Formula 1
And to think, just last year I was doing nothing but complaining about one team dominating the sport, as Sebastian Vettel simply ran away with the title, winning the constructor’s championship by himself. What a difference an offseason makes, though. After sweeping regulations and technical changes, Red Bull Renault is doing all it can just to stay in arm’s reach of the Mercedes AMG Petronas factory team. Nico Rosberg won the first grand prix of the season, and Lewis Hamilton has won the three grand prix since. Rosberg has finished second in each race. So while Hamilton is capturing the accolades and adoration of the media, Rosberg quietly leads the Driver’s Championship race (4 points ahead of Hamilton) and is having a fairly dominant season himself.
 |
| Hamilton and Rosberg driving the Mercedes W04 (2013) |
Rosberg has 79 points on the year, while Hamilton has 75. Third place, distantly, is Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, with 41, five points ahead of Force India’s Nico Hulkenberg. Sebastian Vettel currently sits fifth in the points, 46 points adrift of Rosberg’s pace. The Constructor’s Championship is no closer. Mercedes AMG Petronas has so far gathered 154 points. In second place, nearly a full 100 points back, is Red Bull Renault (57).
And we’re not even to the European portion of the calendar, yet. Unless Red Bull and Ferrari make some giant leaps in the coming weeks, Mercedes is probably going to walk away with this season, leaving it to a Driver’s Championship battle between their own drivers. The Constructor’s Championship battle, behind Mercedes, could get very interesting. Currently, only 14 points separate Red Bull, Force India, Ferrari, and McLaren. Just behind them, not even a full race victory out of second place in the points, is Williams. Of the top six constructors, first place, third place, fifth place, and sixth place are all Mercedes powered.
Basketball
The Atlanta Hawks secured the 8th Seed in the Eastern Conference, even though they were well under .500 at season’s end. Their reward for backing into a playoff spot was a series with the #1 Seed Indiana Pacers. Game one of this series was on April 19. If the series goes all seven games, the last game will be played on May 3. That is 15 days to play a seven game series. Baseball also plays a seven game series in the playoff, but they can typically wrap that up in 9 days. I don’t know, maybe it’s because I’m not really a basketball fan, but it seems like overkill with the NBA. The Hawks-Pacers series began on a Saturday, and game two wasn’t be played until Tuesday. Baseball would’ve played three games of a series in that amount of time.
I just think the NBA needs to revisit its playoff structure. The NHL could take a lesson here, too. Teams under .500 don’t really deserve to be in the postseason, do they? The last few years the 9th and 10th place teams in the West would’ve easily been playoff teams in the East. Some talking heads have mentioned eliminating conferences when it comes to playoff. I would just limit the number of slots available to six. In the first round, the #1 and #2 seeds would get a bye, while #3 played #6 and #4 played #5 in Best-of-3 series. The second round would be a Best-of-5 series and the conference championships would be Best-of-7. Obviously the league finals would be Best-of-7.
This system places emphasis on winning to get a top seed, and it places emphasis on winning in the postseason, as teams have less chance to rebound from a loss. The only drawback, and the primary reason why no sports league would ever institute this system, is a loss of TV revenue from having fewer games.
Baseball
The Atlanta Braves are currently 14-7. The pitching staff, particularly the starting rotation, was feared to be the weak spot on the team, as injury after injury piled up in spring training. But through their first 21 games, the Braves starters have posted a combined ERA of 1.50. The next closest starting staff ERA belongs to St. Louis, a 2.20. The Braves have the most complete games pitched among all teams and no team in the league has more quality starts. The Braves have given up only 44 earned runs as a team. The Oakland A’s are the second best staff at earned runs allowed, and the A's have given up 56 earned runs. Only two teams in the majors have better opponents batting averages than Atlanta (opponents are hitting a paltry .215 against the Braves). So for Atlanta, it’s not the pitching…it’s the offense. When the Braves hitters are awake, they can be devastating. Almost every hitter that steps to the plate can be a threat to produce. But when they slump, they slump hard. And in those times the pitching has to pick them up.
The surprise of the year has to be Aaron Harang. Picked up on a flyer after the Cleveland Indians cut him prior to the start of the season, Harang has twice (in four starts) carried a no-hitter past the sixth inning. He is 3-1 on the year with an ERA of 0.85 in just over 31 innings pitched. If Harang can get his pitch count under control then he’d probably be in the running for staff ace at this point. For a guy who was just supposed to be a placeholder to get through the injuries, I’d say Harang has been one of the best moves the Braves have made in a long while.
The other pitching move the braves made was signing Ervin Santana to a one-year deal. This was seen by some as a knee-jerk reaction to the injuries of spring training, and while that might have been the case, Santana is truly playing himself into a big time deal after this season. He currently has an ERA of 0.86 and has pitched some absolute gems so far. The staff has been so solid this year that the other day Alex Wood pitched a gem, lost (because the Braves refuse to score when he pitches) and his ERA went DOWN.
Football
We’re still counting down the days to the Draft. Jadeveon Clowney has basically taken himself off the market, which likely means the Texans have told him that he will be their selection at #1. That will be just the first of several major dominoes to fall at the Draft. This is a deep class, with loads of talent throughout.
For the hometown Falcons, I would love to see one of these monster defensive ends come to town, but I also know that Matt Ryan needs protection on the O-Line. It’s a tough situation to be in. Hypothetically, what if the sixth pick rolls around and there on the board are Buffalo DE Khalil Mack and Auburn OT Greg Robinson. Who do you take? Mack brings the instant pass rush threat that Atlanta needs. Robinson brings the ability to protect a stud QB and open up passing lanes. Two spots of sore need for Atlanta, and only one pick. It’s a head-scratcher for Thomas Dimitroff, I’m sure. The word on the street is the Falcons have been talking about trading up to ensure they land Mack or Robinson. Staying at #6 would probably net them Texas A&M OT Jake Matthews or, if they felt inclined to reach a bit, Michigan OT Taylor Lewan.
As for the Dawgs going in this draft, all eyes have been on QB Aaron Murray. During his trip to Jon Gruden’s QB Camp, Murray was mightily impressive. Gruden came out of the experience touting Murray as the “diamond in the rough” of this QB class and the “steal of this draft for somebody.” Almost every mock I’ve seen has the Bengals taking Murray in Round 3. Cincinnati has never been afraid to draft Georgia players. Also coming into the league from Georgia is TE Arthur Lynch. The Falcons need a TE, but may not be too concerned about it this year.
Soccer
The City of Atlanta is getting an MLS team. Of course, this has stirred up some debate among Georgians as to the validity of soccer in the American marketplace, especially in the southeastern US, where high school and collegiate football are the second and third largest religions behind Christianity. I cannot stand soccer. But I have reasons for not liking it which I believe are quite valid.
For instance: offside. In American football, “offside” or “offsides” is an easy call. There is an established line of scrimmage and if a defensive player is on the offensive side of the line of scrimmage at the time of the snap, the play is offsides. The following image is an example of an NFL play that is "onsides."
The following image is an example of an NFL play that is "offsides."
In hockey, offside is again an easy call. A player cannot cross the blue line marking the boundary of the attacking zone before the puck does, otherwise he is offsides (see below).
In soccer, though, a player is defined as offsides if there are fewer than two opposing players between the designated player and the goal. There is no hard line, nothing denoting where offsides actually occurs, other than the referees prerogative and the placement of the last defenders.
Imagine in the NFL is Calvin Johnson beat Richard Sherman on a route, but was called offside simply because he beat the corner on the route. That’s a bit like offsides in soccer. (For the record, yes, I know I’m butchering the rules. I have a hard time getting excited about a game with a rule that silly, especially when it is the same game that considers 3-2 to be a high-scoring affair.
No comments:
Post a Comment