Big Mac, Bigger Questions

Mark McGwire has come home again. Earlier today, the St. Louis Cardinals announced McGwire will be the team’s hitting coach for the upcoming season. Although McGwire’s ability to teach the science of hitting will be welcome in St Louis, the media circus that will undoubtedly follow him around all season won’t be embraced in quite the same way.

Mark McGwire has always been a man of few words. That demeanor aided him greatly during the great homerun pursuit of Roger Maris in 1998, but also led to his fall from grace when he refused to talk about his alleged steroid use in front of a congressional committee. McGwire told those in attendance that he wasn’t there to “talk about the past.”

Like anything else, you have to take the sour with the sweet. By adding Mark McGwire, the St. Louis Cardinals have immediately upgraded the hitting coach position. He’s a guy that hit 583 homeruns during his fifteen-year career. McGwire also is well-respected in baseball circles for his work with Cardinals hitters Skip Schumacher & Matt Holliday.

As true as that may be, the media storm that will loom over the Cardinals will be as constant as it is large. McGwire left the game abruptly after allegations boiled over in 2001, making only a few public appearances over the last several years. By bringing McGwire in, the Cardinals, at LaRussa’s behest, have invited the media into the team’s clubhouse to ask the former slugger the questions (how, when why, etc.) that he has shown no desire to answer.

Everyone deserves a second chance, and McGwire is no different. He’ll bring a wealth of hitting knowledge, as well as just being there for the younger guys on the club to talk to. The question isn’t whether McGwire can improve the Cardinals’ hitting, that’s a given. The real question is, is the media attention that McGwire will bring worth bringing him in as hitting coach? As long as the results in the batter’s box are positive, it’s an even trade. If, however, the Cardinals hitters struggle out of the gate, it may be too much for an introverted personality like McGwire to handle. Spring training is a long ways off, but for St. Louis Cardinals fans, it might as well be just around the corner.

Music City Mess

Nothing has gone right for the Tennessee Titans in the past eight months. First, they lost all world defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to free agent wasteland that is the Washington Redskins. Then, the Detroit Lions hired well-respected defensive coordinator Jim Schwartz as their head coach. The buzz in Nashville was that the Titans would be fine.

They couldn’t replace Haynesworth with one body, but they could rotate a few younger studs in to pick up the slack. Chuck Cecil, previously the defensive backs coach, was elevated to the defensive coordinator position, and promised not to tinker too much with the philosophy that gave the Titans a league best 13-3 record in 2008.

Fast forward to 2009. As we sit in week seven, the Washington Redskins (2) and the Detroit Lions (1) have more wins than the winless Titans. The Titans were dominated by Indianapolis, Jacksonville, and perhaps most notorious by New England, who handed them a 59 point beatdown in week six.

Fisher has also attracted some negative attention for his activities at a recent Tony Dungy charity event. Fisher appeared in an Indianapolis Colts Peyton Manning jersey, joking that he “just wanted to feel like a winner.” Although it was obviously a poor choice to don a division rival’s colors in the midst of a losing season, lambasting Fisher over such a decision is an equally poor choice.

The NFL is known for parity, which really means that from one year to the next, you never really know what you’re going to get. Great teams can easily become decent ones, while mediocre teams can fall off the face of the competitive map overnight. The Titans won games last year with great coaching, solid effort from the players, and a turn-back-the-clock type of performance from grizzled quarterback Kerry Collins.

The Tennessee Titans are still a good team with a great coach. The current test for Coach Fisher and his players is to show their meddle now, before the fans can question the team’s heart, and not just its performance. Titans owner Bud Adams has publicly questioned the coaching staff after a horrendous start, and that’s his right.

The time for the Titans to rally together for themselves, for their top-tier head coach, and for their football crazy fanbase is now. If that rally falls short, Fisher may lose his job, but does anyone think Fisher would last more than 24 hours on the free agent market? Me neither.

The Truth Will in Fact Set You Free, Maybe?

The NCAA did something this week that it has been known to do: drop the ball. Student athletes are subject to rules in order to maintain their amateur status, which is logical. Oklahoma State wide receiver Dez Bryant has been declared ineligible not for doing anything that jeopardized his status, but rather, because he was less than truthful when cornered by an NCAA investigative team.

Bryant’s situation stems from a mid-summer interaction with Deion Sanders outside of Dallas, Texas. Bryant worked out with Sanders at an athletic facility, and then went to Sanders’ home in the evening for dinner. Although Sanders was known as a flashy guy during his playing days, his mentoring efforts for young athletes have been praised by individuals across the spectrum of sports.

When meeting with Marcus M. Wilson, the NCAA’s assistant director of agent, gambling and amateurism activities Bryant acknowledged meeting Sanders, but said he didn’t work out, also adding that while he went to Sanders’ residence, he didn’t eat.

At the risk of stating the obvious, I’ll say it: the truth is important. Being honest and forthright is one of the fundamental characteristics in all good people. Everyone makes mistakes, however, and Bryant’s only mistake was panicking. He should have been honest about his interaction with former NFL star Deion Sanders, having a home-cooked meal isn’t the least bit illegal. Dez Bryant is a can’t miss prospect, he’s got size, speed, and a knack for making the big catch. If the NCAA follows through with a season-long suspension, none of those things will matter and Bryant will lose millions of dollars. Ask any young person, and an honest one will tell you they’ve panicked in the face of adversity and told a lie or two. If there was a time for the NCAA to have a heart, it’s now.

Just Win, Baby.

Few times in history has a regular-season football game had so much hype. If not for a certain quarterback from Mississippi, the Packers and Vikings would’ve squared off as part of just another divisional showdown. Brett Favre faced his former teammates on Monday Night Football, and the result was all too familiar, with Favre leading his team to victory.

Much of the drama surrounding regular season football matchups is of a generic and mundane flavor. Did Peyton Manning really view the Colts game with the Dolphins last Monday night as a showdown against the “wildcat” offense? Do the Steelers really consider themselves to be rivals with the laughable Browns? The answer to both of these questions, is no.

The fourth installment of MNF had real drama that was obviously hyped up to the max. Not only did you have an icon facing his former team for the first time, you also had a real sense of lingering resentment between the franchise quarterback and the team he called his own for fifteen years. Favre admitted after the game that before kickoff he was as nervous as he had ever been for any game. The concept of nerves for a three-time MVP and Super Bowl champion tells you all you need to know about what the game meant to those involved.

Favre didn’t have a Drew Brees type performance, but he had an efficient one. Favre completed 24 of 31 passes for 271 yards (to 7 different receivers). Favre added to his impressive tally with 3 touchdowns and no interceptions. He did it without a strong performance from all-world running back Adrian Peterson, who had just 55 yards on 12 carries, including a fumble that was ripped from his arms and returned for a touchdown.

The why, how, or what didn’t matter nearly as much as the result: a win for Brett Favre and the Minnesota Vikings.

Fans will always remember the first time Favre lined up against the men in the yellow and green jerseys. Favre will remember the game for one thing: the victory.

The Vikings may not win the Super Bowl this season, but as we’ve all been privy to the last two weeks, anything is possible with number 4 at the helm.