Sports Perspectives

By Beaker

I’d like to comment on a couple of things: St. Jeter and Horny Woods.

Heard a celebrity PR, damage control expert (now there’s a gig. Like being a “life coach.” I gotta tell ya, if you need a coach to make you live you have problems. I digress) make the following assertion about the useless Tiger Woods story:

“You have to remember good people do bad things.”

That seems like a reasonable thing to say. But after you let the fumes of the paint primer exit your brain, you come to the realization it’s a silly line of thinking.

Good people don’t do bad things. Bad people do.  Good people tend to avoid things like driving 100 in a 30 zone, murder and adultery.

Woods knew what he was doing. He was having an affair. It doesn’t make him bad. Just weak of the flesh and guilty of being stupid. So much for his mental toughness. He may be mentally tough on a lousy golf course but the game of life demands a different kind of inner strength. It also makes him, like every man alive, horny; perhaps perpetually. Who knows and I sure don’t care. Whatever it may be, he has to face the music.

Buh-bye.

What a lame story. It’s a story because people live vicariously through celebrities. They make up all sorts of neat, if not unrealistic, images of the person in their minds (because, you know, they want to believe in role models) and go bat-shit when they find out their…human. The news  network machine, slaves to celebrity gossip now, jump on the story knowing the pathetic psychological state of its viewership and make it a “headline.”

It brings me to something a buddy, not particularly known for his adherence to moral epitaphs and philosophical thought, once said, “You want a role model? Believe in yourself.”

That’s great advice people can use.

***

Derek Jeter (cue Ave Maria or Handel’s Messiah) was named sportsmen of the year by Sports Illustrated. Nothing wrong with that. He had a great year. Chase Utley (or Albert Pujols) never had a prayer. New York is the market when it comes to baseball.

Watch the hyperbole come in…wait….it’s coming…NOW!

“This verifies my idea that he is on the level of Ruth and Gehrig,” McDonell said. “He’s the greatest shortstop in the history of the game.”

I’m sure SI Group Editor Terry McDonnell knows his sports, but really.

No, he’s not. It’s as simple as that. He may have surpassed those two baseball titans in sheer numbers on a couple of stats but Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig are two of the greatest players to ever play the game.

In case he forgot, how soon we all forget Pittsburgh Pirates legendary SS Honus Wagner – who until the arrival of St. Jeter was acknowledged by most experts as the greatest SS ever. I would settle for the best SS in Yankees history which is nothing to sneer at. But spare me lumping him with Ruth and Gehrig.

Then again, some may claim Jeter is not even the best shorts stop on the Yankees – Alex Rodriguez is. They’d have a point.

About that:

“McDonell was impressed by Jeter’s leadership, how he “stepped in and molded a team” this spring with the arrival of three expensive free agents, and Alex Rodriguez’s admission to using steroids from 2001-03 and then having hip surgery that kept him out until May.”

I like the way the media always tries to make A-Rod Jeter’s gimp. Yeah, I know how disliked A-Rod is along with the fact he used steroids and is considered to be a fake to some, but  A-Rod had a wicked season. It’s possible without him they don’t win the World Series.

About Jeter’s leadership. Measuring leadership is a fool’s game. Not that saying he’s a great leader is wrong. There’s enough evidence to suggest he is. However, perspective is needed from time to time. I seem to remember a period between 2000-2008 where his molding floundered. I also remember when he didn’t stick up for A-Rod like he did for Giambi. His leadership is selective. Just saying.

Jeter is a great, great ball player. A player who seems to have an uncanny ability to be at the right place at the right time (cue Handel’s Messiah again) permitting him to make all sorts of “wow” kind of plays. He had a great year and is beloved by New Yorkers. All he has is deserved.

BUT. He’s not on the level of the aforementioned players.

I know this is blasphemy to say. Meh.