Nationals Arm Race

(ed note: thanks to commenter for pointing out error in headline! )

(Note; for those of you who don’t know me, not only am I an ardent Washington Nationals fan but I’m also an Arsenal supporter and a soccer fan in general.  I began to follow soccer in general when the World Cup came to America in 1994 and really started to get into the sport by the early 2000s, visiting European cities and seeing games with family and friends, watching the games from the 2002 World Cup in the middle of the night, and beginning to follow the three big european leagues in England, Italy and Spain).

Despite Arsenal’s lack of world class striking talent … they are hanging in on this year’s EPL race.   And, Tuesday’s 2-1 Chelsea victory over Man Utd at Stamford Bridge has suddenly thrust Arsenal firmly into the title race.

At the beginning of the season, it seemed that the Schedule makers were playing a cruel joke on Arsenal.  Of their matchups against their top rivals (the “big four” teams including themselves, Chelsea, Manchester United and Liverpool) as well as matchups against the newly arriving challengers in the EPL (Manchester City, Aston Villa and Tottenham), 5 of their first 6 matchups were away from home.  If Arsenal could keep pace, then having reverse matchups at the Emirates on the back-side of the season could prove to be a massive advantage in the title race.

Now, that’s seemingly exactly where we’re heading.  With a game in hand (at Tottenham, which upset Arsenal at the Emirates 2-3 back in December), Arsenal trails Man Utd by 4 points.  If Arsenal draws at Tottenham when they replay the game (a fully possible result given that Tottenham has zero chance of winning the league but is advancing in Europe), they’d be 3 back exactly.  Here’s the “big 4” game matrix as it stands now (home games read across, away games down, and scores listed as home-away in the European method of showing scores).

This leaves this “mini-table” of just big four results;

Man Utd still has the best record against its biggest rivals … having taken 6 points from 3 games.  But they have the hardest schedule coming in:  Man Utd travels to the Emirates at the end of April.  Arsenal has already beaten Chelsea at home handily and would have to be considered favorites to take all 3 points.  Meanwhile, Man Utd still has Chelsea at home, and away games at Liverpool to deal with.

Arsenal’s slate is much easier; away game at Tottenham, home games against Liverpool (who they tied away earlier), Aston Villa (who they destroyed in Birmingham early in the season) and the Man Utd game.

The 4/30/11 Arsenal-Man Utd game may very well decide the title race.

Photo courtesy of ESPN Films, the producers of the series.

For me, the ESPN “30 for 30” series was one of the best creations of TV over the past few years.  The documentary approach to sports journalism has been refreshing and (in most cases) great TV.  When sports programming can keep even a passing sports fan (my finacee) interested and asking for more, you know its been done well.

I listen to almost exclusively podcasts in the car these days, and one of my favorites is the “Firewall and Iceberg” podcast recorded by the lead TV reviewers Alan Sepinwall and Dan Fienberg from www.hitfix.com.  I first learned of reviewer Alan Sepinwall by his appearances on Bill Simmons‘ podcasts (which are first in line to listen to when they get released) and really enjoy his reviews online and their podcasts.

I happened to be perusing the hitfix.com site lately (I was looking for the name of a show they were extolling on the latest podcast) when I came across this link: Dan Fienberg’s rankings of the 30 “30-for-30” shows.  While I did appreciate most of his comments, I didn’t necessarily agree with the rankings he came up with for the programs.  Since i’ve seen every one of the series, I thought i’d go ahead and do my own rankings.

Disappointing or Unwatchable

• “Marion Jones: Press Pause”   As most critics have noted, this essentially turned into a glorification of Marion Jones and never once delved into her steroids usage, why she did it, or touch on any of the real issues involved with her.
• “Without Bias” – It essentially was a step-by-step review of the story of the player without adding much analysis to the story.
• “Straight Outta LA” – Unwatchable, I turned it off halfway through.  Ice-T‘s not much of a filmmaker.
• “One Night in Vegas” – Another really weird documentary, especially with the gangsta-poem readings at the beginning and end of the show.  I find it really difficult to glorify the death of a rap star who essentially talked his way into being a target.
• “Silly Little Game” – Re-enactment of the first group of people to play fantasy baseball; it sounds as interesting as watching the first accountants come up with regulatory principles in a room together.
• “The House of Steinbrenner” – This wasn’t so much a documentary as it was a glorification of a franchise that has used its superior financial might for the entire century.  Poor Yankees fans; your stadium has been replaced with a Billion dollar monstrosity that has $4,000/game seats and is guaranteed to skew the revenue system in baseball for another 50 years.  Awesome.

Watchable but could have been done better

• “The Birth of Big Air” – Matt Hoffman certainly is an interesting character but I don’t really consider extreme sports of any kind to be “real” sports.  Yes they’re difficult feats of athletic prowness … but so is ballet dancing.  Yes, i’m difficult to watch most olympic sports with 🙂
• “The U” – Too long, and gets bogged down in the year-to-year machinations of the program.
• “Unmatched” – Such an uncomfortable documentary; I came away from watching it with the interesting storyline that Evert and Navratilova were such friends … but the tone of the story and music choices had me essentially waiting for the lesbian coupling that seemed to be so pushed by the filmmakers.  Ugh.
• “Little Big Men” – Good story, but there’s been so many American little league winners, as well as the dilution of the field, that this story loses its impact.
• “Guru of Go” – Perhaps combining both the story of Hank Gathers’ death AND the basketball system of Paul Westphal confused the story.
• “The Legend of Jimmy the Greek” – one of the very first ones shown and certainly an interesting story, but the re-enactment voice over ruins the story.
• “June 17, 1994” – Brings bad some strange memories.  I loved the never-before-seen footage of sportscasters but I thought the story could have done with actual images and story telling.
• “Run Ricky Run” – Another weird documentary.  Hard to feel remorse for a drug using athlete though.
• “Muhammad and Larry” – This was perhaps the most depressing of the series.  Ali was so brain damaged by the time he took this fight, it seems almost criminal now that he was allowed to fight.  The story drags though, using weird fillers for most of the time and not really showing the fight itself.

Interesting watches

• “The 16th Man” – Good, but so was Invictus.
• “Jordan Rides the Bus” – I love Ron Shelton‘s work but you cannot help but wonder how good this would have been with actual participation from Michael Jordan.  You come away from the story with the thought that Jordan actually had talent and that he worked at his baseball craft.
• “The Pony Excess” – Lots of interviews, great detail.  Probably a bit too long though.
• “Tim Richmond: To the Limit” – I thought it was really interesting that NASCAR turned out to be so introspective about the clear mis-treatment of one of its own … all in the name of fear over his illness.  Read his wikipedia page for some really interesting notes about his essentially be framed for his positive drug test.  I cannot imagine this news breaking in Nascar or any other major sport today.

Good to Very Good

• “Fernando Nation” – If you don’t remember just how amazingly dominant Fernando Valenzuela was when he came to MLB, check out his baseball-reference page.  In his rookie season he threw EIGHT shutouts, and started the season 8-0 with 8 complete games, and only gave up FOUR earned runs in his first 8 starts.  That’s a heck of a start to the season.  The story telling related to the treatment of the Mexican-American community in Los Angeles was also interesting to learn about.
• “No Crossover: The Trial of Allen Iverson” – Another that really could have used involvement of the principal character of the story.  Nonetheless, the substories related to the high school rivalries and politics of the Tidewater area were fascinating, if not necessarily substantiated.  Having lived in Virginia at the time, the amazing part of the Iverson story was that he was named both the Football and the Basketball player of the year in the state … as a Junior.  He undoubtedly would have done the same as a senior.
• “King’s Ransom” – Interesting story telling from a great director in Peter Berg.  The involvement and discussions with Gretzky on the golf range really gave this story its life.  Unlike the story of LeBron James moving cities and destroying a franchise, Gretzky’s departure clearly altered the direction of the Edmonton Oilers for the long run.
• “Small Potatoes: Who Killed the USFL?” – Some criticized this documentary, but just for the interview with the incredibly egotistical Donald Trump make this for me.
• “Into the Wind” – Such a moving story. Steve Nash‘s involvement was really special in telling this inspirational Canadian pride story.

The Best of the Series

• “Four Days in October” – A great documentary if only for the fantastic interviews with Pedro Martinez.  I found the footage of the Red Sox players facing a 3-0 deficit fascinating, and the drama of the games in retrospect makes the Boston comeback even more amazing.  Update: After several re-watches, I moved this up in my rankings.
• “The Band that Wouldn’t Die” – Most say this is the best of the series.  I feel they’re getting starry-eyed by the director (Barry Levinson) versus the actual story.  But this obscure story is a highlight of the series and is a great example of the richness of American sport as a subject matter.
• “Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks” – One of the absolute best stories.  The interviews with Reggie Miller and Spike Lee make this one of the best of the series.
• “The Best That Never Was” – My father immediately recalled who Marcus Dupree was, and this story was an interesting tale.  My biggest takeaway was the 100% positiveness of Dupree, even today.  He’s not angry or sad about what his life has become (he’s a truck driver in rural Mississippi).  On the contrary, he’s grateful for everything he had and all the opportunities he got.
• “The Two Escobars” – the footage, interviews and story told here was fantastic.  I only wish it was not 100% subtitled.
• “Once Brothers” – Another great story, told through the eyes of the very human Vlade Divac.  It could have used a bit more subtext into the politics behind the split of Yugoslavia for those of us who get lost in the mid 80s politics.

If I had to give a best and worst, I’d probably go with “The Two Escobars” for best and “Marion Jones” as the worst.  I can’t wait to see the stories they have in the pipeline.  Steve Bartman should make for a great story to tell.  The great news is that the series will continue and some of the original ideas proposed will be explored.  Again referring to a Bill Simmons podcast, here’s some of the original series ideas kicked around that may still be turned into documentaries:

• 86 masters
• 89 ws earthquake
• Tysons-robin givens Relationship
• doc and darrell
• title 9
• dream Team
• fab five
• wwf/ andre the giant (couldn’t be done b/c Vince McMahon owns all the film)
• 94 rangers
• kerri suggs
• scott norwood/scapegoats (delayed b/c of the Bartman film)
• racism in sports
• franchise relocation (pushed off b/c of the Levinson Baltimore Colts band story)
• pete rose

Here’s to a great series and many more great documentaries.

5/11/11 Update: ESPN’s 30-for-30 site now allows you to rank the series yourself, which I did and ranked them as such:

1.Two Escobars
2.Band/Wouldn’t Die
3.Reggie Miller
4.Marcus Dupree
5.Four Days Oct.
6.Once Brothers
7.No Crossover
8.Who Killed USFL?
9.Fernando Nation
10.King’s Ransom
11.Into The Wind
12.Jordan Rides/Bus
13.Pony Excess
14.Tim Richmond
15.The 16th Man
16.Muhammad / Larry
17.Unmatched
18.Birth of Big Air
19.Little Big Men
20.Jimmy The Greek
21.The U
22.Guru of Go
23.June 17, 1994
24.Run Ricky Run
25.Without Bias
26.Steinbrenner
27.Silly Little Game
28.Straight Outta L.A.
29.One Night/Vegas
30.Marion Jones

After submitting my rankings, I could see how the rest of ESPN nation had these ranked and was rather surprised.  As of 5/11/11, here’s the rankings overall:

1 The U
2 Pony Excess
3 Marcus Dupree
4 Reggie Miller
5 Run Ricky Run
6 Two Escobars
7 Without Bias
8 June 17, 1994
9 Once Brothers
10 No Crossover
11 Muhammad / Larry
12 Jordan Rides/Bus
13 One Night/Vegas
14 Four Days Oct.
15 Who Killed USFL?
16 Straight Outta L.A.
17 King’s Ransom
18 Guru of Go
19 Jimmy The Greek
20 Steinbrenner
21 Band/Wouldn’t Die
22 Into The Wind
23 Silly Little Game
24 The 16th Man
25 Fernando Nation
26 Little Big Men
27 Birth of Big Air
28 Unmatched
29 Tim Richmond
30 Marion Jones

“The U,” which I thought was only mediocre, led by a fairly large margin over #2.  My #1 film “The Two escobars” was in the top 10, but was 3rd in overall #1 votes.

Post publishing edit: on 8/13/17, SI.com’s Media writer Richard Deitsch published his list of hte best 30 for 30’s.   Many of his best list are those done well after this list was created.

I wonder how much this Qatar-ian paid to win the 2022 world cup.

Russia to get 2018 World Cup, and Qatar to get 2022.

SI’s Grant Wahl already has a story out beating me to this rant, but i’ll say it anyway.

FIFA has to be the most corrupt, the least transparent, and the most egotistical organization out there.  I’m not necessarily saying that Russia or Qatar are necessarily bad choices.  Russia represents the first time an eastern European country hosts the WC, and the trend in both Fifa and Uefa has been to try to get more interest in European soccer out of the 3 power leagues and further east.  Qatar would be a decent choice to bring soccer to the middle east, since money leagues in Saudi Arabia and in Qatar itself are starting to be come somewhat legitimate alternatives for players as they wind down their careers.

But clearly, there were two better choices.  England is without question the epicentre of world soccer right now.  Real Madrid and Barcelona may be (arguably) the 2 biggest and best teams in the world but the payroll, the player diversity and the coverage of the EPL is without peer.  In terms of European Rotation, England clearly is the next in line.  Every major western european country has now hosted the cup and it should have gone to England.

Meanwhile, the USA bid made so much sense for Fifa that it is mind boggling that it was turned down.  The two “downsides” of the USA bid were these: 1. distance between cities and 2. heat of american summers.  Uh.  Lesse; to get from Moscow to the other side of Russia is an 10 hour flight.   And its 130 degrees in Qatar in the summer.  Yeah they can air condition the stadiums but you can’t friggin air condition an entire country.  The USA hosted cup in 1994 remains to this day the most attended and most profitable cup ever hosted, and since we’ve simply upgraded most  major hosting facilities (from RFK to fedex, from Cowboys stadium to the “new” cowboys stadium, etc) to promise even more revenue and more attendance.

The voting results show some very questionable voting patterns.   How is it possible that England received only 2 of 22 initial votes for 2018??  Is it because English politicians and reporters have spent the past 2 years showing just how corrupt FIFA officials can be (exposing voting promises and bribery attempts at the highest levels). Likewise, the USA was clearly the country that made the most sense for 2022, yet received FEWER first round votes than the Korean Republic, who JUST hosted the cup and (frankly) shouldn’t be considered for another 40 years.

The only bright side to this is that the USA is probably a mortal lock to host in 2026. Why? They seem to be in a “2 off, 1 on” pattern of moving the cup in and out of Europe.  And they want to move it around to different federations.  Russia, Qatar means 2026 goes to another non-european federation and it almost clearly will be Concacaf.  By 2026 Europe, South America Africa and Asia will have had cups since North America last hosted, and there probably won’t BE a selection process (similar to the way Brazil was basically given 2014) for 2026.

Still.  Hard to stomach such clear sleaziness in the voting.  Two votes for oil-rich countries given all the known vote buying and corruption says to me there was more chicanery than the public knows about.  The losers here are the die hard fans of the losing countries.

Hello all.

Two administrative things today.

1. I’ve tired of the spam comments that are popping up on the site, so i’ve changed the commenting behavior to force you to have to log in to comment.  Apologies but that’s the way it has to be.

2. I’ve started a new gig and haven’t really had time to post or update some of my tracking spreadsheets.  I’m working on some post-minor league season reviews by affiliate and should start posting those soon.

Thanks, todd

This is the annual “Fortunate 50,” a listing of the highest compensated american athletes based on salary plus endorsements (there’s a separate international list).

Look who ranks at #11.  Matthew Stafford.  He of one year of production in the NFL, leading his team to a 2-14 record.  $26 MILLION DOLLARS in bonuses this year, mostly due to his #1 overall selection.

And people were losing their minds because Strasburg signed for 4yrs $15M guaranteed??

Other things to note on this list:

• #20 overall; i;m obviously not a football fan, certainly not a redskins fan, but i read enough coverage to know that Haynesworth certainly isn’t worth the $24.6M in bonus money he’s collecting this  year.  I’d say “boo hoo” for little Danny boy except that Karma is a bitch and he gets everything his little napoleonic meddling egotistical body deserves.
• #28: Darrius Heyward-Bey.  Who??  $21M for some 2nd year no name nfl player?
• The general lack of endoresement money for some people.  I love it when guys make millions of dollars in salary but have zero endorsements.  You might as well put a sign on their head that says, “I’m an arrogant pr*ck and everyone knows it, so I have zero endorsement deals beyond appearance fees for mandatory press shows.”  Terrell Suggs best example; $24M in salary, $75K in endorsements.  Probably from an Eastern Motors ad.

Take a look at the international version too.  Lots of soccer players.