Simple Idea #6: Put the players in charge

Professional athletes have it the best among all union workers, they receive close to half of the profits in the field, much better than the unions in Detroit. Still, that is not close to what they deserve for what they do. In all 4 major sports, injuries are a major concern and in Ice Hockey and Football in particular, life after retirement isn't that great. The pensions these players get are not enough to support someone that plays in the league for one year and then have their career ended not by lack of ability but by injury. The owners take way too much revenue and even though they are very generous compared to other companies. The one difference is that an NFL owner would not be able to find a non-union wide receiver as good as his current one but a General Motors manager could probably find someone to operate a piece of machinery about as well as someone who currently does it. The solution: players form their own leagues with their own management. Players should not need CBAs to be able to play a sport. They should have free range of where they play because they are the one with the skill, not the owner. All an owner provides is coaching, money, and facilities. Players could get the first two easily, they are extremely rich so they would have enough capital to start the league and if they included coaches into the mix I'm sure they would be happy to join. The facilities issue would have been impossible 80 years ago when teams were in charge of building playing grounds but now a-days that isn't the case. Teams have the cities build the stadiums and lease them from the city. If players were to pull out of their respective league and create their own league, If there willing to share a little bit of the revenue with the city, the city might give them the lease. This was attempted by baseball players early in the 20th century but failed but with players now being more important than the logo, it could work now. Players have the ability to make this happen, but will they ever try?

Simple Idea #5: Make all college sports D-3

From the ridiculous amounts of hours that Division 1 student athletes spend in practice to their lack of academic prowess, there are many reasons why D-1sports should no longer exist. In large schools it is not common for everyone to know everyone but at most ones students are never mixed into student body. At most D-3 schools, student-athletes may room with each other but most of the time they are in the same building as regular students. When students know their athletes, imagine how much more excited the student body would be for each game. Another advantage for the sport itself would be the lack of athletic scholarships. If a coach would want to recruit a poor kid, they would have to make sure it was a poor kid with good grades so that they can give them academic money. Since colleges should be about expanding a kid's horizon and not just a minor league for the NFL or NBA, maybe those leagues should look into another way to develop talent for those not able to afford college. Or maybe the NCAA could loosen up their amateur status and allow for professional teams to pay for a kid's education and allow him to develop in college. Since coaches won't have scholarships they won't be tempted to play scholarship kids over walk ons even if the walk on is better because no one on the team would have a guaranteed spot, making sure each kid works that much harder to reach the next level. Another thing would be that with limited practice time students athletes would be able to focus on their academics instead of being an athlete. If this happens, maybe D-1 athletes will be able to get good jobs out of college, I don't have numbers but from what I've seen on TV, not all of them have great lives. D-3 athletics make both the school and the athletes better, a few weeks ago a saw a picture of a Penn State athlete signing an autograph for a fellow student, maybe that says a lot about both what happened at Penn State and the D-1 Athletics in general.

D-2 Sports are just poor schools who want to play at a D-1 level, no school chooses to be D-2

Simple Idea #4: Give Certain Conferences two automatic bids to basketball tournament

With the system right now only the winner of each conference's post season tournament (excluding Ivy League that uses their regular season champion) gets an automatic bid for the NCAA Division Basketball Tournament. This means that except for the very few conferences that use the regular season to determine which teams qualify for their playoff, the regular season means nothing. The Big Ten, ACC, SEC, Big East, Big 12, and Mountain West should all have two AQ. The Pac-12 sucks at basketball so it makes sense that they shouldn't get an extra bid and the Mountain West is year in and year out a solid conference. Even though the winner of each of these conferences regular season already makes the tournament it would be a nice rule just in case a team has a bad non-conference season and a bad tournament. For league's that are divided between two divisions the winner of each one would play the other in a one off game before the tournament. In addition to this every other conference would have there AQ determined by their regular season. They would still be free to host a post season tournament as a way of helping teams make the national tournament.

Simple Idea #3: NFL team uses the spread

The spread option offense has been used in the college game over the past decade to various degrees of success. The main argument against it that defenders at the pro level are faster than those at the college level but isn't that true of the offensive linemen and the skilled players. Sure, quarterbacks would have to make the decisions at a much quicker rate but these are suppose to be some of the smartest men in the league. Tim Tebow was able to have a little bit of success last year and we can all admit that he is not a very good quarterback, he may be a very good athlete but there are much better in the NFL. The Broncos were also not a very good team but they were able to pull off an upset against the Steelers in the first round of the playoffs. A team with a better offensive line would be more apt for success.

There are probably not too many quarterbacks currently in the NFL that would be capable of running the spread. The likes of Tom Brady, Eli Manning, and Phillip Rivers are just not athletic enough and too good to risk the injury. Michael Vick is too small and injury prone so the offense doesn't fit him. Josh Cribbs has the athletic ability plus the size to do it but he isn't a full time quarterback so despite his wildcat success he wouldn't be apt to run the offense. Three quarterbacks that come to mind are Alex Smith, Vince Young, and Russell Wilson. Smith ran the offense and college and has the size to not get hurt. He also doesn't exactly have a brand to protect. The same goes for Young who might not have as much experience with the spread but is more athletic. Wilson is young, athletic, and willing to prove himself and the Seahawks should be looking for anything to improve their team. The 49ers seem to be the best team run the offense because they are already good and it could take them to the next level.

Simple Ideas #1 and #2: FIFA adopts White Flag Rule and Unplayable Injury Rule

If you do not know FIFA only allows 3 substitutions for league matches and 7 for friendlies. How many players a team has on the bench is determined by their governing body but it is usually 7 for most major competitions. This is a good rule in a normal game because a team has a great advantage by being in better shape and the manager has much less room for error when making a substitution than when he is unlimited ones. This proposition would change the rule slightly. If a team already uses its 3 substitutions and one of their players gets an injury so severe there is no chance they can play like a extremely broken leg, heart attack, etc., they can be replaced. This is fair because a manager cannot predict an injury to  happen. Some may say that a manager should keep an extra substitute on the bench in case of this but what if by some chance they have two severe injuries in one game.

The next change is the white flag rule that can be used in games that are in the first half of the season and in certain games in the second half. Games in the second half that could use this rule would be games between two teams that have cleared relegation as well as being eliminated from Champions' League contention. If a team is getting blown out they can use the white flag rule to allow them to do a wholesale lineup change. All players that get subbed in must be under 21 years old. Both teams must agree to the white flag rule and there is one other case where the rule may be used. If both teams have qualified for Champions League but are eliminated from title contention they may use the rule.

Planning the International Football League

After reading the book Soccer Against The Enemy I realized that soccer is no longer the game that is was 20 years ago. It use to be that the game was based off of domestic leagues in each country and each town would take great pride in their team no matter what division they were in. Often times, teams in the same town were divided along religious lines like in Glasgow where Celtic represents the republican catholics and the the Rangers are supported by the working class protestants or by nation-pride in Barcelona where Barcelona represents the Catalans and Espanol represents the non-catalans. Now a days, the game is so globalized that fans no longer route for their hometown team but for any team they know of growing up. Manchester United is one of the most popular brands in the world and they aren’t even the best team in their own city. To adjust to this there needs to be away for the best players in the world to compete against each other at all times. The World Cup allows this every 4 years and attempts by the Champion’s League, EuroLeague, Copa Libertadores, and the FIFA Club World Cup have attempted to do this on a yearly basis but their needs to be a change of strategy. These tournaments take the best teams from their respective region (in FIFA’s case the world) to compete in the tournament but that doesn’t produce the most desirable soccer on the planet.

Under the old system some of the world’s greatest players would not be able to compete in the elite tournaments because there team wasn’t good enough, the solution, make each team have some of the best players in the world. You need to be careful with this because you cannot destroy each country’s domestic league.Another benefit of a global elite league is that players will not be forced to leave their native country to play elite soccer so players will not be as effected by home sickness. 96 teams may seem like a lot for one league but in reality this will be 4 leagues that combine for a season ending playoff with a league representing each North America, South America + Caribbean, West Europe, and East Europe.

League Setup

North American Cities

1. New York (2 teams)
2. Philadelphia
3. Los Angeles (2 teams)
4. Denver
5. Seattle
6. Toronto
7. Montreal
8. Washington DC
9. Portland, Oregon
10. Boston
11. Vancouver
12. Dallas
13. Mexico City (2 teams)
14. Guadalajara
15. Monterrey
16. Tijuana
17. Puebla
18. San Francisco
19. Houston
20. Chicago
21. Columbus

South American and Caribbean Cities

1. Santo Domingo(Dominican Republic)
2. San Juan(Puerto Rico)
3. Havana(Cuba)
4. Port-au-Prince(Haiti)
5. Kingston(Jamaica)
6. East-West Corridor, Trinidad and Tobago
7. Greater Sao Paulo area, Brazil (2 teams)
8. Bogota, Colombia
9. Lima, Peru
10. Greater Rio de Jaeiro area(2 teams), Brazil
11. Porto Alegre, Brazil
12. Montevideo, Uruguay
13. Greater Buenos Aires area, Argentina(2 teams)
14. Caracas, Venezuela
15. Santiago, Chile
16. San Cristobal, Venezuela
17. Cordoba, Argentina
18. Quito, Ecuador
19. Belo Horizonte, Brazil
20. La Plata, Argentina
21. Asuncion, Paraguay

Western Europe

1. London (2 teams)
2. Manchester
3. Madrid
4. Barcelona
5. Paris
6. Milan
7. Liverpool
8. Amsterdam
9. Berlin
10. Munich
11. The Hague
12. Hamburg
13. Athens
14. Rome
15. Naples
16. Zurich
17. Valencia
18. Vienna
19. Lisbon
20. Dublin
21. Glasgow
22. Marseille
23. Turin

Eastern Europe

1. Bucharest
2. Moscow (2 teams)
3. Istanbul (2 teams)
4. St. Petersburg(2 teams)
5. Kiev
6. Baku, Azerbaijan
7. Minsk, Belarus
8. Warsaw
9. Budapest
10. Belgrade
11. Cairo
12. Katowice
13. Stockholm
14. Prague(2 teams)
15. Helinski
16. Saratov
17. Odessa
18. Zagreb
19. Alexandria
20. Casablanca

Each team would play every member of their own league both home and away with 3 points for a win and 1 win for a draw. The top 4 teams from each table would qualify for the league playoffs which would be similar to the EuroCup. 4 pots would be created for drawing of groups for the tournament with each cup consisting of teams that finished the same place in their league so that all #1 seeds could advance to the finals. Each group would play a league with home and away matches similar to the regular season with only the number 1 team advancing to the semi-finals. The semi-finals would be a little Americanized with the team having the better regular season record getting home field advantage in a best of three game series. The final would be like the super bowl with the game being played at a pre-determined location.

In a later post we will establish the rules for players on each team as well as how each team will work with teams in their respective country’s domestic league.

Player Profile: Ben Sheets

Let's wind the clocks back a couple years to 2008.  There is a pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers named Benjamin Sheets.  The scouting report on him?  96-98 mph fastball and a curveball that will make most big league hitters buckle at the knees.  His filthy stuff and iced blood led him to near no hitters, a game that included 18 strikeouts and maybe one of the biggest cy young snubs in the history of the game.  In 2004 Sheets posted an anemic 2.70 ERA with 264 strikeouts and only 32 walks.  The Brewers gave him miserable run support, however, and he ended up with a 12-14 record that did not reflect the true performance he had.  He would sign a four year 38.5 million dollar deal with the Brewers at the end of the season, the largest in the history of the franchise.  He would be one of the most feared pitchers over the next four years, derailed only by several minor injuries. 

At the end of the 2008 season Sheets tore a tendon in his elbow which would require flexor tendon surgery.  This put off several suitors and he would have to go strenuous rehab.  He worked with the Texas Rangers training staff as they nursed him back to health and in 2010 he signed a one year deal worth 10 million dollars with the Oakland Athletics.  He had a mediocre season that probably didn't do justice to the 10 million dollars he was making, then on July 29th the Athletics announced that he had torn his flexor tendon once again.  This time he would require Tommy John surgery and he missed all of 2011.

Sheets had pretty much given up on the game and had moved on to raising his kid after recovering from the surgery.  He went to his doctor for a routine check up on his elbow and was encouraged there, by his surgeon, to throw again so he began throwing in his backyard with his son slowly.  Ben started to throw harder incrementally and soon was throwing in the 80's.  He help a couple open tryouts for major league clubs to watch him throw where he hit 92 to 93 mph.  He was in the East Cobb area of Georgia with his son when he went to Georgia Tech for another major league tryout.  Many scouts from around the league came due to the respect Sheets commanded from the numbers he put up while pitching with the Brewers.  One club, the Atlanta Braves, took particular interest in him.

The Braves signed him to a minor-league contract on July 1, 2012, nearly two years after the Athletics announced he would need Tommy John surgery.  He took the mound on July 15th for the Braves for the first time against the New York Mets.  Expectations weren't high obviously as no one expected him to recover fully from the surgeries he had to undergo.  He shocked almost everyone by pitching six innings in his return and not giving up an earned run.  Many people called it a fluke, however, and were skeptical of him going into his second start since his return.  All he did to back up his first performance was pitch an identical game, giving up no earned runs over another six innings.  Three starts later he is 4-1 with a 1.41 ERA.  His incredible recovery has been one of the great story lines in baseball this year and has been an inspiration to many fans anywhere.  Ben Sheets is just one of the many reasons we love this game.  

Top 30 Outfielders

Ranking	name	team
1	Mike Trout	Angels
2	Jason Heyward	Braves
3	Michael Bourn	Braves
4	Ryan Braun	Brewers
5	Josh Reddick	Athletics
6	Ichiro Suzuki	Yankees
7	Alfonso Soriano	Cubs
8	Torii Hunter	Angels
9	Austin Jackson	Tigers
10	Alex Gordon	Royals
11	Martin Prado	Braves
12	Melky Cabrera	Giants
13	Andre Ethier	Dodgers
14	Justin Upton	Diamondbacks
15	Josh Hamilton	Rangers
16	Desmond Jennings	Rays
17	Jose Bautista	Blue Jays
18	Alex Rios	White Sox
19	Matt Holliday	Cardinals
20	Andrew McCutchen	Pirates
21	Ben Zobrist	Rays
22	Denard Span	Twins
23	Alejandro De Aza	White Sox
24	Dexter Fowler	Rockies
25	Nick Swisher	Yankees
26	Josh Willingham	Twins
27	Nelson Cruz	Rangers
28	Carlos Beltran	Cardinals
29	Mark Trumbo	Angels
30	Michael Cuddyer	Rockies

Top 14 Third Basemen

Friday Night Preseason Football

Jets At Bengals

Jets: Tim Tebow’s first game with the Jets, if he does well enough Jets and Tebow fans will start to ask that he get the starting job.

Bengals: The lawfirm BenJarvus Green-ELlis makes his Bengals debut.

 

Browns At Lions

Browns: Their first round pick Trent RIchardson will most likely miss the Brown’s first preseason game but 28 year old rookie Brandon Weeden looks to prove that he deserves to start over the younger but more experienced Colt McCoy.

Lions: Despite leading the NFL in offseason arrests the Lions are looking to have a good season and it begins tonight.

 

Giants At Jaguars

Giants: The defending super bowl champs begin their defense tonight after an offseason of subtle improvements we will likely see a team similar to last years.

Jaguars: After failing to get Tim Tebow this offseason they have established Blaine Gabbert as the starter and former Dolphin’s starter Chad Henne as the backup. The Jaguars will use the preseason to decide starters at wide receiver, linebacker, returner, and cornerback.

 

Buccaneers At Dolphins

Buccaneers: Vincent Cruz, last years Charger’s big holdout, plays his first game with young Josh Freemen and hopefully the change of scenery will take him to the next level.

Dolphins: Ryan Tannenhill makes his debut for the Miami Dolphins who are hoping that he will be the answer to their recent quarterback woes since the end of the Dan Marino era.

 

Cardinals at Chiefs

I highly doubt that anyone outside of Missouri, Kansas, or Arizona cares about this game.

Cardinals: Quarterback battle continues to see who gets to throw the ball to Larry Fitzgerald. John Sketlon gets the start after Kevin Kolb got hurt in the Hall of Fame game.

Chiefs: RB Jamaal Charles, TE Tony Moeaki, and S Eric Berry make first game appearances since tearing their ACLs last year.

 

Vikings At 49ers

Vikings: Unlike last year we know that Christian Ponder will be the starting quarterback while the team needs to find out who will fill in for injured Adrian Peterson, Toby Gerhart is the leading candidate.

49ers: If the defense from last year is there the offense will need to step up and tonight will be everyone’s first look.

Top 20 ShortStops

 

	Player	Team
1	Elvis Andrus	Rangers
2	Brendan Ryan	Mariners
3	Jimmy Rollins	Phillies
4	Starlin Castro	Cubs
5	Mike Aviles	Red Sox
6	Alexei Ramirez	White Sox
7	Cliff Pennington	Athletics
8	Yunel Escobar	Blue Jays
9	Zack Cozart	Reds
10	Ian Desmond	Nationals
11	Willie Bloomquist	Diamondbacks
13	Alcides Escobar	Royals
14	Sean Rodriguez	Rays
15	Jose Reyes	Marlins
16	Erick Aybar	Angels
17	Dee Gordon	Dodgers
18	Clint Barmes	Pirates
19	J.J. Hardy	Orioles
20	Brandon Crawford	Giants

 

Players must have played over half of their games at shortstop

Previewing Thursday Night Preseason Games

Football is back in America. With so many stories happening over the off season it is about time we get to see what each team looks like. Here is a brief look at tonight's preseason games.

Redskins At Bills 7:00 PM

Redskins: The introduction of Robert Griffin to the NFL. Will probably not play much but should be exciting to see how well he adjusts to the speed of the NFL.

Bills: Debut of DE Mario Williams. After a few years with the Texans "the guy picked before Reggie Bush" will get a chance to terrorize the AFC East. Vince Young also plays his first game with the Bills.

Ravens At Falcons

Ravens: Joe Flacco begins his contract year to prove that his worthy of an expensive extension. Ray Rice has already gotten his payday and will try to show that he deserves his contract.

Falcons: How has the team progressed? They didn't make any big moves other than signing Asante Samuel who is past his prime.

Saints At Patriots
 
Saints: In a battle of the NFL's favorite teams to punish the Saints play their second preseason under interim coach Joe Vitt. Vitt will leave the team after the preseason and then we will see how the team reacts to the bounty scandal. The Defense will also be watched closely.

Patriots: This team will always be a contender and this year is no difference. Brandon Lloyd plays his first game as a Patriot.

Steelers At Eagles

Steelers: First season playing without Hines Ward.

Eagles: Season two for the dream team. The defense needs to get it together and will the offense establish consistency.

Packers At Chargers:

Packers: after a disappointing end to the season last year the Packers will try to come back and win it all this year.

Chargers: a team that is always close but unable to finish, the Chargers are led by Phillip Rivers who is trying to prove that he is among the top 6 in NFL quarterbacks

Broncos At Bears

Broncos: PEYTON MANNING, 'nuff said

Bears: Need to find out who on the defensive side of the ball will fill in for Brian Urlacher.

Top 20 Second Basemen

Ranking	Player	Team
1	Robinson Cano	Yankees
2	Jamey Carroll	Twins
3	Darwin Barney	Cubs
4	Dustin Ackley	Mariners
5	Danny Espinosa	Nationals
6	Brandon Phillips	Reds
7	Omar Infante	Tigers
8	Aaron Hill	Diamondbacks
9	Neil Walker	Pirates
10	Dustin Pedroia	Red Sox
11	Howie Kendrick	Angels
12	Ian Kinsler	Rangers
13	Jason Kipnis	Indians
14	Steve Lombardozzi	Nationals
15	Dan Uggla	Braves
16	Gordon Beckham	White Sox
17	Ryan Theriot	Giants
18	Robert Andino	Orioles
19	Jemile Weeks	Athletics
20	Kelly Johnson	Blue Jays

Players must play in 50 games at position or have played over half of their games at that