L'affaire McNair

Steve McNair's passing, and the general media reaction have confounded me.

There seems to be two opposing viewpoints. One seems to be the straight, let's remember the on-field warrior, the man who literally, it seemed, could not be kept out of any game unless a limb was literally hanging off his body. This is a totally reasonable, especially as the actual facts of the case trickle out of Nashville, but does seem somewhat naive. The nature of the death, murder, by a 20-year-old woman he was having an affair with, seems like something that's going to stick in the public's memory, especially since McNair never had a crowning glory moment

The other tack, as exemplified here by Jason Whitlock, of condemning McNair as a bad guy for having an affair and not spending enough time with his kids, seems unduly harsh. He may have done wrong by his kids, and his wife, but there's something you need to remember:

This was a murder-suicide. And it was McNair, the older, larger more powerful person, who was the victim of murder. This was not Chris Benoit, where the lasting image of one of the finest technical wrestlers ever is completely tarnished because the only thing you remember is that he killed both his wife and his special needs son before hanging himself. Steve McNair was shot, it seems, in his sleep, defenseless. This wasn't self-defense gone wrong, McNair did not menace anyone. He was shot, to death, while he slept, by a woman who, it seems, was coming apart at the seams.

I don't care for adulterers. Maybe Steve McNair was going to get his for that particular sin, whether in a divorce proceeding or a public tarnishing of his image in Nashville, a la Kirby Puckett. But I sympathize with murder victims. I sympathize with a wife left without a husband and four sons left without a father. Steve McNair did not choose to leave those children behind. He did not abandon them. He was taken from them.

How to fall in love... with a mediocre baseball team

The wonderful, and to be honest, quite awful, thing about baseball is that it lasts from April to October. And not like the way the NBA or the NHL do it, where there's plenty of off days, or the NFL, which has a year-round news cycle, but only, say four and a half months of actual action, and then only one day a week. No, baseball's played every day, which means six or seven days a week you have the opportunity to feel a different emotion, depending on how your team fared that particular night.

For a while I didn't understand this, or really could only understand it when it came to October, watching in 2003 in Chicago as Cubs fans died a little inside after game six, while hoping in vain for Kerry Wood to come through against the Marlins, karma, the Fates and probably the Odin-power to win Game seven, while simultaneously the Red Sox and Yankees engaged in the opening act of the now half-decade long drama of Empire vs. Nation, Grady Little leaving Pedro in and Aaron Boone homering off Tim Wakefield. I saw it in '04, when the wealthiest team, in terms of dollars and titles, in American sport managed to blow the most commanding of leads to the team it had perpetually spanked for three-quarters of a century. Even in '05 as the one AL team more cursed than the Red Sox rose up with some spectacular pitching to win it.

But since '06 I've come home, to root hard for the team of my childhood, the Tigers. And while '06 was magical (til the end), and then '07 was nice in its own way, with a batting title and no hitter and a quality team throughout. Then came last year, where it seemed the Tigers put out an nonathletic team that excelled only in depressing its fans with unrealized potential.

This year's different. From the moment Gary Sheffield was bought out in spring training, this team's been flawed offensively. And not just a little bit. Carlos Guillen was barely above the Mendoza line, then went on the DL, and may return in a few weeks. Magglio Ordonez has gone from a batting champ and MVP candidate in '07 to an overpaid singles hitter who kills nearly every rally with a double play in '09. And even players like Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco aren't hitting as they've done in the past. The pitching's been good, not great, especially watching Dontrelle Willis succumb to The Thing, and Rick Porcello go through the growing pains I suppose all good pitchers go through (I don't know for sure as for the entirety of the 90's the Tig's staff was awful, to the point that acquiring pitching was the single most frequent suggestion on local sports talk radio).

But, over 162 games, or even 81, its watching a team with flaws overcome them that make you love them. Seeing Ryan Raburn or Clete Thomas come up with a big hit, or Adam Everett or Brandon Inge make a great defensive play to save a game makes some of the more painful moments worthwhile. And those painful moments help to temper things, to make you realize that despite their flaws, you have a team where each and every game matters, which makes you want to watch all the more.

Two Questions, One Answer..

Who is going to coach the pistons? How will they do with no Sheed or Chauncey (fantastic names future parents)? How will Ben Gordon and Villanueva fit in? Ok, those are too many questions for the title... I just want to know who the coach of this potential mess will be. Well, here is a quote from my candidate...

"I use it because you're naïve if you don't see the national full-court press picking away right now: A good point guard drives through a full court press, protecting the ball, keeping her eye on the basket... and she knows exactly when to pass the ball so that the team can WIN. And I'm doing that - keeping our eye on the ball that represents sound priorities - smaller government, energy independence, national security, freedom! And I know when it's time to pass the ball - for victory."

That's right. The second question of the week and the answer to both. Why did Sarah Palin resign? To coach the pistons. Her Baracuda knowledge of basketball is clearly unapproachable by the muppet voiced Avery Johnson. No word yet on what she would do if Rip Hamilton quit 40 games into the season.