The High Court

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The Daily Verdict

December 14, 2005

 

Pat Riley got positive returns in his first game back on the sidelines for the Miami Heat, and he did so in what has been a haunting locale for him personally.  The Heat were in the Windy City, site of so many tough playoff losses for Riles as head coach of the Knicks and Heat, to take on the Chicago Bulls, and behind 30 points for the Big Quotable, Miami triumphed 100-97.  It was only the second game since November 3, for O’Neal, yet he reminded us all of why he is still the game’s most dominant force when healthy, scoring those 30 points in only 27 minutes of action.  And just for emphasis, he silenced his free throw critics (me included…for at least one night) with a Shaq-tastic six of nine performance.  Miami survived a subpar shooting performance from Dwyane Wade (6-17 FG, 14 points) by putting six players in double figures on the night, and the electrifying Wade still was able to make his presence felt with 11 assists.   And the best thing about Riley’s return to the sideline?  Only in a game with Pat Riley on the sideline would we find a game recap that included what a head coach was wearing, including his cranberry tie.  Hey Pat…Darth Reagan wants to know when he can borrow that one…

 

In an interview on Tuesday, Alex Rodriguez said he is leaning towards playing for the Dominican Republic.  Rodriguez was born in New York and raised largely in the Miami area, but both of his parents are Dominican.  I have no problem with Rodriguez’s decision.  I respect the fact that he wants to honor his heritage, and I feel the same way about Mike Piazza’s decision to play for Italy.  But you know A-Rod…once his mouth opens…something stupid is bound to come out.  He couldn’t get through the interview without saying the following: “I think the Latino teams are going to have a major advantage.  I think that the American team might take it more like an exhibition and these guys are playing for their religion down there, the pride of their country.”

 

I read A-Rod’s comments several times.  I was incensed the first time I read it…then not so much the next couple of times.  But by the fourth or fifth time, I was incensed again.  Look, A-Rod could be right on.  We know that the Latin American countries that embrace baseball really love it (Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, etc.).  We know that those countries are extremely proud of their major league heroes and vice versa.  There may be certain American players who country club their way through the tournament.  But I don’t think so.  Nobody has to play in the Classic; if they do, they will be doing so because they want to.  And I don’t want to hear anybody, especially somebody making $25 million dollars a year in the good ole United States of America, suggest that American players won’t represent their country with immense pride.  I am pretty sure that 43-year old Roger Clemens will be busting his butt getting in shape for the honor of pitching for his country.  I am also pretty sure that I hope he faces A-Rod and gives him a 96 mph shave…

 

Rodriguez is arguably the best all-around player in baseball.  He will almost certainly launch a serious assault on most all of baseball’s greatest offensive records.  And until further notice, he is quite possibly the world’s most talented loser.  I have spent a good bit of time defending Rodriguez for his post-season failures and his inability to lead a championship ballclub.  But I won’t bother to do that again.  I can’t be certain if he is really stupid (the fact that he “finds therapy to be therapeutic” certainly lends support to that idea) or if he is just at the same time shallow and condescending.  His suggestion last winter that he was the hardest working man in baseball ruffled lots of feathers around the game, and it was just a couple of winters prior to that the he was caught making some unflattering comments about his current Yankee teammate, Derek Jeter.  All of these things come out of the mouth of a player who generally seems to be tap dancing around saying anything of substance.  He is a first-ballot Cliché Hall of Famer.  And now we have these latest comments.  Does A-Rod think we believe he grew up on the rock-strewn fields in the slums of San Pedro de Macoris?  If he is looking for a little Latin street cred, that’s fine.  But don’t question the national pride of American baseball stars in the process.  From now on, I dub A-Fraud baseball’s Vanilla Ice…

 

Speaking of the Yankees (and this is going to be another Yanks-Sawx reference in the same week…I know The Powdered Wig is thrilled)…The New York rumor mill has the Yanks interested in Nomar Garciaparra as…drum roll please…a first baseman.  Interesting.  I thought we might hear about the Yankees being interested in Garciaparra as their center fielder (making a Robin Yount-like move), but frankly, the first base move makes sense.  Jason Giambi is an absolute butcher over there, and Garciaparra’s greatest weakness as a shortstop was his erratic throwing.  He would bring good hands and terrific range to the position.  And as Darth Reagan can tell you, we shortstops can do anything.  Garciaparra’s injury issues over the last several seasons would be a concern, but I have long believed he could still be a major offensive force if he could return to good health.  When The High Court held our voting on future Hall of Famers amongst active veteran infield stars, I was the only member of our panel to vote for Garciaparra.  I did so banking on the lifetime .320 hitter’s (and two-time batting champ) ability to have a solid Paul Molitor-like end to his career.  Molitor was another oft-injured guy early in his career; when he settled in as a DH he stayed healthy and raked his way to 3,000 hits and Cooperstown.  The same thing could happen for Nomar.  It is a calculated risk, but one that I believe would bring high reward.  Because let’s face it…nobody could be any more stoked to stick to the Sawx than the man the fickle Fenway faithful chanted for before they turned their backs on him…NO-MAH!...NO-MAH!...NO-MAH!...

 

And finally…I alluded to the fact that a scathing column on the NCAA and the Randolph Morris saga might be coming soon.  After much consideration, that will not happen.  I personally believe that the NCAA has acted with exceeding incompetence on the Morris eligibility case, but only in the regard that they waited so long to let Morris and the University of Kentucky know he was in fact ineligible.  I know investigations must be thorough and therefore can be very long-running affairs.  But I find it inexcusable that the player and program were left without an answer for so long.

 

That being said, Morris made his bed…I hope he enjoys the nap.  I am hopeful that the NCAA will reduce his year-long penalty, but I have no quarrel with them if they do not.  I hope nobody reads this as an endorsement of the NCAA, as I will eternally tilt at that ridiculous windmill.  But Randolph Morris put himself and the Kentucky basketball program in this situation.  Not the NCAA.  I still applaud Tubby Smith for his decision to allow Morris back into his program.  The Powdered Wig and I were outraged when two national columnists used their platforms to suggest that Smith welcomed Morris back only because he could help the Wildcats on the floor.  And we responded by providing Coach Smith with hearty defenses (You can find those columns within our individual archives) of his position.  I still believe that he did a tremendous thing by putting his pride aside after Morris and his family treated the UK staff with utter disrespect this summer.  Coach Smith understands that Randolph Morris’ future and well-being is more important than what little injury his pride may have taken over the summer.  I am not sure I would have been willing to do the same.  Kentucky fans should be proud to have a man of principle running their program.

 

Because I believe Morris is getting what he deserved, I cannot unload on the NCAA in this particular case.  To do so would be disingenuous.  What I can offer you however, is a link to SI.com’s Seth Davis column on the subject.  I am not a big fan of Davis’ work (either at SI or in CBS’ studio), but I found his report on the Morris situation to be extremely fair.  He looks at both sides of the equation and does some excellent reporting to provide you with facts important to the case.  As much time as I spend critiquing what I believe to be unfair practices by the mainstream media, it is important to give them credit for jobs well done.

 

 

Did you miss Monday’s Daily Verdict?  You can read it here...

 

 

Contact The Chief Justice at chiefjustice@thehighcourtofsports.com.