NFL Parity is a Myth, Baseball is Equal!

Newk’s Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

I attended my obligatory Super Bowl viewing party again this year and caught quite a bit of conversation on how great, fair and equal the NFL system is for balanced competition. Being a Cleveland Browns fan, these statements just didn’t seem right so I decided to investigate a little deeper. 

Can anyone tell me why fans seem to be in love with the so called “parity” of the NFL? It is a giant and complete myth that the NFL system and salary cap promote much better competitive balance. Based on this past Sunday, the Giants and Patriots have filled 8 of the 24 possible spots in the past 12 Super Bowls, one-third!

The consensus I hear often is that big spending teams in baseball (Yankees, Red Sox, Phillies are the most often mentioned) simply buy their championships. Just as a quick, short term example, not one of the top NINE spending teams in regards to payroll even won a playoff series in Major League Baseball last year. NFL fans shower me with explanations that the system in place for football allows all teams an even playing field and a fair, yearly chance to make it to the Super Bowl. Analysis shows this to be false.

 Each sport has its doormats, organizations never seeming to win and enduring long stretches of not being competitive regarding actually winning a championship. The Bengals, Bills, Dolphins, Lions, and even my beloved Browns dominate the argument that not all is equal in the NFL. The Pirates, Cubs, Expos/Nationals, Royals, and Orioles provide even more credence to the fact that well run, smart and thorough organizations win championships.

Depending on how far you would like to look back in analyzing this claim, the results still show this myth to be false. You can check out results of the last decade or go back to 1995 when baseball increased their playoff participants, or even go back to 1970 when the NFL and AFL merged for a deep, detailed look.

So if you study any of the time frames listed, you will see there is not any glaring difference regarding parity between the two sports when it comes to playing in the Super Bowl or World Series. If you take it a step further and just look at the winners of the championships, the same results occur. Ten different franchises have won the World Series since 1995 and four of them have done it more than once. For football, the NFL has had 11 franchises win the Super Bowl since the 1995 season with, surprise, four of them doing it more than once. 

The economic systems for baseball and football are vastly different, both with their advantages and drawbacks. Ultimately, it still comes down to judging talent, implementing winning systems, incorporating a sound executive group, and replenishing personnel. 

The NFL system is generally regarded as solid, sound and fair. The MLB system is constantly being charged with many flaws, but the chances of getting your team all the way to the ultimate round, the championship opportunity, is equal.

All this because I know more about nothing…

Super Bowl Running Backs Vs. The Greatest of All Time

Newk’s Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

With the Super Bowl upon us and the New England Patriots playing for the championship without having a running back going over 700 yards for the season, it surely signifies how the game has changed from the days when Jim Brown established himself as the greatest running back of all time. 

The Patriot runners this year (Green-Ellis, Ridley, and Woodhead) combined for 1459 yards, a total Jim Brown exceeded by himself in three different seasons!

In this pass happy era of professional football where the quarterback is the most essential part of any team, don’t you think that there are times when Brady, Manning and Brees would love to just turn around and hand the ball to Jim Brown? Imagine the glee of head coaches and offensive coordinators as they call plays allowing Jim Brown to pound the line and achieve 5.2 yards per carry and 104.3 yards per game, on average!

While other running backs had phenomenal skills and careers, nobody compares to the consistency and excellence over an entire career. Walter Payton, Emmitt Smith fall woefully short and even the great Barry Sanders is behind Brown regarding average per carry and average per game. 

As Jim Brown’s career spanned an era where NFL teams played only 12, and then 14, games per season, we must look at averages in order to compare the runners equally. In 118 games, Brown was able to run for over 100 yards per game and over 5 yards per carry. Only Sanders approaches those numbers with 99.8 and 5.0 yards respectively. Again, Payton (88/4.4) and Smith (81.2/4.2) trail far behind despite gaudy career totals.

To lead his league in rushing for 8 of the 9 years he played shows his dominance over the competition which is another barometer that allows us to compare eras.  In just nine seasons, Brown retired and left the NFL as the record holder for both single-season (1,863 in 1963) and career rushing (12,312 yards), as well as the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns (106), total touchdowns (126), and all-purpose yards (15,549).

 

By contrast, Payton led the league once out of 13 seasons; Sanders just once also in 10 campaigns and Smith led the league 4 out of his 15 years.

So comparing Jim Brown to modern era runners allows us to see how he still ranks as the greatest running back of all time. Stacking him up against the most current edition of runners also shows us how much the game has changed, how unique Jim Brown was, and how we will never see a football player of his magnitude and dominance again.

All this because I know more about nothing…

Three Halls of Fame, Two Different Sports!!!

Newk's Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

It is hard to fathom that a multi-sport college athlete would be forced to go professional in his second best sport, yet still become the greatest of all time at his position. It is hard to fathom of an athlete who was elected to three Halls of Fame, two of them in different sports! 

This athlete is considered one of the greatest lacrosse players of all time, revolutionizing the sport and even causing rules to be changed based on his dominance. He excelled in track, averaged over 13 points per game for his college basketball team, and was offered a big money contract to play baseball for the New York Yankees.

But it seemed best that after finishing a stellar career at Syracuse University that Jim Brown join the NFL.

Jim Brown was the greatest athlete in Syracuse University’s history. By earning ten varsity letters in four sports during his college career, he may even be considered the greatest American athlete of all time. 

Brown played basketball his sophomore and junior years for Syracuse (freshmen were in eligible for varsity in those days) and was second on the team in scoring his sophomore year with 15 PPG. He was a tremendous rebounder as well, using his athletic ability to overcome taller opponents. He did not return for his senior season as he could not be a starter because of racism. The unwritten rule back then only allowed two African-American starters and Syracuse had two others who were starting as well. Several experts believe Syracuse could have won the national title in 1957 if Brown had continued to play and been allowed to start.

Brown also competed for the Syracuse track team. Before Bo Jackson and Deion Sanders, Brown once competed in two different sports in the same day. In 1957, donning his track suit, he won the high jump and the javelin throw, came in second in the discus event which allowed Syracuse to defeat Colgate in a dual meet. Later, he changed into his lacrosse uniform and led the way to an 8-6 win over Army. 

Syracuse achieved an undefeated (10-0) season in lacrosse during Brown’s senior season. He had been named second team All American in his junior season and followed that in his senior year by finishing second nationally in scoring (43 goals in 10 games) and being named first team All American. The rule requiring a lacrosse player to keep his stick in constant motion while carrying the ball was implemented because of Jim Brown’s dominance. 

Jim received many awards while at Syracuse including Athlete of the Year 1956-57, Team All American in 1956 and First Team Honors in 1957. He also scored five goals in one half during the Collegiate North/South All-Star Game of 1957.

Even the boxing coach at Syracuse wanted Jim Brown to compete in the ring. He stated that he felt Brown could have been heavyweight champion if he had dedicated himself to the sport.

Of course, Brown also became a legend at Syracuse in football. He played running back and was also the kicker on the team. In a game against Colgate in 1956, Brown dominated by running for 196 yards, scoring 6 touchdowns and kicking 7 extra points, totaling 43 points. Imagine the SportsCenter coverage that feat would garnish today! It would even push Tebow off the main highlight! He was a unanimous choice as All American his senior year and finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting. 

All these achievements and a lack of professional opportunity beyond college in lacrosse took Brown to the NFL, where he dominated again, became the greatest of all time at his position and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1971.

He is also a member of the College Football Hall of Fame and based on his dominance and ability in the game of lacrosse, was elected to the Lacrosse Hall of Fame and considered one of the greatest players of all time. 

It is hard to fathom we may ever see this type of athletic skill again.

All this because I know more about nothing…

The First AFL-NFL World Championship Game

Newk’s Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…..

With the Super Bowl set and now fast approaching, I thought it may be time to look back at a time when the NFL title game wasn’t exactly the same as the monstrosity most of us are used to today.

Would you believe or remember that it wasn’t even called the Super Bowl. In fact, the first two AFL-NFL World Championship Games were entitled just that. With the Super Bowl coined for the third contest, it was retroactively applied to the first two contests.

The first AFL-NFL World Championship Game to be played was between the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs and was held in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Apparently sellouts are an assumption when dealing with the modern version, but this event was not sold out and even blacked out on TV in the Los Angeles area! Imagine the outcry if the Indianapolis area were only able to view the game this year through some pirated TV channel or internet hookup. News outlets of the day printed directions on how to pick up an out of town channel with hopes of seeing the game. The sellout was not even close as ticket prices reached an exorbitant $12!!

Not to worry, chances of picking up a signal from another city was excellent as the game was actually broadcast on two different networks, with two completely different sets of announcers.  Picture Troy Aikman and Joe Buck on one channel while Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth announce the game a click or two away and you have a choice!!!

The ultimate sandlot solution came into play during the game as a result of the dual broadcast. NBC had not returned in time from commercial for the second half kickoff. So, as every kid has invoked at some time during a playground dispute, a “do over” was implemented for the second half kickoff. Incredible but true, as the referees made the teams line up and do it again. Based on the NFL still using part-time referees (another topic, another day), I suggest they invoke the “do over” to replace replay! I even think it may take less time.

Of course, the pomp and circumstance was slightly different with the halftime show featuring a trumpeter accompanied by two college bands and no one performing to sell albums. There was a trophy presentation handled by Pat Summerall and George Ratterman (former Browns quarterback) who shared one microphone.

Of course, there was  a well fought game and a victor, but that is common knowledge and the above items are what you really need to know!

All this because I know more about nothing…..

Super Bowl 46 Prediction, It's a Lock!

Newk’s Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

There are many ways to pick a Super Bowl winner. As the game is now set, the next weeks will bring a multitude of reasons and analysis on who will win and why. Everyone from experts to clueless folks who have never watched a football game will weigh in with their opinions and bets. They will use actual football analysis, current hot streaks, nicest uniforms, favorite colors, geographical affiliations and a host of other nonsense to determine the winner and place their bets accordingly.

One way to look at the upcoming match up on February 5 might be to look back to 2007. That season brought us a memorable Super Bowl and exciting upset as the New York Giants beat the undefeated New England Patriots. As this championship game brings us a repeat of Super Bowl 42, maybe we should analyze 2007 a little more. 

 

In 2007, as the regular season wound to a close, the Giants lost 22-10 to Washington in Week 15. 

However, they did make the playoffs and defeated an NFC South division team, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round.

They continued on and beat the #1 seed, Dallas Cowboys, on the road, 21-17.

This propelled them to the NFC Championship game against the #2 seed, the Green Bay Packers. On a frigid day in Wisconsin, the Giants used an OT turnover, the Brett Favre interception, to position their kicker Lawrence Tynes for the game winning field goal. 

This also happened to be 17 years to the day after Matt Bahr kicked a game winning field goal over the 49ers to take the Giants to Super Bowl 25.

Now we might fast forward to the 2011 season to complete the thoughts behind placing our minuscule wager on the Giants for Super Bowl 46.

In week 15 this past season, the Giants lost to Washington 23-10.

Again, they qualified for the playoffs and faced an NFC South division team, the Atlanta Falcons, which they defeated to advance.

They traveled to Green Bay to face the #1 seed in the Divisional round. Again, they won this game against the top seeded, favored Packers while playing on the road.

Now the Giants were set to face the #2 seed again, the San Francisco 49ers, in the NFC Championship. Once the game was forced to overtime, we all knew exactly what was going to happen, right? Of course! There was a turnover, the 49ers Williams fumbling the punt, which led directly to Lawrence Tynes kicking the game winning field goal. 

So despite the fact that I am not from New York and I feel Tom Brady is an elite quarterback, along with both teams colors being basically the same, and with my analysis and nonsense all lined up to go with the Patriots, I can only assume Eli Manning will make some incredible throws and pull this game right out from under Belichick and the Patriots again.

Then in 2015…..

All this because I know more about nothing…

Greatest Six Year Pitching Stretch Ever?

Newk’s Bender on the Game

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

Did you actually know that there was a player so dominant, so consistent, and on such a streak that he could conduct his post game interviews before the game actually took place?

Arguably, the greatest six year stretch in pitching history allowed Sandy Koufax to do just this. 

From 1961 through 1966, Koufax went 129-47 ….pitching four no hitters including a perfect game and setting a season record with 382 strikeouts in 1965. He won 5 ERA titles in that time and led the league in wins 3 times, also throwing 11 shutouts in 1963!!! 

During this time, he was the first pitcher to win the Cy Young Award unanimously, first to win the award multiple times when only one was awarded for all of major league baseball. Koufax also won the award in his last season, 1966.

Based on his desire for privacy, wanting to be a good teammate and his phenomenal results, Koufax did post game interviews with Dodgers broadcaster Vin Scully before the game! He was so masterful, consistent and confident in his pitches that he would generically describe how his curve ball was “working good today”, and how he was able to “locate his fastball”, along with thanking his teammates for great defense. This allowed him to be able to dress with teammates and leave the park in private while Vin Scully just played the tape over the radio as if it was a live interview.

Based on his 115 complete games through those last 6 seasons (in 211 starts), the Dodger relievers often took advantage of the night before Koufax would start since their chance of getting in the next day’s game was very remote. Unfortunately, one afternoon Koufax did indeed struggle prompting manager Walter Alston to have two relievers begin to warm up. Upon visiting Koufax on the mound, Walter asked how Sandy was feeling to which he replied, “a lot better than those two guys you have warming up”. Alston returned to the dugout and let Koufax complete the game.

Despite this incredible pitching performance, Koufax did have his certain troubles. Bob Uecker, arguably the worst hitter ever with a lifetime .200 batting average, was a huge thorn in Koufax’s side. The most dominant pitcher of that era, Sandy yielded a lifetime average to Uecker of .429 in over 50 at bats!  

Koufax himself often claimed fellow pitcher Lew Burdette was the toughest hitter he faced…probably because Burdette was also 5-0 pitching against Koufax and hit .308 with 2 home runs, 3 RBI and 1 BB.

So the next time you are tucked under the covers, listening to your favorite broadcaster deliver the post game interview, stop and think if that player had the performance worthy of pre-recording his answers!

"I can see how he won 25 games. What I don't understand is how he lost five."

Yogi Berra, in 1963

No Unanimous Hall of Fame Selections!

Throwing you a bender because I just thought you should know…

Since it is January, with the NBA, NHL, and NFL in full swing…..I was thinking about baseball.  Of course, the recent Hall of Fame voting and Barry Larkin’s election prompted me to go back and review the voting process as his achieving 86% of the vote (75% needed for election) seemed to be unusually high compared to some of the other members and their totals. Yet it was not unanimous….which makes sense on Barry Larkin…but got me thinking….

This is a pretty select group of players and not one of them received a unanimous endorsement upon being voted to the Baseball Hall of Fame!

While there are criteria for being eligible regarding career length, retirement, etc…we will stick to #5 from the BBWAA Election Rules for the purpose of investigating this phenomenon! 

Voting shall be based upon the player's record, playing ability, integrity, sportsmanship, character, and contributions to the team(s) on which the player played.

Each writer can vote for up to 10 candidates, there are not any points or places awarded, it is simply placing a “yes” vote for a player to be elected to the Hall. This makes the process very individual and precise. No player’s chances are diminished by a vote for another player.

These rules have governed thousands of writers/voters through the years. While different voters have come and gone, the requirements have remained and applied to each voter through the different eras. Therefore, with integrity, sportsmanship and character in place throughout the voting, there is definitely room for any individual writer to leave any player off his ballot based on his interpretation of the rule. But in review of the voting totals from years past, this Bender is astonished at the results and wonders how those three elements can outweigh the record, playing ability and contribution!

A quick glance of some players and voting results starting back in 1936 does not reveal any unanimous elections, even for these icons of the game! It even goes so far as to show how Cy Young was left off of 115 ballots cast in 1936. A pitcher with 511 career wins could not get a vote from over half the writers?

Year	Ballots Cast	Player	Votes	%
1936	226	Ty Cobb	222	98.2
		Babe Ruth	215	95.1
		Honus Wagner	215	95.1
		Christy Mathewson	205	90.7
		Walter Johnson	189	83.6
		Nap Lajoie	146	64.6
		Tris Speaker	133	58.8
		Cy Young	111	49.1
1937	201	Nap Lajoie	168	83.6
		Tris Speaker	165	82.1
		Cy Young	153	76.1
1966	302	Ted Williams	282	93.4
1969	340	Stan Musial	317	93.2
1979	432	Willie Mays	409	94.7
1982	415	Hank Aaron	406	97.8

Without listing the stats for some of these all time greats (trust me, they are mind boggling and incredible), I just wonder how writers can leave players off a ballot on what must solely be based on integrity, character and sportsmanship. Cobb was hated, Ruth had his moments, and unfortunately, even race could play a part of it. But Cy Young, Stan Musial, and Christy Mathewson were very respected and generally well liked. I understand media members have a job to do and certain players made that harder, unpleasant or even impossible to perform. But part of the job for any voting member of the BBWAA is to recognize the Hall of Fame for what it is and the players that deserve to be enshrined. So shouldn’t there be at least ten, if not a few more, unanimous selections since 1936? 

How do you receive a ballot and see that Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Cy Young, Nolan Ryan, Hank Aaron and Stan Musial are eligible but not select them? At that point, regardless of your personal opinion or relationship with a player, that type of achievement says you have to vote for election of a player with such significant statistics. It is even beyond the normal duty of analyzing and detailing all aspects of their career and statistics in order to make a valid and educated vote (or non-vote).  It basically has crossed over into plain old common sense. 

It also seems like a trend that is likely to continue. If baseball’s all time greats are not elected unanimously, are any of today’s stars capable of being the first? 

So while you review every player in the Hall, read each acceptance speech since 1936 and return to looking at every statistic (or is that just me?), remember that a few voters on each Hall member did not think they should be there.

All this because I know more about nothing…