake Belford’s 3-point ability will stretch defenses enough to open the drive up. However, the lack of experience and size at the 4 is frankly alarming. I’ve been hearing good things about the freshmen, but they can’t be expected to come in and find their footing right away.

Regardless of how successful we’ll be, I am really excited for the move to the A-10. It’s a necessary step up for a program that had found sustained success in the SoCon. From a fan’s perspective, I’m looking forward to having quality team come to Belk Arena and hopefully the students section can get fired up for some games this year. And as we’re going to rely heavily on the 3-ball, there might be a few upsets over the course of the year. I’ll be posting anything I write about the team on here, so there will be some Davidson basketball coverage on here for sure.

Now to Arkansas. I’m feeling a lot more confident about the Mississippi State game tomorrow than I should be. The pressure is off Arkansas this weekend. The monkey that’s been on our backs all year will feel lighter on the road against the nation’s top team. The Hogs know they can play with anyone, and with all the pressure on State, I’m hopeful Arkansas comes out firing tomorrow. It’s very much a trap game for the Bulldogs and Arkansas should be able to take advantage of that. With Brooks Ellis coming back, I think the defense is up to the challenge of stopping Dak Prescott. Give Jonathan Williams the ball and let the offensive line do the rest. At this point in the season, the Hogs have nothing to lose in this game. It’s time for some Razorback magic.

Lastly, to Arsenal. In theory, tomorrow’s game against Burnley at The Emirates should be a walk in the park. This is the type of fixture that Arsene Wenger should be able to win even with significant squad rotation. He should rest his injury-depleted squad for the midweek Champions League tie. And Arsenal should still be able to win 3-0. But if I’ve learned anything, it’s that Wenger will not rotate the squad at all, Arsenal will labor for much of the match against the parked bus that is Burnley, and the match will be decided by a single goal.

I would like to see Joel Campbell get a start ahead of Santi Cazorla. Cazorla hasn’t looked right recently, and Campbell deserves a real chance. He has looked lively in short bursts so it’s time to see if he can provide the energy needed to break down Burnley. I also think Danny Welbeck could use a break, so maybe Campbell could even be given a chance up top. I wouldn’t be opposed to Yaya Sanogo either. But most importantly, Nacho Monreal should not be playing center back, whether Kieran Gibbs is fit or not. Slide Calum Chambers into the middle and let Hector Bellerin loose, especially in a game like this.

Hopefully, Arsenal will be far enough ahead that Theo Walcott will be able to make a substitute cameo in the second half. His return is vital to Arsenal’s success in the next two months. Before reinforcements are brought in during the January transfer window and before Mesut Özil and Olivier Giroud get healthy, Arsenal need to find their form. The Premier League can’t be won in the first half of the year – yes, Chelsea is still beatable – but it can be lost. The way the Gunners are playing, I don’t think they’ll make it to January within 15 points of Chelsea unless Walcott gets going quickly.

My predictions for tomorrow are a 3-1 win for the Gunners and a 27-26 loss for Arkansas.

What are you excited for this weekend? Basketball? Football? Soccer? Please comment below.


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Almost There Is Not Good Enough

I am a firm believer in what Bret Bielema is doing at Arkansas. There is no denying that today’s 14-13 loss to Alabama marks a dramatic improvement from the 52-0 thrashings Alabama has doled out each of the last two years. But despite the improvement, Arkansas is still a long way away from an SEC win. The conference schedule the rest of the way includes both Mississippi teams – we all know how good they are – a Georgia team that won 34-0 on the road today,  the always tough LSU and a trip to Missouri. All of those will be similarly challenging.

There were certainly a lot of positives against Alabama today, mostly on the defensive side of the ball. Arkansas held Alabama to only 66 rushing yards, only 2.1 per carry. To this point, Arkansas’s defense has been shaky at best. But today, they shut down one of the very best receivers in the country – Amari Cooper was held to 2 catches for 22 yards and a carry for -6 yards – and made a vaunted Alabama offense look incredibly pedestrian. Trey Flowers and Darius Philon dominated up front and caused Blake Sims to appear lost and disoriented all game. Any defense that can make Alabama look well below average has done a spectacular job.

Aside from not catching two sure-interceptions, the secondary also had an outstanding game. I don’t think I’ve said that about an Arkansas secondary in years. They shut down Cooper, and didn’t allow anything over the top. Not one corner got burned one-on-one today. And they also played the run as well as I’ve seen them play. As soon as an Alabama running back got to the edge, there were always four or five Arkansas players swarming to the ball.

The other positive for me was the play of A.J. Derby. His transformation into a legitimate SEC tight end has thoroughly amazed me. Just a year ago, he was one of the worst backup quarterbacks I’ve seen. When he took over against Rutgers, he looked slow, unathletic and he lacked poise under center. But as he’s done all year, he proved today with a long touchdown catch that he is among the best athletes on the Razorback team. The stiff-arm and burst up the sideline was almost McFadden-esque. Who would have thought the player with the best hands on the team would have been Derby?

But despite those positives, this was an extremely disheartening loss. I got a few texts saying I should be proud of how close we’ve played all the good teams. But news flash. In the SEC West, everyone is good. You need to win games – not be close. And for the second game in a row, Arkansas found ways to lose the game when they on the whole outplayed their high-profile opponent. Against A&M it was penalties, today it was turnovers and the inability to capitalize on turnover opportunities on the other side of the ball.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Brandon Allen will not win a football game for you. He’s a much better quarterback than he was a year ago, and he’s an absolute fighter – I point to the 14 yard scramble he had on 3rd and 15. But he’s not somebody that can lead you 86 yards downfield when everybody knows he has to pass the ball. He needs to learn when to get rid of the ball so he doesn’t take so many hits. And he needs to be more accurate with his passes – too many passes today were thrown either a foot high or a foot low. His game-sealing interception came from a throw everyone knows never to make.

So with that in mind, I question the decision of the Arkansas coaching staff to abandon the run in the fourth quarter. I know they hadn’t been successful, but when you pound the ball all game, you should have an easier time running against tired defenders in the fourth quarter. Yet for the second straight game, Arkansas has abandoned the run game late. Why? Allen has consistently proved he can’t lead the team to a win in the fourth quarter.

Also, I would like to personally challenge Alex Collins to be better. He is one of the best backs in the league. But he hardly was involved today because of a fumble and general ineffectiveness. If he considers himself to be a Heisman-quality running back, he needs to step up in big games. Not hide. At Arkansas, it doesn’t matter if you can run for hundreds of yards against Texas Tech. It matters that you can pick up yards against the Alabamas and LSUs of the world. Collins must prove he can do that.

So here we are again. Arkansas is now looking at a 4-12 season if they can’t close games. Frankly, I don’t know how Arkansas will respond against a Georgia team riding a high next week. Hopefully, an appearance in Little Rock can inspire the Hogs, but I’m not sure. Today’s crowd was pretty awesome. Nothing is going to come easy this year. To win with this schedule, Arkansas needs to play an almost perfect game. But they can do that. I will not accept the notion that they can’t succeed. Being in the SEC West is not an excuse. Watch this team play and it’s clear they are among the best teams in the country. But they will not succeed unless they start treating the fourth quarter like the first. They have to believe.