NFL Rookie Salaries

Matthew Stafford apparently just got PAID. He and the much fiercer looking Detroit Lions have reportedly agreed to a deal that guarantees Stafford nearly $42 million. Without having played a down in the NFL. That’s more than Albert Haynesworth was guaranteed in his big deal.

There have always been some to crititicize just how much top picks in the draft are making, but I’m not criticizing Stafford or his agent. Their job is to get as much money as possible in their deal from the team, based on how much the picks last year were signed for. But how do you think the people in Detroit feel, where the bad economy is even worse? The Pistons cannot even get a full house for a playoff series.

And what if, by chance, Stafford becomes the next Ryan Leaf? Or appropriately enough for Detroit, the next Joey Harrington? When these costly picks don’t pan out, they set back teams for years and this is why the Lions were in this position.

You probably can figure out my opinion of all this but what’s yours? Is it right to pay a player over $40 million in guaranteed money, possibly even as much as $70 million with incentives, despite that player not even playing a down? Or is it the team’s responsibility to make sure they make the right pick, given the money they will pay to that pick?

Marlins

The Florida Marlins are 5-1 and started the season with 4 straight wins, their best in the franchise’s history. And what a week for Emilio Bonifacio, who can run the bases faster than it takes for Jose Reyes to get to first. Ok so that may be a bit of exaggeration but the Marlins newcomer is 14-28 in his first six games with 5 RBI and 4 SB. And Josh Johnson yesterday outdueled Johan Santana yesterday for a complete game to give the Fish a series victory over the Mets, who many picked to win the division. Hanley Ramirez and Jorge Cantu have also gotten their bats hot to start the season with the former hitting his first career grand slam earlier in the week and the latter hitting a couple of homers himself.

Now time for your thoughts- have your views of the Marlins changed after these first six games? Or is this just a fluke? How much do the first 6 games matter to you as a fan?

There’s No Place Like “The Light”

The tradition that is Miami Hurricanes baseball starts up again this weekend, as the Canes begin their season with a four game series against Rutgers. Miami will play two seven inning games on Saturday along with the normal games Friday night and Sunday afternoon.

And with the dawn of a new season, the newly renamed Alex Rodriguez Park at Mark Light Field will be buzzing when first pitch comes around 7pm this Friday night. And to me, there is no better place than “The Light” to watch a baseball game, with the great following the team has from the local community, the great baseball being played, the booming voice of longtime PA Announcer Jay Rokeach, Billy Joel’s “Piano Man” played at nine o’ clock on a Saturday,  Dollar Hot Dog Nights, and of course, the legendary milkshakes (my personal favorite being the recently added Jayro- double fudge chocolate).

“The Light” to me, is a place where for 3 hours or more, everything seems so tranquil. It’s like you are shut off from civilization for most of the game, with only the occasional MetroRail train passing by breaking the spell and it is also the only place on Earth that I know of where you can see a green and orange Maniac strip off his jersey and dance to the song “Apache”. From the “Ball Two” and “Rag Arm” chants, to the playing of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” at the top of the eighth inning (though that one was probably stolen from a certain MLB stadium that I believe starts with “Fen” and ends in “Way”), its certainly the place to be five days out of the week. She may have undergone a minor facelift this offseason, but she’s still got that charm that have kept fans in love for as long as they have known her.

Any of you have any great memories or stories from The Light? Is there a place that tops the stadium in your book in terms of atmosphere? And with the name change, will you still call it The Light, or do you have a new nickname for the place?

Keeping National Signing Day In Perspective

Now that the Super Bowl is over, the next big day for Miami Hurricanes fans comes on Wednesday, February 4th. And many would say it’s not because the Hurricanes basketball team plays Wake Forest at home that night. No, for many the drama comes perhaps hours earlier in the day, when the nation’s high school football recruits are finally able to sign their Letter of Intent for their respective college, in a spectacle that has reached very tall proportions. While it is not quite as Super a spectacle as that of the Steelers-Cardinals game that just reached its final chapter, National Signing Day can be quite the thriller. One whose twists and turns would even make the writers of TV dramas such as 24 and LOST blush.

But is too much attention paid to these young eighteen year olds? Is there too much pressure? Consider this: there are now websites and message boards solely devoted to recruiting, with fanatics buzzing about what that five star quarterback just said about their team to one paper, even though he may have said something completely different a month earlier. Meltdowns and panic are only the norm on these sites, many of which charge for the very latest info.

Recruiting can serve as a beacon of light; that small ray of hope that maybe your team is turning things around, especially after hearing that a four star wideout with 4.3 speed, committed to your alma mater this past weekend after taking an official visit. But with all due respect, what have these kids accomplished for your school in the present by signing on the dotted line? And does a top ten recruiting class year after year really guarantee that your school will actually be in the top ten in the actual rankings for the years to come? Ask Miami fans this question- they’ll give you an answer after the program has gone south from the strong trade winds circa 2001, to the doldrums that was a 5-7 season two seasons ago. Recruiting only does so much, and there are always those diamond in the rough players who are not as hyped, but turn out to be great a la Ed Reed.

So when Miami’s 2009 signing class starts to take shape this Wednesday, keep things in perspective. In the end, it does not matter how many five star recruits a university grabs if they cannot win with those players. It’s about how the newcomers play as a team when they put on the orange and green, and how that translates into wins and losses on the field.