The Sports Jury

Crunchtime (Mike Bennett) is now writing for the up-and-coming website The Sports Jury. Check out his writing, and other great fan perspectives on anything from MLB to MMA at thesportsjury.com.

Making a Pitch for the Pirates

Walking around the city of Pittsburgh, it doesn’t take long to realize that baseball fans are slowly waking up from a rumpelstiltskin-esque slumber. We’ve reached the month of June, and the Pirates are only two games back from .500, coming off a promising series against the Philadelphia Phillies in which they won two out of three in front of three full houses at PNC Park. They team has already matched its away record from 2010, and has made phenomenal improvements on its pitching. Alas, it only takes a Pittsburgher oblivious to sports to bring a Buccos hopeful back to earth:

“So, why is everyone so excited about the Pirates, are they doing really well?” my supervisor at work asked me.

“Well they’re only two games back from .500 and its already June!” I responded.

“I don’t know what two games back from .500 means.”

“It means….they’ve almost won as many as they’ve lost.”

“Oh.”

I guess this excitement is reserved for the long-time Pirates fans that will take any success they can get as a sign of progress. But it really did bring me back to earth on what the Pirates’ recent success means in the long run. Once the Pirates actually make it to .500, the city will celebrate like they’ve won a world series. Once we find ourselves yet again watching the MLB playoffs without the Pirates in contention, we’ll all be reminded that .500 is a miniscule landmark in baseball, and reaching championship contention is on a whole different playing field. It’s easily compared our country celebrating the death of Osama bin Laden after 10 years in hiding, before realizing that Al-Qaeda’s forces are still alive and well.

That’s not to say that a young pirates fan can’t dream. I would actually argue that if the Pirates wanted to reach .500 in years past, management could’ve easily pulled the strings. They could’ve picked up several free agents on one or two-year contracts on a mission to make the playoffs for once, if only to appease the dissolving and bitter fan base. But after spending all of their money, trading away a few promising prospects and reaching the playoffs for one year, the team would find itself exactly where it is now, only with a worse farm system. The team is trying to build a core that could, in the long-run, be poised to win a championship. I’d say that the young crew of Andrew McCutchen, Jose Tabata, Neil Walker and Pedro Alvarez is a promising start, but the Pirates improvement on pitching and defense this season is an even more encouraging indication that the team is headed for more than just a .500 plateau.

Behind pitching coach Ray Searage, the Pirates rotation has gone from worst to decent in less than a season. Kevin Correia had heads turning when he became the first pitcher in the MLB to reach 8 wins this season. He is two wins away from matching last season’s record, and his ERA of 3.40 is more than a run lower than his career average. Then there is Charlie Morton, who last year was written off as a bust that couldn’t handle the bigs. In the off-season, he modeled his delivery after Roy Halladay to make a stunning turn-around. The third-year righty now boasts an all-star caliber 2.52 ERA in 11 starts with six wins to boot. These wins, by the way, are coming behind an injured and streaky Pirates offense that ranks 24^th in run support. James McDonald, while he struggles with control in some appearances, has often shown his ability to take over a game. With time and improvement on his control, he has the potential to thrive in the second or third spot in a rotation. Rounded out with lefty Paul Maholm and the silent-but-deadly Jeff Karstens, the rotation currently swanks an ERA of 3.53, good for fifth in the NL. If there’s anything we’ve learned from last year’s championship Giants, a strong rotation is the primary key for playoff success. The Buccos can’t be disappointed with their headway so far this year.

I’ll be honest, I’m not even certain that this Pirates team will finish the season above .500. The lineup is full of young players that still need plate experience before they can gain the consistency and confidence to produce run support for this phenomenal pitching. Also, Pirates fans have to remember that we are entering the dark months of Pirates baseball. Last June, the team went a dismal 5-20 to drop back to the all-too-familiar basement of the league. If anything, this June will indicate the true improvements of the team, and if Buccos pitching is something to take seriously in the coming years. For now, I’ll be taking every inch of progress with world-series-caliber celebration. What do us deprived Pirates fans have to lose?

Finding the Reality in Sports

I wrote this for my column in The Dickinsonian following the news of Osama bin Laden's death. Check it out.

I’d like to take this space to thank you for thumbing your way back here to our lovely Dickinsonian sports section. You could say you’ve now entered the “sports world,” and although I suppose there is also a “fashion world,” a “music world” and surely an “internet world,” I consider the planet of sports a dominion that inches closer and closer to taking over my own “real world.” I won’t let it, I swear….

While visiting Dickinson for the first time, President Durden said something that significantly influenced my decision to become a Dickinsonian. Lecturing a group of prospective students, he tossed out the notion of a “real world,” emphasizing that it is when we decide to define certain things, groups or worlds as “real” or, for lack of a better antonym, “unreal,” that we hinder our ability to fully pursue and engage the world. I’m pulling off some major paraphrasing here, but that was the message I absorbed and was inspired by.

Browsing through old sports columns during spring break, I read an article that brought me back to this separation between our real world and sports. Written by David Halberstam following the 9/11 attacks, the column attempted to put sports in perspective with the real world, a task I’ve been struggling with for some time now. Halberstam offered great insight, as he started his journalism career covering the civil rights movement for the New York Times, but shifted to sports later in his career to write several of the most outstanding books in the genre. In this particular article he places sports well below our “reality,” writing that while it can inspire, bring together and heal our society, when it comes to importance and priority, the world sports offers no even parallel.

It’s not like sports and the real world don’t come together often. Halberstam points out that the Yankees’ World Series championship in 2001 was a moment that brought together a mourning city. The Saints and Hornets did the same for New Orleans in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina. Here at Dickinson, the women’s basketball team holds an annual Pink Zone game to aid the fight against breast cancer, just one of the many efforts that several teams make to bring together the Dickinson community and engage our world.

But during the first two days of March Madness, when President Obama interrupted a close game to give an address concerning American Military action in Libya, I witnessed plenty more outrage at the interruption on twitter and other social outlets than opinion or concern for the issue, the reality at hand. Is this, as President Durden might have been alluding to, just our sad attempt at forgetting the problems that the world is facing?

It was a different story this month, when news of Osama bin Laden’s death immediately stole attention from several live sporting events, including the televised Mets/Phillies game. Cameras captured fans chanting U-S-A! in the stands in celebration. But does it take something as large as bin Laden’s death to mesh sports and the real world?

Personally, I’m still figuring out my own stance on the issue. I come from a city, Pittsburgh, where absolutely everything rides on the success of our sports teams. When the Steelers lose, downtown looks like an abandoned Gotham, yet we throw parades bigger than any war protest or campaign to commemorate a sports championship. So if I were asked to put sports in perspective, I would have to consider it part of my own reality. That being said, it is also my responsibility as a human, student and more specifically a Dickinsonian, to delineate what holds precedence. Finding your way back here to the sports section shouldn’t signify an exit from reality. For me, it is merely a different perspective on things.

Big East Tournament Makes for Beast of a Bracket

Here’s a proposition to keep your sports-fan imagination alive and well while you’re stuck in the depths of central Pennsylvania: you have a one free all-expenses-included pass to any sporting event in the world this week. What stands will you be in? If you, dear reader, desire to witness the most competitive, back-and-forth, beastly battle of the week, your imagination will be with mine on Saturday March 12 in the stands of Madison Square Garden. The Big East Tournament Championship Game is calling.

Of course, if you’ve got the money and means of transportation then go ahead and punch the ticket. I’ll be watching on ESPN, but regardless of where you are this week, witnessing the bulk of this tournament should be at the top of your spring break checklist.

We’re talking about a tournament that brackets nine of the Associated Press (AP) Top 25 teams, including #3 Pitt and #4 Notre Dame, to battle it out for the trophy and automatic bid. The closest number of ranked teams in a conference is a mere four from the Big 12. This tournament doesn’t deserve a lousy comparison to another conference bracket. If anything, it’s a close runner up to the NCAA Tournament.

The most difficult path involves winning five straight games in five days, possibly all against ranked opponents. The distance between games, physicality of the conference and sheer quantity of ranked teams makes this tournament by far the best among conference brackets.

But it’s not just the number of ranked teams that makes this tournament special. Throw in seven more teams that are all the more hungry to cut down the nets for the simple fact that if they lose, their seasons are over. Consider this: if Pitt or Notre Dame wins out it’s a shoe-in for a #1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. If any other squad wins, it could be the difference between a #7 seed and a #4 seed, or better yet the difference between making the big dance and missing out all together. Syracuse went on a memorable run in 2006 as an unranked nine-seed. The Orange won four in a row- three against ranked opponents-, to earn the automatic bid. I don’t think anyone would be startled if St. John’s, a team that has already beaten six ranked opponents, went on a similar run this year. You could say the same about UConn, Georgetown, Louisville, West Virginia or Syracuse. The list goes on and on. You can’t say the same about the ACC, where it will be breaking news if the winner isn’t either Duke or North Carolina.

The only downside of the Big East tournament could be that it wears down the participants before the big dance starts. Compared to its yearly representation in the NCAA tournament, the Big East has boasted only two winners in the past ten years in Syracuse and Connecticut. Those two teams were also the only teams to make the National Championship game in the same time span.

What does that say about this weekend? Watch the best teams in the country play while they’re fresh. No matter which teams make it to the championship on Saturday, it will be a game that is not just won, but earned. Conference powerhouses? Check. Underrated middle of the pack? Check. Cinderella hopefuls? Check. Five rounds in five days? Check. Madison Square Garden is ready, so let’s turn on the lights and start the madness.

Originally published in The Dickinsonian, March 10 Issue

Skid Without Sid

The media praised them, HBO raved about them, and the fans surely adored them, but without Sidney Crosby, the Penguins are melting. The 12-game win streak seems like it was only yesterday, and Crosby’s 25 game point streak couldn’t have ended more than two weeks ago, right? Yet here Pittsburgh stands, facing a 3-game losing streak-one in overtime-and desperately missing its best player to a concussion. The team is 0-2-1 without Crosby, and although the locker room hasn’t come close to claiming his absence as an excuse, it’s naturally the factor we’ll be pointing to. And we’ll be doing just that until they win without him, or until he’s back on the ice.

Is Crosby’s concussion the real reason the Penguins have quickly collapsed into the team they are now? For those that haven’t been able to watch, it’s a team that is being handily trapped out of their offensive zone, with a playing style that has resorted to depending on the physical play of their fourth line and penalty kill to create any sort of offensive momentum. It’s a team that gives up goals in pairs, collapses late, and is getting next to nothing out of its best player, Evgeni Malkin.

Can the absence of one player really cause such a meltdown? You won’t hear it from them, but it’s clear the team misses his leadership, offensive attack and puck distribution on the first line. Wingers Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis have meshed with their captain better than most, but matched with Malkin, they simply aren’t first-line material. The power-play has suffered too; without Sid, the man-advantage feels like four-on-four action. Is there no one left to deflect Kris Letang’s shots into the twine? Is there no presence in front of the net to clean up loose pucks?

Send some of the blame Malkin’s way. He usually plays like the best player on the ice when Crosby is out, but not this time. Now it seems like Sid’s absence has exposed Geno, given that most of his success when he returned from injury came when #87 was right there with him. Yes, he’s shown some flashes of remarkable stick work and shake-and-bakes. Yes, he’s shooting lights out and playing with a passion. But the stats speak for themselves: the lamps aren’t lighting.

This team is lucky. They have plenty of time and room in the standings to figure out how to win without Crosby, and he shouldn’t be out more than two more games. And like HBO made so clear, this game is full of ebbs and flows-every team will have its winning and losing streaks. As of now, the Penguins have survived injuries to all three of their premier centers, and last time I checked, they’ve got four of the best players in the league headed to the all-star game in Crosby, Geno, Fleury and Kris Letang. Yes, this team dearly misses its best player. Yes, the Penguins will welcome him back with tapping sticks. But right now, they’ve got to find a way to win without him-that is, of course, if they want the hockey world to stop saying they can’t.

Haywood Jacoachme

Never in the history of the BBVA Compass Bowl has a victory in Birmingham meant as much as it did to the Pitt Panthers this past Saturday. Not only because the 27-10 beat down of the Kentucky Wildcats brought three hours of relief from a whirlwind past month for the Panthers or because it opened the door for the school to sell some sick Pitt Panther 2011 BBVA Compass Bowl Champion t-shirts (which I'm sure are selling just as well as game tickets did), but because it reminded everyone of something important, of something that the fan base seems to have forgotten during the downward spiral this program has gone through this winter: that this team has a lot of talent.

Yes, I realize that Kentucky is a mediocre at best SEC team and that much of Pitt's talent, namely guys like Jon Baldwin, Dion Lewis, Jabaal Sheard, and Greg Romeus, will likely soon be playing in games far bigger than the BBVA Compass Bowl (but really, does it get much bigger?), but there is no denying that what we saw on the field on Saturday provides some optimism for the future, something that there hasn't been surrounding Pitt football since Athletic Director Steve Pederson forced head coach Dave Wannstedt to resign following another underachieving season. The defense manhandled a dynamic Wildcat offense without both Sheard and Romeus, while Ray Graham and the offense showed that even if Lewis and Baldwin decide to leave, there certainly won't be a lack of playmakers on that side of the ball and the offense could still be dangerous with a little grooming.

Which brings me to my main point, the whole "grooming" thing. Unfortunately for the Panthers, they need more than a compass (even a BBVA one) to find their way out of the mess they currently find themselves in with regards to coaching. Following Wannstedt's firing/resignation, Steve Pederson hired Miami of Ohio coach Mike Haywood and lauded Haywood as a man of character who would instill discipline in the players. Less than three weeks later Haywood was fired following a felony charge for domestic battery, leaving Pederson and the Pitt football program as something of a laughingstock around the country. The 19-man recruiting class Wannstedt had lined up for next season has dwindled to about five or six, Pitt's assistant coaches are bolting for similar jobs at other institutions, and alumni and boosters are calling for
Pederson's head.

As the search continues for Pitt's third head coach this winter, many fans are imploring that Pederson hire someone who can salvage this recruiting class, someone with Pitt ties who knows this area.

A.k.a Dave Wannstedt.

There is a reason Pederson forced Wannstedt to resign, namely that he couldn't deliver a BCS berth to the Panthers. Year after year Wannstedt brought in some top recruits and had lofty preseason expectations surrounding his team. Yet year after year the Panthers disappointed, continually coming up short in big games, resulting in bids to lower tier bowls.

What Pitt needs now is a coach who can get these players to meet their potential, someone who can not only recruit talented players, but help them grow. There were a handful of off-the-field issues with Pitt players this season, and perhaps that had a bigger impact on the season's results than we realize. After Wannstedt's firing, Steve Pederson stressed that the new coach would be one who would give the program more integrity and discipline. Just because his first hire failed miserably, doesn't mean he should shy away from what he was looking for to begin with.

Penn State defensive coordinator Tom Bradley has emerged as the most popular candidate among the fan base, namely because of his successful recruiting skills and his ties to the area. However, as Wannstedt showed, these attributes don't necessarily translate into a successful head coach. If Pederson and his search committee believe that Bradley also has the ability to coach and groom these players, then absolutely he should get the job. But if they feel that another candidate can coach these Panthers better, then that candidate should get the job, regardless of his recruiting skills or ties to the area. Because while recruiting certainly is important, it shouldn't be a priority. Being able to lead the team and discipline the kids while getting the most out of each and every player can lead to more success than landing top notch recruits each and every season. Just ask Jamie Dixon.

Ground Rules

More than a few Steelers will lace up for their first career playoff start at Heinz Field this Saturday. The list includes several key contributors like Maurkice Pouncey (that’s a given), Ziggy Hood (barring an Aaron Smith resurrection), Mike Wallace, Lawrence Timmons, Rashard Mendenhall…

Wait. I know what you’re thinking.

Lawrence Timmons? Rashard Mendenhall?

But this is a different Steelers team. It’s a team that calls on second and third year players to make inconceivable leaps. A team that returns to the ground game weekly, even when the offensive line seems to lose players faster than Tiger Woods lost sponsorships. A team that cut their average rush yards allowed per game by almost 30 yards from 2009-2010. A team that only allowed rushing touchdowns all season, with a signature long run of 24 yards.

I didn’t mention #34 or #94 in that rambling stat-line, but Mendy and Timmons have their names written all over those accomplishments. Among the many differences between the 2009 and 2010 Steelers, their rededication to the run game and reclamation of best rushing defense in the league stand out as pivot points to their consistency, and ability to beat the teams that they’re expected to beat.

So no, neither Mendenhall nor Timmons started for the 2008 championship squad, but both turned in their best seasons yet in 2010. Timmons logged a golden stat sheet with 135 tackles, three sacks, two interceptions, and two forced fumbles. Mendenhall trudged for 1,273 yards behind an offensive line that, to put it nicely, made him earn every last one. It’s hard to imagine the days when Mewelde Moore was only one touchdown short of Hines Ward and Willie Parker led playoff rushing with 246 yards over three games. What’s he doing these days? Probably what Rashard Mendenhall was doing during the 2008 playoffs. Watching.

Of course, Timmons got a little taste of playoff action. He was brought in for various packages, recorded 16 tackles and recovered a fumble. But Mendenhall has yet to bleed his playoff blood, and what better team to debut against than the one responsible for his delay?

Terrell Suggs and Ray Lewis made their statement this past weekend at Kansas City. They stopped Jamaal Charles, and got 142 yards on the ground from Ray Rice, Willis McGahee and a scrambling Joe Flacco. Something tells me they won’t have that kind of ground success against the Steelers.

The Ravens might still be stinging from their AFC championship game loss two years ago, but Lawrence Timmons and Rashard Mendenhall could care less. They weren’t starting that game.

You bet they’re starting for this one, ready to make their own statements. After all, it’s the playoffs.